vip in the city

The other side of Paradise

A clearing among the black, jagged lavafields of the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park:

Check out the first of the Hawai’i photos on flickr for a preview glimpse of our visit to the Hula Daddy Kona coffee plantation and the historic village of Holualoa on the lush slopes of Mount Hualalai.

Tags: coffee, Hawaii, Holualoa, Kaloko-Honokohau, Kona

The long road to Kona

18 hours after my 4AM shuttle pick-up to Newark, a change of planes at O’Hare (my first time in Chicago!), one long meal-less flight and a mad dash through the Honolulu airport, I missed my inter-island flight to Kona… by five minutes.

The missed connection set me back another two hours, but gave me ample opportunity to consider whether $4 was an exorbitant price for a bottle of water. (I decided: Yes.)  And also to snap a few photos of the  tarmac with the misty-topped Hawaiian mountains in the distance.

Despite my aversion to small planes, the flight itself was brief and uneventful. Half an hour later: The Big Island at last!

Tags: airport, Hawaii, vacation

A peek at the A-List

Just returned from Bravo’s “A-List Awards” show at the Hammerstein Ballroom. I will reserve most of my commentary for after the show’s airing next Thursday, June 12, but in the meantime, here are a few of our photos from the evening. Red carpet arrivals here.

Host Kathy Griffin, channeling Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys. (Check out a brief clip of her show opening performance here.)

Top Chef contingent (+ Project Runway Season 1 winner Jay McCarroll):

Project Runway Season 4 winner (and new Brooklynite) Christian Siriano and Tim Gunn. So we meet again!:

Molly Sims:

A bizarrely loopy Lauren Hutton (more on this later — wow) and Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi:

Tyson Beckford and Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch:

Stylist and future Bravo reality star Rachel Zoe and Tim Gunn:

Tags: A-List, awards, Bravo, Hammerstein Ballroom, Kathy Griffin, midtown