Latest Obsessions

*Making Ice Cream
I was lucky enough to get a kitchenaid ice cream maker at my shower
(Thanks, Meghan!) I've already made raspberry and chocolate ice cream, and
concord grape sorbet. All have been delicious and surprisingly easy.

*The new XX album
Current favorite song: Reunion

*Between 2 Harvests
This is a magical time of year when I can buy pumpkins and concord grapes
but still indulge in ripe heirloom tomatoes and peaches.

*My Halloween Pinterest Board
Gathering inspiration, ideas, and nostalgia

*37 days til the wedding!
almost there! Can't wait to be his Mrs.

*Eating the Rainbow
I've been trying to buy all different colors at the greenmarket, purple cauliflower, 
yellow tomatoes, orange sweet potatoes, green arugula. you get the idea.
More colors=more good stuff

*Frankenweenie!

Greenmarket Finds

I was extra appreciative of the peaches, cantaloupes, nectarines, and tomatoes
at the market this morning.  The fall harvest is just around the corner
which means that we'll have to bid adieu to summer and it's deliciousness.

















Sourdough bread
kale
2 Gala apples
3 nectarines
4 peaches
1 acorn squash
1 spaghetti squash
3 ears of corn
1 cantaloupe
a small bag of cherry tomatoes
Lavash crackers
a dozen eggs
a small bag of arugula
a small pack of honey ham steaks (for ham & eggs!!)

all this was about $40

Bridal Tidal Wave: Part 4

67 days. The shower has come and gone, the menu has been finalized,
invites have gone out and the response cards have started to come in.

People were not kidding when they said this time would fly by.
I do feel good though, we're right where we want to be in terms
of planning. All the big stuff is out of the way, and now we can
focus on details.  I'll be heading to the paper store tomorrow for
cardstock for the escort cards and table numbers.  At this point in
the game I am all about DIY and not spending a ton of money.

Right now my biggest concern is what wines I'm going to choose.
I know that people may not care, and they'll drink what's around
but wine is one of my top 5 interests (other 4 are: sea creatures, books,
travel, and collaging) so I want them to be awesome (yet economical).
I do think I'll buy a super badass bottle of Burgundy for the
soon-to-be husband and I to share during our dinner- because it's not often
that I have an occasion to really splurge on wine. I'm rambling now- 
so I'll wrap this up. 

I'm so excited for the wedding, I can't wait to have family and friends from
all different parts of our lives together in one room.  The idea even sounds
overwhelming. And the best part? I'm marrying the man that I love.
Because after all the planning, the decorations, the dress, etc.- it's really about
us, and the fact that we love each other so much that we want to spend
forever together (in a very real and legally binding sense)

La vita è bella

I've really been enjoying life lately.
We stopped into NJ for a much needed break from the city, spent
time with dear friends and family, and were given the most amazing bridal
shower in the history of bridal showers. I celebrated my 29th Birthday
by a beautiful lake with awesome friends (and ice cream cake), and got to
have a birthday dinner with my family for the first time in a long time.
We had an engagement photo shoot with our amazing photographers
and the pictures are more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
You can see the teaser here

I've been reading the Freedom Manifesto, and it's been making
me feel good.   I've been trying to draw/collage/read more and watch tv less,
savor simple pleasures, and generally rid myself of anxiety.
The book is a little extreme from time to time, but the general point
is to live. Create instead of consume, write letters instead of emails,
damn the man save the empire- things of that nature.

I'm looking forward to the next few months, so many exciting
things lined up and large amounts of time will be spent with
friends and family. What more could anyone ask for?

Latest Obsessions

Parks and Rec
*love Ron Swanson and Aziz


Tyler Winery 2010 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard-Q Block
*Best California Pinot Noir ever. shut it down. go home.

My birthday is 1 week away.
*Kicking off the festivities on Sunday!!

Summer Fruit Desserts
Cobblers and galettes. with some bourbon whipped cream

The #7 Sub Club Sandwich
*@ the Food Hall underneath the Plaza. So much good food.
Can't wait to go back and explore further. 

99 Days til the Wedding!!!

Bridal Tidal Wave: Part 3

I've got wind in my wedding sails again, which feels good.
I had been feeling overwhelmed for the last few months, not really wanting
to discuss the wedding at length or even really start to think about all the final
details.  I'm going to call this phase "deposit depression", the down time
that you have where you are paying deposits and not really doing much else.

Thankfully that time has passed and the excitement is back.
We're down to 116 days, and this is the time that I've been looking forward to,
where the parties begin, final details are created, and when I get to start spending
large amounts of time with my family and bridal party.

These are the last 3 weeks before everything really gets rolling.
We should have the invites on or around August 1st and from then on
time is just going to fly, but I'm ready for it.

Greenmarket Finds

We're getting into the summer harvest now,
which is my favorite time of year.
Sugar plums, peaches, zucchini, and apricots. yum!














*1 loaf sourdough bread
*blueberries
*dinosaur kale
*yellow cherry tomatoes
*6 apricots
*3 peaches
*1 persian cucumber
*parsley
*spinach
*3 zucchini
*a pint of purple sugar plums

All of this cost about $28

Greenmarket Finds

 Peaches came back this week! (wow. I just realized how nerdy that sounds...)
But this is my thing. This is what I enjoy.

This week at the Sunnyside Greenmarket:
2 dozen eggs
small loaf of sourdough bread
green beans
kale
1 cucumber
1 quart of strawberries
1 pint of cherries
2 tomatoes
and 3 peaches

all of this was about $25

In Print

If you live in the NY area and happen to see a copy of Edible Queens
floating around, flip to the back and you will see one of my collages!
Pretty exciting, huh?!

I feel pretty fancy.

Further Exploration: New World Mall

We finally made it back to explore the food court at the New World Mall.
The huge wooden salad bowls filled with stir fried goodness had been on
our minds ever since our first trip.
We started with buns (1 red bean-which almost has a chocolate flavor to it, and radish-
which tastes like a delicious egg roll)















$3 for both, and they were do delicious.  The red bean one was so dense
we could only take a few bites and had to take it home.
Now for the main course, we went to Lao Ma Mala Tang, where we got to choose from
a very large selection of meats and veggies.  It's pay by the pound so you can get
as much as you want.  Because there was only the 2 of us we went kind of easy-
or so we thought.  We chose bacon, beef, 1 crab, shrimp, tofu, lotus root, 2 kinds of mushrooms,
spinach and told them only a little spicy on the sauce.
And this is what we got:















Let me just say that this dish had flavors that I've never experienced before.
Not in a bad way, just kind of shocking to the palate.  A pepper flavor that was almost
cooling, yet tingly and numbing-maybe green peppercorns? And the heat level was,
for me, very spicy. For the fiance' it was perfect- but he loves spicy food.
They really just throw everything in as is. We had to peel the shrimp and the crab,
I bit down on a huge hunk of ginger and the fiance' got a whole clove of garlic.
For $21 we really got our money's worth, we couldn't even finish it!

We threw in the towel and wandered over to Snopo for dessert.  If you happen
to be a regular reader of this blog (Dad and maybe a few others) you may remember
that we visited this dessert mecca the last time we were there.  This time we really went for it
and got their "Snowy Ice" a strange cross between ice cream and shaved ice.

















It's another weird food experience, but so delicious. We got the strawberry flavor
with strawberry jelly- which is just a better quality strawberry jell-o
(you can see the strawberry seeds).  They also have Snowy served "romantic style"-
I still haven't figured out where the romance comes in, but these look really fancy
and they have names like "Princess Strawberry", "Forever Time" and "Precious Time".
I think that we'll go for the romance next time we're there.

Latest Obsessions

*Summer berries are back!
(strawberries, cherries, blueberries, and raspberries)

*Papaya King
( Delicious -and cheap!- hot dogs and tropical juices)

*Rufus Does Gum
(He makes Big Red seem so appealing!)

*The Mysterious Benedict Society
(summer reading)

*Wines from Burgundy
( Started with some entry levels, working my way up.)

*I made this recently
(and it was awesome!)

The Magic of Montauk: part 1

I fell in love with Montauk this weekend.
Head over heels.
The lush greenery, the wooden siding on the houses,
the character of the beach, just everything.

Our friends Jay and Jess were renting a house there last week and were
kind enough to invite us out.  It was so relaxing.
 I'm also now obsessed with Channing Daughters wines.















We were able to visit the vineyard and had a tasting with Anthony,
who was the best host ever.  He was excited about the wines, and was thrilled
to see that we were into it. (I totally nerded out when he told us they had a Blaufrankisch
red AND rose, not to mention a Refosco and Lagrein rose!!! Northern Italian varietals!!)
Sorry.
Long story short we ended up joining the wine club, so now we will be receiving 2
bottles every other month!  After the tasting our friends Paul and Janet met up with us
and we meandered over to the sculpture garden for a cheesefest.















After the vineyard we went for a drink at the Crow's Nest, which was right
on the water, and then headed back to the house to make dinner.
We had a local seafood Cioppino with clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp and tilefish,
sides of grilled spring onions and asparagus, massive pieces of garlic bread and
berry shortcakes for dessert. Not to mention the bottles and bottles of wine!

(above:The fiance paddleboarding
below: pretty clouds))
















Needless to say it was a great evening.
Stay tuned for part 2!

Latest Obsessions

*The far side of Astoria
(We explored and found an awesome Greek seafood place,
a tempting ramen bar, and many dessert shops)

*in.gredients
(A package-free grocery store that is opening up in Austin, Texas.
Can NY get one of those??)

*Wine
(Yes,  wine has been an obsession for awhile but it's even more exciting
since I've branched out from Italian wine.  I've found domestic wines that I
really like, and continue to fall deeper in love with French wines.  We also
just picked up a Croatian wine that I can't wait to try. )

*This photo

*Yesterday was exactly 5 months til the wedding!
(Time sure does fly)


*Enjoying the backyard
(Doesn't matter if I'm out there for 5 minutes or countless hours, it feels so good to have
a backyard filled with lush greenery in the summertime)

Tuesday Adventures

This past Tuesday was lovely.
We meandered around the Met for a bit, saw "Cloud City" on the rooftop 

and enjoyed the lush view of Central Park.
















We also wandered into the Schiapparelli/Prada exhibit,
the Stein's massive art collection, and the 19th Century wing.
Which never ever disappoints.  The Met makes me so happy,
I get teary sometimes because I just feel so overwhelmed by the things
that I look at.  It's so nerdy of me but it's true, going to the Met is such
a magical experience it's so easy to get lost there.

After the Met we headed to the Astor Room for some drinks and then the
Museum of the Moving Image for a free screening of Moonrise Kingdom. 
It's everything that you want and expect from Wes Anderson. We loved it.
After the movie we had a great dinner at Salt and Fat and then finally headed home.

It was such a great day! Now I feel ready for summer, hopefully Mother Nature agrees.

Latest Obsessions

*Paradise, Hawaiian Style
(Way into Elvis lately and this soundtrack is the perfect summer primer)
(my fav is Queenie Wahine's Papaya) ~ we also have the movie on our netflix

*Le Animale totems
(I really want to get a Sergie one made)

*Having more successes than failures in the kitchen
(This has been a long time coming, but things are finally somewhat consistent
in this little kitchen of mine.  I'm pretty proud.)


*Moonrise Kingdom
(We're going to a screening next Tuesday!!!)

*Kermit Lynch- Adventures on the Wine Route
(a good read for anyone that likes wine and/or travel)

*Can it be October 27th already?!
(I just want to be married. I think that instead of the standard year,
we totally could have done it in 6-8 months.)
-I love planning but I hate waiting.

Greenmarket Finds

*2 quarts of whole milk
*quart of buttermilk
*dozen eggs
*small loaf of seven grain bread
*heirloom tomato
*ramps
*a large box of strawberries
*onion
*red russian kale
*arugula
*sugar snap peas

No rhubarb by the time that I got there, which was a bit of a
bummer.  But I made a arugula salad with tomato and mozzarella
for lunch and it was delightful. It helped me to forget all about the
lack of rhubarb.

I also wanted to post this photo of one of our backyard
kitties that was hanging out in our kitchen window.
She seemed to enjoy watching me wash dishes.
 I'm sure that it was very exciting.

Latest Obsessions

*Kaftans-for the beach
(sidenote: when did I become an old lady and start liking kaftans?)

*Sherlock is back!
(I heart Masterpiece Mystery)

*Mom Mom's Chocolate Chip Cake
(so delicious, and made just for me)

*Rue LaLa
(first time on there and I found cheetah luggage, $80 down from $300. jackpot!)

*Food for Thought
#1, #2, #3)

*Greenmarket Strawberries
(sans pesticides)

*A Quote to Remember

A Full Plate and Empty Pockets

2012 continues to be the year of change.
I've just switched jobs, leaving my beloved In Vino after 4 years,
and relocating to the Upper East Side to work at a wine shop.
I'm on my way to learning a lot about the day-to-day of
running a shop and expanding my wine knowledge in a big way.

In Littlebunny news:
I recently printed a new Octopus card for the Etsy Shop, and
also did a reprint of the ever popular Manatee card.  This weekend
is the Spring Handmade Cavalcade, so if you are in the market
for some Mother's Day cards (and other crafted objects)
 you should come out!















 It felt really good to print again, it was something that I hadn't
done in awhile.  It's so easy to fall into creative slumps, but I feel like
I'm finally coming out of it.  Sunshine and warm weather always seem
to do the trick.

The wedding is also moving at full force now, we are 6 months away
(179 days to be exact) and there is a lot that we still have to plan.
Mostly little things, the menu, the bar, transportation, etc.
 I have to admit that I'm just ready to be married.
The planning hasn't been stressful, but it is all consuming
and expensive.

Which brings me to my empty pockets. When money gets very tight
I always leave it to the universe to send good things my way, and it usually
works out. Today, good fortune appeared in the form of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
We'll see what the rest of the week brings.

Greenmarket Finds

*Whole Milk
*Spinach
*Arugula
*Cremini Mushrooms
*Shallots
*White Onion
*Sweet Potato
*Rhubarb (!!!!)
*Apples
*7 grain Bread
*Eggs
and.....




















Strawberries!!!  It felt like Christmas morning when I saw these.
Pretty sure that I'm the happiest bunny in the whole city.

Greenmarket Finds

Lilacs
Whole Milk
Heavy Cream
Eggs
Raspberry Jam
Crimini Mushrooms
Radishes
Swiss Chard
Dinosaur Kale
Ramps
and a huge bunch of Asparagus


jackpot.

Latest Obsessions

*Linen High-Waist Pants from AA
(mint green please)

*Black Dynamite
(Chocolate Giddy Up)

*The Salty Pimp from the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop
(best cone ever.)

*Butcher Bar in Astoria
(awesome bbq)

*Retronaut
(get caught up in old photos)

*Wes Anderson's Worlds @ Museum of the Moving Image
(I will be attending ALL of the screenings.)

