A few days ago a friend of mine invited me to join ‘Shop It To Me’, a website that acts as your own personal online shopper for women’s or men’s clothing or shoes, bags and even clothes for boys and girls .  All you have to do is select your favorite brands such as Theory, Prada, Armani, Juicy Couture, Seven Jeans, DKNY, or BCBG and what size(s) you wear.  Shop It To Me then searches popular retail stores like Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Banana Republic, Gap, Zappos and Bluefly to see who has your brand and size in stock.  The site will then send you a Salemail at the frequency you choose (ie. daily or weekly).  This email will summarize  which new items go on sale in your size and where you can find them.  This site is free and easy to use. To set up your own account just click here. 

I think this is a great site and very user friendly.  Shopping online can be frustrating when you are looking for your size and can’t find it.  Seems like Shop It To Me will eliminate that frustration plus let you know when sales are on.   Happy shopping!

Last night we had tickets to the evening session of the US Open and what a night it was!  Darren hooked us up through some good friends/colleagues with phenomenal tickets as well as an amazing inside look at Arthur Ashe stadium and the inner workings of the US Open.  It was an experience of a lifetime especially for his dad who is a huge tennis player.  We arrived around 5pm and were personally escorted inside for a tour.  We saw everything from the roof top broadcasting locations to the television and radio booths, the players club and dining room, the press room and all the inner workings of the technology infrastructure.  We even saw some of the players. The highlight of the evening was walking literally right out onto the courts in the middle of some of the matches. That was truly amazing!

After our tour we enjoyed a nice dinner at Aces, the upscale Japanese/Seafood restaurant before heading to our incredible mid-court 3rd row seats.  We were so close it was unreal!  Last night matches included Lindsey Davenport vs. Marion Bartoli and Andy Roddick vs. Ernests Gulbis.  Bartoli defeated Davenport in straight sets and Roddick defeated Gulbis in four sets.  The weather unfortunately was a bit uncooperative as interrmitent rain showers suspended play several times.  Regardless though, we saw some great tennis and were so thrilled to be there.  Thanks to everyone who made our night so amazing!

For the past several months, Darren has been burning the candle at both ends working his normal day job at the The Media Kitchen as the Head of the Digital Media Group but also partnering with the senior team in developing a new venture, Varick Media Management (VMM). His hard work and dedication certainly have been fruitful as Forbes today released the news announcing the launch of VMM with Darren as the founder and president.

According to the article and the press release

MDC Partners announced today the formation of Varick Media Management (http://www.varickmm.com), the first digital media management company of its kind. The firm will service clients across all online exchanges by focusing on providing clients with media trading and investment management, audience segmentation and analysis, data intelligence and dynamic creative optimization.

“Varick Media Management is the first digital media management company that allows media trading in real time across all online exchanges, ad networks and websites. Similar to hedge funds, we also use proprietary algorithms to manage our client’s investments and deliver the best ROI. Our algorithms enable us to aggregate audiences and optimize the media mix,” said Darren Herman, Founder and President, Varick Media Management.

Varick Media Management was born out of the digital innovation of The Media Kitchen, a kirshenbaum bond + partners company, and opens with The Media Kitchen and their client roster.

The company has formed a strategic partnership with MediaMath, a New York based media trading platform that provides algorithmic bid management, analytics, and technology to media buyers. Through the partnership with MediaMath, Varick Media Management will have access to multiple ad exchanges including Google / DoubleClick AdX, Yahoo! RightMedia, Microsoft AdECN, AOL Spot Market, TraffiQ, AdBidCentral and over 110 million users across 65,000+ publishers.

“Mass and reach are rapidly being replaced by targeting and efficiency,” said Brandon Berger, Vice President, Digital Innovation at MDC Partners. “As all forms of media become digital, there will be technologies and solutions that enable us to focus our client’s media dollars in more and more efficient and effective ways. But it will be data and audience access that will be the key differentiator. We believe that through Varick Media Management, we can provide marketers with the vital tools they need to most effectively leverage their brand in this incredibly competitive marketplace.”

Congratulations Darren!!!! This is yet another one of his amazing accomplishments and I couldn’t be happier for him.

To conclude our weekend long celebration of our anniversary, we had our official anniversary dinner last night at Half Moon on High Street in Dobbs Ferry.  It was a beautiful evening so dining outside with the view of the Hudson River and both the Tappan Zee and the George Washington bridges was the perfect backdrop.  The sun was setting and the sky was pink as we arrived at the restaurant.  For a Monday evening the restaurant was fairly busy.  Just about all the tables outside were taken and quite a number inside as well.

Half Moon opened a few months ago in the former location of the Chart House.  The menu is a mix of seafood, meat and chicken.  Its kind of all over the place with dishes prepared in a variety of ways – some traditional seafood, some with a southwestern twist and others that are more comfort food in style.  I decided to try the New England clam chowder to start which was rather thin but chock full of clams and potatoes.  For my entree I opted for the prawns which came with grilled endive and roasted potatoes.  It was good not great.  Darren started with the calamari salad and had the herb tuna with empanades for dinner.  He too thought the food was okay but nothing to exceptional.  We were both too full for dessert so we passed but there were some good choices including a $16 ice cream sandwich which we would have loved to see.   The service was okay – it started off quite good but trickled off as the meal progressed and the restaurant became more crowded.  We both agreed the view is what you pay for and as long as the restaurant serves up decent fare, people will continue to come.

