Desert Island Picks: Fragrance

Every day for the last three years, I have worn a Tom Ford perfume.  I am incredibly partial to his scents (complex, long-lasting, super high quality) and the three I alternate between are:


Neroli Portofino, from the Private Blend collection, which I wear in the summer:


Tobacco Vanille, also from the Private Blend collection, which I wear most of the rest of the year:



And Black Orchid, which I wear for special occasions:



However, my hubsbind came across a scent that he LOVED recently and bought for me: Cartier's La Panthere (which comes in this incredible bottle):



And you know, this smells pretty amazing. I'm wearing it today and I keep smelling myself like "wow, yum". It's more "sophisticated" than the scents I normally choose (I hate florals, love vanilla, caramel, and spice) and La Panthere is noted to have gardenia and musk - two things I wouldn't normally expect to like. This makes me feel like a bitchy old millionaire lady which is AWESOME. Balances strength and femininity perfectly. As the day has gone on, it has mellowed out to have slightly more spice, vanilla and light powder notes.

In fact, this might be my new signature scent.... Especially if I live to be as old as my Nana (97 in October!)

Valentino Winter 1516

Perfection, as always.


I mean...



GAH

Philly Eats: Noord eetcafe

My hubsbind ((c) Amber 2015) and I checked out Noord for dinner last night. It's a neat little BYOB at the intersection of 11th, Tasker and Passyunk Ave in South Philly.  I've been wanting to check it out ever since I first heard about it last year, as I am an enormous fan of PBS cooking shows, in particular New Scandinavian Cooking with Tina Nordstrom and Andreas Viestad. I feel like certain cuisines - such as Italian, Chinese, Latin, and "new American" - get a lot of press, but how often do you hear people gush about Scandinavian dishes?  Even though they often combine many of the things I love about eating:

• seafood and fish
• pickles and capers
• mustard 
• beer
• cream sauces
• onions/leeks/scallions
• wild berries
• sausages

So I'm taking it upon myself to be the hype-woman for Scandinavian cuisine.

Noord was terrific. First, let me say the service was wonderful - the staff were funny, informative, and gracious. I love it when a business not only offers you something great as a customer, but when the people who own and run it are just plain likable too.

The food was unique, super fresh, and delicious. For appetizers we had the head-on prawns, which were delightful, with a broth that was to die for. The home-made grilled rye bread they were offering was so tasty with the prawn broth. The other starter we tried was a special - soft shell crabs (lucky us, perfectly in season) on a salad of arugula, watermelon, mint and feta. Everything was seasonal and delicious - of course, soft shell crabs being one of my favorite things ever. An old bay aioli drizzled over the top made it darn near perfect.

For entrees we had the Lekkerbejkes on Snert (basically Scandinavian fish and chips, with a pea mash) and the Shellfish Waterzooi which consisted of mussels, clams, and prawns with potatoes and carrots in an incredible beer cream sauce that I basically started eating with a spoon after I had inhaled all the seafood and veggies.

Dessert was an almond cake with almond custard and whipped cream, which I ate while sobbing quietly because it was too delicious (like a giant plate of creamy marzipan).  p.s. anyone wanting to poison me - get to work, as I will immediately gorge myself on anything that tastes and/or smells like almonds.

Overall grade - A-, would eat again

Style Lust: Lucius

Grown pretty much obsessed with this band's style....

Clothing, shoes, makeup, accessories...

For example these shoes:







DROOL

sunday funday

I am not really a Bloody Mary person but holy crap, I had one helluva drink yesterday!

Made by the incomparable Marianne at Philly's Lost Bar, it was brunch and booze all merged together in one salty, savory perfect meal-drink.

Ingredients:

• Vodka
• Ice
• Special spicy home-made Bloody Mary mix
• 1 lime wedge, 1 lemon wedge
• Giant celery stalk
• Pickle spear
• Hot pepper
• Cornichon
• Marinated / pickled mushrooms and pearl onions
• Green olive
• Raw English cucumber, raw red pepper, raw grape tomato
• Salami and provolone, rolled
• 2 spicy steamed shrimp
• 1 muscadine grape

It took me 1 hour to eat and drink this.  I'll be back on future Sundays to partake again, especially since there was a DJ playing great tunes, several friendly dogs, fresh watermelon, and lots of cool peeps.

Heaven!

no humidity

Here's a sweet Spotify playlist that I thought I'd share.



Other songs I'm listening to on repeat this week:

• Wye Oak - The Tower
• The Spinanes - Den Trawler
• Earl Sweatshirt - Grief
• Lucius - How Loud Your Heart Gets
• Lower Dens - Sucker's Shangri-La
• Paul Anka - Times of Your Life

desert island picks: makeup

Over the last several years, I have probably single-handedly helped Sephora stay in the black. I try new things all the time, and am pretty adventurous with makeup and other skin/hair/body products. I wear makeup to work (though tend not to on weekends) and special occasions, and have honed a particular "look" over the last ~2 years, which mainly consists of red lipstick and black liquid eyeliner. But if I had to choose four products to use every day for the rest of my life, it would be these:

Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation - not a whole lot to say here, other than this is the best foundation I've ever used, which is saying a lot, because I've struggled to find a good foundation for my skin since I was 14 years old. My skin is oily and unevenly pigmented (I have old acne scars and natural "dark circles" around my eyes), and I require makeup with SPF. This foundation has never made me break out, in fact, I think it's enormously helped my skin be more even and less oily. It offers very good coverage and comes in 23 shades - I have one shade for summer and another for winter, when my skin is paler. If you have redness, scarring, pigmentation, or other issues that make you self-conscious, I would recommend trying this. It's not cheap, but you don't need much for strong coverage, and it's not too thick or cakey (something I CANNOT ABIDE).  Blends well and lasts all day.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara - I understand why this mascara is called "perversion" because it is pretty perverted how awesome it is. I have naturally dark and full lashes, so what I look for is added length. I do not want clumpy-looking "tarantula eyes". I know others don't like this mascara (thinking it's "wet", which I've never found - and also, all mascara is wet? And what would dry mascara be like?) but I also know a lot of people who do. I find it dries quickly and lasts all day; though I do keep the travel size in my bag for touch-ups because I'm a little nuts about it. I get compliments on my lashes rather frequently (I know that sounds weird, but I've actually had 3 in the last few weeks alone) and I always credit and tout this mascara as part of the reason (I mean, I have to give my parents some credit, right?)  One down side - it only comes in black.  But if you want super length, give it a try... they claim it has lash-growing super powers (so maybe I should give it more of the credit?)

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner - I have had the same tube of this eyeliner for a year, and I wear it every day. I think it might be haunted? I mean there's no rhyme or reason to it. Other than it is a real value, lasts all day, is super easy to apply, and gives me the exact 1960s cat-eye look that I love: very clean lines. It doesn't feather out or smudge - dries in literally seconds and stays on for 12+ hours (I've applied it at 7am and come home at 1am with no reapplications and it still looks fresh and clean). And again, like all of the greatest products - it comes in 15 (fifteen!) bold colors. When I was a kid, there was this really expensive set of felt-tipped art markers that I wanted so badly but never got. They came in a box and there were dozens of colors and shades. Using this eyeliner is like having access to those markers, but being able to put them on my face. Or something!

Bite Matte Creme Lip Crayon - my color is "jewel red", and I could not gush about it more. First, the tube has a built-in sharpener at the end, so you can use this almost as a liner AND a lipstick. It's very thick and heavily pigmented, but doesn't feel either too matte/dry or wet/sticky. I put it on before I leave the house in the morning, and it regularly lasts through breakfast and lunch. This stuff will just. not. budge. Very smooth, colors don't change or dull through the day (or even through eating and drinking), and there are 12 shades to choose from, so seriously there is something (or many things!) for everyone.  I went to an outdoor music festival this summer and ended up losing my tube somewhere during the course of the day. When I realized it, I opened my Sephora app and ordered another right then. Can't give a more glowing review than that!

resurrected

After much thinking, pondering, second-guessing, and (finally) planning, I have decided to bring this blog back from the dead. And not just back, but back with a vengeance and (hopefully) some fun!

It started with the realization that I frequently get requests and comments from friends such as:

• I need new music! What have you been listening to recently? 
• What's your book club reading this month?
• Tell me your favorite sunscreens!
• I'm coming to Philly - where should I eat/visit/stay/go?

So I thought I'd re-shape this blog into a venue for sharing the stuff I like, try, do, and can't live without.

In the last year, I've taken up cooking, tried out multiple monthly subscription services (for snacks, clothing, accessories, beauty products, and more), read 50+ books, traveled a bunch, got VIB Rouge status at Sephora (yikes!), tried dozens of new restaurants, and re-invigorated my active search for new music.  So why not share the wealth?  I miss the structure of writing every day and think this might be a good way for me to not only get back into that, but to have fun doing it.

My plan is as follows:

• Weekly posts about:
• Music: playlists, new stuff, concerts, stuff to revisit
• Fashion, skin and hair care, and cosmetic products
• Food: what I'm making, where I like to eat, good restaurants in various cities
• Philly: neighborhoods, stuff to see and do, seasonal, special events, small businesses, secrets
•  And a "weekly roundup": random stuff, events, books, thoughts, musings, observations
• Monthly posts would include:
• Travel: in-depth descriptions of various cities and regions, along with lots of photos
• Guests and special contributors

Some of this content will obviously come out of personal experience and preference, and lots of previous trial and error. But a lot will require research, digging, and adventuring. I want to develop a kind of "one stop shop" for lifestyle/leisure information; probably particularly interesting to those in the Philadelphia region. 

Part of my reason for wanting to do this (and not just do it, but really DO it) is the desire to get out and do more, but also to honestly share the experiences and things I enjoy with others who feel the same. I hope to be able to contribute to a more honest and positive online discourse than what I'm usually exposed to. I'm old, so I remember when the internet was this dynamic and transparent tool for information-gathering and sharing, and meeting people in a less pressured environment. I want to help bring about a tiny space that encourages that vibe.

I'm not interested in selling anything, or being a shill, or becoming a "brand". I just want to share stuff that I think is cool, with the underlying motivation of experiencing as much out of life as I can. I hope you will join in, and enjoy it!