Current Faves… Quarantine Edition

So, from where to where have we come in a few short months…sigh. If there is anything positive in all this craziness, it’s the coming together of people from around the world to cheer and entertain each other through free online classes, Tik Tok fun vids, etc. It’s a beautiful thing. So I have compiled a few of the ways I’m keeping busy (besides cleaning, cooking and organizing)…

Lifestyle Hacks

• FAB Coconut Primer – Being couped up indoors can be really drying to skin and I am loving FAB’s Coconut Primer, (face) which is a lightweight moisturizer that doesn’t cause breakouts.
• Walmart Pick Up – A safer way to shop at the moment and extremely easy to use. Download the app., sign up, choose an available time, enter credit info and get shopping. Once you set a time, they give you plenty of time to add/delete items on your list. They email you when your order is ready and you click when you are on your way. When you get there you get a text asking which numbered pickup parking space you are in and car color. They are out in just a few minutes and right now give the option of signing it themselves to protect you. Easy, and honestly I may just keep it up after all this madness is over.
• Great Value GF Brownie Mix – Whether you are gluten free or not, this mix from Walmart is so good. It only requires an egg and one stick of butter. Side note for those GFree, Walmart’s Great Value Flour Mix is awesome, just add to regular recipes, like Toll House Cookies or Muffins and it tastes just like regular ones.

Entertainment

• Books: Currently reading “You are a Badass at Making Money” by Jen Sincero & “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield. Do you sense a theme? Yeah, I’m trying to stay positive and both of these are really good, especially Jack’s book – he’s the author of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series and it’s full of encouraging tips and real life success stories.
• Spotify/Echo Dot: Been running Spotify on my iphone & Roku to keep my spirits up using different playlists for everything from housework, dinner, nighttime routines, etc. There are so many playlists on Spotify and Echo Dot will chose from Pandora if you give her an artist to start with or vibe you’re looking for. Echo: I ask Alexa for dinner music and it’s a terrific light jazz that makes you feel like you’re in New York at a dinner club…and I use a Lounge playlist on either for evening reading or getting ready for sleep…
• DVD’s – Breaking out my favorite series collections and alternating for Marathons, or nightly eps. Currently on rotation: Covert Affairs, Mad Men, Castle & Rescue Me.
• Streaming: I recently got rid of my Netflix account because the content basically wasn’t my style, too dark and I prefer more character driven pieces and also I found myself gravitating toward the free streaming services to watch tons of old films that I still love. Pluto, Tubi, Crackle and Roku have a lot of good old ones like Baby Boom, Get Shorty & Be Cool (cheers to Dutch!), New in Town, 007 films and old Hitchcock & Cary Grant classics.
• Instagram Lives: This is where I spend most my time, have to admit…at least lately. It’s so cool how everyone is coming together as I said to offer up their skills and to keep everyone engaged and moving. You can take a ballet class from New York City Ballet’s Principal, Tiler Peck or The Cindy’s a.k.a. American Ballet Theatre’s principals, Isabella Boylton & James Whiteside – or take a dance class with Maks & Peta of DWTS’s fame… There are a ton of great free live exercise classes from yoga to Tracy Anderson right now. You can brush up on your cooking skills and get ideas for meals from famous chefs from Giada and Ina, to the Kitchen alum. (Katie Lee!)
• Learning: There are some good classes you can take online and I have tried out a few of them.
  • Masterclass: At $90/Class or $180/Unlimited – it’s a true bargain. Learn from the Masters in Writing, Photography, Playwrighting and Acting to name a few. The class can be accessed indefinitely when you buy and offers up downloadable notes.
  • Duolingo: Can’t say enough about this one, whether you want to start learning a language or to finally master one you’ve struggled with for years. Duo can be accessed by website or apps and you can choose as many as you want and toggle between them. I’ve donated all the old language learning books because I’ve never had better success learning languages any other way.
  • Cooking Classes: I’ve not taken them but Food Network does offer an app where their famous chefs stream live videos for you to learn from.
  • Skillshare: Another I’ve not tried but hear so many good things about. They do offer some free classes but essentially it’s a paid service learning platform with many, many classes to choose from.
  • Fit On: This app is wonderful – full of great timed workouts that you can stream through their app on your tablet or phone. There are banked and live classes starting at 10 minutes – even I can commit to that!
• Vlogs: I love watching this style of video, it reminds me of Cinema Verité, and I find it very relaxing. As I’ve increasingly moved to a much more Minimalist lifestyle myself, I love that type of content with tips and tricks to save money and reduce unnecessary buying. I enjoy Lifestyle vloggers like Aileen @ Lavendaire, and MuchelleB. Here are my faves at the moment:
  • Kyra Ann – Minimalist
  • Rachel Nguyen – All time fave, her videos are stylistically such high quality & creative – mainly vlog style.
  • Renee Amberg – Vlogs, Lifestyle, Book rec’s, Exercise, Day in Life
  • Lavendaire  – Lifestyle, Book Rec’s, Encouragement to follow your dreams
  • MuchelleB  –  Same as above…only Australian life
  • Ashley Brooke – Vlogs, Fashion, Transplanted Texan documents New York Life
  • Myka Stauffer – Vlogger w/Husband – home life
  • Madeleine Olivia  – Minimalist, Vegan, life in England

