googlemap posterity art

Have you ever been perusing the streets and see a funny car go by flashing all sorts of pictures from an installation on its roof?! GoogleMap that location and spy on your fine self! According to my source, my amazing older brother (who randomly decided to hunt this down about three years after its inception,) the quality is better now than the circa 2007 date of this impromptu photo-shoot. Happy hunting!

howling at the moon

January 19th: Full Moon

In Ashtanga Yoga, full and new moon days are observed as yoga holidays. Yoga is not practiced on the full moon because energy levels are at a headstrong type high making us prone to injury. A break is also taken during the new moon when energy is correspondingly low. This belief comes from the moon's control over the ocean's tides, and hence our very watery bodies. 

My mother can never sleep on the full moon. Do you have any moon-related issues, habits, absurdities, superstitions? Mark your calendars: the next new moon is February 3rd and the next full moon is February 18th. 

L4YER CAKE mmmm

Astrid Parker about-to-be Kirschenbaum at the altar in a confection of a dress. 

Pink and Yellow! Pink and Yellow! and ice blue... The ice cream/sorbet bombe is the simplest layer cake you could dream of concocting. Desired flavors and colors are softened with a mixer one at a time and layered into cake molds, vases or any tantalizingly shaped vessel that can withstand the freezer. Chill the container before filling, and then dip in warm water when dislodging.  

As with all other outfits, remember too, to accessorize your wedding dress. I wore little cashmere gloves like the ones above and removed them when it was time to read vows and exchange rings. I also had a pocket! put into my dress to store my vows and lip gloss...

Roll up your mat like your mama taught ya

The true practice of yoga is how we live every moment of every day. You can tell a true yogi not by what they do on their mat, but how, after practice, they roll it up.

Get a fun and crazy yoga mats like the ones below, HERE. They are adorable, but more for the fun of it: I find that Gaiam mats are not very durable or sticky.

 

DAILY YOGA

Trust Yourself First

Living your yoga: Others can offer us help and advice, but deep inside we know what is best for us. Today consciously choose to trust yourself first when you make a decision.  ~ A Year of Living Your Yoga: Daily Practices to Shape Your Life by Judith Hanson Lasater

I downloaded this book unto my iPhone so at anytime during the day I can retrieve the daily lesson and return to my yoga. The days are laid out in Month/Day format, i.e. 'January 8th', so you can visit the daily lessons as sporadically or regularly as you please.
As we know, technology can be a wonderful aid or a distracting hindrance; my lamentable T.V. time and internet surfing are in dire need of auditing. One rule I always abide by: no commercials. 

color coding

Happy New Year from Astrid Kirschenbaum

Happy New Year!!!

Rather than picking a theme, pick a color scheme for an elegant evening. 

Our New Year's dinner was all WHITE, at least it was supposed to be. The bean dip hors d'oeuvres, celery-apple soup, and potato tart were all of the white and cream colored family, but at the last minute we decided to serve the lobster meat (white) in its shell (RED!) and so we matched the dinner table to have the same pop of color on an otherwise monochromatic setting. Just like the food. 

The Lobsters were named, pre-boiled, and then broiled just before serving. 

The accidental pièce-de-la-resistance though, the true winner, was a last minute concoction, a white trifle.  Store bought angel food cake was layered with a coconut cream from which mmm's and aaah's were heard by all. Not one guest refused seconds. Even one particular lady, whom I have known for years to keep her tiny waistline by never delving in for another bite, took a heaping, serving spoonful more.



Vanishing White Trifle

1 bag Shredded Coconut
Milk (about 4 cups)
Coconut water (about 8 oz)
Egg yolks  (about 3)
3-4 Bananas
Angel Food Cake
Whipping cream

Boil an entire bag of grated unsweetened coconut into a pot of milk with a little coconut water and a tad bit of sweetener. I use a tablespoon of agave. Once the coconut aroma has infused the milk, sieve it out, pressing firmly. Add a few egg yolks and gently heat again, VERY LOW VERY SLOW so it does not curdle and just coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.

Layer with store bought angel food cake and 3-4 very thinly sliced bananas, top with unsweetened home-whipped cream; heavy whipping cream in the mixer until it stiffens. The sweetness of the cake is enough to sweeten the entire dessert, adding very little or no sugar to the coconut cream and whipped cream is what makes the dessert so refined. Not to mention the bombastic natural coconut flavor that will knock your Wolford socks off!

Gone Skiiiing

Off to Telluride for the week to brave the cold and enjoy some fresh tracks, hot cocoa, natural hot springs, and chili. 

