HAPPY NEW YEAR

To 2008.
I like that we've made at least some sentimentality out of the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.
It's nice that we can embrace change so festively.
Well...that's my two cents.
You can count on me to be amazingly drunk tomorrow night. Woo hoo.
Happy New Year everybody.
2009 holds great things.

*For fun facts about the Times Square's New Year's Eve Ball click here (it's actually pretty cool)*

I have a thing for raunchy photography.

If you haven't gotten your fill of mild pornography for the day, consider this my Christmas present to you.

Paleness

I've embraced my paleness over the past three years. Living in New York City will do that to you. There's no point in spending money and damaging your skin to look like you've been spending hours lying on the beach....in the middle of December. Anyways, I found this great ad campaign for John Galliano's new jewelry line and it's absolutely beautiful, mainly because of her milky white skin. It actually makes me wish I was more pale.

SPIKEY

So I finally put the pictures from my iPhone onto my computer today. Aren't you proud Abi? Anyways, I was looking through them and realized that I tend to take pictures of scary looking things that usually involve spikes. I don't know if this is just by coincedence or if I've just been in a spikey sort of mood lately, but I wanted to share them with the people that still read my blog (if there's anyone left).








Public Library in Boston








Brussel sprouts on the stalk











Mystery vegetable at the Greenmarket











The coolest railing I've ever seen surrounding the Capitol Building in Philadelphia












And these are shoes designed by Christian Louboutin for the Rodarte show at Fashion Week this past fall. They were highly criticized, but I love the gothicky spikes with the cobweb tights.

Moral of the story: Spikes = Beautiful

INVEN.TORY

I walked into this cool store today called INVEN.TORY on the corner of Kenmare and Elizabeth. They just opened about a week ago, but since I usually walk past there to get home, I've been eye-ing them for almost 3 weeks. I was hesitant though, because I hate walking into boutiques and then realize that everything is way too expensive. I always have to come up with some sort of awkward exit strategy which is just.....well, awkward. I was pleasantly surprised by the low-ish prices (for the quality and design), but it would still be a bit of a splurge. I really liked the atmosphere, the concept of the store, and the clothing itself, plus the woman working there was very nice and helpful. I took a business card and an invite to their sample sale this weekend at a closeby gallery. I definitely plan on returning though....it may have favorite store potential. Anyways, check it out.

COLLEEEEEEGE

I went to my first college football game last night. Boston College Eagles versus Virginia Tech Hokies (I know, what the fuck is a hokie?). So anyways, it was the first time that I really felt a sense of college community. We sat in the student section amidst drunken co-eds sporting anything BC colored or related, whether it be in the form of a simple t-shirt or full body paint in 45 degree weather. Props to them by the way. We danced to the music the band played, chanted along with the cheerleaders and cheered our team on to victory. After the clock was down to zero in the last quarter, all of the students rushed onto the field. We didn't really have any choice in the matter - we were being shoved and pushed by everyone behind us towards the railing and a six foot drop onto the field. A little wary about the situation (I'm a faux BC fan and was a little too drunk and cold to be awkwardly hurdling fences and then hoping I would land on my feet) but some how we all made it onto the field, doing more cheering and yelling and jumping around. Oh college.
Anyways.....as great as it was to get to have the whole typical college football game experience and to feel that you're part of "the greatest college ever", I'm very very glad that I can return to NYU, where I can resume my role as a "student"....aka normal person living in New York City who takes a few classes a week and can maintain absolutely no sense of school spirit or community and continue to have a cynical, jaded view of the world. That's more my cup of tea.

HALLOWEEEEEN

Get excited. And a little scared. Hehehehe.

I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party

I recently acquired 3 pairs of very cool pants. All very cool in very different ways. I know that pants aren't all that exciting, but I've been craving really neat non-jean pants for the last 3 months. Let me tell you - my craving was satiated.

Pair #1: Purchased yesterday evening at a vintage shop/bar (strange or awesome?) down the street from my apartment. I was rummaging through the $5 bin (yes I'm a poor college student) and found this pair of pants that was the baby of 80s mom leggings and 40s style men's pleated trousers. And they were light pink. Of course I try them on. They fit. It's fate. I've found the pant that I've been looking for. I wore them out proudly last night and felt like Katherine Hepburn or Annie Hall. Man-ish, but in the best way.

