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Sep

Patient as Usual

Hurry up, Fall! I feel like this is my refrain every September. I always associate back-to-school time with the change of seasons, but it’s not. Not yet. It was a muggy 95 degrees here in DC yesterday, so sticky-hot that it seeped indoors to wilt flowers and frizz my hair, even with three air conditioners blasting. I’m tired of flushed red faces and sweat trickling down my back. I’m done with BBQs and popsicles and mosquitoes, thankyouverymuch. I want searing blue skies and fiery orange trees, crackling leaves and brisk breezes. I want wood-smoke and crisp red apples. For that matter, I want apple cider, apple pie, and my mom’s apple dumplings. I want to spend lazy Sunday afternoons napping to the sweet lullaby of football commentators and my husband growling at the Ravens’ offense. I want to stroll around Eastern Market sipping a maple macchiato,...

Sep

Jessica

Last weekend I was ensconced upstairs in the YA loft of our local library, eagerly scanning the shelves for books on my to-read list. My husband came to find me because the library was about to close. He glanced at the cover of Charles de Lint’s Blue Girl with interest. And then he said something dismissive along the lines of, “Eh. But it’s young-adult, right?” To his credit, he realized his gaffe right away. (If he hadn’t, I’m sure my affronted stare and shocked silence would’ve clued him right in.) Still, I reminded him that I am writing a young-adult book, and I don’t want people treating it with that kind of condescension, assuming that it wouldn’t appeal to them because of where it’s shelved. He apologized. But the moment served as an eloquent reminder of how much the YA label has changed since we were teenagers. At...

Sep

Hodgepodge

Jessica

I am sleepy, but must stay awake until laundry finishes whirring around the dryer. I am too sleepy to write proper segueways, so here are 5 random sources of delight this week: Gossip Girl is back! I have missed it so. My dad recently inquired why texting is fun, and hello, it is clearly so that Rosaline and I can text Very Important Things back and forth while watching this show. Things like: Chuck v. hot and diabolical. How is he so hot in those awful clothes? Or Dan is an ass. So judgey! S has great hair here tho. Or I think Dan has gotten cuter? Mmmm…accent. I ogle Blair’s clothes almost as much as I ogle Chuck, which is…a lot. I find Chuck mysteriously attractive despite the turtlenecks and old-fashioned bathing costumes. America’s Next Top Model is also back. Please don’t judge me. This show is hysterical. Tyrabot knows how to bring the drama, okay? This season among the Fierce 14 there are a transgender woman, a very sexual vegan, a...

Aug

Sunday Perfect Sunday

Jessica

I don’t like Sundays. The end of the weekend makes me sad and oddly perfectionistic. (I wanted to do these 27 things and I only did 19! Gah! I am a Terrible Person!) But today was an exception. Three-day weekends are one of the more brilliant inventions ever. I spent the afternoon at the Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage Festival. It’s the third year my husband’s participated. I hadn’t read all of his new one-act–it’s very very new–and it was cool to watch it unfold, not knowing the ending. The play’s a series of tall tales told by two sisters, and both actresses were fantastic. I loved how the tales all wove together in the end, and how it let Steve use a more colorful, lyrical style than usual. Afterwards I saw Act One of a musical written by MFA playwriting and DFA musical comp students. I was sitting next to the composer. Initially I feared that might be awkward. (I...

Aug

Lemonlicious

Jessica

I have a new crush. Smitten Kitchen is my new favorite place to linger and lurk online. The recipes! And the pictures! OMG, the pictures are gorgeous. It’s total food p8rn. My husband is a vegetarian, so most of the time I don’t cook meat at home. (I do eat it when we go out. It seems to confuse our waiters. They’re forever handing me Steve’s Caesar salad and trying to give him my cheeseburger!) I grew up in a very meat & potatoes-focused central-Pennsylvania family, so I’m always interested in new veggie recipes. (I like most veggies. Except mushrooms. <shudder>) I also love to bake–mostly because I love to eat cookies and muffins and cakes and…you get the idea. I think all my teeth are sweet teeth. But I’m 28 and I’ve never had a cavity yet, so take that. Anyway, I haven’t been using our new kitchen much. It’s small and dishes tend to pile up. Steve’s been out at class...

Patient as Usual

Hodgepodge

Sunday Perfect Sunday

Lemonlicious

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