DEFINE: CHILL CHICKS \ chil chiks \

We've been in three-showers-a-day heat and humidity territory here in NYC on and off over the past few weeks. And the women of NYC have risen to the style occasion of staying chic in 104 degrees. What they've been totally nailing? Mixing their cute little dresses and rompers (which've been out in a major way) with kinda tough accessories. Flat sandals or shooties (if they're sandal-booties combos instead of shoe-booties, are they "sandies" or "bandals"?) are on every cool-girl's feet; love the luggage-brown ones on the girl in the tan linen playsuit spotted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Big Bambu rooftop sculpture exhibit one Saturday. Also love that her guy is sporting a goes-with color combo. I was impressed with the other chicks here, braving an outdoor concert on the Brooklyn waterfront. It'd hit the mid-90s that day but mercifully the main acts (Grizzly Bear, Band of Horses) came on around sunset, which was spectacular; likewise the breeze that kicked up from the East River, and of course, my stylish fellow New Yorkers.

DEFINE: STUNNING SHAPES \ sten-in shaps \

Eero Saarinen's 1962 terminal for TWA at JFK. A 1970s—I'm guessing '76—Porsche 911 Targa. Both the type of designs that make me stop in my tracks, shake my head in awe and smile at the sheer audacity of such genius creativity. It was a cloudy, grey day when I took the photo of the Saarinen building (if you want to see really fab shots of it, check out (www.greatbuildings.com), which is now JFK's Terminal 5. It was in use by American Airlines until 2001; I'm lucky enough to've been in the building and cruised through those wacky pedestrian tubes, best seen on the left side of this photo, on my way into the actual terminal. Now it's occupied by JetBlue, which is renovating the space to be an entry port for the rest of its wing, the same purpose it served for TWA. Am dying for the reno to happen and to get inside that place again. As for the Targa, they were intro'd in the 1960s as a convertible version of the 911. Yum. And the color? So not for the faint of heart. Then again, the FoH wouldn't be in that car anyway. Love.

DEFINE: SOUTHERN CHARM \ seth-ern charm \

Our friends Rob Newton and Kerry Diamond had the courage and imagination to open a new restaurant recently. Seersucker is in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and it's a modern take on Southern food. The look of the bottles they chose to use as vessels for the fine New York City tap water that arrives at your table is reflective of both the design of the restaurant (greyish walls of reclaimed barn wood) and of Rob's menu: fresh, crisp, minimal—utterly inviting. It's the definition of a perfect neighborhood place, but one worth traveling to.

DEFINE: HIT-THE-WATER TIME \ hit the wot-er time \

The weekend was beyond-spectacular, once yardwork was out of the way. Then off to the beach we went -- Surfside on Sunday, Ditch Plains on Monday. Evidence of what was going on at DP is the colorful surfboard wall. And yes, we dove in the water. Temp was between 58 and 60 degrees but in we did go. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Come to think of it, it might've been more. Brain freeze, anyone?!