How to have a zen day

Take german liquid multivitamin that tastes delicious.
See a baby squirrel on way to subway.
Get a massage.
Eat a sweet potato, beet and goat cheese dosa from Hampton Chutney. Eat an oatmeal raisin cookie, before the dosa.
Visit the "Intimates" floor of Bloomingdales to buy underwear so you do not need to do laundry for another week.
Get a manicure and a pedicure.
Take a yoga class.
Have a private sewing class with a friend.
Buy APC corduroy swing dress from new neighborhood store, Stuart & Wright.
Have a pizza with ricotta, carmelized onions, fennel, mint and oranges with husband at Amorina.
Post to blog.
Go to sleep.

Get Post It® noted

I saw this display of Post It® notes on the windows of Apartment, this morning, on Crosy Street. The premise:

illegal art who, in honor of inventor arthur fry, have crafted a showstopper of an installation. our office at 101 crosby street has been completely covered with mr. fry's invention, the post-it note, in order to ask new yorkers what is on their to do list. feel free to drop by any time and add to it what is on your mind in these times of craziness. what's important to you today? what do you want, need to do tomorrow, this year? for whom? — from Apartment's website.

(see Curbed's posting the installation, here.)

This is for you, Sheri

Walking to the subway this morning, I saw a baby squirrel very seriously eating an acorn, on Lafayette Avenue. He was not at all scared of me, and continued to eat his acorn, while I was all but laying on the sidewalk in front of him, talking his picture. He was so cute (and I am not even a big squirrel lover, as I usually lump them into the "squirrels are rats with fluffy tails" category)!

On making meatloaf

My meatloaf cooking in the oven — the red stuff is ketchup.

For some odd reason, I came home from work this evening, and set out to make my first meatloaf. Now, this is not something I would recommend doing when you are feeling stuffy headed and wish you were in bed. Which is how I felt. Instead, I searched online for a meatloaf recipe that did not involve A. a Cuisinart or B. white bread.

I finally found a recipe in my file box that did not require any machinery, but the white bread part I could not get around, since one recipe said that bread crumbs would make "the loaf too gummy." Which was a gross thought. Instead, I opted to use two whole wheat bagels, thinking that they would be the equivalent of four slices of white bread.

This is when I should point out that many people do not enjoy cooking with me, due to my bad habit of improvising in the midst of the recipe. In fact, it got so bad tonight, I even did not want to cook with myself. Turns out, I did not have 1.5lbs of ground beef and 1.5lbs of ground pork; instead I had a pound each of ground veal and ground buffalo. I also did not have the Heinz Chili sauce it called for (since I threw it away when we moved), and improvised with ketchup and Sriracha Hot Sauce (the kind you find on the table in every Vietnamese restaurant). I also did not have any parseley, so decided to leave it out, along with the garlic because I really don't like garlic, anyway.

The recipe said for you to dump everything into a bowl, and mix it all together. But not too much, or else you will make the loaf "too dense." It was rather gross mashing it all together, and my hands were freezing. The torn pieces of milk-soaked bagel did not incorporate very well into the meat mixture, and I had to eventually fish out some of the hard, crust-like bits. (The bagels were frozen, so I had to toast them in the oven to defrost them, which also made the outsides nice and toasted. Unfortunately.) And since I had used only 2 pounds of meat, not three, I only had enough for one huge loaf, instead of two normal sized loaves. I hunted around for the cupcake pans thinking that meatloaf cupcakes would be way more fun that a gigantic loaf. But somehow, I lost the cupcake pans when we moved — which was a bummer.

However now the meatloaf is in the oven, and it actually smells really good. Like a real meatloaf! And I just looked in the oven, and it almost looks like a real meat loaf too...

Fly away home

Quick Thought:
Yesterday when I was at my doctor's office, the woman who took my blood work called me Ladybug. As in, "Heeeyyy, Ladybug. You are allllll done!" I loved it. I want to call someone in my life Ladybug. It made me feel so ladybug-like. (well, not red and spotted, but you know: small, round and cute) Just thinking about it makes me feel happy. A day later.

