A Video

Funny video, via A Cup of Jo

The Best Oatmeal Ever

I just did something really really well. I'm going to brag about it in this post, and then make you do it too. Here we go.

I just made the most kick-ass breakfast in a long while, and without a recipe. Note: this is a very rare occurance, since generally I tend to follow recipes rather diligently. But this morning (yes, it's only 9 am, but I've already had this great breakfast and I find it necessary to post about it right away) I woke up to a kitchen with absolutely no food in it.

You see, my parents are out of town, so I (of course) neglected to go food shopping. There is no cereal. No bread. Only 1 egg. No milk. Yeah, it's bad. But, there was oatmeal--albeit only about 3/4 cup, but that's just enough. So I set out to make myself a nice breakfast to eat on the back porch early in the morning, so I could take advantage of the beautiful morning of what will be the hottest day of the year so far (they say it will reach 100º!).

Now, as I mentioned, I like to follow recipes, so I quickly perused TasteSpotting for inspiration for some oatmeal. I came across a couple recipes, but decided in the end to just throw the usual stuff into my oatmeal: toasted nuts, cinnamon, agave nectar, fruit, you know. But here's the kicker: peanut butter!! I guess I missed the boat on this cooking phenomenon, since several recipes I found were incorporating various nut butters into their recipes, but I'm glad I finally did it. It added this amazing bite to the sweet oatmeal and made it heartier and just incredibly fantastic.

In addition to peanut butter, I chopped up the last white nectarine hanging around the kitchen, toasted some pecans, and swirled in some agave nectar. I brewed up a huge pot of coffee, busted out my favorite bowl and cup (Look! C'est le Petit Prince!!), and sat out on the back porch to enjoy my Sunday morning. Perfect. I am so happy right now.

Now it's your turn. Make this:

Early Summer Oatmeal
Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup water
• pinch of salt
• Cinnamon
• Agave Nectar
• Pecans
• White Nectarine (or any old stone fruit)
  
• Peanut Butter
  

Directions

• Boil 1 cup of water. Add oats and salt, bring back to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium and stir occasionally until oatmeal has absorbed most of the water and it's your preferred consistency.
• Meanwhile, throw a handful of pecans into the toaster oven and toast.
• Slice up the white nectarine into chunks, and save a few slices to eat while you prepare the rest.
  
• Add a few generous shakes of cinnamon and a swirl of agave nectar to the oatmeal. Taste, and adjust accordingly (I sound so professional right now, I'm loving it).
• Pour oatmeal into your favorite, prettiest bowl. Add a dollop of peanut butter (I added about 1 teaspoon) and incorporate. Top with nuts and fruit and another swirl of agave nectar.
• Go outside. Eat it all. Drink your coffee or tea. Done and done.

Remind me, we'll send him a red cap and a Speedo.

This guy made a quite prolific mock up of a hypothetical Wes Anderson film festival.

It is worth checking out, for sure: The link is right here.

Real Cake Fake Cake

Hello everyone. I'm going to take a break from all this fashion posting, and show you what I baked the other day (that wasn't cookies!). Lemon Meringue Cupcakes! My first venture into the world of meringue! For so long I had seen these adorable, toasted treats and I really wanted to try my hand at them. Plus, I could have a chance to use my new cupcake carrier, which is a plus.

Lookit how cute and safe they are! I love efficient storage!

Anyways, I made these cupcakes for an art opening at the gallery I help out at. The opening was to celebrate their 1st year anniversary, and also the opening of their new show, which featured the work of Ana Rodriguez. I seriously fell in love with her cake paintings, some of which were 2-dimensional, others 3-dimensional. Check it out:

Brilliant, no? They're all made out of styrofoam and acrylic medium and plastic fruits and doilies. Some are a little burnt, messy, or broken, and they are all just overwhelmingly darling. I love how they are placed so precariously on the table, leaning on each other all willynilly! Great stuff, very inspiring.

Anyways, I made some more cookies, so be sure to check out my other blog for the recipe! As for the cupcakes, I got the recipe here (thanks!). Until later, friends...

Bonpoint

Question: Is $100 too much money to spend on a bikini for a child?
(Answer: yes)

Better question: WHY DON'T THEY MAKE THIS BIKINI FOR BIG GIRLS?
(Answer: ????)

La Boutique Bonpoint, c'est merveilleuse! Je le veux je le veux je le veuxxxxxxxxx, si j'étais une jeune fille, bien sur.

UH oh

I'm in a bad mood today. Not angry or grumpy, just lazy and under the weather. Not really feelin' it.

But this shirt makes me happier:

via TShirt Store

ps. happy summer solstice! the days get shorter now...

SHOOZ v. FUNDZ

Hey i like these shoes:


Camper + Bernhard Willhelm, F-troupe, Givenchy, Opening Ceremony


AND LIKE OMG I'M BLOGGIN' LIKE CRAZY THIS WEEK!!1

Just though I'd share

I just had a really great experience a few minutes ago. I was in my darkroom, processing 4 rolls of film simultaneously, in two separate canisters (a task I have yet to master). I was doing this alone, obviously, and listening to Mykonos by Fleet Foxes and completely rocking out and agitating the canisters to the beat of the music. And then my old-school timer started buzzing to signal the completion of my 10-minute long fixing process, at the EXACT moment that the song finishes it's epic bridge.

It was so perfect.

Now my finger nails, which are still freshly red and unchipped (see previous post), smell like developer and fixer and the rolls are in the wash bath. I am listening to the mix I created to sum up my first year in New York--essentially composed of songs that I had brief, or not so brief, obsessions with--and I feel nostalgic and very happy. I am so excited about my summer, and yet I can't wait for it to end so I can go back to New York. I love it all.

Here's a picture of something that also makes me happy:


Isn't that dress just divine? The print is gorgeous. Link

Rain, Red Nails, and Old Things

It rained today--in California no less. I decided to seize the day and paint my nails red as it rained, and put on some Department of Eagles, which I thought would accompany the situation quite nicely. Also, I wore my new mid-century dress that I found at the local antique store. Perfect morning, I'd say. I searched for a rainbow, but came up empty handed (empty-eyed?).

I've been sleeping too much, to my surprise. Every night, I lay in bed after reading, and I can't fall asleep. My mind wanders and I get excited about various ideas (most of which have been revolving around the clothing in my closet--lame, I know). I've been sleeping consistently around 10 hours a night, and I think that might be giving me insomnia...that makes no sense, but I think it's true.

So either I go to bed later and wake up at the same time, or vice versa. I choose the latter, because I love mornings. Today I set my alarm for 8:30 but hit the snooze a bunch of times. I got up at 8:50 and ate granola and had coffee with frothed milk. Perfect.

Here are some more pictures:

Grand Reopening

I'm back. I actually had time to start this blog up for the past 2-3 weeks, but its been hard getting around to it, for some reason. Anyways, I'll slowly ease my way back into this blog by presenting you with this video by Fever Ray:



It's part obnoxiously artsy, part actually cool. It's actually mainly obnoxiously artsy, but I don't really mind considering that they at least went all out with the art direction and actually did a good job. The song itself is weird enough, so I personally prefer listening to it without the video, but the video is fun too. Watch it.

I'll be back tomorrow to post more stuff. This blog is just going to be where I put everything that's not on my other blog, Every Last Cookie (which I've been working at oh-so diligently! check it out!)