Friday I'm in Love

Hello Friday! I'm looking forward to a weekend of neighborhood relaxation, catching up with friends, and pumping like a madwoman. First, though, a day full of meetings... and some fun links! Stuff I'm loving this Friday includes:

Beyoncé Voters

What can I say, I love a trendy political tumblr. I think it was Texts with Hillary that set the bar for the genre so high (for me, anyway). And now Beyoncé Voters is on the scene, gallantly serving that important life role of "procrastination rabbit hole." Nicely done, Beyoncé Voters, nicely done. (Side note: can anyone explain why "Beyoncé" has an accent on the last 'e'? No really, this bugs the crap out of me.)

Vigilante Cold Brew

 This summer I've become completely obsessed with Vigilante Coffee's cold brew. I love the Red Stripe-meets-JFK bottles. I love the ease of refills, every weekend at Eastern market. But mostly, I love how smooth and strong this stuff is. Locals, go get some - seriously.

Fantasy Hideaway Wallpaper

This wallpaper is so dreamy to me. I picture a renovated attic study, totally girly, books everywhere, a great desk, and a comfy broken-in velvet sofa. My kind of room.

Happy snippets, busy July

Rather than an annoying post of OMGsobusy, let's look at the happy moments in between the stress instead, why don't we? I hope your Julys are moving along at a carefree pace. Who's on Team August Will Be Awesome with me?

Drinks and oysters at Senart's with my pal Brian

(Him: moscow mule. Me: Hendrick's martini with a twist.)

Beer Stein Night at the Nats game

My new bike! I'm geeky-happy about her.

Neighborhood love

Biergarten Haus with my dad and T

My dad's first authentic ramen! We love you, Toki.



Friday I'm in Love

This week was emotional on a lot of levels. We have loved ones going through breakups, tragedy striking people around us, and horrors like the shooting in Colorado last night making us realize even more than usual to stop and appreciate each moment. And so that's what I want to do this weekend - turn my brain off, breathe, and just be. On that note, here are three items that embody appreciating the small stuff:

Oh, my heart!

This pig melts my heart. Found here.

Summer Sippin'

These summer cocktails that Cyd featured are perfect for sipping in the shade with someone who makes you giggle. Mmmm, watermelon.

Rob Ryan, Always and Forever

He gets me every time.

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

All-time favorite crush Javier Bardem on Glee?!?! Life is good. Life on television next fall... very, very, very good.

Seen on U Street last Saturday afternoon: Girl walking down the sidewalk wearing only a men's button-down and flip-flops. Ladies, if we're going to try and rock a "shirt dress" after forgetting pants, let's at least belt it and put on some heels, alright?

My pal Allie introduced me to Van Gogh Espresso Vodka over the weekend, and I'm quite sure life will never be the same. Simply poured over ice, this stuff rocks my coffee-lovin' world, which is pretty terrifying when you consider that you are drinking straight vodka on the rocks.

I'm not sure if it's because it's garlic harvesting season right now or what, but garlic cloves in the markets are huge. So when cooking, slow down, think about what you're doing, and half the amount you normally use for recipes. If not, you could face two full days of a metallic taste in your mouth after eating your normally delicious tzatziki. Ugh.

It's summer and 102 degrees outside, and nothing says summer like shark attacks and beaches full of screaming tourists, right? The Biography Channel knows this, and its Jaws: The Inside Story is the most entertaining and compelling two hours of television I've seen in ages. Find it!

Top Chef, I just don't care about you. I tried to like you this season because you're in DC, but I just.don't.care. As soon as I feel like I'm watching something that more closely resembles a housewives trainwreck on Bravo or a "reality" dating show than I am a program about food, I'm out. (Note: I am not alone. Also, stop being such brand whores.)

That's it from me today... Have you entered the Freckled Citizen Birthday Giveaway yet? Two more days until we have a winner!

Friday I'm in Love

Here's what I'll be doing this weekend:

NOTHING!

