Christmas in May

What did I do today? Nothing. I was on the internet all day. I know... sounds boring. But I saw things I've never seen before. For example.... I found tons of pictures of the Christmas "vitrines" at Galleries Lafayette and Printemps in Paris. Every year the two stores try to outdo each other. Just looking at these made me want to book a flight to Paris for Christmas. I think it would be worth it just to go see what they come up with this year.

Please note, I got all these pictures from searches on Google Images. They belong to other bloggers, websites, etc. Unfortunately, I can not take credit for any of these pictures :( Maybe one day I will create my own. Christmas in Paris???

Surprise Surprise!

AFP/Duke's Auctioneer

A man in London had a cup put away in an old shoe box under his bed for years before he decided to see what it was worth. To his surprise, the cup he had always thought was made of brass, turned out to be an ancient Persian vessel beaten out of a single sheet of gold in the 3rd or 4th century before Christ. It is now being auctioned off at Duke's in London for 500,000 pounds (US$600K-980K).

Loooong Wait... Great Breakfast!

Memorial Day weekend is probably not the best time to go try a new restaurant in downtown San Diego. Well, new to me at least. I don't know how long Richard Walker's has been open in SD but I know that most of the people in line with us were newcomers. We waited around an hour, fifteen which was pretty fast considering the size of this place. The interior is quite small but the floor to ceiling windows make it feel airy. There's a certain coziness: the earthy tones, granite tables, dark wood booths, amber glass light fixtures, and wood-beamed ceilings lend it a Frank Lloyd Wrightish feel. They describe themselves as "an upscale fusion of traditional and gourmet breakfast favorites" and I agree. It's not your regular breakfast place. From the moment we stepped in, the service was excellent. Soon after we sat down our drinks were at our table and our waitress was taking our order (we knew what we wanted since we had looked over the menu while in line.) I had the Chaballa French Toast, Nancy had the Blueberry Belgian Waffle, my mama had the Blueberry and Sourcream Crepes, and my dad had the Eggs Benedict.

All I will say is that we ate EVERYTHING. The coffee was hot, the orange juice was freshly squeezed, Julie, our waitress, came just the right amount of times, and the prices were right. I give this eatery an A.

Eggs Benedict

Blueberry Sourcream Crepe

Chaballa French Toast

Watched Prince Caspian

So I watched the movie today and I must say that I liked The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe much more. For one, there were way too many battle scenes. In my opinion, anything more than one fighting scene in a movie is just a waste of time. Second, there were parts in the movie that I don't recall reading in the book. Of course, the parts that were in the book, I imagined completely different. But overall, they did a great job. Plus I really enjoyed watching Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian. That was a treat!

Prince Caspian

The new Narnia sequel, Prince Caspian opens tonight. Will it be as good as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? I hope so. I grew up reading these books and so I hope that the movie lives up to the story I will let you know what I think.

Robert Rauschenberg Passes Away

"I think a painting is more like the real world if it's made out of the real world." — Robert Rauschenberg.

On Monday, May 12 Rauschenberg died at the age of 82.

A Birthday Gift

Marni gave me a wonderful birthday gift today: a book called Master Drawings of the Italian Renaissance. I especially love the drawing by Andrea Mantegna... such wonderful foreshortening. Love it! Thanks.