I couldn’t make it to a meeting last night for my volunteer job because of my real job, so I re-planned with a last-minute mini leap day dinner. no time or inclination to shop, I found an avacado in my fridge and decided to make guacamole. I had leftover multi-grain tortilla chips (from the superbowl, I think?) and pepper jack cheese, so I cooked some beans into a semi-homemade style chili (cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, tomato paste, nutmeg), added some onions and tomato, and layered with the cheese on the chips, baked at 400. I didn’t have limes for the guac, but I did have a ton of organic blood oranges that I added onto my boston organics box last week. which made a decent citrus for the guac and, more importantly, inspired the evening’s cocktail - cinnamon blood orange “margaritas”. all ingredients seen above, it was simple and sweet with the sharpness of tequila (which I am working on learning to like). I squeezed 3 oranges, and poured the juice through a sieve. then I filled a shaker with ice, 4 oz of tequila, 2 oz of st. germain, a splash of club soda, 1/4 of the orange juice, and a teaspoon-ish of cinnamon. shook until cold and then poured into glasses and topped with the rest of the juice. I ended up adding more tequila as well because I erred on the conservative side since I don’t always like it. when I was a kid, I used to mix orange juice, cranberry juice, gingerale and cinnamon as my go-to “fancy” drink. and there’s just something about that combination of orange and cinnamon that is a perfect winter flavor. when booze is added, how can you go wrong?
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I couldn’t make it to a meeting last night for my volunteer job because of my real job, so I re-planned with a last-minute mini leap day dinner.

no time or inclination to shop, I found an avacado in my fridge and decided to make guacamole. I had leftover multi-grain tortilla chips (from the superbowl, I think?) and pepper jack cheese, so I cooked some beans into a semi-homemade style chili (cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, tomato paste, nutmeg), added some onions and tomato, and layered with the cheese on the chips, baked at 400.

I didn’t have limes for the guac, but I did have a ton of organic blood oranges that I added onto my boston organics box last week. which made a decent citrus for the guac and, more importantly, inspired the evening’s cocktail - cinnamon blood orange “margaritas”. all ingredients seen above, it was simple and sweet with the sharpness of tequila (which I am working on learning to like). I squeezed 3 oranges, and poured the juice through a sieve. then I filled a shaker with ice, 4 oz of tequila, 2 oz of st. germain, a splash of club soda, 1/4 of the orange juice, and a teaspoon-ish of cinnamon. shook until cold and then poured into glasses and topped with the rest of the juice. I ended up adding more tequila as well because I erred on the conservative side since I don’t always like it.

when I was a kid, I used to mix orange juice, cranberry juice, gingerale and cinnamon as my go-to “fancy” drink. and there’s just something about that combination of orange and cinnamon that is a perfect winter flavor. when booze is added, how can you go wrong?

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(via absolutelysweetmarie)

Source: Flickr / sullivan6006

pins of the week

1. kitchen storage (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649707117/): this is such a brilliant idea. I feel like most kitchens have more wall space than counter space and fruit can be so pretty anyway. definitely going to adapt this for my kitchen.

2. rasberry beer cocktail (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649699391/): winter has been mild, but I’m still dreaming of summer drinks and backyards. I think this summer will be the season of the beer-cocktails.

3. blue dining room (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649699426/): this is nothing I could really do in my current space, but I so love the color combination and the set-up. somehow this is a color palette that evokes both winter and spring. 

product check: sally hansen gem crush polish

I know the reviews on the product page are pretty much all terrible, but I think that’s an expectation issue.

glitter polish is glitter held loosely together with some nail polish. it’s not going to last very long. I’ve had a day so far without chips, but I expect it to start peeling this week and I am fine with that.

so, that said, this polish is the best low-cost option I’ve found for the large glitter fleck style polish that you can normally achieve only by applying loose glitter to your nails. I got the “razzle dazzler” and the pink is nice. I tried to get a photo, but my iphone camera couldn’t focus correctly and I am, frankly, too lazy to get the dslr and cables, etc. in order to take a quick snap of my nails. so just take my word for it - it’s pretty, people yesterday told me so.

simpsons show-down

apparently tonight is the 500th ep of the simpsons. I admit, I stopped watching a while ago, but I have been having a great time reading the answers to alan sepinwall’s simpsons-related questions:

favorite non-simpson-family character, favorite quote, and favorite episode.

his rule, though, is 1 of each. no top ten list, no qualifications, no runner-up, etc. it is hard. it gets harder as you read the answers and think of other options. but I think I figured it out.

character: troy mcclure. because, phil hartman. because “you may remember me from such educational films as “two minus three equals negative fun” and “firecrackers: the silent killer.” and also, it allows me to touch on one of my favorite episodes that isn’t my #1, “a fish called selma.” 

quote: ”sleep! that’s where I’m a viking.” random ralph lines are the best. I say this all the time (though it is probably not my most-used quote. I think that would be “everything’s coming up milhouse”). still, fav.

episode: weirdly, this was the easiest, “marge vs. the monorail”. such a classic. it has songs and great jokes and a nice external character. 

if you have a few hours to get sucked down a simpsons rabbit hole, I highly recommend reading the comments on those posts. yes, I just recommended reading comments on the internet. I know.

softcoeur: thatwhitebitch: SO MANY THINGS… Drafting an email to my boss right now re: how I’m going to need to take a personal day because a photograph of Jeremy Renner and his chest hair has just appeared on the internet and now I’m catatonic. submitting this as further evidence in my ongoing “two stars, one slot” (tm the departed http://www.fametracker.com) argument in re: jeremy renner & sam worthington. we as a society don’t need both and I maintain that renner is superior. 2 oscar noms and those arms? I can’t even see the other side of this argument.
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softcoeur:

thatwhitebitch:

SO MANY THINGS…

Drafting an email to my boss right now re: how I’m going to need to take a personal day because a photograph of Jeremy Renner and his chest hair has just appeared on the internet and now I’m catatonic.

submitting this as further evidence in my ongoing “two stars, one slot” (tm the departed http://www.fametracker.com) argument in re: jeremy renner & sam worthington.
we as a society don’t need both and I maintain that renner is superior. 2 oscar noms and those arms? I can’t even see the other side of this argument.

