Happy CHA Year

Glim? Delightfully perfect?

10 Things I Learned in 2010

1. Spanish...mas o menos.
2. That it is not important HOW the dishwasher gets loaded.
3. That I can be a pushover and it's okay to ask for better.
4. How to make ajiaco.
5. The consequence of not going home.
6. How wonderful my friends are and how hard I'm willing to work to keep them.
7. What it feels like to not have a job title define me.
8. You must be courageous everyday.
9. Why it's better to keep an ill opinion of someone to yourself.
10. The right blush and mascara can make all the difference in the world.


Photo by: Li Hui via Lola Is Beauty

The Right Idea

From the ever inspiring This Is Glamorous...

HOLIDAY SURVIVAL TIPS

HOLIDAY SURVIVAL TIPS by ckferrari on Polyvore.com

Soooo...

Adiós Bogotá! No more faking my way through casual conversation with confident nods and weird versions of Spanish phrases. No more "pulgares otro vez" and "todos son rojo" at work. Suck it, crazy taxi drivers. Suck it, avocado lady. Suck it, rain. Suck it, altos. Suck it, stomach parasites. I'm done!

And now we are here...
Ain't no party like a Scranton party, 'cuz a Scranton party don't stop. Indeed. It's been a non-stop party. And by party I mean, pasta-eating marathons around the clock. It's craziness. I've volunteered to make dinner tonight. Going for chicken breasts stuffed with oregano and feta, sauteed swiss chard and roasted fingerling potatoes. Suck it, pasta.

Since I am finally State-side and finally FEELING BETTER, I promise to update this silly blog more often. As, Ryan, needs something new to read!

Awesome

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”

- Maurice Sendak
[via Catherine Campbell]

http://lost.net.au/vic/?p=1986

Moving Day

Moving Day by ckferrari featuring flats shoes

F'ing Fall

IT'S DECORATIVE

GOURD SEASON, MOTHERFUCKERS.

BY COLIN NISSAN

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get my hands on some fucking gourds and arrange them in a horn-shaped basket on my dining room table. That shit is going to look so seasonal. I'm about to head up to the attic right now to find that wicker fucker, dust it off, and jam it with an insanely ornate assortment of shellacked vegetables. When my guests come over it's gonna be like, BLAMMO! Check out my shellacked decorative vegetables, assholes. Guess what season it is—fucking fall. There's a nip in the air and my house is full of mutant fucking squash.

I may even throw some multi-colored leaves into the mix, all haphazard like a crisp October breeze just blew through and fucked that shit up. Then I'm going to get to work on making a beautiful fucking gourd necklace for myself. People are going to be like, "Aren't those gourds straining your neck?" And I'm just going to thread another gourd onto my necklace without breaking their gaze and quietly reply, "It's fall, fuckfaces. You're either ready to reap this freaky-assed harvest or you're not."

Carving orange pumpkins sounds like a pretty fitting way to ring in the season. You know what else does? Performing an all-gourd reenactment of an episode ofDiff'rent Strokes—specifically the one when Arnold and Dudley experience a disturbing brush with sexual molestation. Well, this shit just got real, didn't it? Felonies and gourds have one very important commonality: they're both extremely fucking real. Sorry if that's upsetting, but I'm not doing you any favors by shielding you from this anymore.

The next thing I'm going to do is carve one of the longer gourds into a perfect replica of the Mayflower as a shout-out to our Pilgrim forefathers. Then I'm going to do lines of blow off its hull with a hooker. Why? Because it's not summer, it's not winter, and it's not spring. Grab a calendar and pull your fucking heads out of your asses; it's fall, fuckers.

Have you ever been in an Italian deli with salamis hanging from their ceiling? Well then you're going to fucking love my house. Just look where you're walking or you'll get KO'd by the gauntlet of misshapen, zucchini-descendant bastards swinging from above. And when you do, you're going to hear a very loud, very stereotypical Italian laugh coming from me. Consider yourself warned.

For now, all I plan to do is to throw on a flannel shirt, some tattered overalls, and a floppy fucking hat and stand in the middle of a cornfield for a few days. The first crow that tries to land on me is going to get his avian ass bitch-slapped all the way back to summer.