Well, there it is, hope it wasn’t too long a read – and I hope you all are staying home if possible and staying well. These are just suggestions, honestly the first week or two I just felt out of sorts and didn’t accomplish much except helping a family member with their taxes, taking short walks and staring at the TV totally lazy and that’s okay too. Times be strange, try your best to roll with it and get through this thing in one piece. Peace!

 

 

 

My Inspiration

Harper’s Bazaar asked Chloe Sevigny some questions about her creative inspirations and I’ve decided to post my own answers to some of their questions, plus a few more…

First album bought: Must have been The Eagles. My brother and I were both listening to them a lot – their harmony is amazing.

Most re-read book: There are two: The Garden of Eden (Hemingway) & The Lover (Duras). (Pic: from film based on Dura’s “The Lover.”)

Fav. Film: Sofia Coppola’s, “Lost in Translation”. I just “get” this one completely – what it’s trying to say and the wit.

Fav. Film Quote: “We let it happen – that’s how we choose.” From: Violets are Blue, written by: Naomi Gyllenhaal.

Guilty Pleasure: Going to see a film on a weekday afternoon. It just feels decadent.

Fav. object: A sapphire ring from my mother.

Fav. time of day: Midnight. The world gets quiet, no ringing phones, music sounds better and I can think, write, and read with better clarity and inspiration.

Dream lunch date: Without question, Henry Miller. He was a great conversationalist and I would love to sit around the table all afternoon and into the night talking to him about, well everything really. (Pic: Henry Miller & Hoki-San Tokuta Miller)

Signature dish: Not sure why they asked this but it’s spaghetti. Whether homemade sauce or store bought and doctored – I rock it.

Fav. TV show: Mad Men was a real stand out – original and never boring. Matthew Weiner is a very talented writer – talk about creative.

Fav. Band: Aerosmith. They’ve always just done it for me and there is no one I’d rather hear play guitar than “Joe Fucking Perry”.

Fashion Inspiration: Think Bohemian. This is not something I give a lot of thought to – I make it my own, but I am inspired by: Jane Birkin – love the boho lace crop tops, jeans and sixties style dresses…

Alison Mosshart – she has great style.

…and Joe Perry – the hats, scarves, cool jackets, shades, ripped jeans…love it. All three have inspired me in some way. (photo: Zack Whitford)

Dogs or Cats: Again, not sure why they asked this but…dogs – cats are creepy.

Fav. room: Bedroom, where I keep my favorite books, music & photographs nearby.

Bedside table: A few photographs, an odd little ceramic entwined newts I bought when I was in high school, an old pink salt used as a ring holder, Berts Bees Baby Bee Solid perfume and books including Henry Miller’s My Life, Paul Auster books and currently Alexa Chung’s “It”. (Pic from HM’s My Life & Times.)

Favorite artist: Thomas Wilmer Dewing (pic: The Spinet)

Fav. Sculptor: Camille Claudel. (Pic: The Age of Maturity)

Fav. Photographer: Henri Cartier-Bresson but I’m most inspired by anyone’s old photographs of families or old buildings.

Well, there you have it, some of my enduring creative inspirations.

 

 

Bridging the Gap

So here’s the idea; merging American and British sensibilities as it applies to the theatre, with each culture bringing their unique talents and approaches. Sam Mendes, Kevin Spacey and Joseph Melillo, Executive Producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music came up with the idea, calling it the ‘The Bridge Project’, made up of a company of American, British and Irish actors. Sam Mendes said, “The Bridge Project was born out of a simple desire: a wish for artists, collaborators, and audiences on both sides of the Atlantic to experience one another’s work, talent, and artistry in the theatre”. The project will run for at least three seasons, staging two plays in repertory first in Brooklyn at BAM, then in London at the Old Vic, then moving outward. It debuted in Brooklyn recently with “The Cherry Orchard” translated by Tom Stoppard. Sounds like a good start to me. It will be interesting to see if the actors, as well as theatergoers enjoy the experience.