BRING IT ON, SUMMER!

it's memorial day weekend, the humidity index is something like 3,000% out here, and we done forgot to plan ourselves any exciting escapes. but! i slept in past nine two of the last three days, and i totally intend to pull a repeat performance tomorrow morning! and now that i think about it, i'm pretty sure i just might have some popsicles looming on my horizon ....

happy memorial day weekend to you! keep that sun outta your toddler's eyes! geez! ;)

three babble articles! just three! what is wrong with me!

what you should be buying at forever 21 RIGHT NOW

the one piece of jewelry YOU'LL never get rid of

aaaaand huck's blog!

DAY THREE

i sat on the couch in my pajamas, my hands jammed nervously between my knees, feet jittering. take it now? take it later. take it now? take it later. eyeing the kitchen i took a deep breath. then i took another. i felt like i wanted to cry.

i texted my mom, but it was 5:30AM her time and i knew she wouldn't be up. next i texted brandon at work, though he was probably still on the subway heading down. and anyway, this isn't his forte. brandon is wonderfully supportive but wants to know as much about the back end of making a baby as anybody else. which is to say, not much, thank you, and please try to keep it romantic. it should be romantic for somebody! (sadly, with fertility pills, it is really romantic for nobody.)

i put down the phone and fought the tears away. i felt lonely and anxious. i can't do this alone, i thought miserably to myself, though i knew that i had to. that's the point. this is mine, and no one else can do this part for me. it all falls down to me.

with that, i stood up.

i went into the kitchen, and took a butter knife to the little white pill. half for today, half for tomorrow, and three more days after that. i pressed my finger into the dusting of white powder left on the kitchen counter and put it to my tongue. one more deep breath and down the hatch it all went, heavy on the prayers. please don't let me do this alone. then, alert for dizzy spells and hot flashes and sneak attacks of nausea, i slowly got huck and myself ready for the day. an hour or so later, feeling shaky but capable, we went out for groceries. dizzy spells and heat flashes be damned.

the weather report for the day said sunny with a high of 72, but when we stepped outside the sun was nowhere to be seen. instead the sky was low and gray. clouds swirled around my feet. there were puddles on the ground and droplets of sky clinging to the buildings, beading and drooping heavy from the railings. instantly my hair went rogue. the air all around us seemed dense and quiet. the streets were practically deserted. i could hear my thoughts louder than my footsteps as i pushed the stroller up the hill and over toward 72nd street. they sounded like worries. the air seemed cold but warm at the same time, and everything moved in slow motion. moving cautiously, we made our way uptown, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

around 70th street it fell, trickling at first but soon in heavy, angry sheets. i knew it was coming but still it caught me off guard. it seemed to catch the earth herself by surprise. the rain felt immense. it fell with purpose and consumed every single thing in its path. the hair on my arms stood at attention as the rains grew heavier and we raced toward the closest awning i could find for cover, skipping through puddles as big as oceans, while the air positively flooded around us. three other strollers and four other pedestrians soon crowded in with us, all of us covered in rain and shock, shaking out pointless umbrellas and and laughing and watching the sky in awe as it streaked swiftly to the ground. i felt lightheaded, my body completely swimming in hormones. my clothes were nearly soaked. i calculated the distance to the grocery store and weighed the risk of getting further drenched. i imagined all the awnings we could duck under along the way.

we were crossing the intersection at 71st street when the city suddenly blinked away in a blinding flash of white. next came the inevitable rumble, seemingly from the ground itself. it built in intensity until it was so loud i could feel it exploding through my chest. it was the sound of release. it thought it sounded familiar. it sounded like the whole earth was sobbing.

and then i realized, i didn't feel alone anymore.

HOW TO SAVE YOUR POOR, WATERLOGGED MACBOOK HARD DRIVE

back in january, my macbook pro hooked up with my half-unscrewed bottle of diet pepsi and made broken laptop babies. it was terribly romantic for them i am sure, but i felt like such a boob. 

after they called time-of-death over my laptop at the genius bar, i was referred to a company that specializes in hard drive recovery. their initial estimate was something like $750. um, ouch. i figured someone could recover my hard drive for much cheaper, and found the geek squad at best buy, who quoted me $150, plus $60 for the hard drive enclosure. much better. i sat on it for a while, not sure i wanted to throw more money at it, until all of my old music and photos possibly recoverable started to haunt me in my sleep. so i loaded up my macbook corpse and headed back to the geek squad, prepared to pay in full. 

lucky for me, though, some nice employee let it slip that all i really needed was a cable and a little DIY spirit. he gave me the run down, and $35 later i was ready to take me apart some hard drive, autopsy style. i felt a little like dana scully hovering over an alien with a scalpel.

should you find yourself in a similar situation where your computer hath kicked the bucket and your harddrive might yet be salvageable but you're just not at all sure, here is what you do. now that i've done it it seems incredibly obvious, but for five whole months i was clueless--so maybe you are too?

step one: find a teeny tiny screw driver, and unscrew the million teeny tiny screws along the bottom of your laptop.

step two: gingerly pull off the backing and take a peek.

your hard drive will be in the bottom left quadrant, right there. 

