livres pour l'amoureux de livre

Translation: books for the book-lover.

Growing up, books were my barbies. Instead of arranging Skipper and Ken in B's tricked-out convertible, I stood my books on their spines, balanced them on my windowsill, and ran my fingernails over their mountainous pages like fingers on piano keys. I still do.

Currently, I am working on marketing a new scent to Sephora - Essence of Tome by Barnes & Noble. A hint of Sandalwood added to the dominant scent of leather and cured maple.

Coco avant Chanel.

If I were already living in England, I wouldn't have to wait so long.

Paris Theatre & the Oak Room

I am excited to get back to NY, as I have been holding out & waiting to see Cheri at the Paris Theatre on 58th (http://www.theparistheatre.com/).

Right across from the Plaza, there is no better place to see a foreign or tasteful film that at the P.T. The best part? Making a last minute trip to the Plaza's Oak Room (http://www.oakroomny.com/media/oakroom.html) afterward...

From the NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/nyregion/thecity/31pari.html?_r=1):

"The 586-seat theater is one of the oldest art houses in the United States. Opened by Pathé Cinema in 1948, the Paris started out showing French films (“La Symphonie Pastorale,” which ran for eight months), and it still shows French films, both revivals (“Belle de Jour”) and new ones (“Amélie”). When French films are not available, the theater shows movies that seem French, including the Foreign Films Lite oeuvre of Merchant and Ivory."

Before I hit my cool, cool sheets...

I only have one more week here in Florida before I move to Manhattan. I am getting sentimental in advance. Tonight, we splurged and opened all of the windows in the house and simultaneously put the air on full-blast to combat the invading humidity. Though it diverges somewhat from our usual Al Gore-ish ways, it is the most simplistic feeling of luxury to have your hair blown by an outdoor breeze while remaining just below 90% humidity. I just went in my room to get the fan going in advance of retiring to bed, and found that my sheets are deliciously cool. I can't wait to turn myself into an inverted hot pocket benethe my covers and battle with my eyelids while trying to finish The Cider House Rules. Ah, the fleeting feeling of summer freedom.

Meanwhile, these make for a happy Kate at bedtime...
















* Photos courtesy of the brilliant blog of the brilliant Katy Elliott.

In preparation:

As we all know (and comfort ourselves with every other hour), Harry Potter is eminently upon us once again. To celebrate, I wasted time and found the following celebratory items, any of which I may be donning/utilizing on the big night...

It's a Mad, Mad world...

As those who are familiar with my regional predilections may be aware, I am of the opinion that very few places in this great land of ours surpass the majesty that is New England. For what reasons, you ask? Oh, so many things. The fact that it lends itself especially well to those of us who love books more than almost everything else in life, wish for autumn all year long, esteem pumpkin and apple above all other baking ingredients, and aspire to one day (once the debt of graduate school has waned) purchase an old, ollllldddddd house and spend our days stripping wood floors and uncovering multiple layers of wallpaper.

The recent NYT article on the Mad River Valley of Vermont, famous for its pillowy white slopes in the winter, perfectly captures the spirit of my New English obsession. Plus, being a girl of Adirondack origin, I am a bit biased...

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/travel/escapes/26Amer.html?ref=travel