current obsessions.

• the help by kathryn sockett
  i just finished the book last night (at 3am, because i couldn't put it down) and now i'm soso excited for the movie later this summer. i'm not sold on emma stone, but viola davis? forever and always. if you're looking for a healthy serving of socially-conscious, dramatic chick-lit, please read this. it's fascinating, and so well done.
  
  
  
• guilty pleasure tv
  (read: the bachelorette, the real housewives of nj/ny/oc/atl/etc.)
  the above are best viewed with a weekly collection of girls (and boys) crowded in someone's living room, stocked with wine, candy and ice cream. judgments abound, alliances are formed, and can we all just agree that jp is the best and ashley needs to get over herself? thanks. one of the best ways to make me feel like i'm not alone in my ironic (but slightly non) adoration of the aforementioned blights on american pop culture, is to read the hilarious, pointed, and scathing recaps of these episodes on different sites. here are some of the best regarding this week's episode of RHONJ.
  vulture
  gawker
  hellogiggles
  
  
  
• quirky, compilation websites
  the burning house
  photographs & lists of contributor's most-prized possessions (read: what they would save from a burning house)
  dear photograph
  a mix of the past & present, people hold up old photos in the same location in which they were taken and comment about how times have changed. some are funny, some are adorable, and some delve into that post-secret kind of nostalgic despair that makes me uncomfortable

whirlwind.

i know i said i was "a little bored" with my summer thusfar, but i seemed to have proved myself wrong tenfold this weekend. upstate, downtown, brooklyn, fifth avenue and everything in between, here is a portrait of my crazytown last few days:

friday was babysitting. brunch, hair-braiding, a tour of cold spring, family dysfunction, bridesmaids, arts & crafts, alice in wonderland, playing fetch with zoe, and hanging out with three of the sweetest little ladies all the way from canada.

saturday was a trip back in time. ferryboats, flappers, picnic in the grass, sangria toasts, the charleston, tommy-guns, big bands, floppy hats, old-timey everything, and many blanket discussions about women and history.

sunday was PRIDE. floats and flags, balloons and bears, dancing and drag queens, friendship and acceptance, future is bright and it gets better, stickers and swag, glitter and gays for miles and miles. followed by shakespeare in a park, n'awlins in the 1940's, fernando's falsetto, frozen mojitos (my new heaven), gossip & girl talk, empanadas and a long, drunkish subway ride home.

sometimes i forget i live in the greatest city in the world. it all disappears in the mess of commutes and meetings and work and rent-paying. it becomes normal, workaday. but then i have weekends like this, when everything is happening and i am all over the place celebrating whatever needs to be celebrated, and in these moments i am reminded that i do, in fact, live in the center of it all.


the true new yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding. –john updike

it's getting better.

never been so happy to be a new yorker.

tomorrow i go celebrate in the middle of it all.

HAPPY PRIDE!

who would give a law to lovers?  love is unto itself a higher law.
–"the consolation of philosophy" (524 AD)

a way back to then.

i am the nostalgia queen. anyone will tell you that. i have this elephantine memory that remembers the most absurd details, the ins and outs of everything that has gone on in my life. and i love re-visiting it, in the form of old blog posts, diaries, pictures, etc. this is not to say that my life is/was particularly extraordinary or exciting. i just enjoy looking back, reflecting, and connecting the dots to figure out how i am who i am.

my time with the children i babysit leads me down this path often, as i find myself waxing poetic about my polly pocket collection, watching disney movies, or scoping out headbands at claire's.

cunningham.
(c. 1998)

today seemed to be a normal, dismal, summer day with nothing to do and nothing to play. but for some reason i had all of these moments that transported me back to the summers of my youth. and i'm not talking high school parties in the woods and kissing boys in lakehouses. i'm talking afternoons at the pool, licking a melting chipwich off my fingers while i kept an eagle eye out for the popular boys from my grade. i'm talking reading one YA novel after the other in an attempt to win the coveted library contest. i'm talking summer camp with everything smelling just a little bit damp and a little bit like bug spray. i'm talking sleepovers with girls' life and ym magazines open, reading about someone else's humiliating story for a change and making checklists of what to do to maximize our free time.

and so on this day, at age 23, i did the following: shopped at justice (née limited too) for brightly colored statement tees, skimmed at least half a dozen "teen-at-the-beach" romance novels in the barnes & noble young adult section, decorated t-shirts with puff paint, and watched aquamarine, the tween-flick about two misfits (played by emma roberts and jojo...yeah okay) whose bff-ship is put to the test when they discover a mermaid in the pool one morning. it's all about being 12 and awkward and having crushes on boys who are older and hotter than you could ever hope to be...and marine life.

