completed sewing and a quick refash

to finish start my reupholstery project, i of course had to go to the fabric store.  then i found the knits section and went a little nuts.  but i actually used the fabric i bought instead of hording it away like a little squirrel prepping for the fabricpocalypse.  also $3 patterns.  yesssss.

• fabric: heavy ponte knit
• pattern: simplicity/new look S0446 - apparently doesnt exist anymore
• view: c
• thoughts: very small neck hole, baaarely dress length, good fit across shoulders/back

unfortunately you cant see the painstakingly angled sleeve armscyes here.  they were a bitch.  and they look goooood.  i ended up cutting off the collar after the first pic and widening it a few inches.  now the dress/tunic can actually fit over my head without getting stuck in my ginormous hairs, and it doesnt strangle me.  i have a thing about high necklines.  like a choking panicking crazed thing.  i think its called a feeling.  also, not sure why i look like a suspicious little elf in the last pic.

makeup or breakup

as a kid, i didnt play dress up with mommy's makeup.  she didnt teach me how to wear eye liner or shadow or anything like that.  she taught me things like perseverance, self respect, and how to be friendly but a hardass.. but that's beside the point.  she also has pricey hypoallergenic makeup that i cant afford.  i generally prefer revlon.  fortunately the internet has taught me all about makeup, and this one time i read a blog post by the lovely laura about makeup. 

good idea, bad idea

good idea: gallon of sheetrock all-purpose pre-mixed joint compound.  aka mud.
bad idea: gallon of ultra-strip ultimate paint remover.

correctly applied mud can turn a bashed out plaster/wallpaper/paint chunk/bubble/crack into a nice smooth wall.  like servpro says "like it never even happened."  or so i hope.  im not entirely sure how it will take paint+primer without a primer coat.. but i guess trial and error has worked so far for me.

new camera!

kitty glamour shot brought to you by my new birthday canon!

autumn in nyc

union square park from the 4th floor of filene's basement

trying to balance the ridiculously sunny day and the brilliant blue sky.  lighting fail.

 an amazing east village bakery you should visit

click to enlarge the awesomeness.  i had a mini hazelnut tart as a pre-dinner snack.  slightly crispy base filled with hazelnut creme, topped with chopped hazelnuts and a dollop of nutella.  bella e delicioso!

and we found a great place for dinner: mexicana mama

• ~$30 for drink and entree
• decor: a bit dim but not gaudy
• music: overly loud
• service: quite good
• chips and guac: excellente [not greasy or overly salty]
• portions: what normal people should eat [read: not chipotle sized]

we had happy hour drinks [blood orange margarita] and i admired the rainbow of jarritos behind the bar.  reading reviews post-visit, i realize we were quite lucky to get a table. we met at 6:45 on a tuesday, so probably earlier than the regular dinner crowd.  we were one of 3 tables when we started eating, and after an average-length meal the other 8 tables were at capacity.

plus there was quite the assortment of pickled jalapenos and cans of unknown dulces.  for actual food i had the taco de puerco-chili pork with cheese and beans, a side of rice and guac.  many of the foods are purported to be made with "chihuahua cheese" which...is not nearly as frightening as it sounds.  in fact it is not made of dogs.  or by dogs.  its...ooey gooey goodness.

in a nutshell: teeny tiny restaurant, good food, a little pricey.

forlorn fiction

want to read the most depressing book ever?  its an award winner!  [for literary works ..not happy-mood-killingness] click cover for link. 

here is my brief synopsis:

two complete misfits, alice and mattia, have unbearably traumatic childhoods.  dysfunctional parents and cruel schoolmates add to their unfortunate neurosis.  in a romeo + julietesque tragedy, they seem destined for solitude [hence the title] and future failures.

will they ever get their shit together?  um.. i didnt deem it "most depressing book ever" for no reason.  another book i read recently was not quite as depressing... but its no disney classic either.

rose, the protagonist, finds she can taste emotions in food.  this "talent" eventually progresses to the point where she can pinpoint where each ingredient was sourced and what the working conditions were like.  she also finds her mother and brother are harboring dark secrets.

i cant say that i totally understand the end of the book.. but damn its bleak.

