Follow Me To Work - LA

Last August, while I was in New York, this post invited you to discover my itinerary to work. I'm in Los Angeles now and last week, I worked in Hollywood. Of course, in LA it's all about driving. Follow me!
When I get off the freeway, I love glimpsing at Dorca's - this tailor used the outside walls of her shop as an advertising billboard, with figures in a compellingly naive style. The other wall is all in Spanish, and prominently offers quiceañera gowns, to be worn to girls' lavish 15th birthday parties.

Los Angeles is a super multicultural city. After passing by the Latino tailor place, I stop at Sunset and La Brea for a Middle Eastern treat - Mashti Malone's ice creams in flavors such as rose water, saffron and (my favorite) orange blossom with pistachios, are irresistible.

A few blocks down, when I drive past the crazy Chinese theater, I know I almost reached my destination. While the tailor place and the ice-cream parlor are the real thing, the Chinese theater is gloriously fake, a crazy take on an imaginary Oriental style.

And for a good laugh on the way, there's always the "Let,s Relax" sign put up by someone who is obviously very confused about spelling and punctuation - who doesn't love a great typo?

At my desk - out of my Sesame Street tote come stumbling out a notepad I adorned with Ingres's superb portrait of Madame d'Haussonville, sharp pencils and, of course, an apple.

A Week End In Connecticut

Summer in New England always reminds me of happy childhood vacation, as my family would spend a few weeks every August in Cape Cod. Sometimes on our way we would stop to visit my mum's best friend from high school, Mary Alice, for more magical and sunny moments. This weekend, I fled New York City's stifling weather and joined Mary Alice in her dreamy Connecticut home. What lushness! From my bedroom window, among the trees, I could glimpse at a stunning red house - a remodeled barn.
In the evening, we attended a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night on the green in Guilford. For our picnic, I had made asparagus lasagna, and the Good Humor truck was there to provide treats.

At the yacht club, while we had lobster rolls, a seagull too was having lunch... One of the things I enjoyed was checking out the names of the boats - a sailboat owned by some physicians is called Ouch!, which I thought was very funny, but my favorite was the typographically witty one above...

I Am In Los Angeles!

Congratulations to all of you who guessed it right - Los Angeles was indeed my destination! I'm staying in a beautiful, airy house on the heights of Santa Monica, and can see all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
I've already raided a pharmacy to stock up on Dr Brommer soap and Neutrogena stuff, as well as a Barnes & Noble - of course.


You have probably heard of the Typo Eradication Advancement League, a crazy group that hunts typos across America. I am proud to say that, unbeknownst to them, I inaugurated a Parisian chapter of their organization on my way to the Charles de Gaulle airport. On the bus, I proudly whipped out my marker to add an S to a faulty sentence...