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