suck it, snuggie

room in shambles

So T and I went to IKEA some time ago and I got this frozen gravlax, which sounds like something you shouldn't be eating but is in reality cold cured salmon, anyways, turns out the salmon was amazing, and turns out it's pretty easy to make at home. Guess what I'm going to be doing? This is only going to intensify my obsession with cured salmon products.




I finished Revolutionary Road last weekend and it in no way was horribly, awfully, soul-crushingly depressing, nor did it make me feel like all human beings are completely alone in life. I also started reading A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor and it in no way is theologically complicated and filled with morally questionable and grotesque characters.

Things that have been stuck in my head:

• My Girls : Animal Collective- only this part: "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status," but it sounds more like this: "IIIIIIII don't mean to seem like I care about...material things... like-a-social-status"
• Owner of a Lonely Heart : Yes - I don't know why, but about 100 times a day for the past three days, this snippet passes through my brain

I think I want to buy some matte lame (is there supposed to be an accent on that e?) leggings (black, obvi), but I'm afraid of how they are going to look. On my ass. Which is huge. I think I need to pay a visit to American Apparel. Speaking of matte, I bought some matte black nailpolish and am waiting for it to arrive in the maillllllllllllll.

I still have not learned how to use the camera my sister and K bought me for Christmas / Birthday. Sighhhhhhhh

Food makes me excited

Lots of exciting things have been going on since last Thursday. Mostly food related.


Thursday was the day S and I ventured to our local BK and tried the Angry Whopper. Not bad, pretty spicy, kind of a weird sauce that came on it (sweet BBQ?), but the onions were NOT as spiteful as the commercials had led me to believe.

Friday was the day I finally got to go to La Verdad, more than a year of wanting to. I was inspired (read: made hungry) by Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on Mexico City and its taquerias. T and I shared some amazing corn and had some amazing tacos. I have no pictures, I will blame that on the deliciousness of the food.

Saturday was the day I had a chicken mcnuggets picnic lunch, and four of my favorite drinks in the world at night: hot cider & bourbon, gin & tonic, a manhattan with extra cherries, and a young's double chocolate stout.




Sunday was the day T and I went to Hot Dog Ranch in western Mass and got some "famous baby hot dogs," which were pretty good. They told us two hot dogs probably equaled one normal sized hot dog. Also, we had tater tots. I love tater tots. For dinner, T and I went to Hungry Mother and destroyed everything on our plates. Mini ham & biscuits, fried oysters, trout / steak, pan fried cornbread, and a "moon pie" all met their demise at our hands. Also I had some sweet tea. Plus ten points.


To top it all off, I had yesterday off to celebrate Chinese New Years. I ran some errands, had some quiche and a cafe au lait at Cafe L'Aroma (which also has an amazing fruit tart, which I was too full for), and bought this crazy cotton candy skirt from H&M. They had this amazing section full of flouncy, voluminous cotton voiles in floral print, chunky knits, and detailed coats in a sky blue / cotton candy pink / khaki scheme. Anyways, its literally like a lantern, and plus, it matches all of my black clothes. I love it and wish it was warm / I had somewhere to wear this to.


Now, S and I are going to have some fried chicken. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Fourteen Passive-Aggressive Appetizers

by Yoni Brenner

originally published in the New Yorker, July 21, 2008

1. Top thick slices of country bread with fresh goat cheese. Sprinkle with herbs and bake until crusty; serve to everyone but Jeff.


2. Vegetarian friends? Try veggie rumaki: wrap a strip of imitation bacon around a water chestnut, spear with a toothpick, and broil—but instead of imitation bacon use real bacon, and instead of a water chestnut use veal.


3. Steal Cheryl’s famous potato-salad recipe. When Cheryl asks, “Why did you steal my recipe?,” say, “I don’t know, Cheryl, why did you break my heart?” Then laugh so she knows you’re just kidding.


