Hermesmatic-able Me!

I will never be able to top the seven birthdays I celebrated in Paris, a dream that came more than true during my extended Hermes buying trips in the '90's.  Some were shared with the models from the men's fashion shows and included champagne toasts in iconic venues throughout the city; others included candles in Ile Flottante brought to our table by serenading waiters met earlier in the year while vacationing in a colleague's St Barth's home. Still others included dates along the Seine with overtures by resident Frenchmen attempting to lure innocent young careerists permanently to the City of Light.  "I will get you a job at L'Oreal, you can stay here, with me..."

London came close one year at the annual American Embassy picnic, also shared with Hermes friends and patriots, preceded by Paris and followed by a pilgrimage first to Biarritz then to Bilbao, Spain to visit the Guggenheim in its inaugural summer.  Lost luggage led to a found friend in the form of a Basque born taxi/tour driver who escorted me directly to the feet of the Jeff Koons Puppy at the museum, stopping in San Sebastian and other points of interest along the way and directing me to hop out of the car to run down narrow stone streets, have a quick look-see and run back to the car.  At one point, he pulled up to a dusty roadside truck stop to have an espresso, not the road trip companion I imagined for my European vacation but a safe ride, nonetheless...

Mexico City was magical during another chapter of retail adventures, with a visit to The Palace of Fine Arts to see the dramatic murals of Diego Rivera, followed by days of the heaviest monsoons I have ever witnessed.   While staying in Vallarta during the same trip, a 200 year old tree literally uprooted and toppled sideways during a storm while we were all sleeping in a villa once owned by Elizabeth Taylor.  The heavy smell of dirt and earth enveloped us as we woke in the pitch black night, sure there must have been an avalanche. By the light of morning, it was as if a crater had left a big hole in the courtyard patio and exposed us to the searing hot sun, as well as to the surrounding neighbors. Our hosts sat in their night clothes and literally shed tears....

There have been birthdays spent in New Jersey with my mother's famous sponge cake, strawberries and whipped cream; on sunny Hamptons beaches; with fireworks while boating off the coast of Connecticut on the Long Island Sound; and birthdays enjoyed in the cool air of Vail mountain, too;  even one with a late night surprise birthday chorus at my apartment door, led by none other than my best friend's four children.

Given I deferred the idea of traveling to London to see the Balenciaga exhibit and to Paris to see the Dior retrospective launching later this week, it became a Big Apple birthday this year.  With a nod to Paris, I welcomed the Hermesmatic update to my Early America scarf (and to me) a few weeks ago in June, in honor of 80 years of the Hermes silk carre.

Renewed, revived and dip dyed, I am celebrating my birthday and Fourth of July in signature Hermes orange style, with a touch of vintage pink... I think George and Martha would approve.

at Hermesmatic Pop Up, Meatpacking, June....
thank you to Alison Di Lorenzo and Christina May Ho for the photo magic...
blouse, now vintage Kenzo, purchased in Paris...