I’ve not posted much lately because I’m working at a new job and on graduate school applications. Don’t worry they’re all to schools in the UK so it’s not too late. Aiming to having them all in my the end of the month so fingers crossed for me please.
Anyway with the applications I’m been working on a new writing sample, with the topic been reading a lot of bioarchaeological and evolutionary anthropology books and papers. I’ve read one from the 60’s, a couple theory books and a few on recent topics. The other night I started a book on human evolution which was written by a German professor in 1923. I had glanced through when I got the book and it seemed to be the standard archaic early anthropological writing full of ideas which now seem absolutely ridiculous and many racial slurrings which were thought to be ‘scientific observations’. Now don’t get me wrong those things are in there but there was also something that really surprised me. In the introduction there were a few quotes from earlier papers of his. I’ll share two of the quotes with you guys.
“The knowledge that man has a common natural origin with the rest of the living world can do no more harm to religion than the rotation of the earth. When this fact is so generally known that even a child at school will not be excused for not knowing it, the consciousness that our race has been evolved, under the rule of law, from a lower condition will prove a valuable possession…A religion that fears the truth must be in a bad way.”
and secondly
“If God is the substance of truth, all investigation of the truth is a service of God. We men of science would be guilty of sin if we did not share the results of our work with our fellow men.”
Amazing that something written before 1916 can still be a progressive idea in this country.
Pandora is finally acting properly and giving me some really awesome music.
These songs came from 2 different stations but just go so well together that I think I’m going to have to start a new station for them.
First off is The Glitch Mob – Bad Wing
Freestylers – Cracks [Flux Pavillion remix]
DJ T-rock & squishy nice – The Fugue
Bassnector – Timestretch (West Coast Lo Fi remix)
Ephixa – Give you back life (swifty song)
And though not a recent pandora find, this song just fits really well with the playlist that’s forming here
Magnetic Man – Karma Crazy
As you can tell in a very dubstep mood. This really makes me miss NYC and the club scene there. I miss feeling the bass rumble through my body. I need to get back to a big city soon, cause though it’s funny to watch my cat go crazy to this music as I listen to it in my room, it’s a little sad too that this is what my friday nights have become…
oh and here’s a cherry on top of dubstep dance moves.
At this point Christmas is over and done with (the package I sent Jonathan finally got there!)
This year took a bit to get in the Christmas spirit, I think it was mainly due to the weather having temperatures in the 60’s leading up to Christmas it’s no wonder. As a result there was next to no motivation to decorate which lead to us having a more “traditional” Chritstmas where we did all the decorating on Christmas eve. Somehow we pulled it all together though and got 2 trees up, the house decorated, presents wrapped, and a bunch of baking done the day before the holiday. Here are a few pictures of what our house looked like.
We did family gifts at home and dinner at my aunt’s house. All in all it was a pretty good day.
As for gifts the best of course was my October trip to London from Jonathan. Some other things that I got that were pretty nifty were a hoodie from my archaeology company with the University and company name on, a framed cross stitch of the Tardis from my friend Madison, and a nail polish top coat which turns all polishes into matte from my bff, Gillian. She also gave me a really beautiful carved soapstone box which will be a great jewelry box for traveling to grad school since it’s smaller than my normal one. 🙂
I’ve been back from the UK for 50 days now. 😦 sadness.
Pouting aside while I was there I decided that I’m going to put my money where my mouth is get a top hat. Unfortunately the London vintage shops weren’t on the same page as this notion. The only top hat I found was this one, which was too big, but my friend Esther snapped a cute picture of me in it.
Since returning to the states I started to look more seriously at how to rock a top hat. I mean it’s not something you can just throw on with any look. And with it being such an ostentatious piece, the looks have to be carefully planned so as not to look too costume. I started my doing google image searches of girls wearing top hats.
The obvious first findings were Steampunk chicks.
If I had more time and money this would be something I’d totally get into. The look is amazing and come on the girls are beautiful!
Seriously, yum.
I went looking again and found a lot of 19th century circus images.
Very “water for elephants” and not too far off from the steampunk vibe.
The next search results were menswear.
The menswear is going to be the easiest to pull off but still it can look a little too over the top if not done properly.
I then started to look for real girls pulling of the top hat and well there are a special few celebs and fashionistas who are making it look good.
I’m in love with these two looks!
This is really cute too though, I’m not as much a fan of the small hat look, but I’m digging the party dress idea. (Also posted cause Andrew Lee Potts is sooo hot *total power couple*)
Now with a few ideas and jumping off points, I took to polyvore.
For a nonchalant menswear/ boys prep school look I put a top hat with a pair of skinnies, pinstriped blazer, school satchel, awesome pumps, and some skeleton details to give it that twist of me.
This one’s a bit over the top but I had to for the McQueen jacket!
And no post on top hats would be complete without a bit of a Mad Hatter Tea Party. Though if you take away all the tea cups this one is very normal looking. I’m seriously in love with pairing top hats with satchel bags.
