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.

I can see myself in my nails

I've been wanting to do really metallic nails but I don't have the time or willpower to do something complicated with metallic foil, and the metallics I bought last year at Sephora were sparkly, but not really the flat shine I was looking for. Then I found this Essie polish, No Place Like Chrome.

Look how shiny! My hands are like Tin Man hands! My afternoon conversation with Raymond was a series of variations of this:

Me: Look! My hands look like a robot! Do I look like a robot? Do I look like the Tin Man? Can you see yourself in my nails? 

Raymond: (Staring at TV) You look amazing, baby. Come on, Eli!!!! 

Uniqlo Ultra Stretch Jeans, Aritzia short-sleeve sweatshirt

The couples' massage we had today was great; the oil/lotion stuff they used on my hands rubbed off all the mistakes I made while painting my nails this morning. The massage was the second-to-last celebration of my birthday this past Friday (with the last being the cupcake from Billy's Bakery we had afterward). 

My nails match the subway!

The best part about this polish: it dries so fast, I put on a pair of jeans five minutes after painting it on and didn't get any smudges!

Fashion's Night Out: SUNO/Minx manicure!

After asking about 7 Saks salespeople where to go and after 45 minutes of waiting, I finally got my SUNO/Minx manicure!

Minx manicure on a gorgeous Theory coat

I chose this great Hawaiian-style print:

But I was also really tempted by this one the girl next to me got. Those are little people on the nails!

The process was a bit more involved than I thought it would be. The stickers heat up under a lamp while they buff your nails to be a little more smooth. Then they stick them on really carefully, use tiny scissors to trim away the extra bits, and let it sit for a few minutes while they do your entire hand. The sticker ends get filed off on the end of your nail. 

My hands were totally burning under the heat of that lamp!

Otherwise, Fashion's Night Out this year was pretty much a wash. Too many people, no sales, no free stuff and almost no free food. There's usually drinks and cupcakes at a bare minimum! I waited forever to get this manicure and I showed up half an hour early. Next year, I'm renting a movie and making my own damn cupcakes.

Where's my umbrella?

Armani Exchange shirt, Uniqlo ultra stretch color jeans, Hotwind shoes, Tsumori Chisato Cats umbrella, homemade bag

I got this Tsumori Chisato umbrella at the recent Bird warehouse sale and was so pumped! My shirt is from Armani Exchange, and it was literally my second time in the store. I never thought I'd wear anything they sold, due to my lack of orange tan and bulging muscles, and my natural aversion to slutty-club-clothes-as-day-wear. The jeans are from Uniqlo and I went every week waiting for them to go on sale. I bought three pairs. I do not regret it.

I whip my hair back and forth

Vena Cava for Gap dress, Uniqlo leggings, Fei Yue sneakers, homemade bag

I went sporty today with the leggings and sneakers, so I went all out and made a real ponytail, with hairspray and everything. This dress is really cute but too short to wear without leggings to work, and it kind of makes a solid belly pooch because of the pockets and the zipper. I'm hoping that when people see it and think I'm three months pregnant, they'll also think "Oh, but her boobs are too small, it's just the dress making a weird pooch."

Just whip it! Whip it real good.

I heart hearts!

I found a super cute nail polish on this week's Target run!

Nicole by O.P.I's Love Your Life

Nicole by O.P.I's Love Your Life over Essie's Shop Till I Drop

It's a little hard to make sure you get a heart on each nail, so I settled for 7 out of 10. But the ones that do stick on there are so cute! I feel ready to load up on Kpop and Uggs now.

Um, I'm famous.

But they used my angry face picture!

The face of slight consternation. via Time Out NY

Time Out came to work last week and interviewed some of us for one of their 'cool jobs' features, and I got picked! I know everyone has been burning with curiosity as far as what I actually do all day, so click through to find out! Or if you're just procrastinating at work, break down completely and go here instead.

ASOS Africa

I currently have no plans to go to Africa, but if I did, I probably still wouldn't wear these. But I love the patterns and the colors and will totally wear them every day in New York! See more of the ASOS Africa collection here!

How to dress like Gwynnie; or, DIY Kain t-shirt

Me and Gwyneth, twinsies.

When I saw the t-shirt Gwyneth Paltrow collaborated on with Kain, I thought it was so cute to have a slightly formal update on the basic white T. But I don't spend $90 on my formal clothes, let alone my play clothes! I went to Uniqlo on my lunch break and got a cotton/modal blend t-shirt for $9, and I had some extra black grograin ribbon left over from another project. This DIY is super easy to do and then you can finally have an excuse to go to a garden and make your boyfriend take pictures of you while you pose like a rich, skinny white woman!

SUPPLIES:

• White t-shirt
• 2 yards of black ribbon
• Sewing stuff: pins, needle, black thread; or your sewing machine.

  

Resort 2013

My two favorite resort collections: Phillip Lim and Suno.

Were I actually going to a resort, I would first be cool, calm and collected:

3.1 Phillip Lim, pics from style.com

 And then I would just go a little crazy:

Suno, pics from style.com