Cookies for President

On my way home from work this afternoon, I saw this flyer taped to a mail box...it's for a bake sale to raise money for the Develop Don't Destroy (Brooklyn) project. What a great idea! Baking, as a political voice. I could see myself getting more involved politcally, if it involved baking brownies or perhaps even something more compicated, like alfajores or that crazy million layer crepe cake (the recipe is here) in the Martha Stewart Cookbook.

Like, what if I ran for president, and raised my campaign funding through a series of country-wide bake sales? I could tailor my baked goods towards the constituency — blueberry bread and cranberry scones in New England; cherry clafoutis in the DC area; peach cobblers and pecan pie in the south; grape tarts in northern California; honestly, the list is endless. And who would not vote for a woman who made really yummy gingersnaps? And what country would not want to stop fighting with everyone, to have a global snack time where we could all make nice over milk and cookies? Maybe that is what this world needs:

more baked goods

Because who, please tell me, is going to start a war, with a mouthful of oatmeal cookie?

When in doubt...

...of a crummy day, eat a pumpkin scone from Starbucks. It wards off any potential lapses in creativity, client meetings you were not fully prepared for, bad hair day angst, and sore throat scratchiness. All of this, for only $1.85.

People of the Day: My Friends

This is Doug.

I want to express how grateful I am to have the friends I have in my life. I wake up each day, and thank god that I have the friends I do, at this point in my life. I know I am very lucky.

I called up a friend this evening, on my way to dinner, and proceeded to lament about my creatively constipated state of affairs. She listened with the sort of listening that only a genuine friend can, and then let me know that I was not alone. Not in my creative abyss, nor in any aspect of my life. Having a friend remind you of how omnipresent they are is truly a priceless thing.

Good friends are there to point out those things that you would never think to notice on your own. And since they are not related to you, you actually listen to them. They listen to you whine about your lame day. And they cheer you up when you are annoyed with the people you love. They accept your flaws and embrace them, and then tease you about them. They love you.

The importance of being watered

These are my geraniums.

Either the rain from the past week has kept my geraniums alive, or else the new tenants at our old apartment have actually been watering them (for me). I was worried when we moved out in July that my flowers would die without me watering them every Saturday, and without me picking off the dead stems. I did consider sneaking back in and watering them until the new tenants moved in, but decided to let it go. They would either live or they would die. And they obviously decided to live.

This is my life, today.

See this? This is the room where I have just watched 10 straight episodes of Grey's Anatomy, in a desperate attempt to catch up on the past season, before this coming Thursday. Since I have NEVER IN MY LIFE spent this much time watching television, I had to multi-task in order to make myself feel that it was totally acceptable to spend an entire Sunday watching what is basically General Hospital. My multi-tasking efforts were to go through the my giant Mt. Kilimanjaro sized stack of old magazines, cutting out the relevant and useful articles I wanted to keep for reference. Such as, which yoga poses make you happier. How to cook roast chicken four ways. Crafty ways to use the emboidery feature on your sewing machine. You know...important stuff like that.

In addition to organizing magazine tearsheets while tv watching, I also managed to consume half of a pound of the Cato Corners Black Ledge Blue [cheese] that I bought yesterday at the farmer's market. Along with some concord grapes, knäkebröd with almond butter, and some potato and green bean pesto.

Sigh. I still have five more episodes to go tonight. And you know what? I am going to do this. Finish it all tonight. I have to move on...to another obsession, at least. (Um, scanning all of my books into Delicious Library is next on my list.) But I am loving the fact that I wasted an ENTIRE day watching television. Me! I am vapid, couch potato. I love it! I have never been such a frivolous time waster in my whole life. And honestly, it feels really nice.

Today is my lucky day

This is a dream come true: pea plants for indoor potting! Do you know what this means? I can eat fresh (not frozen!) peas all winter long. How awesome is this going to be? I can wake up, and see peas! And eat peas in bed...

It's a gnome wonderland!

