Ian-Michael Bergeron

It’s time for the biggest debate of the holidays (unless you’ve got Trump supporters in the family): When does one put up a Christmas tree? At a Friendsgiving Thanksgiving last week, sitting around the table with friends, I made the mistake of saying, “Well, the tree has to be up for Thanksgiving!” to which everyone objected. “It’s the weekend after Christmas,” insisted Sally, pouring gravy out of a cow-shaped gravy boat named Caroline. (The gravy...

Thanksgiving is a perfect excuse to get out of the city for a long weekend. My first Thanksgiving in New York, I was not so lucky: I couldn’t afford the time off from my hourly job ($10/hour in 2012), let alone the $600 plane ticket (New York to Iowa never fails to be around $600 round trip), so I stayed in, eating McDonald’s by myself on a mattress on the floor. (We’ve all been there—right?)...

I’ve always loved a good murder mystery. Clue was my favorite game when I was young—it seemed everyone had the board game, and every version was different. (As long as I got to play Miss Scarlet, I didn’t care which version we played—Miss Scarlet is a gay icon.) Clue also had a series of young adult books, in which poor Mr. Body kept miraculously coming back to life only to get murdered time and time...

The other night, I was invited to a party at the new Nordstrom on 57th Street, which opened the following morning. I admit I was a bit surprised: Barney’s filed for bankruptcy back in August, its future unsure (talk is they might be closing their stores for good), and last year we lost one of my favorites: Henri Bendel closed every single store after 123 years. (I was able to snag two hat boxes in...

The other day, on the subway to my day job, I was reading an article in October’s Vogue titled “Only Disconnect” by Virginia Heffernan. I’ll admit I’m not the type that reads Vogue cover to cover: Typically, I take advantage of my subscription by scanning the ads for upcoming trends (and beautiful clothing that I won’t be able to afford until it shows up used on eBay). However, I made a goal in early October...

Last week I wrote about Therapy’s soul-fulfilling new brunch, Sunday Services. What I didn’t mention is that afterward my boyfriend and I, drunk and drunker, boarded a downtown train to The Phluid Project. I’ve been to several events at The Phluid Project, New York’s gender-neutral clothing store. I’m familiar with their beautiful employees, their brightly colored windows and their shoes tall enough that I’m not sure I could walk in them. But there was a...

I used to go to church every Sunday. I had to, not that I minded. My mother worked as the head of music and organist at Covenant Presbyterian in West Des Moines, Iowa, so every week I went to church and listened to her play. I didn’t really believe in God, but church wasn’t about that for me. It was about my mom’s music, about getting out and doing something as a family, about community....

On September 6 through 8, fans of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” poured into the Javits Center for the third-annual RuPaul’s Drag Con NYC. And I was one of them. Prepped with a badge around my neck that proudly proclaimed PRESS in all capital letters, I stomped my way onto the Pink Carpet in a pair of four-inch block heels. (When my feet began to ache an hour later, I kept repeating my RuPaul mantra: “You betta...

As the final days of summer dwindle down, several friends and I rented a car and drove upstate to Pine Meadow Trail. It’s always nice to get out of Manhattan, even if it isn’t far or for long. When the only nature you see on a daily basis includes trees growing haphazardly over busy streets and potted plants on fire escapes, it’s healthy to remind yourself what it’s like in the wild. I hiked the...