the hills are alive with harry potter.

i've pretty much been reading 'the deathly hallows' all day. stopping only to go to yoga, whole foods, and make things to eat. and the bathroom too. though i did resist from taking the tome with me on the subway during my travels (i'm also trying to finish 'galapagos' right now).

i started reading the book late on thursday night, but didn't really get into the 'can't put it down' phase until friday night.
i spent the rest of my weekend mostly in pajamas, reading (except for saturday afternoon when sarah and i went to catch 'order of the phoenix' at the imax! in 3D!)

it's a deliciously awesome adventure. can't wait to forget the shiny details and read it again a bit down the line!

'phew' is about all i can muster right now. phew.

the non-blog entry.

from an IM to JVL
phew i've written 6 blogs. i feel good about that for now. i have one more i'd like to do, but it's more gonna be like "i catered an event for target. i'm cool. it went well. forgot my camera. had to wear all white and spilled smoothie on me. the end." so in a way, don't know that i care.

the uncheeto.

i love these.
(the other day i was so hungry i ate half a bag of them like a ravenous beast).
in fact, i'm eating some right now.

speaking of mentos

shit!

p.s. did anyone else know about this coke and mentos phenomenon? like, there's all these videos and photos of mentos and coke geysers. sounds like something fun to do if you're in a no fire-works zone.

surprise! it's someone famous!

so i got hired last week to cater a surprise birthday party for the cousin of the guy who hired me.
he mentioned she was 'kind of high profile' but i didn't think too much of it. i was trying to figure out if it was someone i might know...i knew she was 26, vegetarian, and jewish.

wasn't until about 5 minutes before she was due to arrive at the party that i heard someone say 'natalie' and then i figured it out.

that's right. i catered natalie portman's low-key surprise birthday party. BOOYAH!
she ate my cupcakes and my summer rolls and enjoyed them both.

she did indeed appear to be surprised, and looked very casual in a loose sundress, flip flops, and shower-hair.

woohoo! one day we shall be friends. sigh.

(menu: summer rice paper rolls w/mint-tamarind dipping sauce; artisan cheese and fruit plate; crudite w/greek yogurt ranch and lemon-roasted garlic hummus; sweet cornbread with thyme-fig paste and goat cheese; crostini w/summer harvest corn salad)

eating well/new diet.

so i'm on this really sweet new diet.

basically, you just don't eat, or when you do, make sure it's something naughty like a cupcake, piece of pie, cookie, scone, or some other baked good. it's okay to have a little bit of savory food here and there, just for the sake of balance-- like half a bag of chips. the occasional piece of fruit is allowed. try to cover it in chocolate if you can. also, don't eat at regular intervals or times of the day. randomness is best. don't eat breakfast. in fact, don't eat your first bite until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. and try not to get too much sleep either. the fewer the hours, the better! oh and definitely, do not go to the gym.

if you find that you are skinnier than you remember being, then you know it's working.
sure, you might feel like crap, but you're going to be skinny!

is this what college was like for most people?
or just grad school?

(it's been a stress and anxiety ridden past few days/week. can't wait until i get some real sleep and real food. i need a detox!)

no trains, walking.

it's always those days that your good intention to wake up early and be productive actually starts off properly that something goes awry to make you wish you'd slept in a bit longer. today was one of those.

woke up to do some shopping for another catering gig. i was out of the house by 9:30, and had a whirwind day planned.
i had to walk to lorimer to catch the L train, but no biggie. i went to make the transfer to the F at 6th avenue, and waited 10, then 15, then 20 minutes for a train that did not appear to be coming. i'd just missed the last train and the platform went from empty to 'wtf' crowded. needless to say, i was a bit pissed. so i left the platform and did my assorted errands on foot. ranging from 23rd @ 6th avenue to houston and 2nd avenue. and it was hot, i was carrying a bunch of shit, and i was in a hurry.

didn't get home until 2 hours after i hoped to be. but the shit got done, my whole foods delivery came before i had to leave again (yes! they deliver to the 'burg!!). frustration station.

mentos cab.

after an exhausting but successful catering event at target, i lug my heap stuff (duffels, a large bin, etc.) out to the street to catch a cab, figuring this would be a five to ten minute ordeal at most, being that i was on a well populate part of midtown. unfortunately, though there were no lack of cabs passing by, nary of them were available and i was in the middle of the block, so that also did not help, and i did not have the advantage of being able to move down to the corner with all of my stuff.

i made friends with the car driver who was waiting for his client, and he attempted to aid me with little success. forty minutes after my cab-catching attempts began, a pair of good-looking, well dressed middle aged business men hailed a cab not 20 feet up the block from me. at this point i am frustrated and tired and none of the car services i called had any availability for at least an hour and a half. i see one of the guys and sort of stare him down with a look that was a mix of "seriously?!," "don't you dare," and "help me, i'm a cute, sweet girl." it must have worked because he threw his hands up in a half shrug, half surrendering gesture, gestured the door as a cue for me to take the cab. i yelled and motioned for the cab to come down the block because i had too much stuff. i kept looking at the man and he made another shrug with a smile and a head shake that was sort of like saying 'how could i not give you the cab? you deserve it!'

it made me feel like i was in a mentos commercial. not quite as dramatic as if i had just enough stuff to awkwardly carry it around to the end of the block whilst simultaneously trying to hail a cab and somewhere in between there my bag strap breaks, i twist my ankle, and my sunglasses are on crooked...but, hey, we don't get these mento-esque moments every day, so i will take those moment as they come.

and i sure did. i took that cab to williamsburg and was as happy as could be.
end.

grapefruit shoe.

today was a lot of running around trying to price and buy things for a catering job in a couple of days. while at whole foods, i found myself a bit hungry but kind of too anxious and over-worked to actually eat. a few days before iwanted some of their fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, but they didn't have any in the small size, so today i bought one, only to realize after purchasing it that i didn't really want it. but there it was, tangy and sweet, and i had a few sips as i hopped a bus to 9th avenue. it was a rush and go kind of scenario, and i held onto the juice bottle while running into the post office. it's one of those bottles that has the pop-on/off top, not a screw on. which is why i didn't want to keep it in my bag, i was kind of afraid the top would pop off and then my bag would be all grapefruity. so when i get into the post office, i go to put the juice on the counter so i can grab the parcels out of my bag, only to have the (plastic) bottle come crashing down to the floor, spilling juice all over the floor, my leg, and into my canvas slip on, with which i was not wearing socks. after alerting the post office personnel to the spill, i popped into starbucks to wipe my leg down, but couldn't remove all of the grapefruit pulp. so for the better part of the day, i had a sticky grapefruit shoe, and a pulpy leg.

i guess a foot smelling of grapefruit isn't the worst thing one could wish for, but it still felt weird.

the returnith.

texas is pretty.

but i am now back in new york, have already seen 'harry potter' (though i will be going back so i can view it on the imax), have frolicked through the greenmarket, and watched 'so you think you can dance'. it's been a good day. more news to come.