Art Deco

Voluptuously sculpted women. Love the combination of jazz and strength. Artist: Tamara de Lempicka

Nutritious recipes

My fave section of the Times, filled with healthy recipes for all types of veggies (which I admit, just aren't tasty if not cooked right). Don't miss the Browse Past Recipes scroller in the middle part of the page; you can literally select a veggie or a pantry staple, like peppers, or canned beans, and articles with yummy recipes and health info will pop up.

Flee Market Style

Once I get a place of my own, I will be filling it with cozy thrift-fabulous finds. Can't wait to shop for this stuff!

Love Letter to Japan

Random, but here are my favorite two songs about Japan. One by The Bird and The Bee and the other by Coldplay.

Riverside Drive

Fave Ave. of NYC. Gorgeous buildings, leafy foliage, friendly dog-walkers. No. City. Grime.

Fern House

Deborah Shenck's picture book documenting the first year at her Vermont country home and its seasonal garden transformations. Gorgeous bucolic faded photographs of flower veins and foliage. Recipes for homemade wild berry jam and garden herb salads straight from the backyard.

Favorite covers of all time

1. The Killers cover of Dire Straits' "Romeo and Juliet"
2. Rufus Wainwright and Kate Voegele's cover of "Hallelujah"
3. Fiona Apple's cover of The Beatles' "Across the Universe"
4. Greg Laswell's cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
5. Franz Ferdinand's cover of Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For"
6. Carla Bruni's cover of Bob Dylan's "You Belong to Me"
7. David Cloyd's cover of Radiohead's "Weird Fish Arpeggi"
   
8. The Strokes variation on their own song "You Live Only Once"
9. Keane's cover of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."
10. Kaiser Chief's cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine."
11. Jessica Simpson's cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made For Walking"
12. Iron and Wine's cover of Postal Service's "Such Great Heights"
    

Fab 50s

My favorite decade for fashion. Sweet, lady-like, comfy, curve-hugging.

Decorating with books

Love this idea utterly!

BREAD

Now I understand why any time there's missing bread, Europe goes thru a revolution. Been eating baguettes nonstop this week due to an amazing sale at a local grocers for 99 cents a pop. Some of my favorite toppings:

1. olive oil+sea salt
2. olive oil+balsamic vinegar
3. olive oil+marinara sauce
4. pesto+fresh basil+asiago cheese
5. any other type of semi-hard cheese...

How We Survived Communism

Slavenka Drakulic in her book How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed documents the lives and mentalities of women in Communist Eastern Europe. Such close attention is given to the everyday details (like the lack of tampons and soft toilet paper; instead "Golub appeared--rough brown sheets, folded and pressed together in a square package, so when you took one, you pulled the next one too. It wasn't much better than newspaper") that you feel like you're cramped right alongside with three generations of Eastern Europeans living in the same dingy apartment. In "A Communist Eye, or What did I see in New York?" the author explains her guilt as she sees wasted food in the trash cans, beggars on the streets, and the most economically disparate city in the country. New York, to her, was the cruel reality of the underbelly of Capitalism. She concludes that under socialism, comparatively, "the good thing was that we were all poor; the bad thing was we didn't know it." So many of her stories remind me of my parent's childhood in China (even I grew up using Golub-like toilet paper too, until I was 6). The complexity of my parent's feelings---a mixture of nostalgia, hatred, lamentation, and ambivalence towards their Communist past is echoed in Draculic's Soviet Union as well. To have lived both lives, of Communism and Capitalism, is to constantly compare the two. Undoubtedly the capitalist freedoms and pleasures always come out on top in the end, but there are lingers of a soft spot for a close-knit community of equal, simple-minded, un-materialistic people that are lost and replaced by consumerist isolation and individual ambitions.

Blooms

Bought Deborah Schenck stationary at Barnes and Noble: beautiful collection of vintage floral prints. Makes me want to horse-carriage my way back into the times of personal stationary, letter-sending, elegant hand-writings, bonnet hats and their matching parasols. Yes, am a bit nostalgic for times I've never lived. How is that possible?...

Aero-Sale!

I'll admit: my favorite shoe brand is Aerosoles. Formally (and perhaps still) linked with 40-50 year old unfashionable, comfort-pragmatic, and perhaps a little prudish career women, Aerosoles now has adorable designs even the 20-somethings can gush over. They still have a sizable collection of ugly loafers and wtf old women sandals, but there's a new breed of beauties that can't be missed. Comfort is of course their mission, and trust me, NO other company has shoes this insanely plushy and stylish.

Story of Women

Loosely based on a true story, Story of Women (Une Affaire De Femmes) traces the tragic trajectory of a French housewife turned abortionist in 40s Nazi-occupied France. The movie successfully has all the aspects of a great historical film---personal struggle of love and drama against political backdrop, lushly local fashions and lifestyles, and memorable, moving characters and events. Picks you up and plants you in small-town 40s France of hand-milled soaps, fading floral wallpaper, and street prostitutes. There are heart-wrenching moments of physical and psychological struggles women have to go through that make you so grateful times have changed. The movie doesn't dwell on tragic happenings, but rather lets them silently happen and pass, deliberately adding to the ruthlessness of the events even time doesn't care to heal. Hubbert is on my list of most admirable actresses: she takes on the most psychologically complex, and at the same time, temporally and geographically distant characters that require an amazing amount of character intuition and empathy to truly act the part. Here's another (dark, very dark) movie of hers that left me shaking, disturbed, and mind-blown.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Belle & Sebastian's songs always make me want to melt into a liquid pool of sunshine. Here are two songs from a current album I'm listening to: Dear Catastrophe Waitress and Wrapped Up in Books.

Russian Tea Cakes

Been OBSESSED with these little melt in your mouth softies. Buttery loose flour, powered sugar and pecans. Make for your self, or buy fresh at Whole Foods Bakery. Goes decadently with coffee as well as tea (which Russian traditionally drink from this glorious cup.)

Robusto

Honestly, can't tell this apart from the Gruyere except that it's Dutch and equally as yummy. Whole Foods discarded cheese bin for the win.

Gruyere

A more ripe, salty, richer version of Swiss.

Covo Trattoria

Trattoria in Italian means something like a casual bistro with home-cooked essentials, generous portions, and frequent haunters. This restaurant is in the middle of nowhere (136 and 12th Ave, NYC) yet by 7 o'clock, both the top floor cafe/lounge/bar and the main floor dining hall is filled to the exposed-lighting brim, leaving a trail of people waiting by the door. Goes to show how deliciously cozy both the food and ambiance are if N.Yorkers are willing to trek uptown on a Saturday night. Of Max Soha and Max Caffe fame, Covo is owned by the same mom and pop as those two hearty neighborhood establishments south of Harlem (hence SoHa). The couple refurnished an old railway station near the Hudson and kept some of the piping exposed on purpose, which only adds to the brick-oven, smokey-industrial, chandeliered atmosphere. The food comes in gracious portions creatively presented, and the flavor is insanely rich and concentrated. Definitely try the creamy, creamy risotto.

Audrey Covers

Possibly my fav coffee table book so far, here's a delight filled with pages and pages of wonderful, colorful bygone pictures of Audrey on various international magazine covers. Funny how she looks more Russian on the Russian covers and more Asian on the Japanese ones. Traces her life and fashion through each film. Chronicle Books has done it again---they might just be my favorite publishing company.

BBF

Best Boyfriend (for)Ever. Gave me these beautiful coffee table books on coffee and tea, crumpets and scones. Yeah, been recently a little obsessive about starting my own Victorian High Tea culture or opening a Viennese coffeehaus. He also picked out a gorgeous gift bag that I'm definitely saving.

The Mermaid Inn

Romantic nautical decor, flickering candles, and clusters of wine bottles decorating the walls, this place is perfect for breezy Spring evenings of NYC where all the restaurants take advantage of the weather by setting out their street-side chairs. Go and try their lobster sandwich!!! (btw free chocolate pudding dessert on the house)

Go Girl!

Thank Jessica Simpson for setting a natural beauty example. She's going makeup-less and unphoto-shopped in May's issue of Marie Claire. SO glad fashion magazines have started to feature natural, healthy beauty and weight. Um, as opposed to this.

Gwen

Love this girl's style.

Masala Chai

Everyone has their own version of this Indian treat; mine is done with a French press and
1 Cardamom pod
2 whole cloves
3 allspice pods
dash of nutmeg
dash of cinnamon
1/2 cup 2%milk
1/2 cup water
1 inch cube of chopped fresh ginger
1 pouch of Assam Black Tea (or any British Breakfast or Afternoon Tea)
1 heaping tsp sugar
yields 1 perfectly creamy cup.

Raschera

Still deciding whether I like this cheese or not. Has a slight but sharp smokey pungent taste that's goat-y even if it's mostly cow's milk. Tastes closer to a Brie Noir. Best with soft fluffy risen bread. Find at your neighborhood Whole Foods.

Uniekaas Reserve

Meaty, sausage-y, semi-hard gouda that crumbles into your mouth with a peppery taste that goes well with any bread of the baguette variety. And maybe some nuts and beer.

Triple Treat

Guess my surprise when I was washing a fresh carton of strawberries today...

Blaue Gans

That's Blue Goose in German. Had my B-day dinner here, where the waitress meticulously made everyone pronounce the menu in exact German. Try the creamy wursts, soft fluffy pretzels, fish entrees, and for dessert... Marillenpalatschinken anyone?

Spring Song

Spring's finally arrived in NYC. Listening to this song on noise-canceling headphones makes me want to skip down the sunshine streets. The magnolia blossoms are heavenly.

Pre-Raphaelites

Currently enamoured with this style of painting...classy, elegant, and natural, with a little dark edge.

Proserpine-Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Godiva

Did you know that Lady Godiva rode naked thru the streets of England circa 1000 in order to protest unfair taxation? Also, Tom a voyeur in the crowd was struck blind/and/or/dead after sinfully viewing her--hence the birth of the Peeping Tom. Here's a gorgeous John Collier painting, of Lilith fame.