Golden Globes

I am absolutely over the moon that my two favorite performances of the year, Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men and Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, and my favorite show of the year Mad Men, actually won. My favorites never win. For Cotillard it means an Oscar nomination for sure (she should walk away with it if I had my druthers). And as for Jon Hamm and Mad Men, here's to a second phenomenal season (hopefully longer) and a budding movie career for Hamm (Clooney, watch your back!)

As for the Golden Globes "Winners' Special," of course I missed the red carpet, but I wasn't too upset about the new format. Usually I like the Golden Globes and the SAG awards better than the Oscars because they combine the worlds of television and movies, the evening seems more intimate and informal, and the jokes and speeches are usually pretty good, but I didn't miss them that much. Although I would have loved to see Jon Hamm in a tux giving his acceptance speech, a sartorial fantasy that one can only hope will be fulfilled next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up having another "Special" like this for the Oscars, the way the strike is going. Anything to get out of the Debbie Allen choreography numbers.

Try it, you'll like it!

Back in October 2005, or as I refer to it, the happiest time of my life, l was living in London. Part of what made me so happy in that most fabulous of cities was my discovery of Wensleydale cheese with cranberries. The Green Park subway stop had a two-floored Marks & Spencer's, which was like if Whole Foods was a 7-11, fresh food for people on the go. They sold sticks of this cheese and I would buy fistfulls of them. I have never personally experienced death by mini-bar, but I have experienced nigh unto it thanks to M&S Simply Food. Ok, maybe it only induced a hotel nap or two. So to celebrate finally getting my new ATM card after 23 days without (DURING THE XMAS SEASON!), I christened it by ordering a pound of Wensleydale. I might have paid for it in pounds sterling for as much as it cost me, but what the heck. If I can't watch dogs romp around Primrose Hill on a chilly fall Saturday while nursing a hot cocoa, at least I can close my eyes and remember, eh?

In The Navy

Sometimes I think I have shameful hidden addictions just so I can have the pleasure of disclosing them on this blog; I am more than a little bit knowledgable about TMZ, shall we say. I try really hard to keep my fascination with it on the down low, but Harvey Levin just has a way of surprising you with info that you didn't know you wanted to know. In this particular post, I am confessing that a) I read TMZ on an hourly basis, and for my efforts, look what I get blessed with. And b) the cat's out of the bag! I watched The Bachelor this season (the finale is tonight!) and I really don't want Bevin to win.

But does there really have to be a finale? Can't we just keep an hour and a half of prime time a week devoted to Lt. Dr. Andy Baldwin? Why does it have to end?

Amuses-bouche

Just when you thought I couldn't get any more obsessed...I go and discover Pâtisserie Chantilly. It's tucked away in a strip mall, you wouldn't ever know it was there. But I found out. Boy did I ever. My first trip there I sampled their signature piece, the choux aux sésames, , and I was floored. Sesame isn't exactly a flavor I think of when I think dessert. But I am hard pressed to think of a more delightful dessert than this. And the size of the choux makes it just right for that elusive dessert we all seek (well at least in my family): just a little sweet after dinner, substantial enough to sate the sweet tooth, but not enough to regret it.

Next I had lemon madeleines. They were ok, not the best I've ever had. I ended on the caramel machiatto, a confection created to look like a cup of espresso, but made entirely of pastry. Next time around I'm going to try the tarte aux fruits...and maybe some of the items that were sold out (there were quite a few of those!)

In front of me in the line at the counter were two mothers and their children. What nice moms! My mom would have never taken me to a pastry shop "just because". She also would have never spent $74 on pastries like these moms did. It was worth it, I'm sure!

I was talking to my friend this past week and she commented that I "wouldn't be me without [my] obsessions." I guess that's true, but I've always been to busy obsessing about my latest obsession to make that self-realization. So I thought I'd share with you my new obsession: I was a Crabcakes Benedict virgin till last week. This is the second Saturday in a row that I had them for brunch, the first at Good Stuff, the second at Misto. They were even better the second time around. Don't they look delectable?

