August already?! Yes. Late August. Here are some of my recent and current fascinations…

Reading: Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies.

Art: The exhibition “Swing Time: Reginald Marsh and Thirties New York,” at the New-York Historical Society.

Eats and Treats: A summer salad of tomatoes and peaches from the farmers market, with basil from our yard.

Drinks: Cocktails at Little Branch with my old friend Joe when he was in NYC last week. My favorite was a Water Lily (gin, crème de violette, lemon, and Cointreau). Perfection.

Beauty Products: Lipsticks in brighter rose shades, from higher-end (Lancôme’s Roses in Love) to drugstore (Maybelline’s Rose of Attraction).

Garb: Classic espadrilles in black.

Video: Breaking Bad. We can talk of nothing else these days.

Milestone: My first pair of eyeglasses, for reading. I’m getting old!

Image: August (Août) by Eugène Grasset (1896), via Wikipaintings.