Anthropolgie has the cutest window displays right now. These mushrooms are handsewn (by 12 year olds in China, I am sure) and posing on faux bois logs. In the "logs" are antique tea cups holding dirt and crocheted worms. It is very Alice in Wonderland meets Martha Stewart. I went in hoping that the mushrooms were for sale (they aren't), and came away with an Orla Kiely shirt instead. Which is almost as nice as a handsewn, stuffed mushroom. Almost.

Needed: Proofreader with a sweet tooth

ci‧on  [sahy-uhn] N. 1. a descendant. 2. Also, cion. a shoot or twig, esp. one cut for grafting or planting; a cutting.

An apple a day...

My new Mac Book arrived from Suzhou, China! Yay!

How can this be?

Izzie + Christina

I think something might be wrong with me. I have never in my life been as obsessed over anything as I am with Grey's Anatomy. But the strange thing is, I adore it. I LOVE it. While watching it, I swear I can feel my brain relaxing; and I feel so calm and happy. Is this what watching television does to people? Is it like doing drugs? Is this why everyone (including my mom) gets addicted to "24" or "Lost" and says things like, "Please don't even think about calling me between 9 and 10pm. You know that 'Six Feet Under' is on." I could never understand what their problem was. Now, I can.

What I think the addicting part truly is, is the no commercials factor. It is like a super concentrated dose of television programming. You know, like frozen juice in a can, before adding water. It is just so thick. The commercials are there to break it up, allowing you to multi-task, which invariably leads to you forgetting the show is on, because you have gotten absorbed with reorganizing your book shelves or cleaning the fridge. However, without any commercials, I cannot even blink, let alone think about multi-tasking. Which, to me, is such a foreign concept. What is life had no commercials? I would be a zombie.

--
I am also woefully behind, still lost in the second season, only just finishing episode 10 (after watching the season premiere this evening) — the guy Meredith slept with who had the broken penis; the quintuplets being born; et al. — with 20 more to go. I even watched an episode on my lunch break today. We won't even talk about the fact that I downloaded the two soundtracks from iTunes this morning, and listened to them all day long. I am embarassed that I am so into a tv program!

Meredith

Make a Swedish Bag, in Japanese!

You can make a tote bag with Knäckebröd
(giant whole wheat circle crackers) on it!

I am also loving the I Skogen bag and the En Dag Med Vackert Väder bag.

Tonight, as a surprise, Kenny pulled out from behind him a Japanese craft book, just for me! He did this just as I was complaining about the contents of our closet being piled outside of the closet, for some reason. Perhaps he stockpiles these sorts of gifts for when these sorts of situations arise. Regardless, the book is very nifty — patterns for sewing Swedish-y looking tote bags, in Japanese. Of course. I love surprises like this! Yay!

Tack så mycket, Kenny. Domo arigato gozaimashita!

Matchy matchy

This family color coordinates their
Vespa to match their 19th century townhouse.

Baskin Robbins makes it all better

Self portait of me eating my Rocky Road

Ok. I broke down. I had such a stressful afternoon that I could not avoid walking by Baskin Robbins without stopping inside. It was definitely a moment of weakness, especially since it was one of those Baskin Robbins that cohabitates with a Dunkin' Doughnuts — which, in my book, makes it a lesser quality Baskin Robbins, if that's even possible.

Since the one flavor I adore at Baskin Robbins was not available — Bumble Nut Crunch (Honey comb ice cream with chocolate chunks) — I opted for Rocky Road. The name of which summed up my day quite aptly. Surprisingly, it was pretty good. And it was reminiscent of Heavenly Hash (chocolate ice cream with a marshmallow swirl, chocolate chips, and chocolate covered almonds), a flavor that I swear only people from Ohio have ever eaten.

I have to admit, I was almost swayed by the green apple and grape sherbet with the Nerds® swirled in, but thankfully snapped to my senses in time.

Helen got engaged!

