Beach Week by Susan Coll

I'm always in the mood for summer fun.  During summer, it's a pretty good bet you can fin me reading a summer-y book at some point in the day.  Of course, I don't really discriminate against any type of book set during the summer, but when you add the idea of a beach in, I am totally 100% there.  I'll even bring the sunblock, Nivea spf 20.

That's what I thought Coll's book, Beach Week, was going to be like.  A romp with a group of just-graduated high school students while they go absolutely insane on a beach.  Sure, I read the blurb and knew the parents were going to be featured, but at least they would be at home sweating and thinking about the beach, right?

Wrong.

Okay, maybe not totally wrong.  They DO go to the beach, but the majority of the book is not set on the sandy shores.  In fact, it opens in winter.  That's right, winter.  The book opens and it's snowing in Verona, a fictional suburb of Washington DC.  Not exactly what you expect with a book entitled: Beach Week.

Thus, we come to one of the major reasons Beach Week fails to live up to its title.  Instead of focusing on the recent high school grad's trip to party away from the watchful eyes of their parents, the majority of the book is spent in the preparations and negotiations for this legendary post-graduation week.  It is within the realm of the discussions amongst parents and children, children and children and parents and parents that the book's true message comes to life.

The interactions between the parents and the kids intricately detail one family's experience on the brink of momentous change; not only with a child going away to university, but also the repercussions of freedom, letting go and acceptance.  Through the unique challenge's of one family, Coll manages to spin a story that tells a universal tale.  Anyone who has gone through the process of letting go and growing up after high school will be able to relate to this story.

That is not to say that Beach Week is not without it's hitch.  At times the pace gets frustrating.  One moment it's snowing and spring, then all of a sudden they are about to go on the fabled week away.  This can be frustrating at moments, when one feels that they are moving on a different sphere than the characters.  The movement at time prevents the reader from truly becoming friends with the characters.

Unfortunately, there are other ways that the reader is stopped from inhabiting the character's world.  At first, the sheer number of characters and their different views becomes overwhelming.  While the reader is still trying to assimilate into the novel's word, they are bombarded by a myriad of strong characters.  Yet, even though the characters seem overpowering initially, this happens because of how good the characters are.  They approach you like real people, annoying spots and all.

I may not always be going back to Beach Week, but the book tells a strong story with a good message.  Parents and children having gone through the process of assimilating to college-life will be able to appreciate the message and experience the hardships once again.  Coll manages to masterly capture an evanescent time, despite the difficulties in gauging time and overly-real characters with feisty personalities.

Do you enjoy books with a linear time line or an amorphous one?


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E's Take: Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty

There are hour queues to get into see The Costume Institute's new show Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.  Reviewers seem to love it.  The audiences seem to love it.  But is it worth paying entrance (this means a dollar if you are poor/cheap like me) and actually waiting to see this show?

Yes it is.

You may be disappointed when you leave and you may be annoyed when walking through the exhibit, but the ability to see McQueen's brilliant and inspiring creations will be worth at least a fraction of the effort, if not more.  The reason Alexander McQueen was and is popular has less to do with his unfortunate death and more to do with his brilliant designs.  This exhibit does not only show clothing, it shows garments that are more-like artwork than anything you would find on the shelves of Bloomingdales.

Yet, the presentation does not do the clothing justice.  Instead of presenting the clothing in a cohesive and inspiring manner, one feels that the Costume Institute got carried away with quantity, sorely forgetting quality.  This focus on quantity over quality permeates the show, leaving the museum-goer with a disjointed feeling.  You will be impressed by what you see, but you will most likely fail to see McQueen's unique point-of-view, highlighted only by the tag line, Savage Beauty.

I didn't read the placards going through.  Mainly because it would be impossible.  The show is so saturated with people piled in like a delayed subway during rush hour that you can barely move.  Forget seeing reading the descriptions, getting a proper view of the clothing is distinctly difficult.  This could be excusable if the museum had not anticipated huge crowds; I highly doubt this is the case.  Since McQueen is widely recognized as one of the most creative designers in recent memory—his popularity, unfortunately, bolstered by his death—the MET should have made proper adjustments to create an effective blockbuster show.

Yet, that is exactly it.  After the exhibit one sense that the museum is exploiting McQueen in order to create a high-grossing popular exhibit.  I understand that New York City is cutting funding for cultural institutions, but does that give a museum the right to use whatever method possible to gain money?  No.  There must be a line that gives a cultural institution boundaries for what they can and can't use to draw in crowds and money.  It is not the fact that they are putting up a show about Alexander McQueen, rather it is the manner in which they have chosen to exhibit all the pieces.

Walking through the exhibit I felt like I was in an amusement park.  In one room, they have a sound clip of blowing wind on rotation.  That combined with the decor properly made me feel like I was in the Disney World Haunted Mansion ride.  A museum should never make me think I am in an amusement park.  Where is the line between a brilliant show and pure entertainment?

