For Valentine’s Day, I made chocolate covered strawberries. Initially I was attempting to decorate “tuxedo” strawberries, but as you can see in the surrounding berries, they quickly turned into squiggles. I did manage to decorate one HEART strawberry for a special someone….so WHAT if it’s a wonky heart? IF HE CAN’T APPRECIATE MY ATTEMPT, THEN HE IS UNDESERVING OF MY WONKY HEART.

Luckily, he enjoyed the strawberries…the heart was saved for last.

My mom finished her book. Which is SUCH an accomplishment, especially since I can barely focus enough to sit down and write a paragraph on this dang blog! Not only did she finish it, but she also decided to self-publish it, since she wanted to focus on the alumni and nursing crowd. It was a tough decision, but overall I think she made the correct one.

Sean drew and designed the cover and I did the editing of her book. It was a family effort. And after many months of pulling together, it’s finally here and available.

My quick summary is that it’s the story of a sheltered 18-year old girl who begins nursing school in Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital and is thrown into the 60s sexual revolution. It’s the story of her trying to maintain the ethics and morals she was raised with while transforming into a woman.

If you’re interested in reading it, shoot me an email. Buying directly through me rather than Amazon will get you the best price for it. ;0)

Every time we visit Sean’s family, his mom makes zucchini bread. And it’s some of the most delicious bread I’ve ever had. It’s always so moist in the middle but carmelized on the outside and crust. And in the mornings, she takes it out and puts it on top of the coffee maker so that it heats up while coffee is brewing. HOW BRILLIANT IS THAT??

So, I had asked for the recipe. A while ago. And I just got around to baking my own loaf. And it tasted great–not AS great, but good enough to hit the spot. Only–I have this problem whenever I bake or cook anything. It comes out looking like crap. I don’t know if I just don’t have the correct cooking equipment or what–but seriously? Look at that…doesn’t that look like a big log of poop?

In fact, does anyone remember that movie: Three Men and a Baby II…the second movie where the mom is always trying to cook, but constantly screws it up? Yeah. THAT IS THE STORY OF MY LIFE.

Are you seeing a trend here…what with the “busy” theme of my posts lately? In any case, I haven’t had a lot of time to continue exploring coffee shops around the city, but over the summer, I was commissioned to do the food photography for a diet book. Sort of an “Eat This, Not That” kind of book. And FYI, (you probably already knew this) coffee is a much better alternative than a latte. So much so that it’s kind of ridiculous. Though, latte’s are a delicious, delicious splurge.

I realize this post is ridiculously late, but last month on July 2 was my birthday. When the clock struck midnight, I didn’t even realize it was my birthday until Sean came running over with Red following at his heels at 12:12 yelling “IT’SYOURBIRTHDAY!IT’SYOURBIRTHDAY!IT’SYOURBIRTHDAY!” He was clearly more excited than I was.

And I just have to point out for the record, that Sean is terrible gift-giver…not to say he doesn’t get GOOD gifts. His gifts are always thoughtful and awesome and totally spot on. But he’s just always so excited to give them to me, that I end up opening them no where near the actual birthday/holiday. He’s all: “Can I give you your gift now?” And I’m all: “No. It’s not my birthday yet.” And then he’s like: “How about now?” Me: “Nope. Still not my birthday.” Sean: “How about…” And then after the 4th, 5th or 60th time, I end up throwing something at his head. It works every time.

So, the first 15 minutes of being 26 years old was already off to a way better start than last year’s birthday…otherwise known as “that day we no longer speak of.” And just then in the kitchen, I opened his second gift to me (the other one he gave me, I shit you not, 3 months ago. In his defense it was a Spring coat, so it made perfect sense to receive it early. But still. Case in point.), this Luke’s Diner mug that he designed and made through cafe press. For anyone who doesn’t watch Gilmore Girls, you clearly have no idea what this is. But it’s one of my favorite shows ever. And this mug is huge…more like a carafe really which couldn’t be more perfect.

So after I put a pot of coffee on, just to try out my new mug, Sean took my hand twirling me around. He stopped me, looked into my eyes and said, “You look great…” And just as I was about to throw my arms around him and give the biggest hug ever, he added “…for 26.”

Moment gone. But I rolled my eyes and hugged him anyway. Because I’m so totally mature now, being 26 and all, that I can ignore little slams like that.

And, let’s face it–I still get carded for R-rated movies. So I don’t have to worry about looking too old. Not yet at least.

Today is Maddie’s birthday. My dear, sweet niece is 7 years old. 7!! It feels like only a couple years ago that I met her whiny tush (she was colicky…I’m not just calling her whiny without reason).

So, I’m taking today off and Maddie and I are going to get manicures. After that, we’re getting her ears pierced. After that dinner. And then I’m going to go home and cry because I’m officially considered old. And I don’t like it at all.

Saturday night, Liza and Maddie came down to Brooklyn to visit and we hung out at a coffee shop for a bit. Maddie became a little fixated on this clothesline that had old found polaroids hanging from it. I so badly wanted to buy the piece for her, but clearly I don’t have $800 to spend on art. The way I see it, I can find a few polaroids at stoop sales, stick them on some clothesline and secure them with clothespins. And Voila!–”Art.”

As I mentioned, I’m crazy busy with this new job, but I thought I’d try to throw in a few updates. And on Saturday night, I was at the Red Horse Cafe photographing Marc Barnhill and the Sorely Missed. They were great and I had an awesome time meeting everyone!

Now, I realize the quality of this photograph isn’t quite up to par with the rest of this site, but I only had my little point and shoot camera on me.

In case you don’t recognize the decor (which I wouldn’t either if I were you), this here is the infamous Russian Tea Room where my parents and I had lunch yesterday. Faberge’ eggs in glass cases surrounding us, beautiful artwork and gold guilding on the walls above our heads. It was really fantastic. And for lunch, a goat cheese blintze, duck-truffle ravioli and a chocolate mousse “pyramid” with a espresso to finish off the lunch.  And this may have been the single most expensive meal of my life…the only price I’ll divulge is that the espresso (one shot) was $8. And it wasn’t anything spectacular.

The food was very good, but portions were dainty and the descriptions of the food made it sound a lot more interesting, tasty and complicated than they actually were. When my 3 pieces of ravioli–yes, three was all you got–were put down in front of me, I quite honestly almost laughed. Then, I leaned over to my dad and said, “I think we’re gonna need to grab a hotdog after this.” My parents laughed, but I was so not even kidding.

Saturday morning was such a beautiful day in New York…it hit about 70 degrees in Brooklyn! So that morning, Sean and I dragged the dog’s beds onto the balcony to drink our coffee and work on crossword puzzles. And it was such a beautiful, lovely morning.

That is until…..we noticed at the funeral home (pictured above) that a body was being rolled up that ramp and into the facility. Being rolled on a hospital gurney type of thing with nothing but a sheet covering it. We could see the outline of a nose, chest, legs…it was creepy. Needless to say, my morning was ruined.

Southside Coffee was the first coffee shop I tried when I moved to my new AWESOME neighborhood. It’s good. Better than most coffee shops and certainly better than Starbucks. And They Have Cookies! Which in my book, is always a plus.

The ambiance doesn’t leave a whole lot to be desired, but it’s quiet and the people are all very lovely. In fact, this coffee shop was one of the deciding factors in choosing this neighborhood. Good coffee shop? Check. Cookies? Check. No homeless men trying to stab me on the walk home from the subway? CHECK.