[images from amazon]

what a thrift store should look like

savers in patchogue!  check that shit out.  organized by style, size, and color.  brightly lit, clean shiny floors, no scary skeezy corners in which to lose children.  and the book section is frikkin amazing.  ..but thrift store are akin to health food stores.  all health food stores EVERYWHERE smell the same.  ditto thrift stores.

savers long island: medford and patchogue locations

• selection: vast
• store: clean and bright
• pricing: not quite goodwill but reasonable [ie not $15 for a crappy used tshirt]
• supports: big brothers big sisters

and just fyi.  the patchogue location is about 10 minutes from the pondpath target in case anyone wants to take a trip back and use my 30% off coupon!

scarf total: $7
the green with yellow flowers is oblong like a regular winter scarf, while the other 3 are square.  after washing just now the quarter folds didnt quite come out... but i guess thats why jesus invented the ironing board.  hopefully i dont melt anything by mistake.  and the red one does say christian dior.. for $.99?  it smelled like old lady so it may in fact be legit designer.  but i love the itty bitty paisley border.  i could explain how it is actually a simplified fractal pattern.. but no one cares.  honest. 

clothes total: $27
the blue sweater is massively oversized and perfect to wear with leggings.  the floral thing likewise is a lane bryant xxl racer back tanktop that is about tunic-sized.  i knotted the straps and with a cami or bandeau underneath is ready for long island spring to arrive.  the other 3 pieces are skirts.  green: polyester faux silk.  blue: wool blend.  red: wool/poly blend.  of course being "vintage" style the green and blue skirts [size 10] are going to need some alterations.  ie elastic waistband about 2" further down than the existing waistband.  the red skirt is a 14 and fits comfortably at the hip.

and i found a 2-tier dessert/sandwich/fruit/veggie plate for $7!  frosted/patterned glass with silver tone metal pieces instead of the usual tack brass!  perfect for our party on saturday!  heres hoping it comes apart for easy storage..

niko's mediterranean grill & bistro

after a failed attempt to dine at fatty crab, malaysian food, we crossed the street to niko's mediterranean restaurant. turned out to be an amazing choice. and it was the basis of my mardi gras meal.

• 2161 broadway [corner of 76th]
• $20-35 [including app, drink, and dessert]
• casual dress, very crowded, good wait staff
  
• mezedes [greek tapas] are average priced $5-7 and well worth it
  

greek lager. delish

biftekakia smyrneika platter

penne artemis

rangzen

rangzen tibetan restaurant

• 24 pearl st, cambridge, MA
• $10-$20
• casual dress, authentic classy decor, attentive waitstaff
• delivery to local addresses [sadly, does not include long island]

we began with thunlam tosoe-a mixed appetizer platter including the best creation ever: tsel numtak. "shredded mixed vegetables with ginger, garlic, and cilantro dipped in chickpea batter and fried" it is more amazing than it sounds and there was nary a scrap to take a picture of. i hoarked that down like there was no tomorrow. regardless of the fact that im pretty positive one of the shredded vegetables was some type of green onion. that is how amazing they were.

for the main course i chose a langsha chow minus the red onion. and it was just slightly greasy but oh so flavorful. sadly, after stuffing down all the appetizers i could barely eat 1/3 of my dish.

dipping sauce for the apps. and to quote the waiter, "the green one is hot..." it was pretty tasty but when mixed with the sweet red sauce, a fried tasty can be delicately dipped and then crammed in the eagerly awaiting maw.

jason had either the langsha momo or the chhasaha momo. both are handmade dumplings but are beef and chicken respectively. i tried the "small bowl of lentil soup" which was frikkin amazing. it was blended smooth and was a nearly sweet compliment to the savory dumplings and salty soy dipping sauce.

i ate my leftovers while waiting for the ferry. they still had the slight smokey/grill taste that lingered in the restaurant, and the veges were still aldente crisp. since it was about 20 degrees this little take out guy sat in my car overnight and left a wonderful but not overpowering scent.

foods of last week

fresh giuntas meat farms produce. sounds a bit incongruous eh?

