Calling In

Image via my Instagram

I took a short blogging break last week for lots of mini-adventures, which you'll see this week. I'm swamped with work to catch up on, so I'm calling in on blogging today. Happy Monday and I'll see you tomorrow!

IKEA Cardboard Camera

Image via Naonori Kuwata

IKEA gave out these rad cardboard cameras to members of the press at a design expo in Milan recently. How rad is this? They can hold 40 shots and have their own USB connection. I love the idea of taking something so technical as a camera and boiling it down to such a basic form. Just last week, as I feverishly scoured my local IKEA for some new bedding, I thought what an amazing store they are to produce so many products with a fairly consistent amount of style. IKEA, I love you. I have no shame about it.

(Found via Photojojo on Twitter)

Teeny Tiny French Fry

While home a few weekends ago, someone got my nephew, who has a normally very, very healthy diet thanks to my very healthy sister, some french fries from McDonald's. That kid was in heaven! First off, the fries in Happy Meals really are really that little now, but secondly, it wouldn't have mattered how big or small they were, he was jazzed! I guess when your diet has primarily consisted of cereals, mashed fruits and veggies, and other generally healthy things, some deep fried goodness would blow your mind. He marched around with that box for a while. It was too cute not to share.

Friday at Five/Random Thoughts

Happy Weekend, kids! R. and I will be spending the weekend prepping for our friend's to come visit next weekend and an out of town trip you'll hear about later. Here are some random thoughts you might enjoy:

• We already stopped at Ikea last night, so now we just have to, you know, put that stuff together. Always makes me think of Jimmy McNulty struggling to put stuff together on The Wire.
• I ate one of these weird microwave  brown rice bowls for lunch in a moment of desperation and wish I hadn't. Rice should never shine like that.
• Probably wouldn't wake me up, but I want this clock. 
• So glad Mad Men is back. New favorite insult? "You're a grimy little pimp". Pow!
• Thinking of doing a blog redesign. Think it's about time to fake it till I make it, you know, as a big time blogger. haha I know. I kid.
• Gotta buy some half and half. That cofee ain't gonna tasty itself up. 

A Personal Note on Home

These are the keys to the house I grew up in. I found them a few weeks ago while cleaning out a box of stuff I probably hadn’t looked at in at least three years. It’s funny. I moved away to go to college and for one reason or another never moved back home again, not even for the summers in between semesters. In hindsight, I wish I would have known I wasn’t ever going to be home at that house again. I’d lived there since middle school and knew every corner, nook and cranny by heart. The truth though is this: I was an eighteen year old itching to break free from a small town and I probably would have just said “Yahoo!” I guess that’s why they call it hindsight.

The Time I Saw: Giada DeLaurentiis

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to see my cooking idol, Giada DeLaurentiis* at Sixth &I for an interview and discussion of her new book. Her show Everyday Italian, was the reason I started learning how to cook, so of course I had to go see her! The Washington Post interviewer didn't do a very good job in my opinion, asking questions that I thought were played out and a bit loaded ("Do you think the clothing choices you make, i.e. showing cleavage, gets you more male viewers?), but Giada was thoughtful in her answers and seemed to be still enthusiastic about her work. When it came time to get my book signed, I actually managed to play it cool and just told her she is my favorite, rather than pulling a crazed Elvis fan move and pulling my hair out and screaming, which was what I had worried might happen. 

*And yes, if you were wondering, she is lovely in real life; she is even tinier than she looks on TV and just so pretty! Her makeup artist Julie was there and I wanted to tell her what a good job she does, but thought that seemed a little too creeper.

Squirrel Vision

 

Luckily for me, my apartment faces a wooded walking path and I can take action shots of squirrels. This may not be lucky for you though, dear blog reader, as I know how painfully uncool this is. Anyway, since the trees have been blooming, the squirrel activity has been magnificent. Here are a few scenes from the past few weeks. My favorite is the bottom right, where two squirrels were just randomly chilling out together.