on the way out to go hunt for our evening arts & crafts project at michael's, we ran into margaret's friend in the elevator. she was on her way to get a mani/pedi, her mom told us, before heading to camp tomorrow. i suddenly found myself feeling so deeply jealous of this little girl, all bright-eyed and un-tanned, ready for her summer of non-stop adventure and insanity. i started talking with margaret about my summer camp experiences. about hating morning swim lessons with every fiber of my being. about piercing lexie's nose in the bathroom after dark. about bug bites and bonfires and trips to the movies. "yeah," margaret said, knocking me down off my nostalgia trip to the farm, "i probably wouldn't like sleepaway camp."

i know i shouldn't make such a big deal about the summer coming. i'm a college graduate - this time is no more special than the rest of the year. it's hotter, and the electric bills are higher, and i get to swim sometimes. but something about spending your time around kids, and your schedule changing when their's does, you feel the summer again, you feel the anticipation, the boredom, the everything that makes summer a special time when you're in those inbetween years.

and truth be told, this summer i am a little bored, i'm a little inactive, not working on any shows or big projects at the moment. so despite living in the most exciting city in the world, i'm feeling that little bit of tweenage restlessness. but today i realized that there is a way to capitalize on that, that summer can still be about taking books out of the library and eating ice cream and planning for the future. and this blog is, in a way, my own kind of arts & crafts project.

i was never that talented with popsicle sticks anyway.

did i mention it was horseback riding camp? yeah no it was.
(c. 2001)

our whole life is but a greater and longer childhood. – ben franklin

je t'aime.

 

solstice.

tomorrow is the first day of summer. and i can't wait. it's interesting, there was a time in my life when summer was it. it meant freedom, warmth, special parties, afternoons at the pool, and a brief, finite reprise from the monotony of the school year. nowadays, summer just flows in and out like any other season, any other time. however, due to the fact that i don't have a quoteunquote REAL JOB, i still allow summer to mean special things to me.


trying new things. this is produce market down the street from my apartment. it's 24-hours (okay) and the prices are phenomenal. i've been looking forward to really making use of it, and this summer i vow to do so. i no longer have the luxury of my mom's garden, or her daily trips to the farmer's market, so it's up to me to stock myself up on peaches, plums & strawberries. also, i want to get into smoothies. there's no jamba juice in astoria and i have this blender so i figure i should get on it.

 rediscovering my childhood. babysitting has been my primary source of employment in this world for the last two years, and each summer i get the ultra-perk of traveling up to my family's summer house in rhinebeck, ny to play in the country twice a week. the commute is nothing compared to what i get: trips to the library, afternoons in the pool, paint-your-own-pottery, ice cream stands, baking in the palatial kitchen and, as illustrated here, toys & games like PLAY-DOH. it's practically perfect in every way.

exploring my home. every year i make a new set of to-dos in this big ol' city i call mine. i pride myself on the completion of these activities, and the expansion of my knowledge, geographically and creatively. so this past weekend, with my friend trina in town, we headed to brooklyn (my new pseudo-home) and wandered around in park slope for the afternoon. after thrift shopping, we headed to four and twenty blackbirds, this award-winning, super-hip pie shop to check out some of their specialties. we split two massive slices, rhubarb crumble and salted caramel apple. both were amazing, and we left stuffed, sleepy and oh so satisfied. i'm already making plans for next weekends exploratory escapades. and so it begins.

i wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always june. - l.m. montgomery

the leader of the band.

happy father's day to
the pancake-fipper
the fly-ball tosser
the puzzle-master
the bad-joke teller
the lover and supporter
and the greatest man i know.

and nothing quite so least as truth
–i say though hate were why men breathe–
because my Father lived his soul 
love is the whole and more than all
- e.e. cummings  

current obsessions.

• other blogs
  cupcakes and cashmere
  hellogiggles
  new dress a day
  fuck! i'm in my twenties
  etc.
  
  
• fancy nyc burger joints
  i find myself craving burgers constantly these days. i guess it's the warm weather. and probably the milkshakes. here are some of my favorites:
  
  
  shake shack (obviously)
  bareburger (finally tried it!)
  just burgers (new spot amazing spot in astoria - and they deliver!)

•  park slope
  i know this has been one of the nyc neighborhoods that everyone's obsessed with, but i've never spent much time there. i started nannying for my cousins and their adorable new baby this week, so i've been taking afternoon walks with little chelsea and floyd, the cockapoo. so into it now. prospect park, fifth avenue...can't wait to spend the summer exploring!

having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card.

one of my best friends asked me yesterday for some book recommendations and it got me thinking about some of what i've read over the last year. reading for pleasure is a past-time i hadn't been able to indulge in since middle school really, so when i graduated college last year, it took me a little while to jump back on the train.