apples and nectarines. red and orangey contrasting nicely with the black and clear appliances in the background

three words: BON. CHON. CHICKEN. you haven't had fried chicken until you have had this. sweet spicy garlicy crispy not greasy amazingness in a wing!

koreana

• located: 478 plainview rd, hicksville [actually corner of s oyster bay and old country]
• price: $10-$25 for meal and shared chicken
• service: surprisingly quick and attentive for how busy it was
• decor: sparse but classy
• spice: eeeeh more along the lines of whitey spicy unfortunatly

best dishes

• bon chon chicken
  
• dolsot japchae bi bim bap
• korean short ribs [expensive]

next to the h&y marketplace. unfortunatly their entire website is in korean. and the only korean i know is my name and how to say "i do not understand korean. do you understand english?" my phonetic translation is "hangul-godul morumnida. young-aldurl ashimnika". shame on me and my ancestors i know. blah blah.

sample sale site comparison

unlike most engineers, i love shopping, and am pretty much obsessed with sales. sample sales are generally a good deal if you care to weed through all the variety. however, they do have expensive shipping, occasionally overinflated "original price", and generally the same sales at different times. then again, i love looking at all things purveyed by the interwebs whether clothes, jewelry, bedding, household furnishings, cooking utensils, travel accessories, or makeup.

as an engineer i also like charts. charts make things pretty and understandable. or at least that is their intended purpose. click to enlarge:


my personal ranking of these sites is as follows:

1. ideeli: very good deals and a wide variety of sales with size explanations as needed. the blog is both fun and informative and covers all things fashion related. the "ideeli red" sales give some amazing deals, up to 90% off, but sell out in a matter of hours. overall, ideeli was the first sample site i joined and is still my favorite.

2. rue la la: this is my newest membership and my latest purchase was a set of heys spinner luggage. long sought by asians in airports, spinner luggage is the most convenient to travel with, plus the heys line is hard sided. and i bought zebra. its distinctive without being hideously gaudy [a la leopard] and really, its black and white. where could you go wrong? the homepage itself is a bit busy but the limited number of sales helps keep it easier to navigate. as both a marketing technique and a gauge of popular items, rue la la tells the number of remaining items after 10 or so. this says "this item is frikkin awesome and is selling out while youre looking at this page" or something thereabout. also, the "lookbook" of upcoming events is very chic.

3. gilt: all i ever do is look at gilt, gilt fuse, gilt man, and jetsetter. look and admire, and wish i was paid twice my salary. while most of the gilt line is more highbrow than i ever aspire to, the website is well organized and classy. but just cos something is pretty and 85% off...doesnt mean $359 is a good deal. ITS STILL EXPENSIVE. however, the blog is less about their current products and more about relevant fashion events, history, and people.

4. the fairest: once in awhile there is a brand on here that i actually recognize. my only purchases have been from stila and butter of london, and they were both more than 75% off. definitely worth it.

5. billion dollar babes: i really like how the site limits itself to 3 sales a day. and usually they are all similar. [the days the sales are for moms and children ...i ignore them] plus who doesnt like the name?

6./7. beyond the rack & hautelook: these sites are essentially the same. layout is a tad different, but generally i see the same sales on both, several days apart or even overlapping. the prices are reasonable sale-wise, and the inventory is decent.

8. zabachic: site is currently down for maintenance and for some reason the site always came up as "untrusted connection". i havent ordered anything from here and may not ever.

picasa 3

before the last crash of my laptop [3rd time being the charm...as everything was entirely uploaded from the OS up] i had downloaded a version of picasa just to organize and hopefully figure out how to upload pictures easier. with little in the way of successful results.

since then, picasa [made by google] has released 3.0. a new feature is called "name tags" and is similar to the tagging feature of facebook. except it is a type of facial recognition and can actually find your face within your pictures. obviously it needs some help, and after tagging myself in about 100 pictures...

picasa has now labeled 1,604 pictures on my computer as me. granted some are duplicates, but generally it accounts for tan, weight gain, aging, bad lighting, horrible faces, and different emotions. also unlike many people, it can distinguish between asians. my big problem now is remembering people's names. some people are tagged as "stoner matt", "hot andy", "kristie the ra". basically if the person is not a friend on facebook i have no way of remembering who the hell they are and frankly, i like my names better. where else would you find "that guy from mma"?

