To go the distance

Hope you had a fantastic weekend! I got caught up in the drama of the NYC Marathon. Like most people, I was especially inspired by one runner who almost didn't make it...

Edison Peña - the Chilean miner who less than a month ago was trapped underground in dark isolation, who motivated himself by running the mine's tunnels - successfully finished the NYC marathon yesterday.

Congratulations to Peña and to all the runners for proving that the human spirit, when motivated, can do amazing things!

~ Wishing you an inspiring and amazing week ahead! ~

(All images via The Telegraph.)

Photos du jour: Leaves are fading

How time flies! Photographed in Central Park (previous autumn) and Hudson Valley, NY (this autumn).

P.S. The Leaves are Fading is also a lovely ballet - a reflection on passing time & past loves as one enters the autumn of life - this bit is danced by husband/wife Amanda McKerrow & John Gardner (dance starts @ 55 seconds).

(From the American Ballet Theatre, YouTube clip here.)

CIA gastro getaway

Hope you had a terrific Halloween! I spent mine still aglow from last week's CIA encounter - not the CIA with spies, but the nicer Culinary Institute of America (Anthony Bourdain's alma mater).

You can dig into goodies at five award-winning, student-run restaurants. We tried Caterina de' Medici, above. The prosciutto & warm robiola, oxtail with romanesco, and tiramisu were heavenly.

And the restaurant's yellow villa is straight out of an Italian town!

You'll also appreciate the bucolic setting in Hudson Valley, NY. :)

~ Wishing you a delicious week! ~

P.S. The CIA offers popular culinary boot camps - wouldn't it be great to say you went to "CIA boot camp"?

(Images via Valley Fig, Virtual Tourist, Richmond Magazine, Study Discussions and CIA Photo Archives.)    

I want candy

{Pile of British candy}

I can't help it, it's all this Halloween talk! And if, like me, you've a thing for British candy, but find yourself Stateside of the pond, all is not lost! Where to find candyliciousness in 3 major East Coast towns...

Cardullo's in winter, Cambridge

Boston & Cambridge: Cardullo's not only has piles o' British candy, but the most expensive sandwich - over $100 for a caviar sandwich!

Rodman's, Washington, DC

DC: Rodman's, the "Weirdest Little Drugstore in Washington," is a savior for Brit-candy hunters in the wilds of DC.





Tea & Sympathy in the Village

Manhattan, NYC:  Tea & Sympathy has carried British candy since the last monarch (it seems!)

Humble London Tube candy machine

Confession: My candy sources in London aren't as fancy as the above. We just buy from the nearby petrol (gas) station or the candy machines in the Tube (subway). :)



(Images via Muffin Top, Eric Rolph at panoramio, DC Beer, Chris J Russell and just some photos.)

Change is in the air

Hope everyone had a wonderful fall weekend! Thank you for all your sweet comments Friday - I've been off the grid, but can't wait to catch up on your blogs. :)

I'm excited. For 4 years, I've been living a nomadic life in London, Cambridge, DC (with stints in Hawaii, of course :))... All for work and love. But as of this fall, our jobs are going to let my significant other and I spend more months together in the States each year!

We still have to go between the East Coast and London sometimes, but I'm psyched to not face another London winter (3pm sunsets are un-fun!) and to be less footloose.

The first side effect? We took a trip out on the lovely East Coast to celebrate and soak in fall color. I could get used to this. :)

~ Wishing you a lovely fall week ahead! ~

{Photographs of changing fall foliage taken in Hudson Valley, NY.}

Manhattan menagerie

{St. John the Divine, Morningside Heights, NY}

Every autumn, this Manhattan cathedral transforms for a day into an extraordinary menagerie of cute creatures.

The Blessing of the Animals (aw), inspired by animal-lover St. Francis, honors harmony between humans and nature. People from all walks of life bring their pets, or just come to enjoy.

{Despite a full house, there's amazingly little noise beyond tail thumping - as if the animals know it's their special day!}

It's an autumn ritual that just makes Manhattan life sweeter.

(Images from Michael Williams via Sacred Destinations, daylife and the gothamist (#3-4)).

Vintage fashion as art

{House of Lanvin, silk & chenille, 1957, London V&A, via}

Hope you had a nice, long (US) holiday weekend! To ease the post-holiday transition, here's some lovely art for you, from 2 favorite museums: London's V&A (Victoria & Albert) and NYC's Met. :)

{Click images to open, click open image to enlarge}

{Givenchy evening gown, silk, 1955, London's V&A, via}

{The gown's sumptuous silk-thread embroidery, via}

Givenchy called this gown Les Muguets (Lilies of the Valley) and it came with long evening gloves. Very Audrey Hepburn, of course.

