Easy to Please
Just back from the relatively functional holiday celebration at my Aunt and Uncle's place in New York, aka my summer home. Lots of "bored" games, like a highly competitive two-day master boggle game, a few videos, presents, piroulines, the good coffee, the Sunday New York Times, tasty eats... good times. I got some very good presents, but the crowning moment was when my Aunt brought out the Clinque bag that overflowth with cheer. I have no idea how she pulled this one off, but apparently she made a friend at the Clinque counter by supplying her some Boston Globe calendars. My aunt, in addition to being thoughtful and cheery and generally wonderful is also an Estee Lauder lady, so she graciously passed the bag full of specialness onto my mother, sister, and I waiting in the wings. Kristin said she wasn't having any of it, so my mother and I fought like civil pit bulls over lotions, potions, creams, and lipsticks. Since my mother is blind without her reading glasses, I think I made out with an especially impressive stash. All I have to say, Auntie B, those must have been some
fine-looking magic calendars. Next time you see me, I'll be pampered, moisturized, and smell very "happy."
Another of my favorite things, aside from free department store cosmetics, are clementines - and you better believe that the season of crated little tangeriney wonders hath descended upon us all. We stopped at Trader Joe's en route home, picking up plenty of fancy garnishes, frozen vegetarian-type things, and also picked up a crate of darling clementines, I've already eaten three and need to cut myself off, I all too often over do it when it comes to these. Whenever I eat clementines I think of an old friend and the wonderful New Year's Eve parties his Russian family was famous for. Caviar and clementines. Italian pastries, expensive champagne, playing chess in the library, all sorts of interesting characters. As part of the tradition, the hostess and woman of the hosue, a photographer with a weakness for silk gowns and the game Taboo, picks a calendar for each guest. I remember that she picked M.C. Ecsher for me. I always liked her very much and I think she was fond of me. Just the same, it was a wonderful party filling every inch of an old farm house with three stoves in the kitchen.
I am going to retire to my chambers now� continue reading about Hemingway�s African adventure and alternate every so often with an art book I�ve been reading in order to bone up my knowledge of contemporary German photographers.
posted by lmjasinski at 7:18 PM
