Expectations

I was having this conversation the other day with a friend about unfulfilled expectations. She was telling me about her adventures the day before and how she got upset because things didn't go how she'd wanted them to go, but yet she had never even told her friend what she wanted to do in the first place, so how could he have avoided disappointing her when he didn't even know what she wanted to do in the first place?

Now, I am not calling her out at all, instead, when she told me that, I said I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN! I find myself doing that all the time. I'll have these lofty expectations of how I want my plans to go and when (not if, WHEN!) they don't go how I imagined, I become extremely disappointed and I tend to aim my frustrations at the person I'm with, even though it's totally not their fault. Once I realized I was doing this, I've tried to change it, but it's often so hard for me to articulate my needs that I sit and stew about it, then end up hating myself for being upset in the first place. Plus, I am a people pleaser, so a lot of the times, I will take the disappointment so that someone else doesn't feel disappointed....le sigh. Story of my life.

I don't know why I'm even writing this. I guess I am trying to work on my faults and I figure that by putting it all out there, people will keep me in check and in turn, help me be better. Also, I think I've just been feeling really strange lately. I haven't been able to sleep very well in the past couple of weeks...I wake up multiple times in the night with too many things running through my head. I need to learn how to quiet my thoughts.

Other than that, everything is ok. I am seriously so excited about Depeche Mode! :)

Can't Wait!

Wooooooo my Depeche Mode tickets came in the mail yesterday! I am BEYOND excited. Now I just have to figure out who I want to take... ;)

Update

This has been quite the uneventful weekend, but I was starting to feel sick and run down so I think it's a good thing I stayed in. Yesterday I spent the day cooking and went over to do a friend's makeup at night. Today I went to breakfast with my family to celebrate my brother's 20th birthday and I spent the afternoon at Barnes & Noble studying for the dreaded LSAT. Poop on the LSAT.

While I was at Barnes & Noble, I managed to pick up a copy of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. I've been dying to read it, as I loved A Cook's Tour, and No Reservations. I'm sure it will be just as good, if not better, than those two.

I wanted to take pictures of the lunch I made yesterday, but I forgot I lent my camera to a certain rockfaced friend of mine who is currently on the east coast. Oh well, next time!

I leave you with this WTF moment of the day:



This is a jacket made of teddy bears by a Chilean designer/artist named Sebastian Errazuriz. Although I would never be caught DEAD in that, I still think it's pretty awesome. And by awesome I mean strangely creepy.

More cool/weird stuff by him:
http://www.meetsebastian.com/

Whaaa?

Have I been living under a rock? When did the Distillers officially break up? OH, was it when Brody "Dalle" cheated on Tim Armstrong and left him high and dry? That cold hearted bitch...I'm still not over it!

I digress. So a couple of years after the demise of the Distillers comes Spinnerette, her new band. I read something about it earlier this week but didn't really pay attention until my brother turned to me today and said:

Cesar: "Dude, did you hear about Brody's new band?
Me: Umm...she's not in the Distillers anymore?
C: Ummm....no. Dude, it's total Garbage!
Me: Like...trash garbage, or like Shirley Manson Garbage?
C: Umm....a little of both.

HAHA! My brother is so awesome. He then played me a few of their songs and ehh...it's ok. She's totally lost her edge though! What happened to the coke-laced, 90lb Brody Armstrong that would growl all the lyrics to her songs and spit at the crowd? Now she's cleaned up, gained a little weight, and started actually singing? Wow, I am getting old.

Anywho, you can find all the info at: http://www.spinnerettemusic.com/.

25 Albums

A friend posted this chain letter on myspace so I thought I'd give it a whirl...

Think of 25 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world.

