Before and After.

Whew. After the whatever that was last week, things are back on track. Room cleaned, food purchased, gym went etc. etc. Here is the incriminating evidence...Unfortunately this post should really be called, before, after and before, as things are slipping backwards...

Trader Joes is a Bad. Bitch.

Living in Soho is so sweet, most of the time I feel like I am living in a dream. I can only really think of two shortcomings, but they are big ones, like deal breakers. Ok, that is a wild exaggeration, but you get the point.

1. Soho has NO good Chinese Take-Out. You can get either super upscale, fancy Asian Fusion bullshit, or you can go legit China Town aka I have never heard of anything on this menu and its not written in the western alphabet. And neither deliver. 
2. The grocery stores are a civilized version of highway robbery. Shopping at the Gourmet Garage, affectionately re-named "Gourmage" by AZN, is equivalent to taking money out of your wallet and eating it. In fact, that would be more cost effective I believe. Hate it. 

The first of these shortcomings has no solution, this might be a good thing, because it has drastically curtailed my Chinese Food intake. The second of the shortcomings has a solution that involves, one rolling suitcase, one 140 block round trip on the C train, one two-avenue cross town hike and the Traders Joe's at 72nd and Broadway.

Now, it is true that Trader Joes has a somewhat strange and limited selection of groceries, but you know what they say about desperate times. I have found that, with a little creativity and flexibility in regards to your staples, you can get by just fine exclusively shopping there. Its just so cheap and their products are a good quality, so I really have no complaints. Aside from the fact that I think I pulled a muscle in my neck hauling my 90 pound rolling suitcase down two flights of stairs on the Upper West Side and then back up two flights downtown...and the fact that I get mistook for a disheveled tourist with all that luggage on the subway-- bastards.

I have to say I love love the affordability. Food at TJ's is so reasonable that I really do not have to hold back. It's a favorite part of my week when I walk in the doors and think to myself, I can wander around and get whatever I want. This may not sound super satisfying--how exciting can "whatever you want" be in a grocery store with a limited selection of fruits and veggies-- but it is baby, it is.

I went wild today! Got enough food for this week and next AND some special stuff to make some "pumpkin feta muffins" and make a second attempt at that damned whole wheat chocolate chip cookie skillet that came out sooo wonderful last week.

Everything you see here came to $80! Its a steal.

Follow Up to Disappointment: Vindication!

Thanks to CLP, visit her here, for bringing my attention to this article from MediaMatter.org in re Palin/Breastfeeding Debate...


"Palin had as governor of Alaska, when she declared October 2007 "Breastfeeding Awareness Month" and issued a proclamation that said, "government and community organizations have a vested interest in protecting and promoting breastfeeding as a means of preventing infant malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality."

From a 2007 news release (via nexis):

Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, has issued the following proclamation:
WHEREAS, breastfeeding is recognized as an unequalled means of providing food for infants.
WHEREAS, throughout their lives, breastfeeding can offer children protection against serious health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Breastfeeding also saves lives by reducing the incidence of life-threatening cancers in women and preventing premature death in infants.
WHEREAS, breastfeeding forms the most basic bond between mother and baby and is a foundation for lifelong health and wellness.
WHEREAS, government and community organizations have a vested interest in protecting and promoting breastfeeding as a means of preventing infant malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality.
WHEREAS, during October, organizations throughout our state will promote the importance of breastfeeding. This year, in conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week - October 1 through October 7 - the State of Alaska will support networks that encourage and promote breastfeeding in all communities.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the State of Alaska, do hereby proclaim October 2007 as:
Breastfeeding Awareness Month
in Alaska, and encourage all residents to recognize and support the important contributions breastfeeding makes in improving the quality of life for all Alaskans.

Ha. 

TROUBLE!

My news feed has just informed me that PURL is having a 40% off sale THIS week in their store on Broome. This is dangerous, very dangerous, I may have to entirely avoid my zip code in order to thwart temptation....

For those of who are not tryingggggg (semi-successfully) to stick to a no "superfluous spending" which is fancy for, do not buy shit I cannot afford, new years resolution, I suggest you head down there and quick! I cannot even imagine the excitement that is a yarn sale!