(i had already pulled mine out when i took this photo and was way too nervous to put it back in for the photo.)

step three: plug in your cable.

this is what the hard drive end of your cable looks like. i found an old ipod sleeve and slipped my hard drive inside. from what i've read, you don't want too much exposure on these guys? probably i should buy a real enclosure one of these days.

step four: plug the cable into your usb port. 

step four point five: pray anything comes up.

with any luck, your new computer will recognize your old hard drive just like it recognizes any external hard drive, including all of the data inside. the happy ending for me was, i held my breath and crossed my eyes and guess what! it worked! all my old photos, all my old music... i could have cried tears of joy. (and maybe i did.) 

the best $750 $220 $35 i ever spent! 

good luck and happy hard drive recovering!

HUCK THE GREAT ORATOR

i feel like i haven't sat down to actually write anything in here in a good, long while. what's that about, dave? well, and today won't be the day for it, either. but, eventually. um. soonish.

but! huck has plenty to say these days. i mean, dude only has about six words, but it doesn't exactly hold him back. in fact, most times when i try and get him to repeat words with me he'll look at me very scornfully. like, "why would i stop the perfectly logical conversation we're having to repeat silly one-syllable words at you? come on now."  i suppose it's my fault for always pretending to understand exactly what he's saying. the other day on the subway we were having quite the in-depth conversation, the huck and myself, when he noticed that the lovely woman sitting next to us was giving him attention. so he turned to her and continued his nonsense yammering (complete with hand motions and very eloquent facial expressions). she nodded and smiled at him, then looked up and over to her husband and started speaking to him in spanish. huck got this look on his face like, "what language is THAT?" but you know who speaks the gobbledygook here? that would be YOU, huck. not the nice spanish lady.

 anyway.
this video is cute. and you're going to enjoy it. i promise.
take it away, huck monster!



also, please to enjoy his monkey-like dismount from the bed.
it's one of my favorite things in the whoooole world.
(is that a nursing bra on the floor? yes it is. you're welcome!)

THE GREAT COOKIE QUEST :: the end! ::

thanks kaitlyn for the photos!

for my final act as high inquisitor of chocolate chips, i decided to throw a little cookie tasting party. you know. swanky type stuff. i was curious to see how some of my favorites measured up against the ultra discerning palates of my friends. also, any excuse to eat more cookies? and decorate my apartment? my mom and i ran around town wednesday morning collecting the highest scoring cookies, then threw together a few decorations, then baked about seven million batches of reader-submitted recipes, just to be real thorough (you understand). and oh dudes. the apartment smelled glorious! and yes i WILL take a moment to brag here: i made seven batches of cookies in one afternoon, and no i do not own a mixer. those butters were all creamed by hand. my intensely muscular hand.  i mean, what else is a blog for if not for celebrating these kinds of accomplishments!

of the professional bakeries, levain took first, with city bakery coming in at a close second. choco bolo took third, and the momofuku compost cookie was the decided disappointment of the night. sorry, dudes.

but the top three scoring cookies of the night were homemade! what! my friend janelle's cookie recipe swept the night, not surprisingly because she makes a killer chocolate chip cookie--so good even *i* couldn't screw it up. (hint: it calls for both butter and shortening, and a generous sprinkling of flaky sea salt just before baking). ashley brought the number two cookie. she swears by the joy of cooking recipe in case you want to look it up. my personal favorite was, of all the things, a reader-submitted vegan recipe, which came in third. vegan! it calls for molasses instead of egg! it was divine. i was completely obsessed with them and ate them for two out of three meals the following day. (recipe below, suckers!)

and now, for some light nerding: making that many batches of the same cookie in such different variations was fascinating. i swear, i have never had so much fun in the kitchen. i kept shouting at my mother, "MOM THIS IS INSANE!" the tiniest variation in measurements created a vastly different cookie. each dough had an entirely different flavor and consistency, required wildly differing baking times, and always baked up in the most surprising ways. i mean, you know these things, but seeing it happen that many times over really sent me over the edge. i was freaking out. and it made me think that science could have been a much more fulfilling topic for me if only i had approached it from the right angle. truly, if you have children who are struggling in science, set up a cookie tasting experiment with them and help them bake up a bunch of different recipes of the same cookie. my mind was blown. so much so that i included a little fact sheet for the testers that night so they could geek out with me.

it was a great night! thanks to all my friends who made it out for the evening and took their task so very seriously, and many congratulations to our cookie victors of the evening! such honors! ;)

some of the bloggy girls in attendance: ashley, kaitlyn, erica, and meg (not in this photo: becca)

it was such a fun night. thanks to all who came and tasted!

and now:

chelsea's 

vegan chocolate chip cookies

ingredients:

1 cup margarine, chilled

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

directions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees

cream together margarine and sugar until fluffy

add vanilla and molasses

add the dry ingredients and mix well

(i had to add a few tablespoons of water, and mixed using my hands to get the dough to stick together.)

fold in chocolate chips

drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes
allow to cool completely (better cooled than warm, i found)

