Foodz and Movie Reviews

Hey there! Long time no see. It's been forevs. A lot has been going on here, what with my crazy busy life and all.



UPDATE: I figured out how to add .gifs to this thing! I feel so internet saavy.

Eh not really. I did make it out to Poland for an awesome wedding where I drank and danced and ate a lot, including this meat in aspic dish. It's not just a Julia Child favorite! I also tried Polish moonshine and had roughly 72635 shots of vodka over the course of the week.



I stopped by Prague on the way home and ran around the city with a wonderfully delightful host who has more energy in a day than I do in 2 weeks. Here's just one of the many shots I took of the city.



Besides that I've been catching up on my Netflix queue (including Waiting for God and Party Down), hanging out with Maude, and eating a lot of great meals with friends. The neatest was a summer solstice bbq that involved an entire pig.




That picture not good enough? Oh excuse me. Here's a better one.





Hopefully that fulfills your close-up-charred-pig-carcass viewing quota for the day.

The only other thing I have to share for now is the internet's newest and bestest blog, KT is en route to become the queen of trivia. I would highly recommend giving yourself at least an entire afternoon to digest and process the brilliance of her movie reviews. About "Major League":

"Anyway, I am not sure what I am supposed to write, but I should start by saying it was funny. Though it was not funnier than...(pausing to think about the name of the movie)...(still pausing because I can't remember)... anyway, it was not funnier than the movie I watched two weekends ago with the guy with gray hair who looks like the guy who was in another movie with gray hair with a really tall or long nose. I don't know his name or the other guy's name. I've seen the other guy with the tall nose more on tv than the guy in the movie I saw two weekends ago."

I'm just saying Roger Ebert better watch his fucking back.

OH and I almost forgot. I got an actual jobby job with benies and regular hours and a regular paycheck! Pretty soon I will be buying Maude a outfit that resembles this detailed rendering of what rich dogs wear.



How dapper!

Yummies

I've had a crazy whirlwind day today, including a visit to the Kinko's to fax a form to my loan peeps so I don't have to pay my student loans for awhile and a couple games of knock-off Settlers of Catan (called Xplorers) which a FB friend introduced me to. Now I'm at the Extracto coffeehouse on Killingsworth finishing up a pro bono project I started on Friday (yes, Agrado has a heart of gold y'all). But I had to stop and tell my 3 readers that they must get here to try the marionberry cheesecake bar post haste! That + an IZZE drink (which I've never had before but now I'm a convert) has been the perfect mid-day snack.



After I'm done with this, I think I'll get back to my hectic schedule of


and maybe a little of



Oh! And I'm going to play Bingo with Kathryn and Kerry and a bunch of other people tonight! I'm hoping there will be plenty of hipster old ladies there. I never win at games of chance but at least it requires leaving the house.

Finally!

It's been almost a month of quiet here in Unicorn Rainbow land. But soooooo much has happened y'all. April was a pretty amazing month. As I mentioned earlier, I was off to the homeland to see the fam a couple weeks ago. It was a great trip and Warsaw was awesome. We had perfect weather and I ate lots of delicious food.

This was my Easter plate. I literally ate pate everyday I was there. Sooooooo goooood


These are Polish doughnuts from Blikle. Orange rinds on top and a rose petal sauce filling give it that extra special yum.


And one of my favorite things to do in Warsaw is go to the Old Town square and get a beer and ice cream. Though my mom looks unhappy with her soup, it was actually delicious and she loved it.

Overall it was a great trip. I loved seeing my parents and spending time with my grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle. It was sad to leave them all but life awaits back in Portland.

Another big piece of news for this month is that I finally got a dog! My almost 2 years in planning plan has finally happened! I am officially a dog owner. And she's the best dog I could've ever imagined. She's sweet and loves to cuddle, loves her walks but when she's not walking, she'd rather be on the couch sleeping. She hasn't become friends with the cats yet cause they just want none of it but I am sure they will warm up to her soon.