Ok! I can finally express this very happy thing: Helen is engaged! I had wanted to post this the day she told me, but I felt that perhaps the news needed to become public via her own doing, not mine. The day she called me, we played phone tag until we were fianlly able to connect. The whole time we phone tagged I knew that this was what she wanted to tell me, and she knew that I knew. But somehow hearing her tell me anyway, was overwhemlingly exciting. I cried. Of course. (See Sunday's posting for reference in regards to crying about happy things.)

I feel that I can post this today, since we all got together for our monthly get together(although it has been months since we all last got together — was the last time at the Russian baths in Astoria?!) to celebrate Helen's good news. Sheri and I are both married, and both Helen and Melissa are engaged. This is it. We have arrived at the next chapter in our life. Soon, will all be getting pregnant and discussing preschools.

Interjection of negativity

Umm, I really really wish I had a blog about all of those things that frustrate me; cause me to yell "fuck!" really loudly; make my eyelids twitch from stress; consume inordinate amounts of chocolate covered, cocoa dusted almonds; and in general, those things that seems to take up 99.9% of my day in a rather unpleasant manner. It would be much easier, and perhaps more cathartic if I had a blog where I could complain all day long about everything that sucks in my life. Nope. Instead, I decided to be cheery and positive. Rah. Rah. Rah. Sometimes it is really hard to wade through all of the annoying things to find that .1% worth of happiness. Whereas wallowing in negativity is so much easier. Sort of like eating food straight from a can, for dinner. Sigh...my happy thing today will come...later.

Gradient + grid = delight

I just love Uniqlo. For some reason, their construction banner on Broadway made me feel happy just looking at it. How can you not love pleasantly colored squares neatly arranged in a huge grid? Does anyone else find this amazingly cheerful, or is it just me?

Magic Mushrooms

This evening, I ended up at Dean & DeLuca anxiously trying to come up with viable dinner option within a normal time frame. There was an end cap of mushrooms in cute wooden crates and I decided that I would make whole wheat pasta with four types of mushrooms — portobella, cremini, white button and some ugly looking oyster mushrooms. This was a big splurge because the scary ones were also $40 a pound. And of course, even the plain jane, white button mushrooms were $8 a pound. But, the produce weigher totally hooked me up! After a conversation where I schooled him in the healthful properties of mushrooms, and he warned me to avoid buying any "street" mushrooms, he proceeded to charge me 25¢ for the creminis that were really $20 a pound, and handed me the bag with a little wink. I practically skipped away, mentally singing to myself, "I got mushrooms for 25¢, I got mushrooms for 25¢!

I mean, seriously. What can you get these days for a quarter? A three minute phone call on a sketchy pay phone. Or perhaps a stale gum ball.

People of the Day: Russ and Lara

We woke up this morning at 6:15am, in order to make it out to Rye, New York in time to see our friends compete in the Westchester Triathalon. There is something extrememly satisfying/gratifying about watching your friends work towards a goal, and then being there to watch them accomplish it. I felt such pride for Russ and Lara this morning...I am surprised that I did not cry when I saw them in their transitions. Perhaps it was because I was cheering them on so loudly (for me), which in itself is quite a feat. [This is because I do not cheer. And if I do, it's certainly not loudly.]

I am worried that this means I am going to be one of those moms who cries when their kids go to kindergarden, and when their first tooth falls out, and when they get into an ivy league university. For crying out loud — I cried when I hit a triple in softball. Who stands, crying, on third base?! These sorts of things are so emotional for me. I cry, but I am so happy inside. And although I did not cry upon seeing Lara run past when she finished her swim, or when Russ came through the biking transition, I felt the same sort of I-want-to-cry-because-I-am-so-happy-for-them feeling.

Go team.

I heart Grey's Anatomy

I just watched five episodes of Grey's Anatomy, straight through! I am seriously considering pulling an all nighter to watch the last 5 on the first season's DVD. However, it is going to have to wait because I am sooo tired. It is like I am arguing with myself, though. I want to stay up to watch; yet I want to be in bed at the same time. This is when having a tv in the bedroom comes in handy. And I have to say, watching a tv show in DVD format in a marathon of television watching is way better. Now that I can compare, I can honestly say: the commercials completely ruin everything.