I'm pretty thrilled about this. We haven't been home together a single weekend this month. I think we've had maybe two weekends here since our European vacation, so having a whole lotta nothing on tap feels pretty glorious. As for those drinks you see, mine is the g&t in the highball: Hendricks gin, cucumber slices, tonic, and basil from the garden. T's is the double old fashioned with rum, simple syrup, and mint from the garden. It's going to be 100 again on Saturday, so I expect we'll be needing plenty more of these.

But before we get to the weekend, we have Friday, and as such, here are three things that caught my eye this week, funny and poignant and okay, poignant again, in turn.

What People Waiting in Line for an iPhone Can Learn From Twilight Fans

Oh, how this makes me giggle. Favorites: "This is going to take awhile, so maybe you should put a few posters up and such" and "Sorry Apple addicts, when it comes to waiting in line, you are getting schooled—by a bunch of girls!"

Time Wastes Too Fast 

In college when I had writer's block, I would watch Ken Burns' Thomas Jefferson until I was inspired. It never took long. Monticello is one of my favorite places on the planet - my dad and I nerded out there together too long ago; it's time to go back. We had a TJ table at our wedding, where I seated my siblings. My Jefferson thing is... complicated. I like brilliant people with incredibly varied interests and talents who do great things, yes. But my favorite characters are always the most contradictory ones, the ones full of paradox, the ones battling demons. This piece from the Times, "Time Wastes Too Fast," filled me again with wonder at this man and all the reasons I love being a Jefferson freak. That I can be inspired again and again, swept away still after all these years of paying attention, is exactly why Jefferson will always be among my biggest crushes, with all the trouble and contradiction that it might (and does) bring. (Hat tip: Lauren Airey)

Same Hill, Different Day

A couple of years ago at the New York Public Library, T and I came across a photo exhibit by someone who'd taken a photo out of their apartment window every day for years. The Twin Towers were in their personal skyline. One day the view was dark and fiery. The next it contained a hole. Hundreds of shots of that view, all lined up along a wall. This project - far removed from a window in the middle of the concrete jungle - reminds me of why I liked that one so much. Outside of the tragedy that was captured, there's the quiet routine of everyday people, the gentle coming and going of seasons, the humanity unfolding relentlessly, every single day, with all that it brings. Back then, a skyline with a missing tooth. This time, a simple hill and the people who visit it. "Same Hill, Different Day," by Paul Octavious, via Little Garden.

When all else fails, get your siblings drunk

You remember the extreme limitations imposed upon my family gift-giving this year, don't you? After trying and failing at a few different ideas for my siblings and their SOs, our highly scientific thought process went something like this:

Without further ado, our Crafty Christmas:

To set the theme, I made booklets for each couple that were printed on cardstock, hole-punched, and tied with holiday ribbon. I forgot to take a photo of the finished products, but here are the jpgs. Read them vertically, and click for a larger version.

"Sugar"
Vanilla-infused vodka and homemade vanilla sugar

"Spice"
Jalapeno-infused vodka and a mini Zing Zang bloody mary mix

The spread at my sister's house the next night, where the goodies were liberally sampled:

Being the Photoshop wannabe that I am, I had a blast making the cute labels (thank you DIY blogs with your endless inspiration and templates!). Admittedly, we went over the $20 limit (even before I shipped everything to NC... trying to get past security with four bottles of homemade booze in my purse wasn't my idea of a good time on Christmas morning), but I think it's the effort that counts, don't you? With more advance planning, I know I could've found cheaper vodka bottles and vanilla beans, which were the big expenditures (thanks cheap booze that tastes great when flavored!). Here's the breakdown:

Sugar and Spice Gift Box
Sugar jar: $1.25
Sugar: free from my pantry
Vanilla bean for sugar: $4.99
Two glass bottles for vodka: $9.00
Vodka for both flavors: $7.50
Vanilla bean for vodka: $4.99
Jalapeno for vodka: $.50
Mini Zing Zangs: free (we had these on hand, but they retail for about $5 each)
Printing/cardstock/labels: free

Final cost: $28.23
Crafty Christmas with boozy sibs: Priceless


PS: My sister promptly entered the One-Upsmanship Hall of Fame by opening up her booze box from us and then gifting a painting of our niece on canvas to my brother. I made labels and added things to stuff. Lisa painted Taylor in a beach scene, walking down to the ocean's edge. Food for thought.

