That pepper is burning my tongue.

Hello guys and girls, today I plan to do nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Words were never strung together so beautifully.

The only things I do plan to do today is write on this bloggy, watch some CSI, and listen to Rooney.




I checked my emails this morning and was greeted by one saying I was one of 45 top dinner blogs of 2010 at OnlineSchools.org. I checked it out (sometimes I get spam so I really have to check everything) and scoured the homepage. It's actually a very nice site--I appreciate information being put together collectively for people to use. Check out the other blogs that were ranked too because they are pretty banging !

Speaking of banging (hey, don't blame me if your mind went there), these bagels are also pretty up the radar.

I went to Brooklyn Bagel in the wee hours of the morning to get one of these. Well, no, actually, I was already in the area and after having a 30 minute nap at the Rite Aid next door (I hope you know I'm NOT kidding), I decided a nice warm bagel was in order. I got the rye with cinnamon raisin walnut (I think that's what it's called?) cream cheese and t'was glorious. Seriously, these bagels are huge and worth the price.

I also have been craving Nutella recently.

HOW CAN YOU NOT?
I need to get myself a jar soon, so I can start spreading it's delicious chocolatey hazelnutty goodness on everything. Mmmmmmmmm, nutella omelets . . . (kinda joking)

If this post weren't random enough, I thought I'd just say that I did watch Project Runway's Season 8 Premiere.

And I thought Andy's and Gretchen's Looks were pretty boss. Man, I love me some black draping.


Andy's Look from mylifetime.com

Anyway, I should probably jump off the computer and go watch some of that CSI I've been hankering. Hodges is slowly becoming one of my favs. Toodles guys!

Fashionably Fed.

Hey guys! How is everyone doing?

Today I'm off from work so I decided to post here on the bloggy on what I've been up to.

So I went to Curly's Lunch again.

Sorry, the lighting was terrible so I had to color edit these photos. But it's Chili and Rice on top, and my friend's Nachos on the bottom.
I wrote a review a few posts back about how the first time was not the greatest but I wanted to go back and try something else. Well, after realizing how big the entrees were and being stuffed the last time, I opted for a "small plate" item. This for me is entree size.
The Chili and Rice was really good and SUPER filling. It went well with the brown rice (although they also just serve the chili too). As far as service, it was average again since the waitress had another friend visiting her, but ah well, at least they're not rude. And I prefer service that's not too overbearing anyway. ;)


Last week, I also visited this place called Northern Spy Food Co. with my friend Jenna (after a recommendation from her).

I ordered the House-made Head Cheese. The portion was good (enough to fill me without nausea) and it was fresh and lovely. I really miss simply used good ingredients, and it's great that this place only uses local ingredients (i.e. from the east coast/mid Atlantic). I would also recommend this place to vegetarians as many of the items on the menu is veg. They also seem to have a special apple pie that uses the Northern Spy Apple (hence where the name of the restaurant came from) but I didn't try it [yet].
The service is prompt and friendly, and they give you water in a ship-in-a-bottle kinda bin, so you just pour yourself. Overall, pleasant and nice.

My 0utfit for that day:

-Sunglasses from my friend Lesley!

-Urban Outfitters T-shirt
-Shorts from Buffalo Exchange
-Belt from Steve Madden (I think)
-Shoes from Bloomingdales
-Anna Sui bracelet
-Tote from Muji

After eating, Jenna and I headed to Buffalo Exchange. She had never gone, so I decided to show her what all the hubbub was about. Of course, I end up spending almost $80 there. I am so weak.

The purple dress was just something I tried on but didn't buy. I think it was an ADAM piece. I did however buy that skirt. I couldn't help it--I love drapery! The silk material makes it chic, but it's neutral enough to be played casually. I love it.

I also left with a few other items that will show up on the blog in the future.

Now I'm off to listen to Rooney and browse some blogs. Toodles y'all!

Blue skies, hot suns, and colorful dancing.

