En Vacances

Bike storage at Les Frigos, an art collective in Paris

I've been silent for the past two weeks because I've been on family vacation in France.  In college, I spent a semester in Grenoble, but there are still many areas of the country that I haven't seen, and we took a car trip around the Loire Valley and Bordeaux, finishing with the requisite stop in Paris.  Jimmy and I went there starving, as we lack decent affordable restaurants in Stockholm.  As you can imagine, I was too occupied stuffing my face and expanding my waistline to take any decent photos, but here are a few snapshots I captured along the way.  Can't wait for my next trip back.  Now it's time to get back to work, more consistent blogging, and my regular all-carb diet of instant noodles and pasta. 
 

The requisite cup of hot chocolate at Angelina's in Paris. I'm proud to say that I finished the entire pot.

Toy sailboats at the Jardin Luxembourg

Jimmy at Les Frigos

One of the graffiti teddies that kept on making appearances all over Les Frigos

Outside of Les Frigos

A serpentine street grating in the medieval town of Sarlat

Duck at the Jardin Luxembourg

A four hundred year old wine cave in Bordeaux

L'Arc de Triomphe

Le Louvre

The last two Pierre Hermes macaroons :(

-Tiffany

Red Stripe + Goat Curry

This camera hogging stray dog followed us around for twenty minutes and insisted on jumping in all of my photos. Cropped tee courtesy of Blood is the New Black, Acne shorts, backpack courtesy of Fjällräven, Charles Anastase sunglasses, Havaianas flip-flops.

Last week I got a birthday present better than I could ever deserve: a surprise trip to Jamaica. Jimmy had hinted that he would take me on an excursion, but I didn't know anything until twelve hours before our plane departed for Kingston. We spent the first part of our trip in the beach side city of Negril, and then spent the last two days of our vacation in the lush and verdant Blue Mountains outside of Kingston. I have to admit it took a couple of days for me to adjust my city girl self to doing absolutely nothing, as well as being in nature with half of the known members of the animal kingdom creeping around. Nonetheless, I got acclimated to our beautiful, if slightly random surroundings: a little resort hotel that was mostly populated by middle-aged, topless sunbathing, pot-smoking, single females from America and Germany who had taken Jamaica as their second home.

After this strange but lovely interlude in MILF country, we moved on to a more quaint and cozy bed and breakfast called Rafjam's nestled into a nice little valley in the Blue Mountains, which felt more like a home stay. Susan, who owns and runs the bed and breakfast with her husband and young adorable sons, couldn't have been a more wonderful host and guide, and I would honestly go back to Jamaica just to visit there again. In addition to the idyllic setting, the goat curry by the side of the road is worth a plane ride on it's own. While our hiking was minimal, we did take a little trek through Alex Twyman's family run Old Tavern Coffee Estate, which is a must see if you're in Kingston. We got to see how coffee is grown and produced, in addition to tasting plenty of it. Thankfully, one habit that laid-back Jamaicans and high-strung New Yorkers share is conspicuous caffeine consumption.


Birthday dinner at The Rock House in Negril. Alexandre Herchcovitch x Rosa Cha skirt, Chloe Sevigny x Opening Ceremony top.


Alex Twyman's farm and house on the top of the Blue Mountains

Alex demonstrating how coffee beans are roasted

Freshly roasted coffee beans being cooled

The view of Alex's coffee farm from her living room window


My pathetic attempt at a hiking outfit, wearing the best sneakers I own. Something Else by Natalie Wood dress, VPL bra, Rogan x Target leggings, backpack courtesy of Fjallraven, Charles Anastase sunglasses, sneakers courtesy of Jeffrey's x Keds.

Jimmy at the Kingston military base

Rafjam's Bed and Breakfast

Typical Jamaican breakfast at Rafjam's

The view from our hike in the Blue Mountains

-Tiffany

Eat Your Greens

Vintage Lanvin knit top, United Bamboo pants, Dieppa Restrepo brogues, Katherine Kwei Amber switch bag, turban courtesy of Mike Gonzalez, earrings courtesy of Joshua Hall, Triskaidekaphobia tooth necklace

Last week, I stopped by the Metropolitan Pavilion for the opening of their new green event venue, The Metropolitan Suite. The space was constructed with sustainable design elements and energy-efficient LED lighting, and will serve as the setting for future eco-friendly events, including The Green Shows during Fashion Week. To celebrate the renovations, they had two different chefs, Sterling Affair and Thomas Preti Events to Savor, offering farm-to-table tasting menus, and I got to indulge in plenty of fresh and organic treats. I've always wondered what it would be like to go to a tasting on Top Chef (how do you get invited?!), and this was probably as close as I will get to that experience. My companions (Hungry Hector and Jumbo-mouth Jimmy) and I somehow managed to taste all twelve of the small dishes and canapes, before making our way through the organic all-chocolate dessert bar--a dream come true for a sweet tooth like myself. I am definitely on-board with the locavore trend, although diet-wise, I doubt such indulgences will make you any slimmer...