Pair #2: Stumbled upon this afternoon while looking for fall-ish jackets at Zara. I actually found the pants that I had been dreaming about first, a linen-y cotton material shaped like sweatpants (ankle bands, drawstring and all). They were so chic, and I could have worn them everywhere and everyday, but they didn't fit like I had hoped for them to. Oh well. I also tried on a pair of harem pants made of a trouser material. I'm equally intrigued and weirded out by this upcoming trend, so I thought I would at least give it a shot. The verdict? I guess I liked them, but they also looked a little bit like I was wearing a diaper. That's not so cute. Unless you're into that sort of thing....anyways. So the actual pair #2 was this non-descript pair of black pants hanging underwhelmingly on a rack, but I examined them more closely, and they seemed to have potential. I tried these on and didn't love them right away, but they kept growing on me. They have a similar silhouette as the 40s style trousers I mentioned before; pleated with a little bit of room at the top (great for putting your hands in your pockets) that become super tight (in a good way) from the mid thigh down and hit at the ankle. They remind me of those jodphur pants that tried to be trendy about a year ago. Too bad those didn't catch on; I can't think of a more so-ugly-it's-beautiful cut of pants. They also have a very menswear-ish feel, which I've been ridiculously into for the past year or so. If you can't already tell, I'm very excited about this pair. Zillions of potential outfits await.

Pair #3: Another chance of fate. I tried these pants on about two months ago and loved them, but didn't buy them for fear that they might be a little to intense for my wardrobe. That was before I bought a bright red mini skirt. So I walked through Forever 21 today, doing the usual search for the needle in the haystack that might be worth spending 20 bucks on. Of course, what do I see? THE PANTS. There they were - tight, shiny, latex-y, black leggings and only $18.00. I had a twenty in my wallet, so I took the plunge. I tried them on when I got home (the line was too long at the store) and was completely delighted. It looked like they had been poured on, weren't too shiny, and fit very well. I was worried that they would look too hipster/dominatrix or be too hard to wear with my other clothes, but I have a feeling that we'll be very happy together.

ANYWAYS...I'm sure most of you reading this are very bored and/or uninterested by this point. Every now and then my inner fashion nerd comes out and I don't want to talk my poor friends' ears off, so I decide to torture my fellow internet users. I hope you enjoyed and/or hated this blog post. Whatever.

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T:

A visually stimulating musical fantasy film with hilariously awkward songs and DeChirico-esque sets that is the only movie ever created by the great Dr. Seuss.

I highly recommend it.

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T

Bangs

My choice of haircut has been validated.

See here.

Although, I'm not sure if it's a compliment or an insult....

Gouda Parrano!

I recently discovered the best cheese known to mankind.

Gouda Parrano.

I bought it on a whim at Whole Foods when I was looking for some cheese to go with some black forest ham and a baguette. Little did I know that it would be the most delicious cheese that I ever put in my mouth.

Anyways, it's award winning (it won the award for "Best Gouda" at the 2006 World Championship Cheese Contest), it's very inexpensive, and it really is amazing.

Next time you're at Whole Foods, I strongly encourage you to buy and eat this cheese. ASAP. And if you don't want to eat it, bring it to me.

BAGELS

Last night somebody asked me what my three top favorite foods were. My first reaction was that I didn't have any favorite foods and it was impossible to pick out the lucky three that I would choose over the rest. I mean, there are so many choices, varieties, textures, flavors of food. It's one of those instances where you think that everything is so different and wonderful that there's no way to narrow it down.

But then.......the lightbulb turned on. What's my favorite food? Why, bagels of course. Of course.

Bagels........there just aren't enough words. First of all, I didn't really discover bagels until around the end of high school. My parents weren't Jews and they never were really into them, so I didn't grow up eating them. I guess it's not a big southern/Belgian thing. We had Einstein's Bagels and Bros. (AMAZING bagel chain - who else do you know that makes chocolate chip bagels?) down the street from us, but for some reason I didn't really make it over there until I could drive myself. I didn't even like plain cream cheese until my senior year. Or any sort of savory bagel for that matter.

