founded at the turn of 20th century, the french institute and the alliance française de new york operated as two separate organizations, the first promoting french arts, the second teaching french. in 1971 they merged to form what has become one of the largest and most respected centers of french-american activities in the u.s: the french institute alliance française.

photo from obsessive consumption

photo from knight cat

hunter clad new yorkers stroll an art gallery:

garance dore and scott schuman:

marc jacobs and stella mccartney:

yimmy’s yayo.

photos via gastro chic.

from fashion gone rogue.

stone barns, where i got married, was recently featured on sesame street. i got a little teary when i heard that – my childhood and present converging. in the segment, a girl and her friends collect eggs from the chickens and prepare scrambled eggs. “o” is for organic!

if you have the interest (and $1.99), download the “elmo finds a baby bird” episode from iTunes. or if you are resourceful and find it on the internet for free, let me know!

photo from knight cat.

knowing little about patti smith, i bought just kids, her new book about life with robert mapplethorpe. unable to put it down, i entered the magical world of new york city in the late 60s and 70s. this is my favorite time period to read about, and i devour books such as just kids and please kill me, fully romanticizing this era.

when smith and mapplethorpe share a hot dog at coney island because it’s all they can afford, my heart leapt. when standing outside in the cold, debating on whether their remaining dollar goes to a grilled cheese or art supplies, i cheered when the paint brushes won. and nothing seems more blissful than nights at their first apartment near pratt in brooklyn, playing the same record over and over, creating art and making lettuce soup.

but hunger is hunger which is never fun, especially for a tall, thin, speedy girl like smith. speedy, but not in a drug related way. smith was not into drugs and although mapplethorpe took the occasional acid hit, their lives were dedicated to art, which requires clarity and focus. the duo seems relatively grounded considering their presence at the chelsea hotel and max’s kansas city. beyond art, their devotion to each other, as only true soul mates have, is beautiful:

“robert and i were always ourselves – ’til the day he died, we were just exactly as we were when we met. and we loved each other. everybody wants to define everything. is it necessary to define love?”

here are some excerpts from christopher bollen’s interview with smith in interview magazine. to read the entire article, go here. better yet, pick up just kids.

Robert had different goals. He came from a different upbringing. His upbringing was Catholic, middle class, precise, military, well ordered, spanking clean. I came from a very chaotic household. I really believe that Robert sought not to destroy order, but to reorder, to reinvent, and to create a new order. I know that he always wanted to do something that no one else had done. That was very important to him. I was a little different. I always wanted to do what somebody else had already done—I wanted to write the next Peter Pan, the next Alice in Wonderland. I loved history, and I wanted to be a part of it. Robert wanted to break from history.

It’s very unfair to young struggling people. When I came to New York in the late ’60s, you could find an apartment for $50 or $60 a month. You could get a job in a bookstore or be a waitress and still live as an artist. You could have raw space. That’s been rendered impossible. I mean, my band lost its practice space and had to move out of town. They’re all fancy galleries. CBGB is now a fancy clothing store. The Bowery used to be home to winos, William Burroughs, and punk rockers. Now it’s a whole other scene. That’s part of New York’s tragedy and beauty. It’s a city of continual reinvention and transformation. I think the way things are going now is good for commerce, bad for art. Bad for the common man. [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg does not serve the common man. He serves the image of the city as a new shopping center. A place to get great meals. Little parks that make no sense. Places like Union Square, as if we were in Paris. We’re not Paris. We’re New York City. It’s a gritty city. It’s a place where you have all races and all walks of life, and that has always been its beauty. It’s the city of immigrants. It’s the city where you can start at the bottom. I feel the Bloomberg administration has reinvented the city as the new hip suburbia. It’s a tourist city. It’s really safe for tourists. I guess I liked it when it was a little less safe. Or I liked it when it was safer for artists. Now it’s unsafe for artists. I’m not saying this for myself. I’m saying this for the future of creative communities. Because, one day, all the people who have driven out the artists and have only these fancy condos left are going to turn around and say, “Why do I live here? There’s nothing happening!”

photo credits: interview magazine; smashbox studios

last night, i met my gal-pal ilene at tipsy parson, a new(ish) soulful restaurant in chelsea. high scores for delicious food, fun atmosphere and a kind staff. we left vowing to return. if you need further encouragement, take a look at what their website suggests meal by meal.

breakfast: new york city’s best sticky bun, doughnuts and farm-fresh eggs

weekend brunch: our famous mac & cheese, lemon-cornmeal pancakes, benton’s country ham with biscuits & gravy, poached eggs atop a crock of creamy, stone-ground grits from south carolina

lunch: pimento cheeseburger

after worK: frozen mint julep, cheese straws, fried pickles

their sister restaurant, little giant on the lower east side is great too

photographs of the manor and grounds look like they were plucked from a story book. this elegant, exclusive hotel outside of nairobi allows visitors the experience of feeding giraffes at the breakfast table (literally). additionally, many species of birds, warthogs and bush buck can be found on the property and the surrounding 140 acres of forest.

sometimes a hotel is a just a place to lay your hat while touring the city. in this case, the giraffe manor is the vacation. magic!

has no reason for tears

with such a

spectacular wardrobe;

she’s the heartbreaker

in that gold lame

dress.

images from kinght cat

from heartfish

pancakes from swissmiss, cake from whatever.

from recovering lazyholic

i don’t place a huge importance on valentines day, although i do like some novelty. the heart shaped lolita sunglasses my husband gave me two years ago are prominently displayed on my jewelry box.

in the spirit of this commercialized (ahem, heartfelt) holiday, i’ll be posting related images and inspiration, leading up to the big day.

this outfit featured on lookbook.nu is perfectly sweet and suited for summertime. if only it was (summer). a simple scoop white tee and floral mini, paired with brown sandals. the strategically placed hat pulls the look together. i’m placing this girl in mexico, maybe puerto rico – which is exactly where i’d like to be right now.

image from castletroy college

from retrozone

posters from flickr

i made dhal for the first time tonight. it was easy, delicious and comforting. i found the recipe from vegetarian cooking, which is a great cookbook i might add. if you feel like making something a little warm and mushy, here is the recipe:

8 oz yellow split peas
2 onions, chopped
1 large bay leaf
2 1/2 cups stock or water
salt and pepper
2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tbsp melted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 inch cube fresh root ginger
1 small green pepper, sliced
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp garam masala
3 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
fresh coriander or parsley to serve

1. in a covered pan, simmer the split peas, 1 onion, the bay leaf, and stock / water for 25 minutes, seasoning lightly towards the end.

2. in a separate pan, fry the mustard seeds in the butter for 30 seconds until they start to pop. then add remaining onion, garlic, ginger and green pepper. saute for 5 minutes until softened, then stir in remaining spices.

3. add the split peas, tomatoes and a little extra water if needed. cover and simmer for 10 minutes. check seasoning and serve hot, garnished with coriander or parsley.