Haiku Review: Trusts and Estates Reading

Some guy wrote a will
Oops, we found a codicil
Probate court, baby!



(Image reproduced without permission from samplelegalagreements.com).

Haiku Review: South Bend Chocolate Cafe

Service lackluster
But root beer floats passed muster
Hey, where's the chocolate?


-by the Boyfriend and the Sophisticate




(Image reproduced without permission from www.sbchocolate.com).

Haiku Review: Starbucks Espresso Truffle

On one hand coffee
On the other hot chocolate
Tasty together

Haiku* Review: Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray

Winter is coming
This bottle will help your skin
Spray it anytime


You can buy this product through Sephora here.


*A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry consisting of 17 syllables, in three metrical phrases of 5, 7, and 5. It usually contains a seasonal reference.

Panera Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe

I have noticed that many people access my blog each day looking for a recipe for Panera's Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich. I don't have any specialized knowledge, but I eat at Panera lot and I use a lot of online cooking sites. Combining these two, I would recommend anyone trying to imitate Panera's recipe at home to try the following ingredients:

red seedless grapes, cut in half
celery, diced
raw almonds
mayonnaise*
salt and pepper to taste
cooked chicken breast, cubed or shredded

Those are certainly the basic ingredients for Panera's Napa almond chicken salad. Based on my own experience and those of other online reviewers, I don't think there is another solid ingredient (i.e. chopped apples or green onions) in the salad. If there is something else adding that extra zing, I would guess it's a wet ingredient mixed with the mayonnaise to make a kind of special, Panera dressing. Other chicken salad recipes I have found add creamy, cucumber salad dressing or pineapple juice to the mayonnaise. One recipe calls for miracle whip instead of mayonnaise. I haven't tried it yet, but I bet a little lemon juice would not go astray.

That's my amateur, but Panera-loving advice. Good luck!

*update: 9/27/09 I recently read that the dressing is not a mayonnaise base, but instead a light olive oil base. The sandwich is not advertised as a low-fat option; this is in keeping with a current trend of "stealth health" food.


(Panera logo reproduced without permission).

"Tea for Two and Two for Tea"

Yesterday I made tea sandwiches for lunch. I used thin sliced sandwich bread from the grocery store, white and whole wheat, with the crusts cut off.

Cucumber Sandwiches
I used an English cucumber, sliced as thin as possible. I lightly salted the cucumber slices. I mixed butter, cream cheese, and a sprinkle of dried mint to make the spread. Grade: A+! Light and crisp.

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches
I made these with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and a combination of freshly squeezed lemon juice and a little garlic juice. Grade: A! The lemon-garlic gave these sandwiches a certain je ne sais quoi. They missed getting an "A+" just because they were missing a certain I don't know what.

Ham and Brie Sandwiches
I made these with black forest ham, spreadable brie, and little honey Dijon mustard. Grade: B. A little boring compared to the others.

Lemon Cake
A few days before, per my friend [Nickname Needed]'s* suggestion, I made a lemon glaze cake. My friend gave me a recipe from her mom's repertoire. I modified the cake recipe to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand and switched from a lemon glaze to a lemon icing when half of my cake stayed stuck in the bunt pan. The results were delicious! Thank you [Nickname Needed]!


* Nickname ideas: Notre Dame Gal, the Muppet, Dr. Teeth, Liz Lemon -- any other suggestions welcome. Online nickname generators are no good.

(Image reproduced WITH PERMISSION from The Boyfriend, food photographer extraordinaire).

Article of the Day: September 25, 2009

Was Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter the real author of the "Little House" novels?

Read about it here.

True Life: I am not a very good babysitter.

Usually a babysitter can bribe a child not to tell the child's parents when something goes wrong. It's a little harder to escape liability when the child is your sister and the parents your parents. It's even harder when the category of "things that can go wrong" includes eyes falling out and noses forgotten at bedtime. Worst of all, when the usual bribe -- junk food -- is inapplicable, all bets are off for the poor babysitter.