//links to other published recipes tasted that evening// 

the new york times recipe

(fascinating accompanying article HERE)

martha stewart's recipe

DON'T CRY, SHOPGIRL. DON'T CRY.

i can't recall exactly how the idea came up, or who thought of it first, i only know that one day i was chatting with kaitlyn about everything and nothing when suddenly our voices had escalated to many octaves above normal and we had hatched our silliest plan to date: kaitlyn would be the photographer, i would be kathleen kelly, brandon would be joe fox, the upper west side would be our canvas. huck could stand in for brinkley. i think i was fanning my face in excitement. there may have been some light bouncing. i told brandon our plans later that night and watched as the entirety of his eyeballs rolled to the upper portions of his face. then he grew real quiet and said, "fine, but if we are doing this, we are doing this all the way." and that's when i knew there had to be amish pretzels involved.

we got the photos back on friday and oh good holy hannah of the valley. they are so ridiculous. and so amazing! i mean, haven't we all wanted to be kathleen kelly? at least for an afternoon? for me, this was huge. silly, ridiculous, and life-affirming. the whole afternoon i couldn't wipe the goofy grin off my face. nothing will ever trump this. nothing in my life! ;) and i have been so excited to share these with you! like, i've been giddy over this post all weekend.

here, wait. let's set the mood first, shall we?

"dream" on grooveshark

okay then.

don't cry, shop girl

(that is a wet wipe. brandon's idea. i could not keep it together)

brinkley!

hooray for you, kaitlyn!

we couldn't be happier with them! 

i literally cannot stop smiling, hah.

(you can see more HERE!)

(and more inspiration shots here, here, here)

p.s. we so nailed this one! yesss!

 kaitlyn will be in so-cal 

holding mini sessions from july 13-18.

if you're in the area, 

you need to book her. we love her.

email her at twoifbyseaphoto@gmail.com

(nyc dwellers: keep an eye on her site for upcoming specials)

RED ADMIRALS IN THE CITY AND HAPPY WEEKEND

my friend ashley wrote about the bumper crop of butterflies swarming manhattan (apparently thanks to an impressive amount of caterpillars coming from texas this year), and ever since i've been so delighted whenever i've been able to spot one. they really are everywhere. this little red admiral was found on west fourth, perched on a little artwork propped up on the street for sale. the artist said they were bringing him good luck, and he'd sold more pieces that day than any other day before. brandon is especially proud of these butterflies, being as they share texan blood? (do you think these butterflies are longhorn fans? the eyes of texas are upon you!) they are just the happiest little bits of joy, these little red admirals, and every time i see one i like to make a little wish. i must have lots of good things coming to me for all of the wishes i've been making lately.

i have yet to see one on the subway on its way to bloomingdale's to buy a hat, but i am holding out hope, you better believe it!

HERE ARE SOME THINGS I'VE ENJOYED THIS WEEK:

those blair kids are just the dang cutest things, and their new series is just adorable.
this post is a little older, but it's stayed with me all these weeks since.
a reader emailed to see if any one could help her with a sick rescue kitty named sylvester. she's unable to keep him and he needs some surgeries and a very loving home. if you can help donate to the surgery fund or may know of someone in the leesburg, va area who could home him, please email her at sarafabuleux@aol.com.

(p.s. our giveaway winners have been announced HERE.)

okay, so... babbles!

what YOU should be buying at forever 21 RIGHT NOW
i'm obsessed with finding the perfect french market tote for the summer,
don't you love the j.crew bubble necklace? here's where to get it way (way) cheap,
crazy prints anyone can wear (promise!)

aaaaand huck's blog!

THAT ONE TIME A PERFECTIONIST AND A NOT AT ALL PERFECTIONIST DECORATED A CAKE TOGETHER

i generally don't recommend taking on projects with me. nope. i am a starter, not a finisher. i haven't the patience for anything whatsoever, but i sure am good at thinking up an idea, slapping it together all pell mell, and then being very generous with myself by overlooking obvious mistakes and still thinking it looks nice, you know, if you squint just-so.

my mom is a perfectionist. hospital corners with the flat sheets (brandon and i don't even own flat sheets), hanging drapes correctly instead of however seems easiest, and getting all sorts of what i'd call "permanent stains" out of things that i'd sworn were goners using just her elbow grease and fierce determination. 

brandon is also a perfectionist, but what has that got to do with this?

and so, when i tell you that we decorated a cake together at make meaning last week, my mom and i, what i mean is that i threw fondant at the cake and then my mom came in behind me and made it all lovely, until we had something rather pretty at the end. no squinting required. 

huck was there too, mainly to oversee things and eat frosting and model the latest in fondant mustachios.

while my mother was putting the finishing touches on the cake, i threw together a little painted platter. 

if you squint just right it looks amaaaazing. 

thanks for having us, make meaning!

next time you're in the city:

make meaning

columbus ave between 75th and 76th

*RIGHT BY THE SHAKE SHACK*

(you'll want to know this for after you've worked up an appetite being all crafty.)

BUSTER SAYS...

buster says, 

"maybe it's time you give the amaro filter a rest."