[Marc Jacob's fall '08 show via NY Mag]

Tomorrow is the start of a brand new month. It is the day that City Bakery will launch their annual Hot Chocolate Festival, the day that marks the end of my least favorite month of January, the day that people start thinking about love...oh, and did I mention it marks the start of the Mercedes-Benz NY FASHION WEEK!? For most of the world this means that things will continue as usual. For us, it means that our city goes into a sort of coked-up fairy land that may even be too fabulous for our own good. It's funny but I find myself picking out even my every day outfits more carefully during fashion week...scheduling time to hit up Lululemon for some hip black workout gear, as EVERYONE is on their toes (right?) For some reason, this Spring's fashion week really snuck up on me, I feel completely unprepared. I haven't even started any email-polls about whether or not Marc Jacobs will start less than an hour late this year. And how will I even bear to go, now that I will be unable to stare at Heath in the front row? Jesus, my invites haven't even been rsvp'd to. Rock & Republic is doing their party at 1 Oak Saturday night? How did I miss this? amfAR?s New York Gala is tonight? Okay deep breaths...I'll just have to take it one day at a time. Yes, this weekend may turn out to be a bit of a shit show, as all of my favorites will become PACKED with ultra fabulous fashioniers...but I must remember to share, we are all in this together, it's only a week, and it's part of the reason I love New York...because all eyes will be on us, yet again.

[Photo via Jakob Lodwick, via Silicon Alley]

For those of you who haven't heard of tumblr yet, its a new short-form blogging platform by 21-year old David Karp, that has been growing at a feverish pace. Think of a mash-up between Wordpress and Twitter. It has an extreme ease of use, enough dexterity to allow users to express themselves, and a feeling of ownership that far exceeds that of social-networks. Moreover, it engenders a very tight-knit community of fellow bloggers. Jakob Lodwick, of college humor and Vimeo fame, recently posted the following entry about the platform and its recent growth.

I imagine these numbers will just continue to grow as more people discover that maintaining your own blog is more satisfying than maintaining a profile on a social networking site. As I?ve said before, a comparison to being a homeowner vs. living in a housing project is appropriate.

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Tell us something we didn't already know! Everyone Hearts NYC, it's the center of the universe, the only city Madonna can stand long enough to write an entire song for that is now being played in gyms across the world. It's the epicenter of fashion, nightlife, and culinary cuisines...a place where you can get anything delivered to you at the drop of a hat. Ok we'll stop being city-centric for a second, and take a step back. So, we all heart New York obviously, (we choose to live in closets for $2,500 a month), but we just didn't get the depth of people's love for our city. Apparently everyone down in Arizona is picking up New York Giants swag in anticipation of the Super Bowl. Patriots gear seemed like an obvious choice, but according to the Post, Giant's wares are flying out the door, not those of Tom Brady and company.

"We've totally sold out of Giants stuff," said the cashier at Just Sports. "Nobody wants the Patriots stuff, everybody is into New York."

In other news, droves of escorts are flocking to Phoenix from Las Vegas and Los Angeles, so expect a very "classy" crowd, lots of intelligent conversation....just don't expect to see Eli Manning within a 10 mile radius.

In line of keeping up with the Joneses, Todd Oldham of Old Navy has decided to do an entire revamp of the store, focusing on making designer inspired fabulous fashion pieces at discount prices. As one fashion blogger notes:

"(I was) pleasantly surprised when I saw the new Old Navy commercial (shown below). It features fair-isle sweaters in stylish cuts that may even be cuter than the $200 Charlotte Ronson sweaters I've noticed on shopbop" [Dress.]

You can't overlook the choice of models in the video either, some great picks. The launch party for the "New Old Navy" was held last night at the Eyebeam Atelier on 21st Street, and the store's PR people did a fabulous job of making sure all the popular 20-somethings were there including Gossip Girl's Blake Lively and Chace Crawford, Hayden Panettiere, Sophie Bush and Kristen Bell. What I am left wondering is why the fuck Richie Rich (of Heatherette fame) was there with Traver Rains? Um, one of these things is not like the other? Richie is about as far away as it gets from being a 20 year old girly diva. Or maybe he fit right in?

[Richie Rich Rocks Our World]

Here's how the phone conversation went:

Cheesecake Shop Employee: "Thank you for calling cheesecake shop, how can I help you?"
Customer: "I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week." Cheesecake Shop Employee: "What you want on the cake?"
Customer: '"Best Wishes Suzanne', underneath that, 'We will miss you'."

[New England Clam Chowder vs. Manhattan Clam Chowder]

Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend, and though I am not a particular fan of the NFL, I have been bombarded with football paraphenilia ever since the Giants beat those 'lil Packers and would like to share with you what I have learned thus far:

• Both teams have the same colors, so as long as I'm in red, white, and blue, I should be able to make friends on both sides.

• Tom Petty is the halftime entertainer....but the Phoenix Stadium that the game is being played in has a strict policy regarding illegal substances so his music will probably not sound as good as it did at the last concert you were at of his.

