What We're Talking About This Week

It's nice to have a break after the excitement of the holidays, but as January comes to a close we are thinking about our next vacation.  This guide to some of the prettiest road trip destinations in California is a great jumping off point...

The next big TV event is this Tuesday night's The People vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story.  This post breaks down all the major players in the trial, for those who are too young to remember or in need of a refresh.

The temperature is going to drop in San Francisco this weekeend as El Nino ushers in another storm...  It's the perfect time to check out one of these six different mac & cheese dishes. 

 Tomorrow is the SoCal Museums Free-For-All-Day.  Check out their site for all of the locations that are participating, but this is a great way to check out many of LA's museums for free, or at a discounted ticket price.

Mad Men Finale Countdown

January Jones in Prabal Gurung at this week's final Mad Men premiere, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA

We are huge fans of Mad Men, making April 5th's premiere bittersweet.  We are sad to say good bye to Don, Betty, Peggy, Roger, Joan, and Pete, along with their families and colleagues.  Here's a round up of some of our favorite Mad Men links from this week's countdown.

Mad Men Conspiracy Theories

Career Lessons from Peggy

Character Cocktail Guide

Elevator Scenes

 Growing Up on Mad Men

Don't go, Don!

Images via Google

Can't Wait For: The Final Episodes of Mad Men

The second half of Mad Men's final season doesn't air until April 5th, but AMC has released several images to get us excited...  Megan is featured, which might be a surprise, and all of the cast members have definitely moved into a new era in fashion.  We love Betty's soft maxi dress, and Don looks dapper as always... Megan and Sally's ensembles, however, aren't our favorite looks from the time - the baby doll dress and aggressive crop top are best left in the past.  Pete, Peggy, Roger, and Joan are all looking sharp and stylish.  We can't wait to see how the rest of the characters have evolved, what other fashion costume designer Janie Bryant has come up with, and how creator Matthew Weiner will end the series.

Images via Google

We Recommend: The Fall

We first discovered the BBC series The Fall on Netflix last autumn, and were thrilled to find a new show until we realized the whole season was only five episodes - easily devoured in two or three days.  Season two released on Netflix last Friday, and we got through all six episodes over the weekend.  The series is a fascinating and dark story, about a London cop, played by Gillian Anderson (who is bidialectal and speaks the Queen's English like a native, having spending part of her childhood in the UK), sent to Belfast to track down a serial killer of women, played by Jamie Dornan.  Dornan, soon to be seen as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey, honed his S&M skills as the sexually motivated murderer. While season two lacks some of season one's intensity, it's still a thoroughly engrossing cat and mouse game.

Gillian Anderson as DSI Stella Gibson

Jamie Dornan as Peter Spector

All images via Google

True Blood Finale Party

We are huge True Blood fans and will be sad to say farewell to the HBO series this Sunday, as the seventh and final season comes to an end.  It will definitely be toughest to let go of our favorite character, Eric Northman, but hopefully a little finale party - including a few True Blood themed cocktails and some Southern fried chicken - will help ease the pain. 

Arlene's Bon Temps Bloody Mary Recipe

from the True Blood Cookbook

Ingredients:

6 ounces tomato juice

1.5 ounces vodka

1 tsp fresh lime juice

.5 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Cracked Ice

Pickled Green Beans or Pickled Okra - for garnish

Combine the tomato juice, vodka, lime juice, and Worcestershire in a cocktail shaker.  Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne.  Stir.  Fill a highball glass with ice and pour the drink over the ice.  Garnish with the beans or okra.  Serve immediately.

Makes 1 drink

Sookie's What a Fried Chicken Recipe
 from the True Blood Cookbook

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Lard or vegetable oil… for deep frying
Two 3-3.5 pound broiler-fryer chickens cut into serving pieces

Combine the flour, salt, paprika, black pepper, and cayenne in a large plastic or paper bag.
Shake to mix.
Heat about 2 inches of lard until it registers 360 degrees farenheit on a deep-fry thermometer in a large, heavy pot. Put four chicken pieces in the bag, and shake well. Add the chicken to the hot fat and deep-fry until golden brown and cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
Drain the chicken on paper towels.
Repeat the process with the remaining chicken.
Serve hot or warm.

