Reisling

things that are great: corn dogs

2012-02-13T17:31:00.003-05:00

Some occasions just call for fancy. Homemade, for the Super Bowl, using this nifty contraption.

Wouldn't you know this company also sells a pigs-in-a-blanket maker and a mini-donut maker?

Currently freelancing

2011-10-24T15:56:00.001-04:00

Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand

I learned a new word today: galeophobia!

2011-08-03T16:32:00.002-04:00

Today's installment of "I learned a new word" comes from a personal place:

I have a huge fear of sharks, to the point where I was actually scared to google this word (I had my cursor poised over a new tab on my screen) for fear that a picture might actually come up. That would be really cruel of google.

I learned this from my daily Mediabistro email in a story about how the Shark Week App is the #1 thing this week or something. The above definition is from MedicineNet.com, but the word does not appear in Merriam-Webster, and dictionary.com is telling me that "galeophobia" means "fear of cats" (I do not have that fear! Kitty love!) so who knows if this is true. I'm shocked I've never heard the technical name of my suffering before.

Currently freelancing

2011-07-26T12:15:00.001-04:00

So Damn Lucky by Deborah Coonts

playing house

2011-07-21T16:41:00.003-04:00

A long-held desire of mine has been to live in a place for long enough to warrant buying a pretty personalized address stamp like this one from Felt & Wire. Ah, dreams.

Nerd Shopping Spree

2011-07-07T18:32:00.006-04:00

I got a little bit of a promotion at work today and on my lunch break proceeded to go on a nerd's version of a shopping spree to celebrate. I bought some tiny unnecessary gadgets at the Container Store and then went over to Paper Presentation on 18th Street, which is the greatest stationery store in New York City (and is quite possibly my favorite store, period). Behold, the wall of fancy pens!

This wall just makes me so happy. Their selection is a pen nerd's dream, because not only do they have the pen brand you like, but they have it in every color and weight, too. I spent $20 on pens. Including a splurge on not one but TWO silver metallic Sharpies (one for work and one for home). Because life is better when you have the perfect pen, right? Am I the only one still holding on to old favorite pens even though they have run out of ink? For sentimental purposes?

Next I went to B&N where I purchased two FULL-PRICED books, a thing I never do (hello, library, swap.com, used book stores, working at a publishing company and borrowing). I bought A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, both of which I will attempt to squish into my suitcase for vacation next week.

Freelancing

2011-06-29T16:50:00.002-04:00

Action shot! Here I am freelancing.

40 Love by Madeleine Wickham

These are real.

2011-06-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some other slightly terrifying Tor covers for books I've worked on. God love 'em.

This original cover of Man Plus is from 1986, and we redesigned and reissued it with this new cover.

But this is new! From 2010! Iorich by Steven Brust.

Forerunner

2011-06-22T13:30:00.005-04:00

I'm working on a redesign of this book from the early '80s called Forerunner, and oh my does it have the most fanfrickintastic psychedelic, slightly creepy illustrations.

summer reading

2011-06-21T17:17:00.005-04:00

Beach vacation is happening in two and a half weeks, and I'm thinking of tackling one loooong book...

Freedom
by Jonathan Franzen
(576 pages)

Until I Find You
by John Irving
(848 pages)

The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
(973 pages)

i heart brooklyn

2011-06-15T20:43:00.004-04:00

Okay, I know I don't live there anymore, but the longer I live on the Upper East Side, the more I am looking forward to moving back to BROOKLYN in a year or so. Last weekend I went to the tantalizing mecca of handmade craftiness that is known as the annual Renegade Craft Fair in Williamsburg (where I got my much-loved scissors necklace two years ago). I bought this uber-Brooklyny print of an illustration by Claudia Pearson, whom you can find on Etsy here. She's British, but she loves Brooklyn, too! (SO MANY THINGS I LIKE.) It's a charming little row of brownstones, aka my dream home, and it's titled "Houses All in a Row." I can't wait to frame it and hang it on my wall...in Brooklyn.

Time needs wasting?

