• by Kelly Samardak , January 29, 2009

DailyCandy Sweetest Things 2008, City Winery, New York
January 28, 2009

I don't have a sweet tooth, but a long time ago a girl I don't like anymore introduced me to DailyCandy. She was a bit of a flake, but I have to say giving me my daily dose of new fashion, remarkable sales, sassy spas, tasty small plate restaurant openings, and all the delicious local sweet secrets New York City has to offer almost redeems her existence. In this lovely economic sour patch, I more often than not just read wistfully, thinking that in the future I'll be able to fritter away my hard earned green on a vegan friendly sack or a delightful un-necessary sample sale purchase. Until then, you bet I'll hit a DailyCandy event or two to watch other people with money enjoy the finer things in life. Or actually, some of the finest.

Let's talk about City Winery. It looks a little out of place on the corner of Varick and Vandam, I mean, it's huge. But you open those doors and it's like stepping into your wealthy neighbor's lodge in the Alps. Wood, wood, wood. For this event, the space was perfect. And I say that like I knew what it was going to be like. Which I obviously didn't, if you saw what I wore. Because of the weather, I opted for dress-down Kelly: jeans, Converse, stripy shirtdress from H&M, and a big wood-beaded necklace. After checking my coat and looking around, I realized not one other person shared that fashion thought with me. Sky-high strappy heels, beautiful dark cashmere sweaters, fancy pants (on boys and girls), and quirky cocktail dresses (and feathers!) oozed all over the floor. Ack! And by "Ack!" I mean, at least I could have ironed my shirt. Whatever. I don't have an iron. Anyway.

I walked around the room, surveying the flawless skin under the warm dimmed lighting. A DJ was perched, basked in red, in front of his Mac on stage. Next to the DJ was the photo booth, which already played host to a sassy pair of legs and a waiting line of DailyCandy stripers. I was hot. I had left my scarf on and I was sweating like a morbidly obese water buffalo.

Glistening, I approached the sash-clad Katie McClenahan from Charmingwall, a gallery providing affordable art from emerging illustrators to people like you and me who can't shell out five grand for a 5x5 print. She was with Patrick Lockley, President of Charmingwall. After snapping their pic, I dropped my scarf on a chair, not caring if it was there when I left, and ran into Christopher Garbushian and Laurel St. Romain of I Love Factory, winners in DailyCandy's Sweetest Things style category. Christopher's pants photograph like a scene from "A Clockwork Orange," which I consider a good thing.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the cutest little girl in a floor-length, light Carolina blue hued dress. She was ogling Sok Song, Oragami Artist at Creased. As I suspected, his business card is untouchably cool. Good luck trying to out-creative him. Winding my way back toward the front, I noticed three ladies sitting off to themselves sipping on some vino. They were ripped.

No no, not drunk ripped. These women had GUNS. No no, they weren't strapped. OK, listen, their arms were sculpted in a way that I knew they could crack my skull like an inbred walnut if they wanted to. Who were those etched from stone estrogen-carriers? None other than Lorelei Ashe MacDonald of Gravity Defying Fitness - DailyCandy Sweetest Things winner in the category of Best Pamper (not the diaper, silly). She was flanked by the equally chiseled Fern Zee and Tricia DeGennaro, both of whom can scale a rope upside down. Flashbacks from gym class aside, I'm intrigued enough -- and I felt Tricia's rock hard bicep -- to check it out. 

Who else who else? Obviously DailyCandy was in the house with Emily Fiffer, Chicago Editor, Mark Bufalini, Marketing Manager, Melissa Greenberg, Account Executive (and sassy ArmCandy to Ricardo Neto of Salon Media Group), Tiffany Davis, Atlanta Editor, and Lauren Lumsden, Associate Editor. Sprinkled in with Tiffany and Lauren was Josh Lay, improv guru, actor, and entertainer. A few layers to that guy, no?

On my way out the door I met Jared Verteramo, a lawyer type (corporate style) at Loeb&Loeb, LLP. When I told him I wrote about the media scene, he asked if I ever read Glamorama, which I haven't... which made him hoot and holler with surprise. Just out of spite, I'm not even going to Google it. Oh, and guess what? My scarf was exactly where I left it, when I left -- yay!

Showcasing your sour things?  Invite kelly@mediapost.com and get in Just An Online Minute!

Covet a cocktail dress in the Flickr set!

If my BlackBerry had successfully transferred my apps, like Twitter, I would have Twittered from the event.