Watch: Boyhood

On a flight over the holidays, I finally had the chance to see Boyhood. Even with all its fantastic reviews and awards, I was worried a film made over 12 years would be boring. Not so - at all! I loved it. In some unexpected ways, it reminded me of one of my favorite films, Dazed and Confused: school days in Texas, well-meaning but out of touch parents and memorable characters.

I saw an onstage interview with the film's director and writer Richard Linklater at last year's San Francisco Film Festival. It feels like time for a refresh on his films: Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and the film he was promoting then, Before Midnight, starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. 

On Not Getting Drenched

The coat might not be practical for rain, but it's fun!

Two years with very little rain has been terrible for California's water supply. But it has rained almost every day since Thanksgiving and adjusting to this much wet weather is wearing on me. 

Bright colors help get through dark days.

My outerwear has helped me at least feel prepared, warm and somewhat stylish. It's also all old - since I bought most of it when rain was more common! 

My uniform for the past few weeks has been an L. Spiewak & Sons lightweight bright orange down jacket with an adjustable hood. For shoes, either beat-up biker boots or lightweight Da Ichi Japanese fisherman rain boots - an amazing purchase several years ago from the fun New York store Loopy Mango. 
 

Painting by Hsin-Yao Tseng. From Pinterest.

Searching on Pinterest led me to San Francisco painter Hsin-Yao Tseng, who depicts rainy days in the city beautifully. Maybe a new perspective on the beauty of a rainy day will help me through this week's wet forecast.

Watch: The Interview

I glanced at the email headlines from Variety magazine: Sony Pictures had been hacked, employee social security numbers and salaries had been released on the internet. Then the news kept coming. Seth Rogen and James Franco's pay for their latest comedy The Interview was released, and North Korean hackers were suspected of the breach. I laughed out loud - the chain of events sounded like a movie, but apparently it is not a hoax. 

I saw The Interview on November 18 at a screening sponsored by the San Francisco Film Society at the historic Castro Theater. Rogen and his longtime co-writer Evan Goldberg were interviewed before the film was shown. A little plug for membership - the SF Film Society gives its members opportunities to see great screenings fairly frequently. 




The Interview is a very funny movie with a current events-related plot, and the news junkie in me always loves that type of mashup. Typically likeable performances from Rogen and Franco are complemented by the actress Lizzy Kaplan, known for her role as Virginia Johnson on Showtime's Masters of Sex, who brings a strong and funny female role the cast. 

The latest news says the hackers are demanding the film be pulled from distribution. In the interest of protecting free speech, go see The Interview when it opens in theaters on December 25!

60+ minutes of sound: november 2014

Griffith Park, Los Angeles

November 2014 Playlist

Cold Sweat -- James Brown

Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars) -- Mark Ronson

Good Thing -- Fine Young Cannibals

Los Feliz, Los Angeles

  Trick Pony -- Charlotte Gainsbourg

Never Tear Us Apart -- INXS

Funky Drummer -- James Brown

Freestone, CA

 Orange Juice Blues -- Bob Dylan & The Band

Viola Lee Blues -- Grateful Dead

Empty Pages -- Traffic

Street Life -- Randy Crawford

 

Bodega Bay, CA

 What is Life -- George Harrison

Bell Bottom Blues -- Derek & The Dominos

Moving in Stereo -- The Cars

Model of Disneyland, Walt Disney Museum, SF Presidio

Listen: Serial

What is Serial?

Serial is a podcast where we unfold one nonfiction story, week by week, over the course of a season. We'll stay with each story for as long as it takes to get to the bottom of it.

I keep hearing about the addictive new podcast from the creators of This American Life and hosted by Sarah Koenig. I just downloaded episode one and can't wait to start listening!

