Friday Fancies - Dress Yourself!

Borrowing from my Chrismukkah Wish List for this week's Friday's Fancies...The outfit above is one I'd wear on a chilly casual Friday like today. Perfect for heading from the office to a cozy dinner out in DC!

 

How This Morning Went, or "Someday I'll be an Adult!"

7:30 AM: First alarm goes off. Snooze.

7:35 AM: Second alarm goes off. Snooze.

7:40 AM: (This is the absolute latest that I have to be up by.) Reach over, RE-SET alarm for another 5 minutes.

7:45 AM: Alarm goes off. Snooze.

7:53 AM: Very nearly turn off alarm and go back to sleep. Lay in a stupor pondering a weird dream I had involving Barbara Walters.

7:59 AM: OH SHIT IT'S 7:59 AM. FUCK FUCK FUCK I HATE MYSELF.

8:00 AM: Turn on Morning Joe. Good morning, Mika! Hello, Joe.

8:00 AM: Hear Mika say, "It's 8:00 on the East Coast. Time to get up!" Fuck you, Mika.

8:01 AM: Make the executive decision not to wash my hair, even though I have woken up with the worst case of bedhead I have ever encountered in my 27 years. My cowlick is literally sticking out from my head at an angle I've only ever seen in trigonometry class.

8:08 AM: Done showering. Black pants! Sweater! DONE!

8:09 AM: This sweater is wrinkled. Where is my steamer doohickey?

8:12 AM: NO SERIOUSLY, WHERE IS MY DOOHICKEY?

8:13 AM: Okay, green sweater instead. Perfect.

8:13 AM: Oh god, what happened to this sweater? No doohickey in the world can save this sweater. Brown sweater back on.

8:14 AM: Make coffee. Construct lies why your brown sweater is so wrinkled in case anyone at work asks. Pray that the heat of your body will somehow work as a natural iron and smooth the wrinkles.

8:15 AM: Okay, hair. How about a fun messy bun? Stylish yet casual! Elegant yet laid-back!

8:19 AM: "Fun messy bun" looks more like "I had fun at the bar last night until I got too messy."

8:20 AM: Cowlick will not submit to hair iron, hairspray, bobby pins, mousse, or outright begging. Decide that if I wet it down it will dry flat. Cowlick, BEGONE!*

8:21 AM: Okay, all that's left is socks and shoes. Easy peasy.

8:22 AM: Should I wear snowman socks today or argyle? I feel more like argyle, but I can't find the matching purple argyle sock. Should I mismatch? Or go for snowmen?

8:22 AM: OH FOR SHIT'S SAKE PICK A PAIR OF SOCKS B.

8:23 AM: Dressed! Ready! Gonna do my makeup on the Metro! Out the door! WINNING!

*You should all know that when I arrived at my office at 9:10, my boss wasn't there yet, but my cowlick was standing vertically from my head a la Alfie.

What I'm Loving Wednesday - The Material Goods Edition

 

Hard truth: any extra money that I may come into this holiday season will be going directly to pay off my credit card bill. Do not pass Go. Do Not Collect $200. Do Not Go Shopping at JCrew. While my credit card debt isn't at a dangerous level, it's certainly substantial and I've been working to pay it off for a while.

However, if I magically wind up with any extra money once the responsible stuff is out of the way, I think I'm going to pick up one of these goodies for myself. After all, it's important to treat yourself to a Chrismukkah present too. So here's what I've got my eye on this Wednesday!

1. J.Crew Tippi Crewneck Sweater
2. Banana Republic Lydia Abstract Print Blouse
3. Lo and Sons O.M.G. Bag
4. NARS Lipstick Pencil and Blush
5. Kendra Scott Valencia Necklace
6. J.Crew Factory Printed Scoopneck Blouse
7. Ellen Tracy Colby High Shaft Boot
8. J. Crew Double-serge Pencil Skirt
9. Initial stamp necklace, various Etsy sellers

P.S. I credit CapHillStyle for my lust list this year - she posts the most gorgeous stuff!

Because I think I am hilarious.

I wish that you could all come to my Chrismukkah party. I really do.

Every year we decorate SK's tree and then I make latkes to appease my ancestors who are rolling over in their graves. It's a win-win, holiday style.

But it seems like this year you all won't be able to make it. So sad.

Want to see the invite I whipped up anyway?

Of course you do.

__________________________________________________________________

Friends,

Maybe you're like SK and you freak out over Christmas like this:


 

Maybe you're like little b and your favorite part of the holiday season is the food.



Maybe you're Jewish and the idea of decorating a Christmas tree makes you act like this:


Or maybe you just can't handle the idea of one more holiday party?




However you feel about the holidays, I think we can all agree that a holiday party should end up like this:

Happy start to the holiday season, everyone!

Turkeys = Always Hilarious

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving Traditions

When my dad was growing up, his father had an apartment in New York City on Central Park West overlooking the park. Every year on Thanksgiving, my dad would watch the parade go by from his dad's living room, warm and toasty in his pajamas. It remains one of his favorite childhood memories.

Over the years, this cherished childhood memory has evolved into the same routine that played out every year when I was growing up.

Scene: The night before Thanksgiving, 1986-2003 (ish)

Dad: What if we got up early and went to the parade?