Brow Bar/Low Bar/Dive Bar

I am telling myself that the 3 day weekend got me out of the groove. I promise to be better. I am, as CLP likes to say, a SLAVE to my routine. Everyday, the same thing, over and over-- and sometimes, when an excuse to throw it out the window presents itself, say in the form of a three day weekend, everything goes to hell. And baby, I am on or off. Either its all happening, or not a damn thing is happening.  As soon as I let one thing go, like deciding, what the hell, I am not going to gym, its like literally opening the flood gates. Not only do I stop going to the gym, I completely disregard nutrional eating, I sleep til 11, forget flossing, dishes pile up, room looks like its inhabited by a banshee, blog gets totally neglected etc etc. Whew, by the time Wednesday rolled around, I was like, someone has to reign me in.

Yikes! It's Wednesday and nothing interesting has happened in days, except the slow decline of my quality of life! Well this is not entirely true, but I have not managed to bring my freaking camera out of the house with me (rouinte meet window) and therefore you just have to pretty much take my word for it.

Somehow, while not doing a damn thing I was supposed to be doing, I  managed to go to Williamsburg twice since Sunday-- and not just like a hop off the L Williamsburg but actual deep in, like no way I could have found my way home on my own, taking the J train. Ha. Who knew there was so much abandoned industrial factory space out there, just waiting to be explored? Leave it to "???" ( wouldn't you like to know....)  to know the most out of the way, end of an alley, climb through hole in fence hang out on the waterfront in Green Point. I felt like I was in The Outsiders (anyone read that one?) and yes, it was worth the walk-- even though I started bitching about half way in. 

Saturday AZN and I headed out for a business clothes shopping trip and made it home four hours later with me having convinced her to dye her eyelashes and wax her eyebrows ( all for the first time ) with not a work appropriate outfit to our names. Bumma. That being said the Boom Boom Brow Bar on 7th Ave in-between 12th and 13th is a-mazing. They do a great job-- though our lady may have been a little over zealous on the sell-- trying to convince me that I should dye my eyelashes-- I was like, woman, how much darker can they get?? My eyebrows, though, have never looked so good. And though AZN looks like a racoon here, her lashes and brows came out faaabulously.

While waiting to her to finish her forehead make-over I headed to DR next door and was drawn into the fragrence section. Turns out for only $15 you can smell just like Dirt, a Wet Garden or, best yet, DOTS. What's a city girl to do when she wants to smell like she has been rolling around on a grassy knowl? Is that even how you spell that word? Knoll? Who Know-lls. Hehe. 

In other news, I have decided I HATE my haircut ( I know, just after I got all preachy about looking fucking fabulous, ugh) and that I wake up every morning looking like ZZ Top. It's my fault, not Heart's, she did exactly what I asked, I just asked for something that is so wrong. So now I am actively engaged in the exciting activity of "waiting for my hair to grow". I am telling you, things are getting so exciting around here, sometimes I forget where I am. 

I will post pics of the disastrous state of living quarters later, just for kicks.

Disappointment.

I had a much more inappropriate/vulgar title for this post, but decided to change it in order to keep things civil.  I do not like to mix politics and blogging, for the most part because I think politics is serious and blogging it silly. Exception to every rule. Michelle Obama came out this week to talk about her breast-feeding initiative, as part of her campaign against Obesity.  She wants to increase breastfeeding nation-wide, particularly in amongst African-American mothers, where breastfeeding rates are low. Studies have proven that breastfeeding reduces obesity rates, improves immune systems, and some even suggest that the nutritional benefits help babies develop with higher I.Q.s, bottom line, its good for your kids. As part of this initiative, Mrs. Obama announced that breastfeeding products, like breasts pumps, will now be tax deductible, to help cover the costs for mothers. Great! Seems like a great idea, good for the kids, help out the mothers, its a win win. No where did she say that EVERY mother HAD to breastfeed; her sole aim is to increase awareness and access. 


Enter Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Bachmann went on Laura Ingraham's radio show to hate hard-- saying "To think that government has to go out and buy my breast pump — You want to talk about nanny state, I think we just got a new definition. " I mean, really?????  Aside from this being a ludicrous statement, it is also misinformed,  Mrs. Obama did not say the government was buying anything, just that breast feeding supplies would be tax deductible. She went on; “I support what the first lady is trying to do, but I also think there’s already enough pressure on working moms,” she said. “Yes, breast is best, but there are plenty of mothers who love and care for their children, but simply can’t pump — for time, work or physical reasons.” Ok, so if you support it, why are politicizing it and calling a tax break (which I thought you were all for by the way) an act of the nanny state?? Obviously not every mother can breastfeed-- no one is saying they have to, Mrs. Obama is only trying to increase access for those mothers who want to and can, but who are unable in their current circumstance or uneducated about its benefits. Providing access to the  tools and skills mothers need  to make the choice that is right for them, is something everyone can get behind, no?  By her own admission, Bachmann breastfed her five children, somehow amidst her busy career, she managed to find the time, doesn't she think it's worth getting behind other working moms to support their effort? 