Sweater Weather

Ryan Roche sweater, Fall 2014 collection

San Francisco's mild weather requires a different eye for choosing winter clothing, and knitwear is a category I am always looking to fill. With Christmas coming, I'd love to add a lightweight cashmere sweater to my collection. One idea has been to seek out sweaters from companies based in California, who focus on design and style rather than a heavy, ultra-warm fabric.

My skin is sensitive to wool - often traditional wool sweaters feel very itchy, and I can't wear any fabric that includes mohair or angora. Since I don't spend a lot of time shopping in stores, internet research helps to narrow my choices.  I'm particular about the texture, and searches for waffle weave, thermal or honeycomb styles have yielded interesting results.

So far my research project has been around styles of sweaters, and I'm not looking for a particular color. As my search continues, it would be great to find a textured crewneck navy sweater. 

Some of my favorites:
 
This Raquel Allegra sweater stands out for its unique, handmade design. 

available at Steven Alan

This Vince cashmere sweater has a ribbed texture, but doesn't have the casual baseball jersey style of many thermal sweaters.

Available at TheLine.com

I don't wear a lot of turtlenecks because I don't like them hugging my neck. I think they can look great, and the military-inspired style of this navy NLST sweater is almost 40% cotton - hopefully soft and comfortable. 

Available at shopbop.com

The Fashion Fund TV series has introduced me to the talented sweater designer Ryan Roche. The sweaters are a bit avant garde for me, but I love seeing her business evolve on the show. I'll be keeping a close eye on her future collections.

from Ryan Roche Fall 2014 collection

Hard to find words

by Banksy

I watched coverage of the grand jury decision not to indict the police officer accused of killing unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and am struggling with the news. 

A friend posted this #anonymous tweet of a Martin Luther King quote. Then I remembered seeing the Banksy painting. Together they sum up how I feel right now.

Read: A Rape on Campus

A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA by Sabrina Rubin Erdely was published in Rolling Stone magazine last week. It documents an 18-year old University of Virginia student's gang rape at a fraternity house in 2012. 

I feel sick after reading the article. I am sad and angry; for the victim, for the many other victims of rape who are afraid to speak publicly, and because of the University's lack of support for its female students. These are young women, college students only 18 to 21 years old. Being raped is a traumatic event with long-lasting effects, even if victims are supported by their friends, family and community - which in the story documented and far too many others, they are not. The University's actions have been self serving and created a culture that turns a blind eye to serious crime. 

Please consider signing this online petition calling on the University of Virginia administration to End the Rape Culture at UVA.  You can add your name and support by signing the petition. 

Advocacy groups like RAINN are an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn more about how to support victims of rape and sexual assault. 

60+ minutes of sound: Pandora

My version of a Pandora's Box. Clutch by Edie Parker

I love making monthly playlists but during busy times, my fallback is Pandora. I have a yearly subscription, which is inexpensive and keeps the listening experience commercial-free. I highly recommend taking the time to rate songs so the stations are customized to your preferences. 

Some of my favorite stations: 

Jazz  
Bebop
Thelonious Monk
Menahan Street Band

Electronic
Kraftwerk

Soul
Baby Huey
Sam Cooke
Stevie Wonder

Classical
Lalo Schifrin
Philip Glass

Surf Rock
Dick Dale

World
Fela Kuti
Tinariwen
Buena Vista Social Club 

My Skincare Lineup

Lauren Hutton, 1980. Age 37.

Getting older has many benefits, but I have to confess that navigating skincare in my 30s has had a long and steep learning curve. First, a big project has been researching and trying new products that help with wrinkles, fine lines, sun damage and hormonal changes. Then learning about toxic chemicals in skincare led me to try to clean up my products, especially those I use every day. 

Patti Hansen, 1993. Age 37.

What is the new reality of my 37-year old face? Some basic questions come up. Can the effects of aging actually be helped by skincare products? What amount of wrinkles am I willing to learn to love? 

Liv Tyler, 2014. Age 37.

Needless to say, I have been trying a lot of new products with varying degrees of success. Over the past month I have started to feel like I finally have some clear recommendations. 

