At Laaaaaaaaast...

My loooove has come aloooong... my lonely days are over....

I picked up my new digital camera today. (My old one died. So sad, so sad.)

Here are the first pictures on my new baby. Ah, Central Park in spring.




Prepare for me to be a little camera happy for awhile. :)

Espresso, Cream, and Mustard

This is the inspiration picture Jen and I are using to redo our living room. Obviously it is an apartment in Paris, (it is Paris on the brain over here lately as I'm sure you can see.)

I'll let you dwell on this until the blogs pixies send me something exciting to talk about. Which I hope will be soon!



We're also thinking of adding in deep plum as an accent color. Just very sparingly. Any thoughts?

A Very Delicate Thing...(and a little surprise!)

When I was a teenager I was one of those kids. The kids who loved to make mix tapes. I still have a whole box hanging out somewhere in my parents house, full of treasures such as "Alterna-mix '96" and "Emily's Jazz Licks." The great thing is, I can still listen to these tapes today. I still love each and every song. Of course, with the advent of CD burners I graduated to a new format, but I have to say I do miss the tactile quality involved in good old fashioned cassette mixing.

John Cusack really does sum it all up in the movie "High Fidelity" when he says,

"Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing."

I, myself, have issues with repeating songs; in that I refuse to do it. If I make a mix inspired by someone in my life, then no songs on said mix will ever grace the line-up on any other persons mix. This can create problems, but then it's probably also a big part of why I spend so much time searching for new music. I also insist on a perfect line-up. I'm not one to just pick songs and throw them on a CD, I'm a little too obsessive for that. I carefully screen each and every transition for flow and make sure the tempos and moods of each piece slide smoothly from one to the next.

A big highlight for me the past few years has been the creation of a yearly Holiday mix for my friends and family. I love to mix new and old as well as a broad spectrum of religions. What can I say, I want to please everyone. It's always a hit, and I love searching out new and interesting songs in such a limited field. 2008 will be year number four for this new tradition and I think I'm up to the challenge.

Now, as I'm sure you all know, I've been pretty anxious for spring this year, so I've decided to treat you all to a little Spring mix. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you can find most of these tunes fairly easily. So without further ado...



"Back Comes Spring..."

1. Isn't This A Lovely Day by Diana Krall
2. Snow Is Gone by Josh Ritter
3. Trouble Sleeping by Corinne Bailey Rae
4. Other Girls by Tigercity
5. The Motion Waltz by Rufus Wainwright
6. City of Blinding Lights by U2
7. April in Paris by Billie Holiday
8. People's Parties by Joni Mitchell
9. Love Me Tender by Norah Jones
10. South America by Shout Out Louds
11. Tres Tres Chic by Mocean Workers
12.(There Is) No Greater Love by Amy Winehouse
13. Via Con Me by Paolo Conte
14. I Thought I Saw Your Face Today by She & Him
15. Lettre A P... by Paris Combo
16. Like Someone In Love by Björk
17. Inside Of Love by Nada Surf
18. Dreamsome by Shelby Lynne
19. I Found Love by Styrofoam & Sarah Shannon
20. Queen of the Surface Streets by DeVotchKa
21. Just Like A Woman by Charlotte Gainsbourg & Calexico
22. Love Will Come Through by Travis
23. With Arms Outstretched by Rilo Kiley

Happy Spring Everyone!

**I'm having some issues formatting the list so that it's more readable. Any thoughts?**

New Toy!

I discovered a new toy today while playing on the internet. Check out Polyvore! It's a fun place to play with fashion with out the temptation to buy. I created the following looks entitled (what else?)...

Le Hot Tomato in Paris!



and Le Hot Tomato in Paris II!



Pretty, no?

Happy Acquisitions

I still have not recieved my wish regarding springtime in NYC. It is still cold and gray and in general a bit yicky. But yesterday I may have discovered a cure. In order to make it through until spring I have to find new ways to make unenjoyable weather enjoyable. And what better way to do that than to make believe I'm in my dream city of the moment... Paris, where I would still be happy even if it was rainy and overcast.

Thus far three little things have helped me accomplish this...

