So mark the following dates on your calendar and get ready for some exciting Sunday evenings on the couch!

2012 Awards Show Calendar:

January 15 – Golden Globes
January 21 – The Producers Guild of America Awards
January 24 – Oscar Nominations announced
January 29 – SAG Awards
February 12 – Grammy Awards
February 25 – Independent Spirit Awards
February 25 – Golden Rasberry “RAZZIE” Awards
February 26 – Oscars, Academy Awards

All food will be freshly prepared on-site daily to outfit the various food stations, which will include: a barista station, made-to-order breakfasts, made-from-scratch breads, desserts and pastries, pasta bar, Asian specialties, sushi bar, two create-your-own salad bars (one vegetarian, one not), homemade soups, a grill, a rotisserie and a carving station.  The diverse menu is the brainchild of Executive Chef, Steven Mettle.

According to the restaurant’s owner, Marc Epstein, it’s all about the customer experience at Milk Street. Keeping that in mind, the space will introduce all kinds of innovations such as Produce Soak Sinks (they will be the first in NYC to install a sophisticated whirlpool system for cleaning fruits and vegetables), Flat Technology tables (making it the first NYC restaurant to use this new invention from Australia), Line Busters (a hand held checkout system to speed-up the payment process for those using credit cards), and a website that will allow customers to sort by dietary needs (ie: if a customer is vegan, it will automatically eliminate all non-vegan items from the menu).

The menu was also created with the patrons wishes in mind. The landlord at 40 Wall sent out a survey to tenants to elicit their food preferences, and these answers drove the menu and the linear feet allocated to each food item.  From this, Epstein discovered that more people wanted made-to-order as opposed to grab-and-go, so they reduced the amount of pre-packaged goods.  Many customers also claimed that they would eat salads three or more times a week, hence the huge salad bar and the two distinct types.

Milk Street Cafe will be a family-run, small business, operating in one of the largest financial centers in the world.

And on June 23rd, Milk Street Cafe Food Hall will hold a grand opening event from 10am-11am, including the ringing of the “opening bell” and complimentary coffee and cookies.  The event is open to the public, so head on down for your morning snack and see what all the fuss is about!

Milk Street Cafe is located at 40 Wall Street (@ William Street).

This event was designed to introduce the newly formed RTKids Junior Board (including yours truly) to other young leaders and philanthropists who might be interested in becoming involved with the organization (we are targeting supporters in their 20’s and 30’s!).

As a Junior Board member, we help to fundraise and advocate for RTKids throughout our professional and social communities. This year’s Board goal is to sponsor one fifth grade class in RTKids’ PS Broadway program – which brings music, theater and dance to 5th Graders in seventeen low-income New York City elementary schools. Eventually, through our annual fundraising, the Junior Board aims to increase the total number of schools served in PS Broadway overall.

Hosted by NY1’s Theater Reporter: Frank DiLella, the kids kicked off the evening with a choreographed tap number, followed-up by intimate performances from “Broadway’s Brightest” including:  Patti Murin (of Xanadu) singing “The Other Side of The Tracks” From Little Me, Willis White (of In The Heights) singing “C’mon Man” from an original musical he is working on called Amorous Ruminations, Stephanie Gibson (of Addams Family) singing Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”, Jason Michael Snow (of The Book of Mormon) singing “Out There” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Felicia Bowell (of Memphis) singing “Ain’t Nuthin but a Kiss” from Memphis, Morgan Karr (of Spring Awakening) singing an original piece “When My Heart is Gone”, Victoria Matlock (of Million Dollar Quartet) signing “Waiting for Life” from Once On This Island, Erin Denman (of 42nd Street) with Shonn Wiley (of Jersey Boys in Chicago, and 42nd Street on Broadway) singing and tapping to “I Won’t Dance” and finally Autumn Hurlbert (the runner up on MTV’s Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods) singing “Love Will Stay” from Nicholas and Alexandra, written by RTKids own Musical Director, Steven Jamail.

After an energy-charged evening of performances, guests were treated to cupcakes from “Baked By Melissa” and cocktails courtesy of Don Q Rum.

Check out what the press is saying about last night:

Playbill:

Broadway World:

Theater Mania:

Near Say:

If you’re interested in becoming a member of the RTKids Junior Board, feel free to email me for more information!

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

On NearSay.com, I’ll be dishing up news as I discover it in my own neighborhood (Gramercy/ Flatiron) as well as reporting on other interesting openings and events throughout the city.   My column can be found and followed here:  http://newyork.nearsay.com/blog/alysoncampbell, and my first article on a new shoppe that just opened its doors can be read here.

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

The store exclusively sells modular, and only modular, products and furnishings for the home and office.  These unique modular items include wine racks, clocks, tables, chairs, vases, room dividers, dishware, lamps, coat racks, shelving units, candle sticks, cookware, and so much more.  Everything is chic and modular, meaning fully-customizable based on the taste, space and functionality requirements of the buyer.  Each item is a piece of artwork in its own right, and can be manipulated in a variety of ways.