Vacationing in Queens, New York

We went to Elmhurst this afternoon to do our laundry. Again. While the darks were in the washing machine, Kenny and I went to the Argentine bakery around the corner to get some pastries (an apple turnover for me). I had such a delightful time...I felt like we were on vacation! People were staring at me in my entirely green (head to foot) yoga outfit, as I walked arund snapping pictures — perhaps the only white person out on the streets of Elmhurst. I am sure that people thought I was a tourist. You can check out my photos of my vacation in Queens, here on Flickr.

We then headed back to my in-laws house so I could throw the darks in the dryer and the whites/lights into the wash. While the second load was washing, we ate some lunch. My father-in-law made some sauteed long beans with garlic that also contained some thin pieces of jellyfish/pork/pickled vegetable/mystery ingredient. It was so delicious, I could not stop eating it.

The highlight of the day though, was listening to my neices sing "You are my sunshine," in the car as they drove with me to my yoga class. I tried to post the audio to my blog, of them singing. Somehow audio blogger had a glitch in the system, and it never posted. I am sorry that you all cannot hear how cute they sounded. It was so truly once of those moments in time that you don't want to forget. ...

Stop by, and stay awhile.

I had just arrived home this evening when Romulo called. He wanted to stop by and hang out with us for a little while, before meeting Hafeez and Josh in the city. I absolutely love this about Romulo. No one in New York just "stops by." No one here likes these sorts of surprises.

Usually, people are like, "Oh. Stop by?... welll, tonight's not really a good night, for me. I sort of have plans. [pause] I was going to watch the past 24 episodes of 24 that I had recorded on TiVo, tonight. Yeah, sorry. Like tonight's the only night I can do this. [pause] But maybe you can stop by another time, ok?"

Honestly, stopping by is such a midwestern thing to do. Romulo was not even on our block, let alone in Fort Greene. And our house was not on his way to the subway, which is ultimately where he was headed. Albeit, I am sure he needed to kill some time before heading into the city, but I still love the idea of "stopping by to say hi." I think everyone should try doing it more often. And conversely, when we all try to be more spontaneous in our stopping by-ness, we also have to allow ourselves to break our routine once in awhile to allow those stopping by-ers to actually stop by.

Sorry, Bobby.

Who is this person, and can we be friends? I swear I must know her.
Check out her diatribe on Bobby Flay's new tv show here, and her commentary on life in general, here.

Jimmy Jet and His TV Set*

I am so excited!!! My Amazon package arrived!! Containing seasons one and two of Grey's Anatomy...just in time for me to get up-to-date before the new series starts next Thursday. I have watched this show only one time (which was two weeks ago), but something about it prompted me to immediately order the past two seasons from Amazon.com. Since I almost never watch television, this sort of rash, I-am-obsessed-with-a-tv-program is rather unprecendented behavior for me. I kind of like it.

And guess what?! The season two DVD has four extended episodes (with scenes that were too steamy for tv...)! So if you happen to call me over the weekend and wonder why I am not answering the phone, it is because I am watching all 36 episodes, non-stop.

--
This poem by Shel Silverstein is a classic. Check it out here.

Blog of the Day: Cha Xiu Bao

Kenny forwarded this blog link to me last night, knowing how much I love food, Asia, weird things relating to food and Asia, and the intellectual nerdy sorts who blog about all of the above.

The owner of this blog is a massive chowhound who lives in Hong Kong. So take note: for all of those who enjoy reading blogs about food (like I do) this will be a welcome addition to your menu bar. (Overlook the interface. This one is all about the content, only.) Seriously. This guy is great. Check out his post about his twelve course meal of Shark, from July 20th. As in, shark...prepared 12 ways. Um, gross. However, the clincher for me was the Dau Miu (water spinach) fable he posted on September 4th. Water spinach has to be my all time most favorite green vegetable, ever — behind peas, that is. Frankly, anyone who posts about Dau Miu is awesome.

