february 2007

02/26/07

~Maria and I got to hang out on Saturday and I finally got to see her new dog Rocky! He is so cute and so BIG, I brought him a new squeaky dog toy which he just loved. After playing with Rocky we went to the movies to see "The Number 23" which we both liked and would definitely recommend to anyone that likes thrillers. -erica

02/12/07

~The wedding invitations are officially out! I can't believe the wedding is now 2 months away. It's very exciting but at the same time, it's kind of nerve -racking! Now it's actually coming soon and there is still so much to do! I'm thinking John might have been right when he was lobbying for us to elope! -heather

02/05/07

~If you check out my craving for the month you’ll see that I wanted a home for Trixie and all the other dogs at the New Rochelle Humane Society. Well, my craving came true – Trixie was adopted! Better yet, my parents decided to adopt Kodiak from the shelter this past weekend! He’s the most adorable, huggable, bear of a dog you’ll ever meet and I can’t wait until he comes home. He’s been renamed Rocky by my dad, which I have to say suits him well, but I’ll always think of him as Bear! -maria

january 2007

~Brrrr…I just got back from Sundance! It was so much fun (and a lot of hard work!). We were part of a gifting suite (The Green House) and we met a lot of cool people (and of course, there were some celeb sightings). While Greg & I were walking down Main Street in our new, warm Moncler jackets we spotted: Anthony Hopkins, Christian Slater, Tara Reid, Nick Cannon, Kyra Sedgwick, Scott Speedman, Jamie Kennedy…..We also picked up some really cool shirts from The Secession. We didn’t get a chance to hit the slopes or catch some movies, but I did get a glimpse of Justin Timberlake! That counts for something! -candace

01/22/07

~So, even though I got back from my honeymoon not that long ago, it just kills me to not have a vacation to look forward to. I decided I had to plan something even if it was a while from now…so this morning I just booked a spontaneous trip to Mexico in May! I’ve heard so many good things about The Royal Hideaway Hotel and it’s an all-inclusive so now we don’t have to worry about anything—we can just show up and eat endless burritos & margaritas. This may be the highlight of Phil’s year since he loves Mexican food more than anything else. Four months to go until we’re luxuriating in the Riviera Maya…yay! -alexis

01/11/07

~While I'm craving a perfect dinner date I should follow that up with the perfect dessert! What could be better than going to NYC’s famed Serendipity for The Grand Opulence Sundae? I know. It sounds crazy $1,000 for an ice cream sundae? But, The Golden Opulence Sundae is the "World's most expensive sundae", and was created to celebrate Serendipity's 50th Anniversay last year. Made with 5 scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23K edible gold leaf, the sundae is drizzled with the world's most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana, and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. It is topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert caviar that's sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and Armagnac. The sundae is served in a Baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold spoon!-jasen

01/08/07

~This weekend Greg and I decided to add a little culture to our lives…so, we headed to the MET!! The Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde exhibit was amazing! It ended on Sunday, so we were just in time to check out all of the fun paintings! I’d have to say besides being obsessed with everything Egyptian (it dates back to a Mummy I saw in 4th grade at the Museum of Science), I really enjoyed the Nan Kempner: American Chic exhibit!! The clothes are just beautiful…there’s a reason she was the most renowned members of the Best-Dressed List’s Hall of Fame! There were so many Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino and Chanel pieces! If you’re a fashionista, I urge you to check it out!! -candace

december 2006

~On Wednesday night we had our annual tarte holiday party hosted by Maureen. It was an amazing time as always, this year we had a wine & cheese tasting theme with a cheese expert. Alexis (cheese-aholic) was in heaven and showed off all her amazing cheese knowledge and everyone else learned a lot and enjoyed themselves. Maureen and her husband Scott cooked an amazing dinner that everyone couldn't stop raving about, followed by desserts galore! We really need to make this party a monthly event instead of just once a year.-erica

12/07/06

~We’re celebrating here at tarte—seal the deal (our lip sealant & supergloss duo) won a Redbook MVP Beauty Award!! This morning Maureen and I attended the magazine’s Third Annual MVP Beauty Awards breakfast at the Bryant Park Grill in NYC. It was so pretty and festive (and the food was delish)! Not to mention, there were so many fun beauty, skincare and haircare companies that were honored! From Dr. Brandt to Oscar Blandi, there were a lot of beauty gurus in the house! If you check out the December issue of the mag you can see all of the winners!-candace

12/04/06

~This past Friday the tarte team had the amazing oppurtunity to be a part of a Habitat for Humanity build. Along with a donation we decided to actually go and help out. We joined the QVC beauty team up in Coatsville, PA where Habitat was is in the process of rebuilding a community and creating some amazing homes for very deserving families! There was a lot of painting, sanding, hammering and Maureen was even hanging drywall! We had a great day and hopefully we'll continue to be apart of this great cause. -erica

november 2006

11/29/06

~I am beyond excited—I just found out that I got into an intensive perfume workshop next week! This workshop is only held twice a year at one of the major perfume houses—a master perfumer comes over from Europe to teach intensive, full-day courses about the history of perfume, study of raw materials, study of synthetic materials, etc. It’s basically my dream come true. I am sort of a perpetual student-slash-geek at heart, so I’m already preparing to get a nice shiny new notebook & pen. Seriously cannot wait!! -alexis


11/13/06

~If you haven’t yet, I urge you to go see The Departed. This is seriously the best movie I’ve seen this year. I walked out of the movie theatre and all I could utter to my boyfriend was, “wow, this movie is seriously winning some awards…” I mean there are so many good reasons. First and foremost, it’s set in South Boston (wicked, cas, paking) with Boston-native actors (Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, etc) —it’s like Good Will Hunting all over again, but with a lot more blood and gory. The acting is phenomenal and the guys are pretty hot, too! It’s by far my favorite movie! -candace



~Lex is always telling me about this quaint bed & breakfast in Saratoga Springs so I decided to book a nice little getaway weekend for Rich & I. We’re going December 22nd for a 2 night stay and I have a couple of fun outings planned for us – snowmobiling, massages and horseback riding to name a few. I’m totally excited for horseback riding more then anything – the guide said the horses would be wearing bells for Christmas! hehe -maria



11/06/06

~Heather, Maria, and I had a fun Saturday night out on the Upper East Side. Heather's friends organized a bar crawl to a bunch of different bars around the area. Needless to say we all had a great time and maybe we'll do it again soon. I vote to stay in one place like the Brooklyn Brewery and taste all their beers, but then again it wouldn't really be much of a bar crawl! -erica

october 2006

10/30/06

~So after a week of being at work, the dust from the wedding & honeymoon is finally starting to settle. It’s a little tricky to catch up but so nice to have free time again! In any case, the wedding weekend and the following 2 weeks in Fiji were the best weeks of my entire life, hands down. I couldn’t have been happier with the way things went at the wedding—from the flowers to the music to the ceremony to the black & white photobooth (the biggest hit of the night) to the food (which I barely touched, but I heard about) everything was amazing. Actually the only snag was when my best friend and I got up to duet on a song and the backup CD started skipping—oops! I think we saved it by launching into an a cappella rendition, though. Fiji was incredible too—paradise on earth, with the warmest people and incredible food…plus, of course, the scenery! It’s tough to be back, but I’m happy to be with all my tartelettes and being Mrs. DiResta isn’t so shabby either. -alexis

10/23/06

~This weekend Maria & I FINALLY took the cooking class we'd been talking about forever! We went all the way up to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY for an all day "Baking at Home" class. It was so much fun and we made a ton of delicious delights like Buttermilk Biscuits, Lemon Bundt Cake, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, & an incredible Chocolate Devilsfood Cake! We were definitely the star students of the class and got a little competitive with the other students, I think next time we'll move up to an advanced class to really challenge ourselves. -erica

10/18/06

~I think once my boyfriend moves to NYC (Dec/Jan—fingers crossed he finds a job), I’m going to look into teaching gymnastics again on the weekend. Right now, I’m always traveling and don’t have time. When I lived in Boston I taught girls ages 4-13 every Saturday. It was such a blast! I haven’t done it in the past 2 years and I really miss it! That said I’m going to have to get into flipping shape again….that might be a problem! -candace



10/11/06

~Every year I say I’m going to dress up for Halloween and then I never do, but this year I decided I would dress Puppy Kisses up instead. I found the perfect costume for her – a pig! It’s perfect since pigs are my favorite animal, although I don’t think PK is quite sold on the idea yet, lol. -maria

september 2006

09/25/06

~Yesterday I watched a show on Animal Planet channel called ‘Growing up Gorilla’ which is obviously about gorillas. But it focuses on one gorilla sanctuary in Africa that rescues orphaned baby gorillas, nurses them back to health and teaches them the skills needed to survive in the wild. It reminded me of watching Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist and how I wanted to do the same thing when I was younger. It fascinated me that the little babies took milk from a bottle and wore diapers just like human babies. After watching this show it’s my new mission to donate my time and money towards saving this endangered species. -heather r

09/18/06

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANDACE!! Since Candace is a big fan of muffins and a health nut I decided instead of making my usual celebratory cupcakes I would make her Low Fat Muffins! Low Fat Apple Streusel Muffins to be exact, they use applesauce instead of oil to cut the fat plus it makes them really moist! I can't wait for Candace to try one! -erica




09/06/06


~Today, I’m really craving some warm apple cider. YUM. Every fall my boyfriend and I go apple picking—it’s one of our favorite rituals! We usually go to Strawberry Acres and I end up picking wayyyy too many apples. Last year we made a delicious apple pie. This year I’m trying to time it right so we can go apple picking in the morning and then wine tasting in the afternoon & evening! That would be me idea of a perfect fall day!-candace


09/12/06

~Such a fun weekend, starting off with Maria’s and my modeling debuts on QVC…so funny! We were both completely nervous beforehand (you really can’t see yourself on the monitors at all so it’s impossible to tell if you’re making a stupid face or anything like that) but it ended up being fun. Maybe too much fun, since when you watch the tape you can actually see us talking to each other and laughing—oops! Anyway, Saturday night was my bachelorette slumber party which was SO fun (thanks, Dana!). Of course the tartelettes made it even more fun, especially with their contributions (candy bar cookies, almond brittle, twizzlers, sangria? These girls know who they’re dealing with). We had some real 8th grade-style sleepover fun, complete with pranks (suffice it to say, we have now all witnessed firsthand Erica’s fear of clowns). -alexis

august 2006

08/29/06

~Since this one-month-til-the-wedding mind racing has given me major insomnia lately, I’ve taken to reading books in bed. It helps me take my mind off whatever issue is bugging me at the moment and unlike TV, there’s no chance I’ll accidentally stumble onto something like “Bridezillas.” My book of the moment is Heat by Bill Buford. It’s about the author’s apprenticeship at Babbo with Mario Batali (among other things) and surprisingly, there are a lot of great cooking tips peppered throughout the book, even though it’s by no means a cookbook. Really engaging and definitely does the trick to keep me occupied with other things…worth checking out! -alexis

08/25/06

~Alexis is so good to me, as a thank you for helping her out with stuff for her wedding she got me the coolest nicola vruwink necklace! It's a silver scissor charm since I'm the resident Miss Fix-It and crafter.. I'm a real cut up! hehe -erica





~So last week was my niece’s birthday and I thought it would be fun to take her to the Bronx Zoo since, like me, she is a big animal lover…ok, so the idea was a little selfish since I haven’t been there in a while. Needless to say we both had an amazing time, and although I love going to the zoo anyway nothing beats seeing the joy and excitement on her face when we went through all the different exhibits and, of course, the children’s zoo. And because I am the best aunt ever I even agreed to let her get her face painted like a ladybug, fully knowing that she would fall asleep on the car ride home and get face paint all over my leather seats…but hey, some things are just more important then a clean car! -maria

08/17/06
~If it seems like the tarte girls haven’t been “musing” much lately, it’s because things have been pretty crazy around here, what with all the new babies & weddings going on! (I am especially freaking out myself…less than 2 months to go!). Anyway, last weekend was great because I had my lovely bridal shower (thanks Mom!) and got to spend a GORGEOUS day in East Hampton with my family, friends, and my tartelettes past & present. It was a great day, and I now have more cooking supplies than I could’ve ever dreamed. Expect me to write about my diet in the future…hahaha. -alexis


~Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s truly upset about the outcome of So You Think You Can Dance! I know my friend Darlie agrees! Seriously, I am obsessed with that show and even more obsessed with Travis! He was an unbelievable dancer—I mean his technical skills beat everyone else on that show. I’ll admit I even voted for him last week! In all honesty, I’m still mad about the results! I’m thinking I might get tix to the tour! Who’s with me?! -candace


08/16/06
~I’m so excited for the weekend! Heading to Boston and going to the Red Sox vs. Yankees game at Fenway!!!! My uncle Johnny rocks—at the last minute he was able to find 2 tickets!! And we’re not talking about any old seats—State Street Pavilion Box seats!!!!! The game is going to be so fun! I’m totally into the rivalry and then hitting up happy hour (if my boys win, of course)!! -candace



~I cannot wait, in two days I will be in sunny Miami! I haven't been on a real vacation in a year and the heat in NYC has just been oppressive this summer. So I'm excited to just sit on the beach or by the pool for 5 days straight with a fruity drink in one hand and a good book in the other! -erica