Smartypants

Our neighbors bought a Smart Car. It is adorable.

I'm afraid for it if ever it gets into a fight against an SUV.

Still, it makes me smile whenever I see it.

Dior-icious

I got a little sidetracked from my Dior mania, but I did promise to post the pictures of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (the new French first lady)'s inaugural state visit to London - or, more accurately, pictures of her wardrobe.

They were all designed by Galliano.

When she first appeared on the scene on Sarkozy's arm, I , like the rest of the world, laughed my head off. It seemed so undignified that the French president would end up with a former model/pop singer/serial dater of rock stars, and apparently the rest of France agreed with me, because Sarkozy's approval ratings plummeted after their marriage.

But then I saw pictures of the London visit and I was wowed. Totally won over. She looked so elegant here, her clothes speaking of a quiet refinement and style. Some in the British press accused her of trying to project a demure image to counter her salacious past, but whatever it was for, I think it totally worked.

This gray coatdress she had on was perhaps my favorite.



And this sweet little pillbox hat and fringe bangs, channeling either a 1960s flight attendant or Jackie O - but the look works on her.


And that demure little Dior bag!


I love the color of her coat.


And I love everything about this dress - the color, the lines, how it falls and drapes so gracefully. She was wearing sapphire Chaumet jewels with this dress, but I wish she wore heels.

During a state dinner.

I love (cool) hotels

While in New York, we stayed at one of the uber-chic W hotels - the W Court on Murray Hill, a neighborhood in the upper 30s between Park and Lexington.

Perhaps my favorite part of the hotel, besides the Bliss products, was that every afternoon they would have snacks and drinks waiting in the lobby. One day it was truffles and champagne punch, another day it would be a pitcher of iced water with mint and strawberries. Yum.



The lobby was perpetually dim, no matter what time of day.


They had an i-Pod dock and charger next to the alarm clock, which made things super convenient.


There was a stack of design and art magazines next to the chaise lounge. No mere "Good Housekeeping" for the W, no sir. Though I did wish they were willing to lower themselves to pedestrian level and stock some US Weeklies.




The "Bliss Sinkside Six-Pack." My favorite was the Body Butter. One afternoon we saw the housekeeper cart standing in the hallway unattended with the mother lode of this stuff, so I pilfered a whole bunch. Shhh. Next time I'm up in New York I'm hoping to pay a vist to the Bliss Spa.

I love hotels.

Class progress report

This is what I did in class today. I finished that blasted ring. Yay! Well, sort of. I still need to put the final touches on it (buffing, etc). But for the most part the structure, which was giving me so much trouble the last time, is pretty much done.


Then I started on stone setting. Here is the start of my bezel cup to put that pretty green chrysoprase cabochon in. Predictably, I had problems, not the least of which was shredding my fingers into a bloody mess three times with the jeweler's saw, giving myself a nasty scrape on my shoulder courtesy of the bench pin, and almost setting my hair on fire with the torch.

As my friend Marnie likes to say: good times.

Images from the All-Stars

Outside Yankee Stadium - it was one big party!


On the field.


The players walk off the field after batting practice before the Home Run Derby.


The different team mascots come out to party!


The Home Run Derby participants gather together.


During the pre-game ceremony at the All-Star game, the American League reserves line up. A very stirring sight.


The flag comes out.


The Hall of Famers come out onto the field to be honored. Another stirring sight.


And they stand on the spots of their former positions.

New York, redux

Where have I been, you ask? Why, back to New York again! We were there for the All-Star Game festivities (and boy, was that a lot of fun), but in between all the baseball hoopla I managed to carve out some time to make a pilgrimage to a few jewelry suppliers.

I paid a visit to a wholesaler that I met at a trade show a while back. They are one of my favorites because of their great quality merchandise at the best prices I've found so far. I discovered that they didn't have a showroom, per se - instead they were located in a tiny little office at the back of a rundown building, in a slightly seedy area on Broadway. An adventure to be sure, but totally worth it.

Another post about food

Yesterday my friend Michele and I had lunch at a newish Belgian brasserie downtown. It was one of those casual yet hyper chic places, very similar to the ambience at Pastis in New York.

I had a bowl of their pea soup with veal cheek meatballs (it was very good, but the meatballs were so small I couldn't distinguish the veal cheek part of it, so that was a bit of a letdown) and a huge thing of moules frites. The mussels came in this gigantic pot and the broth was white wine with garlic. I ate the whole thing. The fries were seasoned and cooked just like they do them in Brussels, except the cut here was a little thicker.

We staggered out of there afterwards, barely able to breathe.

Good lunch.