To me, the only thing better than French Bulldogs are mini French Bulldog chocolates. And the only thing better than receiving mini French Bulldog chocolates is having an amazing friend/business partner who finds you the perfect birthday present that you didn’t even know existed. Thanks so much, Em!
Other than sleeping past noon, my favorite part about the weekend is brunch. Last weekend, some friends I headed to a neighborhood place called The Clerkenwell where we discovered delicious fruit-topped French toast (my go-to brunch favorite) as well as a make-your-own bloody mary bar. It prepared us well for a busy afternoon of Hulu and napping.
While in San Francisco last week, I couldn’t help but take some time out to go antique shopping in the Mission District. What could be better than pizza from Delfina’s followed by mid-century home furnishings? Oh yeah, following it up with a burrito from El Farolito. Mmm, I miss San Francisco already…
I am completely in love with my roommate’s Staub cast iron tea kettle, and apparently now, so is New York Magazine who just named it a “best bet”. Even though it’s clearly on its way to the top, I can always say that I knew it back when…
And the tea is especially delicious when drunk from a mug shaped like the Minnesota state bird.
Although my baking skills are not quite up to par with Emily’s, I do like to flex my culinary creativity every now and then…and usually in the form of decorative cakes. So this week, I decided to bake a facecake (my favorite type of cake to make) for Polly to thank her for lending me her sewing machine for the summer. She was a little shocked at first, but eventually she warmed up to seeing herself in cake form.
Polly's facecake
Polly, bonding with her facecake
After a long week of work and a much needed Friday afternoon nap, I took my black Schiller jacket for a night out.
I paired it with a short gray silk Theory dress, black tights and Stuart Weitzman snakeskin platform pumps, some gold chains and, as always, my favorite Raymond Weil man-watch.
First stop: Cherin Sushi in the East Village. I am always skeptical about BYOB restaurants and especially those with gimmicky human named rolls (ie. Rachel roll, Jim roll), but I was pleasantly surprised by the freshness of the fish and avocado. My only complaint is that other than the Sushi Surfer roll (with banana) it was difficult to discern between the different rolls. But for this price and BYOB with no corkage fee, I will definitely come back.
Schiller and I then headed to the Studio at Webster Hall for the Dinosaur Feathers album release party. We arrived just in time to see the Darlings play. Appropriately named, they remind me of that friend-of-a-friend’s band I would have had a crush on in high school.
As a perfect end to the party, Dinosaur Feathers played their entire album in one of their best performances I’ve ever seen. The Studio was packed, and the hot, sweaty performance was just right for the middle of winter.
In addition to Greg (lead guitar and vocals), Derek (keyboard and vocals), Ryan (bass guitar and vocals) and the mysterious suitcase (drum machine), they also had extra vocalists and a violinist join them on stage.
After the show I had a chance to talk to Greg before they head out on tour on their way to SXSW. He likes the Schiller jacket, but thinks he may prefer the Sevy cropped jacket, or as he calls it, “the jacket for fat babies”.
I then traded my heels for flats, and Schiller and I headed outside to catch a cab back over the bridge to Greenpoint.