Fall in love

I live across the street from a magical place.

And I wish nobody knew about it except for me. Quite the opposite, not only do other people know about it, it's a world-renowned National Gallery. Luckily though, and mysteriously, I find days where I am almost the only person there.

In the impossible quietness of this space, surrounded by four walls of some of the finest 19th-century Greek Revival architecture, a soaring sky of undulating glass above my head, soft monumental marble planters, invisible water floors, extravagant green ficus and 16 black olive trees. I go there and almost never speak, or read, or do anything else - I just let it consume me - the space - and I drink a glass of wine every time.

I could stay there forever.

You should go. My pictures don't do it justice.

The Kogod Courtyard designed by the brilliant Norman Foster at The Reynolds Center home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery at at Eighth and F Streets in Washington DC.

Automotive Tools

I've been looking for a pair of oxford pumps for longer than is healthy for my eyes and my computer. Finally I think I found the perfect pair, they're Michael Kors, I don't know I've ended up owning so many of his shoes, I never particularly liked his clothes, I thought they were a little too safe for me - but his shoes - 4"heels!!! AND they're unbelievably comfortable.

One of my friends said I looked like a mechanic in this shirt, he said that all I needed was a wrench tattoo!!! So I made him take my picture at a construction site - mechanic, construction worker, same thing, they all look hot when they're a little dirty right? ;)









Shirt-Vintage
Vest- Rogan for Target
Belt-Vintage
Shorts- Rachel Pally
Shoes - Michael Kors (Panama)

Science of Sleep

I noticed on the 2009 Spring Runway a type of menswear that looked very familiar to me - pajamas - and not because I sleep in them (cos I don't) but because of Wes Anderson's latest movie, Darjeeling Limited. Marc Jacobs styled the three main characters, the Whitman brothers, using pale pastel colors, creamy earth-tones, and grays - to design marvelous pajamas that borrow directly from Anderson's personal garb (pajama tops, linen suits and scarves). I found this outfitting incredibly intriguing and put a yellow tag on it in the back of my mind.





I saw this loungewear experiment executed again by one of my favorite artists, and one of the most creative men alive - Julian Schnabel. His approach was a little grungier, but suddenly he started adding cashmere and suit jacket layers to his pajamas and the look started to develop a bit of sophistication - and by the way, the pajamas are designed by his wife - extra points!




These are my favorite loungewear-inspired runway looks.


Dolce & Gabanna Spring 2008
I love how the slim profile of these clothes makes the look modern and sophisticated.


Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton Spring 2009 and Emporio Armani Spring 2009.

I am very excited for someone to execute this look to my ideal proportions - a pastel-colored pajama top, dark slim jeans, a cardigan sweater, a scarf, and a pair of Jamie Hayon for Camper shoes.... so cool.

1951

Several weeks ago, the contributing TPWP architecture expert stumbled upon a mid-century modern house that he had shockingly never seen before. A surprising scenario since he knows about every last beautiful structure ever built on earthly boundaries, and this particular house is an elite visual specimen of perfection and beauty. He described it as a transcendent example of unpretentious architecture -- The impossible transparency of the structure, the purity of its form, the extreme lack of extraneousness, the refined simplicity of its materials - and specially its illusional levitation.




It's the Farnsworth House built along the Fox River by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe













Too bad that functionally it gets a little too hot in the summer, and the open windows let too many bugs in the house - I'll still take it :)

After the party

The outfit I wore to the party at Muleh. I can't stop wearing these Karen Walker pants, they're so high-waisted, I love them. Remember the little bag I told you about a few posts ago? Isn't it adorable? The quality is really great, I'm considering buying it in other colors - they have the hot pink and yellow left AND THEY ARE NOW $9. YES, just NINE dollars, originally $100!!!




