10 Things I Cannot Live Without - by Elena O'Connor

Elena O’Connor, the daughter of guitar-playing dentist Rodney O’Connor, is an Eastman-trained soprano who has performed numerous times with the RPO and Mercury Opera. But she has spent the past year and a half launching and developing Jackson & Hines, a Pittsford beauty boutique she owns with her mom, Pamela. She divides her time between Rochester and Spain’s Costa Blanca, where she lives with her boyfriend, Diego.

10 Things I Cannot Live Without

1. My MacBook: I am not a techie person—don’t know “html” from “http.” But my Mac makes me feel like I’m Stephen Hawking.

2. L’Occitane Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Cream: We started carrying L’Occitane at J&H back in June, and their Shea Butter Hand Cream is by far our biggest seller. But the Ultra Rich Body Cream is sublime. I love it. If I were stranded on a desert island and could have only one thing, it would be this cream. Not a friend, not a two-way radio: just the cream.

3. Beignets from the French Quarter Café: These sweet little puffs of dough, from the café on Goodman and Park (176 S. Goodman St.), are laden with powdered sugar and make me really happy. Deliriously happy. Like, I eat them and have psychedelic thoughts such as, “This must be what fluffy clouds mixed with rainbows taste like, man.” They’re best enjoyed with a cold glass of Pittsford Dairy’s miraculously creamy “skim” milk.

4. D.H. Lawrence: If only my favorite writer were someone living—that way I could look forward to the next release. I’ve read every bit of fiction written by D.H. Lawrence and most of his nonfiction as well. Sons and Lovers and Women in Love will always have their special places on my shelf.

5. Wegmans: In Spain (where I live part of the year) we have the Alhambra, we have Gaudi, we’ve got some of the best cuisine in the world—plus the freakin’ Mediterranean Sea. But a Wegmans? A Wegmans would make it my Shangri-La.

6. 30 Rock: I cannot get enough of this show. I hope it stays on forever, like 60 Minutes. I laugh my head off watching it...usually alone, eating the aforementioned beignets, and thus beginning my slow descent into becoming Liz Lemon.

7. Brahms: Pretty much every composer has tried their hand at writing an opera, but Johannes Brahms was supposedly so cocky, he didn’t even bother. Anyone who’s heard Jacqueline du Pré play him or Christopher Seaman conduct him knows why. I love Mozart and Rachmaninoff, but Brahms is really up there for me. I love singing Brahms; I love hearing Brahms.

8. Jackson & Hines Facials: OK, I may be a bit biased, but regular facials with Linda at J&H have literally changed my skin. Of course now they’ve become so popular that even I can’t get on the schedule! Over the years I’ve had prescriptions and purchased products from TV; never would I have predicted that an organic product would be what would finally give me skin I feel proud of.

9. Autumn: Letchworth Park in October + a picnic basket
chock full of Schutt’s apple cider and grape pie + good friends = a pretty swell day.

10. My Family: I have the world’s best boyfriend and friends who are generous, loyal and hysterically funny. I also have parents better than I deserve, the coolest siblings and the most loving aunts and uncles; they’re all people I’d choose to be in my life were I not blessed with them by fate.

As originally published in "Rochester Magazine" November/December 2010 Issue