As if this wasn't irritating enough, Palin added to the already intelligent discourse,  while speaking on Long Island: “No wonder Michelle Obama is telling everybody, ‘You better breast-feed your baby, Yeah, you’d better, because the price of milk is so high right now.”  This for me is the lowest of the low. First of all, even if you are not breastfeeding your child, you give them formula, not cows milk. I hope these women realize that they are playing with children's health, as mothers and as women, I would expect more, no matter their politics. 


Feel free to comment with vulgar title ideas, I could always edit it post-post...

Vogue? What the hell.

I have literally now idea what came over me, but the other night, I decided it would be fun to get a subscription to Vogue. Convinced it would be be too expensive, I none the less decided to check out the website, turns out, I could get year subscriptions to Vogue and W for 12.99 each! That is fashion I can afford! I know it is so easy to look at stuff online, but something about thumbing through actual pages is so satisfying for me-- e.g. I love reading the print NY Times, even though it is like trying to read print off a  freaking throw blanket, rangling it awkwardly on the couch. Add my love for print, my love for mail, and my love for fantasy shopping together and what does one get? Vogue and W subscriptions. I am not, NOT excited !! (get it?) 




The funny thing is that, with these subscriptions, my fashionable email volume has picked up-- I now get invites to trunk shows and all sorts of silly stuff that I will never do, but none the less make one feel glamorous, or not glamorous, as the case may be. One of these funny perks is access to slide shows and reviews from every show at NY Fashion week-- which I must say is actually pretty cool. 

Below are my faves from Vera Wang and Carolina Herrera, with a sprinkle from Oscar de la Renta (whose fall collection, by the way, looks like it was inspired by those Russian nesting dolls-- its very strange...) and Marchesa (whose fall collection was def inspired by 19th Century Spanish widows...lots of lacy black veils etc).




I love the masculine feel of Vera's Collection. The collection as a whole has a dark, sort of industrialized and sometimes even biker feel, which I love. Black feathers abound, bring in an primal touch which is the perfect accent to the overall somber mood.  The sweater below is a big fave.  A break from this masculine, dark theme is the dropped waist, Victorian looking number. Even though Victorian pieces are traditionally feminine, the era, for me, evokes such a darkness and mystery, that compliments the darkness of this collection as whole. The severity and conservativeness, of this dress,  make me think VW is playing with the idea of what defines hard core, or tough- on one end the overt black/leather and on the other, the severe and conservative. I cannot say that I have ever found anything dropped waist attractive before in my life, it always evokes 20's era costume to me, not matter where I see it. This dress is certainly the exception. I also like it's racier gray cousin on the left, the Victorian feel is lost, but I am still into it.

Vera Wang Fall 2011

As for the two stragglers here in the middle, cannot say I loved either collection as a whole, but I am obsessed with this jacket. The fur hood was prominent throughout the entire Oscar de la Renta line, which I liked a lot, in particular this piece. And the Marchesa dress is just beautiful. I love pink/nude shades. 




 Oscar de la Renta and Marchesa Fall 2011

Turning a totally different page I like the classic,  feminine feel of  Carolina Herrera's fall line,  it's almost vintage feeling, but very modern at the same time. I love the grey suit with the big dramatic collar. Though I would not wear the turquoise/brown feather print dress, I am drawn to something about it, I think its the shape. I would love it in black, no surprise there. The black dress with the fur collar is fabulous, nothing more really to say about that. 




Carolina Herrera Fall 2011

Do.It.Someone.Else

 D   .I   .S.   E.

D.I.S.E....For the sake of a catchiness we will pronounce this new phrase "DICE" or should it be "DIES"? Hmm...we will circle back to this.