I want a museum to show me something that encourages me to think, as opposed to bombarding me with sensory overload.  If large cultural institutions begin to present each new show as a spectacle, where does it end?  There needs to be a defined line that allows a dialogue to ensue between the museum and the viewer.  While the McQueen show displays breathtaking garments, it does not encourage the museum-goers to think about what they have seen in a deeper manner than they could by viewing the original runway show.

Ultimately, that is exactly what the McQueen show is, a glorified compilation of a variety of different runway shows.  There is no denying that the MET has gone above and beyond.  There is no arguing that the garments are beautiful.  The show falls short when one leaves, without being truly aware of what they have just seen.

What kind of museum shows do you like?  Have you seen the McQueen show?  What did you think?


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Cafe Chronicles: Cafe Regular

Sometimes I'm not in the mood for properly good coffee.  Those are the times I head on over to Starbucks and get, well, whatever.  When I'm in the mood for a good cup of coffee, however, Cafe Regular is one of my favorite stops.  I don't necessarily go there food the atmosphere, food or space, but putting up with all of that is worth it sometimes.

The strongpoint of Cafe Regular is just that, their coffee.  They serve good coffee in nice amounts with a good selection of choices.  If you get a cappuccino, latte or au lait, you can actually taste the difference between all of them.  Sometimes at Starbucks or Le Pain Quotidien there is very little differentiation between these beverages, if there is any at all!  This isn't the place you go when you want a paper cup (which I do, quite often).  When you go to Cafe Regular, you are getting your coffee in a proper mug, with beautiful schiuma art as well; if that is important to you, and it is to me.

While I enjoy the coffee at Cafe Regular, they make amazing soy iced lattes (with unsweetened soy milk), there is very little else I enjoy.  I am not going there to enjoy the atmosphere/ambiance, sit down for a while, get good food or work.  When you go there you go to get coffee, sit for a spell, but preferably leave as soon as possible.

The major problem with the atmosphere of this cafe is the size.  It is just too small to fit in a decent (or really any) people.  You will end up perched on a  stool the size of a dime (or five p coin), sitting in an awkward window seat or sitting in the middle of a cafe, once again on an uncomfortable stool.  I'm okay suffering a little to get good coffee, but there is no way I could spend a sustained period of time there after my left butt-cheek goes numb.

You may think that the lack of comfy seating is excusable, and it most definitely could be if they had something else that made up for it.  Unfortunately, the rest of the cafe experience at Cafe Regular is similarly lackluster.  Since the cafe is so small it feels cramped, uncomfortably so.  Small spaces are no doubt the norm in New York, but it feels as if they are trying to fit something that would work well in a much bigger space into a shoebox.  This raises tensions among people who are already hopped up on caffeine.

Once you get over the small space and the lack of proper seating, you must deal with the poor customer service.  I can deal with a lot.  Short salespeople generally don't annoy me.  It's a long day, they are probably tired, they want to rest!  I get it, it sucks.  But when you are doling out doses of caffeine to people on their way to work, it makes sense to me to use caution.  Please don't get annoyed when I ask you for a single iced soy latte.  I don't mean harm!  I'm giving you nearly four bucks for the thing!  Now, I've seen people in there having surprisingly animated conversations with the counter people.  Yet, I've always found them highly detached.  Maybe they don't like what I'm ordering.  Maybe because I don't look achingly hip.  Maybe because I didn't order something simple.  I don't know, but I definitely don't go here when I want good service.

Now, back to the coffee.  Because it really is very very good.  It keeps me going back, over all of that.  I put up with less than good service, I put up with a cramped cafe and I put up with wacked out seating to get this coffee.  That says something.  Sure, there are times when I don't feel like going, but when I do go, I am never disappointed in the coffee.  Afterall, isn't that the reason we are going to all these different cafes?  To get good coffee?  Plus, they serve Jacques Torres hot chocolate.  The drinks are pretty much ace.

So should you go?  If you are in the neighborhood and want good coffee, this place is ace.  Yet, I wouldn't go out of my way for it.  Part of my affinity for this cafe is the location, which, for me, is extremely convenient.  The service and general lack of ambiance makes this cafe a miss on too many levels to call it a destination cafe.

☀✍☀

Atmosphere: 1 out of 5 coffee cups.  Maybe it's the odd music.  Maybe it's the dark colors.  Most of all it's the cramped space and bad chairs.  Cafe Regular's atmosphere is there, but is lacking in nearly every department that would mark the reason you go to a cafe.

Coffee: 4.5 out of 5 coffee cups.  The coffee is potent, yet cut nicely by a generous amount of frothed milk.  Their variety includes iced lattes, cappuccinos and coffees, extending to hot au laits, cortados and mochas.  You can tell that the owner knows their coffee and wants to share good coffee with people who care to stop by a whole-in-the-wall coffee joint.

