Houseguests

On two occasions this July, Meredith has had old pals passing through NYC, and we've had the pleasure of hostessing. Sprout has really enjoyed the extra laps on which to curl up and cuddle.

Memory-Making

Olga came over for dinner the other night, and in a moment of nostalgia we broke out the scrapbooks I had put together during college. Olga lamented that we never took pictures anymore, and we'd have no record of these days down the road. So we took a [really nerdy] picture.

Tuesday Tunes

For Jamie's birthday, we ventured to karaoke in Koreatown. It wasn't until moving to NYC that I experienced the private room karaoke scene, where for an hourly rate you and a group of friends get a small "studio" outfitted with laser show, a binder listing thousands of songs to choose from, and a tamborine. The amount of reverb on the microphones makes everyone sound like a rock star, plus it's BYOB, so sooner or later you feel like a rock star. We rediscovered lots of great tunes from days gone by, and when I looked them up on YouTube, I discovered some even greater (weirder) music videos. Which got me thinking, it would be fun to feature a song each week. I don't plan on having any rhyme or reason to the choices, and I'm certainly not promising that I'll be sharing anything cutting-edge or noteworthy. Just whatever has been getting a little extra play on my iPod. First up, a special belated-birthday dedication to Jamie, who rocked this number at karaoke.


Annie Lennox, "Walking On Broken Glass"

Happy Birthday Friend!

On a very happy note, today is the birthday of my very best friend, Marina. I'm glad I'm back in blog-land in time to write her an e-birthday wish. I think it's so cosmically-fitting that our bdays are exactly 9 months apart, and that I was born on the Vernal Equinox and she on the Summer Solstice. It's like the universe meant for us to be pals. By now I've got almost 11 years worth of awesome memories with Marina, and she's really the best friend a girl could ask for.



On a sadder note, Marina's very special dog friend, Peanut, passed away a week ago. He was a really wonderful dog, and was with Marina since he was a puppy and she was a pre-teen. Those are some very critical years. Of the many, many things that make Marina and me a perfectly-matched best friend pair is our unabashed love of dogs, especially black and white ones. I am so happy Peanut had Marina, and that Marina had Peanut. He's going to be missed, and I am sending some extra lovin' to Marina on this birthday.

Hello? Anyone Out There?

Well, it's certainly been awhile, hasn't it? Just look at all those spam comments on my last post!

I realize I've been totally M.I.A. the past few months, and I guess I'll just chalk it up to adjusting to a new full time job that demands very long hours from March through mid-May. I hadn't blogged for so long, that at a certain point I thought that good old Reappropriate This had just died a natural death. But that crazy work time is (thankfully) over, which has given me more time to read other people's blogs, which has made me realize how much I miss having my own blog. So I'm back, attempted to resurrect this site.

Here are a few new things that have happened since January.


I've wasted many seeds and killed many delicate seedlings, but I've perservered with my indoor garden. In a few instances, I caved and bought already healthy plants at the store (see basil on left). I'm trying to grow an avocado tree (center) and, in my one success story, I grew this out-of-control tomato plant from a seed.


Meredith and Jamie's joint birthday picnic at Prospect Park got rained out, but Chris and Michael saved the day by inviting us over for an indoor picnic.


Our CSA started! It's still the time of year where we're getting mostly greens (lettuce and mesclun and spinach and bok choy and kale!!!) but it's still totally awesome. Maybe I'll share some meals in some upcoming posts.

Here's to being back in the blogging saddle.

Bullet Points

Oops. My blogging skills are totally deteriorating. When I noticed it's been well over a week since my last post, I racked my brain for some witty or noteworthy events, thoughts, or observations I might share with you, Internet. But I came up short, and will instead resort to some classic bullet points. Over the past couple of weeks I have:

- Celebrated Janet's 25th birthday with a night of hearty fall food and beeswax candle making. Here's a picture of the birthday girl in action that I stole from her Facebook page:
- Convinced the landlord to repaint the ceilings which were stained after a leak caused by their faulty washer & dryer. A small domestic success.

- Waited in line for an hour for dinner at Westville with Jamie, Ned, Meredith & Lisa. There are about a million other fine dining establishments in the vicinity, but we were a determined bunch. After dinner, we went to Sweet Revenge-- a gimmicky but great cafe that pairs cupcakes with exotic beers.

- Babysat for a (very cute but) fussy, teething baby who could only be consoled by a) repeatedly doing the Hokey-Pokey or b) Schnappi.

- Finally bought a humidifier after several winters of vowing I would buy one for the next year. It has transformed my room from a dry, scratchy nightmare to a cozy, luxurious oasis. Here's Meredith enjoying its wonderful steaminess:If we Photoshopped out the plastic top, I think this would make for fine evidence of ectoplasm in a ghostly encounter hoax. Which, appropriately, is one of Ms. Bak's primary scholarly interests.

