The sugary-sweet co-worker gift guide

Do you have a co-worker who always provides the perfect "assist" when you're in a bind - whether it's helping you pick out a party outfit for the summer wedding weekend (not too conservative but not slutty either) or if it's staying late nights on analyzing financials?  In my office, I am lucky enough to be surrounded by several of these who will help me with work tasks as well as pick up coffee, lunch and dinner for me when I'm too busy to get away from my desk.  I attempt to express my gratitude in the way of small tokens of appreciation for all the help I've been given during the year.

Miette pastry cookbook - look at the pretty scalloped edges

 

iPod mug with little built in speakers



Scarf that can double as a wrap in the super A/C office



NYC Black & White cookies from Dean & Deluca



Pop o' colour ring by Kate Spade

  

Leathery cheerful notebooks by Paperthinks - I really want some bright neon colours

No good very bad day

Short post tonight.  Today was a tough Monday and not just because it was a return to work from the weekend.  It seemed like nothing could go right today.  Perhaps it's only fair after the nice weekend that I had, with my newly possessed tan.  But tomorrow is another day and a fresh start.  I just need to make it there.  Inspire me pinterest!

Recent reads 17 & 18

It is officially summer time and HOT.  With more airport and airplane time (for me, due to business travel), hopefully you've been able to check out more reading material.  I've been able to round out a few recently and have summarized my opinion of them below.

Iron Council by China Mieville

Iron Council is the third of the New Crobuzon novels and unfortunately the weakest one in my opinion.  As usual, Mieville's choice of main characters is slightly vague in the beginning and in this novel, it takes a third of the book to figure out exactly what is going on with the plots as well as who the characters actually are.  To save you the time, the plot is as follows: there is an insurgent group of remade slaves and "ordinary" railroad workers who rise up against the railroad company building track across Bas-Lag, over throw the military and steal the train.  They create the Iron Council that the novel is named after and take the perpetual train close to the Scar, mentioned in Perdido Street Station, in order to escape the New Crobuzon miliary who come after them by laying tracks in front of it while removing the tracks it has already rolled over.  There are subplots with the main character's romantic relationships and rebellion against the New Crobuzon government by its citizens.

I did debate whether or not I actually wanted to finish this book but thought I owed it to Mieville after all the brilliant work he did with his previous New Crobuzon novels.  I would suggest reading the first two and skipping this last one.

Death in the Dark Continent by Peter Hathaway Capstick

Death in the Dark Continent is a book that I have actually amazon stalked for over half a year.  I wasn't sure if I would like it but it had good ratings from other readers.  This book was much more instructional that I thought that it would be.  I thought it would read as James Herriot, a lot of interesting anecdotes about hunting the big five in Africa: water buffalo, elephants, rhinos, lions and leopards.  Capstick does more than just tell stories though; he paints a clear picture of the day in the life of a professional big game hunter and later - game warden - in Africa.  There is true danger and plenty of death that surrounds this vocation.  The work is not easy, nor is it glamorous, hunters sometimes walking 50 miles a day to track elephants.  The information and knowledge that he shares from own experiences, colleagues and research were often paid by lives or life altering injuries.  This book is a great gift for friends / colleagues / family who like to hunt and want a taste of what it's like to be a hunter of some of the most dangerous animals in the world.  It is not for the faint hearted either as some of the injuries sustained by the victims, particularly by water buffalo, are stomach turning.  I came away with great respect for Capstick and am interested in reading the other books that he has written.

Business travel and Recent read #16

I found myself running home this afternoon and packing my bag to get on a plane for a last minute business trip.  My friend lent me his book Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, which I really didn't know anything about before I cracked it open.  I was engrossed by the time I boarded the plane and read the entire flight.

The novel is a murder mystery but the plot set up does not give the reader that impression.  The main character, Leo, is easily disliked from the beginning of the novel.  He is a member of the USSR's security force, loyally and blindly investigating "enemies of the state" or those suspected of not being loyal to the Soviet Union.  These investigations lead him on an envious climb in the government and jealousy of his position ultimately results in him and his wife being accused of being spies.  Meanwhile, young children are found naked and murdered by the train tracks in different cities of the Soviet Union.  As "murder" is not allowed in the Stalinist regime, these cases are never connected together until Leo stumbles upon them.  The author brings the story full circle in a surprisingly satisfying way, with all the loose ends being wrapped up cleanly at the end.  The serial killer is a creepy character, and without giving it away, Smith is able to subtly and effectively craft a subplot around that individual as well. 

This is one of the best mysteries that I have read in awhile and is a great summer beach read.

Recent read #15: Dreadnought

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Dreadnought is the sequel to Cherie Priest's Boneshaker and the better novel, in my opinion.  The book takes place in the same setting as Boneshaker but with different characters.  The United States has been war torn by the Civil War for decades and the main character Mercy Swakhammer, a nurse in the Civil War, is making her way across the country to see her father by train.  One of the interesting developments in this novel is the introduction of the "rotters" (Cherie's zombies) to the rest of the country, where they are just running into the people-munching drug addicts.  The train, the Dreadnought, is a character in itself and the passengers aboard with Mercy all have their backstory, enought to keep the reader entertained.  The novel begins a bit slowly but rolls to an exciting finale with a crescendo of action, gore and guts.  I am highly anticipating her third novel, due to release this fall called Ganymede. 

Colour block me!

Yesterday, I received a request from a dear friend to colour block her.  I had not been aware that "colour block" could be a command but I now know better.  I have begun assembling different colour block collections for her and am posting them below via polyvore.  As you most likely know, colour blocking is all about the pairing of different colours.  It is also absolutely, definitely a summer friendly trend as brighter colours are paired together for stunning looks.  First up, purple and orange!  I'm all about finding versatile pieces that you can pair with different looks and also other colours.  And when in doubt, pair with white.

 

This is sick

I'm eating Nutella out of the jar with a spoon.  In the office.  Right now at 10:30 at night.  Needless to say, I have issues.

This is absolute GENIUS!

I wish one of these were down the street

I'm looking for this shirt right now

Nutella can be funny too!

This is an exact depiction of me right now

Images are all courtesy of pinterest.  I signed up for pinterest but am debating canceling my facebook account *more on that some other time* so I can't create my own account

Watch out

I want ALL of these and I want to wear all of them at once.  One on each limb.

Via RevolveClothing

Feel better

My grandparents, grandfather and grandmother on different sides of the family, have been ill lately and in and out of the hospital.  My grandfather had pneumonia and was released today but my grandmother is still in the CCU and has just started on dialysis.  I know my parents are stressed about their health and are helpless to do anything about it at this point in time.  My mom's birthday was today and she didn't feel up to celebrating.  Here's to the family feeling better and being in better spirits soon.  I would have ordered these cookies from Eleni's for them if they were still in stock.

Car mincemeat

Poor, poor Frenchie.  On Friday, he drove into the apartment complex parking garage on the way back from work and the gate lurched downward and smashed onto his car.  So he has another shattered windshield (front this time) and battered roof of his car to contend with.  He hasn't had too much luck with this car - do you all believe in bad car juju?  I know of two people who have bad car juju - freak accidents and bad luck with certain vehicles that they never had with their old cars.  Anyway, he's stuck with his current car for a bit longer as he has it under a lease and now he has to battle with his apartment complex about who is paying for the damage.  The apartment complex is claiming that they are not liable for the damage from the gate, which sounds really off to me.  Car trouble is definitely not the kind that anyone wants to deal with, particularly on a sunny weekend and making us think about moving somewhere where the primary mode of transportation is walking, biking or my favourite - horseback riding. 

In the meantime, do you know of any lucky charms I can put in Frenchie's car to counterbalance the bad luck?

Game time

Sadly, I haven't been able to catch any full finals basketball games as I am up to my ears in work.  I don't understand this flood of work that is coming in with the beginning of the summer season.  Do people not realize that it's summer time?  Summer time meaning no school, pool parties, longer days, warm nights, barbeques, porch time with friends?  And on top of all those things - the NBA championships???

Sigh.

At least I can rely on the WSJ to cover the important aspects of the game, like the Touchy Feely Index.  I thoroughly enjoy the WSJ sports section and the article "Dallas's Secret Weapon: High Fives" is quite awesome.  Go Mavs and Beat the Heat!

Bonus: One of the girls at work brought me my very own jar of Nutella to eat in the office.  YUM!

GO MAVS!

See ya back in Miami!

Whoops

I dropped a pair of kitchen scissors on my foot and now my toes are bleeding.  I never thought I would use an entire box of bandaids in two months.  I should just order these from Urban Outfitters.

Lying down as a hobby

"My job gets in the way of my favourite hobby - lying down," my sister said as she started her new position this past spring.  Little did she know how many things your job can get in the way of.  Fun things such as friends' birthdays, dinner parties, happy hours, any hobbies you may have and vacations with family and basic things such as cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping and sleeping  - the most important last. 

I will try to get shut eye any way I can.  And I only need two minutes to fall asleep.  This can be rather awkward on flights or car rides as I will conk out once I sit down and ignore any fellow passengers.  And difficult while trying to watch a movie or tv in a dark room.  It also makes me rather boring on weekends that I can get off from work as I'd rather sleep than do practically anything else.  Instead of lying down as a hobby, I propose making it a career.  As step one toward this goal, I would take a long Rip Van Winkle nap in any of these locations, particularly the beach and ocean locations.

via Damn Cool Pictures, pinterest, tumblr, pinterest2, ideeli, pinterest3 

Make My Monday

After a full work weekend and a loss by the Mavs (boo), these prints have made my Monday that much more bearable.

