Sex and the City

I've decided to take a little reprieve from my African journal today and write about something else instead. 

Maybe some Sex and the City?

Like many other girls who are in their 30s now, my single days in the late 90s- early 2000s, were influenced quite a bit by SATC. We used to have SATC nights on Sunday nights - we eagerly devoured the story and fashion of the new episode and sipped on cosmopolitans while dishing on our own lives and relationships. At times we would compare ourselves to the characters and see who is most like Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte. (Of course I always thought I was more of a Carrie... )

The characters were exaggerated, the stories were fabricated. But somehow the characters and stories resonated in our hearts and minds as no other tv show had ever did. Here were girls that were going through the same experiences as us, and came out on top and looking great at the same time...

A few years have now passed since the last season of SATC. My closest girlfriends (who are still my closest friends) have all moved along - all now being married and many having children. As well as myself - now married, rarely going out on the town....

It was exciting and somewhat bittersweet to go see SATC-the movie.

 

I could see that the SATC girls had matured and so had I. And like before, we are at similar stages in our lives. None of us were really looking for the "right man" anymore. Rather we are all seeking balance in our lives. The only difference was that the girls were still looking fabulous in their Manolo Blahniks, while I was happy (and a little frumpy) in my Havaianas. 

Although I am extremely happy with my life now, watching the movie did make me miss the good old days when I had more energy, my metabolism was faster, didn't get hangovers as much and could wear 3 inch heels with no problem. (Maybe I should try wearing them again?) 

And more than anything, I miss my girls - funny, but all the other girls of the SATC night have moved away from Chicago - and the girls' nights we used to have...

American Idol

has been such a phenomenon these past few years. 

However, I had generally avoided it - it was too pop-y for my rock & alternative liking sensibilities.  But guess what? I started watching it this season - I watched a few episodes here and there, but was totally hooked after David Cook's Hello.  I have not yet gotten on the phone and voted for anyone but after last night's Always be my baby, I was this close to calling in David's number.  Below, I've posted only Always be my baby, but you should check out his other performances like Hello and Billie Jean. He is awesome!

Do you watch American Idol? And do you have any favorites?

Martha Stewart

My guilty pleasure when I work from home.....

is watching the Martha Stewart show while I eat lunch. (MS runs from 12-1 so I eat at 12:30 and watch it on my Tivo).  I don't think that I particularly like her per se, but there is no denying that she has impeccable taste and has great ideas. (She was of particular help when I was wedding planning)

Not sure that most Martha fans were as excited as me about today's episode, since it seems her fans are more interested in crafts.... But I was so thrilled to see Eric Ripert, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud all on the same episode cooking! They are the acclaimed French chefs of Le Bernadin, Jean Georges and Daniel, respectively, which have all garnered lofty praise from diners and critics alike (all receiving 28/30 on Zagat and all receiving *** from Michelin reviews (** for Daniel)). Have I eaten at any of the restaurants? No. But they are very high on the list of my places to eat, and I hope to some day once we live a schedule where we know what we are going to do precisely the next month. (Every time we've gone to NYC we've had to eat at more nondescript restaurants since we didn't make reservations in advance....)

Anyway, like the superstars that they were they made things look so easy that I think that in the coming weeks, I'll be trying the recipes that they brought along with them on Martha. 

They are

• Braised halibut and peas a la francaise
• Roasted chicken
• Salmon with salsify

Can't wait to try them. And can't wait to take some good pics with my new Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens that performs amazingly in low light! 

Stay tuned!

PS. If you are a cupcake junkie like me, you might enjoy next week's - Cupcake week on Martha Stewart!

Nature or nurture?

Either way, this 17 month old girl is amazing!

Disclaimer: Although I am working on my degree in Speech Pathology, I work with adults. So I know very little about signing and whether it is really helpful for a child's development....

The real American Idol?

I've missed the last - I don't know how many - seasons of American Idol.

Somehow this year, maybe because of the lack of programs due to the writer's strike, I started watching American Idol. And for the most part, I thought the music sucked although the show was entertaining. Listening to people show off their pipes to a Whitney or Celine song is really not my thing. 

But one guy, I thought was amazing during one of his auditions, although he did not get through to the final 24. Josiah Leming, whose rendition of Mika's Grace Kelly, knocked my socks off. I thought it was actually more compelling than than Mika's original.    

I ran across his original music today on Youtube and thought it was amazing. Can't get the lyrics out of my head... He just might end up bigger than the winner of AI.  

To run - Josiah Leming 

One last song-Josiah Leming

Tale of two historical novels

On the recent trip to Madrid, I took two books for the flights. 

By pure chance, they were both historical novels. 

One I loved, one I detested. Can you guess which?

