Monday, December 21, 2009

Lost

The final season of Lost premieres on February 2nd.

To prepare ourselves, Christian and I are re-watching ALL of the previous seasons from the beginning. It's a big task. But I think we're up to it. We've got 6 weeks to go and we're on disc 4 of the 1st season.

Already I'm seeing parts of everyone's background stories that I had totally forgotten about in the couple of years it's been since I saw the first season. And I'm being reminded of how intriguing the first couple seasons were. Watching all the back stories unfold was what really originally got me hooked on this show.

Oh, and the hot guys without shirts on for much of the episode.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Establishing new Thanksgiving traditions

Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving as a married woman. Christian and I actually get to spend Thanksgiving AND Christmas together this year (we've never spent Christmas day together) and we want to start establishing holiday traditions for our new family of 2.

So far, for Thanksgiving we've got:

1. Re-watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy each year on Thanksgiving day/weekend. The extended versions. I may have agreed to this tradition after a lot of holiday imbibing.

Right now, we're on The Return of the King. Obviously, I'm paying a lot of attention. Helm's Deep was successfully defended yesterday afternoon and I totally missed the whole thing.

I've started doing the holiday cards tonight. I think that will also be one of the traditions -- me addressing cards while LOTR plays.

2. Candied sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, cornbread and turkey all make the cut for dishes we want to make every year. I never had candied sweet potatoes until a friend brought them over for T-day dinner last year (shocking, I know). Boy are they good! Very excited they are going to be a staple from now on.

3. Lots of booze with Thanksgiving dinner. Which leads us to #4...

4. For the time being, #4 is sleeping in late the next day and avoiding Black Friday shopping as much as possible. This tradition will probably be revised at a later point. But this morning, it was fabulous.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Things I'm currently coveting

The Brigitta Dresser from Anthropologie


One of these plates from Etsy seller Ninainvorm


A house so I'd actually have some place to put the dresser. Said house would also have lots of cabinets in the kitchen in which to store the adorable plate without constantly worrying about Christian or I knocking it down and breaking it. That kind of thing is a constant worry in our apartment and not without cause.

And, of course, plenty of clothes, shoes and accessories from J Crew. Like these lovelies:

Saturday, November 7, 2009

O'Keefe at the Whitney

Today, Christian and I were good New Yorkers (for the most part).  We got up, got some brunch and went to the Whitney to see the Georgia O'Keefe exhibit currently on display there.  

I really like O'Keefe.  Growing up in New Mexico, I would mostly see her skull paintings and I wasn't crazy about those.  But, as I got older and I got to see more of her work, it started drawing me in.  In law school, my seminar class was actually held in a room at the library that was all O'Keefe prints.  They soothed me.  

Really, I know very little about art and I have no idea how to look at art critically but I just find her work simply beautiful.  Also, even though I know everything she did wasn't meant to be sexual, there's almost always a sexuality to me in every one of her pieces.  

This exhibit had several of her series and it was intriguing  to see her do the same subject in different ways.  Each time the subject became softer and more abstract.  

Of course, one of the highlights for me was seeing my favorite piece Blue Flower.  The Whitney borrowed it from the O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe.  This is my third time seeing it in person.  It stops me in my tracks every time.  Now, I just wish I could find a print of it.  

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Reality TV

I watch way too much of it.  I blame my husband.  For years, I lived without TV.  Now, two years with Christian and I watch reality TV all the time.  Currently, I'm watching some Top Chef show that isn't even regular Top Chef, it's some silly reunion dinner that I couldn't care less about.

I should be reading the Times or some Tolstoy or even  just looking at one of my W magazines that are piling up.  Instead, I'm a lump on the couch watching something I'm not interested in that does nothing to enrich me.

Oh, and it makes me hungry at 10:30 at night.  Never a good thing. 

Oh, I've got to run.  They're plating! 

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Who's an old married lady now?

That'd be me.  

It's been 15 days since the most amazing day of my life.  We got home from our honeymoon in Greece late last night and I'm still adjusting to being back in our apartment (which, while we were gone, developed a weird smell).  

I'll post more about our fantastic day soon but, for now, just a gorgeous photo courtesy of Jimmy Ryan.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Fashion Week

Last night, I attended my first two Fashion Week shows (insert squee! here). My boss had two invitations but couldn't go at the last minute so I got to use one of his invites. It was totally cool and very different than I thought it would be.

The first show was the Chado Ralph Rucci show in the big tent. Please don't judge, but I had never heard of Rucci before arranging for my boss to go to the show. I assume that's because I'm too young and poor to be in his usual target audience.

Celebrity sightings included Martha Stewart, Miss J from ANTM and Andre Leon Talley. Sadly, I didn't get to tell Mr. Talley how much I enjoyed his tennis scene in The September Issue.

The show was absolutely gorgeous. If I was insanely (or even sanely) rich, I would have been marking down things to buy. Instead I was just sitting there in awe. Some of my favorite pieces (sadly, the style.com pics don't do them full justice) are below. The detailing on the back of the red dress and the burnt yellow (is that a color?) dress was fabulous.



Next, we went to the Vivienne Tam show. Pretty show and I loved how she styled the models but most of the clothes weren't really my personal style.

Some things I learned at the shows:
1) The music they play is sometimes extremely loud. Like you're in a club. This was the case at the Rucci show. It was a little jarring for me to be looking at such exquisite dresses while surrounded by booming music.
2) I thought I'd get some real swag. I didn't. I got this cool notebook from the Vivienne Tam show but that was it. I think if I would have had the opportunity to walk around more maybe I could've scored something else but I was really hoping for some goody bags on our seats.
3) The flooring in the lobby area is straight Bryant Park. They don't deck over it in that area so you get your heel caught and it makes for a little awkward walking when you're trying to rock high heels.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

What amazing thing did I get to do today?

I attended the Walter Cronkite Memorial. Why was this especially super freaking cool? Because President Obama and President Clinton both spoke. Only time I've ever seen a President speak in person and I got to see two in one day. It would have been even better if I'd remembered to wear my glasses so I could actually see their faces.

Also, Wynton Marsalis' New Orleans-style jazz funeral march around Avery Fisher Hall was simply awe inspiring.

(Photo courtesy of The New York Times. The one I tried to take with my iPhone is just pathetic. It looks like my iPhone also forgot his glasses today.)



Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Two weeks from today...

I have my final dress fitting. If I was a good bride, that would mean that I wouldn't have just inhaled a tasty shrimp and rice dinner with lots of cream and some cookies for dessert. But, I'm evidently not a good bride because that's what I just did. Oops!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

The September Issue

Today, I left work a couple minutes early to watch The September Issue.  Good research for my current project at work ;)

Not the greatest documentary I've ever seen, but it had some good moments.  I think the main problems were a lack of real tension/conflict and a feeling like Anna Wintour was really controlling herself for the cameras.  

Keep an eye out for a couple gems.  There's one scene with Andre Leon Talley on the tennis court that is absolutely hilarious.  Who knew Louis Vuitton made tennis racket cases?  Not me!  Also, I can't be sure, but I think Sienna Miller referred to her assistant as "my assist".   And, of course, it's got some great fashion. 


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Deep breaths

So, I'm getting married. 1 month from today. In fact, at this time 1 month from now I will be lawfully wedded to my husband and all that.

I started making a list today of absolutely everything we have to do between now and then.  It's two pages.  And I thought our small, nontraditional wedding was supposed to be easy and stress free... 



Monday, August 31, 2009

Recipe binder

This is one of my favorite organizational tricks.  Not just because it helps keep things orderly, but also because it helps keep me fed.

You know all those recipes you tear out of magazines or print off the internet.  And you know how they all end up in a messy pile somewhere in your kitchen/living room and tend to accumulate sauce or oil on them until you can't actually read the recipe anymore.  Get a three ring binder, some sheet protectors, put the recipes in the sheet protectors, load those in the binder and voila! -- instant recipe book.  Easy to flip through when you're planning meals for the week and easy to reference while you're cooking.  If you get anything on the sheet protectors, you can easily wipe it off.