Austenland

here's something i'll probably try to find for my next plane ride/during winter break (when i let myself indulge in chick lit)


30 something girl's aunt leaves her a trip to Pembrook Place, a resort where everything and everyone looks and lives like an Austen novel. sounds like perfect escapism to me.

i'm not always the biggest fan of austen sequels or the like, but sometimes, when i go in without any expectations and just want a distraction, i'm pleasantly surprised. At the end of the summer, my mom gave me Linda Berdoll's Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, an utterly delightful, rather raunchy sequel to p&p. more than rather raunchy. very sexy. seems that people either loved it or hated it on amazon. if you're not expecting it, it's more than a little startling, but hey, sometimes a good romance novel sex scene is great, especially when stuck in a fun story.

how i've missed you

it's everything i remembered, everything that has been missing! well, okay, not quite everything, but so goooooooooooood.

i'll comment later, for those wonderful west coast people who haven't seen it yet/my friends who i know won't get a chance to watch for a couple days. but i can safely say that the skill level this season is incredible, even if the design aesthetic isn't all that exciting yet. but from past experience, people get more creative when they're forced to, and since i can only imagine what sort of wacky ideas the magic elves are coming up with this season, i'm hoping that happens soon! heidi is adorable, tim is my favorite, and ninagarcia/orangeman are their usual semi entertaining selves. i do think that watching the judges faces is one of the best parts of the show.

plenty of characters, and i totally predicted (earlier today on the tressemme fantasy runway site) who was going to get kicked off. so hah. didn't get the winner though.... second choice.

anyways. happy place!

three hours, one class til prunway! so excited. i'll report back later.

i'm getting worse at this....

sorry - i know it's past midnight in chicago and thus technically the 14th, not the 13th, but here it is anyways. and cheating a bit again because it's the book i finished today for seminar. but it's actually really really interesting and a very well written history.
George Reid Andrews Blacks and Whites in Sao Paulo Brazil, 1888-1988.


debunking the myth of racial democracy. investigating social, economic, religious, political racism in brazil from emancipation to its centennial and destroying theories that continued inequalities are based solely on the remnants of slavery. intriguing, concise, to the point, and very well documented in a book that is both historical and anthropological. very very cool. enjoy!

walking in a winter wonderland...

well, it's definitely not winter yet here, but i'm realizing that a new down coat may be in order this year. i have a wonderful wool coat and survived college with that and lots of layers, but i don't know that it's enough for chicago winters. aside from style, i'm debating color - black, brown, green? soo.... advice on the following is welcome!

from patagonia W's down with it parka ($249), also comes in brown and pale blue:

Mountain Hardware Downtown Coat ($235); also in brown:

North Face transit jacket ($229), also in brown:

Cloudveil Oslo Jacket ($280), also in brown and pearl:


And the one i'd set my heart on until it turns out it's no longer available in my size,

Land's End Chevron Coat ($140), in lots of nice colors - i like the green brown and black

i might try a different size, just because it's the least expensive but still has same fill quality (or better) and nice colors and is apparently very water resistant. anyone have any experience with land's end down?

Fading Hopes

"Wang got the news in a voice-mail message. “I just don’t understand why the U.S. Olympic Committee won’t push for me,” she said. “How can there only be one person representing all of North and South America?”"


well, this is both a giggle and a disappointment. i got so excited last night when the nytimes homepage had a link to an article about rhythmic gymnastics under the sports subtitle. must be a very slow day in sports for my beloved discipline to make the homepage. so that was a hurrah! notice for rsg! but then i read the article and realized that in the long run it means even less notice - without an athlete in the competition it means its highly doubtful that the networks will show any rsg during their broadcasts. damn it!

on the article itself, i do find it a little ridiculous that they managed to get such a horrible shot of lisa for the top of the page. really - i'm sure she did many an impressive thing while the photographer was there - why show something so ungainly and ugly?

also - the us trying to get one of the tripartite commission spots for countries that send small delegations? hahahahah i can totally see why the us olympic committee wouldn't go for it, even if it makes me sad. lisa is a very good gymnast - she was competing back when i was still coaching and we saw her a few times. i can't believe she's only 19 and admitting that her olympic dreams are crushed, but it really is true. there's very little chance of a 23 yr old gymnast competing.

it's a beautiful sport that has ruined my back and hips for life, but i still wish it got more attention here in the states. so long as it stays in the olympics - there are always calls to cut it out in favor of something else, mostly coming from the us where it is little known despite its huge popularity in europe and parts of asia - i'll be okay. and i just have to hope that wherever i am next summer is more interested than people here so i can see at least some of the competition.

can't think tonight

too much reading to do and brain too dead to do even a brief write up (pastitsio was a procrastination technique but well worth the effort - see below - and no, i didn't eat all of that; RP helped)

before:

after:



so posting a couple cookbooks that are favorites instead

my mom's two mexican cooking bibles:




childhood favorite:


and of course

i cant remember the name of the greek cook book she uses, but i'll find it someday