Such were my adventures in babysitting my youngest sister. Her eye really did fall out and sometimes I forgot to put a nose on her at bedtime. Those things sound much worse than they really are. For years she didn't eat any solid food (chocolate is still anathema to her) -- so I couldn't use Hershey bars as bribes and didn't have the heart to use them as threats.

I also babysat my young cousin in the summer. I gave her baths with a little Korean* and supervised her at nap time. The baths were only complicated by my cousin's fear of water in her eyes; she used to wear a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle helmet to play in the sprinklers. Nap time was fine; I rewarded quiet behavior with the privilege of petting our cat. My system was arbitrary. "[Cousin], you've been quiet for five minutes, you may pet the cat six times. [Sister], you've been quiet for ten minutes, you may pet the cat four times." You can imagine this sometimes caused fights between the cousin and the little Korean, but if you're making noise, then who's petting the cat?!

I once babysat for the two young daughters of some friends I knew through work. I played in the yard with the girls and let them knock me over. The older girl particularly enjoyed this game. I worried that I might have created a monster. After dinner, the girls and I watched Barbie as Rapunzel on DVD. Poor Barbie spent most of the movie locked in a tower, the prisoner of a hideous CGI witch.

"Did you like the movie?" I asked the girls as I tucked them in.
"I liked the witch," the older girl announced.

Definitely a monster.

My worst babysitting experience came when I strayed far from babysitting my own kith and kin. Worse even than babysitting for total strangers is babysitting for strangers who are also rich and famous. And strange.

In college I babysat for the children of a celebrity. I've blocked out most of the stress and trauma involved in those evenings, but I still remember the 30-page manual I was handed upon arrival at the mansion. I also remember the nauseating moment when the father called to check on us and I couldn't figure out how to answer their fancy, office-style telephone. Hint: picking up the receiver and saying "hello?" were not enough to be heard. They were enough, though, for me to hear the father shouting "HELLO?!" and directing his wife to call the police. Page 12 of the manual told me to run with the children to the neighbor's house in the event of a kidnapping attempt; I guess he assumed that's what had happened.

That experience turned me off from babysitting for awhile.

It was probably for the best.

*Again, my sister

Funny!

This post will just be a funny forward sent to me by a friend.

It's funny. Really.

And if you wanted something more original, you can blame "The True Adventures of True Life" which is on TV right now.

And also the homework I still have for tomorrow.

But mostly "True Life."

It's amazing.

Herewith, the forward:

* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

* More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all
I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I
can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly
involves me.

* Nothing stinks more than that moment during an argument when
you realize you're wrong.

* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that
you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are
supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking
back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do
something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture
and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area
thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap
when I was younger.

* The letters T and G are very close to each other on a
keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently
I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

* There is a great need for sarcasm font.

* Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was
younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I
first saw it.

* I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it
actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up
wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's
laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little
bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the
only one who really, really gets it.

* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each
hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

* The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm
trying to finish a text

* Was learning cursive really necessary?

* Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have
nothing else to say".

* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom
and hunger.

* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a
Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street
smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you
just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars
teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong,
brothers!

* While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5.
Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you
how the person died.

* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get
in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

* Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never
get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

* Bad decisions make good stories

* Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that
their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who
just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures?
Don't mind if I do!

* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their
offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room
has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so
incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this
shouldn't be a problem....

* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment
at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing
anything productive for the rest of the day.

* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I
don't want to have to restart my collection.

* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure
you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it
asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper
that I swear I did not make any changes to.

* "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

* I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of
people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but
will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we
weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get
up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

* While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally
for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly
certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello?
Hello?), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone
and run away?

* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then
not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

* When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning
something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some
light internet stalking.

* I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on
shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

* As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate
drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate
cyclists.

* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and
still not know what time it is.

* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I
know not to answer when they call.

* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know
what do to with it.

* Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating
their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the
Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the Snooze
button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time
every time...

* I wonder if cops ever hate at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.

* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

Project Runway Auction

This little dream of a dress, designed by Althea Harper and made out of newspapers, is on sale now on Project Runway's auction site. It's chic, it's wearable, it's innovative. And the highest bid right now is $55.

But is it Fall Ball chic? Is it October wedding wearable? Probably not. So it will remain just my little dream of a dress.

But I bet the shipping would be cheap.

Maybe I'd get it media mail.




(Images reproduced without permission from projectrunway.com).

Article of the Day: September 21, 2009

I love good writing. I especially love a good novel.

I hate Dan Brown's novels.

Editors at the Telegraph have taken the time to compile twenty of Dan Brown's worst sentences. I can only imagine how they restricted themselves to twenty or kept their commentary on each sentence so sparse.

Enjoy!



(Image reproduced without permission from larryfire.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/).

Great Cookie Competition: Chocolate Peppermint Slices

This recipe came from a British dessert cookbook, "Cakes and Bakes" from Parragon Publishing, 2007. The flavors were delicious, but the execution left something to be desired. My modifications to the recipe and my questions about what went wrong appear in brackets.

Here is the recipe:

4 tbsp. butter, plus extra for greasing
1/4 superfine sugar
3/4 all purpose flour
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
6 oz semisweet chocolate
1-2 tbsp warm water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line an 8 x 12 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. [I didn't have an 8 x 12 inch pan, so I used an 8 x 8. The base was still much too small to cover the surface area of the pan. Hmm. Suspicious]. Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. [Could it really mean whisk? I used a mixer]. Stir in the flour until the mixture binds together. [The mixture would not bind together, so I heated up the butter and used a little water].

Knead the the mixture to form a smooth dough, then press into the prepared pan. [Knead? Not so much. I did my best to squash the mixture together, relying mostly on the heat from my hands, then squashed it into the pan. Squashed. That's an industry term]. Prick the surface all over with a fork. Bake the base in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned and just firm to the touch. Let cool in the pan.

Stir the confectioners' sugar into a bowl. Gradually add the water, then add the peppermint extract. [I added a few drops of green food coloring and some vanilla extract. You can never have too much vanilla!] Spread the frosting over the base, then let set.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over gently simmering water, then spread over the peppermint frosting. Let set, then cut into slices.


The recipe turned out delicious, but the base was more like a cracker than a cookie and there wasn't enough of it to fill the pan. Any thoughts on what I could do differently?


(Image of what I WISH my cookies looked like reproduced without permission from Auntyyochana.blogspot.com).

Article of the Day: September 19, 2009

Hurray for American food! Hurray for familiar names from Top Chef!


(Map graphic can be found at strange maps.)

Fashion Friday: University Park Mall

You can do a lot of things at University Park Mall. Most of them you probably shouldn't.

Here are some of the things that the Boyfriend and I did at the mall:
-tested our blood pressure
-drank some orange julius
-rechecked our blood pressure
-marveled at the restorative properties of orange julius
-looked for a stockpot for the upcoming Lobster Adventure
-rejected all stockpots as too small for the doomed lobster
-smelled things with "lemongrass" in their titles at Bath and Body Works

Here are some of the things we did NOT do at the mall:
-got massages from "Chinese Massage"
-jumped on a trampoline/swing apparatus (had my Girl A been there, this item would have appeared on the previous list)
-visited a strange "Mini Spa" with pulsating club music emanating from its shadowy interior

I didn't buy any clothes, but I sure did some shopping in my mind. Some items that caught my eye at the mall:

This lovely, winter white, trench-inspired wool coat at Express:



A fierce combination of a bright, ruffled halter top with a lightweight, menswear-inspired jacket at Charlotte Russe.




This delightful little miracle from the good people at Bath and Body. I love the Mentha lip tints, which Santa puts in my stocking each year, so I was extremely excited to see what looked like a GIANT mentha lip tint. I would never have to bother Santa again! When I looked more closely, I realized that the Mentha people have created a line of body products, still with the peppermint oil that makes the lip tints so wonderful. Check out this luscious-looking Body Buffer:



And lastly, something I want to eat: this white stilton with ginger and mango.



