why 30 rock is the best show ever

I totally missed this gem.

i want to go to there

it started snowing today, like really really snowing.
Californians, you have no idea!

but this photo is of Bern -- which wouldn't be such a bad place to visit, really.

**photos of Christopher's 30th birthday five-day extravaganza to come**

washington, schmashington!

**warning: crude, angry, but completely justified rant. hide your dogs, hide your kids**

Ladies and gentlemen, my friend, Dan Ra:

"1. republicans are assholes for wanting tax cuts for the wealthy when it ADDS to deficit. i thought they were all about fiscal solvency

2. liberals are asswipes for not understanding that obama HAS to compromise to get those tax cuts for middle class americans, which ADDS to the deficit. but tax cuts do add to economic growth in the SHORT term. there's absolutely no long term gain for tax cuts for middle class.

3. fuck the senate for pulling the DREAM act

4. screw government for never thinking long term health of america, and always wanting short-term political points"

Frankly, I couldn't have said it better myself.

today was the kind of day in washington that breaks my heart
so many inconceivable pitches and falls
and the whole time i find myself asking, am i on the right side?
i think it's a healthy question, but always a scary one to ask yourself.

this is what happiness looks like!

even the dos equis bottle looks happy :)

throwback!

ladies and gentlemen, I present to you (some of) the outreach editorial women -- jeannie, heather, and andrea. damn, this was a long time ago (December, 2006). i miss you guys. this was a cube formation ordained by God. i mean, look at how well coordinated we were!

these two ladies helped me navigate my first real job out of grad school. they walked me through each position as I made my slow climb up the ladder from intern, to staffwriter, and then assistant editor. without them, I wouldn't know half the things I know about being a writer and editor, namely because they are the best in the business! I can't tell you how amazing heather and andrea are -- i love them.

do you guys remember: book club? the icebox? lectio divina? the NOC? late deadline nights? encinitas? nordstrom rack? heather's kabobs? sushi making? scott's sinking ship powerpoint slide? hehe .... sigh. despite the bad, these were some good times.

thinking of both of you (and reminiscing about our alphabet Christmas tree) as we near the holidays!

horrible execution of a man

I love helen's commentary:

he is a really obnoxious korean guy

who eats pizza for brkfst

and pretends like he's really smart

and an alpha male cuz he works in commercial real estate

if he were hot it'd be dffrnt.... sad to say...

but he's kind of a loser

just watches sports center all day

annoying

nice at the core, but horrible horrible execution of a man

although ... I like to eat pizza for breakfast.

mmm hmmm

hello beautiful earrings

i need you like cooked food

there's been a lot of good eating in my life lately, as is always the case during the holidays. this year i decided to finally get over my fear of chicken and invited a few friends over for my first roast chicken.

let me be honest with you -- i was scerred. i kept mentally pumping myself up all day before the big roast. i re-read jamie oliver's recipe over and over and tried to walk myself through the steps one by one. then when it came time to go grocery shopping, i think my nerves created a mental block because i bought everything BUT THE CHICKEN! haha. i returned to the store, picked out my bird, and home I went to tackle the beast.

despite my nerves, the chicken turned out awesome. the hardest part was rinsing it out and rubbing it with salt and pepper -- with a whole chicken, you really get the sense that this was a living, breathing animal. there were some near-upchuck moments there, but i pulled it together. i felt a bit of a sentimental connection with the bird. thanks, bird, for providing some good eats for me and my friends.

without further ado, photos from the meal which included homemade bread, roasted potatoes, mac n cheese, a pear/prosciutto/arugula salad, delicious brussels sprouts provided by elizabeth d. r., and ice cream sandwiches for dessert (with homemade cookies of course)!

hello pretty bird!

chris carves as scott looks on

this bread never fails me

the complete meal, yum.

love the chocolate on the fingers Scott.

elizabeth and me savoring some after dinner tea

the monumental event required a group photo!

[editors' note: I cannot post photos of the apartment without acknowledging Cassie -- I hope this doesn't make you sad dear! we talked about you often as we noted all the things you left for me to use! we miss you.]

zero tolerance rule

"I have zero tolerance for self-inflicted drama."

BRILLIANT.

david crowder + lite brite = joy!

p.s.

did you know that my sister is absolutely amazing? please support her with prayer (or money) -- her name is very easy to remember: Uno.

also her birthday is coming up (Friday, December 3)! Leave a note on her blawwwg, I'm sure she will appreciate it.

jamie oliver, my new love

I like Jamie Oliver for his simple recipes, laid-back approach to cooking, and cute interactions with his children. His accent is rather cheeky too! What is it about British accents that makes even the phrase "pig's bum" sound lovely? Do Brits admire American accents? Probably not. (BTW I do a great British accent -- great because it's terrible and makes Chris laugh until he cries.)

