• Boston,  Cooking,  Darn Good Ideas

    Remembering Recipes

    April 27, 2011 / No Comments

    I love the theme of this week’s contest over at Food52: The Recipe You Want to Be Remembered for. What a great way to spark creativity in recipe hunting and honing. They are sure to, as always, get some amazing recipes out of it.

    The above is a little snapshot of my favorite breakfast these days: vanilla pancakes with caramelized bananas, before or after church, at the Beacon Hill Bistro, which is down the street from our apartment and puts clean paper over the tables, serves their coffee with tiny stirring spoons, and takes it for granted that you want real maple syrup with your pancakes.

  • Darn Good Ideas

    Ira Glass on Early Creativity

    April 26, 2011 / 4 Comments

    Oh gosh, I so relate to this Ira Glass quote. My taste and what I admire are so far from the work that I’m actually able to execute, it drives me crazy. And keeps me from working. You too?

    Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have.

    We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

    -Ira Glass

    You heard it from Ira. We gotta fight our way through!

    seen on Fresh Air’s tumblr, via Orangette’s twitter

  • Darn Good Ideas

    Homescreen Spy

    April 6, 2011 / No Comments

    Because I am a nosy person who likes to know how other people build their intimate lives—including creeping on their grocery carts to spy their selections and wonder whether I should pick up a few of the same things they have—I love this First & 20 where opinionated designers explain their iPhone homescreens. So far I’ve learned that only idiots don’t use Instapaper every day.

    Here’s the homescreen of Ryan Block, former Engadget editor, read his explanation for his decisions here.

    Incidentally, Joe and I stopped by the Apple store yesterday and learned that iPad 2s are still selling out every day. Woah, people, woah.

    Seen first on IgnoretheCode.net


  • Darn Good Ideas

    Target Reissues 35 Dresses

    March 15, 2011 / 2 Comments

    After five years of successful collaboration Target’s poorly named GO International is reissuing 35 dresses from their designer collections. Score.

    Rodarte, $44.99

    Proenza Schouler, $44.99

    Thakoon, $39.99

    Paging through the reissues, I’m reminded of how weird most of these collections were—the haute couture visions rendered in polyester with cotton stitching. Someone in Target’s legal department was paying attention to their contracts: most of these names are more famous now than they were when their collections first came out.

    They were always a lot of (poor girl’s) fashion fun, way more accessible than H&M’s designer collections, and I hope Target keeps it up.

    Anyone going to circle back for another addition to the closet?

    Thanks Birgit, for the tip!

  • Boston,  Darn Good Ideas

    Belgian in Boston: Saus

    March 8, 2011 / 3 Comments

    Over the weekend Joe and I were lucky enough to try out Saus, the new Belgian street food place down the street from Faneuil Hall. It was started by a couple of young people, who might be the same people working behind the counter when you are there, which is always cool. And they’re a non-bar open late every night, which is almost impossible to find right now.

    First we tried the waffles which were made of hefty yeasty dough, edged with sticky caramelized sugar. Delicious. I got lemon curd sauce and Joe got berry berry mixed with salted caramel. I liked mine the best.

    Obviously they immediately get points for serving it in a beautiful scalloped and lemon-curd colored dish. If you get it to go, which I will as soon as the weather shapes up, you just take a piece of tissue with it, street style.

    We came back that night for fresh, house-cut, crispy frites. We tried the garlic mayo, truffle ketchup and chive sour cream dipping sauces. The truffle ketchup was the table favorite. I love that this is a place you can meet friends, spend a few dollars, shares some fries, and head out. A more savory version of the coffee shop meet-up.

    AND: their walls are covered with Tintin comics.

    Incidentally, they started tweeting their progress almost a year before they opened. If I hadn’t followed their progression on Twitter for so long, I don’t think I would have visited in the first week of their opening, or started telling my friends about them before they even opened. So, if you’re considering whether Twitter is worth your small business’s time: it is.

  • Darn Good Ideas,  Entertainment,  Life Story

    Dresscue Me

    March 3, 2011 / 9 Comments

    [vimeo http://vimeo.com/20092004]

    My younger sister Joanie is the manager at an enormous vintage store tucked into a warehouse in Los Angeles called Shareen Vintage. I love to call her up and hear about how crazy her