Hot Toddy

I made like a ski bunny on Sunday: I had my very first hot toddy.

Loved everything about it -- the hot tea consistency, splash of lemon, cloves.

Will repeat again. Soon.

Style Icon: Anna Karina

I love this photo of French New Wave actress Anna Karina. And her glasses are divine.

I wish more women stayed on the natural route -- something that is real is always more beautiful, less ordinary, one of a kind to me.

She gets it!

'Tis The Season...

Each Thursday, just before lunch, a Departures Dispatch e-newsletter zips into my e-mail inbox. I click on this digital arbiter of good taste, anxious to see what five "musts" the editors at Departures magazine recommend I know about for that very week.

Departures and its five things are kind of special. One of a kind. Neat!

The below Christmas tree at Claridge's hotel in London appeared in last week's e-newsletter -- and it made me smile. So jolly and fun and bright.

How can you Bah, Humbug! the holidays when this is what you see?

Seconds, Anyone?

I survived the sprawling, delicious feast my mom made for Thanksgiving Day. The home-cooked meal was pretty rad, and yes, I had seconds. And then a teensy bit.

All the usual suspects were devoured, including turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with homemade gravy, green bean casserole and rolls (two kinds). A fruit salad with blackberries, blueberries, pineapple et. al kept it a little "healthy," and the cabernet sauvignon was aplenty.

Pumpkin pie is an all-time favorite, and ours was fantastic. No store-bought crust here, but a flaky, golden crust made from scratch.

It was a wonderful meal! Thank you, mom.

Bright Lights, Big City

It was riveting, a book I just finished called "Bright Lights, Big City."

I was two when it came out in 1984, and only recently learned about it, how it was the seminal debut novel from twentysomething writer Jay McInerney.

Though he skyrocketed to the status of bonafide literary star, I'm not sure his subsequent stories ever outdid the big hoopla of "Bright Lights." I'd like to read more of his books, but haven't decided which one I'll jump to next.

A book snapshot can be found here. In short, we follow a cool but confused young man -- he works as a fact checker at a prominent magazine and his wife recently left him while on a modeling job in Paris -- during a week in Manhattan where his life begins to unravel as illusion and reality collide.

It's a quick read, and I learned a lot about Manhattan during the hedonist '80s days. Besides, now I know to check out the classic French bistro, The Odeon. Great French onion soup there, I hear.

A New York Stroll

I know, I was a little MIA this month. A flurry of work travel...

Here I am in New York in October -- Central Park, to be exact. It was a crisp, sunny stroll through the world's most spectacular urban park.

I had just come from Mario Batali's Eataly cafe and artisanal Italian marketplace, a few metro stops away in the Flatiron District. At this moment, I'm feeling like a local with my grocery bag, iPod and subway navigation skills. I'm pretty sure Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey" came on just about now.

It was a warm, cozy fall moment.