    

I know that I am probably in the minority, judging from all the glowing reviews on Amazon, but I somehow could not stomach Philippa Gregory's The other Boleyn Girl.  First of all, all the distortions of historical facts were somewhat difficult to stomach, especially since the distortions were made in order to make the story seem more sensational and juicy. Anne a villainess and Mary an innocent? Anne the older and Mary the younger sister? I think not. In fact, Mary was the older, promiscuous sister who was sent home from the French court in disgrace. And Anne committing incest? Oh, p-lease.... Not only were the facts distorted, which, for me was difficult to get around but the characters were one dimensional, Anne - the jealous, manipulative, backstabbing witch and Mary - the innocent maiden. Makings of a great soap opera, maybe, but definitely not my favorite book.  

On the other hand, The Pillars of the Earth was a perfect amalgamation of historical events with fully developed characters. The focus of this novel is clearly on characters who are not in the political focus (in contrast to The other Boleyn Girl). They are a prior of a small monastery, a builder and his family, and an earl's daughter turned penniless after her family's fall from grace. The main event of the story is the building of a cathedral in a small town, Yet in depicting the lives of these characters (rather than kings and queens) and in weaving a tale of building a cathedral, Ken Follett reveals perfectly, the mood and sentiments of the era and the important historical events of that era. Bravo, Ken Follett!  

Have you read these books yet? 

If you have, what are your thoughts?

{Spring 08} Lauren Conrad

One of my guiltiest pleasures is watching the Hills. 

Which is why I was excited to see LC's wares being sold on Shopbop.

(Lauren Conrad collection from shopbop.com)

Kinda reminds me of Rachel Pally, which so many people love... Not sure the styles are right for me, but excited for LC that her line is being carried by a major retailer. 

Anyway, can't wait for the Hills to continue. I'm dying to see what happens in Paris!

The day after

Here are my favorites from this year's Oscars. 

I know that many people didn't like her dress, but I thought Marion Cotillard looked absolutely stunning.  

Speaking of Oscars...

There is one actress who never fails to impress me. 

It might be because

1) She is a really really talented actress and picks great parts.

2) She is very classy and keeps a low profile despite all her talent and beauty.

or 3) She has a great sense of style and wears things that are unexpected yet absolutely gorgeous. 

It's actually, all three. More so #3 when the Oscars come around. 

RENT! The musical

I heard that Rent was ending its' 12 year run on Broadway this June.

So, I nabbed tickets to the last performance in Chicago as one of Josh's birthday presents. The last performance was tonight. And it was magnificent!

The storyline wasn't the best, we thought - no central plot and having themes like AIDS, drugs and death. But the music was absolutely magnificent, like this song (which was one of our favorites from the musical, but the video is from the movie).

RENT no longer will perform in Chicago, but you can catch a performance in NY till June 1. 

Cupcakes from America's Test Kitchen

I lied when I said I'll be using a Betty Crocker mix to make my husband's birthday cake. Well, it was unintentional, since I fully expected to do so. But I decided I'll give baking another try since I have yet to try one of the cake recipes from my favorite cookbook:

 

If you ever need a cookbook. This is THE cookbook to have. The folks of America's Test Kitchen (also behind Cook's Illustrated)  have put together family-friendly recipes. You're not gonna get a Michelin three star worthy recipe from this cookbook - all the recipes are rather simple and easy to make. And if you know America's Test Kitchen, you will know that they have tried multiple versions and are giving you the best. And I have to say that all the recipes I have tried so far have been winners. The best part about the cookbook for me, however, is not the recipes. What makes this cookbook invaluable are the tips, how-to illustrations, the ingredient & equipment evaluations, the explanation of the science of some of the choices. 

I love this cookbook so much that despite my inability to bake, I nevertheless wanted to give it a try. My choice was the carrot cake since my husband loves carrot cake. And I decided to go with cupcakes since they are a little easier for the novice baker. A hour of prep and baking-----and voila!

Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress

Dai Sijie's poignant tale of two (educated) Chinese boys from the city banished to a rural village re-education is one of my favorite books from the past 5 years.  It is a love story, a criticism of the Cultural revolution but it is mostly a story of the power of fiction, the yearning for it once it is taken away and how your life is enriched (or changed) with the literary experience. 

This past Friday, we happened to come across a dvd sale at Blockbuster and saw the movie version of the same book. What excited me was the fact that the author Dai Sijie was the director of the movie as well. This combination is so rare that we ended up purchasing the movie (although we could have rented it for free). 

80% of the movie follows the book very closely. And the imagery is hauntingly beautiful which adds to the experience, especially since, not having been to rural China, it is hard to imagine what the scenery looks like and life is like.  However, the narrative tends to wander and the books message seems to get lost somewhere in the shuffle. In addition, the movie has an added flashback of the two boys as adults, which further dilutes the message. 

All in all, despite the fact that the author=director, Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress suffers from the same fate that most adaptations do.

So my advice is, read the book.