Lazy days are here

Vacation time for me has finally come, and I find that all I want to do is the following:

Sleep:

















Roam around the neighborhood:




















And somehow be near water:




















Let these three wishes (captured by Tuija Lindström) be granted me and I shall be a happy woman!

Excuse me, you have golden sparkles between your teeth

Ichigo is thinking of starting a baking blog, and we were talking about how frustrating it is when people post pictures of what wonders they made, and don't show you how. So I am going to show you, mostly by links, how to make pumpkin cookies:

Step 1: Find a recipe such as this one.
Step 2: Substitute that frosting with a cream cheese frosting, except use half the amount of sugar.
Step 3: Get yourself to a Williams Sonoma or NYCake, or another store that sells golden, shimmering sugar, and dust that on the cookies.
Step 4: Put it on the dessert table.
Step 5: Stand by the dessert table and count exactly how many cookies each guest ate. This number is now directly proportional to how much you like each person! Keep reminding them of this until they run away from you, leaving behind a trail of crumbs.

Enjoy!

Sinnerman

Thanks to Amazon's awesome deals, I finally have all the Nina Simone songs I could dream of, including my favorite- Sinnerman. For exquisite listening pleasure, all you have to do is click (second song).

And for your exquisite remixed listening pleasure click again (first song). If you insist on sticking your nose up at Felix Da Housecat, do it in public. In private, just dance!

Also, as you can see, I can't figure out how to switch the song order. Technology, what a burden upon my mind!...Any help I will take and treasure.

Mil Besos

I recently saw heart stopping pictures from Ruven Afanador's just published book Mil Besos. The photographs capture Spain's flamenco dancers in all their beauty and strength, and I really love them. Here you are:

The dancers appear to me like mermaids, prophetesses, silent film stars and intriguing great-aunts, and really, isn't that what all women want to be?

Moswow

Fall is here and winter is coming, so it's time to start wearing shirts buttoned up to the neck (not that I ever stopped during the summer, but now it will be more comfortable), turtlenecks, shawls, and fake furs. What better to guide us into our cold weather lives and cloaks than films set in 19th and early 20th century Russia?

Nothing is better, that's the answer.

Dr.Zhivago:

War and Peace:

Anastasia:

Even if high collars are not your preference, these are still perfect movies to watch for when it's all chilly outside and all warm inside and you happen to have a refrigerator full of beer and borscht.

Get it before it's gone!

There is always some special exhibit, event or festival happening in NY, and a lot of them pass by me either unnoticed or unattended. But I must share two of my favorites that should NOT be missed! Go today for the first, next month for the second, and not a second later.

Isabel Toledo: Fashion from the Inside Out at the Museum at FIT


Her knowledge about sewing and design is mind blowing. I couldn't look at my little sewing projects for days afterwards without cringing and collapsing into a pile of despair (over what I don't know) and reverence (for her). She's a genius! And here she is, looking ravishing.


It ends September 26, hurry!

And coming up....
Norwegian Film Week at Scandinavia House

I grew up around so many cultures in Queens, but Scandinavian culture wasn't really one of them. The only times I was exposed to it was when my grandfather would pull out the family tree and show me where my great great grandparents came from and how our name was changed from Johansson, to Skjold, to Schold. In elementary school I used to do a yearly report on Norway and bring in a Norwegian berry pudding while explaining to everyone that all my ancestors were Vikings.

Although there is still a small possibility that might be true, I don't go around saying it and instead just love visiting Scandinavia House. It has a small library, children's playroom, rotating gallery, restaurant, shop and theater. The Norwegian Film Week lasts from October 14th to 24th, and Scandinavia House is compact enough to see it all in one day, so try it!

This Weekend's Creations and Creatures

(Chocolate-Dipped Macaroons, Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallows with Graham Cracker Crumbs, Swiss Log Cake with Whipped Cream and Cherries, Chocolate Truffles, Apron).

The above pictures look innocent enough, but if you look closely, you'll see that the swiss log resembles an agitated forest monster lurching to attack. I suppose it's irritable nature is due to it's insides spewing out during the metamorphosis from a flat sheet to a log:

If my insides spewed out I wouldn't be happy either. So I'm going to try to create another swiss log with insides intact. It will be less threatening and I will be victorious.