Jumping Continents

Four Continents in Three Weeks!

It's not for everyone!  I wasn't planning to exactly jump four continents in three weeks, but things just kept coming up!

I'm going to New York because in early June The CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) are having their annual awards dinner and my girls Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte are once again up for Women's Wear Designer of the Year.  If they don't get it this time I may not be responsible for my response!

I'm wearing their Rainbow Ensemble from their famous cemetery show in New York last September in the pouring rain. I asked for an extra layer under the rainbow lace, and I'm hoping for the best for Kate and Laura, who are the best designers working in this country!

Then I'm going on to London, where I will leave one of my suitcases with my usual hotel, and then on to Gatwick Airport, where I will spend the night because the following morning at an ungodly hour I am flying to Marrakesh, where my friends JC and Brent are getting married!  It's hard to believe I've known JC since she was not even 20 and now she's getting married!  And even though she has planned an exquisite wedding thousands of miles from where she lives (in Berkeley), she took the time to bring me an Intention Candle just before she left, which I burned for 72 hours (never unattended, mind you), only to find three crystals at the bottom when the candle was finished burning!  My intention is to find out what exactly my intentions are!  At my age, I think I ought to be focused on that!

Here is the Ungaro 2008 caftan I plan to wear to the wedding.  I first wore it in Marrakesh 11 years ago!  You can imagine, for a fashionista , this is heaven!  I'll have spa treatments between the festivities and hope I can book a hammam.  Aftr the wedding, I'm leaving at the crack of dawn (just two days after arriving in Marrakesh) to fly to Casablanca, to catch a flight to Abu Dhabi where my kids live!  I thought it was a hop, skip and a jump from Morocco to Abu Dhabi.  It's an eight hour flight! From Africa to the Middle East!  It's really far!

I'll probably be so exhausted by the time I get to Abu Dhabi that it's a good thing I bought these Dries Van Noten pajamas in two colours, orange and blue!  I can put on heels and jewelry and pretend I'm awake!  But my five year old granddaughter Isold doesn't allow any nonsense! On my last visit in January, I decided to teach Isold my beauty routine. As I used my cleansers and splashed my face thirty times like Erno Laszlo (remember him) taught us in the eighties, Isold blurted out, "Oh Granny, that's so old fashioned!  Mommy uses a sonic brush!"  I was so taken aback and ashamed you can bet I bought a sonic brush as soon as I could, and my California makeup artist who works with me when I go out to important (at least in some minds') galas or events told me my skin felt smoother  (and not even prompted by me)!  And if I can't get a hamman in Marrakesh, I can get one at the Emirates Palace Hotel, probably the most beautiful hammam in the world. Just being with my kids will be heaven.

Then I'm fairly crazy!  NOOOOOO!  The American Friends of the V&A are offering a "best of Scotland" trip and I thought it would be fun for my friend Kate Dixey and me to go, as we both have Scottish blood flowing in our veins!  I'm no fan of Prince Charles per se but I'm looking forward to seeing his renovation of Dumfries house.  We can't deny he has taste.

Looks very beautiful to me. And as you can see it was featured in Architectural Digest. 

And here's my fantasy of how it will all be!  Did you know that Scottish doctors are now prescribing Vitamin D supplements to Scottish kids because there is so little sun?  So you see, I'm going from a New York fashion party to Marrakesh to the true heat of Abu Dhabi to the coldest country in a given European country during the summer.  No one twisted my arm!  I signed up for this adventure! Eight hours back to London from Abu Dhabi, the divine V&A Summer Party where I will reprise the Rodarte Rainbow ensemble and probably scandalise the American Friends of the V&A, who tend to play it down, to put it mildly. And then a Scottish escapade!

Well, that's Little Missy's Continent skipping!  I'm wishing all my  readers a wonderful summer, filled with adventures and books and some down time!  This year it's all about self-love.  Self-love is the biggest buzz word except for the color chartreuse!  So find a chartreuse swim suit or trunks and dive into the season!

With love, Little Missy