Found this video via the Frolic blog and thought it was just so great. Looking forward to making Christmas pancakes for my family -- I don't really like pancakes, but my family does. So I will make them. And these are so simple! 1 cup bread flour, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, any add in you'd like, some butter in the pan, fry fry fry, serve serve serve. Thanks Jamie (and girls)!



I'm also interested in trying his roast chicken and chicken in milk recipes, which I've heard are pretty great!

In other news, my dream of visiting Joshua Tree is finally coming true! The Choi Clan will be going this December, before Christmas. It is so exciting folks ... my family is the greatest and we will have such fun in the desert. I'm looking forward to taking lots of photos so stay tuned :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

my thanksgiving was spent in all the right ways: family, a new baby, delicious food, etc.
grant continues to amaze us all :)

storm king!

a couple of weeks ago, Chris and I found ourselves at a huge 500-acre sculpture garden in upstate new york called storm king. Chris had visited several times while on field trips growing up but i'd never even heard about it until recently.

at the visitor's center i read that the founder created storm king because he wanted to make a sculpture that resembled a pad of butter melting down the side of a hill. his vision never came to fruition, thank goodness, but what is there today is pretty phenomenal!

We also had some fun in NYC that very weekend. Here's a big photo dump for you.

Chris before leaving DC. Fall is the best.

storm king!

powerful.

I guess I have a thing for feathers

Waves, Maya Lin

walking, talking

such an unusual rock, i had to take a photo with it

so cheesy.

Niloo got her citizenship! We celebrated in NY style.

lady liberty, illuminating the world

these people right here? I love them.

morning brunch at Eataly!

babies make me look pretty

i take terrible photos, especially now that a double chin has started creeping its way onto my face -- but i always look pretty with a baby in my arms!

i'm serious ... babies are my best accessory -- especially our miracle baby, GRANT RO!!!! Whoo hoo!

 ........ i want one :(

after much internal debate

i've determined this to be completely awesome.



just to prove what a dorky fan I am, I have to point out that while this is a really different sound from sufjan's more recent albums (michigan, illinoise, supercomputer), one of his first albums (enjoy your rabbit, 2001) was completely electronic.

aaaaaanyways.

also, high-five to dm stith -- he looks great on tv!

kids without fathers

“We were kids without fathers, so we found our fathers on wax and on the streets and in history, and in a way, that was a gift ... . We got to pick and choose the ancestors who would inspire the world we were going to make for ourselves. That was part of the ethos of that time and place, and it got built in to the culture we created. Rap took the remnants of a dying society and created something new. Our fathers were gone, usually because they just bounced, but we took their old records and used them to build something fresh.” -- Jay Z, Decoded

Nice review in the Times (HT: Chris).

he's here

for so long it's just alarm, coffee, eat, work, play, sleep on repeat for weeks and months and years ...
... and then, suddenly, a miracle.

Three cheers for Grant! Hip Hip, Hooray!

dear jigga

please be my friend :(
 

(Must find recording of this and purchase this right away)

Jay Z and Terry Gross -- dreams do come true!

(p.s. book just purchased for my kindle! AND Chuck found the recording of the above session! yayerrrrrr.)

Rally Rally Rally!

Here are some photos from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. All in all, it was a pretty fun day -- lots of good laughs, friendly crowds, and interesting signs. Afterward, Chris and I made tacos which were OK but I think we can make them better. Have you ever made tacos? We tried to make steak tacos and the meat was pretty dry ... I think we will have more success with chicken.

Recently I've tried recipes that are pretty common but that I've been too afraid to try: tacos, chili, and kimchi chiggae. All dishes were a success! Which leads me to believe that trying new things is the spice of life and that I should spice up my life more often. I tend to have a lot of fear and anxiety around doing things for the first time -- but as we learned at the rally, fear just leads to a giant puppet of Stephen Colbert melting on stage, while sanity gets to sing with Cat Stevens ...

... I guess you had to be there :)

(Chris and Cliff on the way to the Rally. Don't they look alike, and yet not at all?)

(Orderly pandemonium on the metro)

(Chris will be angry, but I couldn't find any other decent photos of me so too bad. It's my blog!)

(Not true!)

(If there's anything to legitimately fear, it's bed bugs!)

(BIG SIGN IN ALL CAPS!)

(The tacos look good, but the meat was dry. Time for trial numero dos!)

