Ferwood Mirror + Sticker (in large, pls)

I tend to kill plants, so these would also be awesome options:

Citrus Tree

OIive Tree

And, because I’m a designer, and I’m obsessed with typefaces:

Veer Typography

Obviously, with $800+ pricetags, this is wishful thinking. But if you just happen to come into some money, and you just happen to be feeling generous, by all means, any of these will do:

Vera Wang Dragonfly Chain Necklace

Vera Wang Web Butterfly Necklace

Also, if you find a cheap knockoff, I’m down with that, too. Thanks.

DVDs. And BluRays.

I just got a new TV, and I finally have a BlueRay/DVD player. So, get me movies. Get me YOUR FAVORITE movie. I just want to watch things on my beautiful TV in high definition. And every time I watch it, I’ll think of your beautiful face

I’m currently über-obsessed with all things Etsy. Here are my favorites as of right now:

NOEMIAH Dylan Feather + Chain Necklace

Fancy Seven Layer Zipper + Cord Necklace by FancySense

picture courtesy of Migs Vuitton

This was definitely my best batch of Red Velvet Cupcakes. ever ever. Better than this batch. I started with a recipe from my favorite cupcake blog, Cupcake Bakeshop by Chokylit, with a few modifications of my own. See below.

Cupcakes
makes 36 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3-3/4 cups cake flour
1/4 cups cocoa [I used closer to 3/4 cup]
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder or 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter [I used baking powder]
3/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
3 teaspoons vinegar [I used 3 tsp of coconut vinegar, because it's what i had on hand]
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 ounce red food coloring paste [I used a shit ton of liquid food coloring to offset the color of the additional cocoa i added in]
2-1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups butter
3 eggs

I kept the frosting recipe the same –

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

12 ounces or 1-1/2 packages of Philly cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
4-5 cups sifted powdered sugar
seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The results? Fantasticalorgasmical. Yes, the best cupcakes ever. I brought them into work, and someone said “Are these from a box?”. I suppose that’s a compliment.. meaning they taste.. professional? lol

Also baked this week – German Chocolate Cupcakes. They were aiiight. I used cake flour instead of the recommended all-purpose flour because I thought it would be fancier. Turns out the crumb is too fine, and the cupcakes sort of just disintegrated on your tongue upon first bite, and didn’t really hold up or provide enough texture for the really thick frosting. But, that’s why we experiment, right? Right. More cuppycakes to come…

I’ve never been the type to wear make-up on the daily basis for various reasons… 1) I’m too lazy 2) I really don’t know what I’m doing and 3) I’m just too lazy. Don’t get me wrong, I can doll up when needed, but it’s usually a special occasion (my birthday, new year’s, picture taking lol).

In recent mornings, I’ve found myself looking in the mirror before I leave for work and thinking “Damn, I should put on some makeup” or “Where the FUCK did these dark circles come from? I should use some concealer” when I never really felt the need before. Maybe the creeping up of my “late twenties” is playing mind games with me. Maybe I’m sick of looking 18 all of the time. Maybe it’s time for me to look my age?

So, the personal struggle really comes with this thought – Do I feel the need to wear make-up to conform and fit in with “the man’s” definition of beauty, or do I simply want to do it to look my best and feel good about myself? Or are they one in the same?

So today I started with eyeliner. No powder, now foundation, no blush… and considering the closest I get to make-up daily is putting on some Burt’s Bees Honey Lip Balm, this is a nice little baby step. We’ll see if it sticks.

p.s. i have tendency to rub my eyes a lot. so if you see me walkin’ round looking crazy with raccoon eyes, please flag me down. thanks.

i love me some cargo !!

After all this fun and fuckery, we watched a cougar and a 12 year old asian boy make out in our VIP area. Then we ate chicken and waffles. Happy NYE!

so we went.

first:

[baby broccoli, pancetta, parmesan, soft egg, bread crumbs]
a great start to the night. the broccoli had a nice bite to it still, the crispy bits of pancetta were awesome. the egg made it for me, though. you know i’m an egg slut… such a sucker for a perfectly poached runny egg.

second:

[crispy hominy, lime]
think… individual kernels of corn, flash deep fried, seasoned with salt and a squeeze of lime on top. like, the best corn nuts you’ve ever had, ever. a little salty, but quite tasty.

third:

[pig ear, chili, lime, fried egg]
jonathan said it reminds him of that mexican candy lucas. it’s spicy and sour and salty and goodt. definitely the dish i was looking forward to the most, and it lived up to all the unrealistic expectations i set for it. the egg makes it.

fourth:

[ricotta & goat cheese gnocchi, bolognese]
some of the best gnocchi i’ve ever had. light, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth cheesy goodness. the meat sauce was also delightful.

[Note: at this point, i'm seriously seriously full. jonathan tells me to shut the fuck up, and to not mention the F word again. i take another swig of wine and hunker down.]

fifth:

[barbeque pork belly sandwiches, slaw ]
oh. my. god.
srsly.
it’s a big ass piece of super flavorful pork belly. you can’t be mad at that. ever.

sixth:

[foie gras, biscuit, maple sausage gravy]
i don’t know who thought of this, but they deserve a grammy award cause this mess was music to my tummy. i’ve never had foie gras prepared this way (i’ve had it as pate / mousse, but that’s about it). kind of amazing, but i couldn’t imagine eating that entire serving by myself. it’s ridiculously rich foie gras topped with ridiculously rich gravy on top of the best biscuit ever. the biscuit alone was amazing, then you’re gonna top it with foie gras and gravy? genius, i say. genius.

seventh:

[quail fry, grits, chard, slab bacon, maple jus]
you deep fried a quail. straight up.
the chard was honestly my favorite thing on the plate, right next to the grits – which weren’t really grits. more like… melted cheese barely held together by grits. i was too full to actually enjoy this, but i think if i weren’t overly stuffed with foie gras it would have been the best thing ever.

eighth:

[tres leches, dulce de leche]
i seriously don’t even know why this happened. i’ll blame peer pressure from the waitstaff. the lady refilled our water and said “the tres leches is awesome”. the waiter came back with the dessert menu and said “i love the tres leches.” so, jonathan said “we’ll take the tres leches”. and yes, it was quite tasty. if i weren’t so ridiculously full, i probably would have devoured it. instead, jonathan did.

Overall, an amazing 2 1/2 hour dining experience. The staff was friendly and helpful with recommendations. The atmosphere was low-key, the wine was good, and the food was served hot (you know how i am about my hot food). i’d definitely go back, but next time we won’t order like, the entire menu. maybe. i make no promises.

thank you, jono! you won “who gave the better present” this year, which really, is a win for me.

john west said it pretty well:

either way, something needs to budge. i think it’s me.

loud audible sigh. let’s go, twenty-ten.

Quadron – Slippin

Quadron – Horse