Diane Kruger, 2014. Age 37.

Cleansers
I have read many articles about the benefits of using multiple cleansers to keep skin vibrant. On the advice of several skincare professionals, I have switched to cream cleansers. I also use my Clarisonic several times each week, rather than twice a day. 
In the morning, I use The Organic Pharmacy’s Glamour Food Facial Milk Wash, which is a very gentle cleanser. Since I have removed all my makeup the night before, this cleanser works well as a morning refresher. I follow the cleanser with a gentle and hydrating scrub, Luzern Laboratories Micro-Exfoliant. In the evening, I use Sowd Skincare's Fortifying Cleanser. I love that it includes a makeup remover, saving me an additional evening step.

Toner
I gave up toner for a while, but I think my skin looks better when I use it. I have a bottle of Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist that I am finishing. I spray a bit into my hands and blot it gently on my face after cleansing.

Serum
The anti-aging benefits of Vitamin C serum have convinced me to make it my first step after cleansing, and right now my favorite is Medik8 CE Tetra.
 
After a complimentary facial at Ayla Beauty in San Francisco, I bought two of Luzern Laboratories serums. I was a bit skeptical because I don't believe great skincare has to be expensive, but since I started using the products my skin looks noticeably smoother and brighter. I start with Serum ReHydrate, wait a few minutes and then add Serum Absolut WE3. 

Eye Cream
For eye cream, the best product I've found to combat puffiness and dark circles is Yonka Phyto Contour. I have tried so many different eye creams, and I really notice a difference with this one. It takes a few weeks, but it is worth the wait. It smells like rosemary and can be a bit tingly around the eyes at first. 

Oil - in place of moisturizer
Skin oils are getting a lot of press lately as a replacement for standard facial moisturizers. I like them and there are a lot of non-toxic options. It can be a tricky process to see what works best with your skin type, and oils really vary in their strength and quality. For daily use, my favorite is a few drops of MyHavtorn Organic Facial Oil. If my skin feels extra dry, especially in the evening, I use Earth tu Face Blue Chamomile and Carrot Seed serum. 

Sunscreen
I like to wear sunscreen every day and have recently switched to Luzern Laboratories La Defense SPF 30 sunscreen. It has nearly 20% zinc but manages to be totally transparent, and as a bonus it is filled with a great mix of beneficial ingredients. I shied away from buying it at first because it smells like a Jolly Rancher candy, but the smell fades very quickly. I hardly notice the scent now, even when I first put it on.

Spot treatment
An amazing secret weapon against bad skin, Medik8 Betagel spot treatment works wonders and can be put on several times a day without drying skin out.

Read: Influence

 

Influence, the 2008 book by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, had been collecting dust near the bottom of one of my bookshelves. As a coffee table book addict, I'm not even sure I looked through it when I originally bought the book. Their classically beautiful designs for the CFDA Award winning fashion brand The Row caught my interest, and recently I dug into my own library to learn more about what drives their aesthetic.

The book is super interesting. They clearly thought long and hard about who to include, and I have taken the time to slowly read through each interview. It shows two talented young women authentically seeking knowledge from a variety of artists, designers and creative people that they admire. 

I share a birthday with the twins, June 13, and I love to see where the curiosity trait takes fellow Geminis. My longstanding favorite show on television is the Charlie Rose Show on PBS, and Influence feels like their version of his famous round table.   

The Row t-shirt. Salina, Italy, September 2014

My favorite white t-shirt is an early design by The Row. I recently bought a long sleeved version to wear as the temperature cools down. They are simple, luxurious and perfect.

Beautiful clothes designed by two impressive women. I look forward to their next book - and will surely not let it sit unread on a shelf for six years!

