Girl Crush: Gingersnap

Happy Thursday!

I'm so glad it's Thursday and boy oh boy it's a big day for me- got an important thingamabobber at work that I really want to do well on. But pay no attention to the man behind the curtain to me and my nervousness, it's someone else's big day today.

Meet Gingersnap.

If you've read my blog before- you've seen her here and there-most notably referred to as "Miranda" but her brazen hair and biting 'tude gave her the alter ego name. I like to post about her. She's my disgustingly wonderful friend who I am so grateful to have in my life. And today is her 26th-mother$%#*ng birthday!

Now... I know that beauty comes from within but what's better than a beautiful girl with beautiful insides (does that sound disgusting to anyone else but me??). But since I'm officially making her my girl crush post- I have to find a way to blend some points with some more pictures to show why she deserves this honor.

Why do I love Miranda? Let me count the ways....

♥She's of the animated face type♥

Obviously, Miranda's "Julia Roberts-esque" smile is contagious but so are her other features- love the lashy eyelids with or without makeup.

♥She dresses down with ease♥

Seriously, from scarves to braids to sneakers to adorable country dresses - she knows how to rock the casual yet fervently fashionable look.

♥She dresses for a night out with a purpose♥

She's always been influenced by a little westside til 'ya die...

♥She enjoys different things♥

Can't keep this one down- from downtown clubs to climbing trees in Costa Rica- she loves to do new things and explore her surroundings more than most people I know.

♥She's frippin' easy on the eyes♥

Seriously Mir- you're this pretty?

♥And can we please discuss the hair...♥

Yup- her name is Miranda and she has red hair- how cute is that? But how utterly and simplistically beautiful is her natural red?

But above all that, she's such a great presence in my life. We have so much in common yet I learn from her ability to soak up life as it rises above most people I know. Plus- she actually tends to read my blog on the 'reg- and sometimes even leaves comments - what a doll!

Happy Birthday my MirMirFoSho!

Did I mention she's on a plane to Germany as we speak for Oktoberfest "work"... b*tch!

I hope you spend today with someone as wonderful as her!

(PS wish me luck!)

Adding sugar yourself makes for a sweeter Pasta

If you've been a reader of my blog for awhile (lucky me!), then you know that I'm of Italian roots-yes, I love the dark hair, the hand-talking, the wine, the carbs, etc. (My Nana referred to me as Caito-Alfredo). I've blogged about it before here and there...

1. My Ellis Island visit in NYC to retain records of my Nonni's journey here from Italy post "The Big Apple" here.
   
2. My tribute to my late-Nonni post "Wearing her Italian Smile" here.
3. My Guidette post which insulted my Italian roots "A Real Italian poses as a fake Guidette" Here.
   
   
   

On the contrary, my boyfriend of Swedish descent doesn't come from a line of hand-talkers or pasta eaters but he does have a wonderful understanding of the importance of spending time together over food- eating or making. That's why for part of my birthday present way back in August, he purchased a gourmet cooking class for us to partake in together. He also allowed me to select our course from the wide-range of classes Sur La Table offers.

My mouth watered as I grazed over the wide-range of decadent courses: Easy Meals, Sushi, Home-Cooking... but nothing could have beat the A Regional Tour of Italy course that we ended up taking a couple weeks ago. When I saw the menu for the evening class... I was sold.

• Trofie with Pesto Alla Genovese from Liguria
  
• Tagliatelle alla Bolognese from Emilia Romagna
  
• Pici al Pomodoro from Tuscany
  
• Spaghetti all’Amatriciana from Abruzzo
  
• Busiati Alla Norma
  

I know that when my Italian ancestors were my age, they were likely saddled with children and a husband with the main duty of being a homemaker. I dutifully believe that there is nothing wrong with being a stay at home mom, but I also believe that those who are in that lifestyle now- do so because they chose to, not because it was blindly expected of them. The women in my family before me however, were most likely guided into those roles without ever having the chance to fill out a college application or enjoy a night of guilt-free premarital "excursions".

