Eat Your Heart Out, Peggy Olsen

Mad Men is one of the best shows on television right now. People keep telling you this, and you're probably tired of hearing it, but it's true. Just watch it. Season 2 just came out on DVD, so I'm scrambling to watch before the Season 3 premiere on August 16th. It's not a challenge to curl up on the couch with 2 hours of Don Draper a night though.

The delightful Pop Candy alerted me to the new promotional website the show's network, AMC, has created for the show, where you can "Mad Men Yourself" and create your own little 60s avatar of yourself. I was tempted to go with more of a Joan Holloway, martini-bar vibe, but let's be honest--I'm more of the Peggy Olsen type (though Betty Draper is my favorite).

First Couple

I just love this photo. I don't know why--maybe it's the lighting, maybe it's Michelle's dress, or her hair, or the way they're holding hands and smiling all shyly. I kind of love that these people are our leaders.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

What I Should Have Been Doing yesterday, on a lovely, sunny Sunday:

Drive down to the Beach to:


Listen to records on this adorable portable record player.



Wear this lovely Anthropologie swimsuit.



Enjoy a delicious frozen lemonade.



Eat a bag full of my favorite RI delicacy, clam cakes.

What I actually did yesterday:
Cleaned my apartment to ready for the impending packing process and Big Move--just barely six weeks left and running out of time!

Hope you all made use of your sunny Sundays better than I did!

Daria on DVD--Coming Soon....

This makes me very happy.

Almost as happy as getting my copy of this in the mail today (fingers crossed).

Farm Share!

My roommate and I have just started a farm share, where we pick up a box of produce from a local farm once a week. This week is our first week, and since the season is just starting, we got mostly greens--kale, beet greens, lettuce, and rainbow chard. Along with the greens, we got the sweetest strawberries I've ever eaten, and yellow beets.

I've never been one to be too adventurous in the kitchen, so I'm excited to get the chance to go outside of my comfort zone. Sunday night, we used the kale and beet greens for dinner and made roll-ups, rolling the leaves with a filling of ricotta cheese, spices, parmesan, and quinoa, and then baking them with olive oil, garlic, olives, and tomatoes. It was different, and very flavorful. Also, we had leftovers enough for lunch and dinner for two days!

Tonight, after a long day at work, I came home and cooked up the rainbow chard--the dark green leaves were veined with crimson and fuschia, and the colors actually brightened up my mood. I added the chard to linguine and scallops with a scampi sauce--surprisingly quick and easy!

I'm looking forward to a summer of fresh fruit and vegetables, and eating more healthfully, creatively, and locally as a result.

I'm Only Happy When It Rains

It's been raining in Boston for what seems like a month straight--with only a day or two of relief here and there in between the omnipresent gray drear. I'm more than tired of it and aching for summer sun, but thought I would try to look for a silver lining in all of these clouds, and put together a list of things to enjoy in the rain:

1. Sleeping in and spending the weekend in pajamas.
2. Wearing bright rainboots and splashing in the puddles.
3. Sitting in a coffeeshop, writing and drinking lattes, watching the passersby grapple with umbrellas.
4. Prowling the bookstore or library, finding the perfect book, and curling up with it, a mug of tea, and some cookies.
5. Baking.
6. Taking a long drive down a deserted 2-lane road.
7. Going to the movies.
8. Damning it all and wearing a sundress anyway.

Here's to hoping for a sunny weekend, but enjoying the rain while it's here!

~image courtesy of Flickr user Emmanuel Tabard

Fashion Police: Special Jumpsuit Edition

I'm not the biggest trendsetter around, but I do appreciate the occasional fad. Those ubiquitous gaucho pants from summer 2005? I had a pair. Huarache sandals? Just bought some cute multi-colored ones. I was even known to rock a bodysuit in my younger years. But there are some trends that I just can't get behind. My number one trend I will NEVER succumb to? THE JUMPSUIT.


Whitney, I thought you had a future in fashion design. After seeing this, I will seriously think about any potential purchases from your line.


Well, if anyone can pull off a jumpsuit, it would be Chloe Sevigny. The bad news? Chloe is not pulling off this jumpsuit.


And lastly, Lindsay--I know this has been a rough year for you, but seriously? We're going to do this now? You look like MC Hammer's genie in a bottle.

Film Review: Away We Go

I didn't think it was possible to love John Krasinski any more than I already do. But it is. It really, really is.

On paper, Away We Go is pretty close to perfection: starring Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, directed by Sam Mendes, and written by Dave Eggers and his wife, Vendela Vida, with a soundtrack by Alexi Murdoch, it's a near can't-miss. But if I've learned anything about movies recently, it's that you can't always be fooled with a great cast, great writers, and a promising plot. I lowered my expectations appropriately, just in case.

I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised--what I feared would be just another pointless quirky indie romance filled with slow-motion montages set to sad guitar music turned out to be a light, smart, and sweet comedy. Krasinski is pitch-perfect in his role as Bert, a lovable 33-year-old insurance salesman, and Maya Rudolph easily switches gears from her zany SNL characters to Verona, his sassy and independent girlfriend. The movie follows the couple as they roam the continent in search of the perfect place to raise their soon-to-be-born baby, and features great cameos by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Catherine O'Hara, Jim Gaffigan, Allison Janney, and Paul Schneider. It has its quirky indie romance montage moments, but all in all, the script is funny and charming and just the right amount of poignant.

I think it's time for Jim to grow a beard...

Aspirations: To Be a Rockstar

I have a crush. On a woman. But so does pretty much everyone I know--male and female.

I can't quite put my finger on whatever quality makes certain women so alluring, but whatever it is, Jenny Lewis has it in spades. Her show at the House of Blues in Boston last night was punctuated with screams of "We love you, Jenny!" and "You're crazy beautiful, Jenny!" and "You're adorable!" between each and every song.

To be honest, I'm not her #1 fan. Her solo stuff is good, but not quite my speed. And Rilo Kiley, while a fun band, isn't making any of my top ten lists. But I went to the show and found myself just as captivated by her as the rest of the audience. More than the rollicking folk and quiet alt-country ballads she and her band played, I found myself hypnotized by the way she effortlessly kept the packed venue rapt with attention, just spinning around the stage in jeans and a t-shirt, shaking that crazy red mane of hers.

You can't help but be fascinated by anyone who can go from this:


to this:


I just want to BE her.

Great Scott

I just read a fascinating article about Frances Kroll Ring, the woman who worked as F. Scott Fitzgerald's typist in the final year of his life, as he was working on his last book, The Last Tycoon. The Great Gatsby has long been a sentimental favorite of mine, and Fitzgerald a standby storyteller when I'm in the mood for a witty classic. It's interesting, and poignant, to read about his struggle to forge a literary comeback. He's such a tragic figure--pretty sad, really.