Minnesoter

I spent the whole entire day in the Minneapolis airport. It was horrible. While I did not take a picture of her, know that I sat next to a woman for a good five hours with a mullet and a bedazzled shirt depicting the New York City skyline. I also ate a bag of stale Cheez-its...that is absolutely all that happened. 

Hey Nelson Algren. Hey William Butler Yeats

When I said before that all I do when I go to Chicago is eat a ton and shop a ton, I really wasn't kidding. On Saturday Pilar, Debbie, and I shopped all morning (I got a $160 cashmere cardigan for $30!!) and then met up with everyone else for lunch at Mity Nice in Water Tower Place.  It was a very lovely last day and trip in general :)

Aunt Debbie, Sue Sue, and my mom

Me, Aunt Jan, and Pilar (who we decided looks more like my sister than Britt)

All things go, all things go

After a morning of more lounging, Friday's main event was a late lunch at Southport, a restaurant with bowling lanes right around the corner from my Aunt Debbie's house. I go here every time I visit, but somehow always just eat and never bowl. The lane area is cute and retro though and I actually kind of like bowling, maybe next trip we'll actually do it:

Aunt Debbie and my mom. There was a good one of Pilar and me too, but I forgot to get it off the memory card, which I was borrowing from Nina who is currently out of town...it'll show up here sometime soon though!

NYC to Chicago

One of my very favorite cities to visit is Chicago. My grandmother (Sue Sue), Aunt Debbie, Uncle Raul, and cousin Pilar all live there and I always eat a ton, shop a ton, and have a wonderful time whenever I go. This trip my mom and other grandmother (Aunt Jan...she was "too young" to be a grandmother when I was born) came as well with the purpose of helping Sue Sue clean out her closet. I chose to read while the majority of the cleaning was going on...Augie is testing my patience these days, page 300 and still nothing monumental, clearly it's going to be that type of book, but Bellow's writing style really is great.  
Before the cleaning began though, Jan, my mother, and I all met up at the airport and took a cab to meet Sue Sue and Pilar at Joe's, which was delicious and had a surprising amount of veggie options for a seafood and steak place. After eating we went straight to Sue Sue's condo, which has the absolute best view of Lake Michigan, and spent the rest of the night lounging around in food comas. 

My mom's new grey hair.

Sue Sue's cat, Bubie (sp?), lounged with us too. Side note: I have never been and will never be a cat person, but this one is pretty ok.

Woodley, Bunny, & Hornby

I've been avoiding getting my hair cut in New York for quite some time now. Obviously there are a variety of options that are much, much better than most places in Atlanta, but I was horribly attached to my previous hair lady (Jessica Dorman at Dada...go see her!) and was having trouble coming to terms with finding someone new. I finally sucked it up though and made an appointment with Tommy at Woodley & Bunny and loved him! My hair is perfectly layered and my bangs are just the way I like them...plus he was super nice and the salon is cute and conveniently located. 

 Something I've yet to completely master in NY is timing my arrival to things with the subway. I'm always either 15 minutes early or 15 minutes late. The later applied to this situation, so along with snapping pictures while the desk lady wasn't looking *, I took a break from my current novel and read Nick Hornby's collection of essays from The Believer in which he discusses the books he buys every month and the books he actually reads. I've gotten some very good suggestions (I can't wait to read Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc), but in general I just enjoy his writing style and it was a nice break from Augie's interesting, but seemingly plotless life. 




*I always think it's a little odd and uncomfortable when people take pictures in non-normal picture taking circumstances. I suppose quickly taking pictures while someone isn't looking is a little odd too, but whatever, I don't think she caught on and I had time to kill while waiting. 

Brooklyn we go hard

This is my street. It's main highlights are having more bodegas than necessary and a Chase bank that reminds me daily that there are not any Wells Fargos in Brooklyn. But, the buildings are pretty in a dilapidated sort of way, there's a grocery store that's good for the basics right across the street and overall it has more charm than most people (including me before I moved here) give Bed-Stuy credit for.

"If we happen to get separated, use the wilderness explorer call: CA CA RAWWWWWR"

No picture today...look at this instead:

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/upinspired-floating-house-14?xg_source=facebook

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves" ~Anna Quindlen

Why I will always love and prefer actual printed lit.: book art

...Timing isn't my strong suit

No picture for Saturday. Kenny and I went to go see The King's Speech...it was just as great as everyone (and the Oscars) have said.


Here's my favorite song this week instead:

Hello blackbird, hello starling, winter's over be my darling

As you can tell from the snow on the ground this picture wasn't actually taken on Friday, buuuuuut I did walk by it again Friday night, as I do every time I go to visit Aly. I think it's supposed to be street art, or maybe decoration for the restaurant it's by, not quite sure, but it's always there and it always reminds me of how I can't wait for summer time bike rides. 

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww'!”

Normally I find subway performers to be obnoxious and in the way. This guy is the only exception. Maybe I'm just a sucker for flattery. 

Thanksgiving in March

I ended up making the stuffing with some of yesterday's cornbread. It was delicious...I highly recommend it, but possibly closer to November. Also, note how my spices/baking supplies shelf (the middle one) compares to the rest. This is 100% motivation to keep up my cooking habits.

I understand. I'm responsible now too. Just look at my groceries

Every now and then, i.e. usually on my days off when I have the time to think about it, I go through stages of being a super domestic responsible adult. Today was one of those days and I expressed it by washing my sheets, cleaning the kitchen and making cornbread, which turned out AMAZING and not dry at all...recipe below. I also decided to start a recipe book for my new "be a functioning adult by cooking more often" life goal. It's hand-written because despite enjoying having a blog I do like things to be on actual paper most of the time (Kindles...ugh).
Annnnnd the cherry on top of my mature and productive day: I got to use my stylish kitchen wear Matryoshka measuring cups given to me by two of my very favorite people from college and life in general, Heather and Katie, who are rumored to possibly make an appearance in Brooklyn this summer :)

The cornbread is actually from a Thanksgiving green apple stuffing recipe that I may or may not continue making tomorrow. It's been forever since I bookmarked it, but I'm pretty sure it came from the wonderful little blog 3191 miles apart, which also has a beautiful quarterly magazine I've been meaning to subscribe to.

Gluten-Free Apple-Pecan Cornbread Stuffing

Instead of toasting the cornbread, you can spread out the pieces on a baking sheet and let them sit on your counter top overnight, uncovered, to dry out.

Ingredients

Double Corn Cornbread:

1 cup rice milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup cornmeal, preferably medium grind

1 cup store-bought gluten-free flour blend

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup corn kernels (from about 1 ear of corn)

------------------------------------------------------------

Stuffing:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing

1 small onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

Salt

Pepper

4 cups Double Corn Cornbread (see recipe below), toasted and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

2 teaspoons dried herb blend, such as McCormick Italian Seasoning

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preparation

1. Prepare the cornbread. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 4 1/2-inch by 8 1/2-inch loaf pan. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the milk mixture, eggs and oil until just blended; fold in the corn kernels. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

2. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.

3. Prepare the stuffing. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease an 8-inch square pan with olive oil. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until softened, about five minutes; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.

4. In a large bowl, toss together the onion mixture, cornbread, apple and herb blend. Transfer to the prepared pan. Scatter the pecans on top and cover with foil; bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil; bake until crispy and golden, about 20 minutes more.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8.

"All the influences were lined up waiting for me, I was born, and there they were to form me, which is why I tell you more of them than of myself"

For those of you that are unaware (or for my mother who still occasionally asks me what my major was) my Bachelor's degree is in English Literature. As it is, I have pretty broad taste in what I read...American Lit. is my favorite (Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Eggers, O'Connor...I could go on forever), but in general I dabble in a little of everything. While in school I barely had time to read for myself and although it's been nice to be able to read whatever I want now, I actually kind of miss having reading lists for classes. Ridiculous, I know. In order to take care of my odd nostalgia I've decided to read Time's All Time 100 Novels in alphabetical order. I'm super excited about it. First on the list is Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March. I'm only on page 135 out of 586, but so far it's classic American, rambling, and overall just excellent writing. 


