Instagram Paris

We had 4 days off over Easter weekend, so while all the Europeans in the cast went home to see their families, I took a fast train to Paris to hang out by myself eating croissants and wandering the streets. I used Airbnb for the first time, and it was a huge success! I ended up in this little apartment in the heart of St. Germain-des-Prés—I highly recommend it for 1 person (or 2 who like each other a lot).

I lugged my big camera with me to Geneva and then to Paris, but I haven't found myself reaching for it very often. It's so much easier just to grab my iPhone, and I'm especially loving Instagram (@littlemsbossy, natch). Here are a few shots from my Parisian weekend.

Lucky for me, Maison Kayser was just a few blocks away. Croissants and croissants aux amandes and baguettes for (almost) every meal.

 Of course every vacation needs a little opera thrown in. Or a lot of opera. Siegfried!

The view from the window of my apartment. Because it was a 5th-floor walk-up. Phew.

I've written about it before (here and here), but for me no visit to Paris is complete without time spent in the beautiful Water Lily rooms at  the Musée de l'Orangerie. This is my happy place. They seem to have abolished photography since I was last there. Rules are made for breaking, I say.

I had a lovely Easter morning at the Museum of Everything, which definitely deserves its own post.

French study is trés important, n'est-ce pas?

The gorgeous Seine. I loved staying on the Left Bank and crossing over the river several times a day.

Gare de Lyon as I waited for my train back to Geneva.

I got back to Geneva feeling rejuvenated and ready to get back to work. Sometimes a tiny vacation is all you need—such a gift in the middle of a rehearsal period. Have you taken any little vacations lately?

Solo photo excursions

CM and I both love taking photos, particularly while traveling, so you'd think it would be a great activity for us to do together. In reality, however, it's not my favorite. Chalk it up to my own insecurities, but I get frustrated when we both photograph the same thing and his photos turn out SO MUCH BETTER. And with his amazing eye for composition, he spots photo opportunities that I would pass right by. For whatever reason, when we're together, I tend to leave my camera in its bag.

Which is why we I'm so happy we discovered a new travel activity: solo photo excursions. Some of my favorite pictures of the summer were taken during a timed 30-minute stroll in Montalcino at sunset, when we headed off with our cameras in opposite directions and met up afterwards for Negronis and shared what we'd each seen. It's a tradition I hope we'll keep on subsequent trips—I actually felt closer to CM after spending a (teeny tiny) bit of time apart.

I had plenty of time to wander alone with my camera during our 3 days in Aix-en-Provence. Poor CM was holed up in our (admittedly gorgeous) hotel room working for most of our time (despite the vacation beard, he wasn't truly on vacation). I was going stir-crazy, so I headed out to take pictures of this gorgeous city, all winding streets and outdoor cafés and rosé…so, so much rosé. I've been told that Aix is not even close to being the most scenic spot in Provence, but we sure liked it.

As ever, click on any photo to be taken into a slideshow.

All photos by LMB

Sundays in New York: Smorgasburg

For this week's Sunday adventure I headed down to Brooklyn with The Banker to go to the first day of Smorgasburg in DUMBO (for those of you unfamiliar, that stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, and it's a tiny slice of Brooklyn right across from Manhattan). Smorgasburg is a large market of amazing artisanal food stands. On Saturdays it's at the Brooklyn Flea Market, but starting yesterday and running through November 18, on Sundays it's at the Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO.

We took the A train to High St in Brooklyn and then meandered through the neighborhood, making a stop at the P.S. Bookshop, a fantastic place to peruse used books. Then we headed over to Smorgasburg. There's a lot of food there, and it all looks incredible. We made a round to decide what we wanted, and then we dove in. It started at 11, and by the time we got there around 1:30 a few things were just starting to sell out. I imagine in subsequent weeks they'll judge better how many people to expect. We ate the following:

Strawberry lemonade and grilled cheese from Milk Truck

Duck spring rolls from Lumpia Shack

Porchetta sandwich from Porchetta

Watermelon shaved ice from People's Pops

Lemon poppyseed doughnut from Dough


Everything was so delicious, and there were about 20 other things we wanted to try. I think a return trip is in order. Next time I'll wear sunscreen.