Anyways-- this post is a D.I.Y. backlash baby, so get ready. First of all, let me state that I love "doing it myself". A little history--  I taught myself how to sew when I was in middle school (after being inspired by the wardrobe at the spice girls concert, this led to, as I am sure you can imagine, the creation of a number of strange and impractical items of clothing...) and I sewed my way straight threw High School. My wardrobe was at its best, fashion forward, and at its worse, a) falling off and b) a one way ticket to dress code violation. A week from my high school graduation, the college counselor and semi senior graduation coordinator, pulled me aside and said "Lavinia can you PLEASE BUY a dress for the graduation ceremony?!" I acquiesced.

In college, I worked as the seamstress/designer for the Dance Department,  I sewed everyone's Halloween Costumes and I hemmed tuxedos; young adults come out of the woodwork for a girl with a sewing machine.  I have made my fair share of throw pillows and throw blankets,  and crafts-- little personalized name lunchboxes for my nephews at Christmas etc. I recently took up knitting, and am completely in love. This long rambling introduction is an attempt to impress upon you that I am handy with the D.I.Y.--- and I love it, I swear.

D.I.Y. could be compared to driving standard-- sure it's more "fun" and a lot cooler, but when you are stuck in traffic and just need to get where you are going, you realize why they invented the automatic transmission. There are some stark realities that must be faced about Doing It Yourself and they ain't pretty: 

1. It's HARDLY ever cheaper. In fact, most of the time, its more expensive when you account for:
• fuck ups-- which any true D.I.Y.er has plenty of
• the fact that when you are making something it is usually because you think you can make it nicer and better, which usually means more pricey "ingredients" be it materials, supplies etc
2. The amount of time and effort that goes into its creation, often surpasses it's use i.e. I wanted a cute little scarf, decided to make it instead-- a million hours and a 100 bucks later, I have one. Now it's Spring. Hmmm. Unless I wear this everyday til July, I am not sure it was justified.
3. A lot of the time, despite your best efforts, the creation does not turn out how to envisioned it-- OR takes a turn and becomes a completely different project, leaving you right back where you started, needing to purchase that original trinket that you had decided to make...
4. This may be a personal problem, but I find,  the process of shopping for "ingredients" for whatever I am D.I.Y.ing often leads to being otherwise inspired, resulting in the purchase of materials for multiple projects on top of the one which brought me in...these "project offspring' then result in their own time consuming, semi useful, fuck-ups along the way, incurring further cost. 
5. I find that, in the midst of D.I.Y.ing that little dress, or throw pillow or Christmas present, all the other things I should be D.I.Y.ing, like my laundry, making lunches for the week, cleaning my room, end up getting D.I.S.E.-ed-- laundry gets dropped off, lunch gets bought out-- a slippery slope!

I have to say, when being asked for the 100th time, by a hyper organized, super creative and dexterous, organic eating super-human if I made it myself, I relish in informing them that, no, someone else freaking made it and they are probably not local. Life is busy, and though I would like to stencil flowers onto my walls and lampshades, I can probably wander down to Ikea and get something that will suffice just fine or just go without (which is my usual M.O.)-- saving my creative energy- and creative budget- for the projects that keep me up a night with excitement.

This all being said, the things that friends and family make (sew, bake, paint, craft, knit, write, visit 'here', 'here' and 'here' for some great examples) are truly amazing. Both my parents create such beauty all the time, its hard not to be inspired by their talent and, it is true, only you can make it the best-- it just might take a couple tries....

Redemption

...and it feels so good!

Fueled by my FAILURE with the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Skillet-- which, by the way, further investigation has revealed are also burnt--I went back to the drawing table. This time to attempt a tasty looking recipe I found in Martha Stewart Living this month ( I know, so ridiculous, just let it go), Zucchini Bread Cookie Sandwiches. Ugh, the recipe is ostensibly more difficult than the previous one, but I was, as always, optimistic. Find the recipe 'here'. I pretty much stuck to it, except I halved the sugar in the icing and went 50/50 whole wheat/white flour.

Questions:

1. Recipe calls for "finely grated zucchini". Only two options on my grater- coarse and something that looked like it would qualify as "fine" but when I grated, it literally liquefied the zucchini...So the question here is, does coarsely grated and then minced with a butcher knife=finely grated?
2. Does one of the racks from inside of my oven, balanced on two bowls constitute a cooling rack? 
3. Is it really important to adhere to the order in which they direct you to combine ingredients? 

