They Tell Me LA's Beautiful When it Rains

You've probably heard of Neko Case, and maybe even love her. She often sings with the New Pornographers, and has pipes so powerful they'll stop you in your tracks, make you cry, all that stuff amazing voices can do. Whenever I'm in LA, a beautiful, melancholy song she sings called "In California," actually written by a lady named Lisa Marr, pops into my head a lot. It captures how you feel when your mood doesn't match the sun. It also references Bonnie Brae, a superbly named street you drive past a lot if you're staying Downtown and don't like to ever take the highway.

A Nice Fable from The Spice Table

Once upon a time, there was a wizard-chef named Bryant Ng and his fair lady, Kim. They took over an crumbling old warehouse-like building in Downtown Los Angeles's Little Tokyo and made it cozy and inviting, with a nice, sturdy bar right up front, softly glowing, hanging lamps fashioned from bird cages, and long wooden tables. Each day (except Sunday) at lunch and dinner, their palace, called the Spice Table, is filled with the flavors of Singapore and Vietnam, and especially pleasant wafts of smoke from sizzling meats on open flames. Wanderers from across the land arrive and eat satays of lamb belly and chile prawns, and an intriguing concoction of peanuts and anchovies, which certainly contains a love potion of some sort. They feast on kon loh mee--egg noodles with ground pork and spices, and always save room for Kaffir lime custard. They wake up the next morning in their own beds wondering if it had been a hazy dream, but then realize that pile of clothes at the foot of the bed really does smell like smoked meat. The moral of our story? Even if a wily fox or up-to-no-good scorpion offers to lead you to The Spice Table, take him up on it. And order more than you at first think will be enough. There's a crisp Albarino that goes perfectly, too.

From Sea to Shining Sea

Always, always dip your toes. Even if it means going a little out of your way. Even if it's freezing. 

Wish You Were Here

Exploring Downtown LA again has been a mysterious and exciting adventure. I'm staying in a haunted hotel, but it seems like the ghosts are mostly benevolent, so that's good.There is so much decaying glamour within just a few blocks, and so much fresh new life.

Turn on the Bright Lights

It is such a special treat to take in an opera at the Met at Lincoln Center, and one of the best parts starts well before the performance.  The Metropolitan Opera House is one of my favorite interiors in New York, because when you walk in and encounter these quasi-futuristic, brilliant twinkling masterpieces, you can't help but be transported, uplifted and inspired.  They were originally hung in 1966 when the Met moved to Lincoln Center, designed by an Austrian man named Hans Harald Rath, and just last year were completely refurbished and re-crystalled in Austria by Swarovski. 

A tip if you're seeing "Tosca" and not feeling up to being emotionally crushed: It has a relatively happy ending if you leave before the third act!

So Delicious, So Evil

The week after New Year's was spent on my second-favorite island in the whole world, St. Croix.  It is mostly filled with all things decidedly unprickly, with a notable exception: THE UUURRRCHIN!  I guess if I were so, so creamy and tasty I'd be sure to grow a very sharp coat of armor, too.  But man does it hurt to step on one.  Island wisdom says the best way to take the sting out is to, uh, have someone pee on you.  I'm pretty sure a wily fellow from the olden times just made that up, because nothing really soothes flesh that's been pierced by multiple giant needles, but you'll always find willing volunteers.

Time Machine

To celebrate being officially sick of being cold, I'm going to a) post something every day to this here site, and b) pretend that it's actually two weeks ago, when I met this romantic duo in Mexico.  They had a lot to say for themselves. 

Arrive!

On the train to Philadelphia to visit one of my two very best friends in the world and my dear sister-in-law, and to celebrate the opening of my friend Joey Campanaro's new restaurant there, The Village Belle. (You might know him from the Little Owl in the West Village.) It's going to be a great night, but right now I feel a little like I'm in a Fellini film. The conductor has a long monk beard and looks just like my friend Andrew, the lady next to me has been wearing giant Gucci sunglasses the whole time and whispering while the fall foliage we glide through is spectacular.We're here!

It Was Indeed a Sunshine State

Just yesterday we were playing in the sand and celebrating the nuptials of two crazy kids. Seems a world away from this bleak and dreary NYC Monday, but thinking back on such a sunny, spirited weekend reminded me that on a practical note, we should all copy this simple, inexpensive but statement-making gerbera daisy arrangement!

En-Gulfed

A late-September day at the beach on the Gulf's pristine shores. Water is salty and warm; shells abound. Bugs mate...a lot.

The Ocean

A little hipster design goes a long way at BR Guest's first hotel project, The Postcard Inn at St. Pete Beach, FL...

All Signs Point to Yes

A mystical sky portends a marriage adventure for Brooke and Dan filled with infinite possibility!  (And it's definitely, definitely not going to rain during the ceremony.) 

That Certain Western Something

The air in Montana was so crisp and pure, it was impossible not to feel great.  A more frivolous take might be that the state boasts the best climate for good hair and no makeup.  Which doesn't explain why I lost more than six games of pool to my eight-year-old nephew, but at least the pictures convey how much fun we all had.

Print's Not Dead: You Can Wear It

This isn't a delicious pile of candy; it's a necklace of beads handmade from strips of magazine pages!  (And a gift from my super-sweet friends at Micato Safaris.  They know Kenya better than anyone so it's no wonder they discovered such a treasure.)

Fair-trade workers in Kenya craft the beads by cutting a thin strip from a colorful page, rolling it tightly from end to end and sealing with a daub of glue, then soaking it in varnish.  They're so intriguingly beautiful, and if you look closely, you can see text from long-ago stories.  The company is called Acacia Creations (not a polished site, but it tells the story and lists retailers) and the artisans share in the profits. 

Surely a lovelier end for reading materials than as fishwrap.  And it suits the Western-Boho-native vibe upon us for fall.

Horseplay

Counting down the minutes until we leave for the Ranch at Rock Creek near Phillipsburg, Montana.  Will I wear head-to-toe denim the entire time?  Get really good at shooting clays?  A river runs through it!