necklace love

A couple months ago, Dorna and I were shopping at Beehive Co-Op in Mount Kisco, an awesome little shop that sells lots of locally made and handcrafted items, when I spotted Throwing Stars Jewelry. Designer Amy Leff makes such pretty pieces, including earrings, cuffs and rings. But my favorite are the necklaces. I love how they range from sweet  to dressy to funky and statement-making. 

Find more designs and do some shopping here. 

[photos via Etsy] 

so, wanna be my bridesmaid?

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post about the bridesmaid dinner I hosted a whole two weeks ago. But, it wasn't totally my fault as I had to wait until the gifts I made each of them were safely in the hands of my cross-country bridesmaids. (Although, I guess it sort of was my fault since I waited something like four days after the dinner to actually mail them.) 

But, now, I'm so excited because all 10 girls finally know. Oh and yes,  you read that right—10. We're having ten bridesmaids—and that's just the maids, it's not counting the groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearers, readers etc. etc. that in my mind make up the entire bridal party. At first I thought, wow, that's a big number, but then I realized I have this habit of collecting close friends as I go through life. I've know my maid of honor since kindergarten, half the bridesmaids from high school and the other half since college. Learning to rollerblade, waiting for the ice cream man, throwing a million surprise parties, getting driven by the cops to prom (oh, that deserves a post all its own), surviving Warren Towers, eating at the GSU and drinking in Barbados would never have been the same without them. And with the exception of Jennifer, John's sister—who I'll be spending many holiday dinners with and therefore gets lots of years added to the total by  default—by the time our wedding rolls around next year, I'll have known all of the girls for no less than 10 years each. That seems like a perfect round number, no? 

So two Saturdays ago, I hosted a lovely little dinner in their honor. Since I've been bitten by the prerequisite engagement craft bug, I wanted to make something wherein I would ask each to be in my wedding party. My inspiration came partly from the awesome pieces I saw on Nice Package and partly from this DIY idea on Project Wedding—although I changed it a bit. I found some plain brown boxes and inside I put three pieces of champagne-colored square card stock on top of tissue paper. 

The first card they saw had a small white pouch filled with chocolates on it and it read: "You're so sweet..." 

They lifted up that card and the second had a black picture frame with a photo of us (and other friends) and it read: "And you've been such a good friend, for so many years..." 

Finally, when they lifted up the last one, it read: "That it makes me so happy to ask, Will you be my bridesmaid?" 

I wrapped the whole thing with green ribbon, which is one of the wedding colors. 

The finished boxes looked like this: 

And the end result of them being opened looked like this: 

The whole table, which are in the wedding colors, came together quite nicely. 

Thanks, in part to Karen's vases: 

We started with hummus, cheese and bruschetta and then ate pasta with eggplant and mozzarella, chicken francese, sweet mashed potatoes and peas and mushrooms. Everyone looked happily stuffed at the end, which totally equals success in my world.  

Even though Shannon, Erica and Sabina were too far and too snow-bound to make it, they were totally there in spirit. And overall, I'm just so happy and lucky that I'll have a group of smart, beautiful, talented and amazing girls by my side. 

happy birthday, chris!

I just wanted to wish a very happy 20th birthday to my youngest brother, Chris, an amazing person who sings solo at open mic nights, truly believes the old "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," and seriously makes our family so much fun. 

Happy Birthday!!! xxox 

lost observations

Before we begin this next installment of Observations Made While Watching Lost, can someone please, please, pretty please suggest another name besides "Lost Observations" or the even more verbose "Observations Made While Watching Lost?" Hello, boring. Any thoughts on that would be much appreciated. 

And now, on with it.... 

So last night, Dorna made us an awesome dish that was full of eggplant and tomatoes and garlic and eggs. We ate it with whole wheat pita's, while watching the opening credits and it was so so good. Unfortunately, I kind of forgot to take a photo. Next time! 

Here's what we thought throughout: 

- Sayid is alive! As Jacob! We think. Whatever, we called it. 

- Claire is back! And in LA! Pregnant? 

- Of course Kate is going to bring back Sawyer. And of course, she can be "very convincing." 

- Why does Claire want her suitcase so bad? 

- I wish I could be totally unflinching if someone stuck a gun in my face too, mechanic-guy. 

- John wonders why Kate can steal a cab and leave Claire on the street, but then feels guilty when she sees a stuffed whale? 

- Explains why Claire wanted her suitcase, though. 

- Dorna says that the hippie-looking guy is named Lennon, which is way, way lame. 

- I wonder if, while Sayid is being tortured he's thinking: Karma. 

- Now Claire, why would you get in the car with someone who 2 scenes ago pointed a gun at you? 

- Kate is still way too Joey Potter for me to handle. I don't care if she's a "criminal." 

- Dorna loves the fact that the guy helping Kate and Jin find Sawyer is the creator of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 

- If Always Sunny in Philadelphia guy was the one who Kate hit before escaping the cages, then does that mean that these guys are Others? So they're NOT new characters, then? Confused. 

- Jack is always trying to save the day. And it's annoying. 

- Sayid really trusts Jack? 

- The pill looks like Ginko Biloba.  

- Honestly, I thought that when Aaron's almost-adoptive mom opened the door, she would be someone we knew. 

- So it made me feel better when Ethan was her doctor. 

- There are lots of creepy-looking people on this show, btw. 

- Also, why does it seem like Ethan's lying when he says that Claire doesn't have to deliver the baby right away? 

- Poor Sawyer, maybe he really loved Juliet. 

- The Ginko Biloba is actually Poison. 

- Why in the world would Claire give Criminal Kate her credit card? 