I've been a terrible mom and not taken many pictures. She is fuckin adorable, especially when you hold her like a baby and she falls asleep but it's hard to take a good picture when you've got a puppeh in your arms! Her name is Maude, after the late great Bea Arthur who passed away the day that I got her. She's about a year old, maybe 1 1/2. She is the best. Here is a picture of her from the shelter web site. As you'll see, we changed her name but I don't think she cares at all. Anyway, I have to get to bed so I can get up early for our walk. Weeeee! More pictures to come. Also, tomorrow is our wine club with a book problem! Double weeee! Now if only work didn't suck a lot, all would be well. Until next time, you can watch this video of a sleeping corgi (Maude is part corgi, part rat terrier (we think)).

Can You Handle The Hotness?

I didn't think so.
ZOMG! Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal back together again in a movie. Thank you Jebus.
I think both of them would be on my list of people that I would get a free pass to cheat on my boyfriend/husband with if I got the chance. Yay 2009! I didn't like Diego Luna in 'Milk' (loved the movie though) but he is so amazingly hot in 'Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights.' (And yes I realize I'm admitting I've seen it. But I'll go a step further and say I've seen it multiple times). But really. He was.

Oh how I love holidays. I spent new year's day reading and listening to episodes of "This American Life" that were on my podcast subscription but I hadn't listened to. Have I mentioned my nerdcrush on Ira Glass? I'm pretty sure I have.

I also watched a couple episodes of this crazy show I read about on Tokyomango about this guy who spent a year living in a room and could only live off things he won from mail-in contests. I'm not sure how he didn't starve that first month but watching him go nutty from lack of social interaction and do his victory dance every time the mailman came and delivered him stuff (like a live lobster, a TV, or a stuffed animal sea lion) is the kind of voyeuristic joy that can only be surpassed by the can-fessionals in MTV's newest fauxreality TV masterpiece, Bromance. I wonder when MTV will drop that completely misleading "music" from its network name and just dive head first into what it really does best. The True Lifes, the Mades, Paris Hilton's BFF-esque shows.. Just switch it to RTV or FRTV (which is just a step from FARTV! which would be the best network name ever. If you were an 8 year old boy..)

My weekend was relaxing. My bestie and I made baked macaroni & cheese, which I'll be eating for another day or so, and watched Serenity. I'm going to spend my Sunday finishing our book club book, doing some laundry, unpacking (I'm the slowest unpacker on the face of the planet), and heading to trivia tonight. Let's hope it doesn't snow again this week. But if it does, can it come with some pandas playing in my backyard?

Something Resembling a Year in Review

As I was commenting on E's post on New Year's Resolutions, I re-read my year-end roundup I wrote last year at around this time. I posted it on FB but I'll re-post part of it (I cut out some of the boring answers) here with commentary. I wish I wrote more cause it's amazing how many things you forget.

"1. The biggest change in your life this year?
Moving to China on a pretty short notice. Both scary and exciting.

The whole living in Beijing thing was a huge fuckin change (when I first wrote that last year, I had only been there about 3 weeks). It was amazing and I still miss it everyday. Having to come back was kind of devastating and depressing. But everything is for the best right? Right!?

Probably. The pollution probably takes a few years of your life. But still, the food, the city, cheap massages..


2. What did you do over the summer?
Studied for the Bar, took the Bar, tried to forget the Bar in Mexico, H'ville and New York, passed the Bar (woo), started freaking out about not having a job.

My summer was spent working, spending as much time as possible with my friends and boyfriend in Beijing (with a quick trip to Shanghai and Hangzhou), being depressed for awhile in Portland, and then beginning to feel better.

3. How were relationships with boyfriends/ girlfriends?
Boyfriends = generally bad. 2007 was not the year of the boyz for me. Girlfriends = amazing. Srsly, my betches are awesome. I don't know what I'd do without them.

Hmm, this is pretty much the same. 2008 was also not a year of the boyz, though my Chinese bf was cute and sweet, our relationship was a bit weird and I can't say it ended that well. But again, girlfriends = amazing.

4. What news story sticks in your mind the most from 2007?
All the fab Republican sex scandals. Thanks Larry Craig for Cocktober.