Yesterday I went to the Annual Thunderbird American Indian Mid-Summer Pow Wow at the Queens County Farm Museum.

I go every year with my mom and because I conveniently didn't have work yesterday, we kept the tradition! Here are some shots from yesterday's event.

I tried to get a better picture of this man's face but I failed. HE LOOKED LIKE KARL LAGERFELD. But you know, with braids and color.







Zoom was good to me yesterday. This kid's hair is awesome!

After the afternoon show, there's another show in the evening that involves a bonfire and more dancing. My mom and I always miss that one because it takes too long to get back and make dinner if we stay. So of course, we used the rest of our time to shop the booths.

Gorgeous beaded hair accessories.



This doll was adorable!

I also saw this tiny owl emblem that looked like one of my co-workers and it entertained me quite a bit. Other than that, my mom managed to buy a cool necklace, a dream catcher, and I got some pretty leather strips (a future arts and craft project perhaps?)

Finally, I loved snapping pictures of the tribe's colorful clothing because it's so inspiring! I love color and it's just fun to see all the patterns and the beading they use. I was talking to this one man who was explaining a lot of the symbolism of the colors and the animals. For example, purple signifies heart (purple heart), green is grass, brown is earth, dark blue is night sky, white is the north wind, etc. And turtles signify mother nature because it carries the earth on it's shoulders. Quite poetic.


Right now I have to get ready to go to work and after that, I'm hanging with one of my amigas! See y'all again!

Eureka! Everything Under the Sun!

A few days ago, I had a bit of a concert splurge and just decided to go see Jukebox the Ghost on Tuesday, followed by Rooney on Wednesday. Hence my plugging of the bands' new albums in the title.

I met with my friend Juliana at the 92Y Tribeca for Jukebox. Funny story: I thought for 1.5 months that the show was at the 92nd STREET Y, so I kept checking their calendar but never saw the Jukebox concert listed. It was only the day before that I re-googled 92Y only to find there was a 92Y Tribeca, and I saw the concert listed there. Well, the next morning (day of), I got back on and ordered a ticket. That was silly.

The ticket!

Juliana's birthday gift to me. Yes, no more fanning myself with Shakespeare!

We waited on line for a little while, and made some new friends (you know, the regular people, like the guy who writes backwards and the guy from Connecticut who has his own band and knows like, half the people that went to your high school). I was pretty shocked a lot of the crowd was guys! That's a good sign when both genders like a band!

It's a ghost! <----free awesome yellow things

Then Jukebox came out!

They were FACE MELTING! AWESOME TASTIC WITH A SIDE OF SWEAT AND WINE (um, Ben was sipping wine the whole time cause he's that cool). At one point, I stopped and realized how much I respected them as musicians and people. Their music just feels so good! Kinda like that feeling after running; like you did something good for yourself.

Most noted parts of this concert:
-They played the whole new album, Everything Under the Sun, in its entirety! It's coming out September 7th
-Ben telling us a story of how he went to the 92nd street Y only to be told it was the one in Tribeca (ha! It's not just me!)
-Tommy's "So you think you can acapella?"
- After the concert:
FINALLY TALKING TO TOMMY (by the way, I didn't get super blurtastic Tommy pictures this time!) I just had to say hi since I missed it the last two times.
Also telling Shervin, the tour manager, that he's the nicest person ever! Seriously, he's always smiling and just being nice to everyone. Where does this guy come from, Denmark? Although I highly doubt they would get a European import to manage their tours.

After having a blasty at Jukebox and exchanging facebook info with aforementioned person from Connecticut, Juliana and I headed out.

The next day, I braved myself for some more rocking good times.

I met my friends Melissa and Crysbel at the Museum of Natural History.

I REALLY wanted an ironic picture. Oh my god, I love ironic pictures.

There was already a small line forming when we got there, but luckily only 3 minutes after us, 20 more people came and we didn't get stuck behind them.