"Monday, you can hold your head..."

Actually, I can't hold my head. Without pain, that is. Somehow over the course of the last several days, the entire left side of my neck, shoulders, and upper back is so wracked with pain that simply holding my head straight up is a major battle. I survived a fun holiday outing with friends on Saturday night due to copious amounts of booze, but nearly fainted at the Container Store yesterday while buying wrapping paper. So I've been chillin' with an assortment of pain relief implements and painkillers ever since and dreaming about neck braces. Ready to move on from this, I'm not gonna lie.

Since this is already proving to be a long week - besides the whole neck problem, I have two huge work deadlines and will be saying goodbye to T for five days on Wednesday - let's backtrack and do a Friday I'm in Love post on Monday. I had this ready to go on its intended day, but what with an all-day conference, an emergency massage, and recovery from the massage (the pain! omg!) on Friday night, it never got posted. So here it is, folks, a little Friday for your Monday. I kind of wish my week was going to be like this one:

"Monday, you can hold your head
Tuesday, Wednesday stay in bed
Or Thursday - watch the walls instead
It's Friday, I'm in love"

Sofia Vergara

"My friend says that the other actresses look better than me on TV because they're skinny. And I'm like, 'Yeah, but I look better naked!'" (sourced here) Wait, you're not watching 'Modern Family?' Really? Yes, I know it comes on at the same time as 'Glee.' Yes, I know that makes no sense. No, that's not an excuse not to be watching. 'Modern Family' is brilliant and biting and tender and perfect. And Sofia, besides spouting off gems like this that would make me love her even if she wasn't amazing on the show, is, in fact, amazing. It takes a smart woman to play the Latina "coal digger" with as much fierceness as she does. And her son Manny is a man-child after my own heart. Sigh...

Rob Ryan Papercut Decals

I've been devouring Rob Ryan's blog and etsy shop as eye candy for ages now. I adore lasercut paper in general, but no one - no one - does it better than he does. And although I'd love to hang a $470 original in my home, that's not about to happen any time soon. However, these new Rob Ryan wall decals are a more affordable way to bring a little Rob Ryan paper magic to your walls - love that concept. On an even more affordable note, I'm also totally coveting Rob Ryan's book "This is for You" that I spotted at Anthropologie (pre-Container Store fainting spell) over the weekend.

Cold-weather Cocktails

Inspired by Craft's "Bad Apple" cocktail, T and I recently set out to fashion our own homestyle cocktail for cozy nights indoors. We started by making a batch of simple syrup that we infused with mulling spices (we made a few cups' worth and kept it in the fridge all week for easy cocktail-ing). Start by filling a lowball glass with ice, then fill about halfway with Maker's Mark. Add a dollop of apple cider and mix. Add a dollop of the mulling spices-infused simple syrup on top and garnish with orange peel if you have it. Enjoy!

Friday I'm in Love

It's beautiful outside today, just Fall perfection. It's hard not to be happy and choose three things to be in love with on days like this, even if you are battling the effects of an irresponsible Thursday night bar binge with old friends (ahem). Here, then, are my three tokens of love from the week:

Thursday Night Bar Binge Recaps of our Wedding

There are few things that make me happier than hanging out with a group of friends who attended our wedding and hearing superlatives like "best" and "most" tossed around so freely. I don't think I'll ever stop loving how much fun folks had at our 'lil beach party. The hilarious stories ("...when they were naked in the fish pond"), the raucousness ("which night of drinking games was that?"), the injuries (two people now carry around actual scars from our wedding), the requests for more (we're already on notice for needing to recreate the beach house party scene for our first anniversary)... Just so much happy goodness.

