Breakfast this Morning: Toast with Nutella and Bacon

edith is a conniving bitch

sweater - icelandica (reykjavik), chambray shirt - gap, wool skirt - thrifted, tights - target, boots - thrifted, gin & tonic - tanquaray

I have been wearing variations on this outfit a lot lately. The formula is pencil skirt, large/mens style button up shirt, and cropped cardigan, usually with boots. It's a really easy winter work outfit, I guess. Keeping the shirt untucked allows me to wear this skirt even though the zipper is broken and stops an inch from the top. I rather like the awkward amount of cuff showing, even though it's way too long. It feels kind of boyish to me, despite the skirt. Anyways, it's something that's been working for me.

Has anyone been watching Downton Abbey? I actually wore this last week, when Amanda and I watched the finale together. Oh god, it was so good! We made gin & tonics because . . . British? Yeah, that works, even though they never drink cocktails at Downton. And because a G&T is my drink! We got tipsy and freaked out a lot. It was fuuuuun.

Snack of the Day: Apple Pear with Maple Almond Butter

on it like a bonnet

I had such a nice day today! Ems visited me at work (she was actually dropping off cupcakes for our favorite dude, who is sadly leaving the store tomorrow) and on my lunch we went out by the river and smoked while we chatted. It was a nice to have a break from being "on" like I am all day at customer service. It's nice to be able to scowl, and curse, and complain. And how cute is Emily's little embroidered cardigan? Darling!

After work, J came and picked me up (I let her use my car after she took me to work because hers broke down on Friday) and we had dinner with Amanada and Liam. We went to this rad Chinese restaurant I hadn't tried before. The decor is bonkers, with tons of fake plants, twinkle lights, and weird large, round, colored lights all over the restaurant. The food was damn good though. I had honey walnut crispy shrimp which was weird and delightful and Liam ordered this delicious tofu dish. It was cool to get something different at a Chinese restaurant, you know? So many places it's all orange chicken and mongolian beef.

sweater - icelandica (reykjavik), plaid shirt - thrifted, wool skirt - thrifted, tights - old, boots - thrifted, bag - thrifted dooney & burke

After dinner we were going to see a movie but when we got to the theater it turned out it wasn't playing when we thought it was. Apparently Fandango can't be trusted. We dicked around and argued about seeing another movie before we finally discovered it was playing twenty minutes later in the next town. So we dashed back to our cars and got there just in time. I saw a preview for this adorable chimp movie I want to see when it comes out. Apes get to me when they do things we do. It's cool when you see that they really are just like us. The baby chimp snuggling made my heart melt.

Jordskokker Soup

So my awesome friend Line from Denmark translated this recipe for me. It is seriously so good. I had it when I visited Denmark and then I wanted to eat it all the time but sunchokes are only in season in late winter it seems so february/march seems like the time to make this. In Denmark, they call these root vegetables jordskokker, but here we call them sunchokes or jerusalem artichokes. They are the root of a small variety of sunflower, which I have tried without much success to grow. My flowers bloom but I get tiny roots which aren't worth the effort of digging and peeling.

Sunchoke Soup

1 lb sunchokes

1/2 onion

1 big clove garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

3 sprigs thyme

1 quart chicken broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

bacon

chives

Peel sunchokes and roughly chop sunchokes into large chunks, setting aside one or two small ones for garnish. Peel and chop onion and garlic as well.

Heat olive oil in large-ish pot. Add sunchokes, onion, and garlic, and saute without browning for a few minutes. Add thyme, and let get all aromatic and yum.

Add chicken broth and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add heavy cream and simmer for a few more minutes.

Take the pan off heat and blend using hand blender (or transfer in batches to regular blender) and after blending season with salt and pepper. Don't add salt until after blending or it will never get smooth, don't ask me why.

Fry up a few strips of bacon (or chorizo but I think bacon is best because bacon is awesome) until crisp and chop into bits.

Chop reserved sunchokes into small bits and marinate in olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper, and chop and add chives.

Serve in soup bowls, topped with raw marinated sunchokes and bacon. You could also add scallops but I haven't tried that because bacon is where it's at.

note: I typed this recipe while drunk so apologies if there are typos/other errors.

totally tutu

We created what is probably the coolest retail display ever at work recently. For our tutu section, which before has had kid sized tutus on dolls or hanging from the ceiling, we made paperdolls of ourselves and dressed them in little mini tutus. All the girls in our department, plus our best dude, got to be photographed doing silly ballet poses and then we printed them, glued them to foamcore, cut them out, and created mini tutus for each of us. I'm up top, wearing the purple and teal tutu, and Allison is right next to me, wearing a pink tutu. This was so fun and reminded me that I basically have the best job ever.

the happiness of a sunny day in winter

Last week was absolutely fucking gorgeous. Even the afternoon I spent trudging from one end of town to the other, getting my car and computer fixed and running other errands was delightful, despite the fact I arrived at work smelling less than lovely. I've forgotten how beautiful a sunny day is. I dug out my favorite sunglasses I bought at Topshop in London, ate lunch outside and didn't totally freeze, and have taken a walk with Justina before or after work almost every single day. The light has a different quality and I feel like it's spring, even though that's no where close yet. But cheers and yay-ness for the return of outdoor lunches and long walks by the river!

i'm kind of a big dill

Have you seen this cute illustration on Pinterest?* I've been obsessed with pickles lately, eating tons of them. I pickled a bunch of green tomatoes last summer and now when I eat a jar, I fill the jar with other veggies and reuse the leftover brine (you can do this with storebought pickles too). Obviously, they're not shelf stable, but after a week in the fridge they're delicious. Anyways, I told one of my managers that, and then she saw that illustration on Pinterest, so she recreated it for me. Isn't she sweet? Thanks Beth! I'm really sad I couldn't take her art journaling class yesterday because it seemed like a blast. Girl is talented!

*Are you on Pinterest? Follow me and tell me yours in the comments. I'm always looking for cool new people to follow!

what to do when it snows

1. Paint your nails sparkly pink.

2. Drink hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps at night and in the morning.

3. Put your hair in pincurls and wear red lippy.

4. Go sledding on the steepest hill you can find, and forget about your curls.

5. Drink strong snow based cocktails.

6. Or shitty beer on late night walks.

7. Play cards by candlelight, while listening to KEXP on a portable radio.

new shoes

I bought new shoes. They're by MRKT and I think they're beautiful. I found them at DSW, when J and A and I went before seeing a movie. We also went to Ulta and bought lots of nail polish because that is the best. A bought a grey that matches my shoes, which I happen to already have. And yes, I do plan on matching my shoes to my hair color because I am that much of a nerd. Wouldn't you?