Robert Verdi telling us about his favorite Mother's Day gifts

Mother’s Day is creeping up out of nowhere! Good thing I had the pleasure of attending TV personality and celeb stylist, Robert Verdi’s Mother’s Day event a couple days ago at his Luxe Laboratory (translation: A DREAM entertaining pad he created complete with a 130″ TV…for reals). If there’s anyone who’s an authority on the best gifts, it’s the personable Verdi himself. Here are his trendy suggestions for every type of mom:

FOR THE TASTEFUL MOM: A Blooming Daisies Edible Arrangement, $58, ediblearrangements.com.

Edible Arrangements Blooming Daises, $58

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I realized there are times when I ADD so bad at my apartment, I can’t get any writing done. My go-to for when that happens is usually Think Coffee on Mercer — caffeine and a buzzy ambiance usually helps me focus for some reason. Problem was their Internet was down, so I asked around (OK, I asked peeps on Twitter) for other cafes. My friend @OSoChic suggested Kaffe 1668 in Tribeca. I barely venture out to that area so I figured I’d give it a try. The website did look cute.

Kaffe 1668

Kaffe 1668 coffeebeans

Kaffe 1668

Kaffe 1668

I took a fellow writer friend, Sarah, with me. She told me she was hungry and I had seen that they had sandwiches and a few other munchies on their menu. Problem is when we got there, they totally ran out of all their sandwiches. Even their desserts were scarce. We settled on carrot cake, a latte (for me), a mocha (for her).

Carrot cake

Latte

Mocha

The waiter might have had a crush on Sarah…she got the heart design while I just got a measly leaf one. Whatever.

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A Bloody Mocktail

In line with a Mafia-themed party on Feb. 14th, we were served a Bloody Mocktail — check out the black gun-shaped ice! Perfectly appropriate drink/game for Valentine’s Day I say…thanks, Nadia!

x
Shy

(It’s about 1 AM, and I really want to pass out, but this Dr. Pepper commercial I just came across has me randomly ruminating on drinks that are jumping on the gender-targeted bandwagon lately).

Soda pop marketing

Iconic soft drinks are getting feisty with their marketing campaigns. Diet Pepsi recently introduced their ‘women-friendly’ skinny cans, reportedly to celebrate “beautiful, confident women.” And let’s be honest, as a sponsor of NY Fashion Week, they just wanted to look more trendy and hip. On the other hand, Dr. Pepper has started a no women’s allowed club with their new Dr. Pepper 10, a manly-diet soda (sounds like an oxymoron, no?). Apparently, they’re hoping its “bold” flavor and Rambo-inspired commercials will be in tune with a guy’s more masculine side: Check out their newest ad:

According to TIME, other soft drinks have attempted to appeal to the male demographic before (Pepsi Max, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Coke and Diet 7-Up) but quite unsuccessfully.

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Ninth Street Espresso - Chelsea Market

Ninth Street Espresso - Chelsea Market

I’ve been having what seems like the never-ending debate with a friend who will remain unnamed (*SACKO cough*) about which place has the best latte in NYC: Stumptown or Ninth Street Espresso. I’m not really sure why it’s only between the two, since I acknowledge there are plenty of cafes around the city (and outer burroughs — I see you, Brooklyn) that boast to be the best. The only thing was our debate is completely mindless because he’s never been to Stumptown and I’ve never been to Ninth Street. I didn’t realize Ninth Street Espresso has an outpost in Chelsea Market, so when I stumbled upon last week, I was excited to finally make an educated decision. I wasn’t even in the mood for coffee, but I ordered a small $4 latte anyway.

Latte at Ninth Street Espresso

It was strong, full-bodied, a tad bitter too. But friends, I’m still going to say Stumptown takes the cake. Have any of you tried both or either? Which one do you prefer? Maybe you can help us end the never-ending debate (but most likely not)…

Cafe info:
Ninth Street Espresso
(in Chelsea Market)
75 9th Ave.
btw 9th & 10th Ave
212-228-2930
Chelsea

x
Shy