Monday Memos // 56

Listening:

"Sound and Color" by Alabama Shakes.

"That's Why (I Love You So)" by Jackie Wilson. Those dance moves!

Reading:

A must-read in this time that I'm calling an earthquake of garbage and monsters: Men Don’t Get to Decide What Counts As ‘Sex’ By Liz Meriwether.

A satirical read for this stuff-yourself-silly holiday: Thanksgiving Nutrition Tips: Eat Whatever You Want, but Not That. Make food your singular focus while eating. Of course, there will be conversations at the Thanksgiving table. And that’s completely O.K. — as long as you stay out of them. Don’t speak and try not to listen. Earplugs are a good idea or, if you can, simply avoid all noise. Light is also hugely distracting. Think about a blindfold.

I've never experienced any overwhelmingly uncomfortable Thanksgiving meals (cheers to supportive family members!), but Philip is the man to ask: Thanksgiving, Solved! How to Deal With This Dreadful Holiday.

Stop. Wait. Don't. (image by Paul Windle via NYTimes)

Craving:

Celebrated my mom's birthday at Proof restaurant in DC. So much deliciousness.

I had a Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, which was garnished with cumin yogurt, truffle piccadillo, and sourdough croutons. Then I ate the Ora King Salmon with pickled mustard greens, a sticky rice cake, shiitake mushrooms, and shoyu sauce. Perfection. Everyone's dish had us oooh-ing and yummmm-ing. 

For dessert we tried the Warm Chocolate Hazelnut Cake—topped with gianduja gelato (chocolate hazelnut) and espresso sauce—and the Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake—topped with almond streusel and vanilla ice cream. I almost licked the plates clean.

I couldn't find a good picture from Proof, but the photography on Coming Soon's website is amazing. You'll want to buy everything, too. (image of Mosser Glass Pink Milk Glass Cake Stand via comingsoonnewyork)

Wearing:

Nothing new to talk about regarding my own clothing adventure, so here are some fabulous things for adornment:

Patches by Amber Ibarreche.

Bingo! Sweatshirt by Tuesday Bassen.

Smiley metallic crew socks by Hansel from Basel.

The Laurel Twist Mule by Loeffler Randall.

Watching:

Recently Viewed: The pilot episode of "Sea Oak." A genre-bending comedy from renowned author and creator George Saunders featuring Glenn Close as a working-class woman who dies in a home invasion and comes back from the dead full of rage, determined to get the life she never had.

Interested In: "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." A darkly comedic drama with—Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell. "The Florida Project." Willem Dafoe, my messed up home State, strong emotions... sold. "The Square." A Swedish satirical drama directed by Ruben Östlund and starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, and Terry Notary. The film is about publicity surrounding an art installation, and was partly inspired by an installation Östlund and producer Kalle Boman had made.

Treasuring:

Dreaming. I've been having some wild dreams, which have been leaning on the side of entertaining and humorous. Quite enjoyable, really. I've also been doing a lot of daydreaming. It's nice sometimes to stare off in a car window or walk around the fall foliage and think fondly about people, places and things.

Gifting. 'Tis the season and I love gathering presents. Making them, wrapping them, compiling them, looking at gift guides, researching best things... 

(Illustration by Alessandra Olanow for Cup of Jo.)

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 Stories - We 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)

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)

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)

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)

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 // 54

Listening:

"Fool" by Perfume Genius.

"Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell.

"Superstar" by The Carpenters.

Reading:

A rabbit hole of research led me to revisit a favorite magazine article about my maternal grandparents. It's adorable: Mary and Lloyd—the second couple. I could reread it a thousand times.

I like reading about perspectives I know nothing about. This is a great example: Dating as a Single Mom.

I also love when a link in a story leads me to another wonderful story and so on and so forth and then I am just filled with new ideas and information: "Artist David Hockney Says The Drive To Create Pictures 'Is Deep Within Us.'"

"In a recent series of photographic drawings, David Hockney, shown above in his studio, plays with the relationship between painting and photography." (image via Richard Schmidt/David Hockney/Abrams Books)

Craving:

Cold weather carbs (hot pizza, hot pesto pasta, toasted bread with butter and jam), carrot cake and chocolate cake balls (my Whole Foods in the vicinity weakness), and coffee coffee and more coffee. 

Not my preferred slice, but it's beautiful nonetheless.