maybe the next step for picasa would be 3d rendering of my entire head. that would be frikkin amazing. and scary. and technologically AWESOME. ..and frightening

blond restaurant

for my birthday [and cos amazing long island restaurant week falls on my birthday], my sister took me to blond restaurant of miller place. their website is a little dumpy looking, but their prixe fixe menu for restaurant week was pretty effing amazing.

i started with the crispy calamari with asian vegetable slaw and wasabi aioli. in retrospect i should have ordered the wasabi on the side. i really really do not like the weird not quite spicy burning numbing feel of horseradish. but the rest of the salad was perfect and i even ate some of the tentacley parts. crunchy and fried deliciousness with just a hint of spice.

for the main course i ordered the braised short rib on mashed potato followed by a slice of raspberry cheesecake. never have i had both dinner and dessert melt in my mouth. and i will leave the description at that. AMAZING.

leah ordered the house salad, mushroom risotto [that i actually tried and liked even though i abhor the idea of eating fungi..the great recyclers of the forest floor], and chocolate mousse.

the decor of blond was a bit odd. i felt a little awkward trying to take pics besides the ridiculously dark photo of my fried salad so no documentation. it looked a bit like they had finished remodeling the restaurant [we were told under new management] and then taken random bits of half dried latex paint and thrown it at the walls. perhaps in a style that jackson pollock would have come to at the ripe old age of 98 with cataracts and palsy, had he not died an untimely death.

like the previous sentence, it tried, and failed.

but umm given the givens, i would recommend blond to anyone looking for a delicious but overpriced dinner in a rather snooty-but-trying-to-be-more-bourgoise atmosphere.

and a week late [def not complaining] the guys at work bought me gigantic belated birthday cupcakes!

my hand is there for scale. and as kt can tell you i have gigantic man hands to match my monkey arms. each cupcake [out of a box of 20] weighs .4 pounds. put that in your pipe and smoke it.

closeup of chocolatey swirly goodness. the orange frosting was actually orange flavored too! delish.

les films a la twitter

seen in theatre:
transformers 2: revenge of the fallen
shia labeouf runs around for 2.5 hours, the fallen is angry, megan fox is annoying as slivers under the nails, shit blows up. typical summer blow-em-up, not going to win any oscars

public enemies
johnny depp rides on the running boards with a tommy gun, a wee bit of romance ensues, people are scum, bullets to the eye dont end well. more men should don fedoras on a regular basis..but enough with the killing everyone.

bruno
gratuitous gay sex scenes for shock value, appalling behavior by everyone else. ummm would not ever see again but generally hilarious

ice age 3: the meltdown
scrat finds love, sid becomes a mommy, giant angry dino takes on gianter angrier dino. lower [extinct] mammals realized they werent the end all be all. now if only humans could figure that one out.

harry potter 6
harry is confused. hermione is confused. ron is confused. snape is conflicted. dumbledore is...ixnayed. kind of a lame ending like the book, but all is resolved in hp7. dun dunnnn

rented:
fast & furious
what a ridiculous fucking movie. but it has vin disel. thats about the only high point. and it "chronologically connects the other movies". han says something to the effect of "yo im taking my money and going back to tokyo" even though hes a korean hottie. thus...the next movie.

fast and the furious: tokyo drift
fortunatly this was a free library rental. dear lord. tokyo is deeply shamed that this movie was filmed on location.

ghost town
quirky, amusing, a bit lengthy.

catwoman
i watched part of this in a bar several years ago. i should not have bothered to watch the rest. except halle berry saying "what a puuuurrrrrfect idea". it really really wasnt.

in the name of the king: a dungeon siege tale
oh jason statham. he can usually make a shitty movie watchable. but in this case.. weird evil creatures + strange magic + matthew lillard whining = dungeon fail tale.

death race
jason statham marathon. i do like ian mcshane even if he does usually play a creepy older man. the movie opens in a world where the US is in total economic depression, unemployment is at an all time high, factories are closing.... anyone care to start a deathrace streaming internet broadcast?

