Snow Daze & Street Food

Working from home today is bearable since pancakes make everything better. I'm also making potato-bacon chowder later if anyone wants to strap on their snowshoes and trek over. Side note, Mayer Hawthorne, as much as I adore you, I just might have to miss your show tonight at 9:30 Club. Oh, don't worry, I'm not happy about it at all, aside from the “at least I don't have to drive in the snopocalypse” thing. I suppose it Just Ain't Gonna Work Out. 

Lookie here, Mother Nature. You can snow all you want if I can shovel the snow in a giant Cup Noodle costume.

I hear it's supposed to snow in a few days. Not feeling it, but I stand by my title statement. Bring me a Cup Noodle suit and I'll shovel snow happily, as long as I can sing like Justin Timberlake on SNL. 

Bring it on down to Noodleville!

Photo via PRB

it's only just Monday morning, but we all know it's still Sunday evening.

sounds like: the Long Time, Wrong Time with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (soon at 9:30 Club!), Jimmy Edgar turning me inside and out, and Battle Tapes' Sweatshop Boys making me want to fight crime or dance against walls (hell, maybe both) and, if y'all haven't realized this by now - baby, I'm Good For You. Mr. Hudson, you can be good for me anytime.

tastes like: Pink cupcakes and Prosecco at Vivi's birthday, an abundance of green tea amid a sea of sick and surly chefs, and comfort food duck wonton soup in frigid-ass January. I slept in full long johns and a hoodie last night. That's how cold it is. I constantly crave soup. 

feels like: Accomplishment of today's list, though mundane and tedious, I really do like doing the everyday type things. Tonight I sleep on freshly-laundered sheets and watch the new episode of The Following. It's probably sad over how happy that just made me. Side note, iTunes is on shuffle and Emmure's death metal guttoral screaming just scared the hell out of me. That's what you get when you get a Henna Tattoo That Says Forever. 

smells like: Jasmine perfume. I haven't worn it in awhile for various reasons, mainly because it was in a tote bag I stopped using, partly because the olfaction keeps triggering memories that cause me to want things I can't have. 

Photo from last Thursday at Izakaya Seki/Daikaya for a ramen date with Monica & Russell to celebrate his new position at Jack Rose. So so so happy for him. 

Forget rose petals, I’m going to hire someone to throw ice melt when I walk, King Jaffe Joffer style.

I chuckled about that caption for a good five minutes after I posted it. If you ever see me chuckling at my phone, 98% of the time it's not because someone has said something funny to me, it's me laughing at my own wit. 

Hey, at least I amuse myself. 

oh snow.

Not pictured: black trumpet mushrooms at Restaurant Eve and me white knuckling it the entire way home. I'm so over this winter nonsense. Thank goodness for flannel shirts and homemade kimchi ramen.

late Wednesday evening, technically early Thursday morning

sounds like: Going on Space Oddities with Kristen Wiig and David Bowie, being a Victim of Love with Charles Bradley, forgetting the time with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, fantasies with Ludacris, and knowing better and learning faster with Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. 

tastes like: Vanilla and almond in my coffee. I didn't even mind the surprise almond flavor, I was just grateful for the warmth of the coffee mug. Old Bay seasoning in my Chesapeake sauce at the chipper. Mulled wine. I am all about the mulled wine during the winter months. Of course, I would much rather be about the iced tea and cold lemonade of the summer months. Roasted, almost burnt, garlicky Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are my jam. (ten second pause while I contemplate going out into the polar vortex, 'round midnight no less, so that I can buy Brussels for lunch. Nah, boo. You don't like the cold, remember?)

feels like: In about fifteen minutes, I am going to climb into bed and read the Cooks & Chefs #2 issue of Lucky Peach. It's amazing what eight hours of sleep will do for one's disposition. Remind me, if I ever have my own design/lifestyle/food empire, to feature a quarterly. I should just design a quarterly for the hell of it. I'll commission all my awesome & talented friends for content. Pay them in food and smiles. At least until the empire gets going. 

smells like: paperwhite flowers = my favorite part of winter. 

Photo of the apathetic thermostat polar bear at Society Fair. That rhymes.

vortex schmortex

Of course I say this now, but put me outside for more than two minutes and it's:

Saturday evening

sounds like: Biz Markie on Celebrity Ghost Stories, the leaves on the street rustling in the wind, Poolside, and Koop. Oh, and stores are starting to play Christmas music. I have mixed feelings about this.

tastes like: Vietnamese drip coffee with condensed milk and pho for breakfast with my sister, spicy papaya salad while I organized the books, fresh mangoes, and more coffee while I was being interviewed by that man for that thing.

feels like: It's the weekend; yesssss no alarm clocks. Damn it's cold; I should buy more leggings.

smells like: vanilla candles and wool sweaters.

photo via this isn't happiness

Wednesday evening

sounds like: the lemonade mix cd that Stephanie made me two years ago. It contains all kinds of wonderful songs by The Ink Spots, Nat King Cole, Pomplamoose, Doris Day, and Django. 

tastes like: roasted eggplant with balsamic vinegar over raw kale, green tea, and fresh ginger/apple/carrot juice. 

feels like: It should not have been 70 degrees on the first day of February. Reading Sartre's No Exit with a warm winter breeze through my open window which should be mildly depressing but is oddly pleasant. The music and breeze makes up for the "I'm stuck in hell's waiting room with two people I hate" existentialism. 

smells like: vanilla perfume, fresh laundry, and the promise of cold weather in the air. 

photo via Sandra Juto

Monday afternoon

sounds like: Bon Iver. I've been playing the Bon Iver album since July. It's just so good. I can't even describe to you how amazing/relaxed I feel and how productive I am when I listen to this album. Any music that can make me, the one with all the blogs and the procrastination skillz, productive is good music. It's snowing heavily, I've got coq au vin simmering on the stove, and I'm playing Bon Iver? If that doesn't say winter then I don't know what does. 

tastes like: peach black tea that I bought in Savannah, iced coffee, hot oatmeal, and (though I haven't had it yet) coq au vin. It's also a good day to bake something. Maybe a tart tatin or some kind of cinnamon coffee cake.

feels like: winter contentment and thick socks. 

smells like: chicken/rosemary/wine simmering on the stove, that crisp in the snowy air, and soon-to-be cinnamon in the oven. 

photo by The Blue Hour

Not my buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!

lady bones

The wonderful thing about having creative friends and being handy with a camera is that they occasionally ask you to photograph their handiwork. Libby, of Hello It's Libby, recently produced an adorable zine (lady bones, soon to be available here) and asked me to snap a few product shots. Uh, of course! We photographed them in Cherry Hill Park (thanks to Russian Rachel for the location suggestion) on a very cold winter afternoon and two of us were wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. The brown/cream paper and handstitched binding looked so good against tree stumps and sand patterns. Keep an eye out for it, folks. 

Blizzards of 2011, I'm ready for you.

I was ready for the blizzards of 2010 too.

snomg!

Lisa: ......
are those....
Spongebob pants?
me: YES :D

Pho on a cold and snowy evening. Perfect.

the winter list

things I like about winter: 

+ ice cream cones don't melt when you eat them outside.

+ that allover warm rush you get when you come inside from playing in the snow and drink something hot.

+ going to bed in long johns and three blankets.

+ scarves, hats,  and wool socks. 

+ not feeling guilty about lounging around and eating during blizzard times.

+ not feeling that bad about not leaving your house because, well, you can't.

+ soups, hot chocolate, and hot tea. all the time. 

+ you never run out of people to talk to because everyone is on gchat and aim. 

+ dressing your snowman like Charlie Chaplin. 

+ boredom winter naps. 

+ snow.

things i do not like about winter

+ coming inside and peeling the jeans off of your frozen legs.

+ ugly grimy snow mountains that take up half of the parking lots.

+ going outside in the snow, coming inside to wash your hands and having your fingers burn from the heat. 

+ shoveling your driveway and having it snow again the next morning. 

+ cabin fever.

+ that "oh, damn" moment when you realize that snow/slush/rain has seeped through your shoes and your socks are now wet. 

+ the entire hour after the "oh, damn" moment during which all you can think about is your wet socks. 

+ having to clear the snow from your car so your windshield doesn't crack. sorry, meekus. 

+ high electricity bills. 

+ snow.


photo: liz's dad courtesy of liz. 

Steph: I like watching the plow at my apt complex. It's the one w/ arms that lift snow. It's like watching wall-e.

Remember that time..you were sleeping...and the ghost dragged you from bed..

drip.

drip.

drip.

drip.

What the hell IS that?

Oh look, the attic cover is leaking. Shit. Just what we need.

Get a chair. Stand on chair. Push aside the cover. No problem, guys. It's snow from the bathroom fan.

Pa: vina, if you see a photo in the attic- DON'T grab it.

I do love a good high speed chase.

me: Who do we know that has a snowmobile? Let's meet there and steal it.
Logan: Somebody in my neighborhood has one
           but he also has an STi so he could probably chase us in that.
           oh well,
           that'd make it more exciting!

photo via flickr

Potential Snomageddon Kikkoman photoshoot

Steph: I wish I lived in a house then I could wear my Kikkoman suit outside without feeling 100 people thinking I was weird.