EASIEST weeknight meals for winter: Bake at 400, for about 30 minutes, whatever it is you have in the fridge... brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, tofu, sausage, grapes, cauliflower, rosemary... the possibilities and variations are limitless. Add a sweet component by tossing in some fruit and remember fresh herbs as well. Cut the different components to a similar size or use separate dishes or check them often.While it's all baking your hands are free to set the mood, whip up some SAUCES, or entertain guests. This is a great dinner for company as it requires very little overseeing, looks impressive, and gives your guests choice and control over what they consume. Who doesn't love that?

It's all about the sauces, like fondue! Aim for as many kinds of sauces as there are people. Just the two of you? Two dippers is plenty. Table for six? Half a dozen samplers make the night feel special. Peanut sauce or honey mustard with tofu, lemon mayonnaise for veggies, curried yogurt and potatoes... the options are infinite. I like to have at least one sweet sauce such as 1part honey+1part orange juice or the good old standby ketchup! (Homemade if you have company.) No need to shop, there is a delectable sauce lurking in your pantry or fridge, I am sure of it. Eg: mayo is eggs and oil, honey mustard is just those two namesake components, yogurt can be transformed with a multitude of spices, and a lemon rind works wonders. Get creative, what do you have to lose?!

Roasted Assorted Vegetables and Roasted Breaded Tofu

These are pre-cut sweet potatoes, I prefer cutting them myself as I like them thicker and I love the skin. Season the potatoes differently and you can have them often without getting bored!

Cut tofu into a different shape depending on what your serving it with. This shape is good for dipping.
Use a beautiful baking dish for oven to table service and half the clean-up. Serve family style and pick and play through dinner.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

How is your Christmas shopping going?!

I love that European, antique-style Christmas cards are being revived! Carefully cut-out, punched with texture and accented with glitter; they have a home-made feel when time doesn't allow for such enterprises. If you have a day to play, though, forgo the pre-made cute bears below and get to cutting, glueing and glitzing! I'm thinking of going the extra mile myself. There is still time. 

Martha Stewart CLICK has ideas a-plenty if your brain is fogged from too much egg-nog.   

You may receive one of these from me.

If I don't motivate for something hand-made these next few days...

Saving Mrs. Claus from Crazyville

When pondering what gifts/cards to send to whom before packing up for a ski trip and scrooging everyone else, J remarked that he felt the classic Christmas Cards with family photo included were reserved for those with Children. Do you agree?! Being the narcissistic, self-promoting me, I, of course, object! But after a recent wedding with plenty of photographs (see below) distributed to multiple loved ones, this year, I have to agree. I'll wait until Valentine's Day. Little notes, sans glamour-shots, to a few whom I'm thinking of will have to do. My hands are pretty tired from post-nuptial Thank You notes, and I believe J's advice is less of a conviction as it is concern. Besides, I have yet to order my wedding photos!

'Californians Compensate for Weather Being Too Nice Over the Holidays'

In Southern California we are very lucky. Because we do not get snow, the warm-weather-seekers like to prove they are just as jolly as those in the whiter areas of the country by majorly making up for their lack of flakes (yeah right, haha,) with the most amazing Christmas light displays and arrays I have seen in my twenty-seven years. They parade the bays with boats a-blaze and join forces on small streets to canopy the trees for car-crash worthy spectacles. I should know, I nearly did.

 When sending gifts via the post think bows, bows, bows. 

A smashed bow has character, whereas ripped paper is just somber. 

Eight craaaaazy nights!

In case you missed it, because I know I did... eight crazy nights ago was the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show! Tonight, Wednesday December 8th, "RE-LIVE THE SHOW" 8pm EST on the CW.

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN: VICTORIA’S SECRET 2010

Angels of Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2010 from Justin Wu on Vimeo.

Then, over your gorgeous lingerie, throw on a party dress, spiffy up the table, light some candles, and fry some latkes, if you haven't already. CLICK potato, zucchini, apple, for recipes. It's the final night of Chanukah. I quite enjoy Whole Foods Zucchini Latkes if your not into shredding and frying this evening. And pick up some donuts too. The idea is to eat foods fried in oil, as the oil lamp burned eight days and nights rather than just one. 

 It wouldn't be a healthy Chanukah without Kale chips!!! CLICK for recipe.

hot housewife style

Get GLAM this holiday. 

HOT HOUSEWIFE style.

PUT-TOGETHER

BOLD LIPS

MOD NAILS

REAL HAIR DOS...