Week 14

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the start of the 15th week of the year!

I enjoy being an amateur floral arranger with the stuff I get from Trader Joe's

After Easter, I had Monday off of work to do some mostly frivolous shopping and was definitely wooed by some fashion that reeked of the 1980s in the form of a denim high-waisted button-fly skirt. It was nice to be mindless and not overthink my wardrobe choices for once.

Margot wants in on the Easter feast

I sat in on an advanced music theory class on Friday as students were introduced to the world of music synthesis, commonly known as playing with synthesizers. It was so fun to hang out with these enthusiastic music nerds as they asked questions that were completely over my head.  (I was there for a story I'm writing for our alumni magazine.)

I started my first-ever knit-along project this week, doing a mystery project through The Healthy Knitter. When you sign up, you find out what kind of yarn you need and how much, and a recommended needle size. On Sunday, the first part of the pattern was revealed. She will continue to release new sections of it throughout the month. It's a mesh scarf but the details are unknown! In addition, she incorporates a meditative walking routine that you're supposed to do every day. I've done a few of them when it's not pouring down rain.

Reading

Zadie Smith represents my post-college life as a reader. I bought White Teeth shortly after moving into my Browne's Addition apartment, when I started my hour-long bus commute to work and had extra time to read, and her writing was so fresh to me and so different from other female authors I'd read. I think what I loved most about Smith's writing was the way she introduced me to the cultural make-up of London and Great Britain through her brilliantly written characters. I'm now reading Swing Time and am reminded by how brilliant and pinpointed her writing is, and I am personally delighted that the title is in reference to the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie of the same name, as the main character idolizes the dancers, music and movies of the 1930s...so I can relate.

Watching

We spent most of our weeknights watching a 6-part documentary on Netflix called "Wild Wild Country." It told the story of the Rajneeshpuram commune in Wasco County, Oregon - how it got there, how it affected the locals, what brought people there, who the Bhagwan and his inner circle were, and what ultimately led to the commune's demise. It's so compelling despite so many unanswered questions, with interviews that leave you unsure as to whom to believe. It prompted some soul-searching as I found myself sympathizing, often uncomfortably, with people on both sides. It was a fascinating story about human nature, personal identity and community devotion, American religion and values, and the things we are capable of doing for what we believe in and the people we love. I recommend it.

Little triangles to remind us of Paris at Fleur de Sel Creperie

I also keep forgetting to mention the sweetest little series I have ever seen called Alice in Paris. These are 1-2 minute episodes featuring the very loveable Alice and various places to visit in Paris (each episode ends with a recap of the address so you can go there yourself). Watching these is like eating potato chips for me. I almost cried when I saw this episode which featured one of the lemon tarts I enjoyed on my last trip from Arnaud Larher in Montmartre . It's true that one (or several) of these can change your life.

On Saturday we went to the movies to see The Death of Stalin, which was totally the kind of movie that my oldest brother would love: a historically based dark comedy played by British actors, with physical comedy and one-liners that had the theater belly-laughing. I mostly enjoyed it and laughed along with them but found it a little tedious by the end. Also, the fact that some of this stuff actually happened is a bit sickening.

It didn't always rain

Recipes

Easter dinner was a simple marinated steak and veggie kebab...no ham! The weather has been absolute crap so I've been seeking out comfort food. I requested a creamy pasta with peas, and Joel delivered. Another night was cream of asparagus soup, loosely based on this recipe. And I returned to one of our favorites which we dubbed Mexican bibimbap (mostly because of the fried egg topping).

If you think pasta is bad for you, you're doing it wrong

Cookie of the Week

I'm back in the saddle this week with Dorie's chocolate-oatmeal-Biscoff cookies. The unique thing with this one is you blend butter, sugar (brown and white) and cookie butter together (I used Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie butter), as you might with peanut butter. The cookie butter lends a mild gingery taste. You add an egg and then the dry ingredients, which include oats, flour, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. It's really good, though I'm starting to notice several of the cookies I've made so far look like this one.