"summer reading" used to mean going to the library every other day, entering contests to win bookstore gift certificates by reading more pages than all the other sixth graders in town. then it meant enforced literary exploration - thick novels piled on my desk until sometime in mid-august when i thought i should probably get going because i had essays to write. nowadays, it means comfort on my commute and less boring train rides to and from upstate.

in celebration of that, here are some of the best books i've read for pleasure post-graduation.

•  i was told there'd be cake and how did you get this number (sloane crosley)
• look at the birdie and while mortals sleep (kurt vonnegut)
• the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay (michael chabon)
• bossypants (tina fey)
• the girl with the dragon tattoo, et al. (stieg larsson)
• water for elephants (sara gruen)
• an object of beauty (steve martin)
• the brief, wonderous life of oscar wao (junot diaz)
• extremely loud and incredibly close (johnathan safran foer)

it is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it. - oscar wilde

happy opening.

sesame street is hipper than all of us.

creativity.

i'm not afraid of anything.

how i always imagined it would be.

we'll take a glass together.

the tony awards happened last night and i was fully in my element. a living room full of my favorite people, with a menu of delicious salad, homemade mac & cheese, and three different desserts? heaven.

and though the awards were exciting, and the performances were, for the most part, top notch (memphis again? really you guys?), the highlight of the evening has to be the in-house cocktail, my new summer favorite: blueberry lemonade.

to make this fabulous (and so so feminine) libation, you need the following:

- one lemon (sliced into thin wedges)
- a package of blueberries
- blueberry vodka (smirnoff is the cheapest, but stoli is smoother)
- lemonade (concentrated or not, we used both types)
- ice
- a muddler
- a martini shaker

1.  drop a few blueberries and one lemon wedge into the shaker and muddle together until both are sufficiently mashed
2. add ice about halfway
3. pour in chilled vodka
4. add lemonade to the top of the ice
5. cover and shake it up!
6. strain into a fun glass, add a lemon wedge as garnish and toss some whole blueberries into the drink. andd you're ready to get drunk without even realizing it!
   
   

   

   houseguests modeling the finished product

   
   
   

   it happens every time. they all become blueberries. - willy wonka

it's curtain time and away we go.

so today is one of my favorite days of the year you guys.

in addition to christmas, oscar night and my birthday, TONY SUNDAY is an annual high-point. i have been watching the tony awards since i was just a little girl; meticulously planning out my acceptance speech (obviously), swooning over bernadette, patti and the like, wishing i was andrea or sutton or all those bitches in spring awakening.

time out new york's theater blog, upstaged (for which i am a sometimes contributer thankyouverymuch) has already done an incredible job of highlighting the best of the performances. and come tomorrow night my living room will be filled with the usual revelry and shouting at the television.

but i would like to take this time to make my own list of the best shows this season (everything i saw from last summer to right now). with the help of my trusty shoebox that sits in my nightstand collecting programs and ticket stubs, we shall take a look back at my favorites in every category and house-size. see if you agree!

bloody bloody andrew jackson (the public theater): i believe it was on tony sunday last year that i saw this phenomenal musical at the public. the house was half-full, and the intimacy made the irony all the more exciting. i was devastated it didn't get a longer broadway run, but so so glad i got to see it in its original incarnation. benjamin walker's tight jeans looked so much better close up.

the divine sister (soho playhouse): after doing psycho beach party with pipeline last year, i have a deep love and affection for charles busch's insanity. this was nothing short of absolutely brilliant, despite the fact that we were seated on really hideous wooden pews. in my personal opinion, the more catholic jokes coupled with deliciously skewed sound of music references (read: "what is it you cunt-face?") is a recipe for genius.

war horse (lincoln center): this play is feeling the tony love this year, so i won't try and pretend like i'm alone in my opinions, but i do consider myself a bit of an OG when it comes to the current trend of "liking war horse." having seen this last year in london, and weeping openly through the ending, i'm thrilled that new york has embraced this show. and is it wrong that i think just a little bit less of people who totally hate on it? didn't think so.

black watch (st ann's warehouse): i had literally no idea what to expect when my friend asked me to rush this with her. it was sunday morning, it was warm, and there was a bagel place on the way so i was down. for my measly $20, i got to see the following: an excellent history of a fascinating branch of the scottish royal army, some of the most intense acting and choreography i've seen in awhile, the word "cunt" used more times than i could possibly count, and the chance to stare at 12 dishy scottish boys for two hours. a sunday well spent? i'd say so.