Source: youmustcreate

for the love of ray-j

for reasons, I spent an hour making the linked youtube playlist of several of ray-j’s “hit” singles.

imagine you live in a world where r. kelly, usher, mario, and perhaps chris brown have all been surgically removed by an alien race that hates slow jams and abs, but vh1 managed to hide ray-j in an underground bunker. go ahead, I’ll wait… okay, now, imagining that, you just may enjoy this. 

I will say that “wait a minute” is an indisputable neptunes success, but I was hypnotized by pharrell williams in a boston record store in 2002, so I think that about everything they produced. 

(also, don’t worry that I wasted any time on this, I did it while I was on a conference call, so it’s cool.)

robot-heart: xoxo. (by manyfires)
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robot-heart:

xoxo. (by manyfires)

Source: Flickr / manyfires

handmade valentines. as part of my ongoing effort to send more real mail, I decided to send valentines again this year after taking several years off from the habit. I love valentines day, both out of nostalgia for the grade-school version of the holiday and because I hate the cliche of single girls who hate the day. so I hit papersource (I’m like a weird stationary junkie in that store so I try only to go when I have a project) and bought white cards & envelopes, some red & pink pre-cut hearts, martha-stewart version valentines themed washi tape, and a new “happy valentines day” stamp. then I spent a few spare hours making 20 valentines, personalized them, stood in line at the post office like it was the year 2000, and dropped them in the mail. all in all, a satisfying experience.
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handmade valentines.

as part of my ongoing effort to send more real mail, I decided to send valentines again this year after taking several years off from the habit. I love valentines day, both out of nostalgia for the grade-school version of the holiday and because I hate the cliche of single girls who hate the day.

so I hit papersource (I’m like a weird stationary junkie in that store so I try only to go when I have a project) and bought white cards & envelopes, some red & pink pre-cut hearts, martha-stewart version valentines themed washi tape, and a new “happy valentines day” stamp. then I spent a few spare hours making 20 valentines, personalized them, stood in line at the post office like it was the year 2000, and dropped them in the mail.

all in all, a satisfying experience.

pencil-sketches: Too drunk for Allston I love this specifically for the rendering of that older chatty long-haired clerk at the brighton & harvard tedeschi’s. he is definitely an allston fixture and he sure does love to comment on how you seem to be doing. I almost miss seeing him, but not quite.
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pencil-sketches:

Too drunk for Allston

I love this specifically for the rendering of that older chatty long-haired clerk at the brighton & harvard tedeschi’s. he is definitely an allston fixture and he sure does love to comment on how you seem to be doing. I almost miss seeing him, but not quite.

(via allston)

Source: pencil-sketches

3-step movie thoughts: the woman in black

the woman in black

step 1: radcake was unbelievably pastier than usual. he also seemed a bit too young to be a dad. and probably should avoid train imagery and old castle type places if he’s trying to break out of the harry potter thing.

step 2: this was such an old-fashioned ghost story. which was fine, but I kept expecting something different, a more modern take or twist or something. and, more importantly, it was so slow and british that when I wasn’t scared (and I was, I will admit that), I was a bit bored.

step 3: the ending is ambiguous, which I like, but we thought of 3-5 different ambiguous endings that we would have liked better, which I feel like might not be the sign of a fully satisfactory experience.

final result: good, not great, unless you really like old-school ghost stories, wait for cable or free streaming.

bonus thought: the best part about this movie was the audience. it was a mix of your typical horror movie audience - a little loud, laughing inappropriately after being startled to diffuse the tension, making the occasional joke, and speaking to the characters- and an older audience looking to spend a quiet friday night enjoying a british period piece. it created some delightful mini-dramas and a lot of pointed coughing and shuffling.

extra hot and great indeed

I’ve been catching up on the archives of the extra hot great podcast, which is one of my favorites. it’s been a great cure for insomnia and despite the topical pop culture discussions, it very rarely feels dated.

#checkit

pins of the week

1. meyer lemon pudding cake (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649646420/): I have a ton of meyer lemons to use in my fridge because I can’t resist them, so this is a must make. I will most likely use yogury instead of sour cream because the smell makes me ill.

2. framed jewelry (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649647890/): I desperately need a better storage solution for my necklaces. rings and bracelets are fine in old saucers/bowls, but my necklackes get hopelessly tangled. this seems like a decent option.

3. kitchen sofa (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649667512/): there are a lot of great elements of this apartment tour, but I am beyond obsessed with the idea of a couch in the kitchen. I can’t even fit it in my current apt, but someday. and everyone thinks I’m nuts, so I like to keep track of when I see it working.

4. paris map papercut print (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649667607/): from http://www.famillesummerbelle.com/, this map is so adorable. I’m a sucker for papercut and paris and also pink. winner.

5. nutella cookies (http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349649668322/): I want to make valentines cookies and these seem perfect. because nutella is always perfect.

petitessedespassions: Awww!
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petitessedespassions:

Awww!

(via robot-heart)

Source: svetlanabackwardsisanaltevs

ohryankelley:

History of Rap 2 - Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake

GIFs forever!

(via: alittlespace)

Source: mbrendanaquitz