But, for now, I am very happy with our simple purchases from the grocery store which the Boyfriend expertly whipped up in the kitchen while I wrote this entry.

Bon appetit!

True Life: I'm an Undercover Law Student

I am a law student. But I'm taking a class outside the law school.

There are some undegrads in my class. And I know them by their piercings.

On the first day of my liberal arts class, the professor explained his grading scheme. "Your final paper will count for 65% of your grade, but don't hold me to that in a mathematical sense," he chuckled.

"NOT IN A MATHEMATICAL SENSE?" I demanded of the Boyfriend later.
"What other sense is there?" the Boyfriend mused.
"It's on the syllabus! 65% for this, 35% for that, you know? I thought the syllabus was supposed to be a contract between you and the professor!"
"Well, did you tell him that any ambiguities in the contract will be construed against the drafting party?" the Boyfriend asked, deadpan as usual.
There was a moment of silence.
"No," I sulked.

It's not that law school is better. It's much worse, I promise. But it is different. Before my Business Associations class even began, the professor supplied all of the students with an explanation of his grading policy.

It was five pages long.

In my liberal arts class, we sit in a circle. The professor starts class by asking, "So what did you think of the readings?" We talk about a few articles or chapters from books for an hour and fifteen minutes. Students raise their hands when they want to talk. Often people don't reference the reading in their comments; they just share a personal experience. Phrases I've heard in class include "I have love in my heart" and "that's a sweet concept." The girl who sits next to me takes notes with her left hand, notebook turned perfectly sideways on the paper, her hand crawling up and down the page, and the words coming out sideways.

A typical law school class takes place in a cavernous lecture hall. The students sit at long, semi-circular tables, cowering behind their laptops. The professor wears a suit and strikes fear into the hearts of his listeners by consulting a seating chart or a class list to choose students at random to explain the day's material. As the lecture streams out of the professor, it is transformed into a cacophony of staccato clicks. This is the sound of the frantic, competitive effort to record every word. Someday these words will appear on the exam. And the exam is worth 100% of your grade.

In a mathematical sense.




(Image reproduced without permission from images.com).

Law School Slogans

I like to make up slogans for law school subjects. Here are a few:

The Constitution: I only read it for the Articles.

Property: I'm going to OWN this class.

Labor Law: It's a lot of work.

Canon Law: Then why don't you marry it?

Will's Trusts and Estates: Shakespeare and his Legacy

Federal Income Tax: Cracking the code

Museums and Collecting: That's a Relief

Remedies: Worse than the Disease

International Law: International Quoi?

Accounting for Lawyers: A-one, a-two, a-three

Hope you enjoyed them!

You Pick Two Review: Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich and Vegetarian Summer Corn Chowder

[To anyone looking for a recipe for the Napa Almond Chicken Salad, please see my newer entry here].

Today I tried these two menu items. The Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich is new to Panera and the Summer Corn Chowder is a seasonal offering.

I found the sandwich to be too heavy on the pepper, but otherwise very good. The celery and grapes were a refreshing twist on the chicken salad that I am used to. The sesame semolina bread seemed a bit boring at first (I love Panera's asiago cheese bread, which is packed with flavor), but, surprisingly, once I got to the crusts, I found them to be delicious.

The corn chowder was a bit too spicy for my taste; I found myself avoiding the peppers. The roasted corn was sweet and cooling, though. I enjoyed the soup when I was mostly eating bits of my whole grain baguette as croutons, soaked in the creamy broth, and avoiding the most spicy tastes.

Here is the nutritional information for these two menu items, provided by Panera's website. Click to enlarge the image. All credit goes to the Boyfriend for figuring out how to do a screen capture.



Through some googling, I found this approximation of the chowder recipe. Credit goes to http://itsalwayssomethingisntit.blogspot.com.

