This & That: No. 47

Beautiful silk blouses, a play to see if traveling to New York City, an film to enjoy and a few other discoveries I’m happy to share . . .

~Blog

1. Urban Weeds

While flipping through the most recent issue of Portland Monthly magazine I discovered a Portland street style blogger/photographer Lisa Warninger. Her blog Urban Weeds was founded in 2009, and she now has photographs appearing regularly in New York Magazine. Capturing the eclectic fashion found on Portland streets, she not only shares what she sees through the lens, but introduces her readers to each individual featured. While Portland style tends to be much more loose and unrefined, it is certainly unique and original, and what one discovers while reading her posts is that Portlanders own their signature style regardless of trends. Often individuals are captured while walking their dog, and she gladly includes them in the image which is something I can’t help but love.

~Theater

2. A Nora Ephron play, Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks

If you, like myself feel the film world and world at large has lost a tremendous talent with the passing of Nora Ephron last year, there is one more opportunity to see what she was creating right up until the end. The Broadway play Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks and written by Nora Ephron begins previews on March 1st and officially opens on April 1st in New York City. Originally scheduled to end on May 19, it has been extended until June 16th.

Described as “"a new play about the scandal- and graffiti-ridden New York of the 1980s, as told through the story of the charismatic and controversial tabloid columnist Mike McAlary (played by Hanks). From his sensational reporting of New York’s major police corruption to the libel suit that nearly ended his career, the play dramatizes the story of McAlary's meteoric rise, fall and rise again, ending with his coverage of the Abner Louima case for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, shortly before his untimely death on Christmas Day, 1998."

So, if you find yourself in the Big Apple in the next few months, this might be something you’ll want to look into.

~Movie

3. Quartet

Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut is set in a small town in England (it was filmed at Hedsor House, Buckinghamshire, in autumn 2011) where a retirement home for talented musicians resides. Based on Ronald Harwood’s play which ran in London’s West End under the same name, this British comedy stars Downton Abbey’s Maggie Smith as an aging opera star who begrudgingly begins living at Beecham House where her ex-husband resides. A script full of comedy, everyday drama and a desire to come together and celebrate, I cannot wait to sit down and enjoy this film.

~Shopping

4. & 5. Robyn Top in pink blush & poppy drip from DVF

Diane von Furstenberg is easily one of my favorite designers, and these silk chiffon blouses are why I adore her designs. Easy to wear to work paired with a slender pencil skirt or out and about with dark denim jeans and beautiful accessories, the versatility and quality create numerous mix and match outfits and last for years.

~Wine

6. Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman (W5)

As I have shared a few times on the blog, with Walla Walla Valley just 40 miles away from where I live, I have come to appreciate the delights of wine as they are paired with endless options of meals, as well as learn more about how an exquisite bottle comes to sit on our tables for dinner.

One of the first local blogs I began to follow was created by a local wine expert Catie McIntyre Walker titled Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine. With the success of her blog, in 2010 she opened her own wine shop in downtown Walla Walla – W5 (better known as Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman) a destination for picking up local wines I love and French wines  as well (oh, how I appreciate her having bottles of rose to choose from). One of the perks of stopping into her shop is that she knows what the wines have to offer and can steer you toward a bottle you will be wonderfully delighted to have purchased.