My Oven Is Broken

…so I used that as an excuse to check out Molly’s Cupcakes. ;) I’ve been wanting to pay this place a visit for awhile since everyone says it’s sooo good and after having the fancy schmancy desserts sometimes all you need is a a good ‘ole cupcake to satisfy your sweet tooth.

I intended to the trip to be a quick one, thinking Molly’s was a quick jump on the highway away so I would just get one red velvet and go. But after fighting traffic and circling around for parking multiple times you better believe I was going to get more than one to make this trip worthwhile. I decided to get two of the more popular choices. First one – the aforementioned red velvet:

And it was good. Not great, but I would get it again. I only ate half (so I could eat half of the other cupcake w/o feeling that guilty). I think I would have preferred less cake for the amount of frosting but the frosting was cream-cheesy enough for me.
Next is the Ron Bennington – a chocolate cupcake filled with peanut butter, frosted with chocolate ganache and crushed butterscotch. Yowzers this was rich. I could hardly eat half w/o feeling the ickiness that comes with too much sugar in a short amount of time. It was good though, and if you like the chocolate-peanut butter flavor combo you’ll definitely want to try this one. I suggest eating it slowly…and chase it with a frosty glass of milk.

So would I go back again? A definite yes, but…. only if I was in the area. Molly’s is a bit out of the way for me, but I might make an exception to try another filled cupcake. :)

The “NYC Effect”

Take a close look at the pictures below. (via The Sartorialist).

Can you believe this is the same girl?

On the surface, the 2 pics are indicative of this girl’s style change over the course of 6 months. But Schuman, the author of the blog, reveals that she was an Oakbrook transplant in NYC who didn’t know anyone when she had moved. He then goes on to suggest that by not being surrounded by family and friend’s expectations of what she should be, she ultimately became free to be the person she really was, style-wise and personality-wise. Interesting theory, of which I do buy into, but it was really intriguing to see it played out in pictures like this. And it gives you a ‘lil something to opine about for the next 5 minutes…

Leavin’ On a Jet Plane

Saturday I got my hair did and chopped off three inches of hair. Isn’t it bouffant-y looking? Every time an Eastern European woman does my hair, they inevitably style it like this. Ugh, I always feel like a small town news anchorwoman.

I generally feel hesitation whenever I get a haircut. This probably stems from the first time I got my hair cut from someone else besides my mother when I was a kid. Just in time for 2nd grade school pictures, this guy cuts my hair and I end up looking, like well a guy. I was all excited too because I finally got to have my hair cut by a pro and when I saw he cut off way too much hair, I just about cried right there in the chair. Hehe, yeah that’s always stuck with me. Nowadays it isn’t quite that bad. But my last bad experience was a couple years ago when this lady gave me highlights, assuring me the whole time it would look natural. Instead I came out practically freakin’ BLONDE. I was so shocked when I saw my reflection and it took me more than a year to grow that crap out!

But anyways, I had to get the haircut ’cause I’m on my way to Cincinnati on the corporate jet for a meeting with the big research and development honchos of the organization. Can’t be looking scrubby now can I? No real work til Wednesday…yay!

2 really quick reviews: I love my coffee. I scoff at the instant stuff and favor local cafes usually going for full bodied dark roasts with just milk and no sugar. If I see an Intellegentsia sign, I’m so there because I know the coffee will be perfect. So on Saturday I took a tour of their roasting facility with Wongthip. They give you background on where they get their beans, take you around their offices and tasting rooms and roast beans right in front of you on their old fashioned german machines. Four coffee blends are waiting for you to sample upon your arrival and you leave with half a pound of the coffee they just roasted. Pretty cool.

After that we headed over to Fat Willy’s in my old ‘hood Logan Square. I’ve been waiting to try this place out and it didn’t disappoint. With all the snow falling yesterday, I was in the mood for something warm and substantial so me and Wongthip shared a beef brisket sandwich, jalapeno corn fritters and a hot brownie toppped with ice cream and whipped cream. Omg…per-fec-tion. I will definitely go back.

