Mellow Yellow

Nothing brightens a summer day quite like sunshiney yellow nails and a delicious lemony treat.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

File under: True Things

via Gayana's Etsy

Tonight Was Necessary.

I'll sum it up for you with a guest bloggy from my dear friend/dinner date this evening. I couldn't have said it better myself... mostly because my mouth would have been full of a delicious chicken finger. Yeah... No shame.

Sometimes you need to meet your best friend at a diner and eat ridiculous amounts of fried food on a Wednesday night. I might be full for the next week, but damn, it was worth it.

I think it's worth noting...

... that I ate octopus tonight. For the first time. Ever.

I had exactly two bites of said octopus, actually.

More than one bite... because it was rather delicious.

But less than three bites... because then I started thinking about it too much.

And I had to stop. But still...

I ate octopus tonight.

Chick-fil-A v. Boys

All I've wanted to do since last night was blog about the fabulous time that was this weekend, i.e. Alyssa's Return to NYC/Philly Road Trip '09 for Megan's Half Marathon!! However, life/sleep/lack of proper lunch hour just haven't allowed for such things. It will come eventually, but in the meantime, please enjoy Kristen's and my brief and to-the-point Gchat convo on the events:

Kristen: i know you're busy, but i just thought i'd tell you that i'm patiently awaiting a blog post on this weekend :) that's all

me: hahaha you read my mind! it’s annoying when life is too busy to blog ;)

Kristen: i know it

Kristen: i hate it when corporate america rains on my parade

Kristen: btw, any Reid [Rosenthal, a.k.a. Alyssa’s and my adorable husband-to-be Philly native of the latest season of The Bachelorette] sightings?!

Kristen: i figured there would be hysterics

Kristen: so i'm going to err on the "no" side of things...

me: hahahha… sadly, nope. other than Alyssa finding a local Philly mag with his face on the cover

me:but there WAS chick-fil-a involved... which is perhaps just as delicious

Kristen: haha, absolutely

Kristen: chick-fil-a never disappoints, boys do

Ha. Done and... done.

Breakfast of Champions

I literally just had to have the following pep talk with myself on my walk to work this morning. Welcome to the inside of my early morning, uncaffeinated mind (Consider yourself warned.)... 

"I will NOT eat the chocolate covered Oreos or Swedish Fish that are at my desk for breakfast. I will NOT eat chocolate covered Oreos or Swedish Fish for breakfast. I will NOT eat chocolate covered Oreos or Swedish Fish for breakfast. I will NOT eat chocolate covered Oreos or Swedish Fish for breakfast. I will NOT..."

I mean, seriously?! Does that even sound appealing to a normal person at 8:30 in the morning?? What am I? Five years old?? 

Sigh. Whatever... I still think I should get points for the fact that I've resisted these delicious treats that one of my reps brought yesterday so far. Ha, emphasis on the so far... Because seriously, y'all! They're sitting here. Staring at me. Taunting me... I think it's a losing battle, this one...

Feel the Burn

Jamie joined me in a grand/painful adventure today: My very first Spinning class! Ok, I know what you're thinking. Let's just take a moment and get it out of our systems... All together now!

You spin me right round, Baby. Right round like a record, Baby. Right round, round, round...

Yessss! Ok, so fabulous '80s YouTube inspiration aside... Y'all! Spinning was HARD. CORE. I'm not sure I could even begin to describe the intensity of the workout we endured, so instead I'll just share the 'reassuring' words our instructor had for me after class (I was one of only two newbies in the room, so I think she probably just wanted to make sure I wasn't about to pass out and/or cry at the end... success!):

"Well, the good news is... I promise your body will never be more uncomfortable than it is at this very moment! NEVER! For the rest of your life!"
-NYSC Spinning Guru

Ummmm, thank you? Question mark?? Regardless of the fact that I can safely say this was one of my Best. Workouts. Ever... I personally think 'good news' would be if she had handed me one of THESE delicious morsels at the end of the class... Grilled Cheesecake. O.M.Goodness! Now that is what I call motivation. ;)

Hold the Cereal, Darling

If there was ever a conversation to sum up Jer's and my friendship, this just might be it:

Jeramey: i love cereal because you don't have to wait to eat it.
Me: except for when you don't have milk. then it's a sad, sad day.
Jeramey: yeah. then you have to use water
Jeramey: or beer.
Me: what are you? a frat boy?
Me: champagne, darling. clearly, champagne.
Jeramey: oh who are we kidding? hold the cereal.