*Note to Self

City of Change

I was walking along Houston yesterday and I noticed a bare space where Billy's Antiques was.  In it there was a single coffin with
some bottles of beer on it.  I couldn't stop staring, and I instantly felt sad.
















photo source


No I was not a regular customer, I didn't have a personal relationship
with anyone there, but it was a special place in the city. It would be like the Strand*,
Trash and Vaudville, or Katz's closing down. Places that are unique to the NY that I know.
I'm sure that I'm just one in a long line of New Yorkers that has lamented about the changes in the city.
The way I feel about Billy's turning into a luxury condo is probably the way
many people felt about CBGB turning into a John Varvatos store.

One of the saddest things to me has always been the knowledge that the city won't wait
for you. It will change whether you stay or go. But for someone who can drown in nostalgia, it's a good lesson on letting things go, living in the present, and enjoying what's around.

*Though lets be honest, if the Strand closed I would be inconsolable. Let's hope I never see that day.

Latest Obsessions

*Akamaru Modern Noodles from Ippudo
(best ramen ever.slowly becoming a Friday habit)

*NYT article "Puberty before age 10:The New Normal?"
(really interesting. fairly depressing. best to be aware)

*Lana Del Rey- Born to Die
(I don't love all of her songs but I do love this one) 

*The idea of a Twin Peaks party
(coffee, donuts, pie, and costumes)

*Finding natural body products, sans chemicals.
(I'll be ordering from Sigrid later this week)

*Visiting South Jersey this weekend
(can't wait!) 

Bridal Tidal Wave: Part 2

I'd liken the planning process to a hurricane that keeps
getting downgraded to a tropical storm.  There is so much to do
but just when you think you might be overwhelmed, things
start to calm down.  We're about 7 months out
and we've got a lot going on right now.

This is the time where you need to get all of your vendors
lined up, and we're pretty close to having that completed.
We have a meeting with the florist next week, I scheduled a hair/
make up trial for the beginning of April, and I have my first dress
fitting next Wednesday.

Through all of the appointments, meetings, deposits, and fittings I've been trying
to constantly remind myself that even though this is a very special day, it is still only
one day.  Everything will fall into place, so there is no need to go crazy over it.

If you're wondering if this post has a general point, it doesn't.
It's my weird way of getting my thoughts in order.  It's hard to
write concise blogs about something that you're in the middle of.
So, I'm sorry if it seems like a jumble.
In the words of Hedley Lamarr "My mind is aglow with whirling,
transient nodes of thought careening through a cosmic vapor of invention"
this is where you just say "Ditto".

Further Exploration

The fiance and I are not fans of  St. Paddy's Day.
We avoided the masses by heading out to Flushing
and checking out some new food spots.  One of the most
magical things about Flushing is that every time you visit,
you discover something new.

We were following a new guide and this is what we had:

Fried Dumplings ($1.25)

 A plate of a potato/chili salad and spicy tofu  ($3.00)

 Our favorite, Mt Qi Pork Noodles ($6.00)

 Spicy Wontons ($4.50)















We also discovered the food court mecca that is the
lower level of the New World Mall. You could devote an entire day
to eating there and still not be able to try every place. It was amazing!
We were pretty full by the time we got there so I only picked up Mango Pancakes
($4.00) from a place called Beautiful Memory Desserts.  (With a name like that
how can you resist!?) And a Passion Fruit Tea ($2.50)  from a place called Snopo,
which specializes in Snowy- a fluffy looking ice cream with fun toppings.

Flushing is always a good time.

Latest Obsessions

*Snuff Box on Netflix instant watch
(The theme has been in my head for days.)

*New Food Blogs
(My New Roots and Sprouted Kitchen)

*Finding a new bathing suit
( #1, #2, #3)

*Guava flavored anything

*Planning the honeymoon
(I love travel planning)

*Making collages using old National Geographics
(photos soon)

New Shooz

Yesterday I received not one, but TWO pairs of shoes in the mail.
This is big, because I rarely buy shoes.

This pair is for the wedding. Simple, gold,
and less than $70. jackpot.

