Winter '14 and project 333

A huge project has been completed and I have the inclination for blogging on an overwhelming number of topics. It hard to choose one so I grabbed the one on top.

I always enjoy doing "project 333" but when the weather is mutable I can find it very difficult. This past autumn was hard as the weather was quite unpredictable. This is not a problem now thanks to the current wintery weather which puts clear limits on what can be worn or not.  Also it practically urges one to wear velvet and I love that urge.

So I have my list of clothing, it's being tweaked a bit but I am at 30 pieces right now. As usual [for me] I am not counting outerwear or boots or exercise clothing or accessories.

Making my 333 list is routine but I did notice something new. Only six pieces [20%] on my list were bought new, the other 25 pieces were purchased at thrift or consignment stores.  I'm a bit stunned by that. I knew my thrifting over the years had been honed but wow - I am good at it. This is inspiring me to learn more new things about my buying habits in 2014.

So I have decided to track my personal purchases this year. I hope to tease out why I buy things, when I buy them and maybe how I make room for them. I'll also be noting if I bought something new or second-hand. We'll see how it goes.
 

Popping at Travail

There isn't much time left but if you can - go to Umami,  Travail's pop up restaurant.  It closes in a week.  Which will be a sad day but that's all the more reason to buy those tickets now.

There you will have some of the best food of your year, perhaps of your decade.

I trust the chefs at Umami/Travail so completely that I will try anything they put in front of me because I know the chances are that I will love it. This is a night I will eat grains, soy or anything else. Though I still don't like the taste of sweets so I don't end up eating them.  Not many people will have the room for them anyway.

Here is what we had last Thursday night:

Glazed chicken wings, pork spareribs, steamed bun with pork [shared], octopus croquette, shirataki noodle salad, duck medley [pate, prosciutto & sausage] roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and cranberries, bulgogi, chicken dumplings, shrimp dumplings, ham hock dumplings,  ramen with fresh noodles [shared], congee with pepper puree and cauliflower [shared] followed by [if you can stand it - dessert] key lime on spoon, pumpkin bread pudding and chocolate creme with banana soft serve ice cream.

The winners for me: bulgogi, octopus and chicken dumpling
The only 'loser': ham hock dumpling [but my wife loved it]

It's all you can eat. They'll bring you more of what you love. [feel free to laugh]

We found it all we could do to taste every yummy dish which left us stuffed to the gills, no to the crowns of our heads. There were no seconds for us.

It was a fabulous meal. Here's hoping it's the start of a better time.

hmm, that was certainly awful

November 2013 was awful. Not the month as much as my relationship to it. It was the month that contained my dog's diagnosis of inoperable bone cancer and death.

It seems no matter how many sweet end moments I had the over all effect is... it sucked. So time to draw the veil over that month and get on with December.

I was going to jump right in but I am think it deserves its own post.

not the year for a birthday

Sometimes a birthday is about getting through the day and this has been one of those birthdays. I can't remember the last time my birthday was so .... dreary.  So that means I have been having great ones.  Ones where my poor wife was not sick and my dog did not have cancer. *sniff*

A large part of the dreariness is missing Nanowrimo. I am working on my project but it doesn't feel the same at all. I miss Nanowrimo so much. Part of me keeps thinking 'maybe I could' and part of me wants to concentrate on my other deadlines.

Being an adult equals no fun sometimes. Hopefully a nice evening will bring some balance back.

unexpected gifts

Today I received the gift of "Strength to Transform in the Midst of Full Catastrophe". Now I am no where near a full catastrophe but it's nice to know it's there if needed.

warm wishes for smooth times.

zucchini after 7 in the Morning

Pre-birthday, post Samhain celebration included a visit to ArtAttack and a very well acted production of Morning's at Seven. The last showing is November 3, if you can make the matinee I recommend it warmly. 

This was followed by a nosh at the Loring Kitchen. I don't know why but the servings were huge. In the past there was never enough but this time we had ample zucchini fries for 8 people.  We were 2.

Fortunately unlike theatrical runs the restaurant should be there in the future so you can try those fries for yourself at any time.

post gloom

The title is not quite accurate there is still plenty of gloom to go around.

But the sun today was the opposite of gloom. It was bright and kind and showed off every coloured leaf on every gorgeous tree with a golden haze.

It was hard to stay on the road when I wanted to gawk full time at beauty. Have the leaves ever hung around this late before?