We found a shady patch of grass to eat our lunch and then wandered down to the water to look at the incredible views from Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The Banker, my date for the day

This gorgeous weather makes for some mighty pleasant adventuring. I'm already plotting how to spend next Sunday. How was your weekend?


All photos by LMB

Museum Brandhorst, Munich

We spent a week in Munich seeing the Ring cycle, and we fell a bit in love with the city, in that kind of "Wow, we could really be happy here" kind of way that demands to be taken seriously. We're planning to stay put for a while, but Munich has definitely moved onto a short list of places we'd like to live.

One of the best things we did while we were there was visit the Museum Brandhorst, a contemporary art museum that opened in 2009. We were lucky enough to be staying with a Munich resident who told us about it; otherwise we probably would have missed it! Munich has several great museums in a big complex, all called Pinakothek this or that, and this lovely museum is tucked away behind them.

The most stunning part of the museum is the exterior.

Can you spot CM in this one?

The interior, in contrast, is very simple, just white walls and light wood. All the art housed here is given plenty of space to breathe. The museum uses all kinds of new "green" technologies to heat and cool it and to filter natural light into the space. It's a peaceful place to be.

It's not a huge collection, but it's deep in certain areas. My favorite was Cy Twombly's Lepanto series, created for the 2001 Venice Biennial. The Brandhorst has the largest collection of Twombly outside of (amazingly enough) The Menil Collection in Houston, and a special room was designed specifically for the Lepanto paintings. It's incredible, the closest thing I've found to the Water Lilies rooms in Paris.

Photo from here

We visit a lot of museums when we travel, and we particularly love museums whose architecture is as much of a draw as the art itself. Which museums do you love to visit?

All photos by LMB except the last one.

Sundays in New York: The Cloisters

In what's turning into a tour of New York's most peaceful spots, I spent the afternoon yesterday at The Cloisters. It's a bit of a trek to get there, about 35–40 minutes on the A train from Columbus Circle, but completely worth it. Instead of getting off the subway at the closest station, 190 St, I went one station further to Dyckman St so that I could walk through more of Fort Tryon Park.

It's an uphill climb to the museum, but as a reward you're afforded some absolutely gorgeous views of the Hudson (and Pacific Palisades Park across the way in New Jersey).

The museum itself is a completely gorgeous building, built in the 1930s partly out of reassembled bits of medieval abbeys.

Because it's part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or the "other Met," as I like to call it), admission to The Cloisters is included in your Met Museum ticket. If you don't feel like doing both in one day, however (I didn't), the museum admission price of $25 is a recommended donation, so you can pay what you'd like.

If medieval religious art is your bag, this is the museum for you. That's not really my thing, but you know what is? Gardens.

A beautiful, peaceful garden surrounded by cool stone walls might be the absolute perfect place to sit with your Kindle (Shame!) and while away a summer afternoon.

And on your way home, go South through the park for stunning views of the George Washington Bridge (done no justice with this iPhone pic).

I'm loving my Sundays in New York. Although I'm thinking next Sunday, when I'm hanging out in Houston with CM(!), might just be even better.

Dîner en blanc

Last night I walked out of work as usual…except it wasn't usual, because I found myself completely surrounded by a sea of people dressed in white. They were all toting folding tables and chairs, and I knew immediately what it must be: Dîner en blanc! The ultimate, original pop-up dinner party, it started in Paris and is now all over the world.

I, of course, was dressed in turquoise jeans, but that didn't stop me from following to see where they were going.

Turns out, they were going to the Lincoln Center Plaza! None of the guests knew where they were going until right before it started. They met in groups of 250 at various locations around the city and were coordinated by leaders to bring them to the spot. Last year (the first year in NYC) it took place on the World Financial Center Plaza. I'm so happy that this year it was in my 'hood so I could see it!

I watched them setting up for a bit:

Then I went away to run errands and get some dinner. On my way home, I decided to stop by again to see the party in full swing. It was gorgeous.