{Givenchy, ostrich feathers, 1967, London V&A, via}

I sometimes wish people still wore great hats regularly (not just at British weddings, big horse races and such).

{Quant mini-dress, wool & jersey, 1967, London V&A, via}

Without Mary Quant, London in the '60s might not've been so Swingin'. This went with dense tights & a big-brimmed beret or hat (think Twiggy :)).

{McQueen, mille-feuille-like silk organza, 2003, NYC's Met, via}

Couldn't resist non-vintage Alexander McQueen's "Oyster Dress."

{Lanvin evening dress, silk, 1931, NYC's Met, via}

This sweet, soft dress could easily be worn today.

{Lanvin "Roseraie" dress, silk, 1923, NYC's Met, via}

Lanvin painstakingly manipulated ribbon to create every rosette.

{Dior, silk organza & embroidery, 1953, NYC's Met, via}

Dior gone to a garden party -- the pattern is of teeny hand-stitched French knots.

~ Wishing you a great week ahead! ~

P.S. Yes, I have a weakness for Lanvin -- seeing vintage Lanvin up-close is an experience I'd highly recommend to any lover of design, fashion, art or just beautiful craftsmanship!

A Little Fromage Homage

♥ O, let us count the ways! ♥ A cheese-addicted friend & I plan to celebrate some good news and for us, party-hearty happiness is just 1 bite away (of brie, Taleggio, Midnight Moon, Kasseri, etc :))

Confession: I wanted to go to the moon - made of cheese - with lovable, claymat-ed Wallace (above) and his dog Gromit, in A Grand Day Out. As Wallace would say, "Crackin' cheese, Gromit."

Wallace & Gromit's lunar cheese picnic (I want a dog like Gromit!)

I blame my cheesy love affair on New York food nirvana, Fairway, which was near my old flat. Their cheese counters (above) are so seductive, they inspired writer/historian Simon Schama to gush:

"...nothing comes close to the Fairway cheese department... the mountainous cheese counter, a ziggurat of whiffy gorgeousness, Celtic Promise to Humboldt Fog... The labels are written with the erudition of ethnographers...singing songs of rinds...and brine-washed wheels. Only in New York would medieval Portuguese literature be thought a strong selling point for a cheese (Serra da Estrela, 'made by hand only at night by lamplight')."

It's lethal stuff, that cheese (and who can resist anything lethal?) :)

(Schama's cheese ode appeared in the November 11, 2001 issue of NY Times Magazine. Images via Gourmet Gal, Sydney Morning Herald, Roots Rain, Larry Wagner Photo, WallaceAndGromit.net, WallaceandGromit.com and 1hr photo.)

Spreadable chocolate

Yes, it does sound a little naughty, but Belberry's sweet raspberry chocolate spread is more like my idea of heaven: luscious fruit and decadent bittersweet chocolate melded together.

A purple fig version is also available, which I'd love to try! Read a TimeOut NY write-up here. (In NYC, it was introduced at Fairway and has been a big hit, apparently).

(Image via Belberry.)

Different strokes

Manhattan kayaks (via)

My brother and sister-in-law are avid NYC paddlers and did a marathon 22 mile paddle up the Hudson River the past weekend, to the very top of Manhattan! (Where currents meet at Spuyten Duyvil, or Spitting Devil.)

Isle of Manhattan (via)

Paddling around Manhattan is not for the faint of heart: there's open water navigation, major wind and waves, stamina loss...

Sloth (family photo)

Meantime, my sister had her crazy surgery residency schedule all weekend. But me? I slept-in, chatted and avoided work. (Clearly, this family needs a sloth...me :) Have a relaxing weekend!!

Summer (in the city) salad

(via)

Way back when I was a new college grad in New York City, I made this fresh, summery salad a lot. Even now, this taste combination kind of evokes those years (funny how food anchors memory).

SPINACH, AVOCADO, AND ORANGE SALAD

Ingredients:
-3 handfuls (6 oz) of the freshest spinach leaves you can find
-A small (or medium) ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced
-A small orange, peeled and each section skinned & segmented
-Extra-virgin olive oil
-Balsamic vinegar
Optional:
-A large portobello mushroom, sauteed or grilled, and sliced
-Parmesan shavings (I use 6-8, the width/length of my thumb)
-Fresh-ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Toss the spinach with avocado and orange slices
2. Lightly dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to your liking
3. If using, add the mushroom, parmesan and/or pepper
4. Toss everything gently and chow!

Note: Recently, I searched for a similar or "official" version of this recipe online. The closest I found was something using Asian-style dressing (reflected in the above photo), which I hadn't used before. It sounded good. For that recipe, click on -->epicurious.