worlds clashing

A clip of what my life resembles right now...clashing worlds! Not in the same way George's worlds are clashing but there are two worlds, they're clashing, and my head is blowing up.

A better clip lies here.

dinners past

Some dinners from the last couple of weeks...

Kimchee (김치) rice with a fried egg and bulgogi (불고기)

 

Salmon with roasted potatoes and sauteed kale

saving moms

In honor of Mother's Day, Nic Kristoff wrote an excellent piece on saving the lives of mothers with fistulas.
Read it here, then consider contributing to the Worldwide Fistula Fund.

because it's monday...

This video was all the rage last Thursday, but it doesn't get old because it's so impressive. Unassisted triple play!

the tired flip flop

Now that it's May, warm weather has officially arrived (because 70+ degree weather in February just isn't right). When the temperatures rise, so does the number of offensive feet flopping around in equally offensive footwear. Yes, I am referring to the flip flop.

Gross. Especially on men. In restaurants. Super gross.

Looking at this picture is grossing me out.

I am not denying that I have owned and worn a good number of flip flops in my life (I would guess about 7 pairs). It started in college, which was inevitable, being in Southern California, but not just Southern California but the deep armpit of the state, in the oftentimes hellishly dry and hot Inland Empire. As my first pair wore down, I got another, and another. They would differ in style, from rubber, to fancier leather, from skinny thong to wide (remember when they were called thongs?). Skipping ahead, I find myself currently owning 3 pairs - one pair of Havaianas and 2 pairs of throw-away Old Navy ones (one pair for the pool and one pair that serves as travel hotel slippers). Although my Havaianas are still completely wearable, I reserve those for quick trips to the trash chute, if even that.

With the rising popularity and diversity of sandals (I don't remember this large a variety in my earlier years), there are so many alternatives to the sloppy, loud and often inappropriate flip flop. Just the other day, I saw more women wearing flip flops than weren't on my way to work. Not only are there alternatives, but it was raining! It baffles me why so many people insist on wearing inappropriate footwear in inclement weather. Not only is the flip flop a political faux pas, but also a fashion faux pas. Anyway, here are some examples of flip flop alternatives that are probably as comfortable, if not more, than flip flops. They definitely look better.

These are from Target. Chic and cheap.

 

These are available on Piperlime. Super fun color and buckles, but not as cheap.

If you like the rubber sole of a flip flop, try these Havaiana espadrilles! They come in this classic style (left), or in a more feminine ballerina style with a little less coverage on top (right).

How about these novel canvas huarache-inspired sandals? Cheap and unique.

These are nice and bright and look pretty comfortable too (they're also pretty cheap).

I'm not that big a fan of the actual thong part of a sandal, but maybe you are. How about something like this?

I'm starting to think it's kind of silly for me to keep showing alternatives, because there are literally thousands of them out there. Zappos even allows you to search sandals by styles including thong, slide, Euro...among others, which is many more style options than any other shoe site I've seen. Personally, I'd love almost one of each of the sandals featured in Piperlime's summer sandal guide (save for the pink ones, thong ones, toe-loop ones and some of the sky-high wedge ones).

So hopefully, I've made my point. If not, another argument against flip flops is that they make driving difficult, if not dangerous. They get stuck under the pedal.

(photo creds: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

hooray for integrity

Hooray, Mr. President! That is all.

night essentials

Here's a list of items we picked up from the grocery store at 10pm, right after 1.25 hours at the gym:

• 1 pack of Oscar Mayer® Angus hot dogs 
• 1 pack of Schmidt's® potato hot dog buns 
• 1 slice of Harris Teeter® Grande Finale Chocolate Cake
• 1 bag of Doritos® JACKED Enchilada Supreme chips

 ...each item as crucial as the next...








 (photo creds: 1, 2, 3, 4)

boycott Anheuser-Busch

Read Nic Kristof's column on why, join in on the boycott, then spread the word.

 

(photo cred: Nicole Bengiveno/NYTimes)

For the full story, go here.

best recognize.

You're welcome.