I'm really into layering necklaces, can you tell? :)



Pants: Karen Walker
Shirt: Made myself
Shoes: Maloles
Jewelry: Erica Weiner, Adorapop, Vintage
Bag: BCBG

Champagne and Gold

I posted about the Paula Mendoza Trunk Show at Muleh on the CultureQueu a few days ago because I knew her jewelry would be beautiful and it would be loads of fun, but I didn't think it would be champagne-and-after-party fun, and the jewelry was even prettier in person, which kept me pretty busy, not to mention all the gorgeous clothes at the store - so much going on that I almost forgot to take pictures :O And sorry for the pixelated images, my camera was not behaving, it's temperamental in the rain.


One of my favorite rings from her collection (Paula wore a very similar one on her hand... WOW... gorgeous)


Paula's dress from the back, the colors were stunning in person


Her outfit looked killer in person, the super skinny jeans and super plunging shirt looked marvelously sophisticated due to the addition of her simple heels, bag and hair.






The quiet corner at the party after the party (downstairs Napoleon in Adams Morgan)


The haunted couch at Napoleon

Colored Eyes

Alberto Seveso is an Italian artist whose breathtaking images created using illustration, graphics, and photography captivated my eye immediately. I love that he preserves the anatomical features of the body while imparting the subject a fantastically fluid and almost haunting quality. Specially in the images of surfer Kelly Slater. To buy his prints and other items click here

Balanchine's dream

I found this old (2006) VF magazine sitting on my sofa, I have no idea how it got there, I don't even read Vanity Fair, there may be ghosts living with me, either that or the magazine has been invisible for 2 years and it just decided to show itself to my eyes today, I guess that would make the magazine a ghost too huh? Either way, inside the ghost there is this visually stunning feature about the St. Petersburg's Vaganova Ballet Academy (the best ballet school in the world) with these incredible images of the academy's dancers. I love the styling of the shots and the clothes are soooooo beautiful. Suddenly I want to start dressing just like them.



Evgenia Evgrashina in Azzedine Alaïa


Ekaterina Bondarenko in a Celine skirt and Max Mara leggings



Boris Zhurilov in Gianfranco Ferre and Darya Elmakova in Alexander McQueen


Marina Tkachenko in an Oscar de la Renta blouse and Derek Lam leggings


Christina Shapran in Rossella Tarabini for Anna Molinari dress and an Alberta Ferretti bolero.

Images scanned from Vanity Fair

New Item on Sidebar for You

We have added a "CultureQueue" Section to the sidebar on the right underneath our "Profile" where we list all the events around the city that we think are interesting and cool enough to attend ourselves :). And since we here at TPWP tend to be very picky, we will never put a random, substandard event on that list.

National Symphony Orchestra FREE Concert at Rock Creek Park

You MUST go see the National Symphony Orchestra play!!! They are performing at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park (off 16th street) for two days, and it's FREE!!! I went yesterday-- it was a beautiful and unforgettable performance - sitting in my little summer dress, surrounded by trees, watching the sunset behind the stage, listening to violins and clarinets playing Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy and Weber's Concertino with the orchestra's magnificent sound floating deep into the trees and indelibly into my memory.



They play there once more, TODAY at 7:30 PM, and it's a different performance from yesterday so I will be going again. For more information click here. This is what you'll hear if you go:

Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Marcelo Lehninger, conductor
"Music from the Americas"
Gershwin: Cuban Overture
Williams: Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Copland: El Salón México
Chadwick: Symphonic Sketches – i. Jubilee
Gould: Latin-American Symphonette – ii. Tango
Grofé: Mississippi Suite – iii. Mardi Gras
Dvorák: Symphony No.9 "From the New World" – iv. finale

May - August

I developed an unexplored appreciation for soft-shell crabs in the last year and this summer I was able to cultivate it and was lucky to have found some very notable examples of this delicacy here in Washington DC. The blue crabs typically used for soft-shells are in season (when they shed their shells) during the summer months, so get them while you can!!! Although I guess crabs from Asia and the Gulf of Mexico can be found year-round, so maybe don't panic quite yet.

These are some of my favorites:


I had this at Central for lunch, soft-shell crab served over a creamy corn puree that was slightly sweet and super flavorful. Although the serving was very small and pricey, the flavors were excellent and the crab was perfectly cooked.









