Emmylou

I heard this song on last night's Nashville and have had it on non-stop today. Not to be overly poetic, but there's something so beautiful about it I almost want to cry. This is what I love best about music.

What I'm Loving Wednesday - DryBar Edition

First things first - there are only two days left to enter my giveaway. What are you waiting for? A Sephora card, an iTunes gift card, and a totally sweet cookie cutter could be yours. Get on it!

Secondly, I'm linking up with What I'm Loving Wednesday today to tell you all about my trip to DryBar last weekend -- or as I'm calling it, DryMiracle.

Styling my hair has been a struggle for my entire life. You've seen my cowlick, and you've seen what my hair looked like as a kid, but you guys have no idea. When I was younger, my parents would tell me that I was the girl with the little curl right in the middle of her forehead. The problem was that it wasn't just in the middle of my forehead - it was everywhere. (One of my most treasured possessions is a t-shirt my mom gave me in elementary school that reads "How can I control my life if I can't control my hair?!?!")


My hair texture could charitably be described as wavy. It's not curly: whenever I try to let it dry with some gel or mousse, it can't be coaxed into spirals. If I let it air dry, it becomes what I lovingly refer to as my 'Jew-lioness mane'. (When I was in Israel, I hoped that my hair would respond to the desert climate since it was 'the motherland.' It did not, probably because I am Eastern European and in no way Middle Eastern.) The routine I've settled into usually involves an updo of some kind, or a good long while with my straightening/curling iron.

Every six months or so, I decide that it's time for me to learn how to blow out my hair properly. It always goes the same way -- I watch a million YouTube tutorials, I follow my hairdresser's every move, I buy a bunch of products, I tell myself that I'm 28 and this is a normal life skill, I spend upwards of 30 minutes trying to blow my hair straight...and I wind up looking something like this.

So when Drybar opened up in DC, I was pretty pumped.To say the least.

I decided to make my inaugural visit to DryBar on Saturday, before SK took me out for my birthday dinner. (I went to the Bethesda location, for curious DC readers. Georgetown was booked up a week out!)

I can tell it's going to be dangerous for my bank account to have a DryBar in the DMV area. Everything about the service there was impeccable. To start, I asked my stylist if she could do "whatever Kate Middleton does." When she told me that was no problem, I knew I was going to have a good time.

Voila!

Plus, I got to watch the end of Clueless while they took care of me. Amazing.

Here's the best part (to a marketing nerd like myself, at least): When I checked out, it was snowing, so they gave me a free umbrella with their logo on it. GENIUS. My hair lasted the walk to the metro -- not to mention for days after that!

Have any of you been to DryBar? Can you blow out your own hair? Will you teach me how?

Something Kind of Loco

It's always been a goal of mine to become conversant in Spanish. When I was growing up, I took Latin. (No, I didn't go to Catholic school, and no, my parents were not aiming to prepare their 10 year old for the SATs. I just actually chose to learn Latin because I thought it would be cool. Yep. I was That Kid.)

Anyway, Latin was really not that cool, or fun, or useful. But Spanish was (and is) everywhere,and I wanted to be able to use it.

I've tried on and off for years, including two semesters of college, but it never stuck. Eventually I put the goal aside for a while, figuring that one day I would be a retiree with loads of time (and hopefully some extra cash) and could devote my golden days to the quest.

Until Rosh Hashanah, when my step-grandmother brought her 85 year old Puerto Rican mother to dinner. With my sister shouting, "DO YOU WANT SOMETHING TO DRINK?!" in her ear, I realized that I could at least offer the woman some "agua para beber."

So I started speaking with her, and she seemed to appreciate my jumbled, grammatically incorrect version of Spanish. When I got back to DC, I wanted to pick Spanish back up again, so I did what any millennial would do: I found an app for that.

This is snapshot of a game from the MindSnacks program (they offer apps in other languages as well) that I've had the most fun with over the past few weeks. It uses various games to teach grammar and vocabulary. However, I've finished the whole game. It was time for me to move on to conversation with an actual human.

(This is where the crazy part comes in.)

I'm too shy to try speaking with a stranger in a restaurant or on the street in Spanish. Odds are I'll either be a) incomprehensible or b) insulting.

So once again, I took to the internet. After some Craigslist perusal, I found someone who wants to practice his English in exchange for Spanish lessons. We have a Skype date set up for tonight for the first time.

SK is pretty sure that this guy is a freak who will show me his privates. I am apt to see the good in people and believe that he just wants to improve his English. After all, if he wanted to kill me, would he have asked for a Skype date? (Plus, if the worst thing that happens is I see a little brain, well, at least I won't be murdered by a Craigslist killer. Silver lining!)

