Gretch-a-sketch (old)

The title is blatantly ripped from Mindy Kaling's shopping blog of the same name. But given that she hasn't updated it in about five months, I don't feel too bad about taking it. Sidebar to Mindy: "Darling, I know you're busy with the show starting back up, but surely you must have bought something during the summer!" And she'd be all, "I'll totes get on writing a new post. And don't call me Shirley!" Then we'd watch Airplane! and she'd help me break into the writing business and we'd buy lots of fabulous shoes together.

But I digress.

One of the perks about having a steady job and no school is that I no longer feel guilty about buying beautiful things. I do try to be sensible and most of it is going into savings, but I don't see any reason why I can't have a little fun.


Headbands, Forever 21, $1.50 They're very delicate and shiny. A bunch of you wondered if I bought the hat from last week and I didn't! I most definitely regret it and I plan on buying it next time I go downtown.


Scarf, Charlotte Russe, $9.99 I love the buttery-yellow shade. I wore it to a movie night last week and a friend told me I looked very indie. Success!


Button-down shirt, Penguin, $10 I bought it at this weird discount shop for way cheap. I also would like to eat the buttons on the sleeve because they look like Smartys.


Laptop Bag, Golla, Free Okay, I didn't technically buy this since we got it when we switched over to high-speed. Still, it fits my laptop perfectly and the cheery pattern makes me happy. (You know you're a geek when...)


From left to right:
Dunder Mifflin Thermal, NBC.com, $6.99 The original retail price is $28, but I managed to get it on sale. It almost makes me want the cold weather to be here so I can wear it. (The key word there is almost.)
Fairy Graphic Tee, Old Navy, $5 Old Navy was having this kick-awesome sale on labor day. I own far too many graphic tees, but this one has a v-neck which somehow made it justifiable. On the shoulder, there's a small flower graphic that brings it all together.
Argyle Polo, Old Navy, $10 Every once in a while I have to indulge my preppy side. I've been craving argyle (is that weird?) and could not resist it in polo-form.


Flats, I have no idea who made them, $4 These were a serendipitous department store find. Fun fact: Dorothy's shoes are silver in the Wizard of Oz books, but they got changed to red in the movie to show off the new color technology.

WANT: A cardinal pea coat, pink cashmere cardigan, and a 16GB iPod Nano in purple
(sigh! Those may have to wait.)

So...anyone else make cheese this weekend? Just me, then? Okay.
I whipped up a batch of paneer, which in the past I'd always confused with the Panera Bread Cafe. I've heard good things about both and they're both food related, so it's understandable.
Coconut & Lime gave a recipe a couple weeks ago and I was intruiged. It didn't seem too hard. The ingredients are basically whole milk and lemon. Simple, right? It did require an adventure through the aisles of Albertson's, which I like to call The Epic Quest for Cheese Cloth.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Once milk heats up, it froths up very fast. There was some spillage onto the super hot burner and now we have this burn mark that we can't get off of our stove. Oops.
2. It's because of this that I don't think it got quite as hot as it needed to be. I still added the lemon juice anyhow and let it curdle, which is a pretty cool process to watch.
3. The draining took longer than I thought and was quite messy.
4. The yield was much less than I anticipated--that was a bummer. I only got about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup, when the recipe said I'd get 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
5. The texture is similar to mascarpone and it tastes a bit like unsalted ricotta.
6. So far, I've tried it with rice and cinnamon and vanilla--that was tasty. Even better was Sunday dinner. We made sausage marinara sauce and mixed a bit of the paneer in with that. Yum. Next time I make it, I want to try Saag Paneer.


Fun fact: I bought the plate with three other vintage poster style dessert plates on Saturday at the dollar store of all places. Better yet, they were only sixty-six cents because the store's going out of business. They're enough to keep me satisfied and smiling until I can afford these.

P.S. I went this whole post without making a "That's so cheesy!" joke. You should be proud.

Now I'm gonna write up the rest of this week's posts (mostly just gift lists...we'll be back to normal blogging next week). Maybe I'll study, too. I know this was a bit ramble-y, but I just needed to write something.

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention that Tib's having a surprise giveaway. Go check it out!

I love being twenty, don't get me wrong. But one of the downsides of this age is the awkward clothes limbo. The Juniors stuff mostly makes me feel like I'm thirteen and I look young enough for my age as is! Also, I swear their stuff keeps shrinking. I am not a large, people, but apparently the designers beg to differ. The Misses items are getting potentially cuter, but I'm not ready to go there yet. And my parents wonder why I shop online... But tonight was a success, which makes me unspeakably happy!
I wish I could share pics, but I left my cable up at school. Blog FAIL.

1. I got this cute royal blue jacket with striped detailing at the bottom and sleeves. It's got these really cute wood toggles at the bottom of the hood strings. All it's missing is a cute boy and a bonfire at the dunes. Anchor Blue, $9.97

2. There's nothing like a flowy, bright blue top to get one in the mood for summer! Sheer flowers and adorable sleeves! Substitute the bonfire for a BBQ at the lake and we have a winner! Anchor Blue, $5.97

3. This last one's the best, coming in at two junior bacon cheeseburgers. It's a grey-blue tank with silver swan outlines over the front. Swans! So cute. Mervyns, $2.00

The best part of all was that I had store credit to Anchor Blue, thanks to my picky lil' bro not liking one of his Christmas gifts from the mom. I left having spent only $6. SIX dollars. I rock at bargain shopping. Did that sound braggy? I didn't mean for it to sound braggy. (Okay, maybe a little.)

