I Hate Rushing, I Love Atlanta

November 20, 2006

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I flew down to Atlanta for literally 36 hours last week and when I returned I realized that I’m not really sure I ever left.

As I’ve mentioned before, I snagged a deal with the new hip hotel chain NYLO, to design an extensive collection that will be used/sold in each of their 150 countrywide locations. Well, their headquarters are in Atlanta which is why I was down there – more meetings, more brainstorming, and thankfully more love given back to me – they continue to love what I’m doing and I’m ecstatic to show you all what I’ve been working on!

Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until at least summer 2007 when the full collection is ready to be debuted; I’m talking dresses, tops, pants, suits, jackets, bags, jewelry… the works! I really can’t tell if you guys can tell how excited I am for this to become reality, but rest assured that I am! I’m sure that for any young designer, there’s a nervous excitement with seeing your first, fully produced collection being executed from concept to hanger, finally allowing you all to enjoy some of my work firsthand! (www.nylohotel.com)

Well, aside from the fact that half of my time was spent in meetings, the guys and I got to have a few hours out on the town, showing me a sampling of what Atlanta had to offer (this was my first time in the downtown area). After drinks down in the Glenn Hotel bar, we piled into a taxi (which I learned aren’t nearly as available as they are here in NYC) and headed to Rathbuns, a restaurant which I must admit, I loved.

A bit industrial with high soaring ceilings and exposed brick walls, juxtaposed with cozy, ambient lighting; it truly was a welcome from the stark white office walls I’d been in for the past dozen hours. We were given a great table, finally placed our orders after some bickering over the wine list, and sat back to enjoy one of the best meals I’ve had in years: Paper thin beef carpaccio, crispy duck breast with Thai risotto, and a bowl of the best butternut squash soup topped with walnuts that had to be laced with crack because it had all of us foaming at the mouth for more!

To top it off, our adorable waitress brought out an array of desserts that had our stomachs aching by just looking at them, and when we had informed her that we hadn’t in fact order any, she simple replied, “I’m a fan of the show”.

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