there’s something lurking in the basement
July 24th, 2008 @ 10:47 pm | blonde moments | Comments (18)There’s a danger out there on your lunch hour. And it’s not trans fatty acids. Or high fructose corn syrup. Or overpriced slimy turkey sandwiches.
It’s retail shopping.
Within just a few blocks of my office you can find: Macy’s, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Zara, West Elm, and H&M. And my newest predator, Filene’s Basement.
For those of you who didn’t grow up in the mid-Atlantic region and have never heard of Filene’s Basement, it’s like an urban TJMaxx or Nordstrom Rack or something like that. A big old hot mess of department store overruns and rejects. (Some of you may be familiar with their insane annual bridal gown event.) But oh, how Miss Filene sucks me in with her huge selection and low prices. She keeps it real with some dank ass dressing rooms, though. Check out this horrible lighting:
Oh yeah, I also have Leftover Hair™ and PMS-y skin. Why am I showing you these photos again?!
Because I got that black and white top on the left for $20. I never wear prints, but maybe I should try once or twice. That pink cardigan in the middle is wholly inappropriate for 95° and 95% humidity, but for $11 it can sit in my closet until November. The blue shirt on the left I’m still a bit undecided on. The spotlight on the chest in that photo is not helping.
The real reason I slipped out to Filene’s yesterday was to find a cute, cottony summer dress. I keep seeing everyone wearing them and was feeling left out. I bought a sassy black wrap one (wore it today with pink strappy heels) and a blue one. I’m somewhat undecided on the blue one. I really want to show you some of the detailing, but I don’t really want to post a close up of the Bo0b$ ya know?
But oh man I would love to wear the blue dress with my favorite red heels and red chunky necklace. (Turquoise + red. Canary + gray. Black + fuschia. I can’t pull mself away from these color combos.)
My occasional hour long escape from cubicle land always feels so good. The only problem I haven’t yet solved is how to make my my bulging shopping bag become invisible when I slink in the front door and back to my desk for an afternoon of work.
love & hate hump day
July 22nd, 2008 @ 10:29 pm | love & hate | Comments (18)love: reading all the fun BlogHer posts.
hate: missing out on all the fun. Maybe next year?
love: got to spend part of my weekend with my BFF and her cute cute cute baby!
hate: one day is never enough time, ya know? how could it be?
love: which is why I am SO THRILLED to be going home for a whole week next month. I successfully lobbied for the time off before my “90 day probationary period” is up!
hate: anyone want to housesit for me?
love: fresh cut flowers in the house, just to brighten things up a little.
hate: broken garbage disposal. Where is my dad, the Master Fixer of All Things, when I need him?
love: that Mad Men got so many Emmy nominations, because it convinced me to start watching it
double love: that they did a Mad Men Season 1 marathon on Sunday and I discovered it just in time to catch the whole thing on the DVR.
hate: husband hasn’t been home to watch it with me, and I really want to wait to watch it together. So I wait.
love: these lovely branch hooks
hate: my local store doesn’t have them in stock; do I really want to pay for shipping?
love: Hey, guess what? Jackie is married! Erika had another baby boy! Laurel’s birthday is on Thursday! Aly is coming to America! (and also has a birthday coming up) Oliver turned two! Jen has been freed from her crappy housecleaning contract! JP won the new blog design! Zandria successfully led a session at BlogHer! Kerri’s in skinny shorts!
hate: Did I miss your big news? Leave it in the comments, along with your loves and hates, my lovelies.
whip it up: roasted poblano and chicken penne
July 17th, 2008 @ 11:22 pm | food | Comments (15)When I left my job, they threw me a big party and gave me a custom cookbook full of everyone’s favorite recipes. It’s my favorite kind of gift: thoughtful and useful! I made my first recipe from it last week:
Roasted Poblano and Chicken Penne (recipe from Cooking for Love blog)
This recipe is great if you like cheese, peppers, and pasta. And who doesn’t like those things? If the spice thing scares you, just use fewer or milder peppers.
The basics of the recipe are this:
- Broil the peppers until they get black and charred. Let them cool and peel the really black stuff off.
- Sauté mushrooms, garlic, and onions. Add one or a portion of a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.
- Add flour and spices and cook for a few more minutes. Whisk in broth and water and thicken.
- Add chopped peppers and rotisserie chicken chunks.
- Add cream cheese (we used FF) and Mexican cheese to make it all creamy and cheesy.
- Gently fold in cooked penne pasta, add salt and pepper and eat up!
Was the recipe easy to follow? As long as you don’t get too hung up on the pepper-roasting step (and you really shouldn’t; no need for perfection here), the rest is easy. You just saute up a bunch of yummy things in a big pot in successive order. The use of rotisserie chicken is the key here: no raw meat in the kitchen to clean up - blech!
Did the dish taste good? Yes, but it was spicy! If you don’t like spicy, just use a wee bit of chipotle/adobo sauce and cayenne. Husband gave it his approval. Also, we used FF cream cheese even though I am morally against FF cheese (another rant for another time) and I couldn’t even tell. The dish is deceptively healthy for how rich and flavorful it is!
Would you make it again? Yes, I think so. I might even add in different veggies (corn, zucchini).
Ingredients below the jump…Happy Weekend to All! 
apologies in advance for ALL the CAPS
July 15th, 2008 @ 11:31 pm | blonde moments | Comments (21)Am I really so out of it that I didn’t hear until JUST NOW that the new season of Project: Runway starts tomorrow night?!? (Side note: Apparently not.) I love that show. And Heidi Klum. She should definitely play me in the movie about my life, dontcha think?
Know what I’m in the mood for tonight? Photoblogging! Stringing together sentences just seems un-fun, so here are a few images from my day week life.
My flight home last night was just before sunset and the sky was just so gorgeous. Thank goodness for my window seat.
I have joined the hordes of DC professionals who silently broadcast their position on the power ladder (which is not all that high) by checking their blackberries every 14 seconds. Yes, apparently, I have arrived. Kidding, people — in my opinion it’s nothing but a cubicle slave status symbol. I still like my iPhone way better. (Do you know how obnoxious it is to carry a crackberry AND an iphone around town? I annoy myself.)
Husband has a matching blackberry, so our house sort of looks like this nowadays. Aren’t you just DYING to come over for dinner?
Okay, so my mom told me not to blog about this. But my friend’s NEW FIANCÉ (all caps for emphasis on the exciting news) is a med student. Med students apparently get pummeled with pharmaceutical marketing whozits and whatizs just like our doctors do. And then they pass along the weirdest of the whozits and whatzits to their NEW FIANCÉE’s friends. Which is how I came to own an IUD lapel pin for my birthday. Shown actual size!
Last but not least, I’ve been spending some of my birthday money to help accessorize my bedroom. Do you think these things go together? How should I arrange them on the dresser/wall? I need a plan.
like my blog design? read this post
July 13th, 2008 @ 11:49 pm | miscellany | Comments (13)This isn’t a “real” blog post, but I think you’ll like it anyway. The amazing and talented Jen of jayesel.net (and designer of Love is Blonde) is having a contest on her blog to give away a free custom blog design!
I feel like I already won the contest since I have a custom design by Jen, and I am so excited that she is giving another one away. So head on over to her blog and leave a comment by Monday night and enter for yourself!
And now I seriously need to get my tushie to bed, because I have to fly to Boston at Le Crack O’Dawn tomorrow morning. And husband and I are totally addicted to Season 2 of the Wire. Can’t peel ourselves away. Send help.
And, just because, here are some photos of my mean cat. Looks like a sweetie, doesn’t he? It’s a total lie. He will eat your face if given the chance.