3- 10 3/4 cans condensed cream of potato soup (plus 3 cans full of 1% milk)
1- 18 oz carton ready to eat Southwest Corn Soup (Campbell's Select)
1- 15 oz cubed potatoes
1- 11 oz Mexicorn
1- 14 1/2 oz petite diced tomatoes
2/3 c. finely chopped yellow onion
1 roasted poblano pepper
1 c. finely chopped cilantro
2 T. butter
1 1/2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. cumin
1 1/2 t. minced garlic

In a large heavy bottomed soup pot, combine soups and milk. Drain and rinse cubed potatoes, mexicorn and tomatoes. Add to soup mix. Dice onions. In small skillet, melt butter. Halve poblano pepper and remove seeds and veins. Set pepper halves, skin side down directly on stove top burner to blacken and blister skin. Remove skin with tongs or rub off with a towel. Meanwhile, sautee onions in butter with sugar and cumin until soft and translucent. Finely dice pepper and add to onion sautee. Cook another few minutes. Add to soup mixture. Chop cilantro. Serve bowls of soup with cilantro as garnish, stir in immediately before eating. Serves 8.

Great Cookie Competition: Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Here is the recipe for the delicious cookies from Roomie's mom. As Roomie rightly pointed out, these cookies are half-cookie, half-brownie.


Chocolate Crackle Cookies


Ingredients:

4 1-oz blocks unsweetened chocolate

½ cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp double-acting baking powder

½ tsp salt

Powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Melt chocolate. In a large bowl, combine melted chocolate, oil, sugar, and eggs; mix well. Add vanilla; mix well. Add flour, double-acting baking powder, and salt; mix well.



2. Chill dough for several hours (overnight is best).



3. Shape dough into small balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350° F for 12 minutes.

Article of the Day: September 13, 2009

I like to buy shoes from Zappos. Or, at least, I like the idea of it. I didn't know that anyone thought Zappos was a cult.

Very busy weekend. But since no one wants to read about how much writing, editing, and reading I've done this weekend, instead I will tell you:

I am back in the game!! This weekend I made a delicious "Chocolate Crackle Cookie" recipe provided by the Roomie's mom. Also, the Boyfriend revised the lemon meringue recipe from last week. This time we used a glass bowl instead of plastic, added cream of tartar to the recipe, adjusted the oven temperature and cooking time, and let the cookies sit in the oven overnight. Success!

The cookies are so good that now we are out of milk.

True Life: Barnes and Noble Vignettes

The Boyfriend and I studied at the Barnes and Noble cafe today. It is our second home. It is also the setting of many human dramas. Tucked behind our casebooks, the Boyfriend and I have witnessed some high-highs and low-lows from the good people of Michiana.

Here are some examples.

Ponzi schemer: Do you know what residual income is?
Gullible college student in hoodie: No, I don't know a lot about that stuff.
Schemer: That's ok, I can explain it. You know Elvis, right? Well, some people think he's dead, but I know he's alive and living in Hawaii. Every time one of his songs is played on the radio, Elvis makes money off it. That's residual income. And that's what you're going to get.
Hoodie: Great!
Schemer: Just sign up two friends.

Another time we saw a Notre Dame professor grading bluebook exams when an acquaintance approached him.

Acquaintance: Hi! Hey, how've you been?
Professor: Not well at all.
Acquaintance: I'm sorry to hear that. Is it a stressful time of the semester?
Professor: It's demons.
Acquaintance: Pardon me?
Professor: Demons.
Acquaintance: Oh...well, is there anything I can do?
Professor: There are only two things they hate: sincere expressions of gratitude and the Mass.
(Deafening silence as everyone in the cafe watches to see what the acquaintance will do).
Acquaintance/SAINT: Would you like join me and my wife for dinner sometime? Give me your phone number so I can call you sometime.
Professor (rips page out of the Blubebook, writes his number on it): The students never pick these up anyway.

