welcome to the space jam

Saturday night I fit a seemingly impossible number of people into my one-bedroom apartment for a space themed housewarming party. It was overflowing with aluminum foil, pop rocks, and really awesome friends who dove head first into the theme. I also threw the party so it coincided with several friends visiting from out of town, which made the festivities extra fun. I'm having some party-planning withdrawal now, though - it was all pretty consuming! The various elements included:

An almost 4-hour-long mix of space-related songs. Highlights here:

The playlist was visually-aided by a (mute version) of this Youtube playlist.

It got pretty middle-school-dance-ish with silver stars hanging from the ceiling, alongside a homemade galaxy (lit with christmas lights). Plus, more tin foil made an appearance to decorate an unused Ikea lampshade I had lying around.

There was "rocket fuel" made of Jager and Dr. Pepper (which wound up being my undoing), plus some sweet treats: Blue Moon cupcakes, and adorable alien rice krispie treats made by my friends Ana and Tiffany.

My friends came as a wide variety of spacey things...almost every costume involved aluminum foil, as you can see:

 space test animals (an elephant and a cat...)

the satellite that recently crash-landed on Earth, and the solar system 

generic foil/space hipster

Now that I've fully recovered (and my apartment no longer looks like the apocalypse happened), I'm definitely in search of a new project. Thanks to all of you who came out - my apartment is nice and warm now :-)

tourist in your own town

Have you ever seen one of those large coach buses driving around New York giving tours based off of a TV show/movie?  I know they've been around for ages, but I rarely actually encounter them in places that I go...until last Friday.  As Eve and I sat in the "cupcake-eating" park (on Bleecker, near Magnolia), we realized that: a) a tour bus was parked on Bleecker; b) there were people taking photos in front of Marc by Marc Jacobs & Magnolia; c) they were 95% women.  In short, we were surrounded by a Sex and the City tour group (as well as well over a dozen pigeons because of the cupcakes) -- and we got the hell out of there.

 (did I mention that this cupcake saves lives? because it does. $1 went to Haiti relief)

However, the other places we went also ride that fine line of being touristy and being delightfully New York.  Papaya King (the original!) on the UES, the Met, and Lexington Candy Shop.  I had my first papaya dog, and "best lemonade in NYC."  To sum up, on Friday I ate: a cupcake, a hot dog, lemonade, and a tuna melt.  What a healthy day. ;)

enjoying my first ever Papaya dog

this bird was pretty intense, much more so than my attempt

October's got those orange eyes

October is almost over - holy crap! After eating that pumpkin mini-cupcake at the Brooklyn Flea over the weekend, I developed a taste for more of them. And thanks to a recommendation on A Cup of Jo, I baked up these delicious pumpkin cupcakes of my own! I hope my friends eat them ASAP or else I will end up looking like a pumpkin myself...

...and then the clouds parted

Sunday of my mom's visit was significantly improved by the weather, if nothing else. I took her to what turned out to be a very hopping day at the Brooklyn Flea, full of extra food vendors who were anticipating a visit from the Martha Stewart film crew. I saw the cameramen, but no Martha, and was finally able to snag myself a cute mini pumpkin cupcake (after the segment was filmed, of course). I had initially wanted a pumpkin pie flavored People's Pop, but they were "holding them for Martha Stewart" - it was tremendously disappointing!

I quickly got over my disappointment though, as my mom and I went from booth to booth, and I scored myself a red Woolrich, plaid-lined, funnel collared coat with batwing sleeves. Look for it to make its debut when the temperatures inevitably take another dip. I also got a really nice silver feather-shaped brooch, which needs a little polishing, but then it will be perfect!

We were walking back to my apartment when I noticed how picturesquely "fall in NY" these benches and trees seemed, so clearly we stopped to snap a photo (in which you can also see that it really was quite warm out--no coat!):

Our last big meal together was dinner at Perilla, the restaurant of Harold Dieterle (Top Chef season 1 winner!) I loved the touches fall decor, and the cute little dishes of sea salt on the tables instead of salt shakers!
I had my second steak of the weekend (thanks, mom!), this time served with a delicious jus and the best creamed spinach I've ever had--and I love spinach. Sorry this photo is so dark, I didn't want to use the flash in the restaurant! But it was delicious, take my word for it.

Our meal finished with a fantastic dark chocolate souffle, which was the dessert special of the evening and had to be pre-ordered at the beginning of the meal. It was definitely worth the over-stuffed feeling that I left with.

Mom's gone now, so it's back to the grind... I have to prepare for Halloween this weekend and finish up my costume!

summer mood

This is how I see summer:

I've been wanting to print out all these pictures I've been collecting from various places online, and last night I (finally!) found my printer cables. Together, they show the facets of summer that I love the most: carefree nostalgia, youth, friendship and an innocent sort of seduction.

Last night I met up with some TXA/FSAD friends to have dinner at Patsy's, followed by dessert at Chikalicious:
I had a s'mores cupcake (a graham crackery flavored cupcake filled with chocolate and topped with toasted fluff icing) and wore my black romper for the first time all summer - surprising considering that rompers are allllll over the place this summer and I used to wear this one all the time!

Chicago vs. NY, round 1

I'm back in NY after spending 5 days at home in Chicago. My schedule was jam packed and I was all over the city/suburbs; to give you a better idea: my car is from 1999, I've been driving since 2002, it only had 20,000 miles on it when I came home, but I drove 400 miles around the city this past week. That would have been like...a month of driving for me in high school!

I saw high school friends and Cornell people, mostly. But I must say one of the highlights of my weekend was going to a dance party at The Hideout with Ali and Eric, where we stalked this guy:

Moustache + suspenders = <3

Also, on Sunday, Eric and I went to both Meatloaf Bakery and Molly's Cupcakes in Lincoln Park. For all the skeptics who think that meatloaf in the shape of a cupcake is gross, you're wrong. It totally changed Eric's mind. And then we went and had real cupcakes at Molly's, sat on some swings at the counter and played Connect Four (I lost...horribly).

I wish I had more time to see more people! But, isn't that the way it always goes? This trip was definitely the best argument towards living in Chicago I've had in a while. But then again, visits are never the same as living somewhere for real...