So that's my crazy move for today. I'll be Skyping with an El Salvadorean stranger tonight. I'll be sure to report back tomorrow morning, just to let you all know that I've survived the encounter.

Hasta Luego!

xoxo,

b

I'm a Masochist

Sometimes, when I need to take a little break from work, I do things that I really shouldn't do, for my own emotional stability.

Sometimes, I look at J Crew's website and pretend like I have lots of money and add all the things I want to my shopping bag without ever hitting "submit." (I also pretend I'm 6 inches taller and have the willowy shape needed for J Crew clothes.)

Sometimes, I go to food sites and imagine making the most decadent, sinful dessert I can find. (Oh, hello there.)

But sometimes, I do something really sick. Something twisted. Something that is just simply punishing myself.  Indulging my emotional masochism, if you will.

What is this sick, twisted, depraved habit, you may be wondering?

Sometimes I go to the Washington DC Humane Society's website and look at dogs waiting to be adopted.

This is Snow. She is obviously a princess. We were meant to be.

No, my apartment does not allow dogs. Yes, I work all day and can't take care of a dog at the moment. Yes, she is a pit bull and may have been in a fighting ring in her past life.

But, in the words of my grandmother, "LOOK AT THAT PUNIM*."

So, there you go. One day I hope to adopt a dog. Until then, is anybody interested in a pit bull who doubles as a pretty pretty princess?

xoxo,

b
*"Punim" is Yiddish for face. Try to use it in a sentence today!

What I'm Loving Wednesday, Or Why I am So Tired

I started watching Homeland on Friday.

In the last four days - days that I was visiting New York, I've already made it through 5 episodes. If SK let me, I would stay up every night until we finished watching the first season. However since I've been staying up two hours past when I normally do this week, I've been downright exhausted at work. Problem is, I get SO NERVOUS every episode that it takes me an extra half an hour just to calm myself down enough to go to sleep. I'm officially hooked.

Top 3 Reasons I love Homeland:

1. It takes place in DC, which makes me wonder if everyone I'm passing on the street works for the CIA.

2. It is REALLY REALLY SUSPENSEFUL. I'm also terrified that I'm going to overhear someone talking about the show and spoil it for me, which is why I am in my own Amazing Race to finish the season. In order to find the above picture for this entry, I googled 'Homeland', then covered my eyes, then peeked through my fingers to download the image.


3. Are you ready to have your mind blown?

Saul is Inigo.

Inigo is Saul.

What have you been watching lately? Are you a Homeland fan? Are you as on the edge of your seat as I am?

xoxo,

b

NYC Photo Bomb

While autumn in DC is indisputably the best time of year, there's something completely special about October in NY. SK and I went up to visit friends this weekend and we had the perfect blend of seeing old friends, visiting family, and being tourists.

We got in Friday night and stayed in at our friend's apartment while partaking in takeout sushi (a rare treat in DC that I love to take advantage of when in NY.) Saturday started with coffee from Marche du Sud and a quick trip to the bagel place to pick up breakfast, which we ate in a local park.

My definition of breakfast joy: Sesame flat, toasted, with veggie CC.

After breakfast we headed over to see the Intrepid. The Intrepid was a Naval Aircraft carrier that served in WWII, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and was used as a recovery vessel for NASA Space missions. To be quite honest, I had no idea that it was docked in NY, but the boys were really enthusiastic about seeing it, so off we went.

Hard to see, but this is a Lego model of the boat (ship?) with a Lego crew member overboard.

My favorite part - at the top of the boat they had crew members who had served their tours on board who volunteered to answer vistor's questions.

After we finished up at the Intrepid, we headed uptown to visit my sister at her apartment on the Upper West Side. Since we had a dinner reservation on the East Side, we took a quick walk through Central Park.

We had an hour to kill before dinner, so we stopped into the Met to do a "Greatest Hits" tour, seeing the Egypt exhibit, the rooftop garden, the European Masters paintings, and the Greek and Roman statues.  Now, normally I would recommend at LEAST half a day in the Met, if not more. I hated to rush through any of the exhibits. BUT! We only had an hour, and I was determined for SK to see at least some of the Met. Since he loved it, I'm seeing this as a prequel to many future visits.

Are you my mummy?

Hey, lion.

View from the rooftop

Van Gogh, a personal favorite

After our whirlwind "introductory" Met visit, we headed to Flex Mussels on E 82nd. They're a seafood restaurant with over 20 preparations of steamed mussels. Since we usually stay with friends when we're in the city it's not often that we get a night where it's just the two of us, but our hosts had a family dinner to attend so we wound up with a "just us" date night.