Today a woman with a puppet on her hand began to set out glue sticks in the mid-afternoon. This was a very bad sign. Soon the usually quiet cafe was full of rambunctious children. I tried to concentrate on my reading.
"Here comes Martha," Puppet Lady cooed.
I glanced up. A giant mascot dog was waddling over to the cafe.
The kids screamed. I screamed.
"Martha the Dog is here to play with you!" Puppet Lady announced.
The Boyfriend looked up from Fed Tax. "Do you think that's the real Martha the Dog?" he asked.
"No," I hissed from under the table. "I think it's a grown man who's made a lot of mistakes."
"Martha's hungry, she has to go now."
From between the table legs, I could see "Martha" rub her rotund belly, then waddle off toward the staff room, where she was undoubtedly about to eat one of the children clinging to her tail.

I climbed out from under the table. Close call. Back to studying.

Fashion Friday: Chicago Style

The Model: Today's Fashion Friday feature comes to us from an art student living in Chicago. She says her day-to-day style varies widely from sophisticated to punk. Here she is getting ready for a night on the town.

The Look: She pairs a sculpted, voluminous shirt with straight leg dress pants. This look's deep v-neck flatters the model, opening up her features and giving her petite frame extra length.

Steal This Look:

The model wears:
-cotton/silk blend top from the GAP
-chocolate brown corduroy straight leg pants from the GAP
-simple Celtic knot on sterling silver chain - made in and from Ireland, gift from her parents

Are you stylish enough to be featured on Fashion Friday? Nominate yourself or a friend by sending an email with a photo attachment to sophisticatesguide@gmail.com, subject line "Fashion Friday."

The Perfect Bath

A bath solves many problems of the mind. Stressed? Sad? Don't know how to connect two paragraphs in your latest paper? Try a little hydrotherapy. Float around in the hot water; as your muscles unclench, your thoughts will follow.

That's my philosophy, anyway.

To that end, I strive to achieve the perfect bath. I have tried many combinations of luxury items at bath time over the years.

Age 5: Pink bubble bath from Grandma's house and a small Korean*
Age 10: Hershey's miniature candy bars and a fantasy novel
Age 20: Ice cold coca-cola and Clay Aiken music

Now, at age 25, the perfect bath is within reach!

Here are my current recommendations for the almost perfect bath:

1. Use a bath caddy. The Boyfriend got me this one from Pottery Barn for Christmas. I recommend it because it fits on tubs situated against a wall, not just free standing tubs, unlike many caddies. Also, this caddy has a stand for your book!



2. Try some aromatherapy. I love the stress relief products from Bath and Body Works. They use eucalyptus and spearmint essential oils to "relax your body and spirit." Don't you feel more relaxed just reading that? Also, the bubble bath product is also a body wash which you can use every day, so you only have one bottle taking up space in your bath area.



3. Sip a delicious, sweet white wine. I like Reislings, but I like my wine to taste like dessert, and I know that isn't everyone's taste.



4. Read something that has nothing to do with your life. Read a novel. Read a celebrity gossip magazine. Under no circumstances should you try to read the Federal Income Tax Code. It will break your caddy.

Nota bene: For college students reading this post and cursing their bathtub-less dorm rooms, you can achieve many of the same results through use of a nice electric blanket. Substitute candles for the the aromatherapeutic bubble bath, if candles are allowed in your dorm, if not, use essential oil diffusers.


*My little sister

Article of the Day: September 9, 2009

Academic writing is boring; academics are not. Maybe we all just need to relearn how to write?

Happy Birthday, the Boyfriend!

Yesterday was the Boyfriend's birthday. For his birthday dinner I made baked salmon, glazed carrots, and steamed broccoli. The Roomie and her Other Half made cupcakes. We sang to the Boyfriend, he made a wish, then we all enjoyed the cupcakes together.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: So did you two have a nice weekend?
Roomie: I was kicked in the face at the football game.
Other Half: My house was broken into and burglarized while I was inside it.
Me and the Boyfriend: Oh.
Roomie: What did you two do this weekend?
Me: We set up Skype.

The cooking fever seems to be catching on. The Boyfriend and his Roommate are interested in boiling a lobster. Sometimes I never know.

Celebrity Style: Rachel Bilson on Project Runway

Last week Rachel Bilson sported a white, ruffled blouse, black shirt, and textured tights while serving as a guest judge on Project Runway.

I mimicked the look for less than 25 dollars. Here I am, imitating Rachel's style, in a shirt from the Miley Cyrus/Max Azria line for Walmart ($12). That's right, I said it. The textured tights are from Target ($6). The skirt was something I already owned; I think most women can reach in their closets for a black skirt.







If you would like suggestions on how to imitate a celebrity's look for less, email sophisticatesguide@gmail.com, subject line "celebrity" with a photo of your favorite look.

Sunday Night

Article of the Day: Harry Potter wins over some of his religious critics.

Read about it here.

Great Cookie Competition: Lemon Kisses

My kitchen is starting to look like a cookie graveyard. Lemon meringue recipe from Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade" cookbook was a bust. Per the madre's suggestion, I bought an oven thermometer today and discovered that my apartment oven runs 25 degrees hotter than it should. Well, as my professor-boss says in echoing tones, "Onward!"

Upcoming Blog Feature: The "You Pick Two" Review

I love Panera. The Boyfriend and I eat dinner at Panera at least once a week. Before I starting eating at Panera so much, I looked like this:



And now I look like this:



Ok, Panera won't really turn you into Keira Knightley. Nor can I claim any medical benefits, like Jared can for Subway. "But, actually," as an Austrian friend of mine used to say, Subway Jared and I are opposites. Where he needed a weight-loss diet, I just need a food-in diet. That's where Panera comes in. The food is delicious and always appeals to me.

One of the best things about Panera is the "You Pick Two" option, where you can order any two of the following: a half sandwich, a cup of soup, or a salad. Think of all the delicious combinations!

Actually, you can relax, because I will think of them for you and review them here. So, as another friend says, "watch this space."

Back to school tomorrow after a lovely weekend.




(Image of Keira Knightley reproduced without permission from blogs.phillynews.com).

The Great Cookie Competition: Peanut Butter Cup Bars

I’m writing this entry in the midst of the carnival-like atmosphere that accompanies game days at Notre Dame. The Roomie is rushing around and yelling into her phone (“a gas grill will NOT fit in my car!”).

“Are you blogging about me?” she yells. She is pivoting in front of the mirror.
“I’m blogging about the bars!” I yell back.
“The bars?” Her face appears around the corner. A freshly-applied ND logo glistens on her cheek.
There is a shrill whistle from the kitchen.
“That’s the water for my coffee,” says the Roomie, startled.
I am trapped under my laptop. The Roomie moves her hands as though she is being attacked by a bee. The Boyfriend gets up. He will make the coffee. Magically the French press will be cleaned.
The Roomie turns back to me. “I went to Finnegan’s last night.”
I blink.
“It was really lame, though,” she concludes.
I stare at her for awhile. She stares at me. Realization dawns.
“Different kind of bars.”

Anyway.

The cookie baking contest happens every December. Two years ago, my white chocolate almond cookies didn’t place at all. Last year my lemon cookies came in second. This is my year!

Despite my momentum, I am taking nothing for granted. I am going to test out many new cookie recipes and perfect some old favorites. I will try to do one batch every weekend, until my school work gets in the way.

Yesterday I made Peanut Butter Cup Bars from the “College Cookbook” given to me by my mom. This book yielded the award-winning lemon cookie recipe. The commentary accompanying the recipe glibly announced, “They are super-easy to make.”

Super-easy.

I must have done something wrong. Incorporating all of the ingredients was a workout. Having achieved my target heart rate just mixing everything together, I wasn’t going to let my fickle, apartment oven ruin my hard work, so my Roomie and I stood guard over the bars, checking them often.

Reader, I burned them.

I won’t blame the deluge of girl talk going on as Roomie and I gossiped in the heat seeping from the oven, because we are proficient in both girl talk and baking. So I blame the oven, the heat-seeping, eavesdropping oven.