Oh my gosh, I hate to subject the blogosphere to the atrocity I saw at Famous Footwear, but I can't keep it to myself.
CROCS WITH METALLIC ACCENTS. Oh, the horror!

Part Uno:
When I got a call from a friend inviting us over to hear his brother-in-law give a home concert tonight, I was not expecting to hear what I did. Turns out, his b-i-l is Cary Judd. It was my first time listening to Cary, but it certainly won’t be the last. (That sounds cliché, and I know saying it sounds cliché sounds a little cliché. But I am what I am…that’s Popeye.)

Okay, seriously, guys? Do yourself a huge favor and check this guy out. His music is awesome, in the truest sense of inspiring awe. He “starts by playing a riff or progression that finds itself embellished in a swirl of drum or guitar loops that he masterfully creates with a series of electronic pedals at his feet.” (The website explained that much better than I would have.) The lyrics are strung together so poignantly and perfectly it’s easy to get lost in them. As a reference point, he’s similar to Wisely, Jeff Buckley, and Wilco, but at the same time, not really like anything you’ve ever heard at all. (There I go again with the clichés!)

Adding to the surreality of the experience was his baby son falling asleep on my lap. (Tonight also marks the first time I’ve ever been mistaken for the mother of someone else’s child. That was weird.)

Need more proof? Check out some of the bands he’s toured with--Death Cab For Cutie, Bright Eyes, The Shins, Tristan Prettyman, Ari Hest, Pedro the Lion, and Of Montreal. If that’s not some serious music talent, I don’t know what is.

You can listen to him at his home page, myspace, or buy his albums on iTunes.

Part dos:
My own personal indie cred was boosted today when I bought a t-shirt from a local printing company for $8! Whoo! The best part is I was *thisclose* to buying the same shirt from the resident trendy clothes shop for $22 a few weeks ago. Good thing I held off!

(Ha! See what I did there with music and notes? My friends say I'm “pretty clever.”)

1. Dear Bandwagon,
Hi. It’s me, Gretchen. I know, it’s been a while. Mind if I jump back on for a while? I’m writing to thank you for introducing Yael Naim, via Apple’s always catchy advertisements. (This time, for the sleek and super-thin Macbook Air. It’s like the Heidi Klum of laptops!) I’ll admit, I did hear about Yael a few months ago, via the Awesome girls and meant to get around to listening to her, but it never happened. (Fun fact: the Awesome girls also introduced me to Feist before her “1-2-3-4” fame. You should pay attention to those girls more often.) Anyhow, Yael is pretty dang fantastic, with her French-Hebrew background and those lovely cheekbones. I doubt she’ll stay mainstream for the long haul, but I’m glad to have found her.
Hugs and kisses,
Gretchen
P.S. You might want to become familiar with Courtney Jaye (see #3), because if I had any say in these matters, she would be your next target.
P.P.S. Please do something about Uggs for next winter, like banishing all those who wear them to Northern Siberia. (But at least their feet will be warm, right?)

2. Okay, peeps. Listen up. You know how I like a good deal, right? Joshua Radin’s new EP, Unclear Sky, was released last Tuesday on iTunes for $2.99. It’s four songs of pure talent for only three dollars! His album comes out this summer, but this is enough to tide me over until then. Seriously, I must have listened to it over fifteen times since Tuesday. Music review time! Yay!
Track 1: Sky (Feat. Ingrid Michaelson)—Okay, first off, it has Ingrid Michaelson, so you know it’s a winner. It’s the catchiest song of the four and makes me happy every time I hear it. I’m dying for someone to get the tab online, since I can’t really transpose music yet.
Track 2: Lovely Tonight—This is what Radin does best. It’s slower, but not boring. The guitar is impeccable and the female vocals are by Catherine Feeny (he runs with some seriously amazing chicas) with electric guitar by Ryan Adams (!).
Track 3: The Fear You Won’t Fall—Easily my least favorite of the four, but that isn’t saying very much. It’s still very much beautiful and it includes the return of Priscilla Ahn (love her), who’s his back-up on “We Were Here.”
Track 4: You’ve Got Growin’ Up To Do—Radin evokes a perfect sense of raw desperation on this demo version. His myspace blog mentions a “very special female vocal” on the album version. Oh, the suspense! The best part is that he also says he’s saving his best stuff for the actual cd release. Can’t wait!
(Note to Joshua: If you ever get over that on-again/off-again thing with Schulyer Fisk, I think I deserve at least one date.)

3. I fell in love with Courtney Jaye about four years ago during the all-too brief radio run of her song “Can’t Behave.” (The link is to a hilarious fanvid of Hawkeye featuring that song.) She spent some time in Hawaii and she describes her sound as “tropicountry.” Her new album, “Queen of Sabotage” is expected to be out this year, but I can’t for the life of me find an actual release date. Anyhow, you can listen to five of her new songs on her myspace page. Her lyrics are honest and she’s got this great voice that’s also easy to sing along to. Perfect music for a luau or driving along the coast.

There's almost nothing I love more in life than finding a good deal. You see, I have this goal of getting through my undergrad without any debt--so far, so good. But I'm also a poor college student dealing with the rampant consumerism that comes from being a twenty-something girl. Next to finding a great buy, I love sharing (read: bragging) about it.

This weekend was a complete win-win.

Win #1: I made the life-altering decision to dye my hair dark. Like, waaaay brunette. So much for the blond Tina Fey thing, right? But I love it. So much.

Win #2: I found this little beauty at the local Down East Outfitters marked down half from $29.99. It was my lucky day, since all clearance was marked down an extra half! I paid: $7.50. Booyah!