4. Blend fresh crabmeat with diced avocado, scallions, and a dollop of mayonnaise for a canapé topping so delicious that it will take your guests a full minute to realize that they’re eating it off dog biscuits. Once they catch on, act mortified and stammer that you must have “mixed up the boxes,” until everyone calms down. Then start crying because the biscuits remind you that today marks exactly eight weeks since you had to put down Buster, and you just miss him so much.


5. Tell Marissa that you appreciate her concern, but in the two years since Cheryl broke off the engagement you’ve grown up a lot, and you’re really in a much healthier place now. Then say, “Speaking of fiancés, how’s Peter’s alcoholism?” (Note: This is not technically an appetizer.)


6. For a taste of the U.K., fry up mini-servings of fish-and-chips. Take it to the next level by wrapping them in small pieces of newspaper, which, oddly enough, all seem to be printed with unfavorable reviews of Jeff ’s novel.


7. Have you ever noticed how sun-dried tomatoes and top-grade peyote look exactly the same? Not a suggestion, really. Just saying.


8. Another one for the vegetarians. If they think they like tofu, wait until they sample your delicious mock tofu—all you need is chicken fat, puréed pork loin, and five cups of piping-hot tallow. Cheryl will never know the difference.


9. Tempura makes great finger food, and the batter locks the flavor of just about anything in a savory, opaque crust. Impress your friends with creative choices, from squash blossoms to mislaid car keys to the two-carat engagement ring that Cheryl gave back to you after she “reassessed things.” Surprise!


10. Guests getting antsy? Head them off with a big bowl of steamed mussels. No one can resist mussels, not even emotionally stunted ex-fiancées and their new poorly-received-novelist boyfriends. Besides, disappearing into the kitchen will give you a chance to collect your thoughts and also to go slash Jeff ’s tires.


11. Homemade sugared almonds make the perfect sendoff, sure to please all your guests, even the ones who would be bludgeoning you with a tire iron if Peter weren’t standing between you. Good old Peter. He may not be the brightest or the handsomest person, but he’s very large.


12. As the party disperses, your guests might seem a little ungrateful, calling you an obsessive sociopath or pelting you with sugared almonds. Don’t worry, it’s probably the peyote talking. Just stand on the porch as their cars pull out, your eyes brimming with tears, and shout, “You know, I try, I really do . . .”


13. Add, “My dog died! He died! And he’s never coming back!”


14. Hepatitis! (Note: This is not technically an appetizer.)

Five things

1. I think Dr Leo Spaceman from 30 Rock has the best name on tv.

2. JRL just informed me: "i have too much meat michelle." Take from that statement what you will.

3. My knees are killing me. Bad news re: growing old gracefully

4. Something T said that I thought was very clever (and true): "iphones are like the new holgas"

5. I tend to write myself a lot of emails, and I like to title them things that give no indication as to what is inside. Sent today at 4:51? "Notes on building a time machine"

I stayed home from work for two days last week, and it has made this week very very awful. VERY AWFUL. I did do a lot of tumblr-ing yesterday, so that was nice. T wants me to make that rainbow cake and I have to say i am a bit curious.

i keep getting things sent to the office so now i have a collection of empty cardboard boxes piling up under my desk.

I am wearing this ring today that T had 3D printed. It is pretty great not only because it closely resembles another ring I have, but its this funny tan/white/gray (T called it an "uncolor") that really works with the shape. The ring I have is in black, but it's hard to wear because it's too... you know, too... "giant black pyramid stud." But this... this innocuous color is perfect. It has a nice texture too, although I think i will have to take it home and put some sort of clear nail polish coat on it. Wikipedia told me it might be made out of cornstarch.

oh gosh, i can't wait to get out of the office.

thurrrrrrrsday

i seem to remember a time in my life where thursdays meant drinking a lot of coronas.

currently, the only thing thursdays means to me now is that i get to watch a new 30 rock and the office. office. the office. office? the office? "i get to watch a new the office" does not sound right. although technically i think it might be.

i tend to think about awkward phrases a lot, rolling them around in my head right after i've said them or typed them, and it tends to make them even more awkward.