My amiga is reading Japanese while I cam whore my outfit by myself. Don't I look happy? 8D

After a while, we went in and waited for another hour or so. Sans two girls who tried hitting on the guys next to us (and pushing my friend on numerous occasions) the crowd was pretty friendly.

The first band was Black Gold.

They were quite good. The drummer and the singer/keyboardist was really into it, and on numerous occasions the singer clapped his hands to the music so we would do the same. At one point, he even had us sing words to one of his songs.
I think the only problem was they lack some stage presence. I wished the bassist and guitarist did more/moved around. But I definitely see a lot of potential. And their music is good.

Second band was The Young Veins.

I expected so much and got so little. Their music was pretty good (I could tell they were influenced by the Beatles and California), but as far as performance goes, they barely moved. AT ALL. Only maybe once or twice did the two in the front move in. And I believe smiling some more may have gone a long way.

Well, after another moment of waiting, Rooney came out and I finally felt inclined, neigh, I just couldn't control moving around all over the place.

DO YOU SEE THE BLUR? It's a good sign.
I've seen Rooney once before (I believe I blogged about it but I don't think I took pictures the last time) so I knew what to expect to some extent. But they BLEW MY MIND AWAY. They played a lot of oldies but goodies, along with new songs from Eureka. The playlist was really impeccable. That and Rooney songs are just plain fun. Really California sounding (Side note: I have my itunes on random and California Girls just started playing). Everything is just kind of sunny, bright, and fun. I danced to everything.

Also, I know I'm rambling, but I'm so proud they went independent. After issues with major labels (the labels wanted a hit song and kept discarding and making them rewrite a lot of stuff), they decided to break off and build their own studio and edit and record everything on their own. I guess when you've been doing it for as long as Rooney, a major label might be more of a curse than a blessing. Anyway, glad they did because we got to hear songs they really wanted to make! Bravo!



As a final note, there's been quite a few great giveaways in the blogging world. I believe many are ending, but check out the Lil Veggie Patch's Giveaway for a $40 CSN Giftcard! It goes on til Tuesday.

Anyway, at the risk of making this an insanely long blog post (well, it already is), I'm signing out! Have a nice leisurely Sunday!

Raw Vegan Cheesecake

Last week on my birthday, I made a raw vegan cheesecake. This is the recipe I used:


Just Like Cheesecake
By Emily Lee Angell ("The Complete Book of Raw Food")

Makes: 24 slivers

For the Crust:
2 cups raw macadamia nuts
1/2 cup dates, pitted (medjools)
1/4 cup dried coconut

For the Cheese:
3 cups chopped cashews, soaked for at least 1 hour
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt (optional)

To make the crust, process the macadamia nuts and dates in the food processor. Sprinkle dried coconut onto the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch spring form pan. Press crust onto the coconut. This will prevent it from sticking.

To make the cheese, blend the cashews, lemon, honey, gently warmed coconut oil (do not use microwave), vanilla, sea salt (if using), and 1/2 cup water. Blend until smooth and adjust to taste.

Pour the mixture onto the crust. Remove air bubbles by tapping the pan on a table.

Place in the freezer until firm. Remove the whole cake from the pan while frozen and place on a serving platter. Defrost in the refrigerator.

--------------------------------------------

My only revisions is that I used almonds instead of macadamia nuts, I didn't use dried coconut, and I also didn't use coconut oil. I really wanted to because it's what keeps the cake from getting too gloppy and firms it up like real cheesecake, but I was short on time and I needed to just get the ingredients from one store only and they didn't have it.

Pictures:


Some ingredients.


Soaking cashews.


Packing in crust (I didn't have a cake round so I used a skillet)


After pouring in cashew blend and adding fruits on top.


On a plate! Yum!


Just so everyone knows, I just finished the last of it yesterday. It lasts a really long time and holds well because there's no eggs or dairy in it. I can also eat it in the morning (which I did a few times) without feeling sick. I mean, it's just nuts and fruit!
I recommend it for anyone who has never tried raw vegan desserts!

