I love it-- no matter how much it gives me heartburn or a guilty conscience.
There's certainly no shortage of wonderful junk foods to choose from, but my new favorite is
Why, you ask?
Their burgers are old fashioned, juicy and delicious. They use really fresh ingredients.
They serve natural-cut shoestring french fries, hands-down the best french fry known to man.
Their prices are insanely cheap.
And take a gander just at the bottom of their menu board.
Yep. They have oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!
As if all that isn't enough to win you over, check this out.
Dublin Dr. Pepper on tap? Is this heaven? Nope. It's P. Terry's.
My mom has a bunch of old, skeleton keys hanging up on a wall, and I absolutely love that idea, as well as the idea of wearing one on a chain as a necklace.
Before I had this laptop sleeve, I used to take my laptop (Eva) in a cheesy laptop bag that was much more Sporty Spice than me. Now, with this laptop sleeve, I can safely tote her in any cute tote bag that I want.
My dogs really, really wanted to help me photograph the new polkadot sleeve for Eva. My laptop is named after two Evas: this one and this one.
4. Hipstamatic iPhone app
I know I've written about this app before here and posted photos with it (including the photos you see above). The old feel of these photos never fails to make me feel happy.
Isn't my hubs so freakin cute?
5. Netflix Watch Instantly
I've thought about including Netflix Watch Instantly on my Friday Favorites for a while, but I thought it was too shallow. Too jerky. Too... d-baggy?
The fact is, we not only love Netflix, we love Netflix Watch Instantly. Nathan set our TV up so we can watch movies/shows directly from the website, and while there is quite a lot of crap on it, there's also a ton of good stuff.
Don't you feel a little sad for the tortoise here? I mean for all we know, the little guy may be thinking this experience will lead to a meaningful relationship. But no. That gray Croc is not going to return his calls.
I thought this was a unique story of star-crossed accessory/reptile love, but no.
Youtube has video upon video of tortoise-on-shoe porn.
This raises some important questions...
If a turtle or tortoise approached your shoe, would you reject the little fella, or let him carry on with his amorous intentions? What if you were still wearing the shoe?
Funny, or just heartbreaking?
I guess it depends on if you're the videographer, the tortoise, or the shoe.
Two weeks ago, Nathan and I shot our friends Kathryn and Rami's wedding in Iowa. It was one of the most spectacular and special events I've been to in a really long time.
Kathryn's main color was yellow, with white and navy accents. Lemons (being the perfect shade of yellow) had a major role to play, in decorations,
place cards,
and beverages.
Ever since the wedding, we've been very into lemonade.
The traditional ratio for lemonade is one part sugar to one part water to one part lemon juice (plus extra water to dilute).
I took a lazy (or some might say smart) route and used bottled lemon juice.
If you have a few minutes, it's worth it to make simple syrup* with the water and sugar-- just combine equal parts water and sugar in a small saucepan over med-high heat. Stir occasionally until the water becomes clear, and the sugar is dissolved. Presto! *Be sure to use two parts simple syrup to one part lemon juice for your lemonade base.
OK, this weekend, we may have gone overboard, because we decided to make three different types of lemonade.
Lemonade #1: Strawberry Basil, based on this recipe.
I used our immersion blender, but I bet you'd be OK using a food processor or traditional blender.
Lemonade #2: Cucumber, based on this recipe.
I did use Sprite to top off the drink, with a little less simple syrup, so it wasn't overly sweet.
The longer you let the lemon juice and simple syrup stand with the cucumbers, the more "cucumbery" the flavor will be. I let ours stand for maybe an hour and it was delish.
Lemonade #3: Spiked Lemonade w/ Mint based on this recipe. The only real change was that I muddled mint with the simple syrup before I put it all together. (I also used ready-made vanilla vodka rather than making my own.)
All of the recipes were a smashing success. My favorite was the strawberry basil and Nathan's favorite was the cucumber.
If you have another lemonade recipe, feel free to share, because I suspect this will be the summer of lemonade.
I just finished making my Summer Mixtape*, which is an annual tradition for me. I always love to share copies of Summer Mixtapes* every year with friends.
In fact, I have a dream that one day, enough of my friends will make their own Summer Mixtapes* that we'll form a Summer Mixtape* Club, and everyone will trade with each other. Just imagine, hearing new bands, remembering old music, agreeing that some of the songs are fantastic, skipping others. It's a beautiful picture, no? You might think I'm kidding, but I'm really not. So far, I have one friend who made a Mixtape* this year. Thanks, DB! You're not only a charter member, I nominate you as club president.
(This is what our Summer Mixtape Club offerings might have looked like circa 1987.)
Anyway, here's who made the cut for me this year:
1. Kids - MGMT
2. Against All Odds - The Postal Service (cover of Phil Collins)
3. The W.A.N.D. - The Flaming Lips
4. Your Love - The Outfield
5. Streamlined - Slow Runner
6. Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine
7. Caring is Creepy - The Shins
8. Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime - Beck (cover of The Korgis)
9. 1901 - Phoenix
10. The Funeral - Band of Horses
11. District Sleeps Alone Tonight - The Postal Service
12. Your Cloud - Tori Amos
13. Subterranean Homesick Alien - Radiohead
14. Hometown Glory (Live) - Adele
15. The World at Large - Modest Mouse
16. Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips
I created a Pandora Radio station based on these songs. Feel free to listen in, if you want, and help me give "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to songs that pop up.
According to Rob Gordon, there are specific rules for making a Mixtape.
I couldn't find the exact clip I was looking for...
so, instead, let's all just watch John Cusack in the scene that made every red-blooded American girl fall in love with him.
1. pretty flats
Pointy or round, with bows or sparkles, my feet always appreciate alternating flats with heels.
2. argyle socks
3. quilts
Honestly, quilts aren't exactly my or my hubs' style. (We're much more mid-century modern.) That said, these quilts are so warm and homey, what's not to like?
I really love this yo-yo quilt. Yo-yo quilts are the fast and easy way to make a quilt, because they're not quilts at all, more like a coverlet. I'm thinking of making one! Here's a video showing how to make the yo-yos, and here's one of many online guides that explains how to put it all together.
4. homemade cookies
My personal favorite cookie is the much-underrated, and hard-to-find Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.
And although I never make them (who knows why?) I have a special, soft spot in my heart for chocolate chip cookie bars. These were like crack at church potluck dessert tables. Those of you who came into contact with any number of church potluck dessert tables growing up know exactly what I mean.
5. underwater photography
Whether really high-end/couture stuff like this, in a blackened tank
or just for fun, I love underwater photography.
It's so ethereal!
Plus, they did it on America's Next Top Model, so you just know it's a good idea.
Yesterday we watched this incredible documentary called The Rape of Europa.
It's an amazing film about the rescue and return of thousands of great works of art stolen by the Nazis. This is a compelling story from World War II that I-- for one-- had never heard before.
Toward the end, a man in the film says,
“Art belongs to humanity. Without it we are savages – we fight, we eat, we sleep. Art is what makes us human.”
I thought about it, nodded to myself, looked over at Nathan, who was editing photos. He said, without looking up, "I believe that." Yes. I couldn't agree more.
Art. Beauty. Expression. That is what makes us human.
I could never choose my most favorite art piece, but I'll share some photos from one of my favorite art installations at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.
100 untitled mill-aluminum works by Donald Judd. All of the boxes have the same exact dimensions on the outside, but as you get closer, you see that each one has a unique interior, (and I don't care if this is cheesy or not) but it makes me think of how everyone on Earth is different. This picture cannot capture the magnificence.
(Here you can see Nathan walking on the other side of one.)
Hemingway's line was that everything changes as it moves; and that that is what makes the movement that makes the story. Once you let a character speak or act you now know that he acts this way and no other. You dwell on why this is so and you move forward to the next page. This is my method. I'm not interested in formulating a plot to which characters are added like ribbons on a prize cow. The character is the key and when he does something which is new, something you didn't know about or expect, then the story percolates. If I knew, at the beginning, how the book was going to end, I would probably never finish.
You can find out who else sees the world from your point of view (quite literally) here and here.
You can also see a visual comparison of your height with others here. Fun!