2011-06-13T15:27:00.003-04:00

Awesome tumblrs (aka awesome at-work time-sucker-awayrs):

My Daguerreotype Boyfriend

Writers and Kitties

Currently freelancing

2011-06-11T09:02:00.000-04:00

The Kosher Carnivore by June Hersh

Midnight in Paris in Clothes

2011-06-10T15:22:00.008-04:00

Midnight in Paris is a fun, funny movie that will make you want to visit Paris, and if you are like me, it will make you covet the clothes Rachel McAdams's character, Inez, wears in the film. Nevermind that Inez is a shallow bitch! The cute dresses! Those wedges! That covetable watch and blush-pink purse! I was more focused on that.

Currently freelancing

2011-06-10T11:20:00.001-04:00

After an amazing five whole days of no freelance work...

Past Continuous by K. Ryer Breese

Currently freelancing

2011-06-05T11:09:00.003-04:00

Killer Elite by Michael Smith

Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More by Stever Robbins

I know, "Stever"?

Want.

2011-06-03T09:03:00.003-04:00

I have such a crush on these Kork-Ease sandals right now. I've been going on Zappos to visit them and stare lovingly at them at least once a day. Sure, something about them is slightly old-lady-orthopedic looking, but mostly they are so cute! And I bet comfortable. If I was short I would totally want these even hotter ones.

words, ya'll!

2011-06-02T14:51:00.002-04:00

This one is especially in honor of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, happening today.

Currently freelancing

2011-05-31T13:34:00.002-04:00

Does This Make My Assets Look Fat? by Susan L. Hirshman

I learned a new word today!

2011-05-20T11:11:00.001-04:00

Currently freelancing

2011-05-19T12:52:00.004-04:00

Dreamland by Alyson Noel

How to Not Be Afraid of Your Own Life by Susan Piver

2011-05-06T09:15:00.004-04:00

Hello and welcome to new feature on my blog, "I Learned a New Word Today"!

Because . . . I think it's cool to encounter a new word and find out what it means. And although this is really lame, IT'S MY BLOG and I can do whatever I want.

Without further ado, I just learned this:

Thanks, Webster!

Previously freelancing

2011-05-04T14:12:00.005-04:00

I'm a little giddy to share that I got to proofread this new book a few months ago:

Ten Rules for Living with My Sister by Ann M. Martin

Yes, that Ann M. Martin, she of the Babysitters Club.

The cover wasn't released online until recently, so I was waiting for that to happen before posting. While it was also exciting to have worked on Sweet Valley Confidential this year, because I also loved that series when I was twelve-ish, the Babysitters Club was far and away my favorite (I think Kristy, Claudia, and the rest were a bit more pure than Jessica and Elizabeth and their friends).

Perfect for those with a slightly obsessive nature because there were 100+ books in the series, I was also so into how each chapter would start with a handwritten excerpt from the BSC journal, and how each girl had her own instantly identifiable handwriting (Mary Anne's looked like a grandma's handwriting, Claudia's was zany and full of misspellings and i's dotted with hearts).

So if you know any eight- or nine-year-olds, Ten Rules . . . is a sweet novel about the misadentures of Pearl and her older sister, Lexie, trying to get along with each other (and they live in a New York apartment in the Village). Also there is a Grandpa with Alzheimer's Issue.

Currently freelancing

2011-04-28T16:40:00.000-04:00

The Barbary Dogs by Cynthia Robinson

Good Hair Day

2011-04-06T12:21:00.001-04:00

Isn't it nice to have one? Not that I'm bragging or anything.

via OutsidePeg on Etsy

Currently freelancing

2011-03-31T10:39:00.002-04:00

With Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan

Currently freelancing

2011-03-23T09:39:00.004-04:00

I'm working on a book in this Breyer Horse Portrait Collection--the one I'm working on is Chico's Challange: The Story of an American Quarter Horse, and it's coming out in the fall. I was never into horses, but it's fun to work on an easy project and to work more on kids' books and not stuff like this.

summer prep

2011-03-23T09:36:00.003-04:00

It might be 36 degrees out right now and threatening evilly to snow, but my new classy English plaid picnic blanket arrived today. Anticipating lots of time spent sitting on this in Central Park is helping. A little.