Alrighty I have to wake up in 5 hours so I should prolly get to bed now :p

A Few of My Favorite Things…

-Faced with a munchie dilemma at work, I made my way to the cafeteria vending machine. Cheetos or chips, hmmmm. Then I spot this:

Blair’s Death Rain XXX Hot Habanero Kettle Cooked Potato Chips.
MY GOD THESE CHIPS ARE HOT. I love hot foods but from the first chip my upper lip in was a sweat. Definitely beats Kruncher’s Jalapeno Chips in the heat race.

-Hersch, author of one of my fave blogs, All Things Chill gives the heads up on the $10 Holiday Sale going on at Threadless. Yay cool (and CHEAP)
t-shirts! Make your picks soon before they sell out. Me likes this design, Release by Dan Gilbert:

– And I picked this up over the weekend:

Bobbi Brown’s limited edition Tube Tints. Makes a sweet little Christmas present for any girlie in your life. These shades work on anyone and don’t worry guys, you can just pick them up and check out, no confrontations with make-up ladies at the cosmetics counter. :)

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(Not-so) hellish work update. Sooo if I talked you over the weekend, you’ll remember how I shot up out of my sleep Saturday after remembering that I totally forgot to send a mucho importante package for work. Almost ruined the weekend because I was so damn worried about what the boss would say. Even the soju enhanced karaoke fest for The Wongers and Kaizen’s birthday couldn’t make me forget I dropped the ball on this one. I was bracing myself for verbal ass kicking today but…she actually took it quite well. *Phew.* Crisis averted…for now at least.

"Say It Ain’t So"

Is Weezer over?

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New City has a listing of Chicago area boutiques they think you should visit. Lots of potential for credit card damage. Also, new from Daily Candy, Daily Candy Deals where you can snag pretty nice discounts on sweeeet shopping sites. This week includes 30% off everything at Girlshop.com.
What girl wouldn’t like that?

Hello Wednesday

1. Why is it that on a day when I had more sleep than usual and took the time to eat a well balanced breakfast, people asked me “Are you sick?” or “What’s wrong? You look terrible!” I must have looked like ass today. Maybe I should have gone the usual sleep deprived, fueled by black coffee route. Perhaps then I would have been a bit more cheery.

2. Switching gears…I’m a big fan of the Chicago dance scene. If you are too, check out seechicagodance.com – it’s a great resource to start seeing all the dance companies Chicago has to offer. My favorite? Hubbard Street Dance Co. Beauty in motion… If you’re interested, have a look at the current repertoire. Some of my faves: Tabula Rasa, Cor Perdut, Kiss, and No More Play.

3. Wedding in a month – I need a dress!!! Almost as nerve-wracking as swimsuit shopping. It is so hard to find something decent for a small curvy thing like me. How about these? Too boring, too dark?

Eh, I’m not feelin’ these either…Oh well the quest continues…

Sesame Seeds and Tamarind Juice

That dreaded time of the month. This month’s food cravings center around sesame seed food products and tamarind juice extra sour. Store bought brands are too sweet for me so I went out of my way to go to a Mediterranean grocery store to pick up some tamarind paste so I could make it to my liking. I couldn’t find it myself so I asked a store employee, a teenager with broken english and a mustache grown with the purpose of looking like a bad-ass grown man. He told me to make the juice, I needed “this much” rose water and gave me a thumbs up.

Ummm…huh?

The whole jar of paste and the thumbs up was good to make enough juice that fit a container so and so big which he indicated by motioning some sort of boxlike shape with his hands.

Ok…

My dad and I were too confused by the conversation so we just went with the flow and bought the items. So I bring the container home. It’s instructions read “One teaspoon for 6 persons for specific tastes of soups, stews, gravies, sambar, rasam, etc. in any cold, warm or hot preparation.” So it seems any way you use it, one teaspoon for 6 persons is the appropriate ratio, hehe. Wonder what sambar and rasam are…Anyways I made a couple of attempts at making the juice and they came out pretty damn good if I say so myself. An hour later…my stomach is making noises…Uh oh…I googled tamarind juice and apparently it’s a mild laxative. I think you can figure out the rest.