A Virtual Vacation

Yume — Room 312

Wa — Room 404

This morning, Sheri sent me a link to the Hotel Fox's website, thinking it might make me happy. It did...thanks, Sheri! I have read extensively about this hotel — they asked a series of artists to design different rooms — although I never have checked out their website until just now...

The next time Kenny and I go to Denmark, I would like to stay there. And in particular, I want to stay in either the Wa or the Yume rooms, designed by the illustator Shinya Chisato. (I am sure this is not a surprise to anyone who looked at the room offerings and wondered, "Hmm, which rooms would Aimee love?")

I love Chisato's work. (Check out her wallpaper, here.) She has illustrated new versions of two classic sets of fiary tales — Grimm: The Illustrated Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (check it out) and Andersen: The Illustrated Fairy Tales Of Hans Christian Andersen (click here), both of which have been chilling on my Amazon Wish List for a while now...although, they might be buried somewhere on page 3.

--
Room Info: Imagining travels. Chisato’s inspiration came from her homeland of Hokkaido in the north of Japan: “There is a lot of nature and countryside there. There are four distinct seasons to the year and there is a lot of snow in winter.

– ‘Wa’ means Japanese in Japanese. I imagined Japan and then named this room Wa. In Japan, most houses have rooms with tatami mats in the Japanese style even today. I hope you feel the atmosphere of Wa a bit in this room.”

– ‘Yume’ means dream in Japanese. I hope that you dream your own story when you sleep in this room, inspired by the wallpaper that I drew. Have a wonderful dream.”

How to Have a Thanksgiving in September

Menu
Beer Battered Onion Rings
Steamed Spinach
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Corn on the Cob
Tomato and Fennel Soup
Fontina and Onion Pizzetta
Baked Pasta
Three Ice Teas
Three Gingerales
One Camomile Tea
One Scoop each of Vanilla, Cinnamon and Dark Chocolate Ice Creams
--
Directions: Meet friends at Five Points. Have enjoyable conversation for more than two hours. Eat until stuffed. Continue eating onion rings until about to burst. Get a takeaway bag for the corn and two slices of the pizzetta. Take a cab home. Contemplate going on a diet for about two seconds. Wish you had finished the last two onion rings.

Christina + ramen = a really nice evening

Christina and I met for ramen tonight after work at Sapporo on 49th Street. Nothing there is more than $8.5 and the bowls of ramen are enormous. It was really good to see Christina, as we were way overdue on catching up — I have not seen her in a really long time! A few weeks, I think. We are going to meet more regularly (perhaps bi monthly?) now that she is working on a project out of the office, and sample all of the cheap eats midtown (and beyond) has to offer.

Altered state of reality

Ok, this is a sight never ever seen in New York City — a street with NO cars on it! I was riding down Broadway from 59th Street and all of sudden, I noticed that there were no cars on the street. None! I began to wonder if there was a city-wide emergency, because all of the intersections were closed with police barricades. Perhaps, I thought, this is a roadblock set up for a criminal on the loose? Or maybe there was a street fair up ahead selling gyros and corn on a stick? But no, this state of bicycling bliss lasted until 42nd Street, without any explanation. And then it appeared that there had been some concert type of thing involving lots of confetti, that had just ended at Times Square. I, of course, began to fantisize about how awesome the city would be if all cars were banned from hereafter. Or at least, does anyone agree with me in thinking that Broadway (and maybe Park Avenue, too) should be car-free? Let's get a petition going!

Mayonnaise on a date

On Broadway and 72nd — condiments enjoying a sunny afternoon.

Tic Tacs for the obsessive compulsive

Today while waiting to have brunch at the Popover Café, we went into a bodega to buy a small snack to tide me over until we actually ate — there was a 25 minute wait and I was starving. For some reason, I was inexplicabley drawn towards the orange Tic Tacs, and check this out — all of the Tic Tacs were perfectly aligned in the box! It was amazing. I checked the others to see if perhaps all Tic Tacs were packaged this way, and it was only today that I noticed how cool it was. But alas, all of the other boxes were full of Tic Tac'd disarray. I had found a lucky box. I wonder how often this occurs — is it like a one in a million sort of thing?