(image source: here)

because it's monday...

dudes' duds

I know how you all love to hear about my taste in clothes, but I recently got a request from a loyal reader to feature more men's fashion.  Since I've always thought men's fashion was a snoozefest, and weakly attempted to touch on it before here and here (I guess sports uniforms don't count), I'm going to leave it to the pros. Hence, here are some men's fashion blogs to which I will refer my male readers for some inspiration and eye candy.

The Urban Gentleman
This blog covers it all - fashion, grooming, etiquette, style, how to get laid. The latest post is about using a few key pieces to accomplish a unique look, which is helpful in countering the argument that men's fashion is a big snore. Among the suggested pieces:

(photo creds: Barney's, Nordy's)

The Urban Gent also covers street style.  Check out this stylish man:

(photo cred: TheUrbanGent)

Check out the far right side of the site - The Urban Gentleman Guides: Basics for Every Man. Here is where you will find helpful tips on how to fold that cute pocket square, 'how to prepare for a female visitor', 'mouth etiquettes' (?), and whether or not men can (should be 'should') wear sandals. For celebrity examples of the kinds of styles covered by this site, read this.

The Sartorialist

Perhaps one of the most well-known and influential style photographers - one that most others aspire to - is Scott Schuman, the Sartorialist. Although I don't care for his writing, his photos are pretty great and he doesn't come off as douchey as one could be if they were him.

(photo cred: The Sartorialist)

He covers a wide range of ages and places in his pictures, and one of my favorite things to do is click on the random pictures to the right of the site. They provide tons of style inspiration...

 

(photo cred: The Sartorialist)

...or just personal looks seen around town, like this man in Washington Square Park.

(photo cred: The Sartorialist)

(photo cred: The Sartorialist)

(photo cred: yep, Sartorialist)

(photo cred: Sartorialist)

For those of you into dapper looks, Schuman covers the annual Pitti Uomo show and captures tons of pictures of those in attendance looking very sharp, but my favorite looks are the more casual ones, like the one the man to the left is sporting. 

Oddly, I think my favorite photos of men on this site are the older fellows. They just seem to have a more established disposition that is conveyed through the photos - 'trying too hard' is certainly not something one would say when seeing them.

(photo cred: Sartorialist)

(photo cred: Sartorialist)

(photo cred: submitted to the Sartorialist)

On occasion, Schuman will also solicit readers' vintage family photos - undoubtedly interesting and inspirational for those pining for looks of an earlier era.

If I've learned anything from the vintage photos, it's that good pieces are timeless...but women's clothing is still much more interesting, which is why I'll just send you here for more men's fashion blogs.

because it's thursday...

I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt

I Can't Make You Love Me covered by Adele

Fun fact: This is Maxwell's favorite song!

sports bits

By now, I've figured out that bloggers' gripes about feeling "uninspired" is totally real and not a bunch of whiny crock. Having said this, I hope you'll excuse this week's List, as being one of somewhat stale sports bits from the past week, because we all know that in the sports world, stories get old quick.

Pujols is in a homer draught. HAHA Angels, and your dumb moneybags payroll. I hope you rot in last place amidst your dysfunction and lack of extra cash.

(photo cred: Amy Sancetta/AP)

We went to the A's/O's game this past Sunday at my favorite ballpark, Camden Yards. It was a brilliantly sunny day, just perfect for baseball. I was feeling especially confident that my home team would make me proud. Although a definite minority, we A's fans represented quite well in a sea of orange. Anyway, I saw my new fav, Colon, pitch about 8.5 innings, holding the O's to no runs and setting his team up for a win... until Balfour blew it and the A's lost 2-5. At least it was a nice day. (...filled with Old Bay sausages, rolling crabs and Natty Boh! Yay Baltimore!) 

(photo cred: here, by Christopher Soper)

 

The Brooklyn Nets' logos were revealed earlier this week. Jay-Z's team is going to have some boring uniforms if they stick to this black and white scheme.

(pic cred: NBA.com/nets)

I think they should have orange and black uniforms, since no other basketball team does, or, even better - uniforms that incorporate Jay-Z blue. Duh, Jay!

 (photo cred: here)

The Redskins are idiots. Yes, I'm referring to their drafting a second QB after getting RGIII. They don't even deserve a picture.

While we're on DC sports, that Bryce Harper is an exciting lad to watch. Hot dang, does he have a cannon on him!

