My second RADAR story just came out in CS! The piece is called Sui Dreams, which references the launch of Anna Sui's collection at Target, for the Designer Collaboration series. Her inspirations are the characters of Gossip Girls. Check out the story in the September issue, on stands now all over Chicago, or online at Modern Luxury.

Macy’s decked out the entire seventh floor of their State Street store (old Marshall Field’s flagship) for the Glamorama after party. It’s amazing how fast the space was transformed. I got a sneak peak a few hours before the show and much of the décor was unfinished. But lo and behold, when the show was over the ambiance was finished, and perfect for the night’s festivities.

Macy’s delivered, with rooms separated by activity and color. Scrumptious munchies—including mini BLTs, orzo, chicken kabobs, raspberry sorbet, pistachio gelato, bread pudding and more—were displayed atop cobalt blue tables, seen when first entering the floor. If that wasn’t enough, candy girls circulated the rooms, handing out assortments of treats from their portable shelf. Wii stations, DDR and photo booths entertained guests while they sipped Patron drinks like the Glamorito, a mojito with Red Pepper mix (yes, it’s as bad as it sounds). Taking a corner, a Grecian fountain welcomed guests into a room with lime green furniture, body painting and a virtual golf game.

But it wouldn’t be a party without some dancing. A stage extended from the floor, under an adult-size mobile. It was like prom—a DJ mixed tracks, couples danced on stage and others stood around, awkwardly watching.

Chicago welcomed Macy’s annual fashion and music experience, Glamorama, last Friday evening. The theme was fusion—a mix and match of patterns, decades and price points. Artists included Ne-Yo (known for Closer and Miss Independent), Jadyn Maria (Ne-Yo’s apprentice) and The New Standards (a jazz trio that re-mastered Britney’s Toxic).

The show, benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, was commenced with Miss Piggy rolling in on a motorcycle. After the Muppet made her debut, the musical artists performed in between runway shows by Jean Paul Gaultier, Sportmax, Just Cavalli, CNC Costume National, MaxMara, Philosophy Di Alberta Ferretti, Sonia Rykiel and Marc Jacobs.

A collection of note included Ferretti’s ‘20s line, complete with flapper frocks and bobs, along with an Indian music video backdrop. The Rykiel line included luxury furs, gowns and sequin hair accessories. It was accompanied by a video of models primping for their show. Gaultier models went Goth, strutting across the stage with long-stem roses and an attitude.

As interesting as the show started, the finale was the real showstopper. The audience (of mostly women) cheered as men in boxer briefs and briefs strutted down the stage to It’s Raining Men. Oh, but that’s not all folks. Water began pouring down on the models, mid swagger. I can’t quite say I’ve seen such a literal presentation of the song.

Macy's

Check out the August issue of CS for my story Every Day With Rachel Roy. This piece, in The Radar Now section, references the Rachel Roy collection featured at Macy's.

Last week I whisked myself off to opening night of the Gen Art Film Festival to see (500) Days of Summer, starting Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Director Marc Webb and Gordon-Levitt, or "the guy from 3rd Rock from the Sun" as I like to refer to him, were in attendance to support the film.

After Gordon-Levitt briefly pronounced his love for Chicago, the curtains rose and the short with the not so short title The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon was revealed. The basic plot of this movie trailer: a guy is slowly murdered by way of…a spoon. Tries and tries he does to fight back with a chain saw, knife and gun but there’s no stopping the power of the spoon!

Next was the feature presentation of (500) Days of Summer, which debuted at Sundance. The narrator forewarns that the movie you are about to see is not a love story. It starts out on day 500 with a girl (Deschanel), beautifully clad as always, and a boy (Gordon-Levitt), as skinny as ever, sitting on a park bench, hand on hand. The girl has an engagement ring. Then rewind to day 1—the meeting.

Now the audience is captivated and the calendar changes days. This screen is gray with a tree that changes by season, and weather that changes with the mood of the relationship. Gordon-Levitt's character Tom falls for Summer, Deschanel's character. Summer does not reciprocate the love. It is a story about relationships and love, but not between the main characters.

Last Saturday I visited the Four Seasons Chicago to work my last CS event, as a Marketing & Events Intern. It was quite sad but I sure ended with a BANG!

An Adventure with George Lucas was a befitting title for the soirée, hosted by The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The center would present their Visionary Award for Innovation in Filmmaking to George himself.

The event commenced with a press line, featuring only the important people, for interviews and photographs from the media. George was accompanied by girlfriend Mellody Hobson, president of Chicago’s Ariel Investments and a Good Morning America Financial Contributor. Soon after, Jon Favreau made his way down the line.

After the celeb sighting came the cocktail hour, equipped with R2-D2 shots, Leia girls (with their hair sticking out of the faux buns) and movie reels. And after getting drunk on the abundant theme of Star Wars, guests headed to the Grand Ballroom. Spaceships and saber-inspired bread greeted the attendants.

As the photographer and I stood against the wall, servers carried trays of delectable cuisine. After cleansing the pallet, a dish with layers of what looked like watermelon and cream cheese was presented. Next came a mini double-double backed potato, aside a hearty steak. And for dessert, Four Seasons Chicago’s renowned Chef Kevin Hickey whipped up what I believe was a mini sorbet milkshake and delicious pastry.

Once in a food coma, tastemakers were treated with an interview. Jon Favreau posed questions to George Lucas about his filmmaking style and intertwined morals. This was all very interesting. We found out that George is a fan of mythology. What Greeks believed back in the day has transcended to what we believe now. It’s a clue into why we think the way we do. He also loves to story tell, hence the reason he is a producer, director and writer of movies. (Though, he does not enjoy writing. He purely wrote his own screenplays because he felt unattached to direct someone else’s baby.) He believes that we “use technology to share emotions” such as the first caveman who drew on a wall, then realized if he mixed berries that the colors would make the painting more realistic. This primitive “technology” expressed their believes about buffalo’s godly significance. And I had no idea about the magnitude of technologies that he and his team have implemented—such as one of the first morphing technologies, in Willow, and stop-motion animation, in Jurassic Park.

He also touched on his many theories. One of which I thought was most interesting is called Circus Theory. “Throw a puppy on a freeway” and you’ll capture your audience, George spouted out.

Lastly, before George was presented with his award, he chatted about his interest in capturing the human struggle, coming from a “no you can’t” attitude or situation and turning it around to a “yes I can” moment that’s truly American.

First it was The Isaac, now it’s The Gunn. Not only are they both hosts of Bravo-originated fashion competitions, but they also appeared at Chicago Social events I worked. On Wednesday (June 10), I came face-to-face with Project Runway’s Tim Gunn at the CS event introducing the menswear line Claiborne by John Bartlett.

Gunn, the Creative Director of Liz Claiborne, not only smiled and said “Hi!” when I entered the room, but also stopped on his way out to personally thank us “check-in” girls. My heart melted! He IS nice!

(Photo credit: The Heart Truth.)