Monday Memos // 55

Listening:

"All is Full of Love" by Björk.

"Hold On You" by Valley Queen.

 "The Telephone Song" by Charles Bradley.

Reading:

This week, the Style section was very Modern Love-centric, my favorite!

  • 13-Word Love StoriesWe both love craft beer and public radio. So we’re insufferable, but together.
  • The 13 Questions That Lead to Divorce - First, grab someone you hope to someday divorce. Choose anyone. Oh, hey, how about the person next to you in bed clipping their toenails and eating leftover kimchi with their hands? They seem super-divorceable.
  • Mom: ‘Is He Jewish?’ Me: ‘No.’ Mom: ‘Is He Smart?’ - She once tormented me by asking if I’d hand deliver an envelope filled with photos of the company’s handsome male dancers. I was to carry this sealed parcel on the train from New York. Just before I left town, Selma called and casually mentioned, “Some of the photos are nudes.” And no, I didn’t open the envelope but I certainly cursed her.
Motherly love. (image by Brian Rea via nytimes)

Motherly love. (image by Brian Rea via nytimes)

I also enjoyed the writing of a recent Grub Street Diet piece with writer Howie Kahn. The last lines, as he shares a mush pouch with his young son, is particularly wonderful:

After a couple of small slices, he asks for a pouch, one of those squeezy packets of organic mush. This one has kale, broccoli, and mango, and he swigs from it like a gentleman with a flask.

Hospitably, he passes it to me. “Try,” he says, looking up from his high chair. “Daddy, try.”

So I do. And it’s delicious.

We split the rest, laughing and passing the pouch between us.

 

Craving:

This week is brought to you by Hot and Orange.

I don't usually have a desire for one-ingredient soups, but I had a homemade carrot soup from Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Foods" and it was amazing. So creamy without any cream. So flavorful with just a few ingredients (onions, thyme, chicken stock). I even found it to be an excellent dipping component for leftover pizza. 

I've also been in the mood for all things pumpkin as this November gets in full swing. I made HowSweetEats' pumpkin skillet cobbler (salty and crunchy and perfectly spiced—lovely with vanilla ice cream on top) and Ambitious Kitchen's pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (hearty and chewy and great for all times of day). 

Yes please. (via howsweeteats)

Yes please. (via howsweeteats)

Wearing:

Since I've been living out of a suitcase for a month, I've been wearing the same few things over and over. It's kind of like I have a capsule wardrobe. One pair of jeans, one pair of black patterned slacks, one pair of black leggings. Two t-shirts, one grey sweater, one bright sweatshirt. One denim jacket and one colorful, hooded jacket. Thick socks and an assortment of brown and tan shoes. It's pretty easy to get dressed each day and also kind of boring...

I had to break out my favorite red hat and an old standby striped scarf for the consistently 30-40 degree days this last week, too. Feels like winter!

The Freelancer’s Uniform by Gemma Correll. (via medium)

The Freelancer’s Uniform by Gemma Correll. (via medium)

Watching:

I don't know how this movie slipped past me, especially as a big Jim Jarmusch fan, but I just watched "Paterson." 

The power of “Paterson” is in its seemingly long-brewing and deeply felt outburst of personal mythology; its world-building comes off as a credo, a belatedly laid and lifeworn cornerstone of Jarmusch’s work, a quietly ecstatic vision of workaday perseverance and inspiration. It’s ingenious, rousing, passionate—and yet constrained by the iron force of its own sense of virtue. —The New Yorker

Now I want to go have a Jarmusch binge-fest. 

Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani. The art is fabulous and weird and I love it! (photo by Mary Cybulski via window frame films)

Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani. The art is fabulous and weird and I love it! (photo by Mary Cybulski via window frame films)

Treasuring:

Warmth. It's been cold this week! I feel thankful I have a cozy, highly blanketed bed to tuck into at night. I am so glad to have hot soup and hot showers. I'm staying in a place with long indoor halls and a lobby gym, too, so I can stretch my legs without getting a runny nose.

Adventures. Life is certainly a mysterious ride right now, but I am reframing it as a time of ample adventures. I've wandered around Baltimore, I've had peanut butter-stuffed, chocolate-covered figs with a favorite friend, I've relaxed on a couch surrounded by sweet cats, I've worked in coffee shops and cafes all over the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Yeehaw!

(images by camille gressier for designlovefest)

Monday Memos // 35

Listening:

When I was a senior in high school, the last month of school was essentially an olympic event of testing and exams. We didn't even have to go to classes, we just had to study. During my final math exam I remember anxiously checking the clock. I needed to hurry. My family was waiting in the car outside the testing center. As soon as I finished, I ran to the car, buckled up, and we drove off to Atlanta. We had to get to Radiohead. It was the best. "In Rainbows" has been swirling around my head this week, too.

I saw "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" recently. Not worth paying for, but baby Groot was great and so was the music. I can appreciate a space battle more when I'm being serenaded by Parliament and Fleetwood Mac. It made me want to listen to Cat Stevens (which in turn made me want to watch "Harold and Maude" again).

And I've been on an R&B/soul kick for all the times in between, so:

Reading:

This week in "things I read and enjoyed," the theme seems to be love:

After 54 Years, We Fell in Love. After Five Months, I Got Leukemia. By Delia Ephron

A Love Story. By Samantha Hunt

"A coyote ate a three-year-old not far from here.” Illustration by Patrick Leger for "A Love Story." (image via thenewyorker)

"A coyote ate a three-year-old not far from here.” Illustration by Patrick Leger for "A Love Story." (image via thenewyorker)

Craving:

Morning carbs. 

I went to the farmer's market on Wednesday with these dreamy muffins on the mind—but the muffin booth wasn't there! So I took inspiration from the bunch of overripe bananas at home and made my own (but the oven wouldn't get hot, so I turned the batter into waffles).

I spent the next three days snacking on delicious waffles. Now I want some pancakes. 

How about some chocolate waffles as a vehicle for a sundae? (via joythebaker)

How about some chocolate waffles as a vehicle for a sundae? (via joythebaker)

Wearing:

Gorjana 3 Disc Necklace. 

I got this necklace in my swag bag from the Create & Cultivate conference back in early May. I didn't put it on until a week and a half ago and I'm really digging it. I think it's fitting too, because I've been noticing all things three.

The rose gold version is really nice. (via gorjana)

The rose gold version is really nice. (via gorjana)

Watching:

"Don't Think Twice."

Netflix suggested this movie to me and it seemed just right for needing something on the lighter side. "When a member of a popular New York City improv troupe gets a huge break, the rest of the group - all best friends - start to realize that not everyone is going to make it after all."

It's full of wonderful, funny people: written and directed by Mike Birbiglia and starring Birbiglia, Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs, Kate Micucci, Tami Sagher and Chris Gethard.

Comedy/Drama is right, I laughed a lot and then cried at the end. It's not earth-shattering, but it's a nice story with some hilarity and heart. 

Made me want to see an improv show/comedy set. (image via rollingstone)

Made me want to see an improv show/comedy set. (image via rollingstone)

Wanting:

Off the top of my head:

I want my car to have working A.C. 

I want to go to the beach.

I want a haircut. 

Sounds like summer. (image via Leah Goren)

Sounds like summer. (image via Leah Goren)