Tinker Tailor

Swedish blogger Elin Kling and stylist Linn Hagglund

With this season's fashion trend of a higher pant leg - show a little ankle, anyone? - trousers that seem boring can be brought back to life by a trip to the tailor. It is reminder that a good fit does wonders for any outfit, and that the added cost is minor compared to the visual benefits. Expensive items are easy to justify, but I am such a fanatic that I even alter fast fashion - if I love it, I don’t mind spending more on the alterations than the original item. 

 

French Vogue Editor Emmanuelle Alt

I recently finished reading the inspiring #GIRLBOSS by Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso, who built a wildly successful business on the intuitive understanding that a strong and tailored silhouette helps sell clothes online.   

My trusted tailor in San Francisco is Hulan, who runs the excellent HB Alterations. Many of the highest end boutiques in nearby Union Square are customers too. I have been busy bringing my professional pants in for updates and just started on casual pants. I'm still deciding how high to go - in my view, the shorter silhouette looks best with no socks, which has implications for shoe choices. I’ll probably choose a pair or two of straight leg pants that look good with a flat shoe for this experiment.

Olivia Palermo

If former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland is right and elegance begins in the mind, wearing clothes expertly tailored to your shape seems like a simple step toward feeling great.

Diana Vreeland
All photos from Pinterest.

SF Giants are Champions - Again!

The San Francisco Giants just won their third World Series in five years. I was lucky enough to watch Madison Bumgarner pitch nine innings at Sunday's home game in San Francisco. What am amazing night! 

Go Giants! 

Watch: Mr. Dynamite

Tonight is the HBO premiere of Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown. Produced by Mick Jagger and directed by Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, I can't wait to see how they chart Brown's influence on music.

Sadly, I never saw James Brown in concert before his death in 2006. My father has told me stories of seeing him in the 1960s at the Howard Theater in Washington D.C, a theater then nearly as famous for its black performers as New York's Apollo. I hope they show clips from some of the Washington performances - they have lived in my imagination as absolutely incredible.

The Godfather of Soul, revealed.

Watch: The One I Love

Listening to writer Bret Easton Ellis's excellent podcast recently, he said in conversation with Matthew Weiner, creator of Mad Men, that for professionals in Hollywood, TV is for adults and films are for children. From a box office and strategy standpoint, this may be true - but I still love a good movie. 

The One I Love, starring Mark Duplass and Elizabeth Moss, is a new film with a unique take on a couple's struggling relationship. Writer-director Charlie McDowell's first film is creative, thoughtful and surprising. 

My husband and I watched it together, talked about it at dinner and then talked about it even more over breakfast. Thought-provoking, entertaining and engaging, it is an adult's take on relationships fueled by a big dose of imagination. 

Magic Mask

Lady Gaga loves a good mask.

Can a mask be magical? When it comes to skincare, I have always believed they can make a transformative difference.

The idea of gently massaging a mask or scrub onto my skin every day seems like a good one. Sometimes though, over-zealousness has led to very dry and even irritated skin. To combat this, when I used a strong exfoliating mask or scrub, I would often follow it up with a calming moisture mask. 

My new favorite mask and scrub are both from Luzern Laboratories. They each combine effective exfoliation with hydrating ingredients and have the added benefit of being free of chemical preservatives and other toxic chemicals.

Luzern's Hydra-Enzyme Mask 
Since I discovered the mask a few months ago, it has steadily taken over as my favorite. I use it 2-3 times each week after cleansing and leave it on for up to 30 minutes. A few hours after using it, I am always pleasantly surprised by how bright and smooth my skin looks.

Luzern's Micro-Exfoliant is gentle enough to use every day, which I have been doing each morning. The bottle size meant I didn't bring it on a recent trip and since resuming the daily scrub, my skin feels better and is noticeably brighter. 

I have Ayla, a fantastic curated skincare online store with a charming micro shop in San Francisco, to thank for the introduction to Luzern. Ayla has an incredibly knowledgeable and helpful staff, who have led me to several new products that I love. They also offer sizeable samples of all products. 

