It's Friday, so that must mean...

Friday Fill-Ins! Wooooo! (See? I told you to get excited, people)

1. Tonight I saw Kevin Love make a shot from alllll the way across the court. It was a freakish, baseline-to-baseline circus-y shot, and sort of made me want to make out with him, but then he bowed and looked like the 19-year-old toolbox that he probably is. I love him anyway.

2. The "Goodies" song (still) makes me wanna dance! Maybe because when it came out, it was the last time that I knew what The Kids were still listening to. What is it now, that damn Hannah Montana?

3. Splitting a few appetizers between friends is always a good idea. Especially when there is artichoke dip involved. Truth be told, the olive tapenade was the highlight of an otherwise culinarily dismal dinner last night at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

4. My stepsister is someone I'd like to get to know better. I'm worried that she will up and move to Missouri (on purpose! I know!) and then it will be too late. I wish we both had more time to spend with each other.

5. The smell of freshly-cut grass reminds me so much of springtime! It's definitely time for this on-and-off "rain" business to be o-v-e-r.

6. I was unsure what to have for dinner, but I concocted some tasty pancakes (that I wolfed down, along with some wine...yeah, I know), and that made it all better.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a to-be-determined movie with GP, tomorrow my plans include watching UCLA beat Memphis in the Final Four, and Sunday, I want to sleep in, all the way past 9 a.m.! I know, I am a wild lady.

Oh, and you guys!!! I am beside myself because I have received my first blogger-bestowed "award," from MissK of Do Your Trick, Turn on the Stars. She is fantastically hilarious, has an adorable dog, and does look fab in t-shirts.


I suppose now I need to pass this thing along, so I am giving it to...
Tipp, over at A[tipp]ical Thoughts, who I can always trust to keep it real.
Gretchen of Gretch-a-Sketch, who loves Jim Halpert as much as I do.
Laurel, the original Sass Attack, who apparently is able to run entire marathons, and is thus a total badass.
RA, at Definitely RA, queen of organization and owner of a pretty adorable dog.
Miss Free and Flawed, who is a fab mix of cupcake love, LOLcats, and occasional geekery.

Honestly, I love just about everyone from the 20sb group that is consistently filling up my Google Reader with awesomeness. Thank you all, for being so fantastic-- you get me through each and every work day. What? What am I supposed to do? Work? Psh.

Shoes, day two

Today I am wearing these:

They are so beaten-up that it's probably a little shocking that I still wear them in public, much less to work. I can't seem to let them go, though! The toes are all torn up because sometimes I am less than the picture of grace that you all might imagine, and the heels are pretty worn down, mostly due to the fact that I wore the hell out of these when I worked in Unnamed Tutoring Center and had to be running to and fro all the time.

I decided to wear these to work today because we have clients in the office, and on Fridays I sometimes have a hard time getting it up for the office. Honestly, the enthusiasm wanes by the end of the week, so I feel like wearing something a little peppier will substitute for the positive attitude that disappeared around lunchtime on Wednesday. My efforts were rewarded when my coworkers called me pretty and awesome-- no, I am not kidding (I truly am adorable and modest), and I am aware that only one of these compliments may be shoe-related. The other may have had to do with my sweet Mac skillz.

Oh! And today was the Ethiopian food Fun Lunch day, which was, as you might infer, pretty fun. I work for a small company, and my bosses are nice enough to take us out to interesting lunch places on a monthly-or-more basis. All together, we were ten at the restaurant, and it was the vast majority of the people that work for the company (and mostly women, except for the one guy, so there!). Anyway. The food was really tasty and interesting, and not the "interesting" that means I was wanting to spit it into my napkin after every bite. We got two big veggie combos, two chicken dishes, and two beef dishes (there was lamb, but I think that we were feeling a bit more basic than that). You may have heard that there are no utensils in Ethiopian eating, and that is exactly right-- our veggie combos arrive atop enormous pancakes that were similar in composition to crepes, or regular pancakes, but were much spongier and a little lemonier than either of those two (I'm guessing that it's buckwheat flour rather than all-purpose, and that the batter is beaten a lot to aerate it-- it would definitely be interesting to watch the preparation), and we got a bunch of extra pancakes to help us pick up the beef and chicken. It's not the neatest meal in town, there will certainly be some dirtied fingertips, but daaaaamn it was delicious. Probably not the best first-date meal, but absolutely something that everyone (even the foreign-food xenophobes out there!) should try at least once!

Also, there was a sign for this beverage, which made the literature nerd in me smile:


Friday Fill-Ins are upcoming! Get excited!

What I am Loving Today

In no particular order, besides that in which they pop out of my head (which somehow sounds disgusting, but go with it, ok?):

1. I get to have Italian food tonight! It'll be mediocre chain-restaurant Italian, but I am betting there will be bread! And wine!

2. Sephora sends me emails about things like this, that are pretty, even if they aren't "technically" in the budget.

3. My lungs aren't making that noise anymore! No more rattling, and the coughing has died down to normal levels (read: still present, mostly after meals. Anyone care to offer a diagnosis?).

4. The sun is back! Thank god the rain that began yesterday as I was leaving work has run its course.

5. Ethiopian food tomorrow for lunch!

6. It's go-home-from-work time! Clearly, I am getting a ton done.

Shoe gazer

...apparently is shorthand (well, to be technical, long-hand) for "emo", according to Urban Dictionary. While I don't have the proper disposition, jean fit, or hairstyle to qualify as a bona fide emo kid, I am more than happy to steal the phrase to introduce my Great New Blogging Idea. I am thinking that, on a sort-of-daily basis, I will post a picture of my shoes. Some people photograph what they eat, some have adorable dogs to show off, and there are some others that already do put their footwear on display for the internets to see. This last group, I have decided, are my brethren (sistren?).