Blood Oranges

I've been obsessed with blood oranges this week. First, look at these things... I challenge you to name a more beautiful fruit. The color is amazing to me. I love squirting a wedge of blood orange into a glass of seltzer and seeing that dark purple juice come out and tinge the drink pink. I love the taste - not as bright as your typical orange, somehow murkier and more mysterious. I love the difference between a blood orange in my Old Fashioned versus a regular orange. I should branch out with my cocktails and start making blood orange mimosas or margaritas. Not to mention Grilled Oysters with Blood Orange and Ginger, Fregola and Blood Orange Salad with Arugula, and Blood Orange Crostini with Blood Orange and Black Pepper Marmalade.Yum! (PS: Have I mentioned one of my favorite shower goodies is also blood orange-themed?)

Colin Hay

The first thing that T and I ever agreed upon was music. Through all our feisty debating and ill-concealed "contemp or chemistry?" moments in the beginning, music was the one thing that didn't need any hemming and hawing. An early conversation about songs that captured our level of commitment phobia included Colin Hay's acoustic version of "Overkill," a song that was awesome in the early '80s but is outright beautiful when you take away the '80s beats and the rest of the Men at Work. We're going to see Colin Hay at the Granada on Sunday night, and I'm having a full-circle moment with this song in advance. In honor of TGIF, here's a flashy '80s video of "Overkill." And in honor of Sunday, let me just say that I love how well I sleep these days, and how faraway those ghosts Mr. Hay sings about are now.

Happy Fall weekend, everyone!

Fall in a glass

Much like my summertime sipping preference, my preferred drink for the fall embodies the season in a glass. It's multi-layered, warming, and temperamental, with a big pay-off. When the air takes on a hint of crispness, all I want to drink is an Old Fashioned.

The Old Fashioned is a simple cocktail made with bourbon, simple syrup, bitters, and fruit, and it's of course a classic, part of the reason I love ordering it. This drink is solidly sexy; there's no pretty glass or anything masking its essence. Here's my secret, though - as sexy as it is for a girl to order a masculine drink at a bar, what the Old Fashioned conceals to onlookers is the layers at work within the glass. If the top of the drink is sexy - it's stiff, it gets your attention, it's not messing around - then the bottom is pure girl - it's sweet and fruity and the reward for finishing. The way those layers combine and change with each sip is complete magic, and the kind of thing that I have the time and inclination to appreciate in autumn. What's more, the Old Fashioned is made for drinking in cozy, dark, book- and wood-lined bars that are my favorite kinds of places to hide out. (Or, you know, my couch with a book and snuggly throw.) Win-win.

Happy sipping this fall.

In vino veritas, indeed

I issued myself a challenge some time ago, and have been hard at work ever since. Sipping is exhausting, I'm telling you. Welcome to Project: Chardonnay.

See, I've always hated chardonnay. It tasted buttery and gummy and oaky to me, and I didn't get the appeal at all. I'm a red wine girl anyway, but on a 100-degree day, if I were to reach for a glass of white, chardonnay would not be it. The more I heard about great chardonnays, though - legendary award-winners and universally loved bottles - I had to concede something. I didn't hate chardonnay per se... what I hated was cheap chardonnay.

Well, then!

A couple of months ago we attended a Tom Collichio-hosted dinner at Craft featuring courses paired with Ramey wines. The second course was a Thai snapper and shellfish ragout served with Ramey's 2005 Hudson Vineyard Chardonnay. The paring was spectacular, and the wine? Loved it!

There's just one problem with that particular bottle of chardonnay: T's obnoxious boss is so famous for drinking it that when he walks into the Ritz bar after work every day, they automatically bring him a glass. A $19 glass of chardonnay. That's right; me and the obnoxious boss, loving the same wine. Not happy with this development.

But two weeks ago over dinner at Fearing's, what did I order? A $19 glass of Ramey chardonnay, of course! (I actually justified it by realizing one big glass of great vino with dinner was cheaper than the standard two cocktails during dinner... see how easy that was?)

Over the weekend we stopped in to Veritas, where you can buy bottles for wine-store prices but drink them in a wine bar setting. We started to order a bottle of the Ramey chardonnay (we'd just eaten sushi and our palettes weren't ready for a deep red), when the fantastic wine steward there said two things: 1) fantastic choice, and 2) could he convince us try a lesser-known and slightly more expensive chardonnay instead?

He brought us Ridge Wine's 2007 chardonnay, and of course, I loved it. It was clean and smoky all at once, just beautiful.

Moral of this story? Watch out what you ask for. I might be developing a bank-breaking chardonnay habit. At least until the fall, when I'm back into my beloved reds.

My kinda snacking

I received the new issue of Gourmet yesterday, and I have a question...

What excuse do I need to make these Vodka-Spiked Cherry Tomatoes?

Because I happen to have the most gorgeous pint of heirloom cherry tomatoes on hand. And I definitely have vodka. I feel like I need an event or something, though - one can't just sit around popping vodka-soaked cherry tomatoes into her mouth on a weekday, after all.

Or can she?

Beating the heat

Here in Dallas, July is an interminable season of oppressive heat. Scratch that: the weather outside is insufferable, but since this city (along with much of the South - I'm looking at you, Atlanta) would cease to exist without air conditioning, one doesn't actually have to encounter the heat if they don't care to. Today, for example? A stifling 103 degrees. But it's a chilly 65 for those who travel from their apartment to their parking garage to their car to their office parking garage to their office! I digress. For those of us who choose to, sigh... engage with their community and all the unpleasantness that comes with it, I offer my Beat the Heat guide:

First up, what to wear? Pare down to the basics. You look silly covering up in this heat, really. I'm voting for this no-fuss, vintage-inspired dress from Anthropologie in seasonal tomato red, perfect for A) strolling around the farmer's market, or B) seeking refuge on a happy hour patio.

All Trades Dress, Anthropologie

Let's imagine that you chose A) Strolling around the farmer's market. It simply doesn't get any better than the summer harvest, and there's no better season to commit to eating locally and seasonally. (Not sure where your local farmer's market is? Search here.) Everywhere you look, stands are bursting with the most delicious offerings of the year, and what's great about summer produce is that it doesn't take a lot of effort to make really yummy, beat-the-heat dishes. Take yesterday's salad, for example: it perfectly embodies what summer food is all about - nothing required but fresh, cool, crisp vegetables. And no need to turn on that blazing hot stove, either.

Tomato, Corn, Cucumber, and Feta Salad - Cookthink
(Not a fan of raw tomatoes, like my silly life partner? Substitute crunchy red bell peppers instead.)

Now what if you chose B) Shady happy hour patio? Well, then. I present my booze of choice, which happens to pair perfectly with summer onslaught and is described as "a most iconoclastic experience." Really. I'm talking about Hendrick's Gin. So delightful on so many levels. It's cucumber-infused and will do anything you want it to do. Also, as a sucker for good design, you must go and admire the website and packaging. I'll just let Hendrick's' Suitable Summer Remedies page do the talking: "Very few things pair better with a long balmy afternoon of lazing about the cucumber patch, performing acrobatics in the rumpus room, or playing croquet in the park than a sparkling, cool Hendrick's and Tonic garnished with a cucumber slice." Indeed.

Hendrick's Gin

After all that shopping or socializing, you'll no doubt need to wind down with the literary version of a summer spell. My all-time favorite summer novel is one I reread every year about this time, from a woman who can simply do no wrong: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a novel that makes me feel small and humbled and more alive than before. Those are all good things, I think. It sings with green summer and the life all around us like no other book I know.

Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver

Stay cool, everyone! What are your Beat the Heat standbys?