Wear: Black & White

WSJ. Magazine. October 2014

Traveling in September caused a major back-up in my fall magazine reading - the biggest fashion issues of the year are piled up waiting for a rainy afternoon. 

I don't really need to add another one...but the Wall Street Journal has made a splash with WSJ. Magazine, edited by the talented magazine veteran Kristina O'Neill. Each style-focused issue is better than the last, with great articles and fun editorial looks that are inspiring and seductive.

The current issue features Latin and South America. Color Block, the main fashion feature, shows American model Emily DiDonato vamping in Mexico City. Her dramatic eye makeup is striking against the elegant simplicity of the clothes. The photography by Angelo Pennetta and lighting are very cool, as is the styling by George Cortina. I am inspired to grab my black eyeliner and keep my wardrobe monochromatic, at least for a while.

Mascaraland

Marisa Berenson. Vogue, September 1968

Mascara is an essential part of my beauty regime. Through trying practically every brand on the market over the years, I have sought out the brands and wands that are best for my eyes. Last year I spent weeks trying natural brands, but this is a place where non-toxic beauty is just not as effective. I try not to use makeup remover, so washing away mascara with a standard facial cleanser is important to me. I have always used two different mascaras - one for the upper lashes and a different, usually more subtle version for my lower lashes. 

My favorite upper lash mascaras are made by Kevin Aucoin Beauty. Aucoin was one of the first celebrity makeup artists and died tragically in 2002 at the age of 40. My first makeup bibles were the books he published in the late 1990s: The Art of Makeup, Making Faces and Face Forward are classics. His company, Kevin Aucoin Beauty, makes three mascaras. I switch between two types: Volume and Curling. I always like to experiment with dark brown or navy blue mascara, but these are only available in black. 
 

Kevin Aucoin with Christy Turlington

The Curling mascara goes on easily and has a brush shape that will be familiar to most women. The makeup itself washes off as tubes, so the clean-up is very easy. It gives a full but natural look and can be amped up by applying several coats. 

The Volume mascara is a little bit trickier and takes some practice to perfect. It has a very thin brush, so using a lash curler first makes the application easier. It can seem a little spidery at first but has become my favorite as I've learned how to use it. Removal is easy as it also comes off in tubes. 

Elizabeth Taylor

Lisa Eldridge's video on mascara introduced me to some new brands, and while I like all of her recommendations - especially the Chanel Le Volume De Chanel Mascara in Prune, a very cool purple shade that helps my blue eyes look green - my favorite bottom lash mascara is DHC - Mascara Perfect Pro Double Protection. This is also a tube mascara and comes off easily with cleanser. 

A few years ago, I went to a salon for eyelash extensions. While they looked dramatic and cool - a bit like the Marisa Berenson photo above - I didn't like it. They felt very strange and once they fell off, it felt like they stole my real eyelashes away too. It took almost a year for my eyelashes to go back to normal.  

I haven't tried Latisse, the prescription-only lash regrowth serum, but I bought a tube of neuLash, which helped to add both length and volume to my upper lashes. I liked the results and am thinking about buying another. 



Photos from Pinterest.

Somewhere Else, Somewhere Good

Speedboat, 2014. Isca Greenfield-Sanders

With the SF MOMA closed for renovations until 2016, the best way to see contemporary art in San Francisco is through private galleries and public art spaces. Tonight's opening of New York-based painter Isca Greenfield-Sanders solo exhibition at the John Berggruen Gallery will be my art outing this week.

My first introduction to her work was from a profile in Elle Decor in 2008. Her newest paintings are inspired by a Lou Reed song.




From the John Berggruen Gallery: 
Nostalgia, memory, and longing for a collective ideal––themes explored in the work of Greenfield-Sanders––are perfectly embodied by this exhibition’s title as well as by its source of inspiration, the 1972 song “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed. Somewhere Else, Somewhere Good is a riff on the line “someone else, someone good” from this popular song by Reed, who was a close family friend of the artist. 

