How To: Cinnamon Honey Almond Oatmeal Pancakes

This morning I woke up with a strong desire for pancakes. However, I do not allow pancake mix in my kitchen on pretenses of being healthy. DILEMMA. So I improvised. Instead of pancake mix, I used oatmeal (you can also add mashed bananas for added texture). I switched chocolate chips for carob chips (my new obsession), sugar for a drizzle of honey and almond milk instead of cow's milk. I also added a dash of chia seeds because they are the food of the future, and some almonds and walnuts to taste. The results ended up being extremely tasty and nutritionally satisfying (my roommate Ariella can testify! I'm not making it up!)

I apologize for the lack of picture for step two, but there was just absolutely no way to make the lump of eggs and oatmeal look even remotely appetizing on the frying pan. So I decided to tastefully leave it out. But you get the idea.

Let me know if you try it out, and what your thoughts are! Would YOU make the switch to oatmeal? Important life questions that need to be answered.

Have a delightful Sunday! 

xx

Step two (not pictured): Take it to the griddle!

Sit Back, Relax and Listen Up

I don't know if it's the cold (first day of snow in NYC!! 11/12/13 must be a sign for something right??) or the alarming amount of tea I'm consuming or the layers of sweaters I'm wearing, but something has me in the mood for Cabin Music. That's a term I just coined to reference music that is super cozy and makes you want to sit on a fur rug in front of a fire in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere and drink a glass of red wine. Preferably next to a loved one, otherwise this is a depressing scenario. If you've ever watched Alias (me) it would be that music they played every time Jennifer Garner got really sad and essentially re-enacted the scene I just described above minus the loved one plus annoyingly pathetic tears (love ya Syd!). So yes, it'ts a bitter sweet sadness/happiness (I tried to combine those two words but they just end up still being the same word) but there's something about it that makes me feel like I'm doing winter right.

Side note: I was in a boutique in Brooklyn last weekend that sold "Cabin Spray".  I want to buy a cabin so that I can buy this product. Then Ron Swanson and I will have a good laugh and dig into our freshly hunted venison.

Want a taste of what I'm talking about? Go to Pandora and play any of the following channels: Angus and Julia Stone, Great Lake Swimmers, Ray LaMontagne, Avett Brothers etc. etc. Nine times out of ten Mumford counts. OR *shameless plug* my boy Matt G. has a good amount of CM on his KWUR show every Tuesday at 7:00pm EST (kwur.com- check it out)

It usually involves some ethereal harmonization, several acoustic string instruments and a deep, baritone manly-man voice paired with a delicate, sickly-sweet female one. Yes, it's sappy, but it's the perfect soundtrack to listen to as frost consumes us. I really wanted to do a GoT reference but I think I've over used the phrase :( 

My Top Five Cabin Songs of the Moment (best when taken with a mug of Sleepy Time Tea):

BONUS TRACK;
Got it from this Sony commercial ha


Into the woods? Yay or nay? 

How To: Glitter Cards

I've had quite a few birthdays and house warming parties to attend recently (I'm so popular) and my go-to has been doing a little watercolor and ink illustration of the receiver (everyone loves a portrait of themselves). But if you want something a little more simple but with some sparkle factor, here's a great way to pull together a card when you remember last minute or just don't want to spend $10 on stationary.

Working for Free

 I would just like to have a quick chat about the Condé Nast-internship debacle. To bring you up to speed, Condé Nast (big, important magazine company) announced last week that they are ending their famed unpaid internship program. This Refinery 29 article showed some of the reactions from people in the industry and I must say, for the most part, they make me angry. 

A reaction that makes sense:

One that does not and makes my blood boil:

To address the downside of terminating this program: Yes, having an internship at a magazine is a wonderful way to make connections, gain experience, and be in the right place at the right time for when an entry-level position opens up. It's a way to get your foot in the door without needing to have an excessive amount of previous experience. 

HOWEVER, there is NO reason why this "opportunity" should be unpaid. The industry's outlook on interns is that they are lucky to be there, they should be thankful that they've been given this chance  and they should feel fortunate and grateful. 

But let's look a little closer, shall we? Interns are completely exploited to do free work for these companies. FREE! Why is the practice of someone working 8-12 hours a day 5 days a week for a company without any compensation being seen by our society as the company doing them a favor? 

To have a full-time, unpaid internship means that you have to have the funds to pay rent in NYC, food and transportation without an income. The concept is 100% geared towards wealthy, privileged college students who can afford to do so. So then you might say that no one is forcing you to get an internship. But guess what? False. Internships are such a norm now that no one would hire you, even for an entry-level position, unless you have several of them on your resume. The worst part of this all is that, because unpaid internships are technically illegal, they "pay" you in college credits. So what if, say, you graduate college and still don't have enough internship experience (me)? Tough luck. No one will take you on because you are no longer applicable for college credit. But no one will hire you because you don't have enough internship experience. So this horrible cycle continues until you find a place that will let you intern ("let"??) for free.  