Making my favorite dress

Susanna and I are taking private patternmaking classes with Cal, of Make Workshop. Today, we made a pattern from an already existing wrap sundress, which seemed simple enough. But the dress is a little strangely constructed, and somehow it seems that it's always those simple things that are the most complicated.Hopefully, our pattern will work out ok — I am a little worried about the armholes being too tight. However, I left our lesson feeling really proud of ourselves. We are learning how to make clothes! It is a very empowering feeling. Imagine seeing some article of clothing on a person you see on the street, and loving it. Now imagine thinking to yourself, "I love that, and I am going to go home and make it something exactly like it, but better.

Moonlighting

This is Kenny's other career.
I did the truck graphics.

No Forks, ok?

Notice Kenny's dual action — pouring tea with one hand,
and eating a chao siu bao with with other.

We had dim sum this morning in Brooklyn, at World Tong Seafood — with Melissa, Mark, Elizabeth and Mike. A whole tableful of Carnegie Mellon alumni...and we ate sooo much. Usually it is just Kenny and I, so we never are able to get so many dishes. However, with six people, there are so many more possibilities. We ordered the sticky rice in a leaf and the sticky rice in the upside down bowl! We even ordered the coconut milk jello complete with a flag of France (on a toothpick) stuck into it. We all left feeling stuffed, bloated and at least three pounds heavier....it was a great brunch.

Phrase of the Day

Heya o katazukeru.

I subscribe to a Japanese phrase of the Day. Today's is rather fitting for me — it is "Tidy up the room." This will come in handy for whenever Kenny and I move to Japan. Which does not seem to be happening anytime soon, and therefore is giving me lots of time to practice. Check out May's phrases of the day, here. There are all about arguments and marriage. Seriously. May 5's phrase of the day is: This is not what I was led to believe before we got married. Or in Japanese, Kekkon suru mae to hanashi ga chigau ja nai.

Oh wow!

Look what my friend, Sarah, sent to me from Portland!! A peas change purse! I came back from lunch and this was waiting for me.

And I also received a card with a really sweet message inside, from my friend Sheri.

I am having such a great day! I think it is because A. it is Friday. and B. I wore an outfit today that I actually like. and C. because I had a sort of lame week and this is a nice way to end a lame week. and D. because I have such thoughtful and amazing friends.

Person of the Day: Marcos

I met Marcos, my old creative director (and I would still say, mentor, as well) when I worked at TODA, today for lunch at Café Asean. He had the honey pork chop with rice and I had the broad rice noodles with chicken and bok choy. The entire bill was only $17.88 — and it was conveniently located halfway between TODA and my office! So all in all, it was a good lunch. Especially since I always enjoy seeing Marcos.

I have known Marcos my entire New York life, which means he has essentially watched me grow up over the past nine and a half years. He helped me move into my first "I am living on my own, alone" apartment. (The move where I was forced to carry a trunk on my back, like a turtle.) And I helped assembled the kitchen cabinets over one Christmas vacation, for TODA's new office. There are many memories. And I credit Marcos for making me into the designer I am today, as well. (So if you hate my aestetic, you can blame Marcos. haha.)

I really miss working with Marcos — he had a way of pulling really good work out me, that I never thought I was capable of creating.

I love you, again.

I have not seen the I Love You grafitti artist for a long time. It was nice to see he is back in effect again — this was spotted on 7th Avenue at 27th Street... Perhaps he did this just for me?

Making mechanicals on a Thursday

I am working on the most complicated set of mechanicals I have ever created in my life, for a long and extremely detailed promotional piece. I initially began to create the mark-ups by hand, and scrapped that after 8 pages — creating the printer's notes on a layer in Indesign is definitely the way to go from now on. I am getting some sort of (insane? perverse? happy?) thrill from creating such a neat and tidy file. I want the printer to open it up and say, "Damn! This file is soooo organized!" Or at the very least, I am aiming for a project that does not get all screwed up in the production and printing. That would always be nice.