My attitude towards bagels changed once I moved to New York two years ago. Bagels (usually everything toasted with cream cheese) became a main staple as breakfast, a snack, part of a meal from the dining hall, even late night drunchies. They're ridiculously accessible in New York City; every deli, bodega, coffee shop, and corner store is automatically expected to have a wide variety of bagels with various options of spreads. They're cheap too and they'll fill you up for a few hours. Bagel with a glob of cream cheese and a coffee and you're set for the day.

So my sick obssession with bagels didn't really begin until I started working at The Bean. We get delicious and fresh bagels every morning, we have a toaster that works some serious bagel magic, and melty butter and huge tubs of whipped cream cheese. I supposed it was only a few months ago that a fellow co-worker introduced the best and worst thing that has happened to me....bagel-wise. A bagel (usually garlic, onion, or everything) toasted with butter AND cream cheese. That's right....butter AND cream cheese. People look at me like I'm a fat crazy bagel whore when I tell them that that's my favorite way to eat bagels. And honestly, I thought it was pretty crazy and fatty when I first heard of this yummy treat, but once I put that crispy, buttery, creamy, doughy goodness in my mouth, it was all over. I was a prisoner to bagels slathered in butter and cream cheese. Thinking about it now makes my mouth water.

So for the past few days that I've worked at the coffee shop, I've ended up eating two bagels a day. Not necessarily with the heart-stopping double topping, but two bagels nonetheless. Not that thats bad........oh, who the fuck am I kidding. It's horrible. I'm just glad that it isn't showing around the love handle/ass area. But regardless, it's not very healthy and I should cut back on the huge amounts of butter and carbs that I eat when I work at the coffee shop. So today I came into work to begin my shift and proclaimed to my co-worker that I wasn't going to eat any carb-y baked goods today. I felt empowered after the first few hours of resisting my temptations, but after a while, I reeeally started to crave them. I would be making a bagel for a customer and start fantasizing about taking a huge bit out of a warm and toasty bagel, only to snap out of it when I remembered the promise I made to myself. I have enough will power to not eat a bagel for 9 hours. I mean, come on. I'm not a complete glutton. So finally, after my nine hour shift, I gave into my carb-nal (you know, like carnal....I'm corny) desires and ate a chocolate cookie that had just come right out of the oven. Delish. Then....I decided to take a bagel home with me. Bad bad choices. I ended up getting high and making myself a bagel with butter and cream cheese for my afternoon snack. It was amazing and well worth it, regardless of the promise I made to not eat one. Hey, I lasted nine hours.

I'm telling you, I have a sick, sick addiction to bagels.

If I could give today a grade, I would give it an A+

Just a few random thoughts today:

I'm soaking wet. I got out of the subway this evening and it was POURING down rain. I mean, it was torrential. People were pretty bummed about it. It's funny how much the weather affects the way New Yorkers live. Everyone always says that living in an urban environment completely cuts you off from nature and the outdoors, but I definitely experience the elements of nature far more frequently than I did when I lived in a much less urban environment. So with that said, I love the rain, but hate walking through it.

I woke up today with a really great feeling: that I was going to have a great day. What better feeling can you have? There wasn't even a doubt in my mind that I wouldn't try to have the best day I could. And I did. I did things that I wanted to do without having to deal with what anyone else wanted. I sat outside of the cafe on the corner with an iced coffee and a croissant and did a crossword. Attempted at least. I walked through Chelsea, went to Whole Foods and relished in the foodie-ness, and had lunch with Taylor at her gallery. I went to my favorite flea market. It was vintage heaven. I wanted EVERYTHING. Looked through a home furnishing store (another heaven-like store for me; ever since I got this new apartment, all I want to do is decorate it). I went to the Greenmarket and bought bread and carrots. I even got soaking wet in the rain, and I don't really care. I'm just having a great day and it's so nice. Maybe it's these past three days off work....back to the grind tomorrow though. Boo.

Oh, and tonight I'm going to a party hosted by people who only know me as their barista. They 30-somethings and seem nice enough, but I serve them their coffee every morning.....and they repay me by asking me to their 30-year-old party? Thank you, what a generous tip. I mean.....don't get me wrong, I'm totally going. I'm going to get smashed before I go and I'm sure I will have the time of my life. Unless a 30-year-old party is just a bunch of boring adults, sitting around a table, consuming wine and cheese, and discussing politics and global warming. Either way, should be a BLAST.