All things Obama. (BTW, I kind of want this tshirt. It combines 2 of my favorite things!) Also the Olympics and the earthquake in Sichuan were huge. Larry Craig and company set a high bar for sex scandals but I think Rick Warren is showing all the tell-tale signs of something scandalizingly awesome to come (the louder they are, the bigger the hypocrite). Spitzer's was ok but more just sad than entertaining. And I mean sad for his wife, not for him. I think Spitz is an asshole.

5. Favorite song from the year? Ack, too many good songs.

This one is a bit easier this year since I can count the number of new albums I got on 2 hands. Good new pop music is surprisingly not the easiest thing to get in Beijing (though they loooove Britney Spears). So good songs would have to be from Chairlift, Lupe Fiasco, or Hercules & Love Affair

6. Favorite artist this year? Probably The National or Jens Lekman.

One of the 3 mentioned in #5. Unless they mean artist as in 'art' art. Then I'd say whoever drew this picture, even though he's probably dead by now. Mei-mei and Ting Ting will cut a bitch just for looking at them funny!

I didn't bring back too many things from China (besides a 'Diesel' purse and 'Ferragamo' wallet) but I do have this poster up in my room and I kind of love Chinese propaganda art. It's so craze.


9. Who are you most proud of (can be a famous or non- famous person)? Heather, from ANTM.
Hahaha, I love this answer. I'm sticking to it.


12. Did you do anything you never thought you would do?
I moved to China. And started eating meat again. Mmmm lamb never tasted so good.

You may not know from my posts about my love of pig-based meats, but I was a vegetarian for 7, almost 8 years, when I moved to China and decided to start eating meat again. I don't know if I can ever go back. But for this year...hmm...working at a business law firm was definitely something I never thought I'd do. I always pictured myself a civil litigation or family law person.

19. Are you making any new years resolutions for 2008? Nope. I want a decent-paying job, a dog (english bulldog of course), and a boyfriend (or a number of cute guys to date) but whether or not any of those happen is really up in the air. I don't think I can 'resolve' to get those. Except the dog. I think my resolution will be to get a dog. It's the only one I have total control over.

Ha, so getting a dog is still on my list for 2009 (this is definitely the year for Sprinkles) but I'm not tied to my English bulldog anymore. They're not too common in shelters and the Humane Society. Any small, kind of lazy dog will do. I'm not too concerned about a bf and I have a job. I do need to add getting my own apartment to the list. I want to buy a condo but I'll be happy with a nice place to rent. Sorry roomies! Y'all are totes cool but I'm a loner when it comes to my living space. Also, I want to read more, write more, and be more proactive about getting out and having a life.

And that's about it. Am I forgetting something big from last year? Probably, but I drink too much wine to have a good memory."

So there's kind of a personal roundup. I probably am forgetting tons of stuff about 2008 but I still drink too much wine to have a good memory. I'm taking my day off today to scour through the internets for my fav pop culture and cute animal stories of 2008 that I will probably post up here soon. I'm feeling a bit re-re and lazy this morning.

Happy New Year's y'all!!

How Agrado Spent Her Weekend

I spent the weekend at Elaine's house cause the bitch was down in Mexico where it's warm and sunny. On the upside, I got to housesit, which means I had a whole house to myself. A house that comes with a dog!! The easiest dog in the world to take care of. I let her out a few times a day, I fed her, I pet her, and then she just lay on her blanket while I watched Law & Order and Golden Girls (cause I'm 80 years old). It was heaven y'all. This is how Turtle spent most of her weekend.

I don't have a TV at home so I've been catching up on the multitudes of bizarro TV shows that are on now. I really wish I had Animal Planet. It's totes my new favorite network. I can watch it all day long. Fat Pets, Animal Cops, Dogs 101, Cats 101, It's Me or the Dog (though I'm not crazy about the new American episodes. What happened to her dominatrix outfits!?)

And isn't it weird that everything is now a realitv show? I just watched Scream Queens on Vh1. A girl I went to law school with is on Whale Wars (that show where militant animal rights activists ram into whaling ships). I saw a preview for a show about people that give parking tickets! I wonder if this is some attempt at making people happier with their jobs by showing that even mundane work is exciting enough for TV. Cause I'm in a profession that has a billion shows about it, and I seriously heart L&O, but it is nowhere near that exciting. I can't imagine that getting a role in Saw VI is really going to change your life and start your career. Being on ANTM won't even launch your career, and TyTy is exponentially more famous than all the Saw movies put together.

