What Would Jane Austen Do?

A Turner For A Claude Lorrain: The Greatest Super Bowl Bet Ever - SB Nation

You have to watch this awesome promo from the BBC for their Olympic coverage. I found it at Warming Glow . As Matt says, it has " art that looks like a graphic novel, an operatic score, wolves chasing a guy on skis, and no fewer than five different winter sports, including a scene where a monster encased in ice is defeated by the explosive power of curling . "

This was the invitation: It´s "drawers open and bottoms up" at Rienzi . The Upside Down/Inside Out event highlights select pieces of furniture and other treasured objects from the Rienzi Collection that will be opened up or turned over, giving guests a rare chance to see the inner workings. Isn't that the best idea ever? Listen, Rienzi is worth a visit any time, if only to listen to the docents. It's worth the price of admission to hear a lady named (no lie) Sally Lunn tell you about the "armaleww" (ormolu) and the "aayperns" (epergnes). But yesterday we got to see the insides of cabinets , the machinery of an early English long case clock , the undersides of the silver serving pieces, and even an X-ray of a wooden torchiere . They had a first edition of Tom Jones out on display (they kept the Ben Jonson locked up, alas). We saw the stitching and structure of this footstool , created for Spencer House in London [it was evacuated during World ...

Ram Van , originally uploaded by houston mamacita . This guy is always in my office on Wednesday mornings. I thought he needed a rainbow heart to complete the look.

Check out this gallery of cool kindergartens at Junior Society.

For some people, this would have been the highlight of the trip. But since I can't afford anything sold on the Upper East Side, it was just some more sightseeing for me. The first place I went on Saturday morning was Takashimaya. The floral department was very exciting. If I lived in New York, I would want my boyfriend to send me flowers from there. I loved the way they incorporated the principles of Western flower arranging with the principles of ikebana. The picture above is borrowed from here ; those sales ladies give you the stink eye if you try to take photos. Also, the security guard followed me around the whole time I was on the second floor; I hope someone else took the opportunity to rob them blind. I also got to see Bergdorf Goodman -- so tiny! You can barely turn around in there. I walked by the windows at Barney's, but they were having a sale, and I think Barney's punishes the sales hounds by denying them Simon Doonan's genius. You have to be paying ...

Rebecca is in the other room playing school. She just led her class through a rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance where she replaced every noun with the word poop .

Oy, I forgot to post the last installment. I was desperate to see Central Park, even though it was 22 degrees outside. I hired a pedicab that took me around the southern tip of the park for 20 minutes. A lovely trip, but I became very concerned that my toes were going to fall off (in spite of Smartwool socks and knee-high leather boots). I would really like to see more of the park when everything is in bloom. And when it's not 22 degrees. Of course I had to go by and see Grand Central Station. What an amazing place. This is the zodiac mural on the ceiling. photo via Wikipedia And I ate at the Grand Central Oyster bar. Roasted oysters in anchovy butter--oh hell yes. I think I need more anchovy butter in my life. And way more NYC.

So, the reason I went to New York was to check out the Art of the Samurai exhibition going on at the Met. It did not disappoint. I direct your attention to the photo below. The plaque next to the display case indicated that this style of headgear, including the hair, was "favored by the more rambunctious samurai." Ladies and gentlemen, I traveled to Edo Japan by way of contemporary New York and finally discovered the origin of the mullet. The Met was a great place to visit, though it would take months to get through all of it. I also checked out the Wrightsman Galleries while I was there. 18th century French decorative arts aren't that exciting to me, but the galleries were lovely. The second thing on my list, and one of the highlights of the trip, was the Neue Galerie. It's in an old townhouse once owned by some Vanderbilts. The library -- now a bookstore -- had the most fantastic bookcases. While I was at the Neue Galerie, I ate at Cafe Sabarsky (which Smit...

Hooray! I didn't fall through the subway grate in NYC. It was a danger, you know. But I had a fantastic visit. The best shopping I did was on the Lower East Side. I was trying to find things that I can't get in Houston. First of all, I'm glad I finally got to go to Muji, even though I'm now convinced that "Muji" is Japanese for "Ikea." Pearl River Mart was a lot of fun, and I got the cutest tote EVER while I was there (see above) [you can actually buy it on the Internet ]. Dean and Deluca had some great stuff, though it was so packed you could barely turn around. I didn't buy much there, because you can actually get fetishized produce in Houston. Oh, but they had very small pouches of Kookabura licorice, which I've been wanting to try. [FYI: the black tastes even more like licorice, so if that's your thing, you'd like it. I really liked the red -- the texture was so much better than Red Vines.] I missed Ted Muehling because t...

Can you provide examples of adult women who are extremely short yet also beautiful at the same time? Me and Salma Hayek: pretty much identical twins.

This is a hat , y'all. Photo via The Awl . I am headed to the Big Apple. For real. I can't believe the day is finally here. I've been dreaming about NYC for years now. Back when I worked at the art gallery, I tried hard not to let on that I'd never been (because it made me feel like a hick). So now I'm braving epic security checkpoint lines and 14 degree temperatures to make the trip. The catalyst for finally going is this exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art . I can't believe I'm finally going there -- as a kid I loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler . I might have to hide in a bathroom stall and stay overnight. So this time tomorrow, I'll be on a plane. I will be back in Houston late on Sunday. In the 60 hours (or so) I'll be in the city, I have big plans to... Visit: Metropolitan Museum of Art Guggenheim Museum The Frick Collection Neue Galerie MoMA Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum as much of Central Pa...

Awesome Dawson was the only person elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year . Way to redeem yourselves after eight years, fuckers .

So ideally the evening will go like this: it's super cold out today, and Emmet and Papi have Scouts tonight. I plan to start a nice pot of ribollita, and we can eat it with a baguette and the leftover olive spread from New Year's. Sounds pretty nice, right? Here is a more realistic scenario: I will barely get through the store in time to pick the kids up. I will have to make the ribollita while dragging them through their homework for two hours. I will get distracted and burn the bread. Papi will walk in the door to black smoke and a sobbing wife and two unwashed children mesmerized by low-rent cartoons on Qubo. Then he will have to face 20 eight-year-old boys and entertain/educate them for an hour. I mean, sometimes I wonder why he doesn't go out for a pack of cigarettes and never come back.

This week is the anniversary of my first date with Papi. The twentieth anniversary. Because we are old and befuddled, we don't remember the exact details. On or about January 4, 1990, I recall that we went to see Look Who's Talking , where I was mortified by the opening credits scene of sperm traveling through Fallopian tubes. Papi remembers there being a visit to Putt-Putt Miniature Golf and a stop at a JV basketball game where a guy in my class gave me a high-five. Anyway, that's pretty much the grand tour of Southeast Texas date spots. Twenty years later Papi knows far more about my Fallopian tubes than he could have ever imagined as a 16-year old with a mullet and a brand new driver's license. Happy anniversary, Papi.

Hair o' the dog, y'all. Greyhound shot of vodka grapefruit juice splash of orange liqueur (e.g. Cointreau) twist of lime Serve over ice and stir. If you salt the rim of the glass, you have yourself a Salty Dog.