On a Home-Cooked Meal

The Happy Place.

Chopping up onions through tear-stricken lenses, the symptoms will undoubtedly be worth the while.  Flavored soups, hearty chilies and colorful stir fries, created through intentional choices with translucent vegetables waiting to be devoured, will appease the chef and subsequent participants over good conversation and savory scents.  The kitchen is where it all begins, cozy and safe, a palate for a garden artist, to create, control, and enjoy!   

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On Sans Lipstick

Au Naturel.

For the ladies out there, we pick and choose the shade and thickness we're most comfortable with, more for ourselves than for anyone else. Some prefer a heavy coat of daily mascara, while others cake on the foundation to cover up self-selected imperfections that, in reality, no one would likely otherwise notice.  Yet we wake, wash, and apply, feeling ever-so-slightly more confident (and prettier) than we did au naturel, quickly realizing in the faces of fellow lipstick appliers that even our minor dabs are hardly noticeable.  Enjoy!

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(In) the Spirit of V-Day

Be Mine?

I keep driving by the local, old school movie theater, well-know for it's weekend throwbacks (Ghostbusters, Goonies, Ninja Turtles and so forth), the majority of which I excitedly ponder for a brief moment and then remind myself that my usual 9pm-ish bedtime is way more important, and there's always our flat screen television if I get really desperate, which I won't.  But this past week, Romeo and Juliet (Leo style, in honor of Valentine's Day, I presume) keeps staring back at me as I pull up to the 6th avenue red light for just enough seconds to nag, and I recall the gigantic (6 foot long) poster I flaunted in college (that the local video store guy gave it to me back when those actually existed), and I debate whether I can comfortably keep my eyes open past curfew (-I am confident I cannot) just to see that one fish scene on a big screen (you know which one I mean).   But a valentine can fantasize because, let's face it, I can always go on YouTube before I hit the sheets, if I really wanted, which I...(don't)? Enjoy!

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On (My Personal) Eternal Bragging Rights

Two Words: Pacey Witter.

While rooting for Dawson Leery to win over Josephine Potter's heart pretty consistently between 1998 and 2003, it was Pacey Witter who I unexpectedly ran into on the side of the highway during spring break 1999 in Wilmington, North Carolina.  He was hitting golf balls at a deserted driving range with a guest character from season three (Andy's latest fling) and I was heading to the beach with a car full of 90210 fans (-in those days, the prime-time competing slot forced viewers to choose sides; a no-brainer, as far as I'm concerned), as we swerved into the parking lot and I rushed to introduce myself.  We laughed together, snapped a photo, and I even invited myself to join in their recreational Saturday afternoon activities (he said yes!) as my friends whisked me away to regroup in the sun and marvel over our starstruck run-in.  Enjoy!

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On My Obsession with Kale

Taste and Texture.

Sure, it's cooooool to eat kale nowadays - salads at work, homemade chips at a potluck, and avocado/lemon amalgamations at your semi-healthy friend's organic birthday party picnic (though, not my personal favorite combo in spite of its scientific reasoning) - but my own personal addiction is all about the taste and texture.  So when acquaintances and (current) roommates compare my favorite greens to "biting into leather" followed by child-like shudders (familiar to me when it comes to, say, meatloaf - ack!), I turn a blind eye and stack on the salt. So now I ask, what's your favorite kale recipe?  Let's exchange and ... enjoy!

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On Mass Emailing

DELETE!

Once per month - or every other - a mass email arrives from that elementary/high school/college classmate who you were never close to, have not seen in a decade, and barely follow on facebook (except maybe that one time...).  Updates on travels, donation solicitations, and requests to follow them on social media you don't even belong you bombard your inbox making you wonder how online access qualifies near strangers to invade your privacy.  And yet, along with this e-invasion, we find ourselves up-to-date and occasionally half-curious about people we haven't thought about in years, as we virtually tune in to perfect strangers and frenemies alike.  Enjoy!

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On Weddings in Mexico

Off to celebrate a family member's matrimonial ties in Mexico (for a week); this blog will resume on Tuesday, February 11th!