I may try this recipe again. The bars taste pretty good, as the Boyfriend kindly pointed out, if you scrape the burned bottom layer off.

It's still my year.



(Photo reproduced without permission from stylishcusine.com).

Fashion Friday: London Chic

Our first Fashion Friday feature comes to us from across the pond.

The Model: My Girl A is a London sophisticate, tax expert, and athlete. She enjoys learning foreign languages, eating lemons, and visiting cameras obscura. Having lived in many cities across Europe and the United States, she has developed a keen sense of style with many influences.

The Look: My Girl A models her everyday career look. She pairs chinos with a classic crisp white shirt. She then adds a bright blue vest to complement her eye color. The vest takes the outfit from simply classic to chic, by imbuing a men’s wear idea with feminine tailoring, a trick that European designers such as Burberry and Yves St. Laurent have employed for years. My Girl A completes the look with classic jewelry, pearl studs and a Tiffany’s pendant of her initial “A,” and Ferragamo mary jane flats purchased at Portobello Market in Notting Hill.

Get this Look: For a wide variety of chinos, try JCrew. These are especially good. Crisp white shirts are a staple, available almost anywhere. Some of my favorites are these no-iron shirts from Brooks Brothers for an “investment,” or try Express, the Limited, or Ann Taylor Loft for a less expensive alternative. For a vest similar to My Girl A’s, try this almost exact replica or this ultra-feminine version. Until we can all shop Portobello Market for designer shoes, try Zappos for a wide selection of affordable shoes. Return shipping is free, so order the same shoe in multiple sizes, find the best fit at home, and then ship your rejects back for free.

True Life: My Kid Sister and Her Movies

My Kid Sister sees any movie she likes in the theatre. Then she sees it again. The day the DVD comes out, she will cajole you into buying it for her. Then she will begin watching it over and over again. She watches with the closed captioning on, memorizing every line. If the movie is shown on television, she will play the DVD at the same time as the broadcast version, switching back and forth between the two, pausing the DVD during the commercials so that the two “don’t get messed up.” Just when you think you will go mad if you hear, “Look, it’s Miley!” one more time, she begins to watch the movie in French.

At Christmas time several years ago, my Brother took my Kid Sister to see the new, live-action Peter Pan. Kid Sister, just on the cusp of adolescence, liked the frothy, Mary Martin musical version. This darker film, starring Jeremy Sumpter, didn’t seem impress her. Kid Sister was silent on the car ride back to the house. Finally, in the driveway, my sister spoke. She was reverent. “His name is Jeremy.”

Ever since then, that little phrase has been a sort of shorthand for me. It means adoration. It means “isn’t he dreamy?” It means “this is someone I would move to Never-land to be with.”

I have a nice Boyfriend. He’s also a little magical. Over the summer, he enchanted my French press; every time I used it to make coffee, it seemed to wash itself. More importantly, he listens to me, he helps me, he cares about my friends and family.

And he takes my Kid Sister to any movie she likes.

“His name is Jeremy.”




(Photo reproduced without permission from moviesmedia.ing.com).

Article of the Day: September 2, 2009

No longer relegated to selling to limited audiences out of their homes or at local craft fairs, artists now have access to millions of potential buyers all over the world through websites like Etsy.com. So why is it so hard to make a living selling on Etsy? And why have only men figured it out?

This article hypothesizes about why.

Welcome to my blog.

It’s my final year of law school and I have a few plans to make this year special.

I want to make the people I care about happy. I also want to become a better cook. To these ends, I’ve decided to cook and serve to my friends all of the recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

Just kidding.

As far as making my friends happy, I’d like to give a certain friend some fashion advice. Or a whole makeover. Or an appearance on TLC’s “What Not to Wear.”

I would also like to participate in a baking contest. Or place in the baking contest. Or win the baking contest with my Baking Nemesis as a judge.

So there you have it, my bucket list for the school year.

Check back soon for updates on my progress; fashion features; reviews of recipes, products, books, and movies; guest columns; advice for the lovelorn and grammatically challenged; and many doses of self-deprecating humor.