Listening To >> Serge Gainsbourg’s Aux Armes et Caetera
Perfect summer listening– the bizarre but wonderful Serge Gainsbourg album Aux Armes et Caetera, for which he let a group of Jamaican musicians (including Rita Marley) totally transform his tunes into quirky French-Reggae songs. Here, the song “Lola Rastaquouere.”
Download the whole album on iTunes and prepare for your summer to have not only a new soundtrack, but a new sultry, retro Rasta vibe as well. Bonus points if you get it on vinyl.
(By the way, I’m not sure what exactly this video is, but it’s def not an “official” music video.”)
Rad Picnic Boxes
Totally sustainable, bio-degradable picnic boxes!
The Brand Hatchery created these as an in-house project, and they liked them so much that they decided to start a company, Three Blind Ants, focused on “picnic and consumer fun” products!
Of course I the one that looks like an attache!
Even the utensils are bio-degradable!
Interiors >> Summer Cottages pt. 2
Does anything say summer cottage better than white-painted wood? I love it everywhere! Floors, walls, and ceilings.
Love the windows above, although positioned directly next to the bed, they don’t look totally functional in this image. Maybe for the photo they had to cheat the bed over so it would fit in the frame…
Vending Machines at the Standard Hotel
The Standard Hotels (New York, Miami, and LA), are bringing back their Quiksilver vending machines for another summer, so if you forget your sunglasses or retro board shorts and are hoping to find some 70′s/80′s inspired special editions made especially for The Standard, they’ve got you covered.
Pretty clever idea, no??
Loving >> Sleeping Porches
Sleeping porches– a wonderful staple of summer nights in the south. I’ve yet to see a sleeping porch (or really a screened porch at all) in California, I guess because it gets cold at night anyway and the house cools off, so you don’t need to sleep outside, and there aren’t mosquitos, so you don’t need a screened porch. But regardless, I miss sleeping porches.
Especially this kind above, with multiple beds, where the parents stick all the kids at the lake in the summer. How fun does that look??
Happy 4th y’all.
Summer Lovin >> Tomatoes. Tomatoes in a tart shell with herbs and goat cheese.
This week, I’ve been freaking out with excitement over my two new (birthday present) kitchen gadgets: a Cuisinart food processor, and a Kitchenaid stand mixer. Oh my gosh even writing that sentence, proclaiming myself as the owner of these two things, makes me feel giddy. I feel like my kitchen (and thus moi) just went through a major rite of passage.
I daydream about the ease and speed with which I will now be able to make dough, pesto (no more mortar and pestle!), fluffy whipped cream, perfectly smooth crepe batter, etc. I imagine myself flitting around the kitchen in a cute apron doing other things, like making flower arrangements, while the machine works for me. Even though I am generally cooking in sweaty running clothes topped by my dad’s old oxford shirts, rather than a skirt and apron, and making a huge mess all the while.. not nearly so chic. But that’s why this is the daydream version.
ANYWAY, sorry, that is mostly irrelevant, except to explain why I was so excited to find this tomato tart recipe from the estimable David Lebovitz. Well for one thing, I almost had a fit over how delicious the roasted tomatoes were that I made earlier this week for my pesto pasta and urgently wanted more things to do with the wonderful summer tomatoes, but for another, it gives me an excuse to use the food processor (for the tart shell)!
It is simply a tart shell, tomatoes, herbs, and goat cheese. YUUMMM. It is basically a big party to show off the tomatoes.
Also, if you read David’s blog entry about making this with his friends in France, it all sounds so charming that you practically have to make it, just to try to relive some of that wonderment. I’m going to serve this with rose over ice, just so I can try to recapture his experience. No I’m not kidding.
Finally, can we just talk about how wonderful the packaging for the flour is in France?? I’m obsessed with it– the two-color palette, the fonts, the Matisse-esque birds…
Recipe and story on David’s blog here.
Apolis Activism + Kanvas by Katin
Apolis Activism’s latest project:
Bringing classic board short company (originally boat-cover-makers) Kanvas by Katin up to date with a men’s chambray trunk. As usual, it’s all about the quality. Love it.
And, as usual, great video with a great story!
Also, I didn’t realize these guys could surf!
Love them! Available here.
New L.L. Bean
L.L. Bean has debuted their new “Signature” collection, and there are a few great pieces for summer in there that I could see getting incorporated into my everyday wardrobe, like this chambray shirt-dress above…
this leather mariner tote…
this lightweight, crinkly cotton shirt…
these cute tassel flats (I’m a sucker for cute flats)…
and this white duffel bag.