Living in the city as a real person is much different than living in the city as a student.

I don't really know what else I wanted to talk about. Oh. I'm really happy that I'm television-less still. I feel like my brain is much less mushy.

Alright, well thats it.

I wanted to end with a silly picture.

Weather Man

Never have I really experienced such extreme and rapidly changing weather in New York. Usually, it's either raining or snowing or dry, sunny or cloudy, hot or cold, but you never really see it happen or change because you can't see the New York sky.

So this evening, me and my roommate Taylor decided prepare ourselves a delicious meal of hot dogs and bean/corn salad (hey, we're poor) and eat it up on our roof deck. By the way, I love our roof. We have an amazing view, no one is ever up there (all of our neighbors are old and asian-they aren't quite the partying type), and it's just a great place to hang out when the weather is nice out.

Well....the weather turned out to be not so nice. We were expecting "scattered strong storms" this afternoon and evening, so it had been cloudy and a bit rainy for most of the afternoon. But we were sitting up on the roof and I saw this cloudy that was dark, ominous, and coming closer....QUICKLY. I mean....it wasn't just moseying (how do you even spell that strange word?) on through the sky like most normal clouds-it was coming straight for us at a scary fast pace. I pointed it out to Taylor, and she also noticed this storm cloud's alarming pace. It got closer and closer and closer and we were getting scaaaared. At the same time, we both thought and said "Get out your camera", and proceeded to take artsy-ish pictures of this literal freak of nature. Pictures to come. So once the storm head was about to come over our poor little roof deck, we felt this HUGE gust of wind that proceeded to gust harder until it threatened to knock over our water bottles and blow off our remaining feast items. We didn't really want to stick around to see what was going to happen as we didn't want to get blown off the roof's edge or get soaking wet, so we frantically grabbed all of our things and ran inside.

That was about twenty minutes ago and it hasn't started raining, but I predict torrential downpours. So much for doing anything on an already plain Monday night.

Mourning

When I got home this afternoon, I did what I always do when I get home. I took off my shoes and sat down in front of my laptop and clicked on the little Internet Explorer icon to begin the routine. You know how you always have certain websites that you check whenever you get on a computer? Maybe in the same sort of order every time? Well I do. mail.nyu.edu is first, then www.gmail.com, then either www.craigslist.org or www.tastespotting.com. So this afternoon I went to tastespotting, which by the way is an amazing website. Or was. To my dismay, I discovered that tastespotting was shut down due to "recent legal complications". Sounds a little bit fishy, but nevertheless, I am completely devestated. I've probably checked that website everyday for hm.....8 or 9 months. I got some of my best recipes from tastespotting. It's unfortunate for everyone reading this who hasn't ever visited this glorious website because it's hard to understand exactly what it is. I guess people can submit food blog posts that have recipes or interesting food-related things, and it all shows up on this website. It's basically food porn. People apparently get really into food blogs and food photography and all that sort of stuff, so it's like a culmination of the best of all the blogs. It's like an endless internet cookbook....with great pictures. So....if I don't blog for the next few days (not that I've been good about doing it anyways), its because I'm going through tastespotting withdrawls. And frantically searching for a replacement.

R.I.P. www.tastespotting.com

Good Reasons

Goodness, I've been absolutely horrible about writing anything on this blog. May has been ridiculously busy.

Alright, so I've been back in Dallas for about two weeks and haven't gone a day without smoking pot (well...maybe one). Two of my closest friends from back home started smoking very frequently, so I just tag along for the ride. And you know, I feel like I should feel bad about it or something, like it's killing all of my brain cells and I'm just some stupid stoner. But.....I don't. Pot has made me a much happier and well balanced person actually, and I can't feel remorse for that. Why? I'll tell you.

1. It relaxes you like nothing else. I've been stressed out to no end in the past few months and the only thing that I can look forward to keep me level headed is a bowl of weed at the end of the day. Because I really don't want to be one of those high-strung, constantly stressed out people. Just thinking about that stresses me out.

2. It makes it easier to be introspective. It's usually semi-hard for me to tell myself that I'm wrong or that I need to make a major change in my life or even just to deal with my feelings. When I smoke, all of that becomes much more clear and I can actually sort through my repressed issues and do something about it.

3. All of your senses are heightened. Food tastes more delicious, every movie is a masterpiece, and every song rocks your world. Everything is fascinating and more interesting and you end up appreciating much more than you would normally. I went to the Radiohead concert a week or so ago and was basically blazed the entire time and I'm SO glad that I was. I already loved their music, but it was just that much better seeing them in person, with that amazing light show, listening to their beautiful music with 20,000 other people.

4. If you're bored, it's a great thing to do. On nights where there's absolutely nothing to do and you don't want to go out and spend money, all you have to do is smoke a bowl, make yourself some dinner, and pop in a movie, and you're set for the rest of the night.

5. If you can't sleep, smoke weed. You will get tired eventually.

6. This doesn't always happen, but sometimes I feel really connected to the people that I'm smoking with. This only happens with a select few that I smoke pretty often with and am very close with. It's a very interesting feeling and sort of strange and actually really difficult to explain. Like....it's almost as if I can tell what they're thinking or vice-versa or know what they're about to say. It's like we're on the same wavelength. I like that feeling of connectedness to other people. But really, everyone does.

7. And lastly, I need something to self-medicate with in a world of over-medicated people. Everyone is all about anti-depressants, pain pills, medicating with alcohol, muscle relaxants, other drugs, and even taking pills recreationally. Not to say any of that is bad, we've all got our drug of choice, but if everyone else is taking something to make them feel better, then so can I.

Even though there is no one telling me not to smoke or asking my why I do, I still feel the need to justify my habits. Most people I know are accepting of the fact, mainly the people I know in New York (because they all do too), but my friends back in Dallas don't accept that I'm a little bit of a pothead. Many haven't tried it, so naturally they would be against it, but it's frustrating that some of my friends don't accept that part of me.

I will leave you with the words of the great Kirsten Dunst: "If everyone smoked pot, the world would be a better place."

I heart you BBSBM.

So, last night, my fake ID was almost confiscated by a big black scary bouncer man. When the words, "I confiscate fake IDs" came out of his mouth, my stomach instantly got that icky "man...FUCK" feeling. So I played stupid, "Alright, well my ID isn't fake so...". That did not work. After he rejected my offer to beg on my knees, I felt completely defeated. Anyways, to make a long story short, he finally gave my ID back after my friends (and some people who I had met only minutes before) talked him into it.

There are lots of morals to this semi-uninteresting story though.
1) People are generally kind hearted. This bouncer didn't have to give a shit about me or the fact that my social life would have dwindled without my precious ID. Why would he have anyways? I was just another underage college girl trying to get into a bar with a fake ID. There are plenty of us. But...he gave it back. And he said that he would "take care of me" whenever I come back. Me and big black scary bouncer man are now tight.
2) Connections are everything. My friends who I had only known for a few minutes knew the bouncer and told him that we were roommates sophomore year and that we were best friends. Without knowing these "friends" and without them knowing the bouncer, I would be frantically searching for a replacement for my fake ID right now.
3) Fuck the law. Seriously though. I may not be 21 and technically can't get into bars, but I feel like I am mature and responsible enough to handle myself in one. I know that can't be said for all 20 year olds, but I personally am not using my ID to go to a bar and get shit-wasted drunk. I am not a liability. I don't even want to go into the drinking age right now; there is too much to say. But I will say this, other than my age (age ain't nothing but a number...thank you B2K), I think that I deserve to be able to go to a bar hassle-free.

So, in closing, I can continue frequenting my beloved bars thanks to my new homie, big black scary bouncer man. Love you.

Premiere

Never would I have thought that starting a blog would be so strenuous. Picking out a name, choosing the color scheme and font, and finding that perfect picture have consumed about 3 hours of the past day. I suppose when you're an aesthetic perfectionist and don't know french very well, it becomes much harder. But really though, your blog, like any other part of your life, is very telling of the type of person you are. Either that, or the person that you're trying to present yourself as.

Speaking of the type of person that you are, isn't it strange when you realize that you didn't turn out the way you thought you would? I mean, when I was 12 years old, I never imagined that I would be a semi-introverted pot-smoking art history student living in New York City. Not that I am at all unhappy with the way my life is turning out, but it makes me think of all of the decisions, events, and experiences that I have had to produce the present "me". But who knows what I'll be like in 10 years. Wait and see I guess.