- Because she's just going to cancel it later, obvs, say John and Dorna. 

-  Maybe Sayid is actually the black-shirted guy (which a friend I talked to this weekend kept calling Esau), and maybe black doesn't mean evil, afterall? 

- Finally they let Jack in on the fact that Claire's his sister. 

- Always Sunny Guy is shot, by Claire!

 

Overall thoughts: This show felt alot like filler. It seemed to be setting up a few of the subplots and was there for some explanation but mostly to keep moving the show forward. 

 

What were your thoughts on the episode? 

  

words

"If you have a broken heart or a battered soul

Find something to hold on to or to let go

To help you through the hard nights like a flask filled with hope

Darlin' do not fear what you don't really know."

- Brett Dennen, "Darlin' Do Not Fear" 

A perfect remedy if you ever need inspiration and/or a reminder that no matter what, life is, in fact, pretty amazing: Brett Dennen on repeat. 

happy world nutella day!

                                

A couple months ago I was on Facebook and I stumbled upon the wonderful fact that February 5 is World Nutella Day! Who knew? Apparently lots of people, actually, as this is the fourth year it's been happening. Four years! How could I have missed this? Especially because in my family almost every day is World Nutella Day—particularly if you're my brother Carmine, who has been known to eat quadruple-decker Nutella sandwiches and is the willing recipient of jars and jars of the stuff from our grandmother. 

It's been a diet staple for as long as I can remember, smeared on bread and pancakes, eaten off a spoon or the end of a knife, served at breakfast and after dinner. Or, if we were really lucky and happened to be in Italy and it happened to be the week of the feast and all the adults just so happened to leave the house earlier than usual, in place of actual dinner. Then, feeling like we had actually gotten away with something, we'd pair Nutella with peanut butter on two slices of PanCarrè—the perfect mesh of our Italian and American-ness. 

So, to celebrate this joyous occasion, John and I decided to make crepes with Nutella from an awesome (and easy) recipe provided by his mom. They took us about 15 minutes to make and tasted great, if we do say so ourselves. Now, in keeping with the theme, we're going to round out our night watching Fellini's Roma. 

Here's what they looked like: 

And here's more evidence that I should never become a food photographer...

What's your favorite way to eat Nutella? 

Oh, and one more thing, while we're on the subject, has anyone heard of anyone making spaghetti with Nutella? I swear I heard this years ago and I never known anyone to do it, but one of these days, I think I'm going to try... 

and so starts the final season...

I actually remember the first episode of Lost. I was living in Boston, in my senior year of college, and my roommate Erica was sitting on the couch watching it. The rest of us made fun of her for quite some time, citing the sci-fi aspect and who really survives a plane crash in the middle of the ocean? We were much more content with the realistic content in Grey's Anatomy and the O.C. 

But, I apologize now to Erica, on the Internet and everything, because a few summers later, John and I spent way too much time indoors catching up on all the seasons. (I actually sometimes think it was more satisfying watching it on DVD, since we could just go on to the next episode without waiting an entire week and sorting through a whole bunch of speculation to get there.) I realized after watching episode after episode that the show was great and entertaining, even if at times ridiculous. Added bonus: The wonderful Dorna and Pedro were equally obsessed.  

So, last year we started our own little Lost parties on Wednesday nights where  we alternated between eating Greek, pizza, Turkish and sometimes leftovers, consistently trying to figure out what the hell we were missing/forgot/didn't understand. This year, the tradition starts again—although we're down one person, with Pedro moving to Philadelphia and all. 

Last night, we put together the ingredients needed for a proper premiere: 

1. Cooking. Oh, didn't you know? We're all grown up now. 

Oh no, I definitely didn't take this mashed potato mix from my mom's kitchen. 

2. Actual cooked food. Very strategic placement by Dorna, I should add. 

3. Snuggie/Mermaid costume stand-in. 

4. Fire. 

5. Necessary "What, how is that even possible?" face. 

Some observations we made while watching: 

(There might be some spoilers in here, so if you haven't seen the episode yet, get on that. and then come back here and let's talk about it! Oh, and I kind of forgot to write down who said what and when, even though I think, in theory, I meant to.) 

- Last season, the color of Juliet and Sawyer's hair completely clashed. 

- We don't like Evangeline Lily's hair in that L'oreal commercial. We prefer it all unwashed and wavy-like. 

- We are obsessed with hair. Ever notice how Sawyer's always looks wind-blown? 

- Airplane! Is this happening at the same time? Or are we going to see it all meld together in the end? 

- Bad CGI, says Dorna. 

- But Desmond's still cute. 

- The TV is fuzzy already, but now the sound, too? Oh, oops, sorry, now they can hear. 

- Bernard and Rose are so cute. 

- Does anyone else remember how the guy sitting between Locke and Boone is the one from the Aaron Burr peanut butter commercial? 

- Locke's body was inhabited by the black-shirt-wearing guy. But why does he want to kill Jacob? 

- How in the world does Juliet survive beneath all that metal? 

- Charlie's back!! 

- We assume Juliet will die cause she's on that new show. 

- More new characters?! The other others? 

- Kate and Sawyer are totally Joey and Pacey. 

- Sayid is dead. But not for long, we think. 

- If some strangers who just lied to you about killing/not killing your friend, would you really take the food/drink they offered? 

- I liked Locke better pre-smoke monster. 

- We called it halfway through: Jacob is inhabiting Sayid's body. 

Overall thoughts, from Dorna: I feel like we're seeing the most basic and common of themes kinda emerge in the most intricate of TV storylines ever: good, evil, fate, destiny. Funny how, even with a complex show like Lost...it boils down to that. 

So, what did you think??