In no particular order of influence:
1) ...And out come the wolves - Rancid
One of the first punk albums I ever heard and I've never been the same since.
2) Digital Ash in a Digital Urn - Bright Eyes
Conor is a genius, this album is utter genius, and nothing I could ever say could ever do it justice.
3) Graduation - Kanye West
4) Tell all your Friends - Taking Back Sunday
5) Violator - Depeche Mode
6) Playing the Angel - Depeche Mode
Paris 2006. This marks a huge transition in my life. Enough said.
7) OK Computer - Radiohead
8) Indestructible - Rancid
"If you lose me, you lose a good thing, that's one thing I know for sure..." I love Tim Armstrong!
9) Black Sails in the Sunset - AFI
10) Honey, I'm Homely - Dance Hall Crashers
11) Losing Streak - Less than Jake
Me at 14 in a nutshell.
12) Fatherfucker - Peaches
"Are you fatherfuckers ready for the motherfuckers?" Peaches is amazing.
13) I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes
"But me, I'm not a gamble, you can count on me to split. The love I sow you in the evenings by the morning won't exist." I LOVE YOU CONOR!
14) Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground - Bright Eyes
15) Too Much Pressure - The Selecter
16) Static Age - The Misfits
17) The Distillers - The Distillers
18) Le Tigre - Le Tigre
Deceptacon. Enough said!
19) Déjà Entendu - Brand New
The Boy who Blocked his own Shot - Story of my life.
20) Energy - Operation Ivy
Epic.
21) Pretty Hate Machine - Nine Inch Nails
22) The Fragile - Nine Inch Nails
23) More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley
24) Don't be Cruel - Bobby Brown
My childhood in a nutshell. My dad was a big Bobby Brown fan. "Every little step I take" was always in heavy rotation at my house.
25) Worship and Tribute - Glassjaw
"You're the reason I cannot forget this season or the letter where you first referred to it..." Daryl Palumbo needs to play more shows.

I'm sure I'm missing about a million other albums, and I could probably re-edit this list on a weekly basis, but I just went with the ones that struck me right off the top of my head. :)

Saffron Marshmallows

I'm really interested in non-traditional flavor combinations. These are saffron marshmallows, and while I don't really like marshmallows too much, I LOVE saffron! I think I'm going to have to make them to see if they are actually any good. What would you eat a saffron marshmallow with? Hmm...I'd say some coconut ice cream, or perhaps a saffron marshmallow s'more? Like I said...this is one of those things I'm gonna have to test out to see if it actually works.

Here is the actual recipe:

(Note: It's in Italian, so either learn Italian or find an online translation site!)

Marshmallow allo zafferano

per 400 g di guimauve

gelatina 6 fogli
zucchero 270 g
acqua 75 g
albumi a temperatura ambiente 4
zafferano 3 bustine

Oliate un contenitore, foderatelo di carta da forno,facendola aderire bene e oliate anche quella. ( io ne ho usato uno di 33 x 12 x 4 cm)
Ammollate la gelatina nell’acqua fredda. Mettete gli albumi nella planetaria. In una casseruola cuocete a fuoco vivo l’acqua e lo zucchero fino a raggungere 120 gradi (appaiono delle grosse bolle). Ritirate la casseruola dal fuoco e accendete la planetaria su velocità medio-bassa, e cominciate immediatamente a versare lo sciroppo a filo, quindi aumentate lievemente la velocità e lasciate girare. Intanto strizzate la gelatina e mettetela nella pentola dello sciroppo ormai vuota. Dovrebbe fondersi senza tornare sul fuoco, visto il calore residuo della casseruola. Versatela nella planetaria e unite lo zafferano. Lasciate girare a lungo, circa 20 minuti, e comunque fino a quando il preparato è a temperatura ambiente. Versatelo nella teglia preparata e conservate al fresco per 24 h. Tagliate i marshmallow a cubi e cospargeteli di zucchero a velo. In frigorifero si conservano una settimana.

No better place.

I'm thinking I need to clear my head for a weekend...

Awesome Kitchen Gadgets

If you know me at all, you know that I absolutely LOVE kitschy things. If you take the kitschy-ness factor and turn it into a kitchen gadget, I am beyond sold. Here are a few really cool things I've found on the interweb.

Left to Right: An alli-grater! bahahah, A shark pizza cutter, An octopus cake mold (SO AWESOME! There's a picture of what the cake would look like right below it), Lego utensils you can actually stack together, and mini plates for finger food! They slide right on your finger like rings...if that's not effing awesome I don't know what is! :)

YSL Tribute Sandals

These are so hot! I want them, but I cannot in good conscience spend about $800 for a pair of shoes. :( Le sigh, a girl can dream though...

Paris, I love you, but you're bringing me down.

It's amazing to me to think that 3 years ago I was in Paris. So much of my life has changed since then, it's almost as if I'm a different person. In many ways, I am, but some things just never change.

I've decided I'm finally ready to go back to Paris. I find that when I'm there I have mixed emotions. Paris is like that annoying person in my life that tells me everything that I don't want to hear but need to, the person that shows me all my worst qualities but pushes me to be better. The person that I LOVE to be around but can't stand for more than 10 minutes at a time, no matter how much I love them.

I went to Paris for the first time in 2003 and came back completely different. I was fresh out of high school and had never been to Europe, let alone away from my family for more than a week. That summer in Paris was EPIC. I came back feeling beat up though...not wanting to leave, wanting so badly to come back, just completely and utterly confused. I didn't go back until 3 years later, when I left for my study abroad trip in January of 2006.

That trip is a whole series of blog posts in itself, but I was so happy to come back to L.A. that I never wanted to go back to Paris again. I was convinced the city was a minefield. Every little thing reminded me of things I wanted to forget.

Fast forward to 3 years later - and I'm ready to go back. I guess I am just one of those people that loves the abuse. That seems to be my pattern nowadays.

In any case, I look forward to going back to Paris this fall and having a crepe from my crepe guy in the 7th, going to Pub St. Germain for a Desperado, walking back to the Bercy metro at 6:30am after a night at Batofar, picnics in front of La Tour Eiffel with .99euro bottles of ass champagne, Cecil sightings all over the place, hearing everyone gasp when the Eiffel tower lights up, boat rides along the Seine, and being in one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

Paris, tu me manques toujours...

I want this right meow!

I LOVE the Marc Jacobs "Love Story" collection, these purses are SO CUTE and very my style. I need a new purse anyways so maybe I'll make a little splurge....

An Ode to Anthony Bourdain

What more could I ever want or need than a dashing older man who opens bottles of wine with his teeth and makes killer meals? Nothing, that's what! I lovelovelove Tony Bourdain, words cannot even express it. I love the fact that he is an asshole and doesn't apologize for it...he keeps it real, which not very many people do these days. Not only that, but he is a great writer, is well-traveled, and has practically had 9 lives. I'm a sucker for a man with good taste in food, a dick sense of humor, and an "I don't give a fuck" attitude. Anthony Bourdain, you don't need any reservations with me ever! bahahahahah

xoxo,
-J

Pinot Envy

There is talk of a BottleRock opening downtown! BottleRock is one of my favorite bars, with easily one of the best beer selections I've seen in L.A. Right now, there is only one location in Culver City, but they are opening a new one in the Met Lofts downtown. This would have been great news to me last year, when I actually lived in Downtown, but I think it's still a great idea nonetheless.

Check out their website here and be sure to have the heirloom tomato bruschetta and a Hitachino Nest White Ale when you're there!

Over and Over and Over

This is my first official post. I've been wanting to start a food blog for a while, and though I am fully capable of sustaining a blog solely about food, I've decided to just make this blog about ME. Being a narcissist is hard work, so humor me a little. It also helps if you enjoy reading about food, like pugs in general, and appreciate someone who likes to hate on everything, because that is what this blog is probably going to end up consisting of.

Anyways, as usual, I digress. I was going to fancify this page, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with it, so I opted for a predesigned layout. Typical of me, to have all these grand expectations in my head, only to end up saying FUCK IT!

Well, here you go. Me in a nutshell on the internets! :)

xoxo,
Jess