Tuesday. Arrived late last night; hit the Caribou
Club which was packed as usual and is still the place to be. Aspen
has its usual
contrast of people – some who are out here to hang and ski,
and those who are out here to be "seen" – and seen
they are, and wow – a lot of plastic surgery going around.
It was a beautiful day, and warm too, so everyone was on the mountain.
Aspen has the most amazing skiing – four mountains and one ski
pass gives you access to all. Today I skiied Highlands which is
sort of known as the "locals" mountain and has some of
the best expert terrain as well as the famous Highlands Bowl. Buttermilk
is the beginner mountain. Aspen Mountain or Ajax is right in town
and then there is Snowmass – a huge amount to ski.
The best places to stay are still the Little Nell, the Brand Hotel
or the St Regis. Every night the toughest reservations to get at
restaurants are at Matsuhisa (it's Nobu), Pinons, Pine Creek Cookhouse
(you have to ski or take a sleigh to get there), Ajax Tavern or
of course the late Harley Baldwin’s Caribou Club which is “members
only” and with a waiting list as long as the airport runway.
Tonight.Jim and Andi Gordon (from
Chicago) and Bob
and Soledad Hurst from New York gave their annual cocktail
party. In the crowd:
Ann Nitze, Ann and Ed Hudson (Texas), Steve
Benson, Dan Abrams, Sara and Charlie Ayres, David Koch, John Damgard.
Lotsa celebs in town. I saw Jack Nicholson out skiing for the day.
Saw Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld, Mischa Barton, and that great big
fashion bear Andre Leon Talley of Vogue who was also at dinner
at Caribou with Ashley Schiff, Nathalie Kaplan and her brother
Edouard Gershel. The Caribou Club was packed.
Wednesday. The airport is full – you have
never seen so many private jets. Six inches of new snow today.
After the ski had cleared it
was great skiing. Supposedly Kate Moss is in town
but I don’t
know anyone who’s actually seen her. Other sightings: a lotta
New Yorkers too including Nicole Miller, Marcia
and Richard Mishaan, Lorne Micahels, Eric Eisner (son
of Michael),
KK Kravis, Jonathan Schulhof, author Barbara
Goldsmith, Seal and Heidi Klum, Congresswoman Jane Harman from
California and her husband
Sidney Harman.
By nightfall the stars were out. It was chilly but not cold, and
it is magical. Everything John Denver magical, everything he wrote
about in his songs.
Signed,
Yr devoted Rocky Mtn Snow Bunny
Jeanne
Lawrence reports from San Francisco
San
Francisco's Ferry Building
Nomadic New Yorkers seem to be everywhere. Here are a few that landed
in San Francisco recently, plus a few other happenings in the city.
Heather Randall Samples San Francisco
Cute
and blonde Heather Randall, widow of actor Tony
Randall, popped into
San Francisco to sample
the local flavor. Heather must enjoy the West Cost as she summered
with her two children in Malibu, where they have tons of friends.
California
Caviar at the Marketplace
Heather
Randall enjoying the local flavor
Heather definitely
has good taste (for things that taste good) as she discovered the
Tsar Nicolas Caviar Bar in the newly restored
landmark Ferry Building and Marketplace – the successful new
addition to San Francisco’s gastronomic delights.
The historic Ferry Building, with its noted 240-foot clock tower,
used to be the world’s second-busiest transportation terminal
and more than 250,000 passengers a day passed through its doors until
the 1930s, when the Bay Bridges was built.
Visionary San Franciscans have recently pumped new life into the
sprawling complex by adding a Farmers Market, (with more than 100
organic farmers participating), and food halls that represent the
best of the Bay Area. The Hog Island Oysters Co., Pccts Coffee, Scharffen
Berger Chocolate, Acme Bread, Cowgirl Creamery, McEvoy Olive Oil,
Sur La Table cookware store and a wine bar offer goodies inside – and
the list goes on.
In fact, on Saturday mornings, it has become the de rigueur social
outing to shop at the outdoor markets and meet friends for lunch
at the popular Vietnamese restaurant Slanted Door (if you can get
in), or at Doug Beiderbecke’s Marketbar with
its outdoor terrace.
Heather rushed back to Manhattan to prepare for the big charity event
she was chairing, the American Cancer Society’s annual Fall
Theatre Benefit, featuring a performance of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew
Broderick, that
mega-team from The Producers. The Society’s most successful
theatre benefit ever, it took in $375,000. Way to go Heather!
Big
decision
Let's
meet under the clock tower
Arriving
ferries
Sarah
Jessica Parker “Trumps” at Macy’s
Meanwhile,
at Macy’s at Union Square, crowds formed to meet
two of New York’s biggest TV stars. Charming Sarah
Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) autographed bottles of her new perfume
Lovely for the first 300 customers to make a purchase. And lovely
she must be, more than 2000 fans showed up.
