7 Things Gayle King's Loving this December
Show me someone who doesn't love a good patty melt,
and I'll show you a person who's never chowed down
at the lunch counter of Court Street Grocers Sandwich Shop in Manhattan.
Manager Gerard Barwell puts pork, beef, corned beef,
caramelized onions, Cheddar and comeback sauce between two slices
of rye, then panini presses the whole thing until it's crispy,
chewy, melty—everything you'd ever want in a sandwich.
Wild, based on Cheryl Strayed's best-selling memoir
(and Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection), opens with an F-bomb
dropped by Reese Witherspoon, who plays a woman grieving
her mom's death by taking a 90-day hike. The flashbacks
are plentiful, Reese's performance is Oscar-worthy, and the
line that stayed with me is this: "I'm gonna walk myself
back to the woman my mother thought I was."
Beyond The Lights stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a tortured
pop star and Nate Parker as the cop who saves her from a suicide
attempt. I'm in it, too, playing the teeny, tiny role of Gayle King
from
CBS This Morning. The movie has its share of clichés,
but it's sweet and romantic and won me over in the end.
Photos: Beyond the Lights: Suzanne Tenner/2013 Blackbird Productions LLC; Wild: Anne Marie Fox/Fox Searchlight Pictures
Photo: Courtesy of Hightower & Coffees of Rwanda
My friend Grace is a force of nature! After she attended a dinner
where the president of Rwanda spoke of how his country wants
"trade, not aid"—and then learned that one crop
of coffee beans can sustain a Rwandan family of four for a
year—a business was born. Grace Hightower & Coffees
of Rwanda supports the country's farmers, and the beans are,
according to my coffee-drinking friends, delicious. Buy this gift set,
and you're buying a better future for a whole lot of hardworking
people.
Land of 1,000 Hills Holiday Set, $75;
CoffeeOfGrace.com
Photo: Courtesy of Capitol Music Group
If you've been through something there's a good chance Mary J. Blige
has, too—the difference is, she sings about it. Her new album,
The London Sessions, is fun, soulful, therapeutic,
and just fine.
I know Gap intended this hat for kids, but after trying it on in our
fashion closet, I want my own. Gap's ad
campaign says "Dress Normal." It turns out my
"normal" involves pom-poms!
$15;
Gap.com
Do you have any idea what it's like trying to come up with a
Christmas present for Oprah? Well, I'm pretty sure she
doesn't have anything like this. I met Colin Harrison-Kreslin
when Oprah's The Life You Want tour rolled into Detroit, and
what can I say? This guy knows how to make a fashion statement.
From the
December 2014 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine
