Holy guacamole!

Relaxing at home on a summer sunday is tiring work, and requires a good snack. I made my special guacamole, and thought I'd share the recipe!

1-2 avocados (depends on how much you wanna make)
1 quarter of a tomato-chopped
1 quarter of an onion (what type is up to you...I use red)-chopped
3 cloves garlic-minced
1 quarter lemon
Few pinches of salt

Spoon out avocado insides
Mash up with a fork
Cut up tomato and stir into avocado
Cut up onion and stir into avocado
Mince garlic and add to avocado
Add lemon and salt
Mix

Yummmmmm

I saw someone post this recipe on Facebook the other day, and I checked out the rest of the blog (http://www.thesweetslife.com/2011/08/cheesecake-stuffed-strawberries.html), and it's pretty good! Check it out if you are looking for recipes.   If you are looking for a way to spice it up, try dipping them in chocolate to seal in the cheesecake.  Or dip in chocolate then dip in graham crackers. 

Yummmm! Enjoy! I know I did!

 

First, carve out the middle of the strawberry.

 

Using a knife, put the filling in the center.

  

Dip in graham crackers.

Flatiron, kitchen needs, and italian fare

My friend Anna from home was visiting today, and I met her in the Union Square area to have breakfast.  We ate at the Grey Dog Cafe on University place and e. 12th st. (http://www.thegreydog.com/).  It's an ok place, they have great homemade breads, and their orange juice was pretty awesome. 

From there we walked up past Union Square to 23rd and Broadway.  On our way an adorable kitchen supply store caught my eye.  This. Place. Was. Awesome.  I am putting the website up on here as I am showing Chris everything I want from this store (totaling a couple thousand dollars).  It's called Fishs Eddy (http://www.fishseddy.com/).  I stumbled upon the sale section where I found little bowls for holding salsa, or dips. Chris had just been saying this morning that we should have something like that. 

Once we were up at 23rd and Broadway we decided to stop in at Eataly (http://eatalyny.com/) for a glass of wine (don't worry, we diligently waited until after 12 to go).  So honestly? The place kind of sucked.  I know that it's supposed to be awesome or whatever, but its kind of stupid.  You and your dining partner have to want EXACTLY the same thing, because the way it is broken down is by a bunch of little restaurants featuring each type of food.  So when the waitress asked me if we wanted to be seated in the "vegetable section or the seafood section" I was rightfully confused.  More intensely so when she said that they only had one pasta on the vegetable menu.  Isn't this an Italian restaurant? It took us until after we ate to figure out that there were other sections for "red meat", and "birds", and "pizza" and "pasta".  All. Different. Sections.  What is that?  In any case, I got it into my head to make dinner for the best boyfriend ever, so I bought freshly made pasta, and seasonings to make sauce.  Because I can't find it on the site, a way to make it would be crushed red pepper, dried basil, and garlic.  Mix that in oil and saute with oil.  FANTASTIC. 

The rest of the day was spent strolling, sunbathing, and taking in the fantastic site of the flatiron building and union sq. park. 

Screen junkies

Chris showed me these hilarious trailers called honest trailers.  They have a bunch of them.  One of my favorite ones is Twilight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gugBiEkLwU&feature=autoplay&list=PL086867C1ED88C7D7&playnext=1

Another funny one is Avatar. 

If you are looking for a laugh, check it out.

New music obsessions

I'm sure I will do a bunch of posts like this with new music that I am listening to and where I found it.  Anyone and everyone should feel free to comment with additions or comments. 

1) Grouplove
Chris and I were watching the Bonnaroo livestream, and they were one of the bands we watched.  The second they started singing both Chris and I turned to each other and said "they are pretty good".  They only got better.  A good way to tell if you like a bands music is their live performance, and we were hooked after theirs. 

http://www.grouplovemusic.com/tour-dates/

Two of the members met in NY, but they formed a band at an artist commune IN CRETE!  Sounds like fun to me.  The band is made up of mostly guys, but has one girl.  They have one major album (Never Trust a Happy Song) and one EP (Grouplove).  Never Trust a Happy Song is a great album.  My top favorites if you wanna try out a sampling before committing are:
Tongue Tied (track 2)
Lovely Cup (track 3)
Slow (track 5)
Spun (track 7)

2) Imagine Dragons
I was going through iTunes top 100 or whatever the other day because a lot of the time that is how I find good music (you just have to filter through "rack city, bitch" and the like).  I stumbled upon this band.  They are pretty good. 

http://www.imaginedragonsmusic.com/

The band is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.  They are of the indie rock persuasion.  A bit more on the mellow side, but definitely still fun and dancy.  They are touring with AWOLNATION (major song: Sail) this fall as well as playing at a bunch of the major music festivals this year.  They have a bunch of EPs and one album that will be released in September.  I have their most recent EP called Continued Silence.  Some good songs to check out are:
It's Time (track 1)
Demons (track 2)
On Top of the World (track 3)

3) Of Monsters and Men
One of my friends from school told me about Of Monsters and Men a while ago, and I just recently got around to downloading them, and got into them in a big way.  Also of the indie rock genre, they are a bit more inventive with their instrument usage. 

http://ofmonstersandmen.is/

This band is from Iceland, and have pretty cool accents that only add to their indie rock/indie folk music.  They have a female lead singer and their creativity with their instruments remind me a lot of Florence and the Machine.  Their one album is called My Head is an Animal.  A few songs I'd recommend are:
King and Lionheart (track 2) 
Mountain Sound (track 3)
Six Weeks (track 7)
Numb bears (track 13)
Little Talks (track 14)

I hope you enjoy the music suggestions, and I am always looking for new music, so if you have any suggestions leave a comment!

Bonnarooooooooo

So last year Chris and I hopped in my little cabrio and drove down to bonnaroo. This year we decided to buy a bed (I know, such an adult decision haha just more proof I deserve an adult glass). Needless to say, we were bummed. Today, we stumbled upon a live stream of bonnaroo done by YouTube. It's been on ever sense. I suggest you guys check it out!

http://m.youtube.com/user/BonnarooMusicFest?client=mv-google

Ayers and Pears

On our walk to brunch this morning Chris spotted a sign for a yard sale.  We have been trying to go to more of those to find cool vintage things or fun things to decorate the apartment with.  This particular one was kind of a bust except these two great posters.  We are going to put them up in the bathroom.  They are old poster advertisements mounted on wood.  Pretty cool, huh?


Also worth noting was brunch.  We went to one of our favorites in the neighborhood called the Ox Cart Tavern.  Their brunch menu is featured on the link below.  We went with one of our friends who just moved to the neighborhood.  I had peach pancakes (amazing).  Chris had strawberry and banana stuffed french toast (amazing). And our friend had a tuna burger with fries and homemade ketchup (amazing.).  We also had the soft pretzels and biscuits for an appetizer.  Needless to say, none of us actually finished our meals, but they were great!

Later, Chris and I went to see Prometheus.  It was great.  I had not seen Alien and Aliens until recently and enjoyed them, so I was curious to see if I would like this one too.  I really did.  I strongly recommend it.  We did not see it in 3D, so I think we are going to go back and see it in 3D.  Even if you haven't seen Alien or Aliens it is still good and you will be able to follow.  

Anyway, enjoy your Saturday nights everyone.  If your looking for something to do head to the movies and see Prometheus.

My day in pictures

  

It began with Chris being able to come home early!!

 

Next, we walked to a local wine store, and got two amazing bottles of wine AND a frequent buyers card (buy 12 get the 13th for a DOLLAR!).

 

On the walk home, we walked by my FAVORITE house (featured in the post below).

 

Followed by a DELICIOUS dinner.

 

And an adorable (but lazy) cat! 

All in all a pretty great Friday if I do say so myself.

My future home

So part of being fresh out of college is fantasizing about the future.  When Chris first moved to Ditmas park we went on a walk and I saw a house.  The most wonderful house that I have ever seen (apart from my home in DC of course).  It was colorful and big ad so close to everything.  Ever since then I have gone by to look at the house, found the address, and looked it up on all real estate sites.  Sadly, it has not been on the market in a while, so there were no pictures other than the outside one.  Until today.  I was on the neighborhood blog looking at activities for this weekend, and guess what I saw.  THE HOUSE!  It turns out that it is one of the many bed and breakfasts in the neighborhood (would it be silly to rent a room when I live just a few blocks away?).  In any case, I wanted to share my future home with you all.  I hope you enjoy, and if any of you are trying to find a place to stay.  I HIGHLY suggest here...if only so that I can come and visit you. 

http://ditmaspark.patch.com/articles/a-staycation-in-ditmas-park-rugby-gardens-b-b#photo-10237447

Down in the treme

So tonight I went out to dinner with two of my best friends. One of the topics of conversation was what the fuck we are all doing with our lives, which made it fitting when my mom showed us the cover of a recent NY times magazine that I thought I'd share (picture on the right). After they left my mom and I watched the first episode of the second season of Treme, a show we started on our trip to Tulum, Mexico. It's about New Orleans after the hurricane and follows several characters. It's a great show and the reason for the post. I highly recommend it. It can be pretty heavy at times, but it's good. Links about the show below.

http://www.hbo.com/treme/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treme_%28TV_series%29

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jnSzAI3gCQ

Music

The AUX cable in my car has been broken for about two years. Needless to say, I settle for just about anything on the radio over listening to one of the five CDs in the car. My boyfriend and I started recording what songs we listened to over the course of long car rides, and that's just what I did today. Quite a funny list if I do say so myself.