Pie Professional

Sooo okay, we didn't paint this weekend. Frankly, it barely crossed my mind. It was muggy and sweaty and sunny, and I tried my best to stay immobile at all times. Or at least aired out in every possible way.

One thing I did do was a pie class at the Brooklyn Kitchen. It was more for beginners (ahem), but I did figure out that pushing too hard while rolling out a crust can cause it to shrink. Bingo. The resulting mini rhubarb pie was tart and flaky and delicious. I also bought more plants at Sprout. My evil plan to convert my apartment into a jungle is working. Slowly but surely.

The Bike Has Landed

THE BIKE IS IN THE BUILDING. REPEAT: THE BIKE IS IN THE BUILDING.

My bike is here! It's a 2012 Mercier Elle City (bleep bleep bloop, I don't speak bike) and I got it online and it came "90% assembled."

I don't necessarily know what that means, other than I have to somehow get it home to a bike store so they can tune it for me. Easier said than done, with home being across a bridge. Or at least one subway ride away.

It was delivered to my office in TriBeCa because I don't have a doorman or any real thief prevention at home. So. Operation: Get Bike Home commences.

Now

Approximate future render

There are several ways I could get it home. Because I'm almost literally Liz Lemon, I made a list of the different strategies to see which one involves the least crippling embarrassment.



Cab

Pros:
Easy transport

Cons:
Expensive
Hard to hail/impossible
Have to force cabbie to drive me by threatening to call 311

Subway

Pros:
Cheap
Straightforward (go down 4 flights of stairs total, then wheel home)

Cons:
Heavyish
Awkward looks from everyone else on the platforms, train and walk home

Ride

Pros:
Hard
Uphill?
Potentially dangerous (no helmet or bridge navigation skills)
Could ruin bike

Cons:
Free
That's what a bike does

I think I netted out at subway. BONUS: My willing boyfriend agreed to accompany me after work. That negates the "heavy" aspect. And, as he says, "being an asshole is better in a pair."

Bloomin' Spring

Late spring is my favorite time of year.



I go overboard on strawberries. I buy pints and pints and pints of the stuff at the farmers market. The little perfect berries are so small, I barely made five jars of jam this year. That just means I'll get to buy more next week to stain everything in my kitchen.






Recipe

With peonies in season, I can buy armfuls of the stuff. They make the whole apartment smell good, and look beautiful besides. My favorite flower.





(I tried to use fake ones to make a statement floral crown but it... uh... ended up taking over my head. I guess it'll make a good Halloween costume or drunken night out conversation starter.)

Quarter Century

Last week, I turned 25...! Can you believe it? Quarter century old.

Lovely flowers from the boyfriend.

I spent the weekend at home in Chicago. It was über relaxing, with time at the beach, hanging out in Lincoln Park and an afternoon watching the Cubbies play at home. Excellent way to celebrate becoming a real, human adult.

Lick of Paint

I have big plans for this weekend. Whether they will come to pass is purely speculation, since the boyfriend is out of town on Saturday and I have a serious hankering to can some jam after my pie making class at the Brooklyn Kitchen. But a Plan we have, and here is the Plan:

Painting the apartment.

We're totally both white wall people, but the siren call of Pinterest and this post by Emily Henderson has me thinking we need something stimulating on the walls—something that doesn't have to be bright or neon or difficult. We can do gray. Gray is okay.

For the dining room, a soft gray would warm things up a bit while adding depth.

Benjamin Moore's Gray Timber Wolf is speaking to me.

We spend a lot of time in the slightly cavernous living room, which I would love to paint dark gray. I just want to paint something dark gray, and this might be where the magic happens.

Farrow & Ball's Down Pipe sure is nice, but my all-knowing mother informed me that can be a pricey paint. Maybe something similar but cheaper, then.

Moody.

And for the bedroom, I had a tussle in my heart. I want to keep splashing paint everywhere, but I really dig the white light bouncing off my white walls onto my white bedding. See where this is going? A friend suggested I play off the wainscoting (see here) and paint half the wall. That way, I get the warmth of color while embracing the light of the top half.

Like this.

Or this. And I think this bluish gray is perfect. It fits in with the other two and gives a little tickle—not a punch—of visual interest.

So am I crazy? Will painting a dark room a very dark color make it darkerer? Is it possible to do three rooms in one weekend? What kind of jam should I make?

We'll see how it goes.

Mom's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my lovely mom.



Then (the little one)



And now...ish. Eating pretzels in Germany like a boss. Thanks for helping me see the world.

Future Perfect

From the depths of my Drafts folder:

While we're talking saving up for good quality shizz, here's my dream bag.

Dun dun dunnn... The Sofia Coppola for Louis Vuitton purse.

I mean, it's a few years old. It doesn't come in black. It's a LV. But I've never been so physically attracted to an accessory in all my life.

Little question of finding and spending over $4k on a bag, but that's a problem Future Rich Me can deal with.

(images from here, here and here)