It's a family tradition we have that we make homemade Eggs Benedict for my Dad for Father's Day. I can only handle that about once a year, though because hollandaise is tricky to make (LOW HEAT), and I'm a well-intentioned yet sometimes not great cook. I might order them once a year at a restaurant, but usually it's an infrequent treat for me, and I'd never had them made with crab!

So has anyone else noticed the ascension of crabcakes on the social scene over the last 4-5 years? Now you can buy a fabulous gourmet crabcake from Trader Joe's where as I'm sure the only grocery store version available in the past was probably Kentucky Fried Smells Like Real Crab patties. So maybe I'll have to try these at home!

I sense a theme running through your work...

I was born in the 70s, LIVED the 80s, but secretly, I think my heart belongs to the early 60s. And I think it has to do with the clothes. You're shocked, I can tell. One of the unsung staples of the 20th century well-dressed man, a crisp, single-breasted suit of a pearly dove's breast was never done better service than by Cary Grant as the daredevil plutocrat-cum-adventurer Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest...



or rumpled with such phsyicality and insouisance as the ones Jean-Paul Belmondo seemed to wear in all his early 60s flicks. In this picture from Pierrot le Fou he wears a divine Prince of Wales check...



This photo is a still from OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions, the 2006 French espionage farce set in 1955 that I finally saw this past week. The star of the film, Jean Dujardin (pictured below), rocked the suit like he was discovering the new world, splitting the atom and landing on the moon all in one stride across the lobby of Cairo's best hotel. It made me yearn. Yes, Kramer, to answer your question, I YEARN! I yearn for a time when every man wore cuff links when he left the house. Is that so wrong?

If anyone is interested, Kilgour of Saville Row is doing a bespoke tour of the USA...grab a dude and drag him down to get his measurements taken!

Baby, you can drive MY car!

This pic I came across is from a promotion that's almost a year old and I don't even care. It's of one of my many Britboy crushes, Rupert Penry-Jones modeling for my lovely Aston Martin.
To quote Her Madgesty, as I am wont to do..."If I was a car, I’d be an Aston Martin." Give those guys in marketing a raise, they got me.

This is the photo I am sending with my Christmas cards this year. This is me and my lovely RPJ overlooking the Firth of Clyde, he in his lovely cashmere coat, me in my snuggy cable knit. We are so in love with the performance of our new Aston Martin!

LALALALALA I AM NOT LISTENING!!!!

I just didn't really need to hear this right now! I would gladly give up all the Fafarazzi points this story earned me if it could have just never happened at all. Rewind, Erase! Don't need to go there. I am already hard up enough as it is, why do you have to take my little pleasures from me?

Keep Burberry British

LADIES...believe me when I say I am TRYING very very hard to find blog ready pics of Ioan Gruffudd as the new face of Burberry. I just saw the spread in this December's InStyle, and it's phenomenal. However in doing my intrepid visual research, I discovered that our lad is embroiled in a bit of a controversy. Seems despite Burberry's profits this year, the board has decided to shut down a Welsh manufacturing plant near where Ioan grew up that has been in the company for 70 years to get the work done cheaper in China. Ioan was urged to take a stand on the issue, but demurred until now. He has finally joined Prince Charles in putting the pressure on those Burberry mucky-mucks. Well, if belatedly played. Chavs of the world breathe a sigh of relief.

A Sad Sad Sad Day

Part of me is like of course he does. But most of me is sickened.

Former Dodger Great Facing a Mound of Debt - Los Angeles Times

Former Dodger Great Facing a Mound of Debt

Oh how the mighty are fallen. Steve Garvey was the first Dodger whose name I could pronounce. He was a favorite of my childhood. He's gone from MLB Golden Boy to certified chump.

Belated birthday wishes...pimpin in pink!