Charles Darwin on Origin the Species book cover by Yehrin Tong

Have a great weekend!

Reading This Charming Man by Marian Keyes (I’ve had a hard day! I need fluff!) and eating my “famous” Junk Oatmeal.

Recipe for “Junk Oatmeal”

• 1/3 cup Quaker Oats
• 3/4 cup water
• Dash of salt
• Handful of raisins, walnuts/pecans, sunflower seeds, and/or trail mix
• Dash of Pumpkin Spice seasoning (cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice)
• Banana, cut into slices
• 1 teaspoon peanut butter (tablespoon if it’s been an extra rough day)
• Honey
• Vanilla almond milk

1. Combine oatmeal, water, salt, raisins/etc, spices, and banana in a bowl.
2. Microwave for 3 minutes (I don’t have time for stovetop).
3. Stir in peanut butter while still hot. Drizzle with honey and a splash of vanilla almond milk.
4. Grab cheesy chick lit and enjoy.
5. Serve with a side of chocolate.

Monday night, instead of doing something lame and like calling a friend to hang out or whatever, I holed myself up in my room, cuddled a cup of peppermint tea, and powered through the final pages of Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?: And Other Concerns.

First of all, spoiler, this book is hilarious.

Second of all, also spoiler, you’re  not going to think it will be hilarious until about 27 pages in.

The first chapter of the book made me think, “oh, great, another female comic being self deprecating and writing about it.” Just because Tina Fey can do it doesn’t mean you should. But that initial reaction is false! False, I tell you!  Because after those first pages of nonsense that display the requiiste “Gosh, this is awkward writing about myself when I’m still in the fledgling years of my career so I guess I’ll start with some opener jokes,” what the book quickly turns into is a witty, laugh-out loud, I-could-totally-be-friends-with-this-woman tome of humor. Sitting in bed, I was quite literally cackling out loud in a steady stream of Becca-giggling (which sounds a little like this).

Kaling talks about what is was like to grow up a chubby Indian girl in Boston, her years post-Dartmouth living in a roach-infested NYC apartment while working as a babysitter, and the play that spurred her career towards Hollywood and The Office. Her story is entirely relatable, but well portrayed so you’re not left with that icky narcissistic feeling, as if you just read a book about yourself. I highly recommend pulling this one off the shelves for a quick, weekend read.

– Attended a fantastic party on Park Avenue that included many movers and shakers in the art world, plus a slew of interesting people who, when plied with good drinks and fantastic food, were a riot to be around.

– Was delighted to have our first official snowfall of the season! Spent the entire day working from home and drinking tea.

– Drove to New Canaan, CT, a beautiful little town with many cute boutiques and restaurants. Took a walk through the snowy streets at dusk and sipped green tea while peering into closed shop windows.

– Made a batch of my famous turkey chili.

– Hopped on over to a Latin dance club Saturday night that, though it didn’t quite live up to its expectations, was the perfect venue to people-watch and show off that a New England-bred white girl can dance (after at least one vodka tonic, of course).

– Ate the Lox Load bagel from Liz Sue’s: pumpernickel bagel, light cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onion, tomatoes, and capers. It was heaven.

– Attended a Chinese New Year recital that, despite being very disorganized, gave me a perma-smile at all the children in their silk pajamas clutching red pouches full of raffle tickets.

– Picked up Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?: And Other Concerns, and have been unable to put it down. Read most of it in one day, and laughed out loud more than I have with any other book. That lady is seriously funny and, I imagine, a fantastic grab-coffee-and-neurotically-obsess-about-our-careers-while-really-listening-in-on-others date.

– Began Monday morning with a homemade batch of banana pancakes!

There is so much to do this week, as we will be preparing for our next opening at the gallery. I’m trying to map out everything that must be done, but that seems to be a tad overwhelming, so I’m mostly Googling pictures of cats and loudly proclaiming to coworkers that my cats are way cuter. Joking. Sort of. Hope you all had a great weekend!

