Month: October 2017

How to Do Autumn in New York Like a Luxury Insider

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

Autumn in New York is sung about and lionized in the jazz standard song (best rendered, in our view, by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong) and in classic films like When Harry Met Sally, the 1995 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, Hannah and Her Sisters and the namesake film itself (the one with Richard Gere and Wynona Ryder – you remember that one, right?) Romantics, dreamers, adventurers and wanderers imagine the city at this time of year as the most brilliant place of all. And we can’t say that they’re wrong. If you decide to visit New York City this fall in pursuit of your own magical experience, what should you be sure to do? We asked some of our pals who are lifelong New Yorkers – and some who are transplants – about their absolute favorite fall activities in Gotham. It goes without saying that if you’ve never been to the city, there are some iconic things that you just need to do (including a stroll through the leaves in Central Park; window-shopping …

TWIST: This Week in Sports Talk October 15, 2017

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

You don’t love professional sports, but your livelihood and/or personal happiness depends upon your being able to converse intelligently about it. It’s a common dilemma with a simple solution: you need to learn a new language. You need to learn how to talk sports. And we’re here to help! The TWIST is our weekly Dandelion Chandelier guide to what’s happened on the field, on the court and on the ice. Every Sunday you’ll find the three (and only three) things you need to know this coming week to speak cogently about professional sports with the boss, the gang at the office, your barber, your barista, your secret crush, or your in-laws. Do the TWIST every week and we promise you’ll know how to talk about sports like a champion. This week’s edition of TWIST: This Week in Sports Talk is jam-packed. The coming week will see the continuation of the MLB post-season, the NBA pre-season, and the NHL regular season. Plus there have been college football and NFL games all weekend. So you have plenty of …

See Luxury in a New Light with: Sharon Khazzam

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The Dandelion Chandelier Luminary Café is the place to find a series of personal interviews with fascinating people who are stellar achievers in their chosen field of endeavor. Our Luminaries are sharing their origin stories, life philosophies, secret songs, guilty pleasures and hidden talents. It’s guaranteed to be illuminating.  Award winning jewelry designer Sharon Khazzam is a star in the world of haute joaillerie. She was the sole in-house jewelry designer for Asprey for eight years. With Asprey’s support, in 1993 Sharon launched her eponymous collection, which reflects her tastes as an artist and also her expertise with gemstones. You can find her one-of-a-kind collection of earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces at Barneys New York, Isetan and Mitsukoshi in Tokyo, and Ylang 23 in Dallas. Or you can work directly with her to create a bespoke piece, choosing stones that speak to you, and seeing the design and the final product come to life in her studio.

Luxury Legends: Can Rodeo Drive Measure Up to the Hype?

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

Rodeo Drive. The very words make the heartbeat of any devoted luxury shopper of a certain age accelerate. Long before Net-a-Porter there was Rodeo Drive: a magical boulevard with a median strip lined with palm trees and flagship boutiques for every designer and fine jewelry brand worth knowing about. Birthplace of so many iconic movie scenes about shopping: Clueless, Pretty Woman, Sex and the City – The Movie. The stuff of dreams. Fast forward to today, when retail is “dead,” everyone shops online, and direct-to-consumer is the way to get rich quick if you’re a purveyor of luxury goods. Is Rodeo Drive still relevant? Is it still fun? Or has the party moved on?