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yesterday the day jack fought tom hardy’s dog at the dog park
Jackson got in a fight with another dog at the McCarren Park dog run yesterday. This happens sometimes, and I can reasonably blame everyone else’s dog except mine because all Jack wants to do is play fetch. But, sometimes, the other dogs chase him and nips him on the neck or ear or tail, and Jackson fights back by baring his teeth and growling. (Okay, and sometimes lunging at the perpetrator.)
Regardless of who started it, this happened yesterday. Usually it ends pretty quickly because all the humans descend on the dogs and pull them apart. (I do not like to get in there because I’m afraid of getting bitten, so I yell “Stop” and am generally helpless in these situations.)
Thankfully, the guys in the park pulled the dogs apart, and Jack and I went back to playing fetch.
Minutes later, the man who owned the other dog came up to me and asked if Jack was okay. While everyone who goes to the dog park seem nice, we tend to keep to ourselves even though we cross paths in the neighborhood often (c’est la vie in NYC…), so it was unusual of this man to ask. Not to mention, he had an accent which I couldn’t quite place. I live on the border of a trendy Brooklyn neighborhood and an overwhelmingly Polish neighborhood – also trendy – so I thought, “Maybe he’s Polish.”
But though the guy sounded foreign, he looked familiar, like Tom Hardy, the actor who’s in a lot of movies, including the last Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
Turns out, it was.
Nice job, Jack, for getting in a fight with Bane’s dog.
People in Williamsburg drink lattes and take notes.
Toby’s Estate Coffee 125 north 6th street, brooklyn. (347) 457 6160
epic quest the search for the best fried chicken + waffles
I forget where I had my first fried chicken & waffles, but the experience stuck with me. Few dishes take your taste buds to such opposite extremes: Salty fried skin and juicy meat paired with a buttery, sweet breakfast dish. That is, when it’s made correctly.
It’s a common misconception that chicken and waffles originated in the South, Sweet Chick co-owner John Seymour tells me. In fact, he says, the combination of fried chicken and waffles started in Harlem when jazz musicians would find themselves hungry after their gig ended in the early morning. So they ordered fried chicken on waffles as a way to sate their cravings for a post-work meal – and breakfast.
At Sweet Chick, the signature dish is offered alongside variations that change frequently. Recent specials that have made their way to the blackboard include General Tso’s Chicken & Waffles made with rice flour and broccoli, and cheddar waffles and bacon. Their rendition of mac & cheese is made with fontina, gruyere and aged white cheddar and is large enough to share between friends. For dessert, get the “Cookie Jar” and classic cheesecake.
Calorie-wise, Sweet Chick is not somewhere I can justify going to weekly. Still, I get that craving for perfectly seasoned fried chicken and breakfast waffles often enough to know I’m lucky to live within walking distance of it.
Sweet Chick 164 bedford ave, brooklyn. (347) 725-4793
Photos by Alice Gao
Plotting world domination with Kat and Alison over Dutch pancakes. The skylight in the back room means there’s beautiful natural light here, but the blueberry lemon pancakes could have used more lemon juice. And butter.
juliette 135 north 5th street, williamsburg (718) 388 9222
I come here to think and drink mocha and eat lavender shortbread.
bakeri 150 wythe avenue, brooklyn. (718) 388 8037
favorite things table for one
I stopped by House of Small Wonder for a snack around three yesterday. It’s an odd, in-between time for diners and restaurants alike when it’s not quite lunch but definitely not dinner. Unsure of the appropriate meal to order for the hour, I settled on a banana Nutella croissant figuring it’s always time for dessert.
The croissant turned out to be quite small, so I finished it in a few bites. Still hungry, I caved to my savory craving and ordered the Okinawan taco rice, a popular Japanese lunch dish consisting of ground beef on a bed of rice, lettuce and tomato, topped with an egg over easy. I like well-seasoned ground beef so much I’d eat it on its own with a fork in a bowl, so, needless to say, I’m enamored with this dish. Plus, the red sauce they use reminds me of sweet homemade ketchup. Basically, it’s the Asian equivalent to sloppy joes without the burger bun.
In an attempt to detach myself from the Internet, I ignored my phone for a full twenty minutes and turned to a book instead. I tried to memorize details of the garden-inspired decor and Prussian blue walls to motivate a trip to Home Depot or wherever it is that people buy paint. I eavesdropped on my neighbors and briefly wondered about what brought them there. Are they students? Restaurant employees? Freelancers? (I wonder if we’re Twitter friends…) Do they like the show Girls or did they drag their feet through the first three episodes of the second season like I did? How do they know each other? Why are they splitting a croissant!? It’s tiny.