The only things that give way the theme of this look are the whimsy earrings and the pocket watch necklace, it’s just enough of a hint to make you smile and try to see who gets it.
Ok so very long post but I think that it’s obvious, I need to get a top hat. And not just one, but two, black and brown, so I can pulls off these polyvore sets.
I haven’t posted too many of my pictures lately so here’s another round.
These are images I found that make me go “whoa” and that I feel inspired by
This one I took a few mornings ago as I left for work.
And for few more of my instgrams.
The first two are from the woods at Fort Pickett. The last one is from a farmhouse in Middletown, VA.
Now I’d like to share with you a video that an internet friend posted earlier tonight.
I think it’s so amazing. She’s only in high school but this girl has real talent. She’s one of the better artists that I’ve seen out there recently. If you want to check her out take a look at her deviant art page or you can follow her @vaughngogh. And if you really liked her, she does commissions so hit her up at her website.
I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been back in the states but I’ve been meaning to do this post but have just been overly lazy about it.
While in London I had the great pleasure of finally meeting a woman who I’ve been internet friends with for a couple years, Esther over at Villian School Dropout, she’s also married to Gus from Rooster Teeth Productions, which is the website that I met Jonathan on. She and Gus were in London for the MCM Expo, when I found out I was in fact going to be in London the same time they were I messaged her and we started planning out what we were going to do. Once the “OMG, your kidding” and “no really, I’ll be there” messages were gotten out of the way I asked what she wanted to see/do while there she messaged back “can we go vintage shopping??” Gotta say I fell in love a bit.
I love vintage. I know it’s all the rage right now and everyone’s wearing all these faux vintage accessories, and well I’ll admit I have my fair share, but I’ve really enjoyed vintage stylings for a while and it’s kinda become my look. I do this weird mix of vintage, edgy, academia type of look. So blazers, cardigans, silk shirts, short skirts, platform heels/boots and my great aunt’s pearls and hand bag. And let’s not forget the plastic faux tortoise shell framed glasses.
I had a vague idea of where to go for vintage shopping which was confirmed by my friend, Carly, when she came over during the week. I was also happy to hear that she would be vintage shopping the friday as well, which meant that the market would be open. The thing about most London markets is that they’re only open on the weekends, there might be a few days during the week that they’re open but they won’t have all the wares as on the weekend. I was a bit nervous but if Carly, who lives in greater London was going during the week it must be fine.
I first took Esther to Camden Town, not really vintage there, just a really big awesome market. I felt she should experience and it’s really pretty down by the locks. Camden Town is thankfully open everyday of the week. It might be a bit bigger on weekends but if you go on a Tuesday, you won’t be disappointed.
We then headed to Portobello road. We evidently started on the wrong end though. We took central line to Notting Hill Gate and walked up the road from that end. Which is fine and all, lots of shops, but if you want the market bit of it you need to take the Circle or Hammersmith & city lines to Ladbroke Grove. Ah well live and learn. Next time I go I’ll make sure to start on the far end because I think I could have found better deals in the market itself than in the actual shops.
Starting at Notting Hill we ended up going through a lot of the store fronts. There are a lot of vintage and antique stores up and down the road. There’s also a lot of great pubs. We stopped and had lunch in once called The Sun and Splendor, which had really really nicely done fish and chips. After that we wandered the road popping in and out of little shops. The first few shops closer to Notting Hill Gate were really expensive and only carried designer stuff. As you walk down the road though things get a little less pricey. We went into a store called Alice’s which was packed full of all sorts of antiques. We also found a nicely priced vintage shop where I found this blazer.
It’s just a just barely a touch too big, but it’s very warm and gorgeous. It was made in 1933 and the price was awesome (£40) so I had to get it. I also love it because it reminds me very much of this blazer which I saw on Jack Wills. Preppy site I know, I had no idea what it was the first time I went to the site, I heard about it from a blog I follow and checked it out. Most the stuff was way too preppy for me but their blazers are awesome though very out of my price range. Even on sale this one was over $150. 😦
But that just makes my find that much sweeter 🙂
We did make it all the way to the other end of the road to the market, but by the time we got there it about 4:30, the venders were closing up, and we were both exhausted and our feet were very sore. We just barely poked our head into it and decided we’d rather have tea and cupcakes. For that we walked back down the road to Hummingbird bakery, which has the best cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. They kick Magnolia Bakery in NYC’s ass.
All in all it was a day well spent. We had fun, though I dare say I walked Esther to death. I feel bad about it cause she was still very very jet lagged. Sorry, sweetie!
Oh and here’s the full run down on the outfit I’m wearing in the picture above.
Blazer – vintage shop in London
Scarf – thrift store in Lincoln, UK
Top – really a slip dress from All Saints
Skirt – Forever 21
Belt – Forever 21
Necklace – Forever 21
Tights – Target
Also here’s a music video I’ve been meaning to post and it just kinda fits with this blog, hope you enjoy it.
