OJ’s Flavor of the Month/Minute/Moment

This madly powerful piece of performance art by Kalki Koechlin. I am in LOVE. With the concept, the words, the rhythm, the execution, the talent. Watch.

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Ever since I learned about FitBit last year (or was it the year before last?) and everyone and their grandmother in the Valley started sporting one, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting this new toy. I never got around to it for two main reasons: 1) I wasn’t sure I’d use it religiously, and 2) It looked pretty fugly for everyday wear, especially if I was to wear it 24/7 with a variety of outfits.

Tory Burch to the rescue! The designer who heels three-quarters of Pac Heights and most of San Francisco’s yuppie population has introduced the FitBit metal hinge bracelet. Pretty, functional, and definitely versatile, suddenly, tracking my activity level and sleep patterns just got a whole lot more interesting. 😉

Here it is, in all its glory. And just coincidentally, in case anyone’s feeling particularly generous, I have a birthday coming up!!!

What do you think of this stylish new accessory? Would you want one for yourself? There’s also a necklace version available to pre-order for the wrist-averse. Which would you prefer?

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San Francisco. The city by the bay that wasn’t mine. Over nearly 3 years of living in the area, my reaction to it has gone from shock to aversion to hmmm….this isn’t so bad to embracing its madly diverse sides and offerings. This news item that most locals have been tracking for a while has touched my heart and I am so excited and proud to share it with you. Watch as an entire city transforms itself into Gotham for one 5-year-old survivor of leukemia. Keep those tissues ready!

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The annual San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival, presented by 3rd i Films, kicked off today (November 6). More than a decade old, this fest shows documentaries, classics, Bollywood, indie movies and feature films, in addition to frequently introducing audiences to the directors and/producers of these works. You may recall that I had reviewed Nishtha Jain’s “Family Album” last year. This year, she will be present with “Gulabi Gang”, a documentary I have wanted to watch ever since I read its review on Ultra Violet.

The focus of the 2013 festival, screened in San Francisco (November 6-10) and Palo Alto (November 16), is gender, with a spotlight on Pakistan. Here’s the festival website and the trailer is below. Come watch!

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I spent one full day in Paris last year, absolutely alone in the city. I knew nobody, and the city sped past me as yet another tourist-stranger, soaking it all in. It occurred to me that if something were to happen to me that day, it would be a while before my loved ones knew. And then, I shook off the thought, embraced the delicious aloneness and Parisian spring air, and took a long, exciting walk down the Champs Elysees.

When I chanced upon this video today, I simply had to share it with you-for the beauty of its words and the strength with which they resonate with me. Maybe when you’re done watching, you can grab a slice of by-yourself-ness and see how it feels? 🙂

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A special corner of my heart is reserved for tortoiseshell accessories. Which is why, when I came across this thing of beauty, my heartbeat decided to sign up for bootcamp and throw in extra cartwheels for good measure.

Would you look at that?

Sigh.

Yup, definitely my flavor of the next several hours.

You like?

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If there’s a third thing Anna Wintour is famous for, besides her bangs and being the not-so-secret inspiration behind Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada, it is the near-genius of Fashion’s Night Out.

An event that happens in several countries around the world, FNO is the one sacred opportunity for fashion-worshipping hoi polloi to raise their humble peepers at designer threads and prices and dream the unstoppable dream of acquisition. (I’m about to burst into a ballad here, so help me god.) Proceeds go to a good cause, so it gets even better.

In Bombay, the inaugural FNO is happening on September 5th this year, at my old stomping grounds, the Palladium mall in Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel, from 6 pm to midnight. Good reasons to go are limited edition pieces from Sabyasachi and Monisha Jaisingh at prices that won’t break the bank. Additionally, there will be goodie bags, free drinks for the ladies at TGIF, hand massages, makeovers, discounts, and the whole circus that accompanies events such as these. Vogue will have its own pop-up shop, and this year’s sales proceeds will go toward Habitat for Humanity’s Women IndiaBuilds.

Ironically, FNO is taking a hiatus in America, where it all began, but c’est la vie–live it up, Bombay! I’ll do it vicariously through you, so make the party a good one.

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You may remember from this post that I’m particularly sweet on the Impressionists. I’ll chase them every chance I get and gawk at their work admiringly, sometimes even lifting my jaw off the floor. So it should come as no surprise that I visited the ongoing “Impressionists on Water” exhibit at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor museum (which is a work of art in itself).

This carefully curated collection challenged many of my notions about the look and feel of Impressionism and introduced me to some new names, among several familiars. Beautifully framed in gold-brushed wood (that had me furiously making mental notes about home décor ideas) were Ludovic-Napoleon Lepic, Claude-Joseph Vernet, Charles-Francoise Daubigny, Alfred Sisley, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro, among other greats.

My favorites were …

Eugene Isabey’s “Shipwreck”

and …..

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Oarsmen at Chatou”

And here’s an interesting nugget: You see that boat in the picture directly above? It was at the exhibit. All polished and gleaming and beautifully preserved, it sat under strategically-placed lights and I could swear it was almost preening.

If you’re in the area, go visit the exhibit. The first Tuesday of the month is half price for the exhibit and free for the rest of the museum! The museum’s stunning backdrop of the bay opening into the Pacific is the icing on a very decadent cake. The exhibit runs until October 13, 2013. More details here.

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….is this yummy, light, lemony lotion that’s good enough to eat (but don’t try it!)

Summer is here, and with it come deliciously long days, a certain languor, and even drier skin. California’s already-dry climate goes into full-on parch mode and while the madly lucky bums in India are enjoying downpours of warm, tropical rain, we in this sunny state remain as dry as British wit.

Enter C.O. Bigelow’s Lemon body lotion: uber-moisturizing without weighing your skin down, this lightweight, nourishing wunderkind gives your skin just that shot of dewyness it needs. I like the consistency (lotion, not cream), LOVE the citrusy scent, and confess that both were key factors in my purchase.

At $14 for a not-very-large bottle, it’s certainly not the cheapest gunk you can slather on your body, but take comfort in the nourishing ingredients that are so good for your skin: shea butter, lemon extracts, and Kukui nut oil. Okay, I’ll stop now before I sound like a newbie-created PR fact sheet.

Oh, and if you want something cheaper and pretty darn good, try Trader Joe’s Spa Lavender Body Lotion. Buy it at the store, it’s only $5.99 4.99 and more expensive on other sites!

You’re welcome. 🙂

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P.S. Nobody was paid in the making of this post. Definitely not a certain pauper with the last name Jammies. Over and out.