Food: n/a.  There really is no food to speak of.  Even if there was, you wouldn't have anywhere to eat it.

Prices: 4 out of 5 coffee cups.  The prices are pretty standard, think Starbucks.  Even though Starbucks tends to veer to the expensive side, you are getting really good coffee here, so it ends up being worth it.  The other day on the way to work I got a soy iced latte for $3.80.  Way better than Starbucks for about the same price.

Location: 3 out of 5 coffee cups.  While the location is great for me, they only have two, which can make it extraordinarily inconvenient for others.  Take your pick.

☀✍☀

Interested in Cafe Regular? Here are some useful links!


Yelp Reviews


Urbanspoon


Un Bacione,

Emilia

Cupcake Friday: Inspiration Station

Brilliant rhyme, no?  Okay, so maybe it's not such a brilliant rhyme, but due to another mind searingly hot week, for this edition of cupcake friday we'll be talking about places to get inspiration for your cupcakes!  Sometimes it's easy for me to think of what kind of cupcake I want, yet other weeks I have absolutely no clue.  Generally, my inspiration is found through a mix of blogs, books and famous cupcake-eries. If you want to inspire yourself to make some gorgeous cupcake creations, here are my recommendations.

Blogs/Internet

Chocolate Covered Katie - I always use the single serving cupcake as my base recipe for my creations.  It makes the perfect amount, is vegan and endlessly adaptable.  There are also a good variety of inspiring variations on here, not to mention good vegan frostings!

Annie's Eats - This entire blog is a baking inspiration, but I adore her cupcakes.  They are gorgeous, each looks like a little work of art.  I look at this blog when I want to create some impressive, unique and gourmet cupcakes.

Tastespotting/Foodgawker - Just entire in cupcake and prepare to be amazed.  Whatever you want to find a recipe for, you'll be able to find it here.

Books

Dorie Greenspan - Generally, I find all of her cookbooks completely inspiring.  My personal favorite is Baking: From My Home to Yours, though I also really enjoy Paris Sweets.  She doesn't have many dedicated cupcake recipes, but all her cake recipes can be adapted.  The frostings are one of the highlights from this cookbook, they are all rich, decadent and delicious!

Pretty Party Cakes - One look inside this book and you will be in absolute awe about the myriad of ways in which one can decorate  a dessert.  If you need/want to make the most beautiful cupcakes of your life, definitely try this out!  Lots of her recipes call for using rolled fondant, you can either make your own or buy it prepackaged.

Hello Cupcake - Looking through this book originally sparked my desire to get fancy about cupcake making.  They have so many ridiculous ideas in here and even though most of them I would never have a reason to make, they still push me to be more creative with the cupcakes I do make.  And I now know that it is possible to make a cupcake that looks like corn on the cob.  Winner.

Stores

Crumbs - I'm definitely vocal about my love for this cupcake shop!  It's where I find the majority of my inspiration to create fun cupcakes that people will love.  They look appetizing, yet not so beautiful that you can't eat them.  Plus, they strike the cupcake/frosting ratio just perfectly.

Magnolia - When I'm in the mood to make cute and pretty cupcakes I turn to Magnolia.  The colors, the swirl of the frosting, the sprinkles, everything about Magnolia's cupcakes screams lovely.  These are the original cupcake in a way, establishing the classic buttercream and frosting/cake ratio.

Baked - From their interesting flavors, to the brilliant combination of tastes and textures, I always look to Baked if I'm in need of some sophisticated cupcake inspiration.  Their cupcakes may look unassuming, but pack a serious flavor punch, something which I appreciate.  I'm more inspired by the flavors as opposed to the actual recipes of these cupcakes, I may not need to know how to make their cupcakes, but I'm eager to create my own version that looks like it!

A Bar-y Nice Snack

Okay epic fail of a title, I get it.  Today we are talking about one of my favorite snack/component of a breakfast and/or lunch foods, bars!  I know lots of people don't like them, too processed and whatnot, but I still think they are all kinds of aces.  That being said, I have some general rules for bar consumption in order to make sure I'm not eating ones that have the nutritional stats of candybars, because that just wouldn't be fun!

Larabars I don't think any discussion of good bars can be complete without including larabars.  A quick glance at the ingredients list will tell you what all the hype is about, unlike a lot of the packaged bars out there on the market, these are made with real whole ingredients, nothing you cannot pronounce here.  Normally, I'll eat these with breakfast, or as dessert.  During the summer, it's nice to cut them up and "freeze" them, they get hard and taste almost pop-sicle like.  Also check out this microwave trick.  The one downside?  Not too much protein, which is why they usually only count as a component of a meal.