So moral of the story is, I completely support this movement against internships. Obviously Condé Nast will still need someone to go get their coffee, make copies and pack boxes, but whoever is doing that will now be getting paid. With such a huge corporation making a stand (not that this was a political statement on their part, more of a way to prevent future law suits) this will completely change the whole culture of pre-career careers. What will be the new internship? Will we revert back to the days of yore when you had an apprenticeship and learnt from Masters in a symbiotic relationship to hone your craft and add to their inventory? 

Last weekend I attended Teen Vogue Fashion University, and hearing the reaction from the other girls on this subject in our Facebook group was insane. The majority of them are in highschool and went to this workshop in the hopes of finding a way into the Teen Vogue internship program (a Condé Nast publication). Networking to the extreme, these girls were ravenous for tips on how to make your resume stand out, which the Teen Vogue editors were giving plenty of advice (because little did they know). Following the announcement, these girls were making the interns who are currently suing Condé Nast the enemies! In reactions not unlike slut-shaming, they were blaming the victims of exploitation as the demons who "ruined" it for the rest of them.  One girl wrote, "Two self-righteous people single-handedly ruining it for everyone else the industry. Sigh." Another added "This is so frustrating, like thanks so much to all the whiny lazy interns who made this possible" and "So many important people in the fashion industry started out as interns. This is horrible."

Well guess what, people ADAPT. This is not the end of the world, it will just mean that more PAID entry-level positions will open up that will need less experience.  

Agree? Disagree?

Happy Friday!

Hello lovely readers! Sorry for the slow week, I had a lot on my plate (career changing plans(!), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tapings *look for me in the audience tonight! Front row center*, and reuniting with old friends (read: college friends)). 

What do you have planned for this weekend? I'm going to a NYU Slam Poetry competition tonight to spice things up, a birthday brunch for my friend Emma at Norma's (should I get "The Zillion Dollar Lobster Fritatta" with caviar? Literally $1,000. No joke.) and also planning on doing a little vintage store touring of Manhattan on Sunday. 

This past thursday I mapped out all the best vintage stores in Brooklyn (according to the interweb) and had a wonderful time exploring both my new neighborhood and the thrifty nooks within it (FYI my favorite was AuH20 Vintage). On that note, there is a legitimate brooklyn vintage crawl on November 2nd that I am VERY interested in attending. It ends at Brooklyn Bowl for a little after-partying. Anyone want to go with me? Check it out here and lemme know: Brooklyn Vintage Crawl.

Have a wonderful weekend, and here are some links from around the world wide web to keep you busy:

I want to see this movie at some point soon. Has anyone seen? Looks potent.

Going to attempt to pull off this hairstyle sometime this weekend.

The best animated short ever created.

How great are these Elizabeth 1 Ladies Panties?

The Primate Awards.

A pretty print.

Have you heard of Phonebloks? I think I'm sold...

What a wonderfully cozy house in this Kip & Co ad.

xx

Public Service Announcement

Just so that everyone is aware, there is a blog dedicated to Bruce Springsteen's Butt.

This was discovered through the Buzzfeed titled, "15 Reminders that Bruce Springsteen is a Stone Cold Fox" (worth a gander) which was introduced to me by my insightful sister Lorelei.

Please enjoy this sensual soundtrack as you gaze upon His HEINIEness (see what I did there???)
 (Fun fact: a young Courtney Cox at 2:20 lucky dog):

A few of my favorites <3

 

Oh and then there's this:

Now try and get back to work mwahaha

The Grand Budapest Hotel, or, That Time Tilda Swinton Wore a Ton of Old Lady Makeup.

Wes Anderson's latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel could not have debuted its trailer at a better time. Anderson is now thrown back into the spotlight and therefore my tentative Halloween costume (a character from one of his previous films) is now less random and lame! Hurrah! (I'm sure I'll do a costume post eventually, please don't die of suspense.)

Wes Anderson is a filmmaker I've come to enjoy and appreciate more and more as time goes on, and if the trailer is any indication, I think this might be one of his best features yet.

Thoughts:

 I don't think I've ever seen Ralph Fiennes play such an airy character, and I think M. Gustave H might possibly be the anti-Voldemort. Also, if you were expecting a less-than-stellar cast, think again (read: Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Bill Murray (obvs), Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson (obvs), Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldbum and Jason Schwartzman (obvs).)

 I always forget about Ed Norton, and then his awful, nasally voice pierces the silence and I fall in love with him all over again. Does anyone else find their admiration for him hard to validate? How did he manage to break into the acting world with that voice? I'm trying to picture his very first audition. So many questions.

My only criticism is that the narrator voice of future Zero Mustafa (the Lobby Boy) has such a radically different accent from young Mustafa. But why stop at him? All the character's accents are all so mishmashed, considering it takes place in Hungary, that I guess you just have to give up on that front.

How is Saoirse Ronan so cool? Please stop, you are like ten. 

The lilac/purple theme throughout the trailer? Into it. 

Bringing "darling" back.

Hotel is 100% pure and unadulterated Wes Anderson, so if you're not into his style, don't hold your breath. And as the Times so wonderfuly put it, it has his signature "rose-colored nostalgia for something that never quite existed in the first place." Ha, so true.

Also, just throwing it out there, I will eventually be throwing a Wes Anderson themed party. Whose in?