Welcome to autumn, fuckheads!

One Year Ago

BF and I said, "I do" in the garden of the Marvimon House in Los Angeles. Well, almost one year ago...just three days away. However, I will be sipping something fruity and fuerte on the beach in Curacao on our actual anniversary.

So, I am taking just a moment to be a bit mushy...and frankly, quite annoying! I am even more madly in love with my husband than I was the night we met. I wake up every morning thankful for having such a kind, silly, loving, fearless, smart, funny, strong and super cute best friend. I am positively over the moon in excitement for all of the adventures that lie ahead of us. I am the luckiest gal in the world!

Images by Tina Brogi for FOTOBIO.com

Yes, please

Just got this recipe from Dennis over at Cakebread Cellars and I can't wait to try it! May have to make some substitutions depending on what I can find here in Bogota.

Braised Beef in Sesame-Ginger Sauce:

1/2 oz. dried shitakes
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. mirin

2 lbs. beef for stewing, cut into 1" cubes
2 T. vegetable oil
salt & pepper
6 carrots
3/4 lbs. daikon raddish
1/3 c. sesame seeds, toasted
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp. red miso
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

1/4 c. green onion minced
1 T. sesame seeds, toasted

Place dried shiitakes in a large saucepan. Cover with 1 quart of water and soak for 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce and mirin and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and set aside.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat a wide-bottom pan over high heat. Add the oil and sear the beef in batches. Cook until brown on all sides. Drain all the oil out of the pan, return the beef to the pan with grated ginger and cover with the mushroom broth. Bring to a simmer, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours, until beef is tender. Cut the carrots and daikon into one-inch pieces. Add to the beef and simmer for another 30 minutes until tender. While the beef is cooking, place the sesame seeds, garlic, miso paste and rice wine vinegar in a blender jar. Add a ½ cup of the broth from the beef and puree until smooth. Add to the beef and stir to incorporate. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.

Enjoy with a Cakebread zinfandel.

Less than a week

Curacao Bound by ckferrari on Polyvore.com

Decisions. Decisions.

BF and I will be attending the Marine Corps Ball, celebrating the 235th birthday of the U.S.M.C., in mid-November. The plan was to have a dress made, but the likelihood of that happening is growing quite slim. So, the backup plan is to order a dress online. Hmmm...which one to pick? Want to order soon so I at least have time for alterations and shoe shopping.

(Images via Mikael Aghal gown/BlueFly.com; BCBG.com; J.Crew.com)

This Is It

...I think. I'm pretty certain that this is the bed that I want. Yeah, this is the one. I love the colors. I love the scale. I love the plush, un-stuffy look of it. Perfect.

(Image via This Is Glamorous)

Finally!!!

RALLY TO RESTORE SANITY
10.30.10

It's about time this happened! And what I would give to be there. Hilarious and awesome.

Creepy? Weird? Creepy weird?

I just found out that my husband was born with so much thick, black hair that they actually had to cut it the day he was born. That's weird, right? Kind of creeps me out.

It's Complicated...

