Bergdorf Holidays on Ice

Once again, we come to the Holiday Season,

a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in our own way,

by going to the mall of our choice.
Dave Barry

Forget tree lighting at Rockefeller Center.  My favorite NYC tradition to welcome the holidays is marveling at the glamorous windows of Bergdorf Goodman.  This season, they feature a retrospective of the year’s holidays, all interpreted in “ice.” Guess which holiday for each photo that follows…

PC010998NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

Valentine’s Day features a delectable boudoir of roses, lilies, pastries, bon-bons, jewels and a glistening, icicle-laden chandelier.  If I were dressed in Giambattista Valli Couture and Oscar de la Renta gown and fur, I’d be smiling coyly like the mannequin, too.

PC011008NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

April Fool’s is a glamorous upside-down garden party including an Oscar de la Renta gown that defies gravity.

PC010988NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

A peek a boo masquerade in Halloween high Gothic by evening designer Naeem Khan’s custom onyx plumed gown.  A Swarovski crystal-flecked spider web drapes across a haunted mansion glazed in black ice–a replica of what was once the largest home in America, the Vanderbilt mansion on 5th Ave and 58th Street.

PC011014NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

Arbor Day would have been a sunny day in April dressed in Alexander McQueen Resort, but since it’s winter, this tree’s leaves and flowers are icy crystal.

PC011021NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

Note this fellow at her feet who eyes her heels with serious relief, “Whew!  Thank Goddess that isn’t me!”

PC011011NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

Fourth of July is a parade of patriotism across a full-scale Colonial building facade.  The drummer woman is in Rodarte and her dapper soldiers wear Thom Browne New York.  

PC011003NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

Don’t miss the small window for Groundhog Day with this little colleague and his scaled to size retro camera.

PC011028NYC-Bergdorf-Glamour-Boudoir-Portraits-Powerful-Goddess

No regrets as we look back on New Year’s Eve!

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your favorite holiday tradition.

xoxox

© Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

Email me

www.PowerfulGoddess.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

xoxox

Almost Famous Like Pippin

Don’t confuse fame with success.

Madonna is one, Helen Keller is the other.

Erma Bombeck

_S5A1925NYC-NJ-Glamour-Boudoir-Powerful-Goddess

“I’d love to watch Pippin!” my husband said and I pretend not to hear–quietly thrilled to get a birthday gift idea straight from the horse’s mouth.  His parents used to take him to watch all the original Broadway productions in his teens.  It was like coming full circle dragging our own teens–wondering “Who/What is Pippin?”–to watch this revival of a young man’s search for fulfillment and happiness.  For who wants to be famous?  Apparently every human with the urge to eat and procreate.

My favorite characters in the show include the grandmother who drops her old crone cape for a trapeze act with a muscle man, the stepmother who artfully insists  that even a queen is just another housewife and mother “Just like all you housewives and mothers out there!”, and the not so young widow who lets herself be bullied by the narrator, aware she’s getting old and can easily lose the part.

Ah, the yearnings of youth… the hankering for excitement and success that always remains a distant mirage!  As we grow older yet continue to feel the occasional pangs of such longing, what do we tell those  who miss the point of a grand finale stripped off fancy glitter and spectacular fireworks?

And what’s great about being less than famous?

1. You can be yourself–or explore your many selves–without worry if your choices fit the persona you’re supposed to be selling.

2. You’re not a commodity that’s hostage to arbitrary social rules and trends.

3. Your friends still like you even if you don’t tweet, post, comment, share, like,… at all.

Click on “Leave a comment” (above left) to add you take.

xoxox

_S5A1949NYC-NJ-Glamour-Boudoir-Powerful-Goddess

_S5A1921NYC-NJ-Glamour-Boudoir-Powerful-Goddess

_S5A1937NYC-NJ-Glamour-Boudoir-Powerful-Goddess

_S5A1923NYC-NJ-Glamour-Boudoir-Powerful-Goddess

© Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

Email me

www.PowerfulGoddess.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

Got Summer (Birthday) Plans?

When you come to a fork in the road,

take it.

Yogi Berra

MOMA Rain Room

My birthday coincides with the 4th of July weekend and here are a few ideas I have in mind to celebrate.  Photos from Google Images:

Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park

Open air dance party with different live orchestras performing the first three weeks of summer.  No heat, no rain, no storm stops this party!  Even if you don’t dance, you’ll catch yourself smiling seeing everyone having a great time under the stars.  Polish your disco shoes and see you on the dance floor for Hustle on July 11th!

Lincoln Center Midsummer Night Swing

A Gondola Ride in Central Park

Pair dinner at the Boathouse with a reservation for the one and only gondola outside of Venice (and Vegas, of course). You’ll feel like the Queen of the World as you glide across the quiet lake banked by foliage you can’t find in Venice. Let the gondolier serenade you with his repertoire of Italian arias as you wonder if he ever asks his wife, “Honey, do these stripes make me look fat?”

Central Park gondola ride

The Ride in NYC

I’m dragging the family to pretend we’re tourists in NYC on this combination sightseeing bus and street theater–not your usual city tour.

The Ride NYC

Rain Room at the MOMA

Sing in the rain without getting soaked at this genius installation by the British design studio rAndom International.  Artificial rain pours down constantly while a dry spot follows you around.  3D sensors detect your presence creating a haven whichever way you go.  Shouldn’t we always feel this lucky?

MOMA Rain Room

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to add to this list of fun summer possibilities.  xoxox

%d bloggers like this: