lifestyles of the young and reckless

i had such a fabulous weekend this past weekend, that i kept waking up in the middle of the night on sunday, just to mourn the fact that it was over.

as i mentioned before, my weekend started with an extensive sherry tasting on friday, accompanied by assorted spanish treats, such as marcona almonds, serrano ham, and the most amazing garlicky olives ever. the tasting was led by a seriously charming spaniard, who simultaneously had a british and spanish accent. technically, this event was a "sales meeting", but halfway through it, i was feeling so light and fuzzy that i drunk-texted everyone i was mad at, and made up with them right then and there.



post sherry extravaganza, i napped, bubble-bathed and pretty much luxuriated in every way possible, so i woke feeling happy and refreshed on saturday morning. i hit the gym to burn off some of those extra pork-fat calories, and then treated myself (along with heater and her adorable daughter) to a delicious lunch of fresh spring rolls, coconut soup, and spicy-steak salad. afterwards, heather suggested that we go shopping at marshalls, where i picked up three pairs of the cutest sunglasses i've ever seen, including these bad boys:















i also got a pair of professional looking, black kors pants, a sheer white tee, a pink, halter-top bubble dress, sexy boyfriend jeans, and tweed pants from the limited in their cassidy fit, which is my fav. as we were ringing up our purchases, i realized i was late for my hair appointment, so i hightailed it to the angry chair , where i got the best haircut/dye job ever, courtesy of dan, who's a real cutie. check it:





when i arrived home from the salon a million hours later, there was a dinner party in full swing at my humble abode. i spent the evening eating delicious food and having some very entertaining conversation with just a few of my most favorite people.



i woke up early on sunday and just barely managed to make it to the gym again, before i had to help sarah shop for her super-bowl party. we then went back to her house and proceeded to make quacamole, buffalo wings with bleu cheese dip, some really tasty snack mix, artichoke dip and ceasar-deviled eggs. steff and vinnie arrived around 4 with yet another dip, one of my favorites, cream cheese, chilli and melted cheddar. we started pouring pink punch and before i knew it, i was once again in a food/booze induced stupor. unfortunately, all the fabulocity became a bit overwhelming and i had to call it an early night before the super-bowl even ended (not that i was paying attention to it anyway).



i then fell into a fitful sleep and dreamed of being on a permanent vacation....

i'm a slave to the awesome power of truffles

i woke up this morning at 4 am and could not get back to sleep. my stomach felt all queasy and upset, almost like when i drink too many jack and gingers. but for once in my life i could not blame my suffering on jack daniels. this time i had no one to blame but the lovely folks at plan b and their ingenious combination of french fries + truffle oil.
for those of you who have never experienced truffles or truffle oil, let me tell you, you are missing out in a big way. i would even go so far as to say that you're life can't possibly be complete until you eat a truffle (or at least something truffled). truffles taste rich, earthy and almost garlicky, and when combined with the basic, comforting potatoey goodness of french fries, the flavor becomes addictive.
i first had the truffle fries at plan b on a wednesday. i returned that friday for more. then a week later i got take out, which was the beggining of a plan b extravaganza that lasted all of this weekend. i'm not even kidding you. friday, saturday and last night as well, when my body finally gave out and protested my newly formed habit.
i'm detoxing now. lots of green tea and brown rice. but i'm not even gonna lie to you and say that it's easy. i am constantly being tempted by visions of not only their truffle fries, but also their tater tots (which taste like mcdonald's hash browns, in a good way), their parmesan fries, and their burgers. oh, lordy, their burgers. that's another addiction in and of itself.
also, their list of alcoholic beverages is freaking phenomenal, mainly because it focuses on dark liquors, like whiskey and bourbon, rather than prissy flavored vodka martinis. they have shit like mint juleps, and sidecars, and also, this ourtageous drink that combines galliano with cream to make a surprisingly accurate imitation of a root beer float.
since it's obvious that i'm not ready to completely kick my plan b habit, i'm going to try to limit my consumtion to once a week only, in the hopes that my digestive system will forgive me that small indulgence. in the meantime, i'll be sleeping soundly, dreaming of truffle fries all night long.

love always

giving thanks

the idea of thanksgiving is a little crazy to me. it's like, let's set aside one day out of every year to think about what we're thankful for so that on the other 364 days we can continue whining and complaining and not feel guilty about it. the idea of giving thanks seems kind of too basic to me for there to be a holiday in honor of it. in my world every day is thanksgiving.
there is however, one thanksgiving tradition that i am sooo down with, and that would be the eating. every year i get good and drunkie on the eve of giving thanks because it's not the same without a hangover. i mean, all that butter/gravy/stuffing can be too intense if you're not really craving something good and fatty to soak up an excess of alcohol. plus, when the tryptophan in the turkey mixes with your leftover drunk it's like the nicest, most comfy-cozy laid back feeling you will get all year.
now that is something to be truly thankful for.

love always

north end mexican

here is the best advice i can give you:
go out and get super-trashed with your friends. you don't have to throw up, but make sure you have a hangover the next day. once you are good and hungover, head over to iguanas ranas taqueria on main street and order a torta. watching your hangover dissapear more completely with every bite that you take of this amazing culinary creation is seriously the most satisyingly grimey experience you will ever have.
the torta is a mexican sandwich, and there are only two words in the world which can adequately describe it: huge and delicious. they serve it on the most ginormous roll i've ever laid eyes on, and then they fill it up with as much shit as they can possibly fit on it. refried black beans, your choice of meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa fresca and chipotle mayonaisse.
you won't finish it, i promise, but you will try because once you taste this most amazing of sandwiches you will never want to do anything else besides eat it, all day, every day.
also, the gorditas and tamales are kick-ass.

love always

true romance

earlier today i removed the post about needing a rebound and that's because i've found one:
starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate
i'm not even kidding you.
the day after my boyfriend broke up with me i was a weepy mess and it seemed like nothing in the whole world could have possibly stopped the ocean of tears pouring out of me, and then i went to starbucks and i ordered one of these bad boys and just like that, i stopped crying.
why?
because it is literally impossible to cry while this supremely delicious concoction is in your mouth.
today, i was feeling a bit blue, so i went and got another one. as i was paying the drive-thru guy, he informed me that the reason it's so good is because it's made with real cocoa butter.
let's contemplate this for a moment
Cocao
Butter
i swear to you this drink is the nectar of the gods.
now, the fact that it probably contains about a million calories makes it a potion to be used delicately. i have a feeling that it might be highly addictive. so be careful, but by all means go buy one so that starbucks will leave it on the menu forever because the day it gets discontinued, i swear it will be heartbreak all over again for me.

love always