Rochestarianism

I spent my last afternoon in Rochester shopping with my mom on Park Avenue. Unfortunately, I left New York to come back to Texas just a few days before Rochester's annual Park Ave. Fest, a weekend of, as my dad claims, "glorified sidewalk sales and partying." But the good news is that most boutiques along the street had already begun to hold sales and specials to honor the festival.

Metro Retro

I hadn't been into this vintage furniture store before, but had been meaning to visit all summer. We didn't buy anything, but I hope my parents will keep the store in mind as they finish decorating their new house -- they have a pretty great inventory.

Hogan's Hideaway

Next was lunch at the Hideaway. We shared a plate of crab cakes and both had crocks of French onion soup. Mmmm...I can't look at these pictures without thinking about dinnertime.

A Step Apart

After lunch we stopped by this boutique. They have a great selection of PJ Salvage, Free People, and French Connection clothing, not to mention that the store boasts a sweet little live-in terrier named Freddy.

I walked away with this full cotton and knit Free People skirt, which I've already worn more times in the past week than I'd like to admit...

Dado Boutique

I passed this store nearly every day on my way to get coffee in the mornings, but I hadn't bought anything before.

But I finally gave into the store's relatively high (and slightly unreasonable) price point and got this necklace that I had had my eye on all summer.

I miss Rochester so much now that I'm in Austin again. I'm trying to brace myself for school to start up again, but in the meantime, I'll be moving into my new house just north of the UT campus in Hyde Park. More on that to come!

Caffeine Saves

Rochester's best quality is easily its high volume of locally owned coffee shops with amazing locally roasted coffee. My favorite among many favorites is Java's Café, located downtown right next door to the Eastman School of Music.

My friend Vicki introduced me to Java's a couple weeks ago, and I've since been back on my own a handful of times. I'm proud to say it's one of the few places in Rochester I know how to get to by car and without the use of Daphne the GPS lady.

What I like most about Java's is its warm decor and huge amount of gallery-quality art. It's amazing how many pieces they've amassed; they even have paintings and photos lining the basement walls on the way to the bathroom.

I think my favorite decoration is this giant spotted hammerhead that hangs from the ceiling. It reminds me a lot of the jaguar shark from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Java's also has a selection of rare teas and whole beans available for purchase in this cute library-esque display room.

And I can't forget about the baked goods. Although I haven't personally sampled any of Java's freshly made sweets, I like the look of these smiley cookies, sold in a variety of colors and emotions. They have tons of muffins, too!

Most importantly, the coffee at Java's is served just like I like my women (if I liked women, that is): small and strong! I usually get the carmel cascada: a chilled triple espresso with a little caramel and milk. Mmmm! This is the best part of my day :D

Paying Homage

My style idols over time:

1993

Melissa Joan Hart in Clarissa Explains It All

In my five-year-old mind, Clarissa Darling was THE girl of the 90s. I still watch this show when I can find clips of it on YouTube...

2004

Samaire Armstrong

I still admire the outfits Samaire (Anna Stern of The OC) wore both on and off set of the show, and a lot of times I find myself watching the reruns (yes, I have every season on DVD ((except the last one, because it was really, really awful))) just to remind myself of what Anna was wearing. I love how she mixes prints and textures and how her look is always a little Tokyo-esque. I think the actress actually lived in Japan for a little while as a child, which would explain where the inspiration for her character's style comes from. Too bad I couldn't find many decent screen shots of Anna on the web, but you'll have to watch the show for yourself ;)

2006

Dara Werbowy

I guess it's easy to look effortless yet beautiful when you're a supermodel, but I still love her style...

2008

Charlotte Gainsbourg

I've loved this actress since I saw her in The Science of Sleep. She's a little bit mousy and boyish, but these two attributes just add to the fact that she's the ultimate French girl. Apparently Balenciaga felt the same, because she's the muse and face for their new perfume -- quite a triumph for a girl who claims to not even wear perfume herself!

2010

The Olsen Twins

I've spent kind of an obscene amount of time on the website/blog olsensanonymous recently, and even though MK&A have received flack for their styles throughout their adult lives, I think they're very savvy as both designers and stylists for themselves. I like how every piece of clothing or jewelry they wear looks like it has a story behind it, how they wear a lot of black (always a good choice in my book), and how they always look effortless.

Favorite Places: Madrid

A few weeks ago, as part of my 2010 European adventure, I left my temporary Parisian home to visit my good friend Anthony in Madrid. Temporary tour guide Anthony took us on a walking tour of the city, and, not expecting to like the city as much as I did, I was pleasantly surprised by how clean, well-manicured, and architecturally beautiful Madrid is. Here are my favorite destinations from the trip.

Mercado San Miguel

Located right next to Plaza Mayor in the center of Madrid, this market is, as I understand, the largest open-air food market in Europe. If you've ever been to Les Halles in France or anywhere comparable, you will understand just how much of a claim to fame that title is -- there were SO many vendors. I experienced a delicious Spanish cuisine overload just from looking at all the food.

There were plenty of dishes that Americans would consider exotic cuisine, including these giant fish. The fact that their pupils were still fully intact made them look a little too animated for me...needless to say, I didn't bring any of these guys back to the hostel to cook up.

But I did try caviar for the first time, in two different forms. Here's the caviar-topped pincho I tried. I also had a caviar-filled Basque-style pincho, of which I unfortunately didn't get a picture before I devoured it in two bites. Both were delicious!

PhotoEspaña Exhibition

Photo by David Jimenéz

We spent our Saturday evening at one of the many galleries around Madrid featuring entries from the 2010 PhotoEspaña photo contest. The location we went to featured collections from Latin America. All of the artists' collections had strong points of view and seemed to take their photography a few steps beyond just taking pretty pictures. I could easily spend hours looking through the portfolios on the PhotoEspaña website.

From Harold Edgerton's collection What You Miss When You Blink

Mercado de la Reina

This was my favorite tapas outing of the trip, which is definitely saying something, considering the amount of tapas I ate in Madrid. My favorite dish was the pincho con jamon: sliced bread topped with ham and goat cheese. I also really liked the decor of Mercado de la Reina; the best part of the bar/restaurant was the full-sized, live tree growing through the middle of the indoor dining room.

The price was another up-side. We paid about 9 Euros per person for five plates of tapas and three rounds of drinks. Madrid is so cheap! It was really refreshing to pay so little for food and drinks after having been in Paris.

Madrid was the last leg of my journey. I'm already nostalgic for the two weeks I spent traveling, but it's good to be home! More posts about Rochester to come!

Guide de Paris

Like all good travel guides, this post will start off with an obscure analogy: Paris is just like a Kinder Surprise Ball. It has a sweet, chocolate-y exterior, but, when you least expect it, you accidentally bite into a rubber bouncy ball that you may or may not choke on. But somehow you figure out how to get to the candy inside, and it is SO good.

Oscar Wilde's grave, Père Lachaise, Paris

I hope that made sense to someone other than me...In any case, Paris is really an amazing and vibrant city once you get past the holier-than-thou nature of a lot of its inhabitants and the *unfortunate* anti-American sentiment that I've encountered from time to time. After all, there are both kind and inconsiderate people everywhere, and Paris is no exception. After accepting this fact, I had a great stay there with a lot of wonderful friends, both old and new. And for those planning a trip in the future or just curious as to my findings, here are some of my favorite places in Paris.

Art Galleries:

L'oeil Ouvert, St. Paul, Paris

photo by Valérie Archeno

Gallerie Christian Berst, St. Paul, Paris

photo by Loïc Lucas

Galerie Nomade, République, Paris

photo courtesy of artsfactory.net

Shopping:

Senou, St. Paul, Paris

The perfect place to find decently-priced gifts and housewares (including a tapestry of Obama with a green teeth?)

Depot Vente Createurs, Monmartre, Paris

Great selection of well-priced vintage and handmade clothing and jewelry

L'art de Rien, Monmartre, Paris

Very creepy, slightly morbid. The display window features doll heads in jars with formaldehyde and vampire children...so cool! You can find French comic books and freaky gifts of all sorts here.

Favorite Bar:

La Belle Hortence, 10 rue de Trésor, Paris

Laid-back atmosphere with mostly young professionals, a reasonably priced drink/food menu, exceptionally nice wait staff (at least by Parisian standards...) They also sell French children's books!

Favorite Hostel:

The Regent Hostel, Monmartre, Paris

To be fair, I've only ever stayed at two hostels in Paris, but I loved this one. The staff is extremely nice and willing to speak either English or French (even with clearly non-native speakers). The rooms were clean, quiet, comfortable, and traditionally French without being outdated. Monmartre is kind of far away from the center of the city, but the neighborhood itself is nice, relatively cheap, safe, and this hostel is located just across the street from the metro. I HIGHLY recommend the Regent.

Favorite Rainy Day Activity:

Window shopping the pet stores in Châtelet

Heartbreakingly adorable purebred puppies and kittens...no further explanation needed.

What I Bought: European Edition

I got home last night from my adventure abroad and wanted to share a few goodies I got during my trip. I visited Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Madrid, and I picked up souvenirs in each place. Here are my favorites:

Broach from Depot Vente Creatures, Monmartre, Paris

I tried on three dresses in this store, and when none of them worked quite right, I felt badly for wasting the shopkeeper's time. Luckily, I spotted this on the way out. It's made almost entirely of zippers!

Shoes from Jonak, Galleries de Lafayette, Paris

I got these at the beginning of my trip, and wore them nonstop for the rest of the two weeks I was away. Parisians seems to love wearing low-rise sneakers, but I never really feel like myself in them. This combination boot/sandal/sneaker is a good compromise, I think.

Cotton scarf from a flea market in Amsterdam, Rabbit fur scarf from duty-free shop in Reykjavik

One of the highlights of my trip (apart from Amsterdam) was my layover in Iceland. I'm really interested in Iceland for some reason; it's so strange and foreign that it's intriguing. And after the two quick stops I made at the Reykjavik airport and flying Icelandair, I'm even more interested in going back for a vacation. Maybe next year!

Wool sweater, Duty-free, Reykjavik

Since wool is one of Iceland's main exports, I had to buy this. I'm already ready for it to be winter so I can wear it.

I'd like to post a kind of travel guide/diary for each of the cities I visited, and I'm planning to write about Paris first and in the very near future. Thanks for reading and expect more to come!