Ooof.

Kind of a slow day. Hook and I hosted a party last night and it was a total success(!), but one that left me unable to do anything today besides reading and watching "Steak Paradise" on the Travel Channel. (Aside: I am totally, totally disgusted by the 72-ounce steak challenge at the Big Texan.) Back to the party, though: Friday, my food processor arrived in the mail, and Hook and I made good use of this new toy in prepping party foods. Hook made Lemonhead- and Red Hot-infused cream cheese frosting for the green velvet cupcakes; I made hummus. Both were delicious. I also made mascarpone-stuffed dried apricots, some of which were topped with chopped cashews and some of which contained a chocolate chip. I never otherwise have the chance to make the apricots -- what would I do with all that leftover mascarpone, you know? -- which is one reason why parties rock: I have the chance to make big batches of food that I'd never make for myself.

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Right now, I am craving Twizzlers. I blame Lindsay Lohan*.

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Last week, I read a NY Times story about the increasingly popular concept of the clothing diet, individuals following which devote themselves either to buying no new clothing for a specified amount of time (i.e., a year), or who wear only a certain number of clothing articles for a given amount of time (i.e., six articles over the course of a month). I'm fascinated by this concept: I know that I shop too much and don't even wear most of the clothing I own. (Embarrassing aside: in some cases, I've "discovered" in my closet clothing I'd forgotten I had.) While I'm not going to commit to wearing the same six articles for a month, I am going to become more conscious of what I buy and cut down on needless buying. That way, when I do decide to get a new pair of jeans, the event of selecting and purchasing the jeans will be a more enjoyable event. Wish me luck on this venture!


*On Friday, I read a news story claiming that L.Lo is spending her jail time writing and eating large quantities of Twizzlers.

Success!

The beets turned out really well; I was hoping to post pictures, being that beets are awesomely hued, but I had to peel and chop them in sort of a rush & also forgot to bring my camera to the party. Ah, well. Less successful was my decision to shotgun a beer midway through the night. "Hey Ya" came on late in the evening, and I started reminiscing about how this song always reminds me of junior/senior year (though the song itself came out earlier), and how college in general reminds me of shotgunning beers...Right. Logic was not present in my mind, mind you, and someone said that if they found a canned beer then I had to shotgun, which I did - with a minimum of mess. I think I'll stick to beets, though.