2011-03-10T10:22:00.003-05:00

I am jealous of girls who can pull off wearing red lipstick to work looking like a J. Crew model. I don't think I could ever bring myself to try. Must find out this secret.

Currently freelancing: Supersize edition

2011-03-09T09:50:00.002-05:00

I had to bring my big grocery-size tote bag to work to lug home this oversized kids' book (it's more than 12 inches wide and 18 inches tall) so I can work on the paperback edition.

One-woman revolution

2011-03-09T09:20:00.005-05:00

Can Doc Martens sandals be back in style now, please? Other stupid crap from the 90s is back now, so if people are wearing lace-up Docs boots with leggings and flowery-print dresses, why not these?

I saw my old sandals from high school when I was at home last weekend at my parents'. They were in the bottom of my closet. I remembered how much I loved these back in 2000 or 2001 when I was SO PUMPED to have reached the height of fashion at my high school, and didn't care that it took weeks of wearing band-aids wrapped around my toes when I first broke these puppies in.

This question is burning enough for me to break my blog silence/laziness.

california, here we come

2010-08-09T14:39:00.002-04:00

San Fran Plan! Sup, color-coded maps? It's my first big girl vacation, so color-coded maps are a necessity.

that's one shot!

2010-07-30T09:40:00.000-04:00

Provisions for last night's Jersey Shore season premiere party

They know.

2010-07-28T09:41:00.004-04:00

Nothing has ever made me feel more like the internet is reading my mind than discovering this website. http://bookshelfporn.com

REALLY???

2010-05-20T11:28:00.003-04:00

File under: Things that made me do a double take on the subway; Things that make me die inside.

2010-05-04T09:35:00.002-04:00

Dating advice from Michelle Obama: “Cute’s good. But cute only lasts for so long.”

Quoted from this article in the NYT, which makes me feel a little like I am a failure at doing anything with my life.

Currently freelancing

2010-04-26T11:51:00.002-04:00

cool kids

2010-04-04T18:03:00.002-04:00

I know they were all strung out on drugs or whatever, but I don't think I've ever seen anything more glamorous than this picture.

Carly Simon and James Taylor, honeymoon, 1972.

This book is on my to-read-next short list.

HOW AWESOME

2010-03-10T16:34:00.001-05:00

The Joan one is so sassy! I want it.

Currently freelancing

2010-03-10T16:31:00.002-05:00

Currently freelancing

2010-02-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Freelancing it UP.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T09:43:00.001-05:00

(belated, but whatevs)

Snow City

2010-02-11T13:44:00.006-05:00

There was hardly anyone in the office yesterday so I snuck into the empty conference room in the point of the tenth floor of the Flatiron to take some aerial photos of Madison Square Park.

Currently freelancing

2010-02-10T10:56:00.003-05:00

Zut alors! Can this be? A book I'm proofreading that is actually pretty interesting! (please imagine this being said in the voice of the cook from The Little Mermaid)

Really?

2010-02-08T14:52:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I have to work on books like this and I die on the inside.

the real kelly kapoor

2010-02-08T09:30:00.003-05:00

People. Minday Kaling's (writer and actress on The Office) Twitter is the greatest thing of all and she constantly cracks my shit up.

u know when you're being really needy and a voice inside
u says "you can stop this" but another part of u
says "fuck it, psycho, have fun"? 4:18 PM Feb 5th from web

Could he BE any more awesome?

2010-02-06T18:20:00.003-05:00

On a related note, what the hell was I doing listening to this on cassette tape when I was like ten years old?

Currently freelancing

2010-02-06T18:17:00.003-05:00

I've been proofreading my little butt off, but it's been fun to be able to work on a kid's book that has these sweet line drawing illustrations.

Gilmore Girls quote of the day

2010-01-07T09:08:00.003-05:00

"And don't wear those stockings with the seams up the backs, you look like ten cents a dance."

--Emily Gilmore, "Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels," Season Four

Live from New York

2010-01-01T18:58:00.004-05:00

Happy brand-new year.

