This weekend I saw the new Pedro Almodóvar movie Broken Embraces (aka Los abrazos rotos), and it was GOOD!We went to an 11:00pm showing so I was somewhat dubious that the movie would hold my attention, especially given that I would be reading the screen for two hours. But, it was really fantastic. Now that the weather is turning colder, I've been reviving my cinema excursions (which, of course, I love). This is one I definitely recommend!
If you have a Blackberry and you haven't yet downloaded the Pandora app (which is free, by the way), I highly recommend that you do so immediately. It's amazing. I've been annoyingly carrying my phone-as-mini-radio around the apartment for days and listening to it at work with my earbuds. It's completely replacing my ipod. Do note, though, that it requires a lot of data usage so make sure you have an unlimited data plan.
I mentioned before that I was going to be reading the new Dan Brown book (don't you judge me) The Lost Symbol. Well, I'm here to tell you that it was a very fun read. It was such great, light reading that I was literally dragging it with me on the subway everyday, and at 500+ pages in hardback that was some heavy light reading!
Now the bookclub is on to our next book. Did I mention I started a book club with some friends? Rabbit Run was our first book. Now we're reading The Bonfire of the Vanities, and it's great because it takes place in New York City during the 1980s. It's fun to read about all the things that have stayed the same over the last 20 years and all the things that have changed. I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book, but at this point I would definitely recommend it to anybody looking for a good read. In fact, more than one person has come up to me on the subway to tell me what a great book it is.
Anthropologie has opened its first overseas store in London, and it sounds amazing. It dawned on me the other night as I was watching a show on the Sundance Channel that follows two Anthropologie buyers all over the globe, that it is possible my obsession has reached its healthy limit... Regardless, read about the new London store!
Anthropologie, the American fashion and housewares chain, has opened its first overseas branch, on bustling Regent Street in London. Owned by Urban Outfitters, the brand that sells sort-of-edgy street fashion, Anthropologie is often described as its older, more sophisticated sister, targeting creative types with a sense of humor.
In the way that the chain’s American outlets each have their own character, reflecting their locations, the new London outlet will take the best of what’s on offer in America but will layer it with quirky individual products from British designers.
With a nod to Wedgwood, the former occupant of the site, famed for its tableware, the opening window display is an installation created out of over 12,000 teabags in autumnal colors. Inside, French antique cabinets are stacked with an array of china both contemporary and traditional. A bookshelf is lined with English classics by the likes of Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë. And as part of a shipwreck theme, a whale made from recycled materials, covered with antique linen, is suspended from the ceiling.
With a wall flush with living vegetation running down one side and natural light flooding through the central staircase from a glass roof, the design is a combination of the traditional and modern, with every effort made to be eco-friendly. The 656-square-foot wall incorporates 14 different plant types and is fed by rainwater from the roof. The interior design uses reclaimed materials like a backdrop from a Barcelona theater, organ boards from the Royal Albert Hall and reclaimed oak barnwood trusses.
Housewares prices range from £2.50 (or $4.25, at $1.70 to the pound) for a latte bowl to £8,000 for a life-size plaster cast of a polar bear from a Berlin zoo, circa 1900. Clothes range from £22 for a reversible seamless tank to £548 for a Leifsdottir outdoor garment. Furniture both vintage and new, jewlery, towels and bedding, candles, and other miscellaneous gifts are also on sale.
A second London branch is due to open on the King’s Road in Chelsea in the spring, to coincide with the introduction of online ordering from Anthropologie in Europe. - NY Times