Groucho Maxx print via etsy that made me chuckle

Earnest Abe print via etsy - a reminder for me to be patient...not my strong suit

extreme nerdiness, yet awesome LOTR print that tracks all the parallel plots in LOTR

<zoom in and see the cleverness for yourself>

Lady in red

Summer time red dresses can't get any prettier than the three listed below.  Although I really adore the stripes on the Funktional dress and the criss cross straps on the back of the short red dress, I ultimately went with the feathered tie-dye red dress from Free People.  It's the perfect poolside loungy coverup or dress to wear around town and keep cool in.  The dress is a bit sheer so make sure you're wearing the appropriate "underclothes."  I also received a reusable pink tie-dyed FP shopping bag along with it.

Pickled green beans in mary

I really like tomato juice, really I do.  I'll drink it with no ice, chilled and treat it like a poor man's gazpacho.  So a bloody mary is really a bonus with the addition of alcohol.  Now a bloody mary in New Orleans - that's what I'm talking about. 

This week, I was taken to what is supposedly the bar that serves the best secret bloody mary in New Orleans.  What made it special for me?  First of it, it was SPICY hot.  I don't mean tickling your mouth and black pepper spicy.  I mean burning your lips and tongue and wishing you had something to drink... oh wait.  Secondly, it had pickled green beans.  I've had bloody marys with celery and olives but never green beans.  And they were delicious - crisp, crunchy and sour.  I could and am thinking of just ordering a jar of pickled green beans to eat on their own. 

If you'd like to know where the secret bar is, message me and I will gladly share...maybe.

Recent reads #10 - 14 / Possible summer reading list?

I've been neglecting my recent reads lately, although not the reading portion.  Since I'm sure many of you have been seeing Summer Reading Lists gathered on the interweb these past few days, I'm going to rank my recent reads for the past few weeks on a scale of 1 - 10 for Summer Reading Acceptibility (1 being the worst and 10 being the best):

How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely - 5

Pete Tarslaw's ex-girlfriend has invited him to her wedding and in an effort to give her the ultimate middle finger, Pete decides that he is going to write the next best selling fiction novel.  And so begins our tragic hero's quest to redemption.  This is written as a satire on the publishing world but also reveals the real, ugly and hilarious side of human nature.  Pete's character is flawed but Hely allows the reader to easily relate to him and his motivations for what he defines as success.  The book is a riot at times - particularly the Top 10 Bestsellers Lists.  If you've ever read a book and thought "I could've written that," then this book is for you.

Galore by Michael Crummey - 4

I shouldn't have read this novel so soon after reading We, The Drowned.  I would have had greater appreciation if I had not read one with a similar setting (cold, in the north, by the sea) and storytelling style.  Galore is set in the Newfoundland village of Paradise Deep and tells the story of the generations of family and inhabitants that live there.  It invokes a mysticism that is typically seen in Latin American literature but I'm discovering it in different parts of the world.  Please give yourself a break between reading We, The Drowned and Galore and you'll be able to enjoy both independently as good yarns about the sea and the people who live by it.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville - 7

As you may have already gathered, I have an author crush on China Mieville.  Perdido Street Station is one of the earliest examples of the strength of his writing (second published novel).  Mieville's country of New Crobuzon set in his fictional world of Bas-Lag is populated by the most fantastical of inhabitants - cactus-people, beetle-women, bird-people.  Mieville's world has been described and personified in such detail that you begin to wonder how someone could have ever come up with this in his head.  I, for one, could be convinced that all if it is somehow fantastically true.  I can't classify this novel into a specific genre - it has characteristics of fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, etc.  But enter Mieville's alternate universes in any of his novels and you won't ever look for a way out.

The Scar by China Mieville - 7

The Scar is the non-sequel sequel to Perdido Street Station - same world, different characters.  And I do think this one is just as good as the first.  Mieville explores the oceans of Bas-Lag in this novel, in a Water Worldesque setting where a floating city of pirates is on a mysterious mission across the seas.  For me, one of the missing pieces of Mieville's writing begins to make itself apparent in this novel.  Mieville is never able to develop any chemistry between his characters on the page.  Its not that Mieville never presents the perfect opportunity for this to take place.  It's just that its never capitalized upon.  This, I realize, is a personal critique and others may not feel the same.  However, I do feel with such intense settings that the characters are often left so alone.  I have the third novel in the series on order and will definitely let you know how everything rounds out.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - 7

I bought this book for my dad as part of his birthday present and read the entire thing on Sunday.  This novel broke my heart with its depiction of American POWs in Japanese camps, the descriptions and images of the damage and death to the young men who fought in WWII and the sorrow and emptiness of families who were back at home.  It also left me inspired by the spirit and determination of Louie Zamperini, the main character whose will to live and unwavering ability to never give up serves as the backdrop of the novel's title and theme.  It was quite an appropriate read on Memorial Day and an excellent read for any other time as well.  I smell a movie coming out of this novel, as with Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit.