Once summer rolls around, there is just sooo much to do in NYC. Without boring you with some lengthy introduction, let me just get right to the point and share some upcoming festivals, events and a sample sale by a beloved designer of mine.

To those who don’t know designer Rebecca Taylor – I think I spotted some of you under a rock last week! – she is the fashion maven behind some of the prettiest clothes around. If you noticed a woman wearing the cutest dress at a party last week, that was a Rebecca Taylor creation. If you find yourself inexplicably following a girl on the street, wearing a romantic-looking white top, that is also most certainly a Taylor piece. And that flowery blouse? Yup, you got it, Rebecca’s work too. So, it’s the luckiest time of year for women of all ages and sizes in NYC, since Rebecca Taylor is holding a fabulous sample sale on the 10th and 11th of June! Join the ranks of celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon and Miley Cyrus by owning a prettily perfect Rebecca Taylor dress, at a fraction of the cost. Nothing will be higher than a third of the original price, and some things are marked way, way down… I mean in the double digits! So, check out the Rebecca Taylor website, by clicking on the highlighted link, and join the cute revolution.

The Rebecca Taylor sale will be at 145 West 18th Street, between 6th and 7th Aves, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days. Amex, Visa, Mastercard and cash will be the accepted. 

If you have noticed a special spring in everyone’s step and marigolds are popping up in your dreams, it’s because ‘The New India’ film festival is beginning at MoMA this Friday, and runs for the next two weeks. It is chuck full of great modern Indian movies, the ones that definitely DO NOT feature any wet sari scenes or bashful lovers running around a tree. What this festival does boast is some of the greatest new films to come out of India in the last year, but also a couple of great documentaries about Indian personalities and traditions that go above and beyond the typical subjects. After the success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ whether we liked that film or not, it’s undeniable that all eyes are now turned to South Asia for the next crossover hit. See if you manage to spot it before everyone else. The tickets are available only at the information desk at MoMA, and only a week before each screening. How do I know this? Trial by error, that’s how! Anyway, personal favorites include Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Luck By Chance’, Megan Doneman’s ‘Yes Madam, Sir’ about Kiran Bedi, the first woman officer in the Indian Police Service and Rajesh Jala’s ‘Children of the Pyre’, a daunting look at Varanasi’s answer to Bombay’s slumdog children.

Basking in the pride I feel for our President Obama and his speech from Cairo, there is now hope in the bridge that can be built between the US and countries in the Middle East. Of course, artistically that bridge has always been there, as typically artist and intellectuals are more open minded and ready for change. So, this year it’s already time for the second prestigious festival on the arts and culture of the Islamic world. The first was at the Kennedy Center in Washington in March, while now it’s the Big Apple’s turn to host a festival featuring everything from visual art, to theater, to dance and even a little light shopping thrown in by way of a live Souk set up in front of the Brooklyn Academy of Music – BAM. Check out what it’s all about at the ‘Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas’ website, by clicking on the highlighted link.

So, enjoy the sunshine and see you out and about in NYC!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 1:20 pm and is filed under The List.