Roasted organic chicken

Seared Scallops

Swiss chard gnocchi

Chocolate covered marshmallows

Cake pops!

-Tiffany

A Spoonful of Socker

Shirt courtesy of Astars, Acne jeans, T by Alexander Wang bra, Dieppa Restrepo brogues, French and English Confectioner's backpack, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, Devaki hat, scarf courtesy of Post Fire Dew, Annti Asplund broken cross necklaces, Ben Amun spike necklace, Triskaidekaphobia matchstick cross necklace.

I've been wearing some variation of this outfit for the past week straight. I hesitantly picked up the Acne jeans at the Creatures of Comfort sample sale a few weeks ago, and even though they're two sizes too big, and Jimmy refers to them as my "gross jeans," they've quickly become a favorite. They're perfect for the chilly weather-- it might be officially spring, but in New York it still feels like February. In fact, I've been checking, and it's been pretty much the same weather here as in Stockholm, which completely defeats the purpose of uh, not being in Stockholm.

Speaking of Stockholm, I wore this outfit to visit a new Swedish candy store, Sockerbit, which recently opened in the West Village at 89 Christopher Street. Swedish candy is one of things that Jimmy misses the most about Sweden, and Sockerbit (which means sugarcube) has managed to import nearly all of our favorites, with the exception of salty black licorice, which is apparently illegal in the U.S. (?!!?). I secretly suspect it's really because most Americans would leave the store running if they got a taste of that stuff, which may or may not come covered in table salt, and is definitely an acquired taste. Anyway, if you stop by, I suggest you try my favorites: Polly (chocolate covered nougat), Center (hazelnut filled chocolates), Geisha bars, Daim bars, and Lakerol licorice. I embarrassingly spent almost $20 on candy, and the two of us nearly finished the entire lot in under three days. Needless to say, I will be returning for more soon, probably as early as this weekend...



Swedish Easter eggs waiting to be filled!


The Polly chocolates, the gummy hearts, and the sweet and sour gummies in the center row are all favorites of mine

-Tiffany

Paris, Je T'Aime

At the Centre Pompidou. Jacket designed by my Mom, Something Else by Nathalie Wood dress, Laura Mackness x Weekdays leggings, Carin Wester scarf, Cheap Monday socks, Dieppa Restrepo brogues, Triskaidekaphobia gear necklace.

Last week I went on a quick trip to Paris with my Mom, who had to go there for a business meeting with the architect Renzo Piano. I spent a semester living in France while I was in college, so I've already done all of the sightseeing, and decided to concentrate my energy on consuming as many of my favorite French confections as I could. I basically spent my entire time there snacking at my favorite sweet spots: Pierre Hermé and Ladurée for macaroons, Jean-Paul Hévin for pâtisseries, Angelina's for hot chocolate, and Mariage Frères for tea and scones. Most of these things unfortunately don't travel well, or don't have a long shelf life and must be consumed almost immediately, which was all the excuse I needed for stuffing myself until I almost collapsed from sugar-shock.

I also made some time between sweets to meet up with my bestie, Brandon, who chunneled in from London for some window shopping (very little actual shopping was done, as the euro is still trouncing the dollar). Brandon is much better at taking photographs than I am, and you will probably see plenty more pictures on his blog, Feigned Perfection. Our first stop was the semi-hidden boutique, L'Eclaireur, which might be the most incredible looking store I've ever entered, complete with hidden dressing rooms, secret doors, and walls that lift up with a push of a button to reveal racks of Junya and Balenciaga. Unfortunately, they don't allow photographs, but they have plenty of videos on their online shop. Next up, we stopped by interior design and lifestyle store Merci, which wouldn't be out of place in Park Slope, and had every single item necessary for constructing a perfect Parisian apartment. Our final shopping stop was Damir Doma, where we were initially locked outside, before getting locked half inside, until Damir dropped by and let us into the store.

