magical thinking

just read this book in about 4 days. buy it here.

i adore joan didion.

photos to stumble upon

grant ernhart

i'll kill her

i saw this on lux lotus and enjoyed it. how cute is this french girl? i thought she was icelandic at first, because i can't understand what the fuck she's saying when she professes the title words, but resorted to googling her and discovered that she's french.

soko, "i'll kill her"

because i am so cool

thanksgiving: turkey vs. spaghetti carbonara

just stumbled upon this passage by calvin trillin, arguing for the replacement of spaghetti carbonara as the national thanksgiving dish. doesn't sound so bad, does it? (according to nymag, this place has the best carbonara in the city.) ed levine mentioned trillin's idea after suggesting to serve a bacon-wrapped turkey at his holiday table. i know wrapping practically everything in bacon is the IT thing in food these days (didn't padma, herself, declare this fact--give her anything wrapped in bacon and you are spared the ominous "pack your knives and go"?)--however, bacon-wrapped turkey? eh. i just heard from a friend who spent the holiday with a bunch of southerners in northern florida that they supped on fried turkey. can you imagine? a 20-something-pound turkey being dunked in a vat of hot oil? honestly, i'm voting for spaghetti thanksgivings from here on out.

p.s. speaking of spaghetti, i had pasta for the first time today at los angeles' angelini osteria. i ordered tagliolini with shrimp and asparagus and, after having stayed away from my favorite food group for approximately 6 weeks, it tasted better than ever.

riding bikes

bat for lashes - what's a girl to do

gimme some grape pie

Yesterday evening, I spent a few hours at my delightful neighborhood teashop, Sympathy For the Kettle, in order to fend off the distraction that comes along with being at home and to get some reading done. Since i am on a coffee/black tea-free diet currently, the Kettle is perfect place for me since they offer a wide selection of herbal teas. I ordered a Vanilla Rooibos tea, which I first became familiar with while in Prague. Rooibos is essentially like black tea in flavor, however it is more like red tea, and both caffeine-free and herbal. It's grown only in a certain region in South Africa and in Prague I was told that it stimulates life and healthy living.

So, I sat down for a couple of hours of somewhat successful reading. At first I was pleasantly accompanied by a quiet mother and daughter chess match over at the table closest to me, which helped stimulate my work. However, as soon as they left, my progress was halted as a pair of young lovers on what appeared to be a second date sat down next to me and chatted incessantly about where they had traveled to and graduated from and yada yada yada. They were so googly-eyed over one another. They hardly noticed that I was obviously plugging my ears in order to save myself from their conversational nonsense. Usually, I think that the Kettle is a great way to spend an enjoyable evening...what more could you want? Tea, pastries, and a wealthy stock of board games like Scrabble and chess.

Oh yeah, I forgot to expand on the best part: the pastries. I persistently return to the Kettle in search of their Bergamot Cupcakes topped with Lavendar Icing (Bergamot is a citrus fruit whose power plays prominently in Earl Grey tea). These are my favorite cupcakes ever--Red Velvet Shmelvet. But, better yet, last night I saw a nice, crusty little pie sitting atop the counter that looked like it could be made of blackberries, but I was surprised to find out that it was made of delicious Concord grapes, which are now in season. The pie was remarkable--not too crusty, a lot of naturally sweet grape jam, and small enough so that it leaves you wanting more. Uh, I might have to return this afternoon to have another slice as long as they haven't sold out.