Celebrating Julia.

via

Today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday, and what better way to get back into blogging then by celebrating of my early influencers? Growing up, PBS was my greatest source of entertainment, and even though the children programming in the afternoons started at three, I always tuned in an hour earlier to watch Julia Child (followed by none other than Bob Ross).

I always enjoyed watching Julia Child cook. Her sing-songy voice, her comical antics, and her obvious passion for what she was doing made her so entertaining to watch and also made me eager to get into the kitchen at such a young age. Earlier this summer, I read My Life in France (highly recommend), where Julia recounts her life in the US (pre and post France), how she fell in love with France and French cuisine, and how she was not a good cook when she started out. I found myself not just admiring Julia's skill as I had all these years, but being inspired by this women who let absolutely nothing deter her from accomplishing what she set out to do, all while remaining completely true to herself, and completely in love with her husband, her family, her life and of course, France.

via

Happy Birthday Julia!

Summer To Do List

Summer. Without a shadow of a doubt, the season is in full swing. Besides the heat, what isn't there to love about this wonderful season? The BBQ's, the longer days, the carefree outfits and laid back atmosphere, it's all just wonderful. With the exception of vacations, I typically don't like to do too much planning as I feel that summer is a time to embrace spontaneity. However, there are a few things that I hope to do:

• Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (on a not too hot day of course)
• Visit (for the first time) The Guggenheim
• Explore NY in general. One thing going to school in Brooklyn Heights taught me is that there is so much of NYC that I still need to explore. 
• Be a tourist for a day. Statue of Liberty and all. 
• Make the most of summer produce from the Farmer's Markets.
• Improve on my photography. (I haven't picked up my camera in weeks...)
• Visit New England and DC.
• Revisit and (try to) perfect macarons (see here for my failed first attempt.)
• Finish redecorating my room (finally put pictures up, making progress).
• Make a grilled pizza. 
• Pick back up learning Italian.
• Catch up on some reading.
• Embrace the season in its entirety
  

Speaking of reading, thank you for all of your responses via comments and Twitter per my last post on e-readers. After spending about a month weighing the pros and cons, I decided to go ahead and purchase the Kindle Touch. I started to regret it after I opened the box, but after downloading a book last night, I can say I truly love it. As someone mentioned to me "reading is reading" (thanks Hannah).

So tell me, what are your plans for summer? Reading anything good? 

A Bit of a Dilemma

I am having a bit of a dilemma. Self created of course, but a dilemma no less.

via

Books or e-reader?

I never thought I'd see the day when I would be actually considering purchasing an e-reader but here we are. When they were first released, I was dead seat against these devices. Sure, I love technology as much as the next person, but I felt that technology and books were crossing the line. I love being able to hold a book; the feel even the smell of the pages make reading that much more of an experience to me.

Yet here I am wondering if *maybe* I should at least consider it. I am slowly but surely running out of space for all my books, and I don't carry them around because they usually are too heavy with all the other items I carry in my bag. An e-reader would be easy sure, but, its just not a book...

See how I go back and forth? I just can't make up my mind! So I want to get your feedback! Are you a fan of books or e-readers? 

Breakfast....Salad?

Never in a million years did I think that this is what my breakfast would look like on some days. Mostly because there was a time when I didn't even eat breakfast. One glum morning as I set out to make breakfast, I was craving the most random things: spinach, a MorningStar "sausage" pattie and an egg, sunny side up. I contemplated it for a few minutes (these cravings! random much?) and decided to make a spin on the breakfast salads I have seen around the interwebz.

This...salad? has easily become one of my favorite breakfast meals. For this specific "salad" I first sautee a bit of baby spinach with olive oil and garlic and plate it as the base. In the mean time, I warm the sausage pattie in the toaster oven and once that is ready, I plate that on top of the spinach. Next, I cook the egg enough so that the egg is still a bit runny to create a bit of a "dressing."  A little salt and pepper to taste and the end result is a great tasting and healthy breakfast.