the spirit
weeeeeird. but pops says its true to the comic. so ummm ok. def wasnt a bad movie.

swedish meatballs

dear ikea:

back in the day you used to offer $.50 frozen yogurt cones and delicious swedish meatballs with fluffy mashed potatoes, doused in a light but creamy gravy, with a side of lingonberry jam and sometimes a steamed vegetable. i assume, due to the economy, you have changed the price of a froyo [$1] and the quality of lunchstuffs. i for one am very saddened to see this change.

my meatballs were lumpy, dry, and half sized. all things which conjure rather bad images when combined with the word balls. further, the sauce was watered down and the potatoes seemed to be leftovers from breakfast that had been sauteed in lard and then smushed to within an inch of their sad, sad, lives. long gone are the steamed veggies and the advertised double chocolate torte. replaced with a packaged chocolate wafter and an almond something.

fortunatly, your knack for dressing up a small space in schmancy swedish fabrics and sturdy but cheap furniture keeps me coming back. but perhaps, alas, gone are the days of a delicious ikea repas.

thank god for singoalla cookies.

violent movies

lately i have renewed my adoration of brainless action movies. and apparently one word titles are all the rage. here are the cinematographic masterpieces i have seen recently, each with a twitteresque synopsis.

taken:
girl gets kidnapped and sold into prostitution while vacationing with dumbass friend, father kicks literal arse

transformers:
boy likes girl, boy gets car, car turns into crazy space robot, car saves boy, boy saves world, world goes on not caring or noticing, surprisingly best movie of 2007?

in bruges:
two hitmen await orders in bruges after massive fuckup, bloodshed and tourism ensue, belgians don't seem to notice

watchmen:
big blue penis disconnects from humanity, humanity tries to recover, bombs "cleanse" humanity, world keeps on turning

wanted:
fraternity of weavers translates binary into targets/hits, boy duped into killing father, has "luke i am your father moment", kills lots, moves on

the international:
bank finances murder and treachery, heroes temporarily save world, normalcy returns, new bank finances murder and treachery

push:
crazy future people gain weird talents, fight for their lives, soy sauce is injected to a really sweet soundtrack in attempt to save the plot

max payne:
detective searches for family's killer, takes crazy valkerie drug, goes on killing spree with mila kunis in 4" heels, has 2 near death experiences

the theme seems to be death/revenge, saving mankind, or generally wearing as little clothing as possible.

o sole mio ristorante & lemonleaf grill

so far in long island i haven't come across any "bad" restaurants. but two particularly good ones that i have been to recently are of the italian and thai persuasion.

o sole mio is an italian sitdown/pizza takeout restaurant in stony brook. we went for an early dinner one friday night, waited about 10 minutes for a table for 4, and watched as the entry way filled to standing room only capacity. having heard rave reviews from my sister, our parents, and her friends, i finally got to experience the delicious wonder that is o sole mio. after the appetizer of garlic knots and bread with olive oil, parmesan, and olive paste, i ordered my fallback-fettuccine alfredo. the sauce was rich and creamy [death for lactards like me] but not too oily. the pasta was as close to homemade as you can get in a restaurant and was light but not flakey.

after stuffing myself...then came the dessert tray. i ordered canoli bites, but as they had run out for the night, was given tiramisu bites. AMAZING. the picture doesnt nearly do justice to the rummy mousse surrounded by crispy white chocolate.

leah had a chocolate mousse on top of biscuit-like crust filled with pudding

all in all, i will definatly return to o sole mio. the regular evening wait would most likely be 30 min, but worth it as the food is amazing, the portions are huge [but unfinishable], and the price is about $25/person including dessert and tip.

the lemonleaf grill is 2 blocks from my house. since it opened last summer, i have eaten-in twice and picked up take out [on foot] probably 5 times. so far ive tried the tom kha gai [soup], shu mai [mini dumplings], pad see ew [spicy noodles], mango chicken, gai fad prik king [green beans & chicken], and green curry. even doing takeout, everything was hot and delicious, actually spicy instead of "white-i-fied", and really really cheap.