I took out my phone to capture the foggy afternoon and my pre-lunch pastry, grateful I was inside with good food and the rare pleasure of not having to talk to anybody.
house of small wonder, 77 north 6th street, brooklyn. (718) 388 6160
Celebrating baby Juliana at her Red Egg Ceremony with broiled mayo lobster in an eight-course feast that also included roast pork; lamb chops; seafood soup; abalone, mushrooms and pea shoots; and a teriyaki broiled cod that I was too full to enjoy.
I probably shouldn’t have eaten two red hard-boiled eggs at the beginning of the meal… I am bad at resisting dyed eggs and temptation. Alas.
asian jewels seafood restaurant, 13330 39th ave, flushing / via instagram
happy days paper by fiftythree is named app of the year
In March, FiftyThree, the company I work with on content and community, launched a beautiful app called Paper that lets users create on the iPad.
Today, Apple named Paper iPad App of the Year.
2012 was not easy, but it was the year I got the chance to work with some of the most thoughtful and dedicated people I’ve known.
There will always be those who seek overnight success, who take the path of least resistance, and who think relationships will be easy once they meet a person named The One. But, at last, I think I get it — there are no shortcuts to being really good at what you do. You simply keep working at it. And, most times, it’s fun and challenging and you’re surprised it’s considered “work” at all because it doesn’t feel like it.
FiftyThree didn’t win many awards this year because of luck or lack of competition. Instead, I see them practice what they preach. They build everything with purpose, driven by the ingrained desire to make making beautiful, approachable, fun and intuitive.
I’m excited to continue sharing the story of FiftyThree. Take a look at the amazing work being created with Paper on Made with Paper and, if you don’t have the app already, see what you’re missing. Experiment, screw up and start again. There’s no wrong way to use Paper, and that’s the beauty of it.
Below are just a few Paper creations I found while curating the awesome work made in the app this year.
top to bottom allen lau / tinyimplications / days on paper / andydrawscats / zhen zeng / travis morgan
(via madewithpaper)
holiday gifts for people who don’t like gifts
I’ll be the first to admit I’m hard to shop for. Why? For one, I don’t need anything, and the things I want (more time, bear hugs, etc.) are usually not for sale.
Over the years, I have come up with various solutions to my “problem.” In recent years, I have avoided exchanging gifts during Christmas altogether, opting instead to buy plane tickets to visit friends during non-holiday months, and splurge on special occasion meals. This has worked out for me. Still, even I know sometimes you just want to wrap something and give it to somebody.
With this in mind, here is my wish list for the year. Hopefully it will inspire you to be extra awesome and get creative.
Instead of adopting a dog — maybe next year! — I’m asking Chris to donate to Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue, a community of dog rescuers, adopters and fosters that help homeless pups find homes. How can you resist that face? Chip in here.
Stuff stockings with useful retro knick knacks from Restoration Hardware. I like this practical music splitter for sharing music, this manly wall-mount bottle opener for $8 and kid-friendly kaleidoscope for looking at changing colors through a small tube. (I really love kaleidoscopes.)
Contact your favorite artist and buy artwork from them. Even better, commission a project. I hired Clair Rossiter, a young artist in the UK, to create two new logos for me this year. One for this blog, and one for Stupidly Simple Snacks. It was the best present to myself. She sells prints of her whimsical watercolors, too. Take a look.
I am not sure if Aaron Stewart sells his cartoon + real life people pictures, but he should. You have to agree this photo belongs on a Christmas card. I’d buy it by the boxful.
See Aaron’s funny characters on Plaid Oranges.
A photo session with Alice Gao Photography would make a thoughtful present for your girlfriend or best girl friend. Trust me, most people wish for better photos of themselves than the ones that end up on Facebook. Alice is also selling a lovely 2013 calendar, pictured above, based on her popular Instagram photos.
I love this image by Brooklyn photographer and videographer Eddy Vallante. Eddy’s photos are slightly rough around the edges; his subjects are imperfect, sweaty, scruffy and their mascara is running. I like seeing life with its blemishes because that, too, is beautiful, if not more so than something that looks perfect.
Follow Eddy Vallante on Tumblr, and keep him in mind for when you want to remember moments like this and this.
For gifts of food, go Italian. There’s something about Italian cuisine that makes it seem festive, decadent and yet approachable all year round, whether it’s an Italian cookie plate with rainbow cookies, a thick wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano aka parmesan cheese, or a bottle of Italian red wine served with paper-thin slices of prosciutto. Even the Italian national flag looks Christmas-y.
