restaurants

bird poop, and a wonderful recital

in ,


i got bird pooped on today.
and then had an awesome laugh about it with myself on the sidewalk.
it was the best part of my day...

that is until i saw this guy in recital.
friend peter played FIVE beethoven sonatas from memory!
oh it was so fantastic.
so in the moment...
so rock star like.
i think i had as much fun as he did.

and to be quite honest,
i've never really considered music that was written before, like 1980, to be my cup of tea.
but when beethoven is played this well with this much energy,
i mean... he might as well be xenakis.

go peter!!

furthermore, in the program he added this quote that i am still pondering:

"when you are joyous,
look deep into your heart
and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow
that is giving you joy,

when you are sorrowful
look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping
for that which has been your delight"

kahlil gibran's the prophet


hmmm...


i hope you all have lovely weekends filled with lots of pumpkin flavored things!
{i will be either [a] practicing, or [b] at the new costco that just opened on east 116th}

xoxo


yeh


oh.. and a very important post script...

happy birthday to two of my very best friends!

bronwyn.
my b dubbs
i love you because you created the sound that a zonkey makes (zee-haw),
because you give me awesome encouraging pep talks,
and because you are a fantastic singer.
i love you even when you burp.

&

brian.
i love you even though you once sprayed squirty cheese all over my blackberry,
i love you for hugging me when i came out of my juilliard audition bawling,
and i love you for once upon a time eating pancakes with a side of mac and cheese and corned beef hash.


have wonderful birthdays, my loves. i wish i could be in texas and cleveland to bake you cake! xoxo

adventures in williamsburg!

in ,


high school bestie sarah was in town from indiana this weekend...



...and we were craving an adventure


so we packed up the plastic,
hopped on the L train,
and got off at bedford


our first stop was lux eye where i found ^these^ glasses
(fyi, since the great eye glasses catastrophe of august 2009, i have been totally blind!)
it's on bedford and north 8th i believe
it's so new, it doesn't even have a website yet!
their glasses are so fun and the prices are so good, it is just too good to be true!


next up was beacon's closet
on n. 11th between berry and wythe
it's a huuuuge fantastic thrift store!
i found a kickass red leather jacket with puffy shoulders
(totally 80s rawk star like)
for twenty moneys!

we also visited some of the smaller boutiques along bedford...

is a cute homey little antique shop with lots of old cameras and pictures and type writers...
i found a big vintage key to put on a chain and wear on my neck
(who needed a tiffany's key anyways?)



&



uh.ma.zing. and hilarious jewelry (like the mustache necklaces below...)
and cute cards.
and other fun chochkies.



i luv catbird and now i know where i'm holiday shopping...


of course all of this exploring made us hungry...
so upon recommendation from a native williamsburger,
we went to



sarah and i split a burger and their mac and cheese.
the burger was pretty darn good.
definitely up to par with 5 napkin
maybe not as good as landmarc
better than burger joint.


the mac and cheese was some of the best i've had (and that's a lot!)
they use gruyere and cheddar
and radiatore pasta- which i've never seen used in mac before.
it worked almost better than shells because there was more surface area in each noodle and thus more room for an even cheesey coating, as opposed to shells with their little pools of cheese in the middle.
also the bread crumbs were perfectly crispy.
and herr waiter didn't look at me weirdly when i asked for hot sauce and ketchup for it.



our final stop was barcade
which, to be honest, i think it is a little overrated.
there is only so much fun you can have losing at tetris over and over and over.




but the point is,


williamsburg rocks!


xoxo




yeh



p.s. i noticed all of the girls in williamsburg putting little wings on their eyes with liquid eye liner. i'm into it. i think?




a bit on food

in , ,

1. i recently went to chinatown and brought home enough frozen bao to feed a squad of sumo wrestlers.
some have red bean, and the rest have various meats (oh yeah, i'm over that vegetarian thing).
i had a mixed variety for breakfast, lunch, and dinner today.
i'm not even kidding.
they. are. SO. GOOD.

and p.s. whoever had the idea of low sodium soy sauce is an idiot.


2. monsieur cheese at the whole foods in columbus circle
talked me into dropping an andrew jackson on a tiny wheel of,
"the best cheese you'll ever try."
and when i got home, i ate about half of it.
and with every bite, i just wanted to hang on to the sweet,
smokey,
creamy,
RIDICULOUSLY GOOD
taste.
i can't wait to add it to a béchamel and make some mac with it.
(or is that uncouth for a cheese of this caliber?)

{p.s. totally stole this pic from one of my new fave blogs, you are my fave.}

{p.p.s. can someone that's hip to cheese etiquette please tell me if i say, "this cheese is called epoisses berthaut?" or "this cheese is from epoisses berthaut?" or "this is an epoisses cheese from berthaut?" or none of the above?}


3. also at whole foods, i found lavender mint water.
i luv lavender.
and i'm always looking for ways to use it in food and drinks.
but this just tasted like yoga mat cleaner.


4. a few days ago i discovered a mustard section at the fairway on 74th that i've never seen before!!
i squeeled in excitement.
their first floor mustard section is pretttty happening.
but it didn't even occur to me to look for mustard on the second floor (where everything is organic).
it's tangy and acidic and delicious.
i've found it works well with an ale or sweet mustard.



5. i fulfilled one of autumn's rites of passage and made caramel apples last night.
there are none left.
oops.

("no shame november, no shame november")


6. i got sooo hungry reading this blog post by new blogger friend gaia.
she made red velvet cupcakes (among many other goodies)!
i told her i'd give her the cream cheese frosting recipe that i use,
but it's so good i have to share it with everyone:

{i stole it from paula deen}

ingredients:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup melted marshmallows
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar

blend cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl.
add marshmallows and sugar and blend.
increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

that's it!




ohh kay.

gonna go eat now.


xoxo


yeh