The World According to Gayle: 6 Things I'm Loving This April
"Your presence is a unique gift to the world."
I just love this quote, which a friend e-mailed to me after seeing it on a shop window in Beirut, Lebanon.
I Have a New Favorite Drink
The Half Circle from the
Lobby Lounge at Manhattan's Mandarin Oriental Hotel is so delicious, I got the bartender to share the recipe: half pomegranate juice, half pineapple juice, with a splash of Sprite. As a nondrinker, I finally feel like I can hang with the grown-ups!
Photo: Courtesy of Alan Markfield/Screen Gems Productions
I Was Excited When I Heard...
That Steve Harvey's book
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man inspired a
hilaaarious new movie,
Think Like a Man, starring Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, and more. The film is really clever about bringing the relationship advice to life—things like, you can tell how into you a man is by how he introduces you to his friends. So true!
Photo: Valarie Allyn Beinas
Who Knew Rita Wilson Could Sing?
Her first album,
AM/FM—which she named after the songs she loved on the radio as a girl—includes covers of '60s hits, like my favorite, "Walking in the Rain," originally sung by the
Ronettes. I listened to Rita's rendition five times in a row. It makes me happy every time!
I'll Always Remember...
When I bumped into
Good Morning America's Robin Roberts on a flight to my mother's funeral in 1994, and how kind she was during that difficult time. So I was thrilled when I heard she wrote a book with her own mother, 88-year-old Lucimarian Roberts.
My Story, My Song details Lucimarian's struggles with an alcoholic father, racial prejudice, and Hurricane Katrina, with Robin's perspective at the end of each chapter. What struck me was how the hymns Lucimarian learned as a girl helped pull her through these hardships.
Photo: Courtesy of Stuart Weitzman
I Can't Take Off...
These oxford platform pumps—they're like my version of Dorothy's ruby slippers! They also helped a good cause: Scarlett Johansson designed them with
Stuart Weitzman, and proceeds benefited ovarian cancer research. In my opinion, red is the new black, so I can wear them with everything!
Photo: James Keivon/New York Daily News/Getty
I Went Gaga For...
The meal I had at
Joanne Trattoria in Manhattan, the new restaurant owned by Joe and Cynthia Germanotta, also known as Lady Gaga's parents. They worked on the menu with Oprah's former chef Art Smith, and when Cynthia invited me to a tasting, I couldn't get enough of Papa G's chicken—so tender it fell off the bone. I'm still thinking about it!
From the
April 2012 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine
