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Monthly Archives: January 2010

The Making of Personal Style

27 January 2010
Brooklyn, Fashion, New York
6 Comments

I am a preschool teacher, and I find myself getting lazy with my style. Before you jump on me for that, imagine the working conditions: on any given day I may have to help a child out of their pee-soaked pants, wipe paint off the floor, and sit within reach of many a milk-spill.  I’m not going to wear certain items to work when I know it might result in picking playdough out of intricate beading or carefully trying to dab out some bright red paint from dry-clean-only silk.

But I also live and work in New York City. I commute from my Outer Borough abode to the Upper East Side every day, and often make stops in the East Village, Chelsea, or Park Slope Proper for daily errands. My lifestyle does not include Soho loft parties, or glitzy philanthropic galas, but it does involve many live music performances, dinners out, and lots of time spent meandering through hip parts of Brooklyn. I don’t always want to dress like a preschool teacher. How does one shop for this kind of double life? Does it mean I need to have two separate wardrobes? I can’t really afford that… the rumors about teachers’ salaries are fairly accurate and the high cost of city living still shocks me. But I need to look presentable and professional, so what’s a lady to do?

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Arugula and Goat Cheese Ravioli

25 January 2010
Food and Drink, Photography, Recipes
4 Comments

After watching the Super Chef Battle on Food Network, my sister, Casey, requested that I make a sweet potato, ricotta, and goat cheese raviolo that Mario Batali created. The thought of placing a egg yolk inside of the bigger-than-normal stuffed pasta, along with all the other ingredients, is slightly daunting. I’ve had a few tricky ravioli-making experiences with too-thin-dough and too-liquidy-fillings. Not to mention that hand-making pasta and then assembling the ravioli is a very time consuming process.

Before jumping in too deep with the raviolo, I wanted to practice a more simplified recipe. Now that I’ve got my KitchenAid Mixer Pasta Attachment (Thanks, Alex!), the rolling process is much more time-efficient. I also have a small furry helper (a.k.a. Harry the Mischief Maker).

I selected Arugula and Goat Cheese Ravioli from Epicurious. It turned out to be a delicious recipe – rave reviews from all eaters. If you’ve got the equipment, and several free hours in a row, you should make it.

Fairy tales of leather purses

19 January 2010
Fashion
18 Comments

There’s someone I’d like to tell you about. She is an artisan. She makes beautiful bags. She is Clare Vivier. These are the two that I have:

The Navy Messenger Bag and the Gold Flat Work Tote, respectively. I’m also sporting a new coat (on the right) that I love and got on big-time sale. Pardon my dusty mirror, but I sort of liked the effect it gave to the photos.

Before I go on, I want you to know that you can purchase one of her bags very inexpensively at the Target Red Hot Shop (Be quick about it, though, because the first edition of this bag sold out in 3 days, and we’re already almost through day 2 with this version).

So, how did I get to know about Clare Vivier? It’s a story… and here we go!

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It’s list season!

8 January 2010
Music
2 Comments

Imagine this: waking up on New Year’s Day and puking every hour (or more frequently) for twelve hours and not really being able to sleep in between. Awesome, RIGHT? And then you get to watch the same thing happen to your boyfriend the next day. Of all the things I could say about how I rang in this new year and new decade, the one I’m sticking with is: It can only get better from here. And it will. I’ve got some pep in my stride, a shiny bag tucked under my arm, and I’m ready.

But before fully stepping into the great beyond, I thought about the past. A few months ago, Chris told Alex and me that he was going to make a “10 Best Albums of the ’00s” list. We were both intrigued by the idea, and Chris encouraged us to take on the project. All three of us made our lists independently and shared them on Wednesday night (Chris is in Boston, so we got creative about our sharing party). Here’s my list below, and this link will send you to a screenshot of all three lists (plus a bonus image of our video chat- I KNOW, right?).

We all decided to do 25, in the end. For my list and Alex’s, the first 10 are our top 10. All of our lists are in no particular order. I can feel you judging me and my tastes, but please know that I am fully aware that this list is TOTALLY subjective. My style of music listening is heavily based on an emotional or physical response to what I’m hearing. My “criteria” are after the jump.

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