(Here's a nice photo of Chris to make up for the one before)

(I look pissed bc I had just gotten a mosquito bite on my hand. Those bastards!)

overheard in DC

In D.C., people talk politics ALL THE TIME. it is sort of annoying, but also sort of fun. here's what i heard on the street while walking back to the office after lunch.

Guy talking to friend:
"Here's the thing, man. Republicans ... republicans are just evil. Sooooo f**king evil. But they are GOOD at being evil. Democrats are good, but they SUCK at being good."

Friend:
"yeah"

breakfast in Jordan

was always a treat

yes, that would be a waterfall out the window. siiiiigh. i want to go to there (again)!

this morning I ...

broke out in spots!

and tackled an insurmountable muffin

I failed the muffin. Seriously ... American portions are way too big. This is why we're fat.

free to question

Did you catch Jon Stewart's interview with the president two weeks ago? It was sort of uncomfortable for me to watch such direct confrontation. Stewart openly questioned the president on the first two years of his first term and the president did not seem too happy about it. At one point, President Obama directly disagreed with Stewart for saying the health care reform bill was watered down, and rather than backing down, Stewart continued to press the president for further explanation/clarification on why he thought the bill was strong. Progress comes in steps, was Obama's response.

Aside from coming away with a better understanding of how Obama views his presidency thus far, I found myself really proud to be an American (cue the country twang) ... where at least I know I'm free! Just kidding. But seriously ... there aren't a lot of countries in the world today where a television host can so freely and openly question the authority, leadership, and wisdom of their president in front of a huge television audience. There was no threat of execution, no need for formalities or ceremony ... just honest questions, semi-honest (if rambling) answers, and the freedom and ease to tell a few jokes, and even call the president, "dude."

I think that's pretty great.

my hair

now for something totally frivolous (hey, it's Friday. Friday is Frivolity Day, in my opinion).

my hair -- it is big, unruly, dry, and thick. I can never get it exactly the way I want. Also, when I have short hair, I always want long, luscious locks; and when I have long hair, I can't wait to chop it off.

I am trying to grow it out to donate again, but it finally got disgusting enough to warrant a haircut. too many dollars later, here it is:

I dont know -- are expensive haircuts worth it? I mean, I like it ... but I miss the $35 supercuts days. My cousin Tina has a korean lady who will cut for $35, but I always have trouble explaining what I want to korean hairstylists and they generally do whatever they want anyways.

ah well -- I'll just have to force this one to last me another 6 months.

where do you get your hair cut? Do you think it's worth forking over $50+ bones?

also, have I ever told you that my secret desire is to be a hairstylist? If this whole editor thing doesn't work out for me, I might seriously consider going to beauty school. then I could cut my own hair ... and yours!

co-opting culture

Videos like this:



make me want to support more artists like this:



Jane Liu is a San Diego native -- saw her live once and she was a lot of fun. Her new album is available for free download (though you should tip her), and her youtube channel is a gem.

ht: angry asian man

Tomorrow night, Patty Griffin

many thanks to Anne for this lovely gift of an album.

happy birthday to me

dear far-off friend,
today is my birthday! if you were near, I would put on this dress:

put you in this dress:

and make us eat amazing food, like this:

(lunch)

and dance the night away, like this:

alas, you are not here. so I will think of you fondly as I eat ice cream on my own!

far off friends include: helen, heather, andrea, susan, annie, my sister, my mom, deborah, susan y, juliet, jonny (haha! you'd wear that dress for me, wouldn't you jonny?), and etc.

love,
jeannie

It's a Mad Men Halloween

Having been raised conservative evangelical, dressing up for Halloween was never really allowed. I was always going to "Hallelujah" nights at church and the only costumes we were allowed to wear were biblical ones. I was Queen Esther one year and Jesus another year. Uno was a Bible, a Christian soldier (with the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, etc.), and Noah's Ark. So funny!

So, this was my first year really dressing up for Halloween -- and it was a fun night! A bunch of us dressed up as characters from Mad Men. I was Trudy Campbell and Chris played Ken Cosgrove -- we pretended that the two were having an affair behind Pete Campbell's back. (we need to send that idea to Matthew Weiner.)

I have to say, we all looked stupendous.

My wifey and me as Peggy and Trudy

Don and Peggy (Tim and Cassie)

Snookie and Kwoww (Allison and Kierra, you ladies looked awesome)

Aw shucks!

Snookie, meet Ken.

Betty, Peggy, Trudy (Amber, Cassie, Me)

A final (fake-ish) smoke to end the night -- in true '60s fashion