Owned by husband & wife duo, Donald and Gaby Rattner, the store hosted guests for an evening of celebration and holiday shopping.  For one day only, patrons were offered an exclusive 10% discount on all in-store purchases, and those who attended the reception were treated to processco, chocolates (by Cibelli’s) and cupcakes (thanks to Downtown Atlantic).  They also had LA-based artist, Moshé Elimelech, whose modular work is featured in the store, on hand to meet and greet with the guests, while a building-block architect from another one of their vendors, Naef, was on-site to build a modular installation.

The store is set to run through January 9^th, so there is still time to get in some holiday shopping at this unique, specialty store.  ‘Tis the season to be Modular!

A.R.T. | Module R
400 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
(between Bond & Hoyt)
Store Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 11am – 7pm
Store Phone #: 718-360-9304

Effective immediately, fashion designers from all over the world are invited to be considered for this online competition. By submitting pictures of their best work through Blazetrak, they will be officially entered and guaranteed a review by Nolcha’s team.

The winner of the competition will receive: complimentary exhibition space at the Nolcha Fashion Lounge: New York; a two-hour consultation regarding target, retailers, supply chain, breakeven and scale of the line by Global Purchasing Group; free membership to Afingo.com plus featured spotlight and interview; a complete business formation package by Bizfilings.com; and a sourcing package that includes premium level membership to Source4Style, including complimentary swatches and sourcing consultation.

Nolcha Fashion Week: New York is a four day fashion week event held simultaneously with New York Fashion Week annually in February and September reaching 10MM+ media impressions which includes runway shows, accessory exhibition and Ethical Fashion Preview.

For two months, from November 17th through to January 17th, 2011 – fashion designers are invited to submit up to 6 images of their best work through Blazetrak (images can include drawings, models wearing garments, just garments, etc).

Contestants will be given two submission choices at two price points on Blazetrak. At a lower fee, contestants may submit up to 6 images of their best original fashion designs and receive a notification that their submission was reviewed. At a higher fee, contestants may submit up to 6 images of their best original fashion designs and receive a guaranteed, personalized video response with feedback from Nolcha’s CEO, Kerry Bannigan.

All submissions will be fully considered for the competition, but only video response submissions are guaranteed to be reviewed by Kerry Bannigan herself. All others may be reviewed by Kerry Bannigan or her representatives.

On February 1st, 2011, the winning fashion designer will be announced live on Ustream, giving the winner just enough time to prepare their collection for February Fashion Week in New York City.

To enter or for specifics on this competition, visit: www.blazetrak.com/nolcha.

“Dress Up” introduced a darker, edgier side of Dolan (think: less rainbows, more bondage), surprising those who have seen her happier works in recent exhibits like “Precious Things,” and “Heart Attack.”  Not darker in the literal sense, the colors were still bright and feminine like Amanda’s signature style, but darker by way of the theme.  Gagged women and torture devices played in delicately with the images of shoes, corsets and vintage measuring tapes.

Always a fashionista and trendsetter in her own right–Amanda has spent the past year working as a stylist in the Betsey Johnson showroom–and used this immersion in style as inspiration for the new exhibit.

“Working at Betsey, we are playing dress up all day long, surrounded by beautiful clothes, textures and fabrcis,” explained Dolan, “Women want to look their best.  We can be so girle and feminine, but at the same time, so brave. Beauty is pain.  Corset are pain.  High heels are torture.  But we put ourselves through it.  And, I wanted to explore that.”

Motivated by the historical side of fashion, and how closely art and fashion overlap when it comes to textures, imagery and color palettes, “Dress Up” was born.  This flirty collection includes paintings in new shapes and sizes using Dolan’s signature colalge technique with papers, photocopies, textures, resin and paint to fuse the old with the new.

“Dress Up” runs through September 14th (2010) at the Ward-Nasse Gallery:  178 Prince Street (between Thompson and Sullivan).

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

It’s been a blast pitching, arranging and taking part in all of these video shoots…

CNN Money

Fox Business News

Fox Channel 8

Thrillist TV

Here are the details:

Maria will provide you with Bunny Ears and Tails, as you move together–all 100– hopping from bar to bar to bar, all the while wagging our tails.

GENTLEMEN: You cannot purchase ears and tails– however.. you are more than welcome to “chase the tail” at the bars we will be hopping to. (See below for list of..)

Meet us at Astor Place on Saturday, March 6th, at 6pm to get your Bunny Ears and Tails- to qualify for drink specials at the following Bunny Friendly Bars:

* The Thirsty Scholar
* Ryan’s Irish Pub
* Bull McCabes
* Holiday Cocktail Lounge
* …more bars to follow…

At each of these venues there will be drink specials and playBOYs hoping to get some tail. There will also be an Easter Bunny that you can take your photo with!

YOU MUST RESERVE YOUR EARS and TAIL at http://bunnybarhop.eventbrite.com

Things to note:

1) YOU MUST BE 21+ and a WOMAN to purchase ears/tail.

2) You must bring a valid ID with you to receive your ears and tail.

3) You must pre-order your ears and tails.

4) You will not qualify for drink specials unless you have our actual ears and tails.

5) Please bring cash for drinks to make your hopping easier.

Sounds like fun kiddos! Check it out, and if you’re single be sure to sign up for Maria’s matchmaking services over at www.MariaTheDateCoach.com.

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]