Amazing.

Many thanks to my coworker who introduced me to the wonderful world of home light shows.

"Longs for tenderness..."

I just took the ColorQuiz, and apparently I "long for tenderness and sensitivity of feeling."

The quiz is basically one step: click on the color that makes you feel the most comfortable. As you click on each one, it disappears, and you click the next one that makes you feel the most comfortable.

And then you wait a couple of minutes and do it again, without necessarily trying to replicate the order in which you did it before.

Then you get multiple pages of really melancholy results:

Maybe my office job is too physically taxing. Maybe I should get a BackJoy because I REFUSE to sit on a ball and be a new age hippie.

Well this is true. But isn't it true for everyone? And if you think it's not true, imagine yourself at work for a few moments and then reconsider.

Harumph. I may have had my 30th birthday already but I wouldn't call my vitality "depleted" just yet!

This is actually a version of what I yell at my boyfriend every time we have a fight.

Meh. I wouldn't call myself "burdened." But finally.....

I do have good taste. I'm not sure about longing for tenderness and a sensitivity of feeling though; that sounds a little too Downton Abbey to me. Disclaimer: I have never seen Downton Abbey.

Roasted garlic, where have you been all my life?

I've read countless cooking blogs and foodie websites that talk about how easy it is to make roasted garlic, and how tasty it is, but I thought those people were crazy spending all that time roasting full pans of garlic and wasting all that olive oil. Until this weekend...

Tiny garlic bulb in a tiny LeCreuset

To make roasted garlic, you basically just douse a head of garlic in olive oil after chopping off the top bits of the bulbs so the oil can get ALL up in there. I did this kind of on a whim and just used what I had at home, and I didn't want to pour my entire bottle of olive oil in the pan just for one head of garlic. In a flash of inspiration, I grabbed a silicone muffin cup to keep everything compact. I covered the whole thing in foil after the pic, put it in the oven while I was roasting some butternut squash, and then I got...

nutty, fragrant, roasted garlic! When I took it out, I could still see bubbles coming up from the bottom of the muffin cup. The little bulbs are pretty easy to get out, especially if you don't mind getting your fingers and/or chopsticks a little oily. I used some while broiling salmon by cutting deep scores in the salmon and sticking some garlic in the cuts before sprinkling salt, pepper and panko flakes on top. Mmmmmm....

I can't wait to try this crushed up on some bread!

Campaign for Wool

Started by Prince Charles after he realized the world's sheep population was declining and wool prices were plummeting, the Campaign for Wool is a nonprofit that brings wool to the people in the form of various PR-grabbing acts of wool bombing. Behold, the Bryant Park fountain:

There were also sheep, both animate and inanimate.

There was a guy demonstrating how they make mattresses out of wool.

And then there was a finished one that was SOFT AS A FREAKIN' CLOUD.

They even had a guard because of all the publicity.

Hey there, soldier.

Not want to be born again?

Long story short, I wanted to sign up for this Korean website so I could figure out how to order their clothes. I clicked Google Translate to try to fill out the form and realized that their 'forgot password' questions are WAY more interesting than ours are.

Can you imagine if you tried to sign up for Zappos or something, and the security question was about reincarnation?

On a side note, my dad once forgot his security question answer for the bank and had to talk to customer service for a long time to get it straightened out. The question was "Where would you most like to go on vacation?" and he guessed so many places, then had to answer a ton of other things when he couldn't guess the answer. After about an hour on the phone, they worked it all out. He asked the bank guy what his original answer to the question had been and the guy said, "Staying home."

Gone farmin'

Well, not farming, but apple picking! And peaches, and eggplant, and peppers, and dandelions.

One of my birthday weekend activities was going to Alstede Farm in Chester, NJ. Raymond kept it a surprise until we were halfway there on the train!

It was so beautiful there, and so great to be outside and get away from the city! 

Not only do they have vegetables and fruit to pick, but they also had flowers you could cut!

I probably went a little crazy, and I definitely didn't think clearly when it came to picking flowers that would last the train ride home. 

I wouldn't let Raymond pick the green beans; we have a huge bag already.

We ended up with a small box of the sweetest raspberries and peaches, and a bunch of apples, eggplant, hot peppers and flowers. 

If you want to go there, you can take the NJ Transit on the Dover line to Gladstone. You have to switch trains at Summit, so don't fall asleep! When you get there, you'll probably be the only ones at the station since it's the end of the line. To get to the farm, you call Chester Limo for a ride. You might have to wait half an hour for them to arrive, but at least it's only $10.

Wear your walking shoes!

Chobani store, Soho

Ever since the Chobani store opened in Soho, I've been wanting to go check it out. My favorite plain Greek yogurt is the 2% Fage plain, but Chobani has some really fun flavors like apple cinnamon. I didn't know what to expect from the store, but it was cool!

Raymond, in nothin' but Uniqlo (and shoes by Calvin Klein)

The inside of the store is really fancy. They sell plain yogurt with different topping choices, and you can watch them make it behind the windows.

I chose fig and walnut, and Raymond had chocolate/pistachio/orange/mint. The sales girl said his flavor is the favorite sweet one, but I liked mine better for sure. 

And the best part? You get to keep those little glass bowls!

I love my freebies, and my Uniqlo linen shirt.