Have a safe weekend!

A storm's a comin'! I feel bad for those folks who have to drive, because even an inch of snow can be dangerous. Be careful out there. Stay home and make hot cocoa with marshmallows instead! Unless you're diabetic. Maybe don't do that.

Speak - You know when someone makes fun of you and all you can say is "Yeah...well...you....you're a jerk!" But then later when you're flossing you finally come up with a super awesome comeback? There's a phrase for that: l’espirit descalier. I think, literally, it means the spirit of the stairs. I think going forward, when people come up with these awesome, but too late comebacks, we should all yell "l'espirit descalier!" and shake our fists in the air. Who's with me?

Listen - I really like this band, and I really like their videos. This one is beautiful all around. Of Monsters and Men, King and Lionheart.

Eat - This may sound like 'poor college kid' food, but one of my favorite things to eat is (canned) corn with parmesan and black pepper...maybe some garlic powder too. It's basically my healthier (I pretty sure that's true) version of cacio e pepe which is also delicious. Cacio e pepe: pasta + some leftover pasta water to keep things gooey + parmesan + pepper. 

Laugh -  Great pick up line

Picture from Pinterest

Have a Cozy Weekend!

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

This is how I'm looking at this super intimidating class I'm currently taking. About ten minutes into the class, and I was ready to drop it. I looked at the bios of the other students later and they were either ivy leaguers or had impressive positions and impressive companies. BUT...I decided to stick with it because once it's done, I will have (hopefully) passed and the overwhelming amount of apprehension will turn into an equally high sense of accomplishment.

Also, it was too late to drop the class and still get a refund.

Anyway, that's my pep talk to myself. Wish me luck, please! Is there something you want to conquer, but feel like it's too scary?  You can do it!!

Some links from around the world (wide web)!

Buy - Grand Central Station turns 100 years old today, and to celebrate, they're offering 1913 prices. 13 cent mussels! 19 cent cheesecake! 10 cent gelato! Happy Birthday GC! 

Do - Hot chocolate month is back!!!

Get - Food-inspired office supplies to add a little fun to your cube

Melt - Cute kids, in cute costumes, cute Kate Micucci, and a ukelele.

Help - Want to practice your German or Italian, test your grammar skills, or put that Art History degree to use, all for a good cause? This site let's you test yourself, and hopefully teach yourself, while donating rice to the hungry with every correct answer. Awesome, right?

Picture via Pinterest

Have a Relaxing Weekend!

Woo wee! What a crazy, stressful week. Apparently I haven't been to the doc in 3 years, and it came back to bite me in the bum today. I'll definitely make an appointment this year because, guess what, it's one of my resolutions! :) It's just so hard finding a good doctor.
Hopefully everything will be fixed and okay early next week. *Crossing fingers*
In the meantime, let's focus on the happy:

Listen - Damn, that's sexy. Even without watching the video, you can feel the James Bond vibe. RAWR.  Feeling Good, Michael Buble.

Watch - The Booth at the End. If you like Hitchcock or The Twilight Zone, you will love this. It has a calm, eerie, mysterious, amazingly written story, all of which takes place in a booth in a dinner. You don't even think "I want to see what happens outside the booth" because it's written SO WELL. You guys, I just went all caps right there, so you know I'm excited and serious! There are only 5, 20-minute episodes (first season was better than the second). That's less than two hours! (I was going to give the exact time, but I'm like, eh, I'm bad at math...I'll just estimate.) You can do this!!

Eat - French-Korean fusion? Okay! My brother told me about this place, and it has excellent reviews on Yelp. The prices are reasonable, the portions are ample, the food is delicious. If you visit me in JC, I will probably take you here :)

Help -  There is a very cool volunteering event I will be working at on Monday for Bottemless Closet NYC. The gist is, disadvantaged women participate in workshops that prepare them for interviews, manage their finances, and gain other skills that allow them to be more self-sufficient. Attending these workshops allows them to earn credits they can use to shop for interview- and work-appropriate clothing. That's where I will come in. So while I won't be doing anything life changing, I will get to help someone shop and accessorize for their big interview! If anyone wants to join me, let me know!(Update: My bad. This is actually on Feb 11.)

(The picture is from a camping trip I went on a while back. That colorful thing on the bottom seems to be a beautifully molding leaf.)

Brunch: Frittata

One of my 28 resolutions, is to cook one real meal a week. I figured today would be my official kickoff because I was having my cousins over for brunch and all we seem to do when we hang out is eat, so yummy food is a must. I made my first ever frittata with a side of breakfast potatoes (which are basically baked french fry cubes), and second ever crepes. All of them got a thumbs up, so...huzzah!

A frittata is basically an omelette, but the veggies and meat are cooked in with the eggs, not sandwiched between the folds. Even though I read numerous recipes about 37 times before and even while I was making it, it's actually incredibly easy. I'm just a a nervous person who needs to quintuple check everything. Here's how I made mine in case you don't already know the gist of a frittata:

Happy MLK Weekend!

I don't know about you guys, but this was not my favorite week. Here's to a better weekend.

Do - Restaurant Week...which is really about a month long is happening right now.

Get - if you don't have an iPad Mini, maybe you could use these as mirror stands! Or just not buy them.

Listen - I don't know if you remember this guy, but I just heard his other song the other day and remembered how much I loved this one. At moments he sounds like Freddy Mercury, no? Grace Kelly, Mika.

Wonder - Why do all these TV shows show families sitting around eating breakfast and chatting, and then eventually getting on their way to school? What time does TV school start? Noon?? When I was in school eons ago, it was still dark out when I finally made it out the door. I don't think I even had time for cereal. My breakfast was usually a pop tart....to go.

Speak - The Italian version of "you can't have your cake and eat it too" is "Non si può avere la botte piena, e la moglie ubriaca" or "you can't have a full bottle of wine, and a drunk wife." Theirs is definitively more fun than ours. Oh those Italianos...so saucy. Ha, pun.

Wear - Because I dare you.

(Pic: I met this guy at the Central Park Zoo. I call him Lorenzo. Get it???)

Happy Friday!

Ssome random bits of interesting to share. Have an awesome weekend!

Watch - Whites. I know it's the British way, but this series was too good to be this short. But...this makes it easy for you to marathon this weekend! I love you Bib!

Learn - Did you know that this --> ?! <-- is called an interrobang? Sounds naughty, doesn't it?

Do - Broadway week! Shows don't start for another two weeks, but tickets go fast, so get on it!

Listen - I have been a huge fan of this chick since I heard her on TV over 5 years ago. Doesn't this one sound like something choreographers Mandy Moore and Travis Wall would use on SYTYCD? 

Eat - I just learned the real name of one of my favorite Indian dishes! In my family, we just call it "egg powder." This isn't exactly my mom's recipe, but it is the one with the nicest picture :)

Laugh - I hope I remember to pull this out when my friends tell their crazy stories. *cough*racinginAC*cough* 

Speak - My last class had a bunch of international students and I found it fascinating when I realized how many idioms and how much slang we use every day. Did you know that the Danish version of "to search high and low" is "med lys og lygte" or "with light and lamps?" Cool!

  

3D picture of NY by Sergey Semenov

Resolutions 2013

So it's been a year, eh?
I did half of my resolutions from last year. One that I did not do was the constellations one. It's kind of hard when you live in a city filled with light and air pollution that makes seeing actual stars impossible. I did see some TV and movie stars though and was totally able to identify them, so...does that count?
Here's part of my list for this year...
1. Be able to do whatever this is called:

It looks easy, but it isn't! It isn't at all!! You try doing it without rolling all over the place in the middle of a class full of bendy, tight pants wearing, yoga girls. Not fun. But one day, I will be one of them, and someone else will be the core-strengthless girl who can't even touch her toes who I will pretend not to notice or feel bad for.