An hour somehow just disappeared while I read all of the men’s style Q&A on JCrew’s “Jack Knows Best” feature–a sort of faux-blog wherein the personal stylist persona Jack talks rolling up sleeves, packing a carry-on, the terms you need to talk to your tailor, and date ideas for Valentine’s Day. All that “What a Man Should Know” sort of stuff. (And of course I get a kick out of imagining that Andy Spade wrote it.)
I know it’s a sales technique and I know I’m not the target audience but I loved it! It’s such a spot-on, simple guy’s style guide (for the sort of guy who is down with the style found in a JCrew catalogue, obviously). I wish there was an equivalent set of “rules” for women, but alas we get to be much more creative than a two-button or three-button suit jacket at a formal event.
On my list of things I wanted to see on a recent drive through the Napa valley (Napa is just 45 miles away) was the recently renovated Oakville Grocery. We have been stopping in the 130-year-old market (the oldest continually operating grocery in California) for years, but hadn’t visited since they completed a major, five-months-in-works renovation.
Like most things in the Valley, the prices of gourmet items like flour de sel Caramel Corn and olive oil-fried breadsticks can be a bit dear, so I let my camera do the shopping… for the most part. But this is the perfect spot to pick out a picnic to bring along to a winery (we liked the setting at Cuvaison on our last visit), or to stop for a break from a bike ride and take in the views out back.
The mostly locally-sourced market could also serve as a precursor to a fantastic tour of the valley, highlighting the growers and producers you might want to seek out yourself: honey made in Sonoma? Can we visit the hive? Cheese from a goat farm nearby? Do they offer tastings? Biodynamic winery up the road? How’s that different from Organic? Let’s make an appointment for a tour and see. In other words, bring along a map and a pen.
[Update: Thanks for asking: my shoes are JCrew’s Cece ballet flats in suede, but they don’t carry the red anymore. These and these look similar–and I’ve heard that round-toe flats are once again going to lose favor while pointy toes become on-trend, so maybe try these.]
Guess what? Our photograph (which first appeared in our post, “The Highline. Part Two.“), is on the back cover of the Highline’s Fall Newsletter–sent out to friends and supporters of the park. We just got our copies in the mail and they look great!
What do you have planned for the weekend? We’re going to start getting our Christmas decorations out. Last night we walked downtown for Davis’s annual tree lighting celebration. The University band played, Santa was there, children held candles and went to free screenings of the Grinch at an old theatre–and somehow a sizable crowd gathered in spite of some pretty crappy weather (bah humbug). So I think the holiday season is truly here. It’s December 1st tomorrow: time to get a tree! And this will be the first year we have our own home for stringing lights.
Hope you have a good one!
P.S. Hudson’s super-awesome babysitter (from when we were in New York), wrote about reaching for her dreams. For the New York Times! So inspiring.