On view from October 2-November 1, 2014. 
228 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108

Alcatraz & Art

This weekend, Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei's newest installation project @Large opens on Alcatraz, the small island in San Francisco Bay. Not generally a fan of tourist sites, I have still never visited the famed former prison. This exhibit will be what finally gets me down to Fisherman's Wharf and onto a boat to the island. 

I was introduced to Ai Wei Wei through the excellent documentary Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry and then viewed his Sunflower Seeds exhibit at the Tate Modern in London. Having a docent guided or audio tour always helps to unpack the often multi-layered meaning of his work.

Open September 27 - April 26, 2014.

How to enjoy Rome

Colosseo, Roma

With nearly nine years since my last visit, I was pretty rusty on Rome. Since I had already seen the major tourist sites, this quick trip was about trying to spend a few days living like a local. Some ideas:

Appartamento:

We rented a small but charming apartment just off the Campo de Fiore and a short walk from the Piazza Navona. It was a great central location - we walked everywhere and our only time in a car was to and from the airport.

Caffee:

The most famous espresso in Rome is from Sant'Eustacio caffe, a modest coffee bar with lots of take-home treats available for tourists. We arrived early and watched tables of local businessmen huddle over their tiny espresso cups. I had a great cappuccino and immediately wanted a second. The church in the Piazza di Sant'Eustachio appeared to have a reindeer on its roof. Further research revealed that Saint Eustache, a 2nd century Christian martyr, is the patron saint of hunters and firefighters. Besides presiding over the 16th century church, his cross and stag symbol is immortalized on bottles of Jagermeister.

Pranzo:

Our two lunches were both fabulous and offered very different Roman experiences.

Cul de Sac is a charming indoor-outdoor cafe on the Piazza di Pasquino, a short walk from Piazza Navona. We were tightly packed into outdoor seats on the cobble-stoned street, watching cool European kids slouch by in Converse sneakers as they browsed the great shops on Via del Governo Vecchio. A quick peek inside revealed an inviting long and narrow restaurant with cozy booths hugging the walls. Our meal was fun and delicious - just the long, lingering Roman lunch we were seeking.

Al Pompiere is a short walk from the amazing Great Synagogue of Rome in the Jewish Ghetto. After a morning spent wandering through Trastevere, we took the Ponte Cestio bridge over the Tiber River and walked through Isola Tiburina to explore the Ghetto. Al Pompiere is known for two delicious dishes: Carciofi alla giudìa - Jewish-style fried artichokes - and lemon pasta. The entrance, off a small alley, leads to a second floor restaurant that felt like a quiet oasis after the chaos of a busy morning. We sat by a window overlooking a school building and watched uniformed children's heads pop out of classroom windows as we sipped our vino bianco into the afternoon.

Aperitivo:

We took our time on a walk through the beautiful Villa Borghese gardens, which felt to me like the very best sections of New York's Central Park. Below the gardens, steps lead down to the Piazza de Popoli, and from there we stepped into the fashionable Hotel de Russie for aperitivo. A Bellini for me, a Negroni for my husband, and nuts, olives and tasty snacks in the outdoor courtyard garden with great people-watching and even a roaming cat! The hotel, which sits between the Spanish Steps and the Piazza de Popoli is also dangerously near the luxury shopping along Via Condotti.

Cena:

One of my favorite dinners of our whole trip was actually in a butcher shop. Rosciolo, an upscale enoteca and salumeria, offers dinner seats right along its butcher case as well as in the back of the store and downstairs in a private cellar. We had a delicious meal, very kind and attentive service, and it was hard not to be absorbed by the thousands of bottles of wine lining the walls. Local patrons arrived around 9:30pm into this vibrant scene. The shop also offers an extensive takeaway menu, perfect for a picnic inside or out.

Cinema:

Before you head to Rome, I highly recommend watching the Italian film The Great Beauty, last year's Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film.

Ciao!