Side note: OMG Mila Kunis' Oscar dress

"But so we are gathered here, each and every perfect warm-but-not-too-warm day, each day lathered in sun and possibility, probability, and while everyone drinks their lattes and eats their burritos, pretending not to be checking each other out, there is a feeling that we are, at least at this point in time, with our friends, on this lush grass, at the very red molten-hot core of everything"

Sunday was the absolute prettiest day that New York has seen in quite a while. The weather was in the low 60s, the sun was out, and everyone was in an excellent mood. Having already promised Kenny I would help with "post surgery rotation he can catch up on life for a weekend" tasks later in the day, I figured I should get out early and appreciate the weather before spending the afternoon in a dorm basement laundry room. And by early I mean noon and by out I mean ignoring my own catching up on life things and going to the coffee shop two doors down from my apartment with Nina. I got an Orangina, she got a Chai tea, we admired Biggie...it was lovely. 

Clinton St. girl

Saturday night was hands down the most Brooklyn night I've ever had. I went to House of Yes for an alien/black light/neon themed party, which involved some sort of techno band, neon face paint (see eyes above) and everything glowed. Quite the change of pace from Friday. 

Boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away

Dearest friends and family, this is Kenneth Clare Foxx III, my boyfriend. Note two very important things about this picture: 1. it's a horrible one of me, but I learned last night that Kenny is the least photogenic person I know and this is the absolute best of him out of the bunch and 2. I am in Times Square, which I really dislike, but it was literally around the corner from the formal and for some reason the red steps seemed like an exciting thing at the time.  


**Proof that I actually looked decent (even though you can't see my dress at all...oops) and that Kenny really, really could not manage to take a good picture:

Quinoa: a species of goosefoot

Prior to moving to New York I was a pretty healthy eater. Cooking was a stress reliever for me in college, so I did it often and as a result ate nutritious meals most of the time. This cookbook was my go-to...the granola recipe is to die for, plus it makes the whole house/apartment smell scrumptious. Since moving to the land of bagels and pizza though my eating habits have gone slightly downhill. It's just so much more convenient sometimes to walk around the corner and grab something than to lug bags of groceries home. After having a particularly unhealthy eating week (see Tuesday's post) I have vowed that from here on out I am going to try a new recipe at least once a week in order to get back in to the swing of things. Given that it is now Thursday and I did not feel like braving the after work line at Trader Joe's this late in the week, I had to make due with what was already in my cabinet, i.e. Girl Scout cookies, an abnormal amount of spices, and a bag of quinoa that was purchased at least 3 months ago. Despite its vegetarian health benefits I find quinoa to be bland and boarder-line disgusting, but it seemed to be my only option. Supposedly you can treat the weird little food like pasta. I tried it with vodka sauce and veggies a while ago and did not see the comparison, but decided to give it another shot. This time I stuck a chopped up onion in the pot when it was cooking in hopes of giving it more flavor and when it was finished added some butter, salt, pepper and an ungodly amount of parmesan. I'm now full and protein enriched, but it was still boring...as in I might as well just have had plain lettuce and dressing. I still have a huge pot of it left though, so maybe I'll attempt to get more creative this weekend. A quinoa burrito perhaps? 


*Speaking of making things more interesting I found a pair of black lacey, flowery tights to go with my dress for tomorrow. Pictures of the whole ensemble (and maybe a camera-shy boyfriend thrown in too) to come!

She said Father can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels?

 Up until a few years ago I thought it was a normal childhood activity to go to a graveyard every once in a while to feed the ducks and look at old tombstones. Now I know though that apparently that was just an odd my family thing. Regardless, I still find them to be relaxing and pretty...kind of like a park. Not that I go and spend afternoons in graveyards, but when I happen to pass a nice one, I appreciate it. The same goes for creepy old churches. Once again, I would never want to wander around inside of one after dark, but viewed in passing from the outside, I like them. Brooklyn is quite the hub for things like this, but my favorite of them all is this one, which I pass on Lafayette whenever I walk home from visiting Aly. Night time pictures don't do it justice at all, but just know that it's massive, beautiful and 100% looks like Hogwarts.

Thistle & Clover, over and over

I love boutiques and tend to shop at them regularly for day to day clothes, but whenever I need to find a dress I somehow suddenly forget they exist. As mentioned the other day I've come to the point where all my department store options are worn out (haha), so last night I checked Refinery29 for some very helpful suggestions and headed out this morning to a couple nearby Brooklyn shops and of course instantly found a million dresses I was in love with. I came close to buying a goooorgeous hand-dyed mustard yellow Mina Stone at Stuart & Wright, but in the end settled on this classic navy blue one at Thistle & Clover, more simple but the fit is much better and fit wins over print. Either way, lesson learned...local businesses are always the way to go.

Also, these came in the mail from my sister today along with 5 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from my mom. I have suspicions they're trying to fatten me up before I see them at the beach this summer.

Somewhere the buildings give way to sunlight, give way to east and west Central Park

My favorite street near where I work. That's about all there is to say about it, other than the fact that it felt like spring a few days ago and then snowed today. ??

With you I'd dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless

Back last October when the boyfriend told me he had a spring formal for med school I didn't even think twice about finding a dress. I have a pretty serious addiction to spring/summer dresses and have some in my closet that have been waiting quite a while to be worn. However, two weeks ago I found out that spring formal actually means February formal, meaning that now IT'S THE SUNDAY BEFORE AND I STILL DON'T HAVE A DRESS. I ran all over Manhattan today and didn't find anything. I'm very, very concerned. Luckily I have Tuesday off and I'm planning on taking a break from department stores to scour some Brooklyn boutiques. Stuart & Wright and Thistle & Clover seem promising. Despite needing to get away from Manhattan shopping for a bit, I do love how unique even the huge name brand stores are here. In Atlanta Ralph Lauren is elegant and well-decorated I suppose, but it's right in the middle of not very charming Lenox...nothing like the pictured above mansion it inhabits here on Madison. Plus, having my go-to store be the flagship Bloomingdales and actually going to Fifth Avenue for Saks is pretty darn nice. 

Would you get old, old fashioned with me?

No picture today. I could say it was because I was doing something way too important/fun to be bothered with it, but in reality I worked all day and then went home and was in bed by 10:30. 

So instead here's a song I can't stop listening to lately:

It's the freakin' weekend baby I'm about to have me some fun

On my way to work this morning I passed by what I guess must have been an Egyptian bakery and was offered a "yay Egypt's free" cookie. I was so pleased and it was so delicious looking that I didn't even think to take a picture until after I had eaten a couple of bites.  Also, there was a fire truck gathering across the street from Track and Field and  Gossip Girl was being filmed at The Mark. Possibly the two are related? Either way I know all of this because the weather was AMAZING and actually felt like spring, so we kept the door open for the entire day, putting everyone in an excellent mood for the upcoming season (even if today was only a small preview) and the weekend!

And I remember when I first listened to your records

Typically once a week or so I find myself spending an evening lounging in jammies and/or athletic wear in Aly's living room. The entire room is very grandma-chic and put together, however my favorite part is the thrifted record wall, specifically MJ lounging with a baby tiger. It also reminds me of my Dad's office wall, which I've always liked very much:

Wild hearts, blue jeans, and white t-shirts

I have a pretty practical approach when it comes to clothes. I love to shop and could do it everyday, but I tend to stick to the basics. Solid color shirt/sweater most of the time, jeans (I live in these), boots (I've worn these nonstop since October), a printed dress mixed in here and there and I'm good to go. My only issue that I ever have to work around is that I have a tendency to wear too much mustard yellow. How it became my color of choice I have no clue, but this morning I almost walked out the door in a shirt, bag, and gloves all in mustard yellow. I'll have to start phasing it out come spring, but in the mean time this J.Crew long-sleeve is going to be getting some good use.


I also have a huge love for striped socks and this messy French bun:

Oh and for those wondering, the truffles turned out ammmmaaaaazing and not weird looking at all!

Bakerella?

