Nov 1, 2019

New Orleans Getaway + Creative Women's Dinner

Sis and I — with our digital brand manager Juliana in tow — headed down to New Orleans for a few days in October. We were invited by our fantastic retailer Pilot and Powell (think: Ganni, Rosie, and Marni!) to sit on a panel with our dear friend Jessie Randall of Loeffler Randal. But it wasn't all fashion talk: We hosted our most recent Creative Women's Dinner, where we met some of the city's incredible women (from activists to urban farmers to writers to brand strategists and graphic designers), hunted some of NoLa's great antique stores for treasures, and visited Sunday Shop — an interiors store that has long been a go-to, inspiring IG account to follow but is even more amazing in the flesh. (It's also helmed by three awesomely creative women)!

Exploring

Sunday Shop:

I've always favorited the vintage vessels and antique furniture that pepper the Sunday Shop IG feed, but to see (and smell!) this store in person was heaven. I want my home to look like this. And there's a Byredo and Aesop fragrance room in the back. I could have hung out all day!

Consign Consign:

As many of you know, I LOVE a jug. I also love a treasure hunt, so when I heard about Consign Consign, an antique store where pieces are marked down the longer they sit on the shop floor, I knew I had to take a peak. When Juliana spotted this antique French Olive Oil Jug (reduced to $25!), I was sold...shout out to Kathryn for packing my shoes, so this guy could squeeze in my carry-on! It will be perfect for an interior project I have in the works (stay tuned!).

Century Girl Vintage:

Speaking of treasure hunts, we loved discovering Century Girl Vintage... Unlike some vintage stores that are packed to the gills with sequins and fur, this spot was beautifully and carefully curated. Kathryn left with the coolest beaded bolero (which pairs perfectly with the Bon Vivant Earrings).

Food & Lodging

Bacchanal catered our Creative Womens Dinner at Hotel Peter and Paul, and the food was stellar - fresh and delicious with hints of traditional NoLa flavor (hello roasted gulf shrimp!) The Elysian Bar at the hotel also deserves a shout out: cocktails in the evening, and perfect oat milk lattes and insanely good savory scones in the morning what could be better? Local baker Beth Biundo created cookies for our event at Pilot & Powell that were out of this world, and owns an old-fashioned neighborhood bakery that's definitely worth a visit. The food scene in this city is worth exploring, and on my next visit (which better be soon!) I have Shaya, Lilette, N7, Paladar 511 and Cane & Table on my list (at the latter, I hear they serve the best cocktail in a gorgeous, throwback setting).

Creative Women's Dinner

Kathryn and I love meeting fellow entrepreneurs and creative women. A few years ago, after moving from our SoHo 5th floor walk up to a larger apartment in Brooklyn, where we finally had a dinner table, we decided to invite a handful of women (who really didn't know each other) over for lasagna and some good conversation. The result? People were talking well into the night, exchanging phone numbers and forming friendships, and we realized how magical it is to introduce cool gals doing interesting things. We're so lucky that our work requires travel-- for both inspiration and events-- and we've brought the Creative Women Dinner concept with us to Los Angeles, Charleston and Austin.

Despite knowing very few people in New Orleans, we were able to cobble together a list of incredible females we wanted to know and invited them to a seated dinner at The Church at Hotel Peter & Paul. The result was a joyous evening in a spectacular, humbling space. Guests ranged from designers to writers to activists to urban farmers (check out Pistil and Stamen who graciously lent their talents for our centerpieces), and Kathryn and I left so grateful for the incredible community of women that our work consistently introduces us to!

XX,

LF