Month: October 2017

How to Take a Luxury Insider Holiday-Shopping Trip

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

If you haven’t already, it’s time to start your holiday shopping. What’s that, you say? Not feeling it this year? We’ve got just the remedy for those who need to find wonderful holiday gifts but have no desire to hit the mall, the avenue or the Internet. Why not do your holiday shopping in Italy this year? In case you think starting your holiday shopping in October is a nutty idea, let’s look at some facts. According to the National Retail Federation, in 2016 U.S. consumers reported that they began shopping for the holiday season at the following times: 41.4% during the month of November; 12.2% before September, 6.5% in September and 21.9% in October. See? Some people may already be done!

TWIST: What You Need to Know to Talk Sports This Week

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.

See Luxury in a new light with: Anna Deavere Smith

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.  Anna Deavere Smith is a playwright, actress, professor and journalist. She has delivered riveting theatrical performances in her one-woman plays, including Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; and Notes from the Field. All were shaped from stories she elicited through recorded interviews, which she then personally portrayed on stage. Anna has portrayed Presidential advisers on television and in film in The West Wing, The American President, and Dave. She has played roles on the hit shows Nurse Jackie and Black-ish. She has served as a professor at Stanford and New York University. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grant; a National Humanities Medal, which she received from President Barack Obama; and a George Polk Career Award, one …

How to Get Your Child Admitted to Private School

Published by Lawrence Otis Graham

It’s that time of year. Private school application time. And you thought Halloween was going to be the scariest thing that would happen to you this month. Think again. Rest assured, you’re not alone. The thought of applying to an elite, selective private day school in the United States strikes fear in the hearts of parents everywhere. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago – there’s no escape. And there are limited ways in which to throw money at this problem. But fear not. As the father of three kids who have been admitted to private day schools (and to New England boarding schools) and having served on the boards of both day and boarding schools, I’ve observed this process firsthand for a while now. While there is no way to make applying for private school completely stress-free, there are some specific steps that you can take, starting now, that will maximize your chances of successfully making your way through the process with a minimum of agita. Over a series of posts, I’ll share what they are.

See luxury in a new light with: COOL HUNTING

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The Dandelion Chandelier Luminary Lounge is a place to hang out, pour yourself something to drink, and listen in on a series of personal interviews with fascinating people who are stellar achievers in their chosen field of endeavor. Our Luminaries are sharing stories, life philosophies, secret songs, guilty pleasures and hidden talents that will help all of us see luxury in a new light. COOL HUNTING was founded in 2003 by Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten. The online publication informs the global creative community about creativity and innovation in culture, people, places and things, often through the lens of design. In addition to its online publication and video series, COOL HUNTING provides brands with consulting services, offers hosted travel experiences, and offers its exclusive Omakase gifting service.  We stopped by the Chelsea offices of COOL HUNTING on a drizzly late-September New York afternoon to chat with Evan and Josh. They were joined intermittently by Logan, their 14 ½ -year old Sealyham terrier, and by the new puppy in their office, Eero, who is 3 months …