It's been over a month since the release of Capital Cities' EP, but their single still continues to play in my head and iTunes library. And hey, it's available for free download!
So, friends, is it just me or has there been a happy-dance-inducing amount of blogger love flying around the internet lately? After receiving incredibly humbling support at the announcement of my traveling news, I sat back for some reflection on all the cool things that fellow women of the web are up to. Juicy recipes, sparkly tutorials and a giant swap of good reads; these writers deserve a big ol' digital high five.
Find advice, interviews, ad swaps, etc. on Halley's new HABO forum.
Y'all been listening to the new Portugal. The Man album lately? If you haven't, you should.
You're welcome.
And now, a story.
Ever since stumbling upon this post at Life of Something New (hi, Halley!), I've made a deliberate effort to live each moment with purpose, on both a grand and down-to-earth scale. I want to be a world traveler, so I'm saving my pennies and mapping out a globe-crossing adventure. I want to be well-nourished and in shape, so I'm cutting back on the ice cream and loading up on fruits and veggies.
A very literal example of this behavior took place last week, while hanging out in a Buena Vista bar with my parents. As one who rarely craves fruity or frothy drinks, I was contentedly sipping a whiskey soda while people-watching with my dad. I offered my my mother (a light beer girl all her life) a taste, which she flatly declined. Curiosity eventually piqued, though, and she took a drink. She shivered, face puckered in disgust, and quickly pushed the glass back to me.
"You are a strong woman," she said.
Completely deadpan, I replied, "Be as you wish to seem."
She then laughed and told me if that's how I felt, then my skirt was too long and my scarf too conservative.
As you may or may not have heard, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are coming out with a new album at the end of August. If you're looking for more information, I'm sure unRonic would be happy to engage in a lengthy discussion with you on this topic. I, on the other hand, will just leave you with the first single. Have played it about ten times in the past hour.
On an unrelated note, here are three words to describe why my job rocks:
Pinch is a new catering company whose business we might utilize in upcoming events. To better acquaint us with their services, they've invited us to a complimentary tasting tomorrow afternoon.
Uuum, what?
Er, excuse me. I mean...
Miso eggplant egg roll
The spices...
Korean banchan
The desserts...
Beet red velvet cake
The drinks...
Basil gin-ger limeade
I'm simply flabbergasted.
Kimchi bloody mary
Their menu includes butternut squash creme brulee, PB&J funnel cake, broccoli souffle, thyme brioche toast...poking around their website has obviously left me drooling on my keyboard.
But it's not just their culinary offerings that make me gush. I'm also completely infatuated with their design. Simple use of typography, plenty of breathing room and a killer Contact page. An edible and visual feast? Hello, heaven.
When it comes to design, I almost always tend to favor simplicity over complexity. Meghan over at Design Morsels captured this reasoning very well in her comparison of movie posters.
Please note, all photos are property of Pinch. I, unfortunately, have not had the privilege of getting this close to their menu items. Yet.
Okay, guys. This is shaping up to be a pretty epic week, which you'll learn more about tomorrow. In the meantime, let's get PUMPED. Although The Decemberists' album Hazards of Love beats out their newer The King is Dead in my book, "This Is Why We Fight" is more in tune (no pun intended) with life lately.
The feedback received on Sunday's Questions for Creatives was, to keep it short, awesome. Many thanks to Flight of The Tumblebee, Design Morsels, Acquired Tastes and Add To The Heap. You each brought some great insight to the table that was definitely worth getting excited about. I'm full to bursting with creative mojo; hopefully you ladies were able to gain something as well from the introspection!
*Raises wine glass in cheers to empathy and collaboration*
To add just a few more thoughts to our discussion, here are the steps I've taken this week to keep my energies focused:
Creating individual folders for all of my current projects in Google Docs. Now wherever I am--Midwest, East Coast, office, apartment--I can upload progress and bits of inspiration on the spot. No need for a digital folder on my laptop, a physical one on my nightstand, etc. It's all. In. One. Place.
Consolidating my random, sporadic lists inside a single planner. Because lists aren't helpful when they're lost.
This last one I haven't finished yet, but am making progress: identifying each of the projects on my plate, focusing in on those that rank high in importance, then scrapping the rest. Once that's finished, I'll set some deadlines to ensure that they don't fizzle out or drag on past their time.
Go Go Gadget Organization! Whew.
More relaxing activities this week include baking Irish soda bread and mapping out upcoming adventures. Some with this guy:
I had the chance to interview Paul Dempsey (of the Melbourne-based band Something for Kate) this weekend. Paul released his solo album Everything Is True in Australia in late 2009, where it won the title Australian Album of the Year; however, it just became available for purchase in the States last week.
In addition to being an incredibly talented musician, Paul is also a genuinely cool guy with a penchant for physics and history. We spent the afternoon discussing robotic waitresses, Iron Maiden and sarcasm. You guys. It was awesome.
You can join our conversation and catch a few live tracks here, or get a feel for his sound from the video below--it's one of my favorites from the album.
In other news, there's still time to enter General Overachiever's First Official Giveaway! Comments are being accepted until 9pm EST tonight, and the winner will be announced tomorrow morning. Good luck, friends!
After a brief email exchange with the lovely Lady Smaggle, I have learned the extreme importance of Spell Check. The difference between a reversed "sp" to a "ps" is apparently the route to fundamentalism. Please read:
Alright, going to get up from rolling around on the floor now. On to the original post.
*End Edit*
When was the last time you heard a song and thought, "Hey, that was kinda catchy," so you played it a second time? And then a third? And then possibly a fourth?
And then continued to play it for, like, weeks on end?
Enter YACHT and their album Shangri-La. They're categorized as an electronic band, which is so not my cup of tea...normally. But ever since I first clicked "Play," I've been craving this song like a pregnant woman craves pickles. Or ice cream. Or pickle-flavored ice cream. Whatever.
Point is, I cannot stop listening to it, and I'm STOKED to play it on The Campus Buzz this coming Sunday. So if you're interested in the rest of the album, then dude. You gotta tune in.
I did, however, accomplish more than a one-person dance party yesterday. I also researched Food Trucks while at work.
The term "research" usually goes hand in hand with the term "boring," but for someone who once toyed with the idea of owning a road restaurant called Breakfast Monster (because coming up with a cool name is obviously the most important part of starting a business), I was happy to undertake such a project.
If you've been keeping up with food news lately, you may have heard that food trucks are all the rage right now. Just as cupcakes have been elevated in the past few years from Kindergarten Birthday Treat to Trendy Staple of the Gourmand's Diet, grimy hot dog carts and halal stands are the new debutantes of the foodie pageant.
I literally spent hours compiling a list of the dozens of gourmet food trucks that roam New York's streets, and eventually came up with about 25 that have a legitimate method of contact. The ones that I'm most excited to try are as follows:
The name says it all. The colors say it all. Plus, toppings include elderflower syrup, sriracha and cayenne pepper (how great would that last one be on a chocolate cone?)
To be fair, The Cinnamon Snail is actually a New Jersey, not New York, truck. But they're vegan, organic, and their donuts look unbelievably drool-worthy.
Korean spiciness + Mexican spiciness = How could this not be a great idea?
A more all-inclusive list of New York's food trucks can be found here, but these are the three I'm most anxious to try. Do you have this many road restaurants where you live? And if so, what are your thoughts? Do they live up to the hype?
Also, I promised yesterday that I'd post South Orange photos. Meh. They weren't all that awesome. Here's a photo of my roof instead.