Wearing:

My (paternal) grandmother gave me a jacket that had been a gift to my great grandmother from a friend's trip to China. It's a thick silk with floral embroidery. Reversible! One side is black and one side is bright red. The red side makes me feel like Michael Jackson. I put it on for a try and kept it on for hours. I think I might just wear it all the time.

I put on my (maternal) grandma's wedding ring last week, as I often do when I need some extra strength. I haven't taken it off since and I think it's helping.

Watching:

Cannot wait to see: "Ladybird" (absolutely everything about this makes my heart sing; Greta Gerwig is my newest hero) and "I Love You, Daddy" (Louis C.K. and John Malkovich and total weirdness, yesss!).

Recently viewed: "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" (so strange and fascinating and sad) and "Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold" (incredibly inspiring and quite heartbreaking).

Treasuring:

Family hangouts—it's really nice when you think your family is the best (because they are) and get to be with them and laugh with them and take goofy photos of yourself with them.

Flexibility—as stressful as the limbo phase of life is, it's kind of cool to be able to move around and explore and work from a computer and try on different environments.

What Would Peggy Do? (Unknown photographer, Peggy Guggenheim in her bedroom, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Venice)

Monday Memos // 53

Listening:

"I Want To Be Evil" by Eartha Kitt.

"Time of the Season" by The Zombies.

"Morning Dew" by Kelsey Lu.

Reading:

"Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes" by Alison Roman.

Last week I went to an interview/Q&A with Alison Roman at Books Are Magic. She was hilarious and inspiring and made me want to eat boiled potatoes dipped in butter and sea salt. I've been following her on the internet for years and I'm excited to see her success. Plus, her food just always makes my mouth water. I am looking forward to reading this and making some delectable things.

“This is not a cookbook. It's a treasure map. Open Dining In and you'll find Alison Roman joyously leading you to the promised land of extraordinary home cooking. Into every one of her stunningly beautiful recipes she's tucked the clues that will invariably lead you to deliciousness: keep it simple, have fun with your food, pack in the flavor, and, most importantly, share it with the people you love.” — Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat 

The images and styling are beautiful—she served the cheesy persimmon pear thing at the book event. Plus, Pocky, she loves Pocky. (Photos by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott, via Clarkson Potter.)

Craving:

It's so exciting to feel chilly air and want a hot beverage. I've been on an almond milk latte kick—a few shakes of cinnamon on top. And soup! I have never been much of a soup person, but I've been eating it several times a week. Boxed, canned, freshly made, I have dipped my spoon in it all.

Also, my sweet tooth won't quit. I made a repeat trip to Ample Hills for their incredible ice cream. I've had to make many trips to cafes for internet access and can't help myself to a simple chocolate chip cookie or appley, oat-y something. I could go for some pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving can't come soon enough.

Look at this stunner: butterscotch pumpkin pie. (via acozykitchen)

Wearing:

Broke out my favorite denim jacket this weekend—it feels like a hug with it's faux fur collar tight around my neck. (Floridian in the north enjoying real seasonal weather)

Yesterday I was walking in the rain and instantly realized slip-on Vans were a terrible choice in footwear. But wooden, Mary Jane-style clogs or cheap loafers didn't seem great either. I need some weatherproof boots. It's a fun project to be on the hunt for footwear (and to actually need it). The secondhand shopping in a big city is thrilling.

Tis the season. (illustration via Jordan Sondler)

Watching:

I'm excited to dig into the second season of "Stranger Things." I think it's surprising I haven't heard any spoilers yet.

Mostly I have only seen a few episodes of things this week (don't ask me about my internet problems): "Better Things" and "Broad City." I'm constantly blown away by how both of those shows cover difficult topics and make them both hilarious and tender and new. Ilana tackled seasonal affective disorder with a lamp and RuPaul and it was nothing short of genius. 

I'm ready for all the November/December movie releases. Particularly, Paul Thomas Anderson's latest, "Phantom Thread." Christmas Day! Daniel Day! 

"Set in the glamour of 1950's post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock's life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love."

Daniel Day-Lewis's final film! (image via thetelegraph)

Treasuring:

Extravagant costumes. Colorful fallen leaves. Supportive friends. Strong brainwaves. Funny podcasts. Lively environments. Feelings that make my eyes water and my heart swell.

By Hart Crane