It's blissful to know that I've had the opportunity to choose the way I live my life as opposed to submitting to a lifestyle I didn't necessarily want. However, I believe that this Independence has somewhat manifested into many Girls feeling as if they don't need to know how to cook. How many celebrities have brazenly stated- "I don't cook!"?- Say what? You can still be a feminist and make a mean dinner for your husband.

That's why I've tried to make cooking more of a goal these last couple of years. I've been teaching myself basics and learning the tricks of the trade. To be able to take a gourmet class on Italian food was killing three birds with one stone: not only am I in the kitchen culturing an art but I'm spending time with The Boy and feeling closer to the Italian descendants from whom I derive from.

So this time when I was talking with my hands, I actually had the flour on my fingers to back it up.

{Above: Learning from the head Chef Below: The Boy and the full kitchen}

{2 above: The Boy and I mastering the fine art of Italian food}

{Left: Yes, we had wine throughout. Right: Making Pasta from scratch Below: The Boy getting into homemade noodles}

{Above: Making Pesto from scratch Below: Enjoying a break in class }

And of course.. as I went straight from my no-jeans-allowed office to the cooking class, here's how I made my work outfit, quickly shift into a casual evening outfit in the 10 minutes time I had to do so.

Top two: Work outfit- tucked shirt, jacket, black skirt.
Bottom two: Untucked the shirt, paired it with a belt and added jeans for a more casual outfit.
Images via camera phone... aka shoddy, shoddy

I hope you get your fingers deep into the art of something on this Tuesday!

PS- tonight is the Britney Glee! episode. I'll be watching it with my best friend and fellow Britney lover. All hail Britney Spears!

Unflattering Picture Sunday

Happy Sunday!

I was trying to catch up on blogs today but it was taking so long and I have to be at my cousin's wedding in a couple hours (on a vineyard, yay!)... so I gotta run. However, I've had a great weekend with all my relatives in town! They all live across the United States so it's a treat to have them around me. But keeping with my goals, I'm quickly throwing up my Sunday ritual of ugly captures.



What's Up: Me during the college years looking like an idiot, a floozy, a drunk and a lunatic- at least at this point I had rid myself of piss-yellow hair color- go me!

Back to blogging and reading tomorrow :)

Have a great Sunday!

You can't say hello before you say goodbye.

Cripes! I really missed the ball. Today was officially the last day of summer for the Northern Hemisphere. While I welcome with my whole heart sweaters, boots, cold air and football... I feel like I can't really open the door, give Fall a big kiss on the cheek and lead him up to my room without truly saying goodbye to the Season that lingers on my sheets just before him. A girl needs closure for unfinished business.

{Goodbye Summer}

I had a couple beautiful summer events that I meant to blog about but never got around to. So here's a crash course to two of my most beloved Summer activities.

Brew Fest:

In Portland, the last weekend in July hosts the Oregon Brewer's Festival. Think what you want about Oregon but we have some of THE best brews in the country. The 4 day brew fest on our downtown waterfront is huge, full of beer and SO.MUCH.FUN. Every year, I go to the festivals with my friend Miranda. We have grown to have a general love for such events and now it has sort of become our "thing". The festival runs Thursday- Sunday but because I am a mere mortal, I can only stomach Thursday & Saturday without being in serious pain. So the Thursday of the weekend is a lovely way to spend an evening after a long day of work.

{Above & Below: The Thursday night brew fest}

In contrast - the big event is Saturday where the entire city rallies to get drunk in support of Oregon Brews. This year my best festing buddy and I decided that regular clothes would not do and on the way to the festival we stopped for matching outfits. Call it what you want to call it- it was a fun day!

Annual Rafting Trip:

And of course, my FAVORITE event of the Summer is the annual rafting trip in the desert of Maupin, Oregon. I go every single year of my life to spend 4 days of rafting, rodeo, tents, cookouts, beer, etc. It's my favorite weekend ever in the history of evers (or something ELSE that makes sense). And don't get it twisted by my blogs about clothes... I am a tough girl who loves activities likes this. In fact, this is the second year in a row that I've captained one of our rafts (we have a large, large group).