Pictured above is impossibly soft and delicate culatello, which is cured ham made from the back leg of the pig. If prosciutto was an expensive apartment building, then culatello would be the penthouse.
Not to harp too much on ham, but if you are attending a holiday party and expected to bring food, bring prosciutto or culatello. It will make you the most popular person there, and you can thank me later for it.
In summary, Italian food gifts are pretty fail-proof unless the recipient has specific dietary concerns that exclude happiness.
And the best non-food gifts? Those usually come with a good story.
rainbow cookie image via new york magazine
favorite things chocolate & coffee breaks
Once upon a time five years ago, I worked in an office. It had cubicles, fluorescent lighting, an instant coffee maker, a soda vending machine, and a closet stacked from floor to ceiling with restaurant guides.
Even then, like now, I would get antsy around half past three. By 4:30 I would hit a wall at which point I would bolt out of my seat and make a beeline for Bouchon Bakery at Time Warner Center, one city block away. There, I would spend most of my meager salary on lattes and pastries. It kept me sane and poor and, for fifteen whole minutes, truly, blissfully okay with things. Then I would return to my desk and plug away at the computer for another hour or so before the end of the work day.
I was lucky to work at Zagat, but don’t miss working in an office.
These days I work from coffee shops, Chris’s music studio, at home, and, once a week, with some of the most talented people I know at FiftyThree. While my office is mobile, I still advocate for those afternoon breaks. They’re pick-me-ups, and I think everyone deserves them, and frequently. Besides, taking a stroll, indulging a craving, and bringing something back for your coworker are small steps that go a long way.
clockwise : koss headphones / toby’s estate honduras la atilio coffee / mast brothers dark chocolate with sea salt / vosges skull chocolate lollipops : gift from vosges / leather knomo laptop sleeve
Blue skies. Sunshine. Spent Sunday canvassing to support the Obama re-election campaign in West Philly.
something special from oh joy! and introducing blog inc.
Four years ago, I started a food blog and joined Twitter because it seemed to me that more and more people were chatting on it, and I didn’t want to miss the conversation. I enjoyed ‘tweeting’ and loved receiving replies. I liked saying “good morning suns!” and “good night moons” to people who were technically strangers, but who I engaged with as friends.
One of the “strangers” was Joy Deangdeelert Cho of Oh Joy! who, unprompted by me, shared my Stupidly Simple Snacks videos with her growing Twitter following. And when I put forth random questions like, “New gourmet site wants to use my photo of foie gras without pay. Thoughts?” Like a protective big sister, she replied “Never give away your work for free.”
To this day, Joy’s advice helps me navigate the grey areas that come with creating and sharing content online.
In many other ways, Joy has helped me grow as a blogger and professional in the social media field (I even work in it now…) which explains why I was over-the-moon excited when Joy reached out last year regarding a book she was writing on blogging… and wanted to interview me for it.
Perusing the pages, you’ll find the nuts and bolts to starting your own blog, in-depth exploration of how different creators have grown their web presence and following, and thoughtful interviews with the authors behind widely known blogs Rockstar Diaries, From Me To You and Cupcakes and Cashmere.
Blog, Inc. is now available on Amazon and, this fall, Joy will visit 5 cities across the US to share her new book with readers. To celebrate and thank Joy in my own small way, I will randomly pick two Amy Blogs Chow readers who reblog this post to receive a copy of Blog, Inc.
Joy’s following has grown exponentially over the years, but she has stayed the same. Ever gracious, warm, engaging, open, and honest. She is a role model who inspires readers with her fun, approachable style, and, luckily for us, she’s also naturally adept at sharing her experiences and great taste across the web.
Get “Blog, Inc. : Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community” here.
peaches & cream
Vanilla bean Häagen-Dazs and macerated peaches… the cherry on top of an excellent Lebanese meal by Chris paired with Viña Ardanza 2001 Rioja wine brought over by my friend Clare who just left her sommelier job at a fancy restaurant in the city.
Sometimes I find out an ex boyfriend is married.
next stop: mexico
I’ve visited many countries, but never Mexico. So, on the recommendation of my world traveling best friend, I’m off to Tulum to change that tomorrow. Excited to abandon the Internet (no offense, Internet), do cartwheels on the beach, read, write, play in the ocean and eat authentic Mexican food…
Chipotle Shrimp Quesadilla from South Congress Cafe
1600 South Congress Ave, Austin, Texas (512) 447-3905
