memmmmmorial day

i'm having a hard time deciding whether or not to get out of bed today. but it's memorial day (whoot) and totally allowed. this weekend was great, even if it totally confirmed that i do have some horrid disease. saturday was spent in shaver with the Brew Crew at their cabin and it was drizzily perfection. fresno fuego yesterday, also drizzily fun. on the agenda for today:

- picking up ebay score from seller who happens to live down the street. fingers crossed i don't get kidnapped.
- thrift store hunting for more milk glass because i'm an old lady.
- making minestrone soup to cure the sickness.
- Robert Mondavi memorial party (aka drink lotsa wine party)

p.s. watched lars and the real girl last night. double thumbs up.
p.p.s. t minus 4 days until someone's birthday...

The original independent bride

hot damn, i want to go to this wedding.

(ppssssss look at their shoes)

hubba.

Christian Louboutin Feather Ankle-Wrap d'Orsay

helpin' a brother out

i'm not allowed to plan my own wedding until i'm engaged, but my dear brother is and is yet to pick a favor. so research i did, to keep my idle hands busy and it’s fun to keep looking at favors and frocks and flowers when one has no reason to buy them.

requirements: tasty, tasty, and tasty.

tea & honey

both from tea-n-honey.

Delicious aaaaaaaand adorable!

ugly truffles
cute as a button drops

i've been salivating over these folks all afternoon.

Macaroons
according to my extensive research. Paulette's is supposed to be the best bet in LA.

Salted Caramels
sweet n' salty n' buttery too. from das foods. The salt caramel collection includes Café Cortado, Chai Latte, Chocolate & Walnut, Classic (Lavender), Ginger & Pistachio, Lemon & Honey and Orange & Honey.

or along similar lines, toffee. from these folks.

Chocolate-Covered Fortune Cookies

from emily's. the box sure isn't something to write home about, but a nice fancy ribbon would snaz it up. plus it's uber cheap.

Brownies!

because we all looooooove brownies. image from designsponge.

or you can just go for straight classy...

today i'd rather be anywhere.

particularly here... in South Africa, in a treehouse , at sunset, with delicious wine and the boyfriend.

it's about time.

California Court Affirms Right to Gay Marriage - New York Times

que the music

schoo oools out for summer. that annoying song has swirling around in my head ever since sarah mentioned it weeks ago. but now it's finally true. so, what has the past 6 days been like? oh hell.

here is what is looked like.oli glaring
oli editing
oli thinking tails help with typing. they don't.
and then finally!! you're probably asking, who takes pictures of their final projects?? well. the people who stay up until 3 am making sure the tabs all are symmetrical. that the yellows all match. my anal retentiveness is ridic.

so i came home from the last final and there was no marching band. no balloons or singing monkeys. but tonight we're attending this. nothing warms my heart more than food. wine and friends.

summer project #236

the wind express

what i've learned from my week at home. don't get excited.

- when you sit next to your computer for 5 days straight ebay sucks you in. suuuuucks you in.

- pretty sure frank thinks someone has handcuffed me to my chair. the looks of shame are increasing.

- i've had two dreams about catching the "wind express" this week. what's the wind express you ask?? well, the wind express is something that i discovered when you catch the wind just right will lift you up and carry you magically to your destination. like flying, but requires a little bit of work. usually some sweating is involved. correlates to staying at home? i think so. (p.s. i was also wearing my new j.crew yellow mary jane satin heels. quite stylish for the wind express.)

- also. in these "wind express" dreams i've worked with lee in a job ala lauren and whit. both times i arrived exasperated from my adventure. sans wallet and lee had to buy me lunch. i think we should forgo our fancy jobs and seek new ones. who am i kidding. we don't have fancy jobs.

- d.v. guy apparently doesn't work anymore. or at least has a veeery lose schedule. and has now given up hopes of finding a lady in exchange for wearing bright blue basketball shoes every day. at least is dillegent about picking up after his dog, which makes me feel fuzzy.

- it's easy to forget to shower. to eat. and to stop talking to your cat like he's human.

- when you do shower, the water is much hotter during the middle of the day.

- i now understand why the real housewives of o.c. are so catty. i'm pretty sure if someone knocked on my door talking about how the cat in apt. 113 looked crossly at the cat in apt 117 i'd ask them to come in and give them a fresca.

aaaaahhhhmph.

1.5 more days. eek.

this dude is not helping.

weekend wraaaapup

bioethics stole 6763 of my words. no words are left for actual post so now will resort to +/- list a la s.hunter

+ said 6763 words that were written on saturday. actually accomplished something that isn't toootal crap.
- only left my house once this weekend
+ one excursion was to get much needed haircut with my favorite manoug.
+ boyfriend brought flowers, cereal, and joe joe's to help the studying effort!
- have been moving at a snails pace today.
+/- 3.5 more days of the semester!

what a boring ass list.

big - am now officially addicted to ebay. as a certain someone's maid of honor i feel it is my moral duty to find them the perfect shoe to wear on their wedding day. i feel this shoe must be satin and preferably blue or green. also without a heel, as the wedding will be taking place on grass and nothing is more annoying than heels on grass. who knew that all such shoes would disappear off the planet as soon as this person got engaged! apparently they all "fell off a truck" and ended up on ebay because it's a treasure trove of jcrew satin flats for 20% of the original price. oh ebay is dangerous!

so are joe joe's and veronica mars.

tgif?

+ first day of week long work vacation.
- first day of week long study session.
- researching things i had already researched. i'm an over-researcher. which makes writing much more difficult. and trees hate me.
+ compiling all my bioethics references together! totally ready to bust out some 20 pages of awesome.
- not making up for my accidental 3+ hour nap yesterday.
+ having a very productive neti pot session. overshare? perhaps. but nothing makes me more excited than neti-potting these days.
- missing my lovebuddy. whose off being a boy while i'm here being a nerd. *sigh*

- forgot about "food friday"! well... i had some pretty tasty salsa from catalanos today. go get some!

wtf!

anyone else think that earth look a tad like michael moore??

sorry i missed your party

sleepy this monday morning? treat yourself to this total gem of a blog which shows photos of people's parties found on Flickr.

here are some highlights.The caption says, "This pretty much confirms my worst fear--that when I'm dancing, someone is standing right behind me, cackling with laughter over what a lame white person I am."

"School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL Library. Christmas party in December 2007." That dude is not psyched.
God, I hope this is an air record scratch move he's doing. I'd be really disappointed if it was only an errantly cocked hand that was just caught a random moment mid-shimmy.
When a yuppie shows up to your party with a six-pack of microbrew, a good prank to play on him is to spray his ecru J. Crew blazer with silly string.

Just make sure not to get too much on his Razr phone, or next time he won't bring the beer.

I have an idea where this party is going to end: the intersection of Regretsville Street and Maturity Ave. This photo looks relatively normal at first until you notice something extra weird. (Hint: It's the girl's leg!)

le swoon.

write your own caption...

food friday

it's friday. crap. tgif, but -tgif about all the crizzap i gots to get done. who ever said grad school was a good idea?

so friday = food friday around here. but, if you're anything like me lately, meals squashed in the middle of the week can only be described as "lackluster" at best. i usually dream up something horribly boring like avocado on toast, greek yogurt or my favorite standby chickpea salad with lemon and parmesan. the boyfriend and i usually try to drum up something somewhat creative on the weekend, but since metagenomics will be my boyfriend over the weekend, i'm left to my own devices. something sinfully inappropriate like ms. stewarts monstrously cheesy melted goodness...

Gratinéed Macaroni and Cheese with Tomatoes
from Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics

Ingredients:
16 ounces elbow macaroni
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for dish
1 1/4 cups baguette, torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, diivided
3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 quart milk
5 tablespoons flour
1 pinch nutmeg
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
16 ounces fresh tomato, cut into 1 inch chunks
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish or a 3 quart casserole dish; set aside. Melt 2 tablespoons butter, and pour over the bread in a medium bowl; toss. Add 1 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, toss.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Cook pasta until just beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes (it will not be fully cooked). Drain and rinse.
Warm the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat the remaining 5 tablespoons butter in high-sided skillet or pot over medium until foaming. Add the flour; whisk one minute. Slowly whisk in the warm milk. Cook, whisking, until bubbling and thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the remaining 2 teaspoons thyme, the nutmeg, and cheese to pan; stir until the cheese is melted.
Stir the pasta and tomatoes into the cheese sauce. Pour into the buttered dish; sprinkle with the bread topping. Bake until bubbling and golden, about 30 minutes. let cool slightly before serving.

Serves 6 to 8.

i'll let you know if i survive

happy may day!

some of my favorite memories growing up were celebrating may day every year with my mom. first we'd gather flowers from the rose garden and then construct our cones out of construction paper with ribbons so they could hang. then we'd put the flowers in and hang them on neighbors' doorknobs after which we would ring the doorbell and run away!
one year we even made a maypole.