Lastly, I know this isn't a news story, per se, but I just wanted to suggest that maybe Tony Reali should have dinner with G and me. His sports knowledge, friendly demeanor and witty use of Seinfeld references have us both giggling like schoolgirls.

because it's monday...

eye candy, con't

Picking up where we left off last Friday, here's another item that's been open in my browser for two weeks:

Check out the racerback back:

Details, details...

(photos from Piperlime)

mercy

Never mind the goofy slideshow format of this video but the sound is the best that I've found. This is just too good. Captain Kirk Douglas' accompaniment is perfect. I love the entire DMB but I hope this song sounds just like this on the album. Can't wait for it to drop!

Oo just found this. If it doesn't work, just go here, but do listen to it right now by watching the above.

hula hooping

Among the various things I do to validate my existence is hula hooping.

(photo cred: here)

I reinstated my love of the pastime a couple months ago, and hooray!...I'm still loving it. My favorite time to do it is after I eat, to aid digestion and to engage my midsection at least for a little bit. Plus, it's just fun. I've also discovered that I could still do my Skip-It move using the hoop.

In celebration of my new favorite activity, this week's List is one of hula hoop fun facts!

• Hula hooping has been around for thousands of years, but is often thought to have been invented in the 1950s, when they started making hula hoops out of plastic.
• During the ancient years, hoops were made of stiff grasses, grapevines, rattan or dried up willow.
• The term "hula" was attached to the hooping activity in the 19th century, after some British soldiers traveled to the Hawaiian Islands. 
• The hula hoop was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1999.
• The record for the most hoops twirled simultaneously is 132, set by Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair on 11 November, 1999.
• The current (verified) record for longest hooping session is 74 hours, 54 minutes, held by Aaron Hibbs in 2009.

 (pic cred: here)

All facts from Wikipedia.

skid row?

...no. Badder. Shad roe.

Last week, we added a new dish to our repetoire: shad roe.

That's a good picture of shad roe before it's cooked. Here's our picture of our raw roe marinating in soy sauce and ground black pepper:

We were going to do a coated, pan-fried recipe with capers (apparently this is a pretty popular way to cook it), but decided against it after my mom suggested a simpler Chinese way with which I am quite familiar (same way she prepares pan-fried fish!) and required less oil.  Per the suggestion of mah mama, you marinate the roe, pan fry it, then set it aside. Here's what the roe looked like when in the hot pan:

The roe shrank considerably pretty immediately. A note about our choice of pan: our flat pan has lost all its nonstick capabilities so we had to cook the roe in our nonstick wok-like pan instead. The roe shrank quickly and considerably once it hit the hot oiled pan and it loudly and scarily started popping while it was cooking (I imagined the individual eggs contained within the sac to be like corn kernels popping). I soon learned that separating the two lobes of roe made flipping it a lot easier. Was my pan too hot?

Here's a picture of the roe just about done:

After cooking the roe, set it aside. Then saute the green onion and ginger and splash in some light soy sauce and sweeten with a bit of sugar. Then combine all of this with the roe.

We had the roe with a side dish of kale, 5-spice tofu, mushrooms, leeks and shallots - a loaded version of a dish that we eat at least three times a week, of varying ingredients, and for this special occasion, we splurged on white rice!

The roe turned out delicious. I enjoyed the livery taste and the mix of textures on our plates made for a wonderfully interesting bite. I doubted there would be enough roe for the both of us after it shrank but one lobe each was perfect. This meal reminded me of how getting the eggs out of a whole fish was like a prize growing up...lucky me, I just ate only the eggs!

You can read more about shad roe here and here and here.

Our roe was cheaper at $9.99/lb from Wegmans.

(photo creds: first, last)        

because it's monday...

blazin' amazin'

Whenever I see something online that I wish was mine but shouldn't purchase, I keep the item easily accessible for my eyes in an open tab in my browser until the item is sold out, I come to my senses, or until I blog about it. Here is one item that's been in my browser for far too long.

I'm talking about the blazer. Here's a view of the back:

Pretty amazing, right? And look at this funny overlapping button detailing:

I know...super cute.

Thanks for letting me get this out...I've officially closed the tab in my browser.

(photo creds: all from Shopbop)