These two soft-shell crab dishes are on the "daily specials" menu at Sushi Ko on Wisconsin Ave in North Georgetown. The roll is served over a spicy and creamy peanut-based sauce and is rolled with avocado. The whole crab was served with a vinegar-based sauce.

















This was my favorite one--from Tabard Inn in Dupont also on their lunch menu. It was served over a fruit salad with mint, and the fresh and crisp fruit flavors went amazingly well with the crab. It was delicious and light.

Rainbow Fish

This is the outfit I wore to Enology (the wine bar) and I was exceptionally overdressed...

I bought this dress so long ago, it was the biggest steal of that month - 100% silk Donna Karan Collection for $40 - it's a size Large so it's super super super wide, I actually intended to wear it loose, but this time I cinched the waist with a vintage purple belt. You can't really see how asymmetrically it's cut at the bottom (protruding squares and rectangles) , which is one of my favorite things about the dress, but I think it still works. These are some of my favorite shoes, and no, they're not very comfortable, maybe cos they're 1/2 size too small, but I don't care :) The little jacket is vintage, from the early 1900s and it belonged to a little boy, which made me love it even more.

Some of the pictures were extremely overexposed, but I left them that way, they reminded me of one of the latest Marc Jacobs ad campaigns :)













Dress: DK Collection
Jacket: Vintage Belt: Vintage
Shoes: Maloles

Shiny Strands

I saw Colleen Sander's work a few months ago and haven't been able to get it off my mind. I am so amazed at the detail of the paintings, how you can see each faint hair, and how perfectly she captured its presence, its radiance, and its imperceptible fluent weight.

These paintings were created using Gouache, also known as "water paint," it's a pigment suspended in water and can be almost transparent when painted on paper. I think the technique lends a very texturized and 3-D characteristic to the paintings.

Doesn't it make you want to braid your hair and have flowing curls mixed in? It does to me!!!

The first 3 images are detail shots (from SOH) and the last one is a full painting.

Light Silks

You know what I realized? That if it's really hot outside and you wear something really loose-fitting, it feels much cooler. Lucky for us, over-sized Summers can look really good. Specially in Brian Reyes' cool greens and beautifully light fabrics.

My favorites from his Resort 2009 Collection - but no reason to wait until 09, I'm borrowing these looks now.

City Views

Donovan House

(between N Green Ct & N L St)
Washington, DC 20005

1155 14th St NW
(202) 737-1200

DC has an anemic collection of modern hotels. Actually until a few months ago I don't even consider that we had any. Some hotels will tell you that they are "ultra-modern," "modern & sophisticated." Don't believe them, any modern design expert will tell you that they're not - I consider them tacky and nauseating and "hotel-like." Maybe the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown is modern, and Hotel Palomar's rooms and entrance are passable modernism. But pale, very frighteningly, in comparison to other US hotels (The Standard LA, The Delano Miami). Alas, there is one hotel in DC that is worthy of the design term - The Donovan House Hotel.


I knew the roof top pool opened a few days ago and I went by to take a look.


Future Roof Top Bar Area


I also saw one of their suites


And the lobby



So I was very impressed. One of my friends who went with me- a discriminating design snob - was impressed. We hope to be even more impressed when their Todd English restaurant is finished and when their rooftop bar opens to the public. I'm assuming we (the public) will need some sort of special key card to get up there, TPWP hopes to be lucky enough to get one, we will share :)

Purple Night

My quick and messy attempt at HDR. Picture from the terrace in my apartment at night using a Nikon D40. I'm going to try it again during the day time with pretty clouds and a more dynamic range.

Burgers and Fries

Good Stuff Eatery

303 Pennsylvania Ave SE
(between S 3rd St & S 4th St)
Washington, DC 20003

Neighborhood: Capitol Hill/Southeast
(202) 543-8222

www.goodstuffeatery.com

Somehow I missed the opening of Good Stuff Eatery, and judging by the line out the door a week after it, it was probably a good thing. My expectations, as you can expect, were pretty high. They claim, after all, to do a burger better than anyone.