Catching up on the latest and greatest news – okay, the superficial celebrity gossip – I stumbled upon an article naming Jason Mesnick (the guy dumped by DeAnna Pappas on the last installment of the Bachelorette) as the next Bachelor when the series resumes in January 2009.  I couldn’t be more excited.  Right from the start, I thought DeAnna should have picked Jason but when he bent down on one knee and she stopped him dead in his tracks, hopes for their happy ending were dashed.  Now he is being given a second chance at finding love thanks to ABC and probably the thousands of fans like me who thought he’d make a great bachelor.  I do question if a reality show is really the best place for him to find a mate, especially as a single dad with an adorable little son but each person has to follow their dreams and if he feels this is the way to meet Mrs. Right then go for it.  I will certainly be glued to the TV for each episode hoping it all works out.

Everyone has heard that you are supposed to save the top layer of your wedding cake to eat on your first anniversary. So keeping with tradition, the day after our wedding last year Darren and I neatly wrapped up a portion of our wedding cake and placed it in the freezer awaiting our first anniversary to defrost it and take a bite. Fast forward to now and it was time to take that piece of cake out of the freezer. Well, for anyone who has followed this tradition, I am thinking you had the same experience as we did….a tasteless, old, gross piece of cake. After defrosting, the cake looked much the same but one bite by Darren who opted to go first and it was in and out of his mouth so fast. Yuck!

So where did this tradition come from? Reading a few websites it seems the tradition was born when cakes were more fruit based with some alcohol which preserved better. I am not sure if that is really the true story but today’s cakes certainly don’t stand the taste of time in the freezer.

Another tradition in celebrating a first anniversary is that the traditional gift is ‘paper’. Darren secretly did a lot of research on this and keeping with ‘paper’ as the theme for the first anniversary he bought us a beautifully framed picture of the Chain Bridge in Budapest, the very spot where he proposed. In order for our children to grow up knowing what a special spot the Chain Bridge is for us, we hung the picture in our kitchen so as we all have dinner together every night we are reminded of that magical spot.

I was unbelievably touched by this special gift. Unwrapping it brought tears to my eyes as I thought it was the most romantic gift – perfect for our first anniversary. This has been the most incredible year and I couldn’t be happier.

On Monday, August 25th Darren and I will be married one year so it was only fitting that we would kick off what was our wedding weekend with a celebratory dinner. Darren made reservations for us last night at Morton’s in White Plains. This was his first time dining there but I had been to their midtown location a few times over the years. The restaurant is exactly what you would expect when it comes to steakhouses – an atmosphere of white table clothes and walls accented with heavy dark wood.

As Darren parked the car, I was warmly greeted by the hostess and the maitre’d who escorted me to our table – a comfortable leather booth along the perimeter of the restaurant. A warm round onion bread with butter was quickly brought to the table. Upon Darren’s arrival we were presented with our menus that were personalized at the top wishing “Happy Anniversary Mr. & Mrs. Herman”. We both this was a very nice touch. We started with some drinks and then the waiter came by to present us with the menu. If you have never dined at Morton’s before, in addition to a paper menu the waiters come to your table with a visual display of their most tradition items – an array of steaks, lobster and fish as well as their side dishes which usually include spinach, asparagus, broccoli and potatoes. Since it was a Friday, they also had Prime Rib which is only served on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Darren started with the beefsteak tomatoes with purple onion vinagrette followed by the prime rib which he said was excellent. A very large middle cut cooked to perfection. I started with the chopped salad, a mix of romaine and iceberg lettuce with hearts of palm, artichokes, cheese and bacon bits in a dijon mustard vinagrette. Very tasty and a huge portion. For my entree Darren talked me into the jumbo lobster tail – it was enormous – 14oz! The lobster tail was quite flavorful but a bit tough in spots which is pretty typical given the size. The slightly smaller lobster tail was probably the better of the two options but I still enjoyed it despite the few tough spots. For dessert we decided on the triple chocolate cake with fresh whipped cream. A heavenly piece arrived with a candle in it to celebrate our anniversary. We both thought this was a very nice touch by the restaurant and it was very thoughtful of them to give the cake to us on the house. We were thoroughly full by this point.

Overall, I thought the meal was very good and I would recommend Morton’s. Darren thought the food was very good too – he rated his meal an 8.9 but he wasn’t overly impressed with the atmosphere so he gave that a 7.

The evening was a great start to our anniversary celebrations. It is hard to believe that a year has gone by already. The time has flown by….and it has been a spectacular year to say the least.

For loyal fans like Darren, yesterday was an exceptionally sad day.  Saxophonist Leroi Moore died suddenly after complications from an ATV accident back in June.  The band who performed in Los Angeles last night honored their late friend and bandmate by playing on knowing that was what Leroi would have wanted.  Fans gathered at the Staples Center as word spread of Leroi’s death. 

As a devoted DMB fan, Darren was deeply saddned by Leroi’s passing.  Fortunately we were able to see one of his last performances back in June before the accident that eventually took his life.  Darren has blogged quite often about the band’s influence on his life. 

Rest in peace.  Leroi Moore 1961-2008.

As you may know, I’m a big fan of Daily Candy and have been receiving updates on a daily basis for a very long time.  I love their range of topics from fashion to travel to what’s happening around town.  I’m really excited to have discovered that they introduced ‘Daily Candy Kids’.  Local versions in New York, San Francisco and Boston have been around awhile but in mid-September they are launching Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Seattle and London.  Daily Candy Kids gives moms tips on kids fashion, products, creative cooking ideas and all sorts things we need to know.  Check it out and sign up for your local edition like I did.  I think you will enjoy it.