June 9, 11:32 a.m. — El Hub is taking me to lunch in the city. Before we leave the house, I water the houseplants and check the cat grass seeds I planted last week.
I find signs of life. There are tiny sprouts breaking the surface, and I pause to marvel at how Mother Nature does her thang.
Tabs will have his salad soon
June 9, 12:40 p.m. — At the Rotunda, the restaurant on the top floor at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco, I order white bean soup and a scallop salad for lunch (El Hub’s birthday gift to me).
The waiter leaves a popover on the table…
…that resembles a Thanksgiving turkey.
June 9, 2:13 p.m. — I wander into Barneys, where I haven’t been in many moons, and make my way to the cosmetics department downstairs.
I’m greeted by Jonathan, a friendly makeup artist with T. LeClerc. I’m unfamiliar with the line, and Jonathan offers to show me around. He touches up my makeup and demonstrates T. LeClerc’s face powders, which are shockingly silky and smooth. I’m drawn to a jar of loose Powder in Apricot ($50), which Jonathan says looks great on brown-skinned girls.
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I ask him how it photographs, and he says, “Great!” He claims it keeps shine away longer than most powders do (I’ll let you know).
June 9, 2:50 p.m. — The sun is high in the sky outside, streaming in from tall windows around the store; a glass bottle at Bobbi Brown catches my eye.
The bottle belongs to Beach ($55), one of my favorite scents, and it reminds me of summers and seaside towns.
June 9, 3:22 – 5 p.m. — With my camera in hand, I hike ’round Union Square, snapping pictures of people and sights.
A view of downtown San Francisco from the Ellis O’ Farrell parking garage; the sun is almost directly overhead
The same view later in the day
The stained glass ceiling at Neiman Marcus in Union Square
The beautiful Neiman Marcus cosmetics department
I once worked in this gray building with green trim (years ago!)
One final shot of Union Square
All in all, it was a wonderful day.
Have you seen any random acts of beauty lately?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. The NARS event this morning featured a preview of these five Sephora Limited Edition NARS Glosses (each inspired by a different cult classic NARS Blush), coming to Sephora stores and Sephora.com on July 29, and a hands on look at some of their new items for summer — the Summer 2010 collection, Pure Sheer SPF Lip Treatment and Multiple Tints.
From left: Angelika, Super Orgasm, Oasis, Luster and Albatross
I’ll have more to share next month, so stay tuned.
That pop over looks delicious!
.-= Rachael’s last blog post… License to Thrill: I Wanna be a Bond Girl =-.
It was quite nommy. I gobbled it all up!
I’m jealous. :p
.-= Rachael’s last blog post… License to Thrill: I Wanna be a Bond Girl =-.
LOL… well, maybe you’ll make it out here one day so you can nosh on one too!
It’s almost the weekend, yay! Do you have any plans?
Mmm, did you eat that with the strawberry butter? So good. 🙂
No random acts of beauty lately, unless you count randomly looking at the Estee Lauder counter at Macy’s, waiting to pay for your Frango chocolates…
That strawberry butter was life changing. I loved it!
Did anything at EL catch your eye?
I love the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus. It is one of my favorite places for afternoon tea.
There was a group of girls having tea while I was there! The snacks looked delicious.
Popover!! I once had those in NYC and haven’t seen them again till this post!! My mouth is watering…
.-= Kajal Couture’s last blog post… RareMineralsâ„¢ Renew & Reveal Facial Cleanser Review =-.
So yummy! Did you have strawberry butter?
My random act of beauty was demolishing a mini baguette a la Zena style. In other words, I ate the innards and left the outer part. Zena does this with her toys (except fluff gets thrown every which way) and since I wasn’t in the mood for battling with the crunchy outer part of the baguette (everything below my head but above my hips is screaming in pain…long story), I ripped open the bread and ate the inside. Not as yummy as eating it crust and all, but my wrists are happy I didn’t inflict anymore pain on them. I have a crust of bread….literally.
You should stuff it with something, ha ha!
Oh God, how I lurve those popovers and strawberry butter at “Needless Markup”, lol. Did they serve you the demitasse cup of chicken consomme before the meal? They do that at the Mermaid Cafe (here in NM-Dallas) and it always makes me feel like a glamour girl from the 1940s. Happy belated birthday, Karen…hope Tabs and El Hub made it a great day for you!
Yes, they did! The cup looked tiny in El Hubs hands. 😀
How has your week been? Can you believe tomorrow’s Friday already?
I LOOOOOVE popovers! Om nom nom. And I wouldn’t say it was an act of beauty, but I like to think it was an act of kindness – I was in PetCo today looking at some birds when I noticed one of the birds had his leg stuck in between the piece parts of the cage. I called an employee over and we got him out – hopefully he’s not hurt! 🙂 I also saw a kitty up for adoption that looked soooo much like Tabs! The temptation to get a little furry companion is overwhelming right now, especially missing the terrible threesome at home. And all these pictures are making me miss SF! Me thinks I need to go home soon >:)
I hope the bird is okay. Good thing you noticed!
So, will you be going home soon? You need to visit your kittehs!
Your post made me smile for the first time all day! (At least, it feels that way!) 😀 THANKS!
You’re welcome, Kayann!
I love the pictures and the little snippet into your day 😀 I have no idea what a popover is but it sure looks delish!
.-= Paris B’s last blog post… Dior Summer 2010 Exclusive: Diorskin Nude Glow Complexion Enhancer =-.
It’s like a puffy, round croissant. They serve it with strawberry butter and it’s SOOO good.
Great post, Karen! Thank you for sharing. I already said that I would like to visit SF one day, it looks like a beautiful city. And I am also happy that you had a nice BDay 🙂
.-= Marina’s last blog post… Alice in Wonderland and NYC Insipred Books Of Shadows by Urban Decay. =-.
I hope you do! You will have to let me know if you’re ever in town, okay?
I’m glad you had a great day Karen! I love the NM stained glass ceiling picture… beautiful! Thanks also for the cat grass update – I’m sure Tabs is going to be psyched to have his salad!!! Have you tried the NARS alabaster gloss? Just wondering how that would look when applied. 🙂
I’m sorry – I can’t believe I just typed alabaster instead of albatross!
You are too cute. I do stuff like that all the time, so NO worries.
Regarding the gloss, I have a tube to test. Will let you know if it’s awesome!
Lovelovelove the pictures. I wish I had more time to tinker around w/ my DSLR. As it is I can just tote around my little point and shoot (that ive dubbed the magic camera because its pretty awesome) and take snaps.
That popover and your description of your lunch — I WANT!!!
Once a lot of moons ago, I owned a T LeClerc powder that I inherited from someone. I loved it and used it all up. I dont know if I want to (or can bear to) repurchase but it is an awesome product! 🙂
Im loving the glosses but made a little promise to myself – no more lip & eye products for a few months. The Clarins palette arrived yesterday (used it today) and when I was going to stash it I was scared of the sheer number of eyeshadows I have. So ive imposed a ban on those. Ill work on my blush collection little by little now. 🙂
Sounds like a plan to me! Got any NARS up in there?
There are 2 NARs members in my tiny blush family … im looking to add Sin and maybe Mata Hari or Angelika to it. 😀
Sin is awesome.
Do you have Orgasm yet?
I still want the Sin/Casino duo – is it worth it?
I dont … it kinda scares me whenever I swatch it at Sephora. Feels glitterbomb-y. Dyou think it will be ok on me? Im prolly NC30 most of the time but NC35 in the summer… 🙂
Great pictures, I wish we had such scenic sights!
Hi Scientific Housewife,
I never get tired of taking pics in SF. There’s always something interesting to shoot!
Nice photos! A beautiful summer day.
Can’t wait to shop at the cosmetics department of Neiman Marcus! 😀
.-= Vonvon’s last blog post… Review: Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange(TM) Body Butter =-.
Hi Vonvon,
Will you be visiting SF sometime soon?
Lovely post, Karen! I love the little sprouts and the pics of Union Square. I took a bunch of pics there too when I visited. And the packaging on your new powder is gorge!
Hi Tiffany,
Happy, happy Friday!
So when are you coming back to SF? If/when you do you have to let me know.
Everything T. LeClerc makes has that sort of feel. I like it — it’s kinda old timey.
I hope to make it back one day – I loved it there!
And if you ever make it down to GA you have to let me know!
Fo’ sho! El Hub and I once pondered moving out to GA (I have a friend there who loves it)… I hope to visit one day, soon! Not when it’s too hot, though, LOL!
lol, so not now! It’s 86 right now with a high today of 91!
October is really nice usually 🙂
Sounded like a fabulous Birthday. I have always wanted to do lunch at the Rotunda – looks like I’ll have to round up some willing girlfriends and make it a Sunday date. I love makeup shopping at Barney’s (or just browsing the Louboutins) they are very nice. The Chanel SA is super friendly and we wear the same T.I. shade – I need to visit her again.
Oh, I love days like this! Thanks for letting us share yours.
.-= Stef’s last blog post… Ellis Faas Blush Review – we’re officially impressed! =-.
OOoh, pretty Nars stuff, I’ll have to check it out at Sephora when it lands!
.-= Bunny Masseuse’s last blog post… It’s Always great to "GET" in these Great Giveaways! =-.
OMG! you’re from SF!! =) My BF and I are going on vacay to SF this September for the first time ever! And we have no clue what places to go, where to eat…etc etc. Got any suggestions?
I must visit, I didnt think Sf had anything to offer,I luv Bobbi b”s beach I wear the lotion as well!
let us know how you like the face powder,D&G makes a great one I luv it!
.-= House of Accessories’s last blog post… Two in One Photo Prop All Fringe Baby Nest in all Blues =-.
Seriously? San Francisco is a great city!
I’m still impressed by the curved escalators in Westfield! So beautiful.
Belated Happy Birthday! thanks for sharing about your day. I love hearing about makeup and about SF! One of my fav places! I love the pics you took. I took several pics before with those big hearts — all 4(?) of them. what kind of lens do you have?
LeClerc has a counter here in Rustan’s (Manila). Their powders are really fine and their packaging gorgeous!
It looks like you had a great birthday! Do any hauling?
.-= marisol’s last blog post… Disappointed… =-.
Ah, I’ve been out of town, so I’m late, but HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!! 😀