First, the looks.
The two story space with a double height entrance has a "farmhouse sleek" feel to it. White walls, white brick, white washed floors, distressed zinc counter-tops. Dark, sleek wood panels lined the upstairs perimeter wall and a long dark wooden communal table sits by the windows. And guess what kind of chairs surround all the little tables? Emeco 1006 Navy Chairs!!!! OK OK, maybe I haven't verified 100% that it's them, but they look so much like them. Featherweight.Indestructible.Aluminum. Great choice. Although if they actually ARE the Emeco chairs, then I should say great investment at $395 apiece.

Now, the eats.
These are the burgers I tasted, and NO, I didn't eat both:

SPIKE’S 5 NAPKIN
Dairy Fresh Cheese, Applewood Bacon
A Farm Fresh Fried Egg On A
Brioche Bun With Good Stuff Sauce


FARMHOUSE CHEESE
Dairy Fresh American Cheese, Tomatoes, Onion,
Lettuce, Pickles With Good Stuff Sauce


+ French Fries and Onion Rings

So first, don't expect a 2" thick patty, you won't get it--they're thin but delicious, you can really taste the great quality meat, and it was cooked perfectly, no overdone meat here. The bacon was exceptional, the egg was cooked well--lots of yummy yolk to dip into, the bun was buttery, warm and fresh, the tomatoes were ripe and beautiful, and the good stuff sauce was a perfect addition to both burgers. Since I am a lover of simple food, the Farmhouse Cheeseburger was exactly what I want in a burger, no pretensions, no extraneous ingredients. I will be craving it very very soon.



The onion rings were sweet and crispy, I wish the French fries had been larger, not the serving, but the actual potatoes - I like being able to put lots of them in my mouth :) Which reminds me of the dipping sauce bar - Someone told me as we arrived about the 4 types of mayonnaise. FOUR TYPES OF MAYO!!! FOR MY FRENCH FRIES!!! YAAAAAAY. Old Bay Mayo, Sriracha mayo, Chipotle mayo and Mango mayo. I know this mayo-fries marriage is not everyone's thing, but to me nothing goes better with a FF than creamy homemade mayo. My favorite was the mango, but I loved all of them, and ate lots :)

Metallics

My pick from the Monica Botkier collection for Target available July 20th - For more click here

Wristlets in Rose, Bronze, Gunmetal or Gold $19.99 each

Would you like to buy a Frank Lloyd Wright house?

I've got one for you, The Cooke House, it's nearby in Virginia Beach and only $4,400,000.

HOUSE HISTORY: Frank Lloyd Wright hemicycle. Designed in 1953, built in 1959-60, this vacation home is on Crystal Lake. Features include: gym, sauna, swim spa/hot tub, deep water boat dock with access to the Atlantic Ocean. Walk to wide sandy beach and bike one mile to a 2,900-acre state park.







I personally like the Marden House in McLean much more. It's just minutes from Georgetown and as you can see, it overlooks the Potomac River- I can't think of a much better place to wake up in the morning-- a Frank Lloyd Wright room, suspended on a cliff, overlooking the water. It was designed by Wright in 1952 and was completed in 1959.

After Marden moved to a nursing home, the house was purchased by Jim Kimsey, his neighboor and the co-founder of AOL, in 2000 for $2.5 million. WHAT A BARGAIN!!! No, really, it's a huge bargain.


The Marden House on the Potomac River

The FLW Building Conservancy website actually has a list of ALL current listings of his homes in case the Cooke House didn't quite do it for you.

Tripod bags

I have a little Poul Kjaerholm glass coffee table in my apartment, it's so elegant and sophisticated, and I've come to really appreciate it over the years. Many of the Kjaerholm collections were designed during the Mid-Century Modern years - years of unrivaled perfection in modern design - and I just found a new (to me) piece of furniture from that era that fits snugly into that category.