These are what I'm really excited about.
Golden glittery cheetah explosion.
(many thanks to CarlyValentine for scouting these out)

Latest Obsessions

*Austrian and Northern Italian Wines
(Blaufrankish, Zweigelt, Blauburgunder, Zamo Rosso)
(Cherry and bold fruit notes, generally light on the palate, some have
a spicy finish, great with food and without)

*Jalebi
(an Indian dessert treat that we got to try in Jackson Heights,
they are delicious!)

*Valentine's Day
(I need to figure out what cards I want to send)

*The Snoring Dormouse video
(I love animals that snore)

*Oh Happy Day blog
(really fun decorations and party ideas)

*The Chinese New Year Parade in Flushing
(we're going this Saturday and I'm so excited!)

Creature Feature

In case you didn't know, my otters were featured in a gift guide
on the Etsy Blogs!  Which led to 15 orders in the last 2 days, more than I've ever had
in such a short period of time.  I am extremely proud of this, as you can probably imagine.
It's definitely great motivation to keep making new things. (a boost that I very much needed)
















I feel like good things have been happening in the past few days, in addition to
the feature, my wedding dress came in, we celebrated the bf's birthday last weekend,
and I received my state tax refund today.  2012 is so exciting already!

Bridal Tidal Wave

So here we are.  278 days away from saying "I do"
and I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with all the progress that
we've made.  We have the venue, the photographer, the dress, I've picked out
the bridesmaids dress, we have the save the dates just about ready to go,  the
hotel that we will be staying at for the wedding, I've started to work on decorations,
and we have the florist and our day-of planner.  whew!

It's not so overwhelming if you take one thing at a time.  I had a mini meltdown
in October because it was so intense.  Once the venue was booked my body
decided to go back to normal, thankfully.  But everything has been going
smoothly so far.  We're trying to follow the basic timeline for booking things, just to
give us some structure.

The best advice that I can give for the initial planning is to make or find a
timeline that works for you and to take it one thing at a time, or have a list of
small things that you want to accomplish for the week.  The knot has a really good timeline
on their website, and most bridal magazines have them too.

It's also good to check out what other people are doing for their weddings
my favorite bridal blogs are:
Brooklyn Bride
Style Me Pretty
Ruffled
100 Layer Cake


Happy Planning!

Recipe of the Week

I'm thinking that this post should come with a warning.
Caution: this dish is highly addictive

Cacio e Pepe (cheese and pepper)
This pasta dish is ridiculously simple and completely satisfying.














source

I got the recipe from Bon Appetit, and I highly recommend trying it.
The bonus is that once you make it, you'll never need to look at the recipe again-
it's really that simple.  I've already made it twice in the past 2 weeks!

Kosher Salt
6oz Pasta (I used spaghetti but, bucatini is also recommended)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp freshly cracked pepper (or more if you like)
3/4c grated Grana Padano or Parmesan
1/3c finely grated pecorino

Bring water to a boil and season with salt.
Add pasta and cook until about 2 minutes before tender, reserve
3/4c of the pasta water and drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tbsp butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat.
Add pepper and cook, swirling pan,  about 1 minute until toasted.

Add 1/2c of the reserved pasta water to the skillet and bring to a simmer.
Add the pasta and remaining tbsp of butter. Reduce heat to low and add Parmesan,
stirring and tossing with tongs until melted. Remove pan from heat and add the pecorino,
again stirring and tossing until the cheese melts.  Plate and serve.

I topped it with extra pepper and a bit of pecorino.


Buon Appetito!

Latest Obsessions

*Are You Being Served-which I finally got on dvd
(favorite episode)

*New Season of Portlandia

*Switching from plastic containers to glass
(a slow process)

*The Pavilion Hotel in Phnom Penh
(possible honeymoon destination)

*Getting the horrible pet store in my neighborhood to close
(sign here)

*Fighting winter laziness, though it's not really working...
(I can feel myself falling into hibernation mode,
where I only want to sleep or watch 30 Rock on Netflix)