Goodbye Brooklyn, hello Manhattan. Ramona and I are enjoying our new view. [And yes, that is Crumbs right across the frickin street.]

this mess

2009-12-20T12:59:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the disaster area.

The countdown is on until moving day, one week from tomorrow!

I have one entire suitcase filled with tank tops.

Every Song You Hear

2009-12-19T15:20:00.002-05:00

This is my favorite Christmas music of all time. It's the Carpenters (Peter and Karen! They're siblings!) and it's from, I think, the 70s. It's the music my mom would always have on during Christmas when I was growing up, and my first Christmas season in college I had to buy my own copy because I realized it just wouldn't be Christmas without it.

It's this amazing nostalgic blend of cheeserific cheerfulness (although Karen Carpenter on Ave Maria is really quite lovely) combined with some serious religious numbers. Plus even when I was little the whole thing was tinged with some tragic drama since my mom sat me down and explained how Karen Carpenter later died from anorexia. Heavy stuff for an eight year old.

If you want to listen to one song from this, please make it "The First Snowfall."

marathon

2009-12-14T08:02:00.002-05:00

If my wallet could take it, I would totally just take one day over Christmas vacation to go see

Brothers
Up in the Air
The Lovely Bones
An Education
The Young Victoria

(Okay, and maybe also The Princess and the Frog.)

Who's with me?

Ramona the Pest

2009-12-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is Ramona.

If you didn't know, she is rather high-spirited. And sometimes plumb crazy.

She does this thing where she sleeps all evening, then wakes up and does the crazy at 5 a.m. She bites the bottom of the closet door, the ethernet wire, the wicker storage basket under my bed, and just does not stop. Meanwhile I wake up every five minutes, speak to her in a stern voice, plead with her to stop so I can sleep, and spritz her with the spray water bottle. Then around 5:30 she gives up and curls up on my bed with me.

I told my mom that I feel like a bad cat mommy because sometimes I want to throttle her. And my mom said, "Kids are like that, too."

D.C. Holidays

2009-12-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

Whilst on Oprah.com to find out when her Obama White House Christmas special is airing (Sunday at 10 p.m. on ABC, if you are so inclined) I found this nifty slideshow of White House Christmas cards from the past. The one above is from the Clinton Administration for Christmas 1998. Fun to check out if you love Christmas cards like me.

'Tis the season...

2009-12-10T21:30:00.004-05:00

. . . to use up all those vacation days that are soon to expire. Yay! I made a last-minute decision to use up one of my personal days today. Fun to have a nice bonus free day in the middle of the week, right?

Apartment-hunting combined with freelance (gotta be able to pay the rent on the new place!) has made for a crazed past few weeks, so I tried to get a bunch of stuff done that had been on the back burner.

Made some crazy delicious white lace for tomorrow's office party (white chocolate snack mix), recipe courtesy of Kathryn via Mrs. Stasz, got the laundry done, did a loop in the mostly deserted park, and put together this little Christmas package for a certain friend and her baby. Is this not the cutest tiny T-shirt you've ever seen? The hot pink felt wreath is inspired by this Flickr find.

2009-12-09T21:21:00.003-05:00

I just need to say that right now Glee is totally ripping off the storyline from Sister Act 2 wherein the ragtag gang of acapella singing kids makes it to the climactic regional competition only to find that another school is singing the same song they have planned! Can they top Lauryn Hill? Can they??

Let's make a deal

2009-12-08T21:35:00.002-05:00

What I would really like to be doing tonight is reading the new issue of Real Simple that's patiently waiting on my desk, watching Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (my all-time favorite Christmas movie), and maybe even putting up a few holiday decorations in my apartment.

However, I have this mother of a freelance project that I gotta keep soldiering through, so I can finish up and start the next project. So I made a deal with myself wherein I could take a fifteen-minute break to download The Nutcracker Suite off iTunes and write this blog post.

Weekend, are you here yet?

Currently freelancing

2009-11-29T20:30:00.000-05:00

I told myself I would take a break during Thanksgiving, but clearly that did not end up happening.

mystery solved.