Billionaire Donald Trump just missed the actress as the previous
week he launched his signature collection of men’s clothing
and furnishing accessories and fragrance. Now that he’s become
a really big star from his wildly successful TV show, The Apprentice, his fans stood in line for the Donald to personally autograph one
of his signature ties.
Sarah
Jessica Parker
Donald
Trump center stage
Clockwise
from above: Robert Mettler (President and Chairman
Macy's West) and Sarah; Sarah Jessica 's little fan;
KRON News
anchor Darya Folsom and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Trump
with Rudy Borneo (Vice Chairman Macy's West)
Trump
with fans
Autumn
Moon Festival
Chinatown Fetes
Autumn Moon
As if San Francisco’s
Chinatown was not colorful enough, in autumn families celebrate
the annual
Autumn Moon Festival, a kind of Thanksgiving for the summer harvest
and the fullness of the moon.
Historic Grant Avenue becomes a pedestrian-only street filled with
entertainment, musicians, arts and crafts, and, of course, the traditional
lions and dragons dance.
The bakeries are busy as the crowds line up to buy the traditional
moon cakes, the delectable pastries filled with sweet red bean or
lotus seed paste that are favorite gifts during the holidays.
Festival
fun
The
famous mooncakes
Traditional
dragon parades
Mai
Hallingby Harrison
SF
Chinatown's Grant Avenue
Festival
Prince and Princess
Everyone
is helping
Champagne
with Jamee Gregory under the Rotunda
Jamee
Gregory signs her book
If any of
author Jamee Gregory’s New York
friends missed her many book signing parties, they got
a second chance at the Neiman-Marcus
store on Union Square.
Her book New York Apartments: Private
Views (published by Rizzoli), with photographs by Nick
Hales, gives everyone
on the West coast the chance to salivate over the glamorous
homes of the likes of Joan Rivers, Marty Richards,
Georgette Mosbacher,
Carroll Petrie, Frederike Biggs, and Beth DeWoody.
It also includes designers such as Albert
Hadley, the late Mark
Hampton, Bunny Williams, Scott Snyder, David Easton, Brian
Murphy, and architect
Charles Gwathmey.
The champagne reception was held in the NM’s Rotunda
Restaurant with its historic glass dome, saved from the 1981
demolition of
the landmark City of Paris department store (circa 1896-1909).
Alas!
Still the restaurant is a favorite of the downtown shopping
crowd for its light and airy ambience and the wonderful view
of Union Square.
Nieman
Marcus' Rotunda Restaurant
Some
who attended included New Yorkers Mai Hallingby Harrison,
Hilary Geary Ross, Sotheby’s realtor Pat
Patterson, bi-coastal Jane and Lee Gammill and SF
locals Elsa and Rennie Spaulding, society hair stylist Alex
Chases, and NM manager
John Capizzi.
One guest bought so many books as gifts for her San Francisco buds, Neiman’s
promised to hand deliver them for her the next day. Is this the first of many,
Jamee?
Elsa
and Rennie Spaulding, Pat Patterson, and Mai Harrison
Jamee
Gregory and Rennie Spaulding
Lee
and Jane Gammill
Jamee
Gregory and Alex Chases
SF's
London Cabs
Guest
of honor O.J. Shansby and host Ann Moeller Caen
To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate — No
Question
Some of us want to forget our birthdays, but Ann Moeller
Caen remembered
her friend O.J. Shansby’s by hosting an exquisite luncheon
in the private dining room at the Four Seasons Hotel. It’s
as good a reason as any to see all your nearest and dearest.
Ann, the widow of the late Herb Caen, the witty
SF newspaper columnist, chose the perfect California menu of Cobb
Salad, California wine
and she decorated the tables with colorful flowers that everyone
raved about.
California
menu
Considered one of the best dressed in town, O.J., wearing a Tony
Duquette necklace and a different style earring on each
lobe, explained laughingly that she was not trying to set a trend,
she simply dressed
in a hurry. “Remember your birthday but not the year!” exclaimed
O.J.
One more thing to add to her hectic life is all the fuss of selling
Villa Shanel, their hillside Tuscan-inspired Sonoma home which was
designed by Sandy Walker with interiors by Suzanne Tucker.
It’s practically a steal at only $35 million, consisting of
360 acres that comprise an 11,000-square-foot house, pool, spa, guest
and caretaker house, riding stables with ring, greenhouse, gardens,
lake, and a 10-acre vineyard. Most of us would be satisfied just
to live in the Shanel Stables.