The Dîner en Blanc prides itself on being somewhat swanky. Guests are encouraged to dress elegantly (and in white, obvs), and no paper plates or plastic cups are allowed. I saw lots of people in hats and fascinators, and so many lovely white dresses it made me want to get married again, just for an excuse to wear one.

My favorite photo of the night:

You better believe I've already added my name to the waiting list for next year's dinner. Care to join me?

Sundays in New York: Governors Island

For my first Sunday adventuring in New York, I spent a couple hours biking on Governors Island with a friend. I had never been before, and I found it to be completely lovely and relaxing. Governors Island is a tiny island just a 7-minute (free!) ferry ride from the Southern tip of Manhattan (or from Brooklyn, if you prefer). The island has served various purposes, most recently as an Army and Coast Guard base, but as of 2003 it's been open to the public and it's constantly being improved. It's open on summer weekends only, and it's the perfect place to go for a break from the hustle and heat of Manhattan.

You can rent bikes for reasonable prices on the island, but my date had an extra so we brought ours. There's a bike path that runs around the circumference of the island, with a conveniently placed iced coffee and lemonade truck right when you need it. Should you need more in the way of sustenance, there are several cute eateries and a place that sells ready-to-go picnics. There are playgrounds, and lots of public sculptures, and even some new art galleries. Best of all, there's a cool breeze that's in short supply in the city at the moment.

Highly recommended. I might be back before the summer's out.

Ferry terminal

View of Manhattan from the ferry

Lady Liberty from the Island

This lovely spot is the Food Court.

More Manhattan views

My date for the day

All photos by LMB. To see more photos, you can follow me on Instagram.

First day of school

Today was my first day back at work after summer vacation. I felt grumpy and tired this morning, wishing I could be out in the gorgeous weather or off on a train with CM visiting friends at Wolf Trap. It can be hard to get back into the swing of things after a long time away. I haven't been here since March, and I even found myself having to think twice about which elevator to take to get where I wanted to go (yes, it's my 5th season and I still sometimes get lost in the maze).

But then…reality check. I am so damn lucky to do what I do, and in this theater of all places. Any day that starts with this walk into work can't be too bad.

I think mostly I was crabby because CM and I spent our first night apart in TWO MONTHS last night. I know, I know, we're apart all the time, but it never gets any easier. Thank goodness he gets back tonight—maybe he'll bring me back a better attitude.

Tomorrow I'll share with you my first Sunday in New York. It's a good one!

Photo by LMB

First World problem of the day

Between the two of us, CameraMan and I have thousands upon thousands of digital photos, taking up virtual space much like my parents' boxes of photo prints (and slides, remember those?) take up physical space. What are we ever going to do with all these photos? Sure, we could upload them to some other virtual location, but they'll just end up sitting there without us looking at them again. So I'm always looking for ways to display our photos, you know, in our actual house. Of course, we could just print and frame them, but sometimes I want to go for something more creative.

Here are a few ideas that I've come up with so far:

On one wall of our bedroom, I've hung a magnetic photo rope  with pictures of our love locks that I added the city and date to and then printed at CVS. The wall decal is by Shanna Murray. (Sidebar: we bought another lock so that we could lock it on the Tower Bridge when we were in London for a day, but apparently all the locks got cut off to prepare for the Olympics. So our love lock number is still 2.)

At ixxi, you can upload your photos, crop them into squares on the website, and in a couple weeks they'll send you a stack of square cards and a bunch of little plastic doohickies to attach them to each other. Then you hang it on the wall with adhesive that they provide, and voila! Art. This guy hangs on our huge dining room wall, which needed something dramatic. I chose all black and white or sepia toned photos, but the possibilities are endless.

We are also awash in Instax photos. I rigged this little installation in our stairwell using string and silver mini binder clips. It makes me smile every time I climb the stairs.


We use these adhesive frames on one wall of our living room (we thought it would be temporary, but now we love them). I also made CM an album of our wedding photos for his birthday last year at Pinhole Press, and it's completely gorgeous.

Tell me, what are you doing with all your photos? I'd love more ideas.