isley

ok. i have SERIOUS love for the isley brothers. when i lived in oz, i listened to the the heat is on at least a billion times. they don't realize it, but the isley brothers are some of my closest friends. they make me happy when i'm blue, dance with me when i'm joyous and best of all listen to me when i need an ear. so naturally, when my cousin kevin brown was spilling good gossip on the brothers, my ears perked up. *note: he's not my real cousin....he's a dj on my fav radio station KBLX

according to my cousin, rick james' last live show (aside from an awards show) was the stone soul concert. the following year they asked teena marie (self-proclamed "ivory queen of soul" and rick james protegee/lover) to perform some of james' songs as a tribute. naturally, this should close the show. the uncomfortable duty of telling ron isley that he wasn't going to headline went to my cousin. mr. isley's reaction? "do you know who i am?" man, he's a badass. i'd also like to point out that ron isley was just released from prison (tax evasion) and at the young age of 69, insisted at this year's concert to play for 90 minutes! and he headlined, of course. so impressive.

double note: i missed this year's concert to be in San Diego at my very dear friend's wedding. very worth it. but next year, i'm there.

being the early bird

it's true. anyone who knows me, especially if you've lived with me, knows that i am the furthest thing from a morning thing. but when i made the move back to the west coast, i told myself that i would try to keep waking up 3 hours before i normally would. i've been pretty good so far and today was my reward. i woke up at 6:30. on a work-from-home day, that's early! after taking my very sweet time getting myself together, i drove down toward my favorite coffee and bakery shops. i was beyond delighted when i discovered that the city of oakland doesn't charge for parking before 8. as i walked around rockridge collecting my morning goodies i looked around at the other morning birds and thought, "you all had the right idea too." now i'm back home for a day of work, hiking, and cooking. pandora has already played erykah, common and the isley brothers. if pandora played 'today was a good day' by ice cube, i'd swear it was reading my mind. instead it's playing old school mary j blige. turns out it's reading my heart.

best coffee EVER: royal at claremont & college (now known as Cole Coffee)

best morning buns in the east bay: la farine (down college 1/2 block from royal...toward berkeley)

home

"if you like it so much, why don't you go back?" ....it's the thought that goes through everyone's head when i talk to them about california. to answer all you bostonians, that's exactly what i'm doing on monday. while i'm mostly excited to go back to the golden state, i will really miss my friends here. so this weekend i will be sailing, dancing, and cooking with my new friends.

hips

i am loving this shape right now. i wore a dress similar in structure, but much less dramatic, this weekend when i went to decordova (an outdoor sculpture garden in MA) with friends. i like how structured it is and how it can create an illusion of a waist. it just felt so appropriate to wear at a sculpture garden. this dress by the Scandinavian label, Acne, is on sale at gilt right now...over $500 off but still totally unaffordable, sigh.

alice

i like awesome alices. it's rare that i come across an alice my age so imagine my delight when i came across this amazing artist, alice stevenson. i love her style. above is from a live-paint piece she did in london for hugo boss. yay, alice!

spring dinner

i've been very busy cooking and pretending it's spring despite it being the '2nd rainiest month in boston ever'.

tonight's recipe as follows:

• 2 red potatoes


• green beans


• 2 ripe tomatoes


• brie cheese


• angel hair


• olive oil


• salt


• fresh pepper


• rosemary


• lemon (optional)

cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes (smaller the better), toss in olive oil, salt and a tiny bit of chopped rosemary. stick in the oven to roast until golden and tender... around 375 for 30 minutes

dice tomatoes set aside, cube brie cheese & set aside

boil salted water, cook pasta...reserve water by draining into another pot

bring reserve water back to boil, put in roughly chopped green beans, cook 3 minutes. drain and save about 1/4 cup of reserve water

toss pasta, cheese and 1/4 reserve water with a little olive oil until creamy. then add the rest of the ingredients, toss and serve with lemon slice. i like the lemon squeezed at the end. brightens it all up!

next time i will substitute parmesan for brie to make it more creamy and i will wear an apron as cute as this one from anthro

my bike

it's warming up and i really miss riding my bike around oakland.

wish i had brought it here but cruisers are such a pain to check at the airport. bummer.

until we meet again, dear bike, i will think of you fondly.

specialty food shops

cardullos in cambridge, oh how i like thee. i could honestly spend hours and thousands of dollars in that little store. to prepare for hours of back to back queer as folk we stopped in to grab snacks. yes, this was right after lunch. don't judge.

we picked up a great bottle of viognier, stilton cheese, baguette and a bar goat's milk dark chocolate. honestly, i'm not sold on the chocolate. the bitterness of the dark chocolate with the sourness of goat milk made for an odd combination. not bad at all, but not quite right. i would like to try a more sweet goat chocolate to balance it a bit more. the cheese on the other hand was just how it always is.....blue and amazing. and it made the wine so sweet when paired. into it.

sunday lunch

a thai sunday lunch. som tum, tom kha gai, dumplings and pineapple fried rice, hold the dried pork topping, please.

it was great. a little place in cambridge called tamarind house. they don't have a website that i can tell but they are super nice and the food is fresh. i have a friend who loves that word: fresh.

love good thai food on a lazy sunday afternoon.

queer as folk

oh, i like it. i like it a lot. today i will embark on a queer as folk marathon and i couldn't be more excited. wine, snacks, lunch, snacks, wine. all while watching my new favorite old tv show. recipes of snacks to come. my only wish is that i had this valentino bag to wear today. it reminds me of one of brian's shinny shirts. gotta love the year 2000.