school for lies (classic stage company): david ives is a linguistic and literary genius. mamie gummer is beautiful. upholstered sets intrigue me. moliere always ties things up so nicely. there was nothing i didn't enjoy about this hilarious, sosmart production.

now. here. this. (vineyard theatre): here are things i love in this world: feelings, creation, people being able to accurately sing and speak about how i feel when i do things, references to peterborough, adolescence, and everything that had to do with [title of show]. so i'm pretty fortunate that this show included ALL OF THOSE THINGS (yes, even a reference to peterborough, nh). i laughed, a cried (a lot), and i felt so connected to the people onstage. people i love and admire for being real humans when they perform; looking, sounding, dressing like real people, and showing that they are fallible in a really cool way. i can't wait to see what happens with this.

honorable mentions:

• everything by pipeline theatre company (because i'm the marketing director so.. mentioning us is kind of my job)
• my big gay italian wedding (the worst show, but 4/5 of the real housewives of nj were there. and we got to go to the after-party soo..)
• the 2010 nyfringe festival (where i sat through SIX solo shows and one of the worst musicals i've ever seen)

so there we have it, folks. the 2010-2011 theater season is drawing to a close. this summer will be filled with understudy sub-ins, times square tourist overload, and the promise of an exciting new fall line-up. can't wait!


the theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. it's so much like life. - arthur miller

to-dos.

i love lists. i am a lister. there's something about pysically writing or typing something that makes it real and organized and able to be accomplished. and so without further ado, my summer to-do list:

1. shakespeare in the park
2. take a vacation to peterborough: lie on the beach at cunningham, eat bagels, drink outside, see plays, re-live high school, etc.
3. perfect at-home summer drinks (cocktails and smoothies)
4. keep at it with this blogging business
5. read books! (always taking suggestions - i have some long train rides in my future)
6. start the astoria supper club with the ladies. find new, wonderful restaurants in the neighborhood so i can stop always eating at sanford's.
7. organize myself as an actor: get new headshots, perfect a songbook, collect new monologues
8. be on the ball with pipeline, my theater company, as we launch into our THIRD season!
9. see a bunch of plays.
10. really do summer in new york: governor's island, the met rooftop, outdoor concerts (sara bareilles in august!), movies in bryant park, picnics, the astoria pool, etc.

i can't wait. now if only it wasn't so oppressively hot all the time.




ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.  -russel baker

current obsessions.

• new york magazine's entertainment blog, vulture.
  
  sorry dlisted, you've been replaced in my affections. nowadays i get all of my news from this snarky, hilarious, and spot-on compilation of news updates, slide-shows (like this bit of genius), tv recaps and really insightful articles.
  
  
  
• the girl with the dragon tattoo series.
  
  [this sexy picture is in full, NSFW glory here.]
  
  yeah yeah, i know i'm a million years late on this train, but i just finished the series and now i'm SO EXCITED for the first movie later this year. i plan to watch the swedish versions this summer, but this trailer has me salivating for december.
  
  
  
• my straw fedora.
  
  
  last summer, i bought it from urban outfitters in a fit of shopping envy (read: i saw a girl carrying it around the store and immediately ferreted it out for myself). soon i found it went with everything i owned. now i can't take it off my head. it's light-weight, versatile, and it makes my lazy summer wardrobe of tank tops and jorts immediately less boring. so i'm into it. and i'm trying to get everyone else to jump on the summer hat train. so do it. you won't regret your decision.
  

back in business.

holy crap it's been forever.

well i thought i might start with this business again. i know i said that last time too, but i have vowed to make blogging a summer project. and since today involved a maxi dress, multiple iced coffees, air conditioner installation and the development of my seasonal loathing for new york city in the heat, i'd say it's officially summer.

i don't know what i really think this blog should be about. i won't flatter myself for a second to think that anyone at all is interested in what i have to say about my own ridiculous life. plus, most blogs i follow with any sort of regularity have a shtick (read: fashion, cooking, celebrity gossip, being impossibly beautiful & put together always, etc.).

here are the things i like the most: new york city, reading & writing, theater & film, traveling and the amazing, absurd people i spend my time with.

here is what i can promise anyone who reads this: i will never pretend to be an expert on anything, i don't use capitol letters unless I MEAN IT, and i will end most entries with a quote of some kind. because i love quoting people. everyone has always said everything better than me.

here goes nothing.

[pumped for summer, 1988]

i'll hold onto the world tight someday. i've got one finger on it now; that's a beginning. - fahrenheit 451