Since I knew I wasn't going to see the boyfriend yesterday I put off making his Valentine's treats until tonight. The plan was to make these Oreo truffles. Everything was going perfectly fine until the grocery store didn't have the proper chocolate coating and I decided to just melt white chocolate chips instead. It's not the same. The chocolate just drips off. It was very frustrating, but I think I solved the problem by smothering them in Oreo crumbs so you can't tell how thin the chocolate is...we'll see when I take them off the sheet tomorrow I suppose. Worst case scenario I'll just have to make a Magnolia run.

It's a Mexican Valentine's Day!

One of the disadvantages of having a boyfriend in med school is that he has to study on Valentine's Day. One of the perks though is that there are med school formals that happen shortly after Valentine's Day, therefore making me perfectly happy with getting take-out from Choice and spending a night in with the roommate and another fellow Atlanta friend, Jackson, drinking Mexican beer and having a YouTube party.

Fun fact: Jackson worked on this music video...which is why he knows every word to a Justin Beiber song. Nina doesn't have an excuse. 

"When I first moved to New York and I was totally broke, sometimes I bought Vogue instead of dinner. I found it fed me more."

After having a lovely brunch with the boyfriend who is clearly never actually going to appear on this blog, I decided to buy an Elle and head home for a day of cleaning and lounging. The W is from October, but I just love the cover...Michelle Williams' lipstick...Ryan Gosling in general...ahhhh!

Love and wolves and eyes dadada

Saturday night Aly and I went to go see Josh Ritter at Terminal 5. We attempted a few pictures, but they all ended with being blinded by the flash and my camera died before the actual concert started, so our "close eyes and open right before" failed plan will just have to do. I saw JR in Atlanta last May only knowing one of his songs ahead of time and had a blast. He has such a happy summer music air about him, writes great lyrics and likes to play the harmonica every now and then, which are really the only pre-requistes for being a favorite in my book. It's just what I needed to get rid of my winter blues. The highlight of the night was in the middle of the concert when the lights all went to a giant disco ball on the ceiling and the crowd had one massive slow dance. Aly and I had a very romantic three-way dance with a dashing man whose boyfriend temporarily abandoned him for someone else. Also, Rainn Wilson (and John Krasinski...who came on stage right after my camera died) decided to show up. 

I got a lot of lovin', I got a lotta love in my heart

 I absolutely love New York and am so so glad to be here, but I've really been missing my family this week. So, in leu of an actual Friday picture (went to Sweet Revenge with Aly and forgot my camera, per usual), this one is of my parents, sister and me at The Common Man in Vermont for Christmas Eve dinner. Not the best we've ever taken and I'm not quite sure what's going on with the lighting on Britt, but it's from the last time we were all together and I like it. 

Lord I swear the perfume you wear was made of turnip greens

Keeping with my hermit habits this week, I've been living in my amazingly 90s Auburn sweatshirt. It was purchased in 1993 at the  Anniston, Alabama Super Wal-mart in preparation for my very first Alabama Auburn Day. Who knows how it's managed to stick around for this long considering my extreme closet clean-outs that happen once every couple of years, but as a result it's the softest, comfiest sweatshirt I own and therefore perfect for what should be my last day of being a grandma. If I mention anything about Netflix or tea drinking over the weekend someone needs to intervene. 

If you see me keep going be a pass-by waver

Most of the time I prefer to keep busy. Since high school I've liked to have a full list of things to do and people to see, even on weekdays.  Normally just one night of alone time a week is plenty, but this whole week I've really just enjoyed being by myself when I come home for the day. Maybe it's because I'm getting over a sinus infection or maybe being in a city where I'm constantly around people is starting to take its toll on me, but either way it's been relaxing/ my relationship with my Netflix has improved significantly. 

Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in

Even though I live in Brooklyn, a lot of the time I feel like I don't really do much more than sleep here. Today though, I started my first non-training day of volunteering with Girls Inc. and spent the afternoon in downtown Brooklyn. I've never doubted it's appeal, but up until now I had never noticed how much there is to do in this little borough. Once the weather gets a little better (I just ventured half a block out of my apt to buy ice cream for dinner and it's started snowing AGAIN) I'm going to explore much more instead of just hopping on the subway every time I need entertainment.