Finally recovered from my food coma enough to post (and think) about food. The extended food coma might have something to do with me actually eating left overs the day after. I usually wait like a day or three to eat more of the same. So here we go Thanksgiving food preparations.
When doing food prep on Thanksgiving day, my usual charge is the cranberry sauce. This is mainly because I make it differently than my mom would ever think to. In order to make the cranberry sauce in this special way, I also have to make a sour cherry streusel pie.
I’m sure a few of you are going ‘huh?’ trying to make the corrilation. My foodie friends out there might have an idea dawning, so let me just bring everyone up to speed. When you buy cherries they come in a jar in a light syrup, I use this syrupy cherry juice for the cranberry sauce in the place of water. Get a normal bag of ocean spray cranberries and follow the directions on the back only use the cherry juice instead.
Now since I’ve got all these cherries, which no longer have a jar of syrup to call home, this is where I start to make a pie.
Here’s the recipe I used.
SOUR CHERRY STREUSEL PIE
Ingredients:
Streusel
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling
1 cup (scant) sugar
3 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 jars sour cherries, pitted
Preparation: I used a 10″ deep dish frozen pie crust. For streusel: Mix first 5 ingredients in bowl. Add melted butter and vanilla; run in with fingertips until small clumps form.Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375F. Place foil-lined baking sheet in bottom oven to catch spills. Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add cherries; toss to coat. Let cherries stand until cherries begin to release juice, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Transfer filling to chilled crust, mounding in center. Sprinkle streusel over, covering completely and pressing to adhere.
Bake pie 20 minutes. Tent loosely with foil. Bake until filling bubbles thickly and streusel is golden, about 1 hour 10 minutes longer. Cool on rack.
I usually make a few alterations to the recipe. I always add a couple splashes of lemon juice to the cherries to give it a bit more depth. This year because I couldn’t actually find sour cherries around here, I only used 2/3 of a cup and added some more splashes of lemon to the filling. End result: perfection. I also cut down on the amount of cinnamon I used by 1/4 a teaspoon in filling and streusel but that’s only because I’m have an allergy to cinnamon and get sick if I eat too much of it.
Usually this would be the end of my charges for the Thanksgiving meal, however my Dad and I ended up doing all the cooking so I got to try many more things. I started out with asking my mom if I could do a rosemary, rock salt, and cracked pepper rub for the turkey. She initially shot it down and told me to make the cranberry sauce. After making the sauce, my Dad and I were talking about possibly adding brandy or cognac to the sauce next year. He then mentioned that we needed a topping for a gluten free cheese cake that was made for my aunt. Since we had about 1/4 of a bag of cranberries left we decided to try this brandy adding idea. He also suggested to throw in a bag of frozen blackberries. This is why I love cooking with my Dad, we just bounce ideas off each other and make really awesome dishes. The tossed together recipe went something like this:
1/4 a cup of cherry juice
1/4 a cup of sugar
1/4 cup brandy
bring to a boil
add in cranberries and blackberries then continue to boil and reduce for about 8ish minutes. We wanted it more liquidy than the cran sauce so we didn’t really time it. When it was finished and put into a bowl my Dad folded in another dash of brandy, and then let it sit on the counter until time for dessert. My Aunt loved it, though she called last night to let us know that it’s MUCH better the second day and that next year we should make it the night before. So happy 2 of my desserts now have approval to be made time and time again. (My streusel was the first pie to vanish)
After Mom tasted our blackberry cranberry topping she came in and announced. “Do whatever you want to the bird” yay! so I got to do my rub though i think I need to use more rosemary next year to make the flavor more intense. I’m also going to look at what to use besides crisco and vegetable oil to cover and bast the turkey with. Don’t judge to harshly we’re Southern. Crisco is in our veins..literally. All in all it was a really great meal. Along with the topping, our venison and mushroom in a red wine reduction starter was a hit and has been requested again for next year. At the end of the day I was exhausted but had such a great time cooking all day. 🙂
Little Boots, that is, is back with a kickin’ new track which was premiered on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show and then became available on the UK itunes store, and by some miracle the US store as well, last week.
So check it out here then go download it for yourself cause it is well good.
I’m so glad to have new music from Boots, she’s such a great artist. I got turned onto her Summer of ’08, back when she was doing tracks in her bedroom with her keyboard and posting them on youtube. I then saw her at CMJ twice in Fall ’09 and then again in spring ’09 right after her first album ‘Hands’ came out. She toured for a while then went back into the studio and last October she fell off the map for a couple months, didn’t even update twitter or her blog. Glad to know that she’s been hard at work and I’m looking very forward to her next album. ❤
This is really cute too though, I’m not as much a fan of the small hat look, but I’m digging the party dress idea. (Also posted cause Andrew Lee Potts is sooo hot *total power couple*)
The Adventures of Kittie 