I also watched the season finale of The Pick-up Artist 2 (and by watched, I mean I had it on mute for half of the 10 minutes I was able to not implode from RT). Oh my god that is the most ridiculous show on the planet!! Despite the fact it is based on a laughably sexist premise, I can't even muster up the energy to be offended. Mystery is so distractingly, ludicrously ridiculous, I would need to make up a whole new word for him. At this point all I've got is wtfzomgwtf, but I'm sure I'll think of something better soon.

Now I'm back at my house. My cold sad house with other people living in it. I seriously need to get my own place soon. It's not that my roommate isn't nice (only 1 now, but 2 more are coming). I just have this thing where I don't want people around in my living space most of the time. I love having guests and stuff, but for the most part, I just want to be by myself. Especially in the morning when I'm a zombie-bitch-from-hell before I have my first cup of coffee. Is it so much to ask to just stay in your room until I leave for work! Sheesh.

Oh, and I did two other awesome things this weekend.
1) 2 of my girlfriends came over while I was at E's and we cooked an aaaaaamazing dinner of lamb meatballs on polenta with veggies. We sat around, drank wine, talked shit. It was awesome.

It doesn't look half as good in that picture as it tasted. But try it. It's fuckin delish.

2) I went to the NIN show at the Rose Quarter. Holy crap it was amazing (and I realize I say a lot of shit is amazing, but omg, seriously. This show was Afuckinmazing.*) I've seen them before and I've had a long-lasting crush on Trent Reznor (I secretly heart goth dudes. They're so pensive!), but they have put together some crazy shit for this tour. Not only do they rock the old school tracks, the visuals at the show are unreal. And again. Hot.

So that was my weekend. My birthday party was not that fun, which is why I didn't post about it. Aaah well, what can you do. I could (and probably will) write more about my new favorite shows and other awesome meals I've cooked (or my friends have cooked and I played sous chef). But it's Monday night, and I'm totes over my day.

* I really need substitutes for "amazing" and "awesome." I use them way too much.

It's my berffdaay!

Woot woot! Monday birthdays generally aren't that great, what with the work thing and all, but I managed to have a chill stress-free day at the office. I usually love to do fun things for my bday. Big dinners and nights out but I guess I shouldn't have become a lawyer a year ago and been so lame as to not really do much for my birthday by the time I'm 25. Aaaaahh well, that's how shit turns out.

I just ate at Le Pigeon for dinner and holy crap it was good. We (being my bestie, Jacob, and I) had some pig (the magical animal) for every course. Pork belly and egg noodles (with truffles - my absolute favorite flavor ever) for appetizers; beef cheek and the most amazing piece of pork I've ever had for an entree.



And for dessert? Cornbread with maple ice cream, apricots, and BACON of course!



My pictures didn't turn out that great but after more than half a bottle of wine, my camera aim and selection of camera settings was, perhaps, not at its peak. I love the Pidge for many reasons. Even their vegetarian food is awesome. I was a vegetarian for 7 years before I went to China and I've had a few wonderful vegetarian meals at Le Pigeon. I also went through my foiegrastarianism there, where I ate no meat except foie gras at LP. It's a really exclusive food movement, not too many of us ever existed. But now that I'm back to eating meat when the urge strikes, I wanted to go all out. And though I feel like I've had enough meat to last me until my next birthday, my belly is happy.

There's not too much else on my wish list this year. I do want some boots, a new winter jacket, and maybe a date with either T.I., Jon Hamm, or James Franco (shit, can I just be Sean Penn and make out with both Franco and Diego Luna!!??). Jet Li, Jon Stewart, and Rahm Emmanuel are also always on that list. Agrado's Future Dog Sprinkles Fund (AFDSF) is still accepting donations and I could really use my own apartment. One of those new condos popping up all over Portland will do just fine. Like the Sunrose on 28th & Burnside. Top floor on that one would be great. Y'all got that? Cool.