Favorites

Again from Amy, with links intact (I hope):

Vicente Wolf's 12 Favorite Things

[Vicente Wolf is, according to the article, a "world-reknowned" interior designer. Some of you may better-recognize that word if spelled "renowned".]

1. Thom Browne: I like his perspective on men's fashion. He ties traditional elegance with a fresh point of view.
2. Funny Face, Two for the Road, Auntie Mame: I saw each [film] at a different pivotal point in my life. They all have an incredible sense of glamor and style.
3. Buffalo Vodka [sic] by Zubrowka: Buffalo grass flavors the vodka.
4. Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion cologne: It's wonderful. It smells of gardenias.
5. Benjamin Moore Super White paint: It's hard to find a white that is untinted and straightforward. A lot of whites have a pink cast or a blue cast. This has no cast.
6. 1963 Lincoln Convertible: I don't own one. I've been looking to buy one for the last 15 years. I rent a car.
7. Jack Gilbert: His poetry reflects a realistically positive point of view on life. They're heavy in a positive way. In other words, his poems leave the glass "half full."
8. Music from Buddha Bar [a Paris nightclub]: It's a mix of different esoteric tunes.
   Bangkok: I've been going there for the last 30 years. I love the Thai people and I love staying at the Oriental Hotel.
9. Speedwalking: 5 1/2 miles, three times a week.
10. Anichini linens: I like them lightly starched, pressed and changed every other day.
11. L'Impero restaurant and Alto restaurant in New York City: I am a partner in both those restaurants and I designed them as well. I've never believed in having partners, but this experience has been great. We respect each other and admire each other and we won a James Beard award. It's been fun.

[Amy's list]

1. J.Jill: I look at the catalogs and think, "Eh, nothing's thrilling me." I go to the store, try on 5 items, and buy...5 items. Their clothes fit me really well, the style is clean without being trendy, and the prices are not outrageous.For fancy stuff, I can almost always find something that I will love at J.Peterman. What's with the J.'s? Levis, Eddie Bauer, and VS round out my top picks.
2. Singin' in the Rain, An American in Paris, and The Lady Vanishes: My big three, as far as 'classics' are concerned. I'm not half-in-love with Gene Kelly, and the latter is as elegant (and still surprising) as a film can get.
3. Man Kind [blueberry green] Tea from Republic of Tea. Mellow but obviously blueberry, this stuff kicks ass. And it does good, too.
4. Nicole Miller perfume--though it's best (on me, at least) when countered with a drop of...Polo for Men. I'm not kidding. And on a guy, I am amazed to admit: Drakkar, my affection for which only reinforces Samuel Johnson's definition of a love that is not one's first: 'the triumph of hope over experience.'
5. Maple. The wood, not the flavor. Light, smooth, heavier than hell.
6. Jaguar XK Coupe--MSRP: $75,000; with my option package: $88,000. Exterior color: slate. Interior color scheme: charcoal/aluminum. I don't own one. I have driven a Honda for years. This is a "if I fell in a hole in front of a store owned by a rich jerk" car.
7. Charles Bukowski: His poetry reflects a pessimistic, argumentative, alcoholic, depressing point of view on life. There is something about his work that makes me want to cry or kill myself. Or write poetry.
8. Music from the NM's, which are a series of 8 (so far) mixes that I've made for Dino. The mixes themselves never did have the desired effect; he seems to be impervious to such subliminal efforts. But they make me happy--I like being the person capable of creating such a thing, the one who can love so obviously and so well. And it's some really good music, too.
9. LaCrosse, the beer-drinking land of one-way streets and cheese and a "suburb" that is seemingly devoted entirely to one pursuit: shopping. I apologize for this extremely non-upper-Midwest attitude, but I have to say it: LaCrosse is cute. There are tons of awesome places to drive around, the rivers (the Mississippi, the Black and the LaCrosse converge here) are gorgeous. There are lots of good restaurants--if you're going, try the Freight House--and fabulous local shops and stores like Pearl Street Books and The Company Store. Of course, there's still all sorts of quaint (read: weird) stuff there, too, like Bikini Yacht Club and that bread store downtown that makes EVERYTHING smell like slightly funky, slightly wet baking bread.
10. Walking with Dino. Not "to" any place or "for" any reason, but just 'cause. Usually while one or both of us carry some ridiculous container of some beverage that is either too hot to drink or too full to walk while carrying. Not walking for exercise, but walking...to not be still.
11. Fieldcrest Classic rugs for the bath. Cushy and soft. Nice colors. I have four in my bathroom, which just isn't big enough to require four rugs. That's how much I like these rugs.
12. Sorrento's ranch. They have the best New York strip. And it is, without a doubt, the best--most comfortable, most relaxing, yet still so nice--place to eat, in my experience.

And mine:

1. Old Navy. I have purchased exactly one item there that didn't work for me. I have not yet bought anything from them that hasn't lasted forever, including the clothes for the kid. Somehow, Old Navy has discovered the secret of indestructible and inexpensive clothing! Otherwise, I like Kohl's (because they are close) and VS. There are also a couple of stores in the town where we vacation every year that I love: In the Woods and Honest John's.
2. I don't go in much for old movies, with the exception of musicals. However, here are three I lovelovelove: Dr. Zhivago, Guys and Dolls, and Psycho. Obviously, all for different reasons: Dr. Zhivago is a classic perfect love story, Guys and Dolls shows that Frank Sinatra could act (sorta) and sing while Marlon Brando could act and sing (sorta), and Psycho is just cool.
3. Diet Dr. Pepper. You had to know I'd say that! Or, when the need arises, Stoli, which I'm a total snob about. It's best served directly from the freezer (or a snowbank). And, oddly, you 'have to be' 21 to enter the website. Hmmmm.
4. VS for me. I didn't know they did a VS for men; now I'll have to check that out. But my all-time fave is Cindy Adams' Gossip, which is no longer made. booo
5. Paint? I'm not much of an aficionado here, but I do appreciate the concept of paint designed for houses with kids in them.
6. Jeep Cherokee c. 1970s. Cheap, dirty, built to last...but only if I have a mountain around to climb!
7. There are too many poets I like to pick just one: Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Shakespeare, Ogden Nash....those are just the ones I come up with off the top of my head.
8. I'm kinda stuck on Nicole C. Mullen lately. [If you click, music will play: you've been warned.]
9. Ouray. Though I haven't been there often in the past couple of decades, it's really my dream town. I'd do almost anything to live there. Look at that picture and tell me it's not amazing. The other place I'd love to live, part-time, is Ydra. I'll never have enough money for that, though.
10. Walking early in the morning is wonderful, but you do have to get out of bed before sunup to appreciate it the most.
11. [who, really, has time to change their sheets--and starch them!--3 times a week?] Whatever sheets I buy have to have at least 400-thread count. I don't brand-shop. But really, in terms of linens.......it's all about quilts. I have about 5, plus a couple more quilt tops that need to be "turned into" quilts. I did not make them; my grandmothers did.
12. Mama Mia's in Milwaukee has the best garlic bread, and pretty good pasta too. We lived half a block from the one on the north side for two years; it made the crappy flat worth living in! Around here, we really like The Mill; it looks like a bar, but they serve "cuisine" that's amazing, way better than anything around here.