The whole purpose of “Cover Friday” is to share my love of beautifully designed book covers and showcase those publishers that just get it. I hadn’t looked at what Picador has to offer in a while, but was so glad when I did! It’s their 40th anniversary and they are celebrating by having illustrator Robert Hunter design beautifully simple covers (most in black and white) for some of their most popular novels. More designs can be found on Picador’s blog, as well as a statement from Senior Designer Neil Lang regarding the thought process in coming up with covers for these iconic books.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

When the Amazon Kindle came out, I vehemently stated that I would NEVER read from a screen. Pish posh! I cried, Who would ever want to read from one of those when you can hold an actual, live book in your hands. I looked disdainfully upon my fellow subway commuters that one-palmed their reading devices whilst I shuffled awkwardly with my latest hardback. I bored friends with my revelations on the necessity of a sensory experience when reading, not accomplished by reading from a gadget. When it was made aware to me that the Kindle came loaded with 100 free books, I still said, “NO WAY” (even if I paused for a second… okay, maybe two seconds). Then came the Nook with it’s pretty interface and colors… still, my answer was “No.”

Then they improved the Kindle.

Then they improved the Nook.

Then the iPad came out.

Then everything improved again.

And THEN… I got an iPad2. And when it asked me if I wanted to download “iBooks,” I clicked “No,” but definitely after much hesitation.

So here I am, a little less than a month into my iPad ownership. And that Kindle app was looking so shiny and new and free. So I did it. I clicked it. And then I bought “Up the Down Volcano” by Sloane Crosley. I justified it by saying it wasn’t an actual *book* just a short story. But still, it felt a little wrong.

And yet.

So right.

The world is changing and I must change with it. I will never lose my love of actual printed books. I will still obsessively buy them and they will still litter every corner of my living space. But right now, in a time of need (I can’t seem to find a good book that keeps me interested in reading!), I do have my little words-on-screen to keep me satiated and happy.

Last night was truly spectacular. In celebration of the Chinese New Year, the family that owns the restaurant next door invited us over for a full spread of traditional food and drink. The table was over 20 feet long, with every spot covered by an exotic looking dish, colors of cream and red and green and chestnut and charcoal at every corner. Some of the food was almost translucent, disguising its identity. The smell was uniformly delicious and clean, signalling that everything was of the freshest quality. Mango wrapped sushi and coral-pink slices of raw salmon mingled next to marbled slices of paper-thin beef and overflowing bowls razor clams and octopus, which we dunked into boiling pots of water to cook, like a fondue. Until almost 1AM, we sat laughing at jokes we couldn’t understand, watched as the kitchen crew beer-raced the waitresses, tried new-to-me foods like jellyfish and turtle soup, and smiled at the realization that the dinner table really is the “great equalizer” in this world. The meal ended with fresh bowls of cherries and tomatoes passed around as we all sat back, gleefully clutching at our bellies, relishing in that satisfying pause that happens at the end of any great meal.

It’s moments like these when I realize I need to get better about taking pictures. Words have always been my way of remembering things. But pictures bring to life all the colors and commotion of a celebration as extravagant and as home-y as this one. However, I can’t imagine my luck at living the life I lead. Even in times of hardship, and they certainly do come, I am reminded of the wealth of experience at my fingertips.

Image by Cecil Lee

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Book  //  Room  //  Bread  //  Milk  //  Earrings  //  Bangles  //  Shirt  //  Bustier  //  Jeans  //  Shoes //  Bug swatter

– Had a fantastic girls’ night in, complete with cheese tasting and laughing hysterically to tragic historical dramas.

– Watched every single Episode of Downton Abbey, online, and completely fell in love with the show. (I’ve said this since I was 8: Maggie Smith rocks!!)

– Relistened to this fascinating interview on the Colin McEnroe Show: Will Print Dictionaries Survive? Nerd alert! But it is honestly an awesome program about words and how lexicographers decide what new words will or will not be added each year. My favorite quote: “Language has rules, but it does not follow orders.”

– Discovered the joy of Instapaper!  (But deleted a really important folder of bookmarks. Chrome doesn’t have Ctl+Z, apparently.)

– Worked on two Tumblr projects that I’m ready to announce. The first, is called All the Zines and is a database of all the craft, style, design, and living online magazines drifting through the Internets. I wanted to curate basically an index of all these online magazines for readers who, like me, can never seem to keep track of them all and are always looking for something new to read. The second site is called People DO Read. It’s a visual catalogue of people reading. Please feel free to email me and submit your own photos!

– Cuddled with some really adorable kittens.

– Ate my weight in trail mix.

– Had a lot of alone time, which was actually quite pleasant, indeed.

– Hope the next week brings some awaited good news!