1. Target

Probably I don’t even have to tell you this exists. Every once in a while I will also find myself touring their clearance section for single-season shoes for cheap and deals that I can resist. Hence the following:

Top Left: Mossimo Supply Co., Junior Plaid Top, currently $8.00. These flannel shirts are soft and cuddly, not unlike teddy bears. I snagged one for $10 earlier in the fall, and liked it so much that I snagged a couple more on markdown for a little more than that price a few days ago. Since then, they’ve dropped to their even cheaper lower price. I would size up from your regular size unless you like really tight shirts or have a very small chest. They are not your boyfriend’s shirts.

Top Right: I also couldn’t resist the Merona Tweed Euna Pumps with their work appropriate silhouette and black-and-white fabric pattern, justified by the fact that I am in business school (and not even marketing these days, at that). Plus, Target always has shoes in size 5.5. Yay conservative work attire.

Following the justification/reasoning for purchasing the pumps, I bought the black variant of this Mossimo V-Neck Dress, also at half price. We shall have to wait to see if the 4P is too large, because none were available in a smaller size. Unfortunately the pretty red version is sold out as of now. I may consider the grey version if the black one turns out well.

They also have tons of re-leftover/returned Missoni for Target products and clothing on clearance. I’m actually looking forward to their very preppy Jason Wu for Target collection next month.

2. Wilson’s Leather

I’ve never been to one of their physical stores, and I really don’t remember why I know they exist online. I purchased a giant leather work bag from them this summer for my internship and have been bombarded with their e-mails ever since. They have ridiculous clearances and coupons, with the current clearance sale being the most impressive I’ve seen from them yet, with 60-80% markdowns plus coupons & free shipping if you can find them.

Top Left: I love how this Wool Riding Jacket looks in the pictures, but the reviews claim otherwise. This prevented me from biting the bullet.

Top Right: Love, love this Long Wool Pea Coat. It runs small, so it’s perfect for me, and the oversized lapel emphasizes instead of dwarfs me. It’s the perfect length, above knees, and I was able to snag this for less that $50 due to an additional 25% off coupon (since passed, but keep waiting and another may show up) and free shipping. The only thing I dislike are the buttons (metal with “Black Rivet” stamped on) but if I really can’t deal and want to switch, it shouldn’t be too difficult to replace them.

Bottom: More stuff I like but couldn’t justify purchasing: Wool Tiered Bottom 3/4 Coat and Toggle Font Hooded Wool Jacket.

Still, in retrospect, getting your wisdom teeth yanked out under local anesthesia wasn’t horrible. I didn’t realize at the time that Novocain increases nervousness, and since I didn’t find out that I wouldn’t be sleeping beauty until 3 hours before the appointment (when the receptionist, cringing, informed us that the oral surgeon was stuck in “traffic” and thus would delay my 3:45pm appointment by 2.5+ hours–not exactly rush hour, but hey, even dentists have their vices), I was very, very reluctant indeed. Eventually this led to a slight breakdown 15minutes before the actual procedure. But that’s alright, because puffy eyes and puffy cheek(s) aside, I could still dress up and play princess in the comfort of my own room. And this, darlings, is why you make sure you’ll suffer no roommate when you get your wisest of teeth removed.

I opted for an over-the-bed "Occasional Table" instead of real nightstands. TV/movie marathons, here I come...

Not that I live in this room all that often, but it’s been re-furnished. (Though not really decorated yet. But there’s something nice about clean wall space, no?)

My obsession with Thai began my freshman year of college; one of the cheapest eats are definitely Thai specials at lunch time. Appetizer, entree, and a drink all for ~$10 in Manhattan? Count me in! So of course, when I was finally able to have a kitchenette dorm this year, I immediately shopped Chinatown and scoured the internet for recipes and ingredients to make some of my favorite dishes.

This is my variant of a Green Curry I can actually get behind. That is to say, I don’t die too much when eating it, and add and subtract a few vegetables from the authentic recipe.

Ingredients

• Cooking Oil
• 1 tbsp Green Curry Paste*
• 1 cup Canned Coconut Milk
• 1/2 cup Water
• Chicken, Beef, or Seafood of your choice
• Sliced Canned Bamboo (or whatever way you can find it)
• Palm Sugar (optional)
• Vegetables of your choice; I like green beans and mushrooms. If you want to go authentic, use Thai eggplants, which are usually small, green, and can be described as grape-size when compared to other eggplant variants
• Kaffir Leaves (optional garnish) – this would actually be important if you were making a paste from scratch. But then you’d need lemongrass too and then you’d be on a trip.

Directions

Pour in a dollop of cooking oil in pan. Heat oil, then add curry paste. Let warm in pan before adding in coconut milk and water. Place in the meat of your choice (if you choose to have a meat). Cover pan and let simmer until meat has turned the appropriate color for having been cooked. Add in vegetables and let simmer with cover on some more. After it has boiled, try your curry for spiciness-level. If it’s too spicy, add in some grated palm sugar. Serve hot with rice.

* I use curry paste I buy from small Thai grocers; they’re $3-$5 of dense paste that will last you for years, considering that I use about 1 tbsp per 2 servings. The recipe tastes better with canned coconut milk, but the powdered stuff is cheaper and lighter to carry back, a big concern when you walk your groceries back to campus. The most recent brands I’ve been using:

I had a lot of leftover mayonnaise from the one time I bought it to glue a sandwich together. Obviously, I hadn’t made a sandwich since, but I needed to find something to make that would use it all up before winter break or make a lot of hungry children in continents that will not be named angry at me for waste. The transiency of college dorm life. It comes with room checks and empty fridge rotations every four months.

I ended up choosing potato salad, southern style.

I used this recipe without the relish or celery. I also used deli-style dijon mustard, which gave my salad a distinct yellow tone, which resonated with the egg yolk.

The obvious photos are by G, plus some.

A long Thanksgiving hike through little red riding hood’s neck of the woods.

The camera gets really soft at the edges (and isn’t too sharp anywhere else for that matter), but I love the lomo toy-camera look all the scanned pictures have. Especially in bright light, there’s an out-of-world whimsy about them.

We ended up getting cheap seats at a South American soccer game…they come with free riot police.

Not really a recipe post, since I want to perfect the filling ingredients a little bit more and be able to document the actual making process (these are a very visually-necessary food stuff to make). These are, however, the most satisfyingly crunchy potstickers I’ve been able to make, so at least I know I have the cooking process down!