His molded aluminum tripod chair from 1953



On display last year at Art Basel in Miami
Total edition of 100, 25 in each color
Currently produced by Sean Kelly Gallery and R20th Century

It's beautiful isn't it? Yeah.... well you don't want to know how much it costs, no really, you don't wanna know.

So after having fallen in love with the chair and realizing that I would only get to dream of having it in my home I found these little bags at Bag Borrow or Steal. I wouldn't "borrow" one of the bags from there, I would feel strange having something I loved for a week and then having to return it, wouldn't you? Although they do have the Louis Vuitton Richard Prince bags - it was tempting for just a second.

What I do like about the website is their outlet section, where you can buy bags that have been "gently carried" at drastically reduced prices. I found some awesome deals Yves Saint Laurent reversible "double bag" at 52% off, a Lulu Guinness Couture "Tallulah" at 78% off - $275 from $1,225. And the great thing about it is that you KNOW the bags are real and every item goes through a rigorous 10-point refurbishing process before it's shipped out to you and satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. So it's like ebay minus all the annoying crap.

One of my favorite finds is this (on the left) BCBG quilted wristlet "Minaudiere" bag for only $29!! And since the colors reminded me of the Kjaerholm chairs I had to get one... in blue :)

Chanel Wings

Remember the Chanel Paris/Londres 2008 Collections? I know, now it's considered "last season" but I haven't been able to forget these 3 items. Specially the gloves, what would I do with them??? WHO CARES RIGHT???


Ecru double-crepe dress


Lambskin and zipper gloves


Golden feather hair ornament

Images scanned from Modern Luxury Magazine and from Chanel.com

Pyrotechnics

The 4th of July party I went to last night was at this apartment downtown with an amazing view of DC. Since not many apartments buildings are near all the museums and monuments, it's rare to see one that looks out onto them, a very unique and beautiful site indeed.

And of course the reason we where there - the fireworks - my favorite part of the Summer.










The view from the terrace

From shorts to skirts

You know the American Apparel tulip skirt (looks just like the one I'm wearing)? I really liked it, and I will never complain about AA prices, but when you want to buy a $30 item in every color it sort of becomes a lot of money very quickly. Enter thrift stores, they always have these high-waisted shorts that make everyone look like they have a pot belly, something your parents wore in the 80s, they are there by the dozens for $2.50 each. Cheap enough to satisfy my cravings for quantity.

I am going to do a tutorial for you in the near future of how to convert them to skirts, it's very easy. The skirts are so versatile and super comfortable. Perfect for a scorching day in the city.

Sorry I don't have a more July 4th appropriate post US readers :) Actually I'm going to a party tonight high on a building that overlooks the monuments and fireworks so I will take pictures and show them to you tomorrow. HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!







(I'm throwing rocks at the tourists on segways below.... kidding)


Skirt-Vintage shorts converted
Tank-Target
Belt-Vintage
Shoes-Michael Kors $35 at the DC sample sale (originally $400)

Healthy Foods and Black Dresses

The gorgeous Anna from MealsFromTheGirlInTheLittleBlackDress has a new feature called "How I fit in my little black dress" where she interviews someone whose figure and healthy lifestyle she admires. And she was sooo sweet to choose me for her first feature post.



While answering questions for the interview, she gave me the great idea to write-up a list of 5 places in DC that have my favorite healthy eating options. I thought I'd also share them with you:

1. Cafe Bonaparte

The Mallorca Sandwich: Sauteed eggplant, zucchini, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese (optional) & olive tapenade on Foccacia bread (served warm)

The Lisbon Crepe: smoked salmon, shallots, chives, dill

2. Chop’t Creative Salad Company

The Ivy League: Romaine lettuce, grilled asparagus, avocado, tomato, cucumber and corn with white balsamic vinaigrette (+smoked tofu)

Chop’t Ten Vegetable: Iceberg lettuce, grilled asparagus, green peas, hearts of palm, carrots, broccoli, beets, white mushrooms, cucumbers, tomato and corn

3. Enology Wine Bar

Puget Sound Flatbread: Smoked salmon, sliced red onion, chives and creme fraiche

4. Teaism

Birchermuesli with homemade yogurt & fruit
Banana Lassi: frothy yogurt drink w/honey

5. Komi

The chef is incredibly accommodating, he will prepare a vegetarian tasting menu for you upon advanced request.