{A regular outdoorsy girl. American Apparel pink, loose crop tee here in Fuchsia}

{In the truck, ready to raft - day one!}

{above: Me, Dad & Bro 2 below: Brother and Me taking a break on the river}

{Heaven.}

{My family at dinner after a long day on the river.}

{Above: the sheer beauty of Maupin, Oregon}

{Above: Juan (my budddddy forever), Me, Conor (bro) as we await to board our raft with our mascot}

{Above: Left: Hammock over the water. Right: I believe that some events don't require makeup. Rafting is such an event.}

{Above: Hitting up the local dive on our last night}

{Above: That's meeeee about to raft in an innertube for fun}

And with that, my sheets are washed of another beautiful and fleeting good time. Thank you summer 2010... it was one to remember.

So come hither Autumn, I'm ready to lie with all of your sensuality and beauty.

{Welcome Fall}

It's officially Autumn.

Hellllllo Handsome.

When I'm 64...

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted! But in my defense... I've had a week of feeling damn old.

First off, I was fairly certain that Tuesday after work, I had been hit by a tranquilizer dart.. thus rendering me useless for the rest of the week. I stumbled through Wednesday as if I had been recovering from a hangover (which... needless to say, I wasn't!) and Thursday and Friday were busy and jam-packed with career and personal life. Saturday, when I finally had some me time, I fell asleep for hours then roused myself, went to The Boy's apartment and promptly brought him into my downward spiral and we took a fat nap followed by getting under the covers to listen to the rain at about 9 PM...I attempted to let the night end like that in my slovenly stupor but amidst the wind and the rain, the Boy said "Um... it's Saturday night, can we at least watch TV?"

So basically, life with me last week was about as fun as your Great Aunt Marge visiting from Florida.

Oh but that's not all.

I got my hair done Wednesday night and guess what my hair stylist found?

3 gray hairs!!!

That's the first time I have seen a grey hair on me. Honestly, the silver fox look looks great on people- I even think guys are hotter when they let their salt'n'pepper flow (cue the obligatory "Clooney's so hot!"). I also admire the fabulous older women with beautiful skin and glistening silver hair. But when I hear that I am beginning to sprout those thingys... I have a different view of gray hair altogether. What has always been "it's just a part of growing up and it's beautiful!" now becomes "F*CK".

Now, it's really NOT that big of a deal because when it comes to hair dyin' ... I'm a "lifer". I do plan to never, ever, ever have my natural hair color again. Not because it is heinous or embarrasses me... it's just boring and I much prefer the fun that comes with faux-hair colors (not to mention the monthly visit to my faboosh hair dresser). But knowing that my body is at the point where it's starting to grow them... still makes me feel a bit blah (just like my natural hair color).

And my final old person issue is that I swear my eyes are going! I've noticed at the gym these last few weeks, it's getting harder for me to read the closed captioning on the TV. And also today at work when an Executive was walking toward me, I asked him what that contraption in his hand was for. That "contraption" ended up being a lunchbox and an umbrella... but I somehow saw a device with a scope. Wow... I smell a promotion!

However, in the midst of my gray hair, narcolepsy and eyes that are wasting away... I did have a dream the other night. I was pregnant and navigating the life I have now in that condition. It was embarrassing to be at work pregnant, it was horrible to think about what I couldn't do now (move on a whim, live for myself, flirt) and it was debilitating to think that I should now be married. In my slumber, I saw my chance to move to Chicago gone and realized that settling down right now felt beyond overwhelming and saddening to me.

I woke up and realized that I am so not ready for marriage or kids (love them and want them, just not now). It is something I already knew but it felt nice to remind myself that I still have some time for me.

So expect to see my gray-hair flowing in the wind as I strut to happy hour downtown and enjoy whatever the night has to offer.

I'm 26... there's a lot to explore.

{I value this life}

I just hope I can see where the hell I'm going.