Serves 4-6

And for decor:

Clockwise from top left: sweatshirt, (fairy) light, white sage, viking helmet, 

red crepe paper, cook book, beer glass, voodoo dolls, card game, confederate cap,

fangs balloon, shot glass, bon temps tee, werepanther pillow

Can't Wait For: Halt and Catch Fire

We have high hopes that the new AMC series, Halt and Catch Fire, will fill the Sunday night void left by Mad Men when the first half of its final season concludes at the end of the month.  Halt and Catch Fire, which premieres June 1st, is set in Dallas' 'Silicon Prairie' in the 1980s, and follows a salesman and computer engineer building a business together at the dawn of the PC age.  We love the energy of the preview, and can't wait to make this our new summer show.

Can't Wait For: Mad Men Season 7

One of our very favorite shows, Mad Men, returns to AMC on Sunday, April 13th, for the first part of its seventh and final season.  These photographs were just released to promote it, and it appears the fashion and sets are moving on from the mod looks of the mid-1960s to the more psychedelic styles of the late 1960s.  We can't wait to see more of the fashion and set design, but we are especially interested in the ways the characters develop in the last season, and how creator Matthew Weiner resolves (or doesn't resolve) things for Don Draper, his associates, and his family.   

See our previous Mad Men coverage here.

All images via Google

We Recommend: True Detective

If you haven't already started watching HBO's incredible new crime drama, True Detective, it's the perfect time to start.  They took this week off for the Superbowl, and are returning next Sunday, Febuary 9th, at 9pm - giving you plenty of time to catch the first three episodes on HBO Go or HBO On Demand.  

The show, which is directed by Bay Area native Cary Joji Fukunaga, stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as a pair of very different Louisiana detectives, working together to solve a ritualistic murder in their small town in 1995.  The story unfolds slowly, told via flashback from the present day, as the men realize this is bigger than just one death... But it's a slow burn, and delves into their respective personalities and life philosophies along the way.

Images via Google

We Recommend: Top of the Lake

We are a little late to the game on this mini-series, but we had to share our enthusiasm for it.  Written by Academy Award winning writer-director Jane Campion and novelist/screenwriter Gerard Lee, this series is set in the South Island of New Zealand, and stars Golden Globe winning Elisabeth Moss in a huge departure from her role as Peggy on Mad Men.  The setting in this remote, wilderness surrounded lakeside town - where a piece of land called Paradise houses a colony of broken women - is the perfect backdrop for a mystery series that touches on themes of abuse, family ties, and innocence lost.  The characters are all fascinating and flawlessly portrayed, and the story is one that will hook you and have you watching all seven episodes as quickly as possible.

The series played on the Sundance channel in the US (and it was the first miniseries to screen at the Sundance Festival), and is now available on Netflix and iTunes.

Images via Google

Our Favorite Emmy Fashion 2013

Julie Bowen in Zac Posen

Kate Mara in J. Mendel

Robin Wright in Ralph Lauren

Allison Williams in Ralph Lauren

Claire Danes in Armarni Privé & Hugh Dancy

Laura Dern in Naeem Khan

Kristen Connolly in Nicholas Oakwell

Zooey Deschanel in J. Mendel

Michelle Dockery in Prada

Taylor Schilling in Thakoon

Mad Men Season 6 Photos Released

One of our favorite shows, both for fashion and writing, Mad Men is returning for its sixth season with a two hour premiere on Sunday, April 7th.  AMC has released new images to promote it, and we are already excited about the clothes.  Here's a peek at the new photos, as well as some of the best looks from seasons past.

Betty Francis, Sally Draper, Megan Draper, and Don Draper in Season 6

Ken Cosgrove, Harry Crane, Roger Sterling, Joan Harris, and Bert Cooper in Season 6

Betty Draper with red nails, a cigarette, and a BB gun in Season 1

Classic Joan Holloway in Season 1

Rachel Menken and Don Draper in Season 1

Betty Draper's Equestrian Chic in Season 2

Betty Draper shows off her new bikini in Season 2

Betty and Don Draper in Rome, Season 3

Betty Draper and Henry Francis in Season 3

Pete and Trudy Campbell in their festive best, Season 4

Megan Draper in a black chiffon mini dress in the Season 5 opener

Megan Draper in a chevron print coat in Season 5

Peggy Olson's Career Woman Makeover in Season 5

Jane Sterling's Very 60s Style in Season 5 - this look is definitely leading us into the next season