Carrie N. Culpepper
Vena Cava Launches E-Commerce Site
The designers of Vena Cava are taking their DIY ingenuity online.And it's only appropriate for a label that was formed when ambitious designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock got shut out of their Parsons School of Design senior fashion show. Unfazed, they hosted their own show and launched a label, instead. Four years later they were honored by Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America and stars from Blake Lively to Rita Wilson don their designs.
Today the label, which is sold at fashion-forward boutiques and trend-setting Barneys New York, launched its own e-commerce site to sell directly to customers. Naturally, they're doing things their way.
'Black Swan' Good for Ballet Ticket Sales
Darren Aronofsky's hit film, "Black Swan," may do more for the arts than earn Natalie Portman a slew of best-actress awards. It may in fact have helped to boost professional dance companies - at least the ones performing the ballet "Swan Lake," which the film is centered around.
To prepare for the film, Portman trained with former New York City Ballet dancer Mary Helen Bowers. That company performs "Swan Lake" each year and this year its two-week run (which will end on Saturday, Feb. 26) sold extremely well, according to City Ballet spokesman Rob Daniels. The company sold out tickets to all nine of its performances in the 2,500-seat David A. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center.
Trump Bids on Patricia Kluge's Virginia Estate
The latest wrinkle in Patricia Kluge's dispursal of fortune involves another famed billionaire: Donald Trump. This Wednesday, Trump had two lawyers representing him at the auction of Albemarle House, Kluge's luxe estate on 300 acres in tony Albemarle County, Va.
Shortly before the auction began, Steve Blaine and Les Goldman announced to the crowd of approximately 60 gathered in front of the Albemarle County Courthouse that they represented Donald Trump. What others might not have realized is that Trump had already purchased the adjacent 200 acres which, because of conditions outlined when Kluge gained the property in her divorce, would grant him right of first refusal on Albemare House.
"I think Mr. Trump wanted others to be aware that he was a bidder and he controlled the front yard of the house," said Baine, a Charlottesville, Va. lawyer. "He's a savvy business person but I think any other person with a serious interest in the house would have tried to figure out how to secure those 200 acres first."
Patricia Kluge: Billionaire's Ex-Wife Faces Foreclosure
Patricia Kluge, the 1980s society queen and ex-wife of billionaire media mogul John Kluge, has fallen on some hard times. Kluge was famously awarded the largest divorce settlement in history (a reported $1.6 million a week) but she seems to have figured out a way to spend it – and then some.
She's allegedly in default of nearly $23 million on her gilded mansion in Virginia, which made headlines for its outlandish $100 million price tag when it first hit the market in October 2009. Sotheby's didn't get that asking price, nor the drastically reduced $24 million it was eventually priced at. Instead, on Feb. 16, the 23,538-square-foot home will be auctioned on the Albemarle County courthouse steps.
Kluge's house isn't the only possession she's losing: Her antiques and jewelry have already been auctioned through Sotheby's. Her winery was foreclosed on and its inventory also sold off at auction. On top of that, several lots in the Vineyard Estates subdivision she devised for her property were also auctioned.
The Hook reported that according to court records, Kluge borrowed a whopping $66 million for the house, winery and subdivision.
How could Kluge have blown through her fortune and now lost it all?
Summer Recipes from Canyon Ranch Spas
Luxury spa chain Canyon Ranch with resorts in Tuscon, Ariz., Lenox, Mass. and Miami Beach (as well as "SpaClubs" at the Venetian in Las Vegas and aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2) is famous for its integrated approach to health and wellness. During a weekend stay you might exercise, see doctors and wellness experts and enjoy spa treatments, but the food is where some of the most subtle and sublime healthiness takes place. Earlier this year MSN named the Canyon Ranch Grill at Las Vegas' Palazzo hotel one of the Top 10 Heart-Healthy Restaurants in the U.S. We asked the culinary team at Canyon Ranch to share three healthy summer recipes and their secrets. Salmon w/ Blueberry Mango Salsa
Health Benefits:
Fish, specifically salmon, is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to increase optimal brain functioning by decreasing inflammation and keeping the blood vessels flexible.
Antioxidants, found in brightly colored fruits and veggies like blueberries and red peppers, protect against free-radical damage.
[recipe after the break]
New Swedish-Designed Hotel Helps Stuffy East Hampton Get Hip
Maybe it's because if you truly are somebody, you'd already own a house in the Hamptons, or plan to rent one for the season, or certainly at least know someone with a guest room. No matter the reason, it's a fact that there's a dearth of hip hotel options on the east end of Long Island. Weekend visitors to the Hamptons can choose from glorified motels or stodgy historic inns (both of which will snare you with a three-night minimum at top rates). Until now.
Swedish hotelier Jenny Ljungberg of c/o Hotels took over the East Hampton landmark the Maidstone Arms in 2008 and renamed it c/o The Maidstone. She first reworked the restaurant with a slow-food focus, something she pioneered at her five other properties in and around Stockholm. The Maidstone's restaurant, The Living Room, opened to positive reviews and a packed reservations list last Summer. After further renovation to the rooms during the off season, the hotel is now fully operating with 19 guest rooms, each decorated as a subtle homage to a famous Scandinavian.
