Coachella Music Festival 2010: Street Style

This weekend, 90% of my friends went on a mass exodus to sunny Palm Springs to attend Coachella, while I was left here in NYC to peacefully brunch, drink, and dance the nights away with the few buddies I had left in town. I don't think I'd be much of a festival-goer--something about outdoor toilets and hours in the sun with no ready transportation or escape route scares me a little. But I do love the looks that come out of it every year.

1. Kate Bosworth

2. Camilla Belle

3. Henry Holland and Agyness Deyn

4. Mischa Barton

5. Dita von Teese

6. Whitney Port

7. Alessandra Ambrosia

8. Kelly Osbourne

9. Anne Hathaway

10. Kate Hudson

11. Rachel Bilson

12. Zooey Deschanel

Spring's Must-Read Book Releases

1. The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving the Planet, by Alicia Silverstone, $29.99, at amazon.com

 

2. Recipes from an Italian Summer, by Editors of Phaidon Press, $39.95, at amazon.com

3. In the Green Kitchen: Techniques to Learn by Heart, by Alice Waters, $28, at amazon.com

I read cookbooks the way most people read novels--from cover-to-cover, absorbing every single word and taking notes of which recipes and techniques I most want to try. It's a weird habit of mine, but cookbooks entertain me just as much as the latest Eggers novel would (or, you know, the latest Twilight installment). This spring has sprung a batch of the some of the best food books I've seen in a while, which is making me one happy Milk & Moder. Above, the three best food books on the shelves now. 

I was especially affected by Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Life. Anyone who knows me knows that I've been an unabashed meat-eating carnivore my entire life. I love going to Momofuku Noodle Bar and consuming indecent amounts of pork belly. I make myself a big, juicy strip steak with my brother's homemade Hawaiian steak rub weekly. When I'm in Paris, I subsist mainly on foie gras and steak frites. I scoff at vegetarians and I look at vegans like they're a different species of human being, mysterious and alien-like. I love meat and poultry. And I haven't eaten either in over a month now. The Kind Life really made me stop and think about all the toxic foods I put into my body on a daily basis (and then wonder why I feel run-down and lackluster). And the bits on the way animals are treated at slaughterhouses and "farms" had me crying like a baby. Anyway, I won't go so far as to say that I'm a vegetarian--I love fish and I think I always will--but I will say this: I've cut back drastically on red meat and poultry and I am really, really, really proud of myself for it. I feel better, I look better, and I've definitely lost a few pounds. And besides all the personal gain, I know that I'm doing something good for animals and for the environment. That simple little tweak in my diet has changed me for the better, from the inside out. So if there's one food book to pick up this spring, it's definitely this one. 

Here, one of my favorite, easiest, most delicious recipes from the book:

Crispy Peanut Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

1 box brown rice crisps cereal

1 3/4 cups brown rice syrup

Fine sea salt

3/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter (preferably unsweetened and unsalted)

1/2 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips

Directions:

Pour out the rice cereal into a large bowl. Heat the syrup with a pinch of salt in a saucepan over low heat. When the rice syrup liquefies, add the peanut butter and stir until well combined. Pour over the rice cereal. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Once thoroughly mixed and cooled to room temperature, stir in the chocolate chips. Make sure the mixture is cool, or you will end up with melted chocolate instead of chocolate chips in your treats.

Turn the mixture out into an 8" x 8" or 9" x 13" baking dish. Wet your wooden spoon lightly and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Let cool for 1 hour--if you can--before cutting into squares or bars.

Anthropologie Chelsea Market Opening

Shopping at Anthropologie is always an experience that feels more akin to browsing exotic bazaars and perfectly curated flea markets and precious antique shops than a big, commercial, modern-day store. I went to the grand opening of their newest outpost in Chelsea Market this evening, and I was hardly surprised to find that I was having a hard time leaving. The bi-level retail space fits in perfectly with it's new Chelsea Market digs--it's big, bright, airy, and filled with a vast variety of interesting, eclectic merchandise including gorgeous clay pots, soft patterned bedding, an array of beautiful books (including some very covetable cookbooks), and of course, their signature style of modern bohemian clothing. I loved every nook and cranny of the space. Favorite objects and corners are in my pictures above. xo

Anthropologie
Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Avenue (b/w 15th and 16th)
212-620-3116

I'll Pick You Up and Take, Take You Where You Want

I don't know about you guys but it's mid-April and I'm in the mood for some serious beach time. One of my favorite trends of spring 2010 was the surf-inspired trend. Think girls with tousled, streaked (often in candy colors) hair, updated boardshorts, sporty swimwear, saturated colors, crazy tie-dye prints, and a general summer-of-love attitude. My friends and I are already madly making plans for multiple weekends in Montauk, which is on the very tip of Long Island and the best part of the Hamptons by far.  Inspiration above. See you out there. xo

Images were found on a variety of sites including Fashion Gone Rogue, Fashiontoast, and Style.com.