• Popular sunset blvd hotspot Hyde is opening a Super Bowl lounge in Scottsdale for the big game. We agree with Miss Meyer that it is sure to be the best spot to do some celeb-spotting in Arizona this weekend.

• Regarding the lead players...On the one side we've got Tom Brady, the guy who's dating supermodel Gisele after he "traded-up" from Bridget Moynahan (did we mention he first impregnated her?). On the other side we have Eli Manning, who sometimes looks like he doesn't have all the lights on upstairs.

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[Photo from the NY Times]

Yesterday, presidential candidates Rudolph W. Giuliani (Repubican) and John Edwards (Democrat) dropped out of the race. Rudy will now be lending his support to John McCain (the two are pictured above....doesn't McCain look super excited? ha). Edwards will now lend his support to Obama, the candidate that has served as inspiration for New Yorker Pete Weiss who's been singing his heart out for the candidate in Union Sqare. Weiss tells NY Mag that:

"He just makes me want to sing,"

[Photo via NY Mag]

He has been playing his accordion and singing what he describes as "gut check" songs, like "This Land Is Your Land," "You are My Sunshine," and "Country Roads," for MTA riders...proving that you don't have to be wealthy to support your candidate...I may vote for the guy based solely on the quality of this man's song selection.

-Justin Krebs of Drinking Liberally during last night's State of the Union Address [Metro]

[Photo from Metro]
Last night, the NY Young Republicans, the NY Young Democrats, and the New York branches of Living Liberally and Generation Engage all met as one, to toast to the last State of the Union Address George W. Bush will ever give. At least he was good for something...uniting us as all as one.

[Photo via St Barth Observer]

Gossip Girl here, last I heard, things were about to get down and dirty on a little island called St. Bart?s...

Scene VI. Welcome to The Temptress
The cars unload the guests, and the crew of The Temptress carry their bags on board the Yacht where Chuck and Nate are waiting with bottles of champagne in their hands. Chuck theatrically steps up on a ladder, and raising one arm out as in a toast, addresses the group in a melodramatic manner:

Chuck: ?Welcome, Welcome. Welcome aboard my humble little craft, the Temptress. May she tempt you, pleasure you, and enchant you. Please line up in an orderly fashion so that I may hand you your key with your room assignment. I hope I got it all correct, we wouldn?t want any wrong pairings to happen this weekend (he glances slyly over to Blair, holding eye contact for much longer than necessary). You have exactly T minus two hours until we head out to the Russell Simmon?s Party at the Hotel Carl Gustav?..

They get their room keys with who they will be sharing with. The one master room is broken down into 2 bunk beds. Chuck assigned the following to share that room: Himself, Nate, Serena, and Blair. This obviously poses a HUGE problem.

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So who is this Joe Barney figure we've been hearing about lately whose the new beau of socialite and heiress Lydia Hearst? Well, apparently Barney is the musical persona of Joe Freimuth. So Barney is Freimuth, and Freimuth is Barney. Think Finkel and Einhorn from Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

In any event, the 6'0" 185 lbs. Joe, that is Freimuth, was a former Duke University hockey player and personal trainer. Now he is Joe Barney, an aspiring musician and socialite significant other. According to the observer, Lydia and Joe both attended Wilton High School and recently linked up after re-bonding at their five-year high school reunion. Joe's Myspace page reads, "My EP, Love So Far, will be released on iTunes in about two weeks." (Jan 14th) I wonder if this song will include a tincture of Lydia, his muse. (And btw, how many others has she held that title for?)

[The Factory 2.0, Without Warhol]

Xavier Rudd, the musician, the "bare-footer", the Australian-who-married-the-Canadian, the aboriginal, and the vegetarian....will, for me, be forever known as the guy who blows out of those long wooden pipes. They are actually called didgeridoos and Xavier learned to play them by practicing on vacuum cleaner hoses. He has been described as a "one-man band for the modern age", and after seeing him perform last night at NY's Nokia theater, I could see why. Sitting on a bench in front of his didgeridoos, Rudd managed to go back and forth between the pipes, harmonica, guitars of all kinds, Burton's Yirdaki's, lapsteels by Tim Kill, Djembe drums, shakers, a stomp box, banjos, bells and vocals. The New York Times has said:

"...Xavier Rudd plays jazzy, syncopated guitar as he broods, something like Dave Matthews with an occassional toot of a didjeridu.

And of course, he has quite the popular fan base including bongo lover Matthew McConaughey. Last night's show was full of crazy Aussies who respectfully swayed their lighters while Rudd played out his tribute to Heath (the middle song in video above). Rudd was probably in town for Australia Week and will most likely be leaving soon for a sunnier scene to frolic around bare foot in.

[Happy Australia Day!]

The latest Crimson article, entitled Lampoon Nails Paris, Dupes Press says it all. They got us, well actually they didn't get us. We called this one a mile away. When Paris Hilton announced that she was going to get an award at Harvard, it seemed pretty obvious that this was the Lampoon up to their usual tricks. And did we say we were right? Ok, enough patting ourselves on the proverbial back. We have to hand it to The Crimson staff for their choice of the verb "nails". Now the Lampoon can join the long and undistinguished list of those who have "nailed" Paris.