Now I'm back home in New York, where my waistline could use a break from my exorbitant sugar/butter/bread intake. Hope to be getting back to Paris soon for more hazelnut truffle macaroons at Pierre Hermé.

My BGF4L, Brandon, at Les Philosophes, showing off his vintage sweater and new Liberty print shirt.

Giant wall clock at Merci

Hazelnut and meringue poof of heaven at Jean-Paul Hevin

Perfectly aged chairs at Merci

Brandon taking photos while we were locked out of the Damir Doma store

-Tiffany

Swedish Christmas Table

Jimmy has this special way of looking like a teenage ax-murderer in every single photograph I ever take of him. I wore my Lanvin x H&M tee, Viktor & Rolf x H&M skirt, and a Ophelie Hats beret and Saks Fifth Avenue scarf, which were Christmas gifts.

For Christmas, my family and I went up to Woodstock, New York to celebrate, with Jimmy taking charge of presenting an eleven-course traditional Swedish Jul smorgasbord. We made the tough decision of not going back to Stockholm for Christmas, since we were just there in August, and we're pretty happy we didn't go, seeing how backed up flight travel in Europe has been in the past week. To make up for it, Jimmy recreated the meal that his grandmother usually cooks, making nine of the eleven dishes from scratch. The menu included a smoked eight pound ham, Swedish meatballs, Janssons Frestelse (a potato gratin), two types of pickled herring, gravlax, pickled red cabbage, beet salad, kale, and knäckebröd.

It was one the of the best Christmases I've ever had, even though we ended up having to drive back to New York City in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2010. The car ride took seven hours rather than the usual two, and we passed--literally--hundreds of stopped, stuck, and stalled cars on the road. At one point we got stuck at a gas station, and Jimmy and my brother had to get out and push the car out of the snow. So much for avoiding the terrible weather in Europe. Anyhow, we got the (slightly late) White Christmas that we both had been wishing for, and did make it home safely. Hope you all had a wonderful holidays!

The full spread

Gravlax, herring, meatballs, and plenty of Aquavit of course!

-Tiffany

Tricks and Treats

Vintage faux-fur coat, headpiece, and fur boots, all from Screaming Mimi's.

Halloween is around the corner, and it always involves two of my favorite things: dressing up, and eating a ton of sweets. Yesterday night I stopped by Screaming Mimi's to hang out with all my favorite girls, and to celebrate their biggest season with a little dress-up party. If you have no clue what you want to be for Halloween yet, I suggest you stop by the store ASAP for some instant costume inspiration. You'll be overwhelmed with ideas, and as an added bonus, one of the gorgeous Mimi's girls will help you complete your outfit.

When I walked in the store I immediately fell in love with the gigantic fur Viking helmets that were on display, and decided to go for a prehistoric ice-woman look, partially inspired by the Chanel Fall 2010 show. I grabbed the largest, hairiest faux-fur coat on hand, and Nicollette found me a pair of vintage fur boots to complete the outfit. I had to take off the hat after a few minutes, cause it's ridiculously warm, but I stuck around to see everyone else's outfits--you can see them all on the Screaming Mimi's blog.

Dozens of different masks that are available at Mimi's

The best of the headdresses, including the furry one I'm wearing

Alice, taking a turn in the headdress

An alternative version with raccoon tails

At the end of the night, Laura gave me the sweetest trick-or-treat bag filled with Jacques Torres chocolates!

As if my week couldn't get any sweeter, I also stopped by The Little Cupcake Bakeshop, which just opened on 30 Prince Street, for a tasting of some of their new cupcake flavors. My friend Jonathan and I worked our way through four different flavors: Cotton Candy, Tiramisu, Blue Velvet, and Pumpkin Spice, paired with giant Illy cappuccinos. All were exceedingly moist and we were both surprised by which flavors we ended up liking. I'm not much of a fan of tiramisu as a dessert because of its strange texture, but I actually found it quite tasty in cupcake form. I think we both decided that the fall-appropriate pumpkin cupcake was our favorite, even though we were both in sugar shock by the time we tasted it. The shop is the first carbon neutral bakery in New York, and is family-run in the truest sense--both shops are owned and operated by the four LoBuglio brothers, who also get help from their large extended family. I will definitely be back, as soon as I've fully recovered from the copious amount of sweets I've consumed this month.

-Tiffany