Food is good.

Good morning everyone! Last night I had a good ole fashion sleepover at my friend's house. We feel asleep to the Star Trek movie which is pretty much the best way to fall asleep. I think y'all know by now I'm a nerdy little boy on the inside. ;D


Anyway, thought I'd review a few food places today. I've been getting a lot of comments lately about how my food posts make everyone hungry. Think about how I feel! I have to re-live the moment the food party happened in my mouth!







I recently went to a veggie place called Curly's Lunch. I knew about this place for a while and was dying to go, so I finally did when I was with a few of my friends.
The place is pretty small but cozy. They have drawings on the walls and also some crayons on the tables to provide you with some entertainment while you wait for food. I went here on a really hot day which was not the best since the place is just kind open in the front and has no A.C. But they do have a fan overhead.
The food, portion wise, is HUGE. I think you get your moneys worth. However, the food itself is not the best. I'm still the biggest fan of Vegan Loving Hut when it comes to fresh veggie food. This food, although good, was just a little . . . off. I had the Portobello Burger, and I feel the burger was a bit blackened (apart from it being made of black beans) and it just didn't feel good in my tummy towards the end. The curly fries are great though.
My friend also had the Open Faced Turkey Sandwich, and besides it being sloppily put on the plate, the turkey was way over salted. The stuffing though was tasty. I think I want to come back and maybe try something else, and maybe not get an entree next time since they're so big.
The service is average. It was Independence day so I understand why the waitress and the waiters' friends/mom came in. They did keep chatting with them, but it was done in a non-obnoxious way and they still did their job in between.
Overall, just an average place, but I will visit again.




The second place I visisted recently is Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery. Now doesn't the name just rot your teeth? ;)
This was my second visit, and also my second pudding. I've only ever had their puddings because well, I'm a pudding girl and they charge pretty well for theirs.
The above picture is the chocolate chip cookie butterscotch pudding. Now, 12 oz. (the smalle size: $4) is a lot of pudding for one sitting, so I suggest splitting with a friend or just saving some for later. Before this one I've had the banana one. They're both sweet but delicious, and it's a good indulgence if you're sick of cakes and cupcakes.
The place also has a bunch of seats/love seats so it's a cozy place to sit and chat. However, there's no AC so I might suggest getting an iced drink to down the sweets. The people working here are also pretty sweet nice people so I plan to keep coming back when I'm in the mood for a little indulgence.

Rice to Riches is pretty popular. I mean, like get on Food Network's "Best Things I Ever Ate" popular. Although, granted, most NYers seemed to know about the place way before that.
I actually remember coming here maybe 2 or 3 years ago with my friend Zoe. That was the first time. And the second time? Just yesterday, with the same friend Zoe. :)
The place is pretty popping, with the funniest phrases that encourage rice pudding lovin' all across the walls.
I had a Tiramisu flavor with Cloud 9 (whipped cream). Okay, so I can't justify spending almost $10 on a dessert all the time, but it's okay once in a while. And despite knowing that I can get some good rice pudding in other places, there really is something special about being able to choose from maybe 20 flavors and special toppings. Not to mention you get to keep the cute plastic pudding bowl and spoon too, so souvenir much? Also, if you don't have a big appetite and just want a good portion, maybe split the solo size (I was stuffed after eating mine). It's really worth it.

So that's about it for my food reviews. But of course, I never seem to stop at just that, so here's some more food in general.

What I had when I went karaoke-ing on Monday: Spicy tuna, avocado salad, and mushroom soup.

My friend Lesley made me vegan chocolate walnut brownies! They are AWESOME. I am slowly eating it at home. I think I shall have to take some to work tomorrow.

Recent lunch brought to work: celery sticks and a asian mushroom medley under that plus a slice of raw cheesecake. The cake was a success! I shall post pictures and the process in the next post!

Have a lovely day everyone!