je me souviens

so excited! im going to paris this week and have a mile long list of flea markets to explore and some fashion exhibitions to see. but, of course just being in paris is the funnest. to prepare, i saw two movies in which paris is a major character: julie & julia and the new anna wintour documentary, the september issue . the reviews of the documentary which somewhat malign the filmmaker for the portrayal of anna w may not be entirely fair to him (would she have let him see anything else and who of us would?), but it did feel more like an ad/pr piece than showing anything you didnt know about ms w. you get a better 360 sense of Grace Coddington and the photo shoots are beautiful to watch in production. viewers note: snack-buy at your own risk. all the models and talk about "looking pregnant" and folks needing to go to the gym will scare off only the most body confident from enjoying their popcorn. for more of a film about fashion that's a very personal story, see lagerfeld confidential about karl l; you really get a sense of his philosophy and work. plus, the opening scene of the film completely justifies my recent silver ring and bracelet acquisitions--he must have 200 plus spread across his dresser. My latest ring (a giant silver signet), by the way, come from the atelier of the awesome gregg wolf. and when you go to his studio of east 9th street it's always chock full of other interesting artists. the julie and julia movie is a love letter to julia child with a side story about the blogger, julie powell, who cooked her way through jc's first cookbook, mastering the art of french cooking. jp doesnt seem very interesting (i felt her blog/book was dull too), but who is compared to jc? the oddest representation is of amanda hesser i thought, she seemed very priggish, yet her first book is charming. paris looks gorgeous in all three movies and nyc comes off very well in the september issue.

q de blog: why can you eat endless mounds butter and sugar in paris and come home thinner?

peace out, flatsie

je me souviens

dc escape

looking for a quick getaway? try the lorien hotel & spa in alexandria, virginia. it's a beautiful 4-5 star escape that you can often book for 150 a night (with breakfast); sometimes you can find it for 110. in the morning, you can read the paper in the living room with coffee and tea; i like to do that en route to the gorgeous gym with everything you could want, including a peaceful room for yoga (dvd's included). they also have a cheese, and wine shop (isnt that the point of going to the gym?) that's perfect to pick up picnic supplies to enjoy in the park on the alexandria waterfront. the hotel is also close to the metro for jaunts into dc (almost all the museums are free and you can catch a ride to amtrak or the airport), but my favorite way to enjoy it is to pop down for an overnight on a saturday morning with a mind to hit my favorite indoor enormous antique and flea market in chantilly, virginia that happens every third month or so. the flea market is run by d'amore promotions and is filled with friendly, vendors from the east coast who are happy to make a deal. fun finds include scandanavian silver jewelry from the 70's; a vendor with stacks of vintage louis vuitton trucks, bags and suitcases; and a booth filled with hundreds of metal chocolate molds--very martha stewart.

if you have time on saturday, enjoy strolling in old town alexandria. i loved (and got some vintage rosenthal china) at chinoiserie, random harvest is always fun (for vintage furniture), red barn mercantile (almost bought a huge homage a duchamp metal wine rack there, but couldn't figure out where in nyc apt to put it so even my object lust has limits, apparently!) and misha's is an awesome coffeehouse with giant slices of cake and delicious coffee. if you can, catch a movie at the old town theater, so un-multiplex . for a delicious dinner, try vermillion (roasted olives and the mixed tomatoes with burrata are especially delicious) or eve (try the very flavourful bouillabaisse and eat at the bar if it's full).

next stop, baltimore big flea, october 24-25 another d'amore promotions show that the vendors in dc swear by for shopping (bargains good enough for resale even); that one includes vendors from europe and take two days to go through, they say. i'm hoping to go to obrychi's or another crab shack (no such thing in nyc and i miss the hours of salty, spicy fun with flying crab shells, beer and conversation).

query de blog: did i invent the terms blogalicious and blogalarious (not as regards this blog, btw, but think i invented those reading another blog)?

peace out, flatsie

dc escape