Today, friends, I am sporting some sweet gold flats:

Got these at Target a couple years ago. Though I am not typically a fan of the gold, it is seriously like wearing a happy little party on my feet every time I slip them on. (Sorry, male readers. I realize this is a ridiculous thing to say)

So, there you have it-- shoes (sorry, I had to)! I cannot promise much in the way of photo quality, but I will make up for that with quantity and sparkling prose. With flip-flop weather approaching, you people are going to be seeing a ton of my feet...

Martha Stewart takes the cake

So, this week is Cupcake Week on the Martha Stewart Show, which I get to watch on repeat, thanks to Tivo and the Fine Living Network (which is totally the television equivalent of the Finer Things Club). I couldn't even finish the episode, because it was all too much to bear. It began innocently enough, with a demo of some tasty-looking coconut cupcakes, and then devolved into my reason for pouring another, quite full, glass of wine. Without further ado (and because the theme for this month's NaBloPoMo, which I am too chickenshit to actually participate in, is "letters"), here we go:

Dear Martha,

Look, I love you. I really do. So much so that I toted a "Free Martha!" poster all the way back to LA from DC for a friend after I acquired it at a rally I attended, and only reluctantly handed it over (you may know that unique college-apartment furnishings are hard to come by, especially for a gal on a budget). On the inaugural episode of your Cupcake Week, I was instantly riveted-- it is a poorly-kept secret that I love cupcakes, and I was on board all the way. You kept me waiting breathlessly as I bleep-blooped through the commercials to see how you concocted an icing suitable for topping those beautiful white cupcakes, and you certainly didn't disappoint (also, way not to give credit to Ina Garten for that recipe-- she and Jeffrey are probably going to TP your Hamptons house now).

Then came the second segment, in which you examined the process by which Earnest Sewn jeans are made. No stranger to fashion magazines, I was familiar with the brand name, as well as the fact that I, an amply-assed lady, am no match for their skinny-thighed magnificence. When you sent your assistant (who I truly believe you do pay pretty well, well enough to buy her own Earnest Sewns) to get some custom-made jeans, I began to groan inwardly. Poor thing, she's over six feet tall? Ok, I could see that being a problem, especially if she likes to wear heels when she goes out with boys and then minds that she towers over them. She played college basketball? Very impressive-- also, a collegiate basketball career is the pathway to being your assistant? I had no idea. So, she had her $700, 38-inch inseamed, Japanese organic cotton jeans made, and they fit her like a glove. It was a thing of beauty. Where you really lost me, though, was the very first "model" in your Earnest Sewn fashion show (and I generally love a fashion show, especially at lunch). However, Martha, I have to give you a big, hearty, "What the FUCK?!" at your description of a girl who is maybe a size four as "curvy and voluptuous."

I'm not sure what you are smoking, but a size four? Is in no way, ever, curvy. Sure, it might be something other than razor-sharp collarbones and concave tummies, but seriously? I sort of wanted to cut you. At least I'll get to save money buying my jeans for less than $40 at Old Navy, rather than being burdened by a 38-inch inseam or a "curvy" size-four body that demands $200 jeans.

Best,
Megan

P.S. Since I know none of those curvy ladies so much as touched any of those cupcakes, would you mind sending me one? I'm sure you can afford it-- MSLO is doing so well!

P.P.S. I'm still a little bummed that you stopped publishing Blueprint, but I appreciate the check you sent in lieu of extending my already-existing Martha Stewart Living subscription. Don't worry, I'll renew when the time comes.

Happy PB&J Day!

No, seriously! Slashfood says it's National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, so who am I to argue? I'm feeling a little lazy, maybe even to the point where I might consider a PB&J an acceptable dinner. And really, I have to be observant of the holiday! Let's just hope that the bread I bought I-don-t-remember-how-long-ago is still edible. Otherwise it will be some yet-to-be named substitute surrounding my delicious peanut butter and jelly concoction.

I apologize for the lack of coherence recently, but I am so scrambled between work (crazy scheduling needs, and why should it be easy for people to remember to return an email?), planning Mother's Day weekend (multiple moms, and my and GP's parents all together in Sonoma over a weekend-- my palms are already sweaty just thinking about it. Thank god there will be wine.), and sort-of-planning GP's graduation dinner (which shouldn't be that much of an ordeal-- it's just 13 people for crying out loud!), that I have little time to dwell on those, "hey, that would be a cool post" ideas. I do have a shoe-related one that I'm rolling around, so we'll see where that goes. I'm a little annoyed at myself for writing about not writing, but here we are. Maybe I need another cup of coffee...or an early tea time today.

Food coma

Friends, I have very little to say to you today (and yet am still posting, so...yeah, not sure about that). Been eating very well recently, with a barbecue and friends (and board games!) Saturday night, brunch for my brother's 21st on Sunday, and a yummy dinner (with two fondues!) tonight for my sister's 18th. Now, if I could stop having to buy gifts for everyone, ever, all this food would be just fine...

I have a maybe-scary work meeting tomorrow, in which I get to justify my existence/prove to them that the company would be crippled in my absence. Should be fun, right?