Cinderella Style

T-shirt and jeans. Everyone secretly wishes they could get away with it at work. Since opening up a casual taverna with chef Michael Psilakis on Manhattan's Upper West Side, I get to--until the sun goes down, anyway.

In the evenings, I run the front of the house at davidburke & donatella. An Upper East Side social scene full of beautiful people on any given night, I always have to be in the most up-to-date styles from the most up-to-date designers. In addition to being half of the restaurant's namesake, I am the face--and the body--of davidburke & donatella. So, looking a little tired or wearing an outfit twice in the same week isn't an option.

And lately going home to change isn't always an option, either. Since opening Kefi, I've been changing in the coat room at davidburke & donatella and rushing into the bathroom to put on my make-up before we open the doors for dinner.

With the stress of opening a new restaurant, I hadn't really noticed I'd put on a few pounds over the holidays. So last week when I tried to slip into a Roberto Cavalli dress I bought in December, I almost cried when I couldn't get it to zip. We were five minutes from opening the doors and because wearing my t-shirt and jeans at davidburke & donatella would be like wearing Jaclyn Smith to Fashion Week, I knew I had to suck it up--literally--and make the dress zip, no matter what.

Desperate, I called a waitress into the coat room to help me. She got the dress to zip, but spending an entire night in six-inch heels and a dress that fit like a corset was certainly not pleasant. But it made me remember a New Year's resolution I made on this blog a while back: to take tango lessons. Not only will I lose a few pounds, but I can do it in six inch heels and a dress that's too tight.