Ok, ok... To have truly defined our friendship, I suppose it should also have involved discussion of brunch, Ab Fab, fake engagements and cute celebs... But still. This was pretty darn close.

Well, hello Monday! Thank you for making all of my wildest dreams come true:

Here's the thing about cupcakes: I love them. And not just because they're all sorts of "trendy" these days. No, they've held a special place in my treats-loving heart for quite some time.

My happy memories of these precious desserts go way, way back. I still remember the birthday when my mom surprised me by turning my favorite cake (Rainbow Chip, even to this day. Yes, I'm still five years old and proud of it, thank you very much!) into the birthday treat of the year when she baked ice cream cone cupcakes for each of my classmates. I was totally the coolest first grader after that... well, at least until someone brought in a puppy for Show and Tell, I suppose.

And don't even get me started about my very first Magnolia experience on my very first trip to NYC about three years ago (awww!). If I hadn't already been set on moving to the City at that point, goodness knows this little taste of heaven we had on the SATC Tour would've been the tipping point:

Really, I could go on and on about these muffin-shaped, frosting-smothered treats (and let's be honest. I probably will in the future...) but for now, let's just all take a moment and thank our lucky stars for the gloriousness that will be CupcakeCamp NYC. Let the countdown to a cupcake-induced coma begin... Sigh. Can't wait!

A Rant of Sorts

Dear Management,

Let me start off by saying that I have visited your dining establishment on multiple occasions and I have always been quite content with the service, drinks and food. It has proven to be a great place to spend a low-key evening just catching up with friends. That is why it pains me somewhat to write this letter, but I feel it's necessary as I haven't been able to shake a feeling of unrest since I was there this past Sunday evening.

After my friends and I learned that the Sliders were sadly not featured on the night's Specials, we all settled for other options. My roommate and I weren't feeling particularly adventurous that evening, so we opted for nachos. Because, as we pointed out to a skeptical friend, "How can you screw up nachos?? Chips and melted cheesy goodness and whatever condiments are around. Done and done."

Well, you know what they say about assuming...

20 minutes later, the waiter brought us our order... Chips? Check! Guac and sour cream? Check and check! Chili-ish something-or-other? Slightly sketchy, but a Check! for the beef component, nonetheless. Heck, there was even fresh Pico as opposed to canned Pace (ewww.)... All in all, impressive. There was just one small, little, terribly insignificant thing missing...

The cheese.

Now I'm not one for causing a fuss at restaurants. You could hand me a banana cream pie when I ordered chocolate cake and I'd probably be as happy as a clam. But seriously?? Nachos... without... CHEESE?! At first I thought it was a mistake - a cruel joke, perhaps. So when the waiter informed me that, no, in fact the nachos have never been served with cheese, I kind of just stared in jaw-dropped bewilderment. He did, however, offer to bring us a side of cheese, which I politely declined. I'm curious though - would it have been a mini bowl of cold, shredded cheddar? A few slices of American, perhaps? Maybe some feta to sprinkle on top?

All kidding aside, it did occur to me that maybe my shock was due in part to the fact that I was spoiled with Tex-Mex for four solid years... Maybe, just maybe, the whole world doesn't consider cheese a necessary ingredient when making nachos. So, after an extensive bit of Googling, I present you with the following research:

• Nachos NY is a blog described by the creator as, "a nacho quest, for the best." It includes anything and everything concerning nachos in NYC - even a Google Map that plots out past reviews! Genius, I say! You will please note that while there are many differences from plate to deliciously greasy plate, one thing is common... you guessed it: cheese. (Also, be sure to check out recent Guest Blogger Julia's take on Texas Nachos! Warning: Will cause stomach to grumble.)


• Oh Wikipedia! The be all, end all of frivolous research... How I love thee. I think you will find the "Nachos" entry to be very informative, particularly the second sentence (emphasis mine): "In their simplest form, nachos are usually tortilla chips or totopos covered in melted cheese." I mean, who are we to question the omniscient Wiki??

I do hope you've found this letter to be both enlightening and persuasive in my attempt to build a case for why you should seriously consider adding this most delicious bit of dairy to your restaurant's Nachos. Call me a traditionalist, but I just think that making such a drastic change to a tasty treat that has stood the test of time (since 1943! Thanks Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya!) is just. plain. wrong.

Regards, xoxo, etc. and so on,

Bethany