Ali Takes Paris—and Gary Graham

Photograph: The New York Times
I just learned that I'm headed off to Paris for 10 days in October to report on behind-the-scenes shopping and the all-around Good Life in the City of Light (fancy hotels and restaurants, private fashion shows and cooking classes, perfume workshops and hair and makeup sessions and the like). I know, tough life, right? I'm giving thanks to the goddesses of good fortune!

In any case, as excited as I am to visit (and shop in) Paris again, I'm especially stoked to drop into New York for a few hours to see the new Gary Graham boutique at ABC Carpet & Home. Anyone who knows me knows I'm smitten with GG clothes—it's my one splurge—so I was giddy to hear about his new boutique opening early last month.

Except so far I've heard little about it! I'm curious about which pieces he is selling—I love the new shibori dress and striped shirt/skirt—not to mention what the overall experience is like. Have you been to the new boutique and loved it…or hated it?

Seattle Bride on Northwest Afternoon

Last week I was asked back as a guest on Northwest Afternoon—this time to chat about fall bridal trends and Seattle Bride's 10th anniversary issue. Once again a fantastic team of talented bridal vendors and coworkers helped me out, especially Elizabeth Tveit at Tiger Oak Publications, Stephanie Cristalli Photography, Judy Tallant of Tallant House (yum!), Christiane Zweifler of Flora Nova, Miya Ferguson of willow&bloom, Gayle O'Donnel at All About Weddings, Stephanie Solomon of Solomon Event Planning and E.E. Robbins. Enjoy!

The Long and Short in the news!

As evidenced by total lack of posts, I took the summer off from blogging. But now I'm back with some fun news about The Long and Short of It. Google Alerts (love this feature) tipped me off to this cute article about my book in the Style Matters section of the Rocky Mountain News. It's always great to read positive reviews and these gals seem like a kick. I'll certainly be back to their column to check out their Style Matters blog and read more about the history of the skirt.