Sweet Blog O'Mine

Author: Laren

  • Just for Fun

    First, a fun article in the NYT about the perils of dating bloggers,something I have not yet done, courtesy of This Fish Needs A Bicycle (who has been on my Reads o’ Mine for ages).  Second, yesterday was a great day, thanks to The Chocolate Show, D’Artagnan’s black truffle butter, some absolutely spectacular catfish tacos and tomatilla salsa that I made, wine club, and post-wine club festivities with fellow wine club folks, Joe, and Matt, among others.  A special shout out to Rob, who spent a huge chuck of the day an evening with me, which was extra special because it was his birthday.  For an old man (hardly) he certainly managed to stay out until the wee hours.  Today?  Much needed recovery.

    Catfishtacos

  • At Least There’s Still Some Good News

    I may be depressed about most things I read in the news lately, but this gave me a smile.  Big-Bottomed Mannequins Boost Profile in New York. Guess I’ll be stopping by Macy’s for some new jeans on my way home to show off my bootyliciousness. [via Gothamist]

  • Welcome to Hell

    This article, describing Rev. Jerry Fallwell’s plan for an “evangelical revolution,” made me gasp out loud when I saw it. To carry out his revolution, he has formed the “Faith and Values Coalition,” a group whose mission is “to lobby for anti-abortion conservatives to fill openings on the Supreme Court and lower courts, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and the election of another “George Bush-type” conservative in 2008.”

    Fabulous. Now please excuse me while I go throw up.

  • Visiting Another Blue State: the San Fran Report

    Jenn and I had both stayed up late to watch election returns last Tuesday night, so when we met super-early on Wednesday morning, we were both incredibly cranky and depressed, hoping that the worst was not yet inevitable.  During our flight over Jesusland (as the map that’s been going around now calls it), our pilot announced that Kerry was planning his concession later that afternoon.  Fuck.  At least we were on vacation.

    Our goals for our trip were to see friends, catch up on sleep, and relax, and I had the additional goal, as I always do, to find fantastic, cheap, local fare.  We succeeded on all fronts.  Between my SF Mates dinner at Tao Cafe (thanks again to the Chowhounds), to dim sum at Ton Kiang, from hitting happy hour at Nectar, a sleek and comfortable wine bar, to happy hour at trendy-wendy Lime, from sushi on boats at Warakubune to small plates at Three Seasons to modern Chinese at Firecracker, and the grand finale at the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market (where else can you have sweet, fresh oysters at 10 AM?!), I was definitely grateful for the hills and a travel companion who liked to walk as much as I did.

    Without going into too much detail (or I’ll never catch up), it was great to see Hinman, Leslie, Spike, Mindy, Joe, Jon, Eric, Bill, Adam, Arielle, David R., Stephen, Sid, and Seth — I was thrilled that I was able to spend at least a little bit of time with so many people and some quality time with a few folks I hadn’t seen in way too long.  Thanks particularly to Eric and Bill for their incredible hospitality and to my cousin Matt for letting me crash at his home away from home.

    Baybridge
    (yes, it’s the Bay Bridge, not the Golden Gate, but this is the view I had while eating those oysters I mentioned.  Nice, huh?)

    Can’t say I’m ready to move quite yet, but I had a great trip — and although I still have a great deal of recovery to do from the election, I’m glad I started down the road with friends and like-minded blue-staters.  It certainly softened the blow.  You can see the rest of the pictures here.

  • Playing Catch Up (and Other Games)

    Once again, my blog is lagging behind my life.  I got back last night from a great food and friend-filled trip to San Francisco, where I could counter at least some of the shock, grief, and depression I was feeling about the election results.  Ugh.  I’ll do my best to post my pictures, etc. tonight, but I have to go to Taste of NY first, to cover it for Gothamist Food.  Sigh — life is hard. 

    In the meantime, here’s some stuff from last weekend that I never managed to post.  I spent a great day in Chinatown with my friend Deb, and we had some dim sum at Ping’s Seafood, which was good, but I still think I prefer HSF.  We also spent some time playing a game we called Crazy or on the Phone?   So hard to tell these days what with all the hands-free headsets around, but I think we were running about 50/50.  We also stumbled across this sign, which we decided could have very well been a missed Midnight Madness clue:

    124_2432

    I’ll catch up one of these days, I swear.

  • Escapism

    Okay — so I’m not 100% sober at the moment, and I’ll admit that, but I just wanted to check in before I ran off to San Francisco tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. I’m hoping that I’ll wake up and that, after ALL the votes are counted, that the news is better than it is right now. Ugh. Either way, I’ll be on vacation, which should be good. Full report when I return.

  • Votergasm

    Votergasm — my favorite democracy-related initiative. And no, I am not disclosing whether or not I pledged, and if so, at what level I pledged. Just go vote — I’ll worry about my sex life, you worry about the future of our country.

  • The Power of Music. And Scent.

    I was having a discussion the other day about the power of a song to take you back to a specific place and time in your life. There’s a song on the Garden State soundtrack — The Only Living Boy in New York, by Simon and Garfunkel, that brings me back to a certain point in my life. The same boy who wrote me the most romantic love letters I have ever received also made me a mix tape or two, one of which had that song on it. At the time, I was living in Boston and he had recently moved to New York, so I imagined him wandering around, exploring the city, and the song to this day makes me think of him and smile.

    Similarly, when I was at OJ, one of the guys there was wearing the same cologne as someone I dated at one point. It’s amazing how the scent kept making me think that he was lurking around somewhere, even though I haven’t seen him in ages, and I certainly haven’t smelled him in even longer.

    Both of these things are so powerful, it’s almost frightening. And talking about it with other people makes me realize how pervasive this is — a song or a scent bringing you back to a specific place and time in your life — good or bad. The brain works in strange and mysterious ways . . .

  • Urban Punkins

    Stumbled across this pumpkin patch in Herald Square on Friday night. Not sure how or why they got there — the Great Pumpkin, perhaps? Happy Halloween!

    124_2430_r1

  • Whew

    It’s been another too-busy week, so tonight is my designated night in.  Of course, I have no food in the house, and am trying to save up some money for my vacation, so I get to play pantry chef — what do I have in the pantry that I can toss together and eat?  Looks like it’s going to be a variation of pasta all’ amatricana — tomatoes, bacon, onions, some crushed red pepper.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.

    The weekend was a bit of a whirlwind — starting with a Thursday night visit to Otto with folks from the beach house, the late arrival of my weekend visitor, a fantastic dinner Friday night at Strip House, a beautifully plated, delicious brunch cooked just for me, the Romare Bearden exhibit at the Whitney, a (sadly) rather mediocre dinner at John’s Pizza, a party in a spectacular duplex, brunch in Brooklyn with my Dad, stepmom, brother and sister, several naps, and rounded out with another visit to Otto to celebrate Augie & Lauren’s return from their honeymoon.

    124_2418_r1With no rest, I started the work week with dinner with Dad at Union Square Cafe on Monday, led my self-defense class graduation/open house on Tuesday, and just returned today from a day-long meeting in Albany. 

    One of the many highlights of the weekend was our dinner at Strip House, where Rene and his staff gave us the royal treatment.  I had never been before, and was very impressed — my filet was perfect, and I swooned over the goose fat potatoes with their crisy, flavorful crust.  How can you go wrong with goose fat, really?  And I had more foie gras that night than I have had in the past two years combined: the seared foie gras with peaches and green tomatoes followed by the foie gras meatball.  Rene rounded out the evening by sending out a piece of chocolate cake the size of my head — we had some difficulty determining whether it was twelve or fourteen layers, but regardless, it was decadent.  Plus, we had leftovers to take home!  Thanks to all for a great weekend, and after some rest tonight, I’ll be ready for the rest of the week.