this nail polish i am using smells distinctly like dry erase markers... its a blue that is very close to "dry erase marker blue"... i wonder if the inks are the same. and yes, i am painting my nails at work. again.

okay phew, mission accomplished.

does anyone ever use those CVS coupons that print out with your receipt? i have been going to cvs a lot these days. oooooooh i got some obnoxious fluorescent pink nail polish that i am excited about.

did i tell you that i have started exercising? well, i did. i'm not going to declare it a success yet, since its been about a week and a half. did you know that it takes about 6 weeks for something to be made into a habit? don't ask me where i got that number or how they came up with it.

i have also stopped biting my nails (again) with the help of T constantly chastising me. Thank you, T.

A segment I like to call, "GChat Gems with A.E.L."
A: anything that starts with "honey" i read in a gay voice
A: unless it's "honey child", then i read it in a large black southern woman voice

Blaffairs to Rememblack

Look, a surprise grape fruit snack in my bag of cvs gummy (boo that y) worms, looks like everything is coming up michelle today! just kidding, I have to stay late at work today. but seriously, everytime i go to cvs, i buy something gummi related. that could be a problem.

i'm wearing large lace patterned black tights today, and im still not sure how i feel about them... i think they could be prettttttttttttty trampy if given that chance. uhmmm don't worry, i am wearing them with a gray flannel skirt (aka, not trampy... i think)

i couldn't sleep last night for the first time in a really long time, lots of things on my mind. i fell asleep briefly and then woke up around 1:30, wide awake. So i did what any 20something would do, drank a glass of soymilk, had a hot dog, turned on charade and read the new yorker. what is wrong with me? i can't say any of those things helped, i still was up until 4. groooooosssssss

S and I watched the golden globes (recorded on dvr and then forwarded at opportune moments, obvi) and I gotta tell you, kind of lame that they didn't nominate Milk for best drama. Not that I didn't love Slumdog, but Milk is by far the better movie. I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE. no but seriously. T and I saw it this weekend and it was so good and sad, and sean penn is amazing, and james franco looks disturbingly attractive in a mustache, and it makes me wish i liked milk (as a dairy product, i mean).



This was the rest of my weekend: Cambridge burger hunt, burgers, Milk, chicken & waffles (c and dubs?), art show, john maeda, snow storm preparations, nap, chipotle, no snow storm, Tropic Thunder, SNL, obscene amounts of sleep, breakfast for late lunch, IKEA, "fro-yo" & hot dogs, laundering of my new duvet. You can insert "boyfriend time" in between any of the entries on that list, because I spent allllllllllll weekend with T. And it was great. Even if he couldn't find Mario Kart.

over it

and by over it, i mean totally over the snuggie obsession i've had.



would you check this out... it's called the seal by Vík Prjónsdóttir. thank you iceland. now... where to buy this?

also, on a different but related note, i've been searching for a nice wool blanket to fall in love with.

yes, i have been very cold.

oh gosh, 2009.

i feel like 2008 went by really fast, and it was a really big year for me, in so many different ways. lots of beginnings, endings, growth, tears, laughs, milestones.

2009 is going to be good. 2009 is going to be big, i can feel it.

i've been tossing around a few ideas in my head about where i'm going to go in september and it seems like one in particular has really captured my imagination. i feel like if i say it out loud though, it will be gone from me, poof, flown away, so right now, i am keeping it close to my heart while i plot the next steps. the really fucking big next steps.

being at home was very nice, but in a way which made me very thankful that it is a place i visit and not a place i live. i spent time with the people that i love, even if it wasn't for long enough in some cases.

this christmas / birthday (let's face it, my birthday will never stand on its own) was the first time ever in which no one asked me what i wanted and still everyone procured things that I love. thinking it about it makes me kind of teary eyed. my heart is so full.

i usually don't make new years resolutions, but i think this year, all i am going to say is that i resolve to be better. be happier, laugh more, love more, hate less, be less sociopathic, be more open, be more deliberate, be less afraid, be less nervous, appreciate more, be better. that's it. it's that easy.