2009-11-22T09:25:00.006-05:00

Further to my post wondering where the hell people stash their keys while out running (or in my case, walking), I have discovered their secret: super high-tech running pants or tights that have little zippered pockets above the butt! I discovered this, obviously, by checking out the butts of people who were running past me yesterday. The deal is kind of like these running tights from Lululemon (click for larger picture), except most of the ones I saw had the little pocket on the back waistband. However it is important to note that while this is ingenious, I don't know that I could ever convince myself it's okay to spend $98 on athletic pants.

Pile up

2009-11-19T21:16:00.006-05:00

Bookshelf space is at a pretty high premium in my apartment. The two very small bookcases I have can't keep up with my addictive book-hoarding tendencies, and what you see here is the result. One of the things I'm most hoping about whatever new apartment I move into is that I'll have enough space to bring my mondoginormous bookcase that currently resides in my room at my parents' house (this thing is like 8 feet tall, people).

But you know what I noticed about this here stack? Not a one of these books was purchased by me, new, in a bookstore. They are all either from the free book pile at work, swaptree, library sales, gifts, or The Strand. And one of them I think I stole from my mom. I think the only time I bought a new book this year--and it was actually a hardcover--was the new Audrey Niffenegger, and I can't even remember what was the last time before that. It takes a lot for me to plunk down fifteen or twenty bucks on a book when I know I could get five times as many for my money on Swaptree--but I'm glad not everyone is like that, or I'd be out of a job.

Weekend accomplishments

2009-11-15T17:30:00.005-05:00

My feet, thigh muscles, and ankles are sore tonight after I went a little Prospect Park crazy this weekend, doing a full loop of the park yesterday and a loop and a half this morning. This 60+ degree weather is probably due to the horrors of global warming (hey, I'm reading Hot, Flat , and Crowded right now, so it's on my mind) but at least it let me get in some park time before it gets freezing soon. And even though there were seventy year olds out and about on the jogging paths passing me at my mere walking pace, it was really enjoyable to be outside early in the morning and getting the old heart rate up. Also I totally am a poser and got one of those armband holder thingies for my iPod so I can listen to Harry Potter audiobooks the whole time. Question: what do people who run do with their stuff? Where do they keep their keys? Also HOW CAN THEY RUN SO MUCH, FOR REALS.

Always freelancing

2009-11-15T17:00:00.001-05:00

Among the plot points of this page-turner? White slavery.

And yes, there's adultery (kind of)

2009-11-10T20:37:00.001-05:00

Holy God, is anyone else excited by this trailer??

Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away

2009-11-10T09:29:00.003-05:00

These have been putting a smile on my face all week long. Can Google feature Sesame Street every day of the year?

Confession

2009-11-09T22:02:00.003-05:00

Hi. My name is Bethany, and I am a Craiglist addict.

It's gotten really bad. I am hoping to move into a new apartment on January 1, and I feel like I've been spending about a third of my time until then scrolling through those tantalizing and frustrating one-line listing titles.

It's a little too early to start seriously looking at places for January move-ins, so at this point I have not definitely narrowed things down between Brooklyn and Manhattan and one- two- and three-bedrooms, which means there are a lot of variables and price points and neighborhoods and picture options for me to be plugging in and getting glazed-over while clicking through.

Last week I was able to go two full work days without checking my traps once, but my resolve soon evaporated and I since have lost all willpower to stay off the site at work. I just keep scanning the neighborhood names and looking up locations on Google maps and trying to decipher oddly angled photos and drooling over the possibility of having stainless steel appliances and living in Park Slope.

Fall in the park

2009-11-09T21:48:00.005-05:00

I'm feeling like a . . . I believe the only correct word is putz for not taking more advantage of Prospect Park being about a fifteen-second walk across the street from the apartment building I've lived in for almost two years. I went for a walk with my parents there yesterday morning while they were visiting and it was so warm out and I just kind of felt like duh, why don't I do this more (or at all)?