Listen, I get it. Johnny come lately...A million years late. A million years lame. BUT...Here's what I LOVE about that dumb movie, It's Complicated:
All White Outfits
A Late Night Croque Monsieur
Homemade Lavender Ice Cream
Wine Glasses with a Pale Amber Cup & Clear Stem
Running from Plastic Surgery Offices
Black Jeans
“Don’t Do Me Like That” - Tom Petty
Black & Tan Woven Striped Tote Bags
Plates of Croissants
Natural Hued Sheets
A Japanese/Kimono-style Robe over Jeans & a T-shirt
Long Gravel Driveways
Bottles & bottles of Pinot Noir & an Unexpected Night of Fun
Once Every Ten Years
Exposed Shelves in the Kitchen
Oversized Stools
A Striped Button-down
Long Statement Necklaces
Fat Candlesticks on a Dining Table
Trench Coats at the Perfectly Tailored Length
Serving a Variety of Pies
Airedale Terriers
A Handbag with a Tribal Pattern…and carrying it often
Bowls, Vases, Lamps, Accent Chairs & Tables Galore
“I prefer a lot of semen.”
TALL Full-length Glass Doors with Dark Iron Frames
Giant Glass Pots for Flours & Sugar
A Black Audi
Slipcovers
Dark Frames for a Comfy Living Room (for grounding)
Gilt Frames for Bed & Bath Rooms (for etherealness)
The Hills of Southern California Lit at Dusk
Carrera Marble Slab Islands
Industrial Stove/Cooktops
Harsh & Joyous Realities
Rustic Wood Everything
Strands & Strands of Multi-sized White Paper Lanterns
Awkward Breakfasts with Far Too Much Food
Vegetable GARDENS!
Rolled Up Jeans with Moccasins
Contrasting Zigzag Pattern Bathroom Floor Tile
Espadrilles
A Black Bookcase
Silk tops with cashmere cardigans
Espresso Machines
Baskets of Fresh Produce
The Most Amazing Walls of Garden & Outdoor Tools
...Like Repurposed Tables
...Like Baskets
...Like Watering Cans
...Like Enormous to Tiny Terracotta Pots
...Like Tall-Drink-a-Water Aluminum Pots
...Like Ladders
...Like Shovels
...Like Gardening Frippery & Hard-and-Fast Tools
...Like Lanterns
...Like Firewood Stacks
...Like A Wheelbarrow
And…Succulents

Oh gosh

I really love this site. Like, really really love it.

WT

Wallpaper and Trays. Just some pretty pictures for the weekend. Really taking a fancy to girly, floral wallpaper. Also, somewhat crazed with the use of trays. I love them. Happy Friday.  

Images via: This Is Glamorous; John Granen photography; Elle Decor; Lonny Magazine

That's nice

Excitement

Well, we have less than five months to go here in Bogota. I can't help but to get lost in daydreams of Africa. What will our house look like? Who will our friends be? I am so excited I can barely stand it. The only thing on which I refuse to compromise is having a pet giraffe in the backyard. It's a must and his name will be Mortimer.  

I love this man

If only because I want to be just like him. This image makes me happy on just about every level. Well prepared and well dressed. Well armed with a lovely bottle of champagne to win the heart of the woman he loves. Anthracite and light blue? Yes, please.  

Image via ffffound.com

Here's the thing...

I like my TV and I would be sad if it were dead. Bake whatever, but only if your like baking in the first place. Personally, I like a tart pie. Cake is entirely too sweet and unfortunately, can be described as "moist." Gross. Tea is fine. Kazoo's are annoying no matter what. It really depends on what the hand is making. Where is "my" town? I DO, however, appreciate where I am. Singing, alone, in the car is grand. Bartering and swapping are somewhat punishing. You really SHOULD keep it wonky. Whatever that means. Making stuff and writing letters, especially of the "thank you" variety is important. Champion what you believe in. Grow yourself. Love. Being kind AND working hard WILL pay off.

So, the thing is, when you try so hard to BE "out of the box," "quirky" and "uncommon" you end up the disingenuous fool. Going off the "beaten path" can be interesting, but when you do so at the sake of being real you end up missing the point altogether, not to mention exhausting those around you. It's okay to take the easy route sometimes. It's okay to know the answer to something from which you want to distance yourself. In fact, it's okay to stop asking those questions entirely. It's okay to eat in a popular restaurant and have something ordinary. KNOW who you are, have confidence in that and be accepting of those around you. Simple. As. That.

Rant over.

It all begins with love

We have our second tennis lesson today and I must admit, I'm already hooked. I love the game and I love learning something new. We had better get proficient, as this is really our only activity when in Brazzeville. Our instructor is great, but super tough. The court is gorgeous. The action I am now calling my backhand is pretty sad. My serve is awesome. Ryan will be so proud. 

These images keep me inspired.  

Soon on their way...

Al & Kim will be here SO soon! Can't wait for their arrival. Here's to seeing old friend's faces in faraway places.  

Console Crush

We're going to have a few pieces of furniture made here in Bogota. I'm thinking two console tables.  I need one to hold the gargantuan television BF recently purchased and the other for the purpose of an entryway catch-all (while looking cool, rustic and grand).  Love these versions...