On Sunday afternoon after having tea at Alice's Tea Cup with two of my lovely ladies, we walked around and did a bit of shopping. I wasn't really looking for anything when suddenly I was called from across the room by a truly lovely jersey tunic, with a neckline decorated in flat stitched chiffon rosettes. I tried it on and became convinced that if it beonged to me then dreams would become reality and The Sartorialist would want to take my picture. It was $20. How could I not?

Yesterday I was reading Rita's blog over at Domino Magazine and my curisoity was piqued by one of the books she had displayed in her current post. It is called "True Pleasures; a memoir of women in Paris." Looked good to me, but to my dismay it was hard to come by for some reason. In the end I had to call Barnes and Noble in Union Square and have it put on hold for me. It was possibly the only copy of the book in the city. And now it is mine. (As well as basically free thanks to some leftover balance I had on an old giftcard!)




When I arrived at Union Square I noticed there were actually a few stalls from the farmers market that hadn't closed yet, and soon an irresistible scent began to waft towards me. Now anyone who has ever tasted anything from Red Jacket Orchards probably knows just what a treat this was, and due to the chilliness of the day yesterday the guys from the orchard were cooking up fresh apple cider just inside their stall. I promised myself a cup on my way back to the subway. It did not dissappoint. Hot and almost creamy, with soft chunks of apple still floating in the brew, it has to be one of the best treats you can buy for $1.50. Thanks to that apple cider I fulfilled my goal of enjoying the gray day. Who wants hot cider when it's sunny? Not this girl.

Yes... I'll admit it.

That's right. I am a design snob. I know this about myself, and I'm pretty much ok with it. So what if I like to be surrounded by beautiful things? But at what point is this taken too far.

Well, I first started to realize I had a serious problem when I found myself purchasing food strictly based on the packaging. Frankly, most of the time it's still really good food, but at the same time I have to ask myself, "Who does that?"

Now here are some examples of fairly similar products. Which do you think I would choose?

OR

And here again...

OR

You can bet I would choose option b 9 times out of 10. Now granted these things are also pretty tasty, but I'm not entirely sure that's why I was attracted to them in the first place. It honestly was because they were more pleasing to the eye. I am confusing which of my 5 senses goes with which part of my life? Possibly. Am I admittedly a bit silly and frivolous. Without a doubt.

P.S. If you can find San Pellegrino sodas anywhere I really do reccomend them. They are tasty and all natural and very light and springy. :)

15 things...

So I've been struggling lately with finding a focus for this blog. I am passionate about so many things that I get distacted and frustrated and then end up not posting at all. So I'm going to try a little experiment. I'm just going to blog about whatever I want until I can comfortably settle into a pattern. I don't want to force myself in any one direction until I'm certain it's something I'm going to want to follow through on. So that's that.

Today I thought I would share with you a list. This was inspired by Aimee over at Put Your Flare On. She is one of my favorite bloggers in Paris, and has just achieved something pretty big. She just opened her own cafe and tea house in Paris. Now Aimee is originally from Olathe, KS, and being a Kansas girl myself I'm pretty inspired by her story. Someday I'm going to have to go to Paris and meet her. She has a list on her blog entitled "30 Things " comprised of goals and wishes and dreams for her life. As these are things I've been thinking a lot about recently I thought I would give it a try. I'm half way there...

Some of these things are big and some are small. Some I can take care of soon, and some will take considerably more time. But for now, it's just nice to admit them to the world at large.

Without further ado, I give you my 15 (only slightly random) things...

15 Things Just For Me

1. Learn to speak fluent French


2. Take an extended cross country road trip. I want to know my country.


3. Visit India


4. Get back to my first love; Performing


5. Own my own apartment in NYC


6. Live more spontaneously/Be more open to the world around me


7. Take classes at a culinary school


8. Have a vegetable garden (even if it's just tomatoes and herbs on my fire escape!)


9. Improve my guitar playing skills


10. Get married and have 5 babies


11. Sing in a jazz combo


12. Have my own sewing room


13. Find my happy place


14. Live to see my siblings achieve their creative goals


15. Spend a year in Paris

What do you want to do?