We both started off with a "Flex-Side" cocktail - Gin, lemon, lime, and lemongrass syrup (that I will almost certainly working to recreate at home). We also shared some delish seafood:

"Burnt Fingers": Fried seafood platter

We shared the Littleneck Mussels: Bacon, Chopped Clams, Red Pepper, Bread Crumbs

Highly recommend. (That is, if you're a mussels fan. They didn't have a whole lot to offer non-seafood eaters.)

Since we did so much on Saturday, we took it easy on Sunday and shared our football spirit with the rest of Second Avenue.

I also met up with former roomie Michelle for a ladies brunch at Ze Cafe. Another great find (randomly selected through last-minute Yelping.) I had the Bruleed Oatmeal (since it's difficult for me to resist bruleed anything) and Michelle had lemon ricotta crepes. A perfect way to start a rainy Sunday.

After watching some truly disappointing football, we headed back to our friend's apartment for some pizza and an early night - we took a 7:30 AM bus back to DC yesterday morning.

What were you up to this weekend?

xoxo,

b

5 Things You Didn't Know About Me

1. I am going to get a lot of flack for this, but I cannot stand olives.

Blech.

I truly will eat almost anything, and as I've gotten older I've discovered that I actually like foods that I once hated (blue cheese, I'm looking at you), but olives are just completely abhorrent to me.

2.  If I paint my nails myself, it is near-impossible for me to keep the polish on my fingers for more than 3 days.

Essie Recessionista. Painted last night. Will try to last til Friday.

If I pay for the manicure I can resist the urge to pick, but as soon as one chips I can't stand it and won't stop toying at my nails until all the polish is gone. I've found it to be an impossible habit to break.

3. My favorite movie of all time is Apollo 13.

When I was ten, I stayed home from school for a week with the flu and I rotated between watching Apollo 13, Jurassic Park, Independence Day (Yes, it was the mid-90s.) Obviously this one has stuck with me the most - To this day, I weep like a baby every time I watch the last ten minutes of this movie. It has everything a movie needs to make it great - it's based on a true story, it stars Hollywood's Most Likeable actors (Hanks! Paxton!), it's about overcoming the odds, and it's directed by Ron Howard. I could watch it a hundred times and wouldn't get tired of it.

4. Before I started working in the public sector, I wanted to be a literary agent or work as an editor in a publishing house.

Heaven.

When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader and would read in school, at the dinner table, at camp -- anywhere I could. While that slowed down as I got older, I still loved reading and wanted to make a career out of books and words. Although that never worked out, it's still a fun daydream I have to work in the literary world.


5. I have an irrational fear of falling onto subway tracks and getting run over by a train. I can't even put a picture up to illustrate because I don't want to look at subway tracks.Shudder.

What are some fun facts about you!?

xoxo,

b

The Writing on the Wall

I'm pretty picky about my art and what I like to hang on my walls - overall I like it to have some sort of meaning to me and be something that makes me happy whenever I look at it. So I thought it might be sort of fun to show you all what I have on display in my house!

(Side note: I live in a studio, so please take terms like "living room", "bedroom", and "entryway" with a grain of salt and pretend like I don't live in my kitchen.)

First up, we have a pinterest-inspired creation that I made myself hanging in my living room. It's supposed to be modeled after the Kate Spade confetti pattern, but I made it with blues and gold/silver glitter paper. 

*Oops. You can see where I had to take my DEMONIC SMOKE DETECTOR down. It beeped when I boiled water. Ignore please.*

This is a picture of my great-grandparents that I keep framed by my bed. We think that it may have been their engagement picture, but we're not sure. I just love the flapper outfit - obviously my great-grandmother was quite the fasionista!

 

Here is a little collage of things that I like:

From Clockwise: A print of New York Steve gave me on my birthday last year; a postcard from my study abroad in the Netherlands (translates to "Bike missing?"); A picture of the Negev desert from my trip to Israel; a photo of my grandmother on her wedding day (they eloped!); a print of Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss"; a postcard from my trip to San Francisco last year. 

 My mom made this for me...it's actually a picture that she took in Italy and stretched out over canvas to make it look like a painting. It's in my kitchen.

A few years ago my mom found these plates on sale at Home Goods and thought that I would like them. I did but I had absolutely no idea what to do with them until I cam up with the idea to hang them on the wall! They hang over my bed now.

And finally, this is hanging in my entryway. It's a print that I picked up in Tzafat, Israel and it translates to a benediction that my rabbi always closes our services with. So it's doubly sentimental to me!

So there you go -- my "gallery tour."  What's on your walls?

xoxo,

b

The Game Changer: What I'm Loving Wednesday

Confession time!

I.....am not the neatest person.

In fact....some might call me downright messy.

One of my least favorite chores is folding laundry. Without fail, my (clean! oh, the shame) clothes will wind up in what I have affectionately dubbed "my pile" on my couch. Then, far too many times and far too many rushed mornings, I dig through the pile, find something presentable, and either bring it into the bathroom with me while I shower in hopes of getting the wrinkles out, or throwing it in the dryer until it looks okay. It's how I roll. Judge away.

At least, it's how I used to roll.

Enter the Conair Extreme Hand Held Fabric Steamer with Dual Heat.*
 

GAME-CHANGER.

Nay, LIFE-CHANGER.

 

It takes about a minute to heat up. It steams your clothes in about another minute. And you can use it on just about anything. I brought it to Chicago (for wedding attire) and Aruba (for dinner-on-the-beach) attire and it works like a charm.  

So there you go. My not-so-secret pile is out there for the world to know about. But at least now it's a wrinkle-free pile.

xoxoxo,

b

*I bought this. I did not get this for free and nobody asked me to endorse it. I just really, really, really like it. 

Happy Friday

Cheers to the freakin' weekend, right? Here are some heart-warming things I found online to start your weekend off right:

Gawker: A baby elephant running and farting at the same time.
ABC: Bill Clinton and a Ugandan baby named after him 14 years ago


Also, my apartment has been swallowed by packing. Exhibit A:

I hope to one day retrieve my coffee table.

Posting will be light the next couple of days as I'm on vacation, but I'll be checking in from the hotel when I can. Happy weekend!

xoxo,

b

Little bookworm

Since I got my Kindle last year, I have been reading the way I used to when I was in grade school -- which is to say, incessantly. Coupled with my new DC library membership, I've been quite the little bookworm this summer. Here's what I've made my way through so far:

I thought this was an adorable story...not too long a read but an engaging story and characters. Quite British too!

This is where my inner nerd shines through. I probably shouldn't put it on this list because I'm not done with it yet (it's a beast, and only the first in a trilogy) but I'm finding it really fascinating. I've written about my love for TR before, but this book gives a deeper look into a truly amazing American figure. Yup. You caught me. I'm a nerd. Highly recommend this one if you like politics/history.

I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did...the story of twins growing up at a hospital in Ethiopia in the 60s and 70s. It starts off slow but it's a captivating story that I was thinking about long after I finished the book.

This one probably deserves its own post. I saw the author speak in DC a few months ago and picked up the book on a lark. Basically Rachel Bertsche moved to Chicago after college knowing very few people and figured that she would make friends, but didn't anticipate how difficult that would be after college. She decided to actively work at making friends over the course of one year, and included research about the sociology and science of friendship. (She has a blog by the same name if you are curious to find out more.) I think that this is an especially timely subject for women my age (really of any age) and it's a subject that I've often struggled with. It gave me a new outlook on making friends and I found it extremely relatable.

A book club pick. I know as a 20th century feminist I'm not supposed to like Hemingway and his machoism. However, I have sported a big literary crush on him ever since I read The Sun Also Rises in high school. Personal faults aside, you can't beat the man's prose. This book is told from the perspective of Hemingway's little-discussed first wife, Hadley, and gives an idea of what E.H. was like before he was famous.

Another book club pick. Super creepy, super scary, and super addicting. I finished it in approximately 4 days because I absolutely could not stop reading it. I actually stayed up late reading, went to sleep, had a nightmare about it, woke up at 4am, and read it some more until I could get back to sleep. Worth the sleep-deprivation -- I think this is a perfect summer read.

Since my vacation is coming up next week (3 days, not that anyone is counting), here's what I've picked out to bring on the trip and what's on my library wait list. If you've read any of these or  have any other suggestions, let me know - I'm always looking for a new book!

 

(nerd alert # 2.)

 

xoxox,

b

Black Friday Spoils

When you were a kid, and you got a new toy for the holidays, and it was something you wanted so badly and were so excited to get, were you ever afraid to take it out of the box because you wanted it to stay in its pristine unused state?

Everyone, meet my Black Friday purchase (at nearly 70% off, no less!) Steve actually caught me stroking it lovingly last night during Boardwalk Empire.

I also snagged some new black boots:

And I believe that the cell phone fairy will be making my iPhone wishes come true this Hannukah:

(I apologize for the less-than-stellar photos - I'm having trouble finding good pics of all my goodies. Trust me when I say, they're fabulous.)

What about you guys? Any Black Friday finds?

Happy Monday!

xoxo,

little b