July 2008

June 29th 2008
Forte dei Marmi, Italy

We love Tyra Banks!  Word from Nolita is that America’s favorite Top Model, the lovely & talented Tyra Banks, just popped in our store to pick up two new pairs of HOLLYWOULDs!  The girls in the shop said she was not only gorgeous but also nice & friendly, which makes us love her even more.  We’re very much looking forward to The Tyra Show this Tuesday, when she’ll talk with Elle magazine’s uber cool Creative Director Joe Zee.

I’m currently in Italy where I’ve had a blissful weekend on the beaches of Forte dei Marmi, the Italian Riviera’s answer to St. Tropez.   There really isn’t anything better than rolling out of bed and onto the beach, having fresh seafood pasta for lunch under a cabana, and finishing the day with a couple of passion fruit mojitos while the sun sets over the sea.  My partners in crime were Florentines Camilla & Andrea, and our beach club of choice was Bagno Pennone, which is the only place you need to go on your next visit to Forte.

June 20th 2008
NYC

Big Shout-Out to the Wall Street Journal for mentioning this diary as one of the “15 Entrepreneur Blogs Worth Reading”:

http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2008/06/13/15-entrepreneur-blogs-worth-reading/?wink

As most of you know, when I started this diary the term “blog” was not really around yet, and the dairy was only a way to keep my friends & family updated on my travels, infatuations, and hangovers.  Some of my favorite entries are from those early days, when we were first starting the company and spent half of our week recovering from alcohol induced illnesses, and the other half working our tails off in my un-air-conditioned loft in Brooklyn. 

Things around here have changed since then, and as I type this I’m not sitting in my skivvies at a second-hand desk on a self-assembled chair writing on hand-me-down computer with the ground-floor deli’s reggaeton music vibrating  through my entire building while a $39 illegally-installed ceiling fan keeps the “office” a comfortable 97 degrees.  But oh, those were the days.

When I was bored I used to torture my poor roommate Casey (who was already forced to live in what was basically a shoe warehouse), by doing things like betting her $5 she couldn’t fit inside our rubber trash can with the lid on it, and then tipping it over an rolling her around the loft when she tried.

I now have a very corporate office on Park Avenue, fancy office furniture, my very own stapler, and a phone system so complicated I could have a conference call with the United Nations.  Nevertheless, I do miss those days.

The recent update that I’m sure all you WSJ readers are just dying to know about is that I’ve just returned from LA.  I might be the only person in New York City who will admit it, but I love LA.  The purpose of my vacay was a “Girls Trip” with my mom, sisters, cousins and aunt, and we did all the things girls like to do, including shop, eat, see open houses, eat, watch TV, eat, and lounge by the beach.  It was paradise.

From LA my sister Molly and I drove to Arizona, which is so incredibly picturesque that the 6 hour drive actually seems like 9.  We passed the time playing my favorite game that is not at all annoying, where you hit the “scan” button and just let it roll for the entire drive.  

Thanks to the plethora of Mexican music radio stations, Molly and I were semi-fluent in Spanish by the time we got to Phoenix, and had also decided that both Will Smith and Mariah Carey have never recorded a single bad song in their careers.   In fact, we actually stopped our “scan” for an entire 2 minutes in order to belt out the words to Mariah’s “Hero” and Will Smith’s “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, simultaneously while switching back & forth between stations.  The mix of the two songs is a real masterpiece that goes a little something like:

Oh-kay, here's the situation

And then a hero comes along

My parents went away on a week's vacation and
with the strength to carry on

They left the keys to the brand new Porsche

and you cast your fears aside

Would they mind?

and you know you can survive

Umm, well, of course not

Anywho, am now back in NYC and heading to The Hamptons tomorrow, so stay tuned…

June 4th 2008
Sex and the City

There’s something fishy in Sex and the City…. and it’s from HOLLYWOULD!

When super stylist Patricia Field borrowed our Spring 2008 wicker “Big Fish” handbag for filming, no one realized it would steal its own scene. While the four girlfriends are vacationing in Mexico, Miranda uses the bag to hide rose petals from Carrie, saving her from heartbreak.

Since the film’s release on Friday we’ve been inundated with requests to purchase the bag, which is a one-of-a-kind item.  The only bag in existence is the one held by Miranda on screen, so we’ve decided to hold an online auction for the actual bag that was filmed, benefiting the St.Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The auction will start on June 6, 2008 at www.charityfolks.com/hollywould and 100% of the proceeds will go to support the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

To get other one-of-a-kind HOLLYWOULD handbag, shop online under “Limited Edition” today!