>Susan Powter’s radio show from Taos is now available on UStream. I love hearing her talk about…fitness, inspiration, movement, healthy eating, sunglasses, earphones, woodworking…
I love her energy. Listening to her makes me want to walk, to garden, to move to Taos!
If you like tea or steampunk, you’ll like this Prof. Elemental video “Cup of Brown Joy,” beautifully presented on Vimeo (below). If not, you’ll just be confused.
You can downloaded Prof. Elemental’s album “The Indifference Engine” from iTunes. It has a jazzy remix of “Cup of Brown Joy,” plus “Fighting Trousers,” the soundtrack of a video of the same name that he made as a challenge another “chap hopper,” Mr. B. The Gentleman Rhymer.
It’s all explained here.
You can purchased the track to the original “Cup of Brown Joy” directly from Prof. Elemental’s site. He accepts PayPal, which he acknowledges with this email response:
“Thanks everso for your purchase. I promise that the proceeds will be spent on scones and fine hats.”
Tagged chap hop, Cup of Brown Joy, Dr. Elemental, fashion, Fighting Trousers, food, steampunk, tea
Tom and I had an wonderful dinner at Mashiko last night. Hajime Sato, the chef/owner, has transitioned the restaurant to completely sustainable fish, and the sushi has not suffered in the least.
I suspect you would not be able to guess the identity of the fish in the photo; it’s rarely used in sushi.
I didn’t think to snap a picture of the other beautiful dishes Hajime was presenting to us — and was lucky I got the picture of this one before the last bit vanished. So I enjoyed a blog post by Jonathan Bender about Christopher Borrelli’s requestthat foodies stop fetishizing what’s on their plates and putting it on their blogs. Like Borrelli, I rather hope I’m not part of the problem.
Spent the weekend in San Jose and was amazed at the difference it makes to be in a 60-degree climate. Lunchtime came and I just sailed out the door of the hotel and went for a three-mile walk. Quite a difference from trying to force myself out the door in the cold, wind, and rain in Seattle.
We had some lovely food on the trip, from breakfast at Il Fornaio (the hotel restaurant) to lunch at Yankee Pier on Santana Row (fresh local oysters, Dungeness crab, and braised chard with shallots). Tonight I re-created the chard at home, and it was fabulous.
And then there was the sushi boat that Seth and Sharon ordered:
Posted in Dining Out, Food
Many thanks to Advanced Style for tipping me to this inspirational and informative style blog: Mis Papelicos.
It’s beautifully illustrated, with both historical photos and the author’s own snapshots (I particularly like the ones of her boots). And I was charmed to see in the sidebar a link to my favorite tea: Yorkshire Gold.
Posted in Fashion
There’s been a distinct lack of frivolous fashion in the blog recently, but I can do something about that. My trip to Florida included several visits to high-end malls. One mall, Coconut Point, is a combination mall and apartment/condo complex. You live (or vacation) at the mall. What an idea.
I’m back, with a couple of cheap hoodies (from a beach store), a beautiful gray belted sweater and a long denim shirt (from Chico’s), and two princess-seamed long-sleeve t-shirts (from Coldwater Creek, my mom’s favorite store). I’d wanted to include a link to the sweater, but can’t find it on the Chico’s website. I tried on their Elizabeth dress, a classic “little black dress” with 3/4 sleeves, but unfortunately I was right between their medium and large sizes.
We also visited the Fossil store, which continues to have the best collection of bags around. They’re beautiful, the colors are stylish without being garish, and they’re affordable. I suspect that last reason is why you rarely find them on sale. But that standard pricing worked against them because, when I found two bags I liked (Sasha Large Top-Zip), I had no motivation to make a decision on the spot — I can see the same bags at the same price at Macy’s or at eBags and figure it out later. Note to Fossil: Use a colored lining, rather than black, on your black bags and you’ll have my undying loyalty. At the moment, I’m trying to figure out if your beautiful black Sasha bag is worth it if I’ll have to root around in the darkness to find whatever I put inside it.
I’ve added a new blog to the Food, Fitness, Fashion blogroll: No More Frump. The writer is a fellow fan of Kut from the Kloth jeans.
Apparently they are a Halloween tradition. Very cute.
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It would be tempting to dismiss the “Yoga ‘Demonic’?” story on the front of the Metro section in today’s Seattle Times as idiotic, but in truth, there is something demonic going on.
To recap: The influential pastor at the head of Seattle’s church for hip young born-agains, Mars Hill, said flat-out that yoga is demonic. He was giving local support to an essay by the president of a Baptist seminar that warned that yoga is contradictory to Christianity.
Jaws dropped.
Not mine. I’d been prepared for his argument, though I thought at the time the preparation was overkill.
Turns out that Susan (my yoga teacher, Susan Powter) was right.
She believes firmly that men do everything possible, at a political, cultural, societal, and family level, to prevent women from being healthy and fit. They load them down with kids, work, responsibilities, guilt — and then outright discourage them from eating right and taking care of their bodies.
“Oh, Susan,” I used to think, as she lectured on this topic while we lay on the floor doing yoga stretches and crunches, or did wind sprints and lifted weights, “isn’t this just a bit paranoid?”
Turns out, not if you’re a gal in the Mars Hill congregation. Can you imagine trying to get healthy and fit by taking two hours a week to get to a yoga class (“HOW DARE YOU!”)— and now your pastor is blasting you from the pulpit for engaging in demonic activity?
I’m particularly incensed because yoga is a great activity for women who have been utterly out of shape and want to get back into it. You can start with gentle stretching and core strengthening and later build yourself to aerobic fitness with Ashtanga or Vinyasa workouts. It’s low impact, it’s cheap — all it takes is a mat and you can do it in your living room.
And now it’s demonic, too! Does this mean I can skip my usual witch costume for Halloween and just go in my yoga outfit?
All I can say to the pastor of Mars Hill Church is “thank you!”
If I ever need motivation to stay strong and fit, and get to my yoga workout on a regular basis, I’ll just think about you and your ilk. Praise the Lord!
>Eddie Bauer changed the cut of their jeans a year or so ago, as did the Gap, and I haven’t been able to find cute, comfortable jeans to wear. The new Eddie Bauer jeans look awful on me and the Gap jeans look great in the dressing room but when I get home they are just too low-cut to be comfortable or practical to sit down in.
I’d just about given up when I stopped in at Buffalo Exchange (a thrift shop chain focused on clothes for 30-somethings) on the way back from the Ballard Sunday Market. I spotted two pair of jeans, tried them on, and loved them both. The best pair was called Kut from the Kloth. The saleswoman raved about them but said the were no longer in production. I bought them — for $19.
Fortunately, the saleswoman was wrong. They’re still going strong, and Macy’s carries them in Better Denim (remember “Better Dresses”? Now it’s “Better Denim.”), and you can find them on eBay.
Turns out I’m not the only person who thinks Kut from the Kloth is the gods’ gift to the short, curvy woman.
Check out these reviews from The Demoiselles and Cleveland’s Shopaholic blog.
The one caution about Kut jeans? Watch out for the ones with the flaps on the back pockets. Ugh.
Tagged jeans, Kut from the Kloth
>The new trend for online merchants seems to be including little gifts with your shipments. My order of Mediterranean pine nuts from Nuts Online came with a gift of pistachios and my order of coffee stirrers (long story) came with a gift of oatmeal-raisin cookies.
Well, yum!
Posted in Uncategorized
Fitness, Food and Fashion 