short but sweet

the only downside to having one of your best friends visit from out of town is that eventually she has to leave...  

this weekend was perfect in its shear simplicity... 

here are some of the highlights:

damn cute puppies 

*i dropped everything (literally) and sprinted towards this adorable little guy*

devouring everything on shake shack's menu

***Hot Shots Part Deux***

group naps

***Dirty Rotten Scoundrels***

midnight movies

geeking wayyyy out over pop sensations

ie. re-visiting 11yr old musical obsessions

(admitting my enrique obsession of yesteryear, need i say more?)

laughing til 5 in the morning

booooooooozy brunches

***

in tribute to my departed love, here's a throw back...

after all, it's so hard to say goodbye

xxa

sometimes your friday needs a little mamika...

i have recently fallen in love with the work of sacha goldberger, a french photographer.  one of his latest series, "super mamika," stars the photographer's 91 yr. old hungarian grandmother.  while the beautifully-executed compositions, steely color quality, keen awareness of detail, and absolute humor of these shots would make them perfect in and of themselves, the catalyst of this series is the true kicker: mamika is a real life hero - she and her family saved lives during WWII. 

here are some of my favorite shots from the collection:

some love lasts a lifetime and knows no bounds

when i was a junior in college, i chose to spend my semester abroad in ghana, africa.  to say it was a life-changing experience is an understatement of epic proportions.  looking back through old journal entries i realize a repetition in my writing; scrawled away over and over, i noted that i had found my soul in ghana. and in many respects i still feel this to be true.  i don't think i had ever felt as alive, invigorated, interested, happy and soulfully satisfied as i did there.  some of my most meaningful relationships were born in that country and have continued to grow and flourish to this day.  

one of my best friends from that trip, sophie, moved away from bk to austin, tx last year and i miss her dearly.  *however, she returns to my lovely little borough THIS weekend and i simply cannot wait to laugh, eat, laugh, and eat some more with her and our other best friend, molly.  

some relationships can withstand anything, regardless of the distances and tests placed before them.  i am honored to have some magnificent friends in my life and though four of my bestBestBEST friends live at a distance (*here's winkin at you, frenchie) they are always vibrant and thriving in my heart.  that said, i've chosen to share a bunch of photos from my time in ghana so that you can have a taste of those four remarkably special months of my life.  **(just a note... most of my photos were taken on film.  here are some of the highlights that i happened to catch digitally.)**  

i hope you enjoy...

 

(a shot of me taken while backpacking around the northern part of the country)

*(see those nutty girls waving in the back left... those are annette [on the left] and sophie [on the right] they are still two of my favorite and dearest friends)*

here's the soph who will be here tomorrow!

and below is a picture of molly, a friend i met right when i got back from ghana. she was sophie's roommate throughout college and has truly been a soulmate of mine since first we met.  

here's a shot from our 1st meeting back in 2006.  it was love at first dirty joke:

oh yeah. that's perfect...

some bitty mid-week treats to ease you through the next few pre-weekend days.

enjoy, lovers:

*AND...

*this image makes my heart sing*

is it wrong that i'm embarrassed to site the kate spade tumblr on this one?!

i sort of gave up on kate spade around my 13th year
when every.single.girl.my.age. was donning items from the fashion house.
(cough, cough, b.mitzvah presents, adornments, accessories and the like)

however, i cannot get past this photograph
simply put, i think it DYNOMITE!

classic, elegant, sprightly, chic, and wildly playful!!

**(if i were one of the girls in the shot

i'd be the one on the bottom row, 3rd from the right.

i just love how quirky she is)**

90 is a magic number

A year ago my friend Alan Watt asked me to write a story for his new website. 

The only condition was to write a 90 words story. 

Not only it is fun to do but it is also an great exercise. At first I didn't really realized how little 90 words is...  

Here are the one of the story I wrote for the website. (will post an other later)

WORD SMASHING

 

You and I were having drinks at a café. A man with a hat was writing a poem, and he wanted us to give him a word for it.

You said : Zoubinette. Made-up word. Doesn't mean anything just sounds funny.

I said : Lupanar. Made-up world. Does mean something and sounds funny.

The man stood in the middle of the road. Right in front of us. He opened his mouth and as he was about to read the poem, the owner of the café and two bartenders jumped on him,  throwing him to the ground smashing his hat.

Wordless

I have indeed been wordless these days (I know it is very unlike me) BUT it doesn't mean I have been thoughtless or haven't read with delight the last posts your wrote.

Paris' weather is back to Paris' weather: rainy!

On the bright side of things you and I are going forward : step by step (yea yea like new kids on the block http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziDtEPCFM0I)
 
oh the 90's...

Step ONE : we can have lot of hun
Step TWO : there 's so much we can do.

seriously it doesn't get better than this.

Also it is fashion week in 2 weeks and am I looking forward to keeping company to my friend Diana Broussard : check out her amazing collection and go see her shop on 22 Christopher street.
http://www.dianabroussard.com/

(I am in shoes <3 with Alec Cammello, Alex Taupe - also her lingerie is Ohlalala and the Jewels to die for )

monday magic

there's something sacred about a long weekend.  

particularly long weekends that involve mondays off from work.  

don't ask me why... but i definitely prefer a monday to a friday off from work.

today proved to be one of those perfect mondays off. 

here are some components that added to the serenity of the day...

**waking up to this delicious punim waiting for me in a text**

good morning, olive! 

you little stunner you, in your arizona sweats and ducky shirt!

*(punim = yiddish for face)*

*an outta the blue email from my dream-job-arts-organization 

asking to discuss my future (jigga wha?!)...  

*a wicked-hard-perfect yoga class 
spent with one of my dearest friends.  

not to mention, a soundtrack that consisted almost exclusively of 
phoenix, radiohead, and the beatles... heaven

for those fellow yogis out there, imagine starting your class with this:

and wrapping up your practice up with a shavasanah listening to this:

mmmmmhhhhmmmm...

*nesting, cooking, and working throughout the afternoon 

in a kitchen that feels like this:

ultimate yummmmmmy monday off!

*i know that vid for phoenix is annoyingly hipstery 

but i do love how perfect and silly summers in bk can feel... 

embarrassingly, wonderfully, that video manages to capture some of the bk/summer vibe*

bankable weekend

black album.  
        brooklyn flea.  
                rangers game.  
                       lavain bakery.  
                                 zabars.  

                                     perfection.

liddabit confections are some of the best i've ever had

especially their salted caramels... holy $*&@!

dear brooklyn flea, 

i promise to never fall out of love with you!