 I must say perseverance paid off! Though these babies are not wining any beauty contests, they are freaking delicious-- and I swear, easy! Good thing I decided to invite a random assortment of people over for dinner this evening. Gloating, here I come. Too bad I documented my failure so publicly  earlier in the day, could have just thrown that whole lot in the bin and never spoken another word about it...no one would have been the wiser. But I do  feel bad reveling in domestic success when the failure is still sitting on my counter looking un-appetizing.

 The "finely grated" zucchini, pre run in with the butcher knife...

In case you are wondering what the hell this is, yes, my "cooling rack" does involve, the oven shelf, strips of tin foil, and a bowl to hold it up.  That measuring tape just snuck in there, but serves no purpose. Ha.

Well, I would not describe them as Tasty....

OK, the Whole Wheat Skillet Cookie(s) are in the oven. No surprise, there was some improvisation.

Obstacles

1. No sifter-- does a colander work in its place? we shall see..
2. No electric mixer-- does putting the bowl on the stove (hoping the heat will loosen up the "cold butter" the recipe calls for) and a fork work in its place? 
3. These unsweetened chocolate chips taste like shit-- do they improve once cooked??? the woman assured me that "bittersweet" meant unsweetened, I hope she knew what she was talking about...
• Live update here- confirmation that the two are infact, different. ugh
4. Do one nine inch skillet and one 6 inch skillet work in place of one ten inch skillet?

 

Well, here they are. I would not describe them as tasty...But, as promised, it's a nice pic, no?

Baking.

 

Despite the fact that almost every baking/cooking project I take on ends up in failure, I have decided to brave yet another. Inspired by the healthy and yummy recipes from 101 Cookbooks ( my sister LM, is a big fan, always whipping up something- she is also the queen of recipe alternation, visit her 'here') -- and CLP's creation this weekend (read about her exploits in the kitchen, here, only if you want to feel underaccomplished or inspired, as the case may be...). I have decided to make the very same Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip cookies in a skillet. I love anything that one makes in a skillet, so hears hoping!  Recipie 'here'.

Really, nothing good ever comes of these exploits, but it does not stop me from trying. Experiences range from the catastrophic, to just the disappointing.One particularly ill-fated attempt at deep frying resulted in the burning down of my kitchen. Actually. 7 fire exstinguishers, one freshman, one heaping pile of baking soda, one belated arrival of the fire department- add it all up and it equals we had to move out. Wish, admist literally fighting flames, I had taken some pics.  More recently, I tried to chocolate cover a variety of gummies, but somehow the addition of melted off gelatin made the melting chocolate harden like a freaking rock. Total disaster, it was like cement mixing.

Will report in when these babies are done. And hopefully produce, if nothing else, an equally yummy, put together looking picutre.

History. I freaking love it!

I have to say I am of two very distinct minds about Boston. I LOVE it, but I could never live there. I guess for me its NYC or the SBC, ha. That being said, I am obsessed with visiting this historical city. I am also obsessed with the existence of a slightly high end chain Chinese food restaurant, P.F.Changs. I feel silly admitting my love for a chain restaurant, though not really, as I have also been known to love Burger King, much to CLP's dismay ( read her amazing DIY and healthy foodie blog 'here'). Bottom line, I love Chinese food, and any restaurant that lets me enjoy it, while being semi-dressed up and out on a Saturday evening is good in my book.

Aside from unhealthy chain restaurants (this list is really bringing people in so far, huh?) I love the history that is Boston. The narrow brick and cobblestone streets, vintage street lamps and crooked little row houses make for a magical step back in time and I eat that shit up. It also doesn't hurt that everywhere in Boston has Harpoon IPA on tap, a-mazing. 

This weekend we walked the freedom trail and visited the USS Constitution, the world's oldest warship still afloat.  The freedom trail is basically a yellow brick road for history, and its fun to follow it blindly around town. The thin, two brick wide trail leads you from historical churches to Paul Revere's House, to Faneuil Hall to the Navy Yard, winding through many neighborhoods on its way.

This church was amazing! It had these funny box style pews with little doors. You would open them up and be sitting in what resembled a little stage coach. The pews were labeled for the historical figures who occupied them, the Governor, Paul Revere etc., super cool. 

Sorry Daddo, no good knots on display, but I thought this rope was pretty nice. Maybe not mule tape quality...but nice still.

In the same Navy Yard as the Constitution, there is America's oldest dry dock. Its pretty crazy. Docked in it in the USS Cassin Young, which is a bad ass Navy Destroyer that fought in WWII, fighting in Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

 

It's just so good why do they not exist in the city??