Yummy

A proper sensory addict, we wouldn’t think of throwing a party without choreographing the music. Like a road trip without snacks, or a pool day without lemonade, there’s a mood and an ambience infused by a good soundtrack that keeps the party in the clouds. Here are our favorites for an eternal drenching of summer:

1. Roads Must Roll – Boom Bip
2. Flip Ya Lid – Nightmares On Wax
3. The Shanghai Shuffle – Mochipet
4. Babylon of the Orient (Instrumental) – The Shanghai Restoration Project
5. Transform – TJ Rehmi
6. Chemnitz – Transglobal Underground
7. Ocean Beat – Tosca
8. Les Professionnels – Air
9. Recurring – Bonobo
10. Purrfect – Funky Porcini
11. Composure – B. Fleischmann
12. Change Down – Bonobo
13. Child’s Play – DJ Cam
14. Air Giant – Transglobal Underground
15. You Are We Am I (Blue Mix) – TJ Rehmi

We’re the opposite of “shopaholic,” those ravenous Sex-and-the-City women whose sense of self-worth is derived from the momentary pleasure of a designer handbag or pair of shoes. In fact, women like that downright creep us out. But every so often we come across something so stunning that it deserves a second glance, a further inspection, and a bit of hard-earned want. So now we’ll do a little sharing.

Gray is really no one’s color, a shade disappointingly forgettable given its stunning parents Black and White. But pop it onto a curve-hugging silhouette with a sweetheart neckline and salacious red lining and it becomes positively exotic. We love this “Thora” dress from Agent Provocateur because it’s the picture of decorum…until you turn around.

We’re far more into experiences than things and can’t see ourselves following through, but perhaps if we’re in the neighborhood we might stop in for a fitting…no harm in a little tease?

An excursion to Beverly Hills today brought us within olfactory distance of the smashing new Bouchon Bakery, located in the Montage Beverly Hills. We went a bit brash and ordered two sweets, a kouge amman and a Bouchon brownie. We polished off both immediately and destroyed our productivity for the rest of the day, a dear mistake but one we’d repeat again in a heartbeat.

Nothing shouts “summer!” like a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade on a sunny afternoon. And it must be fresh, nothing is worse than a dribble of synthetic preservative-laden lemon syrup stirred into room temperature tap water.

With the jacuzzi construction underway and visions of poolside afternoons reading our Kindle, we stirred up a pitcher of caustic, minimally diluted lemon juice, with a slim cut of sugar. Here’s how we do it:

• 3/4 cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 4 cups of ice cold filtered water
• 2-3 tablespoons of sugar

Serves 3. Or in our case, plenty to taste test and serve over ice for the fabulous construction crew.