Inside with Marc

W Magazine has a great story of Marc Jacobs' art collection housed in his gorgeous three-story garden apartment on the Champ de Mars—previously owned by designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. Marc says he fell in love with the home during a tour, the moment he sat by the guest room window and watched kids playing on the lawns beneath the Eiffel Tower.


Marc Jacobs in his library with Ed Ruscha’s Heaven, 1986, and a sixties Dominique table


In the living room, Ed Ruscha’s Peach, 1964, John Currin’s The Go-See, 1999, and a Lalanne sheep sculpture


Above the bed in the downstairs guest room, Richard Prince’s Richard and Linda, 2005


On the credenza in the den is Sean Landers’s Mr. Rabbit, 2003.


On the upstairs landing, Damien Hirst’s Paracetamol, 2004–05, and Richard Prince’s Island Nurse, 2002

As we all know, he moved to Paris after his appointment as creative director of Louis Vuitton and says that his new-found love for art has definitely influenced his designs - specifically through his recruitment of artist Richard Prince to create a series of Vuitton handbags and by modeling the opening part of the Spring 2008 runway show after the artist's "Nurse" paintings (a Prince painting hangs above his bed and 5 more around the apartment). Marc also speaks about his jewelry collection for LV which I can only assume will be at least partly inspired by the works of art he lives with.


The "nurses" in see-through clothes and one of the Prince nurses paintings that inspired the looks.


Prince's candy colored "Firebird" handbags for LV $5400


Prince's "Mancrazy" from The Monogram Joke Collection featuring script inspired by his iconic paintings


One of my favorite bags from the Spring 2008 Show - too bad the Ostrich leather makes it prohibitively rare, expensive and completely unattainable


The "nurses" aligned to spell out Louis Vuitton

Top Chef in DC

So I don't have a T.V. in my apartment, no, I do have a T.V., a nice flat screen actually but I never bothered to get cable hooked up and then I sort of got used to it, but of course there are a couple things I can't do without like food and fashion - so for the T.V. versions of those I use my mom's TIVO (in Maryland) to record Project Runway and Top Chef and watch them whenever I visit her. Wait, that sounds like a like of work, I should just get cable.... anyway.... Top Chef's Spike Mendelhson is coming to Washington DC and opening Good Stuff Eatery on the Hill scheduled to open July 7th. So exciting!!! I wonder if we're going to see his Asian cooking background in his burgers.

Here is an interview by Miriam from Yelp:

Yelp’s own Miriam W recently traded hats with former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn to talk about his soon-to-open burger joint on the Hill, and how he’s adjusting to life in the District: Miriam W: Your new restaurant, Good Stuff Eatery, is opening in DC on July 7th. What's the story behind the name? Spike M: Good Stuff comes from my grandfather. He was a chef who used to cook a lot in his backyard. He would always scream, “That’s Good Stuff!” and give a hockey pump. It’s a family affair, so it’s fitting. Miriam W: In which DC neighborhoods might fans be able to spot you? Spike M: Definitely Capitol Hill, venturing off into Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle. People will definitely be able to see me on the Mall. Miriam W: Last time you had a dream about food? Spike M: I’ve been tasting so many burgers over the past year that I now have nightmares about burgers attacking me. Miriam W: Useful, funny, cool. Pick the one that describes you best. Spike M: Cool. That’s my nature I’m a cool, laid back guy. I’m funny too. At times I can be useful. Miriam W: Your top pick for a wine that goes best with burgers? And beer? Spike M: For wine, I’d have to say a Sauvignon Blanc. For beer, Red Stripe. Miriam W: Seems like you spend most of your time cooking