Friday at Five/Music to Your Ears

R. and I are off to the wedding of my lovely friend and thesis partner this weekend. Only three hours away, but the wedding doesn't start until five, so we're staying in a hotel. I'm gonna order room service and pretend it is fancier than a Hilton Garden Inn. Mimosa's anyone? Tonight we're going to see Cabin in the Woods. We like to get scared, but more than that, I begged  R. agree to go see The Five Year Engagement with me because I'm going to see this with him. Jason Segel just cracks me up. What!? Got any big plans of your own?

In honor of my friend's upcoming nuptials, here's a little jam dedicated to them. Have a lovely weekend, lovely people.

See Quindome Cook: Roast Chicken

 
Roasting a chicken seems to be a talent that all home cooks should have, so last week I pulled out my ole' Barefoot Contessa cookbook and gave this recipe a try. During the roasting of this chicken, I had to remind myself that only nerds can't handle knowing where their food comes from. It was intense when I had to put a lemon and some thyme in the cavity of the chicken, but that's what the recipe called for so I sucked it up and did it. To be honest, this was not my favorite recipe. This wasn't a case of me messing something up, as is sometimes the case, but was simply a bit lackluster for my tastes. The roasted veggies were delightfully soft and flavorful, but the chicken was fairly bland despite the lemon, thyme, and garlic. Still, it was so simple to roast the chicken, that I'm thinking of looking for another recipe. Got any suggestions?

A Little Runaway Bunny

Visiting with my family over Easter this past weekend was lovely. One of my favorite moments was when my nephew spotted this little wind up bunny toy during his lunch. See that joy?

Then it got wound up and put on the table.Oh, the excitement! The Thrill!

Just as the bunny got close enough, he snatched it up!

The Time I Saw: Fiona Apple

Happy Tuesday folks! Welcome to a new series "The Time I Saw". As a music lover and general live-performance enthusiast, I feel fortunate to see a lot of bands and artists I enjoy. I figured, "Hey, dummy*, why not share those experiences with the world?" So here we go!
Last week I felt super-duper, incredibly lucky to see Fiona Apple at the Sixth & I Synagogue in DC. It is one of my very favorite music venues not just because it is beautiful (see that dome!?), but because the sound is amazing. Her first album Tidal pretty much defined my listening for at least a year and she will forever be in my all-time top 5. Until this show though, I'd never been able to see her live. Luckily R. scored our tickets before scalpers (Fist shakes!) had scooped them all up. The couple beside us spent almost three times the price we did! Scalping issues aside, the show was amazing! Any expectations I had, she totally shattered them. She was riveting and her voice totally blew me away, even though she was nursing a wee cold that had forced the show date to be moved. In summation, Fiona Forever!

*Mental Note: Gotta stop taking nickname cues from Dennis Duffy on 30 Rock

A Minnie Post

Image via J Crew

Remember when this week was young and full of blogging promise? Yeah, me neither. Do you ever have those weeks where you just know you're going to be behind, no matter what you do? The next two months are busy, busy, busy. Some work busy, like scheduled events in the evening and some fun busy, like a mini-holiday so I guess I can't complain. Either way, I'm working on getting better at pre-scheduling posts for the ole' blog. I have some pictures to upload later on today, but for now, I leave you with the new love of my wardrobe, my J.Crew Minnie Pants. All my pants are mini because I'm super short, but these are actually called Minnie's. At first I balked at trying them on, but once I did, I never looked back. Get thee to your nearest J.Crew and try 'em on. Tell 'em Quindome sent you. I really do love them!

Wisteria Gardens

Lots to post from the weekend, but after a sleepless night*, this is all my brain could come up with today. Luckily, these images are so lovely, they just might be enough. Who wouldn't want to walk through this? Even an allergy sufferer like myself would do it at least once. 

* Mental note: Never take Mucinex before bed. My heart was pounding and I was so jittery that I thought I was having a panic attack.

(Found via Honestly WTF)