- Watched Sprout's nesting tendencies kick into high gear as the weather has gotten colder. It's not uncommon for me to notice she's left the room, only to find she's retreated to the bedroom to curl up on my pillow and snuggle under blankets. How she manages to do this on her own, without opposable thumbs, is amazing and cute. Amazingly cute:

Leafpeeping

Vermont Memories, #5

This view helped us all get in touch with our inner leafpeeper.

Country Dog Kerchief

Vermont Memories, #4



I remembered last year I visited Vermont right in the middle of hunting season, and that the dogs had to wear brightly colored scraps tied on their collars when we went on walks in the woods so that hunters knew not to shoot should they see them rustling in the bushes. I figured they might like something a little more fashionable this year, and enlisted Meredith's help in a craft project. She whipped up a couple of apple-patterned kerchiefs for little miss Sprout and our host dog Peanut. The only thing Sprout enjoyed more than wearing her new fall accessory was rolling in horse poop, so the kerchief only made it through the first day.

A Little to the Left

Vermont Memories, #3
I mentioned in my last post that Marina had recently moved into an apartment downtown, which meant that one of the activities during my visit was helping settle into the new place. We carried some shelves back from Marina's mom's house, looked for treasures in an amazing little antique store, and hung some art. Here are some favorite little corners of her new room: some great kid art depicting Peanut, comfy couch and blankets, and a little art nook.

The Strizzle

Vermont Memories, #2



When I visited Marina in Vermont last fall, she was just getting ready to move into a converted airstream trailer, and we spent some time searching for a good wood stove to keep her toasty in the winter. This year, she had just moved out of "The Strizzle" and back into a downtown Montpelier apartment. We still spent a good deal of time at The Strizzle, doing some chores and letting the dogs sniff horse poop and run off leash. I am so impressed that Marina was able to live here for a whole year-- no kitchen, no plumbing, no electricity-- but it does have quite a beautiful view. I think my best friend is really tough and brave.

One Room Schoolhouse

Vermont Memories, #1


While visiting Vermont last week, I offhandedly mentioned to Marina my fascination with one room schoolhouses. "Oh," she said casually, "I've go somewhere to show you then." Sure enough, tucked in the woods along a country road-- the most beautiful one room schoolhouse I've ever encountered. It's perfectly preserved complete with old desks, chalkboards and wood stove. We could only peek the through the windows, but it was enchanting.

From the Vaults

One of my (favorite) students is thinking of applying to Smith and asked me about it. Of course, she had the usual worry-- no boys. I totally get that, and had the same worry as a 17 year old. But how do you explain that it really doesn't matter? You get to spend time with these people, and they're a million times better.

Placecards

I had some friends over for dinner last night.I also had a lot of issues of US Weekly, and a lot of time on my hands.

I (Still) <3 U Internets

With the exception of the incredible Kitten Loves Puppy video, I've been a negligent blogger lately. And I probably will remain relatively MIA for the next three weeks. This is due to a new summer job that involves waking up at 6am for 9 hour work days spent with 30 young children and 4 sassy teenage counselors. At least I don't have to wear shoes at work, which is a great perk. So my motto for the summer is "work hard, play hard" and there have been lots of fun times, such as: Megha's birthday in Prospect Park, Harry Potter on opening day, burritos at Benny's, haircuts, discovering kohlrabi, and many, many trips to the dog park with Sprout. There's more on the horizon for this weekend, including a rooftop party at Maggie's and a visit from Marina. All this working hard and playing hard doesn't leave much time for blogging, but to make up for my absence in the blogosphere, here's a Kitten/Puppy follow-up:

More Summer Reading

Earlier this week, I went to McNally Jackson to hear J. Courtney Sullivan discuss her best-selling novel, Commencement. The book follows four best friends who meet at Smith College (represent!) and meets up with them five years post-graduation. Understandably, there's a been a buzz among my Smith pals (three of whom came along to the reading) about Sullivan's book; I read it ASAP.While in many ways it reads like any other work of chick lit, there are few things I really enjoyed. For starters, it is really fun to read about Smith from someone who actually gets Smith. Charlotte from Sex and the City allegedly went to Smith, but the fact that she claims to have been in a soriety shows someone did not do their research. There's also an upcoming Hallmark TV movie called Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith, which I can already tell needs some fact-checking too. But Sullivan includes lots of great, quirky and 100% true details. The kinds of things that people who didn't go to Smith don't quite believe. Yes, we had tea served to us every Friday afternoon. Yes, we changed the constitution to be gender neutral even though it's a women's college. And without sounding too cheesy, I think that my friendships from Smith are like none other. I too had a tight knit posse of four BFF's, and in many ways Sullivan captures exactly how I feel about my Fab Four. I am curious to hear from some non-Smithies who have read the book, and find out if these traditions and eccentricities that are so close to my heart are interesting to them, or merely colorful details.

Secondly, Sullivan and her characters are not afraid to call themselves feminists. I think the book does an excellent job of showing the different and changing faces of feminism-- not something you'll find in Devil Wears Prada or The Nanny Diaries. Gloria Steinem thinks so too. She said, "Commencement makes clear that the feminist revolution is just beginning.” That's about the biggest compliment one newly-famous Smithie can get, from one of the most well-known and respected Smithies there is.

I'll admit when the book came out I was a bit skeptical. Once upon a time Aria and I had grand plans of writing a collection of short stories about Smith. We only got as far as coming up with pseudonyms for the professors (for example, president of the college Lucille Lourde), so I was curious to see the woman who had actually succeeded in exposing the unique Smith world to the masses. As I learned at the reading, it turns out that J. Courtney Sullivan is a delight. She is down-to-earth, well-spoken, warm, friendly and super smart. But then again, she did go to Smith.

Happy Birthday Poodle

My dearest friend. It's impossible to capture in blog form how very grateful I am for our friendship. I realized it's been ten years now since we first met and you thought I had cool socks. I am so thankful that we have effortlessly stayed close (despite physical distance) through so many phases of life; it seems that as we grow and change, we do so in ways that continue to compliment one another. You get me. I get you. Beat beat friend.

New Post About New Things

1. New blog: Pierogi Tour 2009 (aka, Meng & Amar's travel adventures). Gotta love a blog whose title is a vague Gossip Girl reference.

2. New song to share: "True or False" by Bishop Allen


3. New hobby: Embroidery. This is only day three, and I only know two stitches so far (split and stem) but I think I'm coming along just fine.

"How do you recover from a food coma?"

I learned a new vocabulary word recently, and that word is "sate," which means to satisfy an appetite fully, or, to satisfy to excess. And that's exactly what Meng and I did yesterday.

Meng is leaving NYC to go to B school, and she will be missed.

Usually, it's me asking Meng for restaurant recommendations (once she made me an Excel spreadsheet to help determine a birthday dinner destination) but after I tried Shopsin's for the first time, I knew that for once I had found something special to share with her, and the week before her departure from the City of Dreams seemed the perfect occasion.

So here's what we ordered. She got chicken marsala with mushrooms. We were sitting at the counter, which gave us a perfect view into the kitchen, and we overheard Kenny asking what exactly went into that dish-- apparently it hadn't been prepared in quite sometime. But once it was, all the wait staff tried it and approved, complementing Meng on her excellent choice. I had "The Pothead," which is a sandwich comprised of an absolutely amazing turkey, coleslaw, mayo, and cranberry concoction. It's kind of like all of Thanksgiving rolled into one, but I'd venture to say it's even better than Thanksgiving.

Then, as if we weren't stuffed enough, we swung by an old favorite, Sugar Sweet Sunshine. An Ooey-gooey for her, a Bob for me. Delish.

And, on a totally unrelated note, here's Meng & me wearing Chinese face masks which, according to her translation, contained "donkey hide" as one of the ingredients. My skin felt great afterwards.

Jon & Kate: Update

Not to dwell on this, but... I was hanging out with my friend Jenni last night, discussing current events. Not swine flu, but Jon Gosselin's alleged cheating (which honestly, I'm sure is being blown totally out of proportion). Jenni (like me) was a pretty big fan of the reality show, and (like me) is intrigued by the growing popularity of freakishly large families. I offered to lend her my copy of Kate's best-selling book, Multiple Blessings, and Jenni made a notable discovery. Among the many, many bible verses that Kate has sprinkled throughout the book, the one embossed on the cover of the book is the following:

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them
Psalm 127:3-5

And guess who else loves that verse? The crazy, irresponsible Quiverfulls! Leave it to the two PK's to spend their evening investigating misuse of biblical interpretations...

High / Low

My sojourn in Santa Barbara started off with a bang. On Thursday I had a lovely massage, and on Friday I went wine tasting. The wine tasting excursion was put together by JAL, who also happened to be out in SoCal (and you must read about her LA experience). J drove up for the day with her sister and her sister's friend. As it turns out, the friend and I had gone to the same small, private high school and graduated just two years apart, but since he was captain of the football team and I was president of the thespian club, our paths never crossed. The strange interconnectivity of our bicoastal foursome made for a confusing yet amusing introduction to our wine tasting cohorts: "Well, these two are sisters, these two live in LA, these two live in New York, but these two went to high school together." It was a busy week for my hostess with the mostest, Meredith, since her department was hosting visiting perspective PhD students, coordinating a graduate student conference, and presenting the culminating screening of a yearlong production project. But I got to tag along to all the various official and unofficial celebrations with the film & media studies posse, and that was lots of fun.

I was looking forward to an overnight visit from my mom and Matilda on Saturday, with plans of a delicious Easter brunch for close pals on Sunday. But on Saturday night, I came down with a mysterious illness that seriously harshed on my mellow. I'll spare you the details, but it wasn't pretty. I spent most of Easter drifting in and out of feverish sleep, listening to the laughter of the brunch guests playing wild games of Boggle. My diet was limited to the few foods and liquids that proved only mildly painful to swallow (hot tea, cold Gatorade, soup, and popsicles). I paid a visit to a friendly Santa Barbara doctor yesterday, who was kind enough to supply me with some of his antibiotic samples and sent me on my way. They must be working, because last night, I finally felt alive again. To celebrate, I ate my first real meal in three days. I chose pizza.