Prince Harry Returns to NYC for Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic
The royal redhead returns to New York on June 27 to go mallet-to-mallet with Argentinian Nacho Figueras in the Veuve Cliquot Polo Classic on Governor's Island. Figueras (below), named one of "Polo's 10 Hottest Horsemen" by Vanity Fair, plays the sport professionally when he's not modeling for Ralph Lauren. Last year his team lost to Prince Harry's Santebale team, named after the charity the prince started for underprivileged children in Lesotho, Africa.
World Cup 411: Top Insider Sites in Cape Town
From June 11 to July 11, football fans from around the world will descend on South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 20-hour flight for Americans means it's worth staving off jet lag for another week or two and sticking around to explore the country. Of the nine cities where games will be played, Cape Town is by far the most desirable place to spend the extra time, and its in close proximity to one of the most stunning wine regions in the world. We've compiled a list of top insider tips for what not to miss in Cape Town. Here it is:
Tell Us Everything, Travel Entrepreneur Katrina A. Garnett
Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Katrina Garnett recently launched My Little Swans, a luxury family travel web site for adventurous families looking for one-of-a-kind adventures that involve things like lunch at a Bedoin camp in Jordan and sailing Alaska's Inside Passage on a private yacht. Unlike her previous, very-techie businesses, this one was born out of Garnett's hobby: She's originally from Australia and she and her husband regularly take their three children on ambitious trips across the globe. Garnett's not intimidated by traveling with kids, instead she's passionate about the advantages of exposing children to world cultures. MyLittleSwans.com aims to cut out the travel agent by featuring itineraries from her many trips with restaurant, hotel, shopping and other suggestions of places she and her concierge partners have personally vetted. Plus, the site's selected list of tour operators in each of those destinations can arrange for custom adventures from a backstage tour of a Chinese opera to a hiking trip with the Maasai tribe in Tanzania.
Garnett – and by extension her site – is like that in-the-know friend always up on the newest, hottest and best. But she also shares the little-known, like her personal watchmaker in Switzerland and jeweler in Paris. She spent two years and more than $2 million of her own money developing the site and made sure it included a social media aspect, which she believes is essential for web 2.0 success. We chatted with this firecracker over drinks at New York's Gramercy Tavern and asked her to Tell Us Everything.
Why did you decide to go into travel?
I've been planning world adventures for my family for 15 years, from the time my firstborn was less than a year old. Over the years, numerous friends and acquaintances have sought me out for travel advice, so I've shared my itineraries and photos with them, and they've taken the same or similar trips and loved them.
But as the number of requests grew – and the Web became increasingly difficult to navigate from a discerning point of view – I saw there was need for a comprehensive trustworthy online resource that makes it easy for families to plan extraordinary journeys and to go straight to the source for the best guides and insider experiences.
My Little Swans is not just a bunch of pretty pictures and opinions. There are, of course, countless travel websites and online sources, but I think few that are developed with an eye to the future and a deep understanding of the tech underbelly; I'm a total tech nerd. And as most of my friends know, I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and can be a nut when it comes to research, so the MLS content reflects this 150 percent and always will – nothing is "pay for play" or ad-driven.
Sex and the Next City: Marrakech, Morocco
Make like Samantha, Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte and head to Morocco, suddenly the hottest destination on the map. Although Morocco plays Abu Dhabi, UAE, in the movie "Sex and the City 2," which opened yesterday. But never mind that, Morocco has been absolutely everywhere in the last six months. Popping up in Vogue fashion spreads, on the pages of Bazaar magazine (with a spread on jewelry designer Paloma Picasso's Marrakech home), and on travel pages of many a newspaper (The New York Times this month touted Casablanca's contemporary art scene). So what does all this mean?
It's time to head to Morocco.
And the highly anticipated Royal Mansour Marrakech, owned by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, promises to be a hot destination when it opens in July. The King is on a mission to bring 10 million new visitors to his country by the end of this year and it seems that he's off to a good start. This property is made up of 53 different riads. The traditional Moroccan-style homes with center courtyards were each built by craftsmen, filled with traditional tiles and textiles and furnished with antiques to showcase the best of Moroccan design. The resort's eight-acre property is speckled with ancient trees (some dating back 400 years) and is located centrally in the medina, or old town area of Marrakech with views of the Atlas mountains in the distance. Three restaurants on the property will be overseen by three-Michelin-stared chef, Yannick Alléno of Paris' Le Meurice and a 27,000 square foot spa promises to wow. Rates start at $1,850 a night. No doubt Carrie and crew would have stayed there had it been open.
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What's Behind This Door Is Terrifying
Xbox One-80: Microsoft reverses Xbox One DRM features
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The Boob Bandages Are Off!
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Paula Deen Allegedly Makes Racist Comments
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From Child Hero To Murder Suspect
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