Daughter 1, suspiciously: How early, exactly?

Dad: Oh, around 5 am or so. It's gonna be cold!

Daughter 2: How cold, exactly?

Dad: Oh, real cold! We'll get some cocoa though, don't you worry. And the crowds will keep us warm.

Daughter 3: Crowds?

Dad: Of tourists, of course! Come on, it'll be great!

Daughters, in unison: Oh, just sounds terrific. Maybe next year.

Now, before you go feeling too bad for my dad and his joy-killing daughters, here's what the scene has evolved into now that we're older:

Dad: What if we got up early and went to the parade this year? You guys always say no.Poor me.

Daughter 1: Let's do it this year!

Daughter 2: We're totally game.

Dad: .........Really? You know, it's going to be pretty cold out there.

Daughter 3: Not too bad. Come on, we'll get you some cocoa.

Dad: Those crowds are going to be rough though.

Daughter 2: That's part of the charm. The magic of Thanksgiving, if you will.

Dad: And it's going to be so early. Just so early. What if we just watched on TV in the comfort of our pajamas?

And then we eat some pie.

Then last night, I was speaking with my mom on the phone when she informed me that, for the first time ever, my dad didn't want to do the parade this year.

Instead, he wants to go to the Rockaways and volunteer.

Sandy may feel far away, but there's still so much to be done. People just minutes from the suburb I grew up in are living in shelters, with their homes reduced to rubble. Queens and Long Island residents still don't have heat, or lights, or hot water. It's sobering, to say the least.

So this may not be the year that we make it in for the parade, but that's okay by me. Instead I'm going to spend Thanksgiving with my family (whose safety after this storm is what I'm most thankful for this year) giving back just a little to people who weren't as lucky as we were. 

Pastrami, Amendments, and Spatchcocks, Oh My

Is it just me, or is anyone else having trouble believing that we're barreling into the holiday season and there's only two more days til I'm bus-bound for Long Island? Perhaps it's just been the busy nature of this fall (the previously alluded to hectic time at work, Hurricane Sandy, the 2012 elections), but it just doesn't feel like it's nearly Christmastime yet. I, for one, am still writing 'October' on everything and refusing to pull out my warm jacket. It won't be winter until I say so, damnit.

As much as I try to deny it, this weekend certainly had the feel of a busy holiday season. Friday night we took it easy and decided to try out the new Jewish-deli inspired restaurant in Dupont Circle. Since Jewish deli food is hard to come by in this area (and it's one of my favorite cuisines, naturally), I'd been eagerly awaiting this place for some time now.

 The verdict?

Latkes with Apple Preserve and Creme Fraiche

As my grandmother would say, "Eh, better than a sharp stick in the eye." However, it wasn't my favorite. The cocktails, pickles and latkes we ordered were all excellent. But the pastrami sandwiches we both ordered tasted more like ham than pastrami.

Yes. You read that right. Ham.

The pastrami wannabe

Yes, I know it wasn't actually ham. And I don't keep kosher and normally enjoy ham very much. But when I order a pastrami sandwich in a Jewish deli (albeit on delicious homemade rye bread with house-crafted mustard), it's a little disconcerting to be tasting what appears to be honey-baked and spiral cut. I'll go back to try their other offerings, but I'd advise them to re-think their pastrami brine recipe.

Saturday morning I ran errands, then joined some friends for another long-anticipated event:

This government major was highly impressed. My only quibble was that I wish I had read up on the 13th Amendment and the history surrounding it before going to the movie - I learned so much that I wish I had a little knowledge base going into the theater. That being said, that's my fault and not the movie's -- The makeup, acting, directing and writing were all spot-on. I'll definitely be going to see this one again.

After the movie I roasted some chicken for our dinner and tried out a new cooking technique that has very quickly become my new favorite word: SPATCHCOCK.

Sorry, this looks kind of gross. But I wanted you to see how to do it for yourself.

SPATCHCOCKING (I can't stop!) is when you cut out the backbone of the bird you intend to roast, allowing you to flatten it out on your roasting pan and get a greater ratio of crispy skin to roasted meat. (Plus, if you're into making your own chicken stock, you can save the backbone in your freezer until you're ready to make stock.) I roasted the chicken with some baby potatoes, asparagus and mushrooms, which let the veggies cook in the chicken juices.

Finished product

I served it alongside roasted carrots and parsnips, which I'd never tried before but which were surprisingly delicious. We invited our friends over at the last minute (they live on the floor below me, which makes last-minute dinner invitations possible), and served everything with a few generous helpings of red wine.

Perhaps too generous, since I woke up Sunday reminding myself that opening a third bottle of wine is never, ever a good idea. After a revitalizing breakfast sandwich and trip to the Dupont farmer's market, I met up with some friends for a manicure and a pre-Thanksgiving spin class.

Favorite coffee mug and my very first shellac manicure

Some of you may remember that I've written about my awful habit of picking off my manicure -- The solution, I've discovered, is a shellac manicure. I've never had one before, so I'm pretty amazed with it so far. Will not chip!

What have you been up to on your final weekend before the holiday season? Are you picky about your pastrami? Have you ever gotten a shellac manicure? Are you planning on spatchcocking any birds this week? Leave a comment and let me know!