Luna Protein Okay, so maybe the ingredient list isn't as "clean" as a Larabar's, but that doesn't mean Luna Protein bars aren't awesome in their own right.  They contain twelve grams of protein for anywhere from 170-190 calories, not too shabby.  The flavors they come in are also fantastic, I adore the cookie dough flavor, though peanut butter and mint chip are also good.  I eat these sometimes as post-weight workout snacks.  During the summer they can get quite melty, but nothing a quick pop in the refrigerator won't fix!

Kashi Roll These are very similar to Luna Protein bars, about twelve grams of protein and 190 calories.  The flavors are also similar, peanut butter, chocolate and other nuts make a strong appearance.  They are also huge, so if you want a generously sized bar for a snack, this is perfect!  I don't eat these all the time, they are quite difficult to find, but always enjoy them when I do.  These definitely feel like you are eating a candy bar, but the amount of protein makes them nice for a post-weights snack.

Clif Z Don't be turned off by the fact that these are marketed as being "for kids", they are completely awesome!  I eat these bars as snacks quite often, they are small, but totally filling.  My favorite thing about these are the flavors they come in, chocolate chip, smores, blueberry, peanut butter, awesome things I'm telling you.  Each bar is about 130 calories and while they don't have awesome nutrition stats, they make up for that in taste.  Total love.

Pulsin' Bars These are probably my favorite bars ever.  They are very similar to Larabars, except about 100% denser, chewier and more satisfying.  Most of the flavors are chocolate based, but they have a subtleness about them that I think even a non-chocolate loving person could appreciate.  Some are softer, like the chocolate crisp energy bomb, while others are denser, like Berry Burst or Bliss Bar, making each bar a lovely and unique experience.  They are made in the UK, but in America you can find them at larger Whole Foods stores.  Trust me, they are completely worth it.

Do you enjoy eating bars?  What is your favorite kind?  Least favorite?


Un Bacione,

Emilia

Favorite Fitness Books

I love me some books.  If it is written down, bound and put together in an aesthetically pleasing way, you can bet I'll be reading it!  Fitness books, however, are not always the easiest to find.  Some of them can be downright confusing, blasting the reader with senseless information that they don't care/need to know/can comprehend.  If I read one more thing about the difference between aerobic/anaerobic exercise in a book I'll scream, throw the book down and run away to Canada.  That's the kind of talk that should be reserved for biology.

Of course, there are some really great fitness books.  Some gems, peaking through the rubble that give me hope that I too can find a book that will help me understand a new form of exercise.  This list complies my favorites.  The books that I find lay things out clearly, motivate me and give me enough information in an east to understand manner.

Running Made Easy You may be wondering why I am giving you a link to a book about running.  After all, isn't running just moving one foot in front of another at a pace quicker than walking?  To me, it's not.  I am not a natural runner and have found this book tremendously helpful in giving me the want, motivation and knowledge to begin running.  It's basically a modified version of couch to 5k, but with a wealth of information and stories that will motivate you to get out and start running.  A bonus?  It also includes a fitness diary, if you are into keeping a log of what you do.  photo source

Slim Calm Sexy Yoga If you are looking to get into yoga and have little/no previous experience with it, this is most definitely the book you are looking for!  A couple months ago, I was interested in beginning to practice yoga, yet was completely overwhelmed with the amount information  given in many books on yoga.  I wanted to know the poses, but I also wanted to know ways that I could put the moves into routines.  This book delivers on both fronts.  It is divided into three sections: the first talks about the basics of yoga including alignment, breathing and the benefits of practice; the next part shows images of all the basic poses, organized by sitting, standing and laying down; the final portion gives you different routines, all supposed to target a specific "concern" such as toning, relaxation and physical aliments.  The diversity of information is amazing, but concise enough to be useful to all kinds of beginners.   photo source

The New Rules of Lifting for Women I love weightlifting, but finding a good book about it?  Nearly impossible.  This is most definitely one of the best books I have found on the topic thus far.  It provides you with a treasure trove of information presented in a mostly accessible manner.  If you have ever lifted weights before and wanted a bigger challenge, this is just the book for you.  It's divided into several sections, discussing everything from why you should lift weights, how to lift them (complete with pictures, always useful!), how to care for your body while lifting them and nutrition.  The book may be intimidating for first time lifters, but still presents great motivation.  Whenever I am in need of a little inspiration for why I continue to lift weights, I go to this book.  One of my favorite parts about how it discusses the actual exercise is that it doesn't prescribe a certain amount to lift, or number of repetitions.  I find all too often with weight lifting books, it is easy to become complacent when you can easily complete the most difficult workout.  Giving you the exercises and a format for the exercises allows you to follow the book, while making your workout your own.
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What's your favorite workout book?  Do you prefer to take classes instead?


Un Bacione,

Emilia