hair delight

i have been looking for something new to do with my hair for ages.

being pregnant, i refuse to do the 'i'm-about-to-have-a-baby-and-need-a-simple-cut' chop. i want to keep growing my hair out to do something ridiculously stylish once my face isn't so cubby. plus, i've been saving a $35 bumble + bumble discount card for months.

i constantly wear my hair up and out of my face. i do things with lots of twist to keep my fly-aways at bay, but these are getting old.

ALAS - i stumbled upon this gorgeous hair trick on one of my favorite blogs and have been rocking braids (at least 3x a week) since.

slight variations: i usually do mine with damp hair. and use excessive amounts of bobbi pins.

breakfast date

brunch/breakfast is one of my favorite things. i love deciding on menus. preparing + cooking. setting the table and using my sweet fantastic flea market find dishes (trying to channel rachel ashwell). and of course eating.



this weekend i decided to have my friend gillian over for breakfast. we had mini ( how much do i love tweaking recipes into mini versions?!?!) broccoli + ricotta + cheddar frittatas, freshly baked croissants (courtesy of my fav local bakery rose + joe's) with jam, not so freshly squeezed tropicana oj and fresh blueberries + strawberries for an added kick of antioxidants. it was delicious.

the frittatas were the highlight. i made them using fresh eggs straight from the farm of martha stewart - the difference in cooking using these fresh eggs is incredible! i created my own recipe to suit my own taste, as you do, by merging it from a few other frittata recipes that sounded tasty + easy enough.

 * gorgeous right!?!

1 head broccoli

8-10 eggs - i use the whole egg, but you can bulk up fluffiness with substituting a few eggs for egg whites

1/4 cup milk - the higher the fat content, the fluffier the egg mixture gets

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

salt + pepper to taste

spray standard cupcake tin with cooking spray, or you can lightly grease with butter

preheat oven to 375 degrees

beat eggs and milk together in mixer on high for at least 5 minutes or until increases in volume and is light and fluffy. add salt + pepper.

scatter broccoli + cheddar cheese evenly into cups. add dollop of ricotta to each cup. 

fill cups with beaten egg mixture.

bake for 15 minutes or until golden and puffy. makes 12 mini frittatas

so easy. so delicious. 

*sometimes i add a few drops of hot sauce or sprinkle in chives into the egg mixture for a different flavour. i also usually chopped onion but forgot about it this time. and you can also add any other veggie or breakfast meat you wish. ham is pretty yummy...but gillian is a vegetarian so i left that ingredient out as well. 

...and the leftovers that i hope will cure mr.s' post-atlantic city hangover

the only thing missing from this breakfast was a solid bloody mary or sweet mimosa. oooh december will be a sweet month of cocktails!

i'm in love with the hester street fair

  


i recently ventured down + out to essex street to check out the oh-so-new hester street fair; a smaller, delightful, manhattan version of the beloved brooklyn flea. it was well worth the long trek from queens and was the perfect adventure to brighten up the otherwise gloomy weathered weekend.

i adore local street fairs and markets - a great way to be inspired to buy local & eat seasonal (cute lil catch phrase i borrowed from top hester vendor claudia pearson)

it got me right from the start with the grub. there was enough to please a true foodie with some of my favorites; lobster roll master luke's lobster (october 28 '09), meatball shop treats (may 22 '10), as well as brooklyns own mcclure's pickles, a selection of tasty bakeries and the much anticipated sigmund pretzel...which was everything i hoped it would be and more. i savored each bite of my classic salted, although it was a tough choice between classic and gruyere paprika, but for a first try i thought it best to try the building block for all the rest of the flavors.

food aside (not so much aside as nestling in my stomach as useful caloric energy bits i would need for the treasure hunting ahead of me) the vendors were stellar. i left with only 3 purchases, but was easily charmed by others and took extensive notes on multiple business cards.

aforementioned claudia pearson has bright and beautiful assortment of tea towels made from old flour sacks, totes, prints and more. she's a "must add" to your etsy favorite buyer list. i treated my kitchen to the spring tea towel. love it! and i have been hinting endlessly to mr.s that the other 3 seasons would be a perfect gift.

  

i have been sporting the cutest little earrings you ever did see from erica weiner and would be sure to go back to her for girlfriends birthday gifts. even the card that the earrings rest on have such detail and can perk up your day.

i couldn't pass up vintage t-shirts that were only $5 each and got one for mr.s and one for myself. we've both been out & about in them a few times since. what a bargain!

and i plan on going back soon for must-have baby attire from juli raja who had a gorgeous collection of block print men dress shirts, baby tops, dresses and scarves.

i plan on going again. perhaps today. i'm craving pickles and am still curious about the gruyere + paprika pretzel.

big apple bbq in mad.sq.park

nothin' says summer quite like bbq food. mmm! greasy meat, loads of bbq sauce and sweet, vinegary coleslaw.

queens cohort N came along with me for the lunch time feast at the annual big apple bbq festival at madison square park.

i must say the actual festival was very mild, strange sponsors, odd crowd of fellow bbq'ers, everything was very spread out and the food was on the outskirts of the park.

the food was tasty, although every stand was dishing out small portions for $8 plates and we somehow managed to miss out on a staple pulled pork sandwich smothered in bbq sauce. we tried 3 different plates...

ny's very own wildwood barbeque pork strip steak sandwich w. bourbon onions and housemade pickles (v. tangy) and hill country beef brisket with yummy, not quite pickled cucumbers

Raleigh's the pit whole hog sandwich w. classic coleslaw. *sweet vinegar sauce was crucial to this sandwich

and chowed down in the park waiting for the sun to make a debut. 

  

museum mile minus the museums

when S and i first moved here we were on a serious budget. well...we were unemployed and our measly savings were dwindling, so we took advantage of every free event in nyc possible. in early june we decided to check out musuem mile; all musuems along 5th avenue between 82nd street & 105th street are free for the evening.

what a fabulous idea. we packed a pb&j lunch and headed out to absorb the art & history. walking from columbus circle because we couldn't even afford the subway. once we arrived at the metropolitan museum of art we were told the free event didn't start for another 6 hours. devastated.

it took us years to attempt again. this year we made a date to go with one of our favorite nyc couples, becca + mike. we soaked up the atmosphere and bustle, walked more than the mile up along 5th avenue and ditched the museums and chaotic lines in favor of a nyc pretzel and drawing on the sidewalk. we made some masterpieces with our 3 shade challenge of colors.

   

perhaps next year we will be prepared for the lines, swarm of children and upper east side parents and lack of food vendors.