I'm going to try to make a conscious effort the next two weekends between now and Thanksgiving to do a little loop there during the day. It's saddening me that any semi-warm weather is probably behind us now, and that I don't have any daylight hours during the week I can do this since the sun isn't even risen yet at 6:30 in the morning and it's totally gone by the time I get off the train at 5:45. If things work out with any luck I won't be living in Brooklyn by the time it's spring again, so I need to get in some quality park time while I'm still here.

2009-11-06T09:32:00.002-05:00

Why hasn't Gawker Stalker been updated in over a month? And why I am I so annoyed about this? If Julia Roberts or Justin Long has been sighted a few blocks away...I need to know about it!

In the cube

2009-11-03T20:18:00.003-05:00

I spend tons of time on Etsy ogling pretty things, but I had never actually bought anything until this week, when I ordered this fun mousepad (and yes, that's the same fabric as the curtain in my bathroom). Sometimes cubicle life can get depressing, so I wanted a little something pretty to make me happy when I look at it, and I also picked up one of these Stockholm magazine holders in apple green to hold my seasonal book catalogs.

Feeling sheepish...

2009-10-29T09:34:00.002-04:00

...that this Time Out New York cover photo sat around my apartment for more than a week before I realized (slash read online) that the food is in the shape of the five boroughs. What an idiot.

Betty Draper Red

2009-10-28T18:13:00.005-04:00

There's no way I could pull off Joan, and I'm really more of a Peggy, but that would make a pretty boring Halloween costume, so I decided to go for Betty instead since I already had most of the costume (pumps plus full-skirted shirtdress? check. flowered apron? check.) It's really just an excuse for me to pretend it's still 1963, which I love.

And I'm happy to report that I have found the crowning touch for the costume---the perfect red lipstick, Maybelline in Are You Red-y.

After a brief scarring experience at the Clinique counter in Macy's Herald Square packed to capacity with thousands of tourists fleeing the rain and a quick foray into Sephora, I decided I couldn't justify spending $20 for a lipstick that I'll probably be too chicken to ever wear again, and opted for Duane Reade (way less pressure).

Now that I have a matching white headband and string of plastic pearls, all I need to decide is whether to carry a fake cigarette with me.

Currently freelancing

2009-10-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

Wondering why the scarcity of posts in the past week? This book is why.

Weekend cooking

2009-10-18T22:32:00.003-04:00

What with the freezing cold and the rain and the proofreading, I did a lot of staying in and trying some new recipes. Saturday afternoon I made a huge pot of chili semi-following this vegetarian chili from Anna at Door Sixteen (an awesome design-y blog, written by a book cover designer), except I totally cheated and added ground beef.

Continuing the seasonal pumpkin kick, I used up what was left of my sage after last weekend's risotto and made the pumpkin, sage, and browned-butter quick bread from the new Thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Next weekend the pumpkin craze continues with an actual visit to a pumpkin patch and tackling turkey-pumpkin chili at Kathryn's.

B is for Bethany

2009-10-14T18:49:00.003-04:00

This is my super fun Scrabble birthday necklace from Armine on which I received lots of nice compliments today. It has a cute owl on the other side. You can visit the maker's Etsy shop here.

make you feel brand new

2009-10-13T20:08:00.002-04:00

Dear Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind,"

If you could stop being stuck in my head for days on end and blaring from the iPod headphones of every person who sits near me on the subway, that would be awesome.

Thanks,
Bethany

Currently f-f-f-freelancing

2009-10-13T20:07:00.002-04:00

Risotto Success

2009-10-11T21:44:00.005-04:00

This weekend (a.k.a. my birthday weekend) I wanted to try a fancier-than-usual recipe for dinner so Kathryn and I hit the Union Square farmer's market to buy ingredients for risotto with squash and sage.

I don't think I can oversell the fabulosity of this dish. I was nervous about making risotto, but with plenty of time and working as a team of two, it came out PERFECTLY and we were quite pleased with ourselves. Does your mouth not water looking at this?

Recipe here, at The Kitchn.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-08T20:38:00.003-04:00

Pumpkin time! CupcakeStop debuted their new pumpkin flavor which I broke down and tried today. All this week I've been bringing this pumpkin spice cake to work for breakfast (minus the honey frosting) and I've added these two amazing-looking recipes to my to-try list.

Pumpkin turkey chilli--I know, it sounds super weird but strangely enticing, right? I will let you know how it goes.

Coffee buzz

2009-10-07T20:40:00.005-04:00

I had a sudden urge to try baking a coffee cake, so after researching some recipes last night I decided to try Sara's Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake from Martha Stewart. It has a brown sugar and pecan filling, and I followed some suggestions in the comments and added a little cocoa powder to the filling, too. Also, I need to add bundt pan to my Christmas list since that's what this recipe technically called for.

And if you are one of the people coming to see me this weekend, you get to eat it for breakfast!

2009-10-06T18:02:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I give myself a talking-to for not taking more advantage of living in New York. But hey, it's hard when you work here too and all you want to do at 5:00 is go home and eat a sandwich in front of Gilmore Girls.

Last weekend I got it together and Armine and I went to the Whitney to see the Georgia O'Keeffe special exhibit, and it was totally worth effort. I must say, I really hate listening to other people standing near me be all pretentious talking about the drawings and paintings, but once I block them out the paintings were beautiful, and because it focuses solely on her abstract work, it was cool to see some things other than her more familiar flowers and southwestern pieces.

Next up on the cultural agenda is an American Ballet Theater performance at Lincoln center this weekend!

Currently Freelancing

2009-10-02T19:38:00.003-04:00

I am decidedly anti-wedding-obsessive and this book is kind of making me want to die. But such are the things I do for money.

happy october

2009-10-01T18:13:00.002-04:00

It's October and I'm making soup, digging out the thick sweatpants, and jonesing after this beautiful knitted scarf on Etsy.

Oh hey and my birthday is a week away! What a coincidence.

A long time ago

2009-09-28T21:00:00.003-04:00

These fine-looking people are William Innocent and Wanda Marie Euscher Innocent, and they are my great-great-grandparents. I love knowing the name "Wanda" is a family name and can justify naming my kid that.

Cool, huh?

Reis's Pieces

2009-09-24T20:16:00.002-04:00

I made these Peanut Butter-Cup Cookies from Real Simple last week for a study motivation package for Rachel and then was sad when I had to give them all away since they came out so great. They are basically chocolate chip cookies, but coarsely chopped peanut butter cups are used instead of chocolate chips. In real life the cups melt in the oven and don't come out looking quite as picturesque as in the magazine, but they are still peanut buttery and great.

Fall reading list

2009-09-22T07:00:00.004-04:00

There are a couple of heavyweights publishing new books in the next few months. I was excited to find out about

(Nov. 17)

(Oct. 27)

(Sept. 29)

Bathroom pretty-making

2009-09-21T20:06:00.005-04:00

So the whole kitchen cabinet facelift is likely not happening in this place. But last weekend I did prettify my previously quite ugly above-the-toilet storage shelves. I removed the fake frosted "glass" panes, covered them with some toile, and replaced them. I also lined the shelves with snazzy polka dot contact paper.

Sign of the apocalypse?

2009-09-21T14:59:00.003-04:00

As a follow-up to my last post, I just want you all to know that Beverly Cleary (she of Ramona's namesake creator) is on Twitter.

And she tweets adorable things like

Had a relaxing day, now am re-reading "Little Woman" for what seems to be the hundredth time! I may even know a couple chapters by heart! :) 4:40 PM Aug 20th from web

I am sipping some chamomile tea, curled up with my great-granddaughter, reading her a story. 3:26 PM Aug 15th from web

How is everyone? 6:07 PM Aug 12th from web

Back in the day bookshelf

2009-09-16T20:33:00.008-04:00

I don't know why, but today I was thinking about Judy Blume. Does this look familiar to anyone?

(I was Rachel Robinson, okay. The character detail that I remember most about her was that she obsessive-compulsively covered all her notebooks with wallpaper.)

These are the books I lived on when I was in around fifth, sixth, and seventh grade, along with other favorites like Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Sharon Creech, and Paula Danziger. They're the ones that are still in cardboard boxes at my parents' house because I wouldn't ever give them away (although I did briefly flirt with the idea of selling my Babysitters Club back catalogue on eBay) and the ones that I spent a lot of time leafing through in the stacks of the YA section at the Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell.

That's why it's weird to look them up on Amazon now and have this cover pop up:

It's kind of weirdly dislocating to think of these characters in the present day. Despite the fact that this book was actually published in 1987, to me these girls will always be eleven-year-olds from the 90s, just like I was.

And let's not even talk about the fact that The Babysitters Club now exists as a graphic novel.

Stop and smell the roses

2009-09-15T18:17:00.002-04:00

Or eat them, if that's what strikes your fancy.

That's my buddy Ramona, making her blog debut.

Currently freelancing

2009-09-15T18:15:00.002-04:00

Currently freelancing

2009-09-12T18:09:00.002-04:00

T-shirts that are awesome: seen on the street

2009-09-12T18:06:00.003-04:00

I saw a girl wearing this on the street today and almost did a "BWAH!" right then and there.

Cabinet Rescue

2009-09-10T19:18:00.002-04:00

My kitchen cabinets could really use a punch-up. They're eyesores, and I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to paint them or replace them. And it furthermore drives me crazy that the bottom cabinet doors (all two of them) are different that the upper ones.

Below is some inspiration from Apartment Therapy. The cute map setup definitely looks easier to execute than the wallpaper one. I'm currently weighing the pros and cons of the planning and the follow-through on such a project versus the fact that I may not be in this apartment long enough to make it worth the time and energy.

Fashion forward.

2009-09-09T20:38:00.005-04:00

So there's been a lot of gab in the past year about The Fashion of Michelle Obama. Things reached new heights of ridiculousness when whole segments of The Today Show were devoted to the fact that she--horrors!--wore shorts (on vacation. in Arizona.)

But I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not fascinated by the lady's style. If you're like me, you should definitely hop over to Mrs. O, a blog devoted to her fashion choices. It certainly crosses over into fawning territory sometimes, but there are great pictures and information on the designers she wears.

Also, how cool is it that the White House uses Flickr?

Nails for fall!

2009-09-09T20:26:00.003-04:00

I'm not really sure what it says about me that I have a tag in my blog for "nail polish," and that I have more posts tagged with it than I do with "culture"? Just something to ponder.

In any event, I am currently coveting this plush mauve-y shade, Angora Cardi (on essie.com, it actually looks a bit more mauvey-gray, and you know my thing for grayish things), but I can't find it in stores yet. Also, does anyone have any thoughts on the matte-finish nail polish trend, which I saw at Sephora today? Is anyone jumping on this?

T-shirts that are awesome: by special request

2009-09-07T16:20:00.002-04:00

On Tap

2009-09-07T13:22:00.007-04:00

What's on the schedule for the month of September:

Brooklyn Book Festival, where I want to see the authors of

and

So You Think You Can Dance, brand-new season!

Giving blood

Finally taking a quilting class at Purl Soho

Signing up for New York Cares

and perhaps a wee less freelance, seeing as how it is kind of taking over my life. . .

. . . leaving more time for cooking some real meals, which hasn't so much been happening around here lately.

2009-09-02T22:15:00.003-04:00

Bright Star, starring Abbie Cornish (she whom Ryan Philippe left Reese for) and Ben Wishaw

Love Happens, starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart

What up with all the generic movie posters lately? Time spent on subway platforms keeps me real on top of all the new movies that come out, but what is the deal with these two? Maybe it's because I saw these posters before having seen any commercials, trailers, or articles about either movie, but they're are just so bland and uninspired (insipid, anyone?) and leave me completely uninterested in finding out what these are about . . . although I am talking about them here on my blog. So there's that.

Currently (Constantly) Freelancing

2009-09-02T22:09:00.003-04:00

100th post!

The quality of this stuff, I tell ya. It kind of is starting to make me sad that this is what I come home from work and do.

What Freelancing Looks Like

2009-09-01T22:51:00.004-04:00

Guest-starring my pretty new laptop, and Rory Gilmore. There is a lot of freelancing going on here, people. Currently it's The Time Pirate by Ted Bell, which is the sequel to this book: