1. 21st Amendment Brewery’s Hell or High Watermelon Beer: I’m really not much of a beer drinker—I prefer wine—but I do enjoy a nice, light fruity beer on occasion. When I saw six-packs of this beer on display at Whole Foods, one of them went straight into my cart. They’ve done a great job of infusing this brew with true watermelon flavor…none of that fake flavor crap here.
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I turned 37 (WHAT?!) last Saturday, June 13th, and I had a lovely birthday! I started off by treating myself to a bagel and cream cheese and an iced coffee, and chatted with my parents who called from a seaside resort in the Netherlands (they were there for a family member’s 80th birthday). My husband and I went to Meow Parlour for an hour—I had made a reservation two months in advance—and spent some quality time playing with the kitties. Before we registered at the cat cafe, we stopped in at their patisserie around the corner and picked up some treats to take to the cafe. A cat macaron? Don’t mind if I do!
1. I already talked a bit about #PDXcarpet. For this first Friday Five item, #PDXcarpet goes meta with the small zippered bag that I bought at a Made in Oregon airport store. I really wanted a pair of PDX carpet socks, but they were $20 and this bag was only $11. I also wished they had a PDX carpet shot glass to add to my collection (yes, I have a shot glass collection!), but amazingly they only had pint glasses and mugs with the print on them. I’m so fascinated by the weirdness of it all, so I Googled “PDX carpet” and turned up this article/radio piece on the history of the carpet and Portlanders’ love for it.
My June 2015 Birchbox arrived yesterday—Happy Almost Birthday to me! (My birthday is this Saturday.) This month, we were given a choice between picking a sample or selecting the guest editor box curated by The Tig. Honestly, I’d never heard of that site before so I decided to pick a sample for the non-guest curated box. I’ll let you in on which sample I chose shortly…
The June Birchbox that I received is themed “Next Stop: Adventure” with a very seasonally appropriate sunset ombre design:
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My husband and I flew to Portland, Oregon this past weekend and drove to the Oregon forest for a beautiful, fun wedding. Fortunately, this classic Oregon Trail event did not happen to anyone along the way:
We had an amazing view of Mount Rainier Mount St. Helens Mount Hood (we’re bad at geography) as we descended into the Portland area on the plane:
This week’s Friday Five post is a little rushed because I’m writing it in advance; we’re going out of town for a wedding in Oregon this weekend AND we’re in the middle of apartment hunting, which is basically the worst thing ever.* My apologies for the half-assed nature of this post!
1. Singapore Style Noodles with Paneer: I found this recipe on Ciao Veggie, and as I said on Instagram, it is Holy Shit Amazing. Asian noodles with CHEESE?! Yes please! I found the paneer, a South Asian cheese found in some Indian dishes, at my local Whole Foods. If you can’t find paneer I think halloumi would be a lovely substitute; tofu would totally work too, but it just ain’t cheese. With some sriracha squirted on top, this is a serious bowl of Gimme More! I will absolutely make this again…and I definitely want to try more of this blogger’s recipes, too.
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1. Onurth Organic Skincare: I discovered these lovely products at the Fabulous Fifth Avenue Street Fair, of all places. My friend and I were strolling through the fair, dodging wayward uncovered sneezes and ignoring the usual mozzarepas, socks, cheap sunglasses, overpriced lemonade, and unlicensed superhero bouncy houses when we stumbled upon the Onurth booth. It didn’t take much for the saleswoman with excellent skin to sell me on a tiny bottle of mature skin oil and a bottle of rose hydrolat. I had never heard of a hydrolat (also known as hydrosol) before. Turns out it’s the liquid that collects during the distillation process used to produce essential oils—so this concentrated stuff has a similar efficacy to essential oil. I learned something else, too: misting your face right before applying an oil will help the skin absorb the oil better. The rose hydrolat smells incredible! I’ve been using the two products in concert every night before bed and it makes for a luxurious little ritual. Sometimes I even spritz my face with during the day for a refresher. I like the products so much that I already ordered a full sized bottle of the oil!
We finally decided to get another box from HelloFresh this week—we’ve had to take a little time off because of our schedules. The box arrived bright and early on Tuesday morning and included ingredients and recipes for three vegetarian dishes.
(PLT) Portobello, Lettuce, and Tomato with Sweet Potato Fries, Tomato-Onion Jam, and Basil Aioli
Whoops! Sorry this post is so late today. I had scheduled it to publish at 9am, but for some reason that didn’t happen…
1. The Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic exhibit at Brooklyn Museum. Last Friday, four girlfriends and I plus an adorable, new-to-walking 14-month-old boy met up to see this exhibit. It is simply incredible. I took a few photos, because PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, but the exhibit is really something that needs to be seen in person. The scale of some of the paintings is enormous, and his photorealism and detail is astounding. I can’t believe just how prolific Mr. Wiley has been—the exhibit only includes pieces he’s created since 2006. This exhibit ends May 24th, so you’d better go see it while you can. And BTW, the kid loved it; so many bright colors!
Yesterday was not the best day ever, because 1) I had my first MRE—magnetic resonance enterography, basically an MRI on your gut—and 2) we found out we don’t have the option to renew our lease and we have to be out of our apartment by June 30…wah-wah. I actually started to have a meltdown, but then remembered Lucille Bluth’s words of wisdom:
I was required to fast before my MRE, so I wouldn’t be able to drink water to replace my tears. Thanks, Lucille, for saving me from dehydration and extra misery!
What’s the point of all this? Well, after the stress leading up to the MRE and the stress of getting back to Park Slope from E. 99th Street during rush hour without any bathroom incidents (sorry for the TMI), I had a Stitch Fix box waiting for me. HOORAY!Continue Reading…
