Blizzardpocalypse arrived in Brooklyn late last night, earlier than expected. The last reports I had heard were that the snow was going to start around midnight but it actually started coming down around 10pm. We already had this much by about 1:15am when I went to bed:
1. The first snow of 2016: I know, the weather is one of those small talk topics that people make fun of, but I actually like talking about it. So there! We received a light dusting of snow last Sunday—just enough to stick and coat the sidewalks and cars and then melt the next day. It was that kind of minor magical snow that doesn’t create a nuisance…not at all like the snowmageddon snowpocalypse snOLYSHIT blizzard that weather services are predicting for the northeast this weekend (yikes! send good vibes our way, please).
1. Mozart in the Jungle: now that it actually feels like winter outside, Netflix and chill is happening a lot in our apartment. Or should I say Amazon and chill? After this show’s big wins at the Golden Globes on Sunday, my husband and I decided to check it out. We’re only four episodes in so far, but it’s a charming show and we’re looking forward to watching more. The cast alone is worth watching: Golden Globe winner Gael Garcia Bernal, Lola Kirke—Jemima Kirke’s younger sister—Malcolm McDowell, Bernadette Peters, Saffron Burrows. Non-Prime subscribers, it’s time to cancel your plans this weekend. To celebrate its Golden Globe wins, Amazon is streaming the series for free this Friday through Sunday!
It’s been quite some time since I last wrote a proper review of a HelloFresh box! I’ve gotten several more boxes since my last review, but I either forgot to take photos or the photos I took were crappy so I skipped reviewing the finished dishes. Suffice to say, my husband and I have been very happy with HelloFresh—MUCH more so than Blue Apron or Plated. And this week’s veggie box was another solid one!
Crispy Chickpea and Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Quinoa and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
Last month I mentioned that I was having a bit of Birchbox fatigue. Well, my interest has been renewed because my first Birchbox of 2016 is the most exciting one I’ve received in quite some time! For January, subscribers were given the option to pick an Eyeko liquid eyeliner, a TONYMOLY lip tint, an IPKN radiant makeup primer, or a K-beauty box curated by Charlotte Cho, certified esthetician and co-founder of Soko Glam—a popular online Korean beauty shop. Beauty blogs have been raving about Korean beauty products for a while now, so I selected the K-beauty box to see for myself what all the fuss is about.
Before I talk about my samples, I have to say that I absolutely LOVE the January 2016 Birchbox design. Bright colors and delicate botanical illustrations? So perfect.
1. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks: back in October I bought the second book in the original Shannara trilogy, thinking it was the first due to the confusing “Book One” text on the redesigned MTV edition. Turns out The Sword of Shannara is actually the author’s debut novel and the first in the trilogy, so I bought a copy and have been reading it for the past couple weeks. It was a little slow going at first and man, I would copy edit the shit out of the overused passive voice, but the story has picked up. MTV’s show just premiered this week and I’m curious to watch it (hello, Manu Bennett!), especially now that I’ve begun reading the series.
As I mentioned in a Friday Five a little while back, I rented a jumpsuit from Rent the Runway to wear to a New Year’s Eve party…and it worked out very well! I rented the Halston Heritage Navy Ri Jumpsuit in two sizes: my regular size and a free larger backup size just in case. I decided to go with a long size instead of standard because I’m 5’8″ and RTR recommends a long size starting at a height of 5’6″.
I unfortunately didn’t manage to get a full-length photo of me 100% decked out, but I do have a full-length photo taken as I was getting ready:
Happy New Year! I’ll kick off 2016 with my first Friday Five of the year.
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: my husband and I saw this box office record-breaker at a theater in Connecticut on Christmas Day while we were on our mini getaway…and I loved every second of it! (Zero spoilers ahead.) We saw it in 3-D, and by pre-purchasing reserved seats we also unintentionally bought tickets for D-Box, which are “immersive” theater seats that tilt, bump, shake, and vibrate in concert with the film action. I’d never heard of these seats before* and at first I thought all the motion would be annoying, but I got used to it quickly and it turned out to be fun. My husband and I both managed to completely avoid spoilers and I think doing so enhanced our enjoyment of the film. Now I totally want to see it again! Also? John Boyega is the best.
I’m going to close out 2015 with an oddball topic: carpeteering. I had my first taste of carpet mania when my friend told me about the fervor over the original PDX carpet, which I had the opportunity to see for myself when my husband and I flew to Portland in June for a wedding.
Then after Comic-Con I was reading an article about the intense Hannibal fandom (Fannibals Forever!) and it linked off to an article about Hugh Dancy’s hobby: carpeteering. Hugh’s friend had launched an online database for airport carpets called Carpets for Airports that allows people to submit photos and reviews of airport carpets around the globe. Because Hugh was traveling quite a bit to promote his projects he started submitting his own reviews (Isle of Man, Edinburgh, Dublin, etc.), and one time his interest in a Boston airport lounge carpet even got him kicked out “for security reasons.”
I thought it would be interesting (probably only to me) to see what my top three most viewed posts were this year. Right now you’re probably like…
It’s fine, I’m totally cool with being Sam in that gif.
What I found in my site stats was surprising in terms of numbers. To be fair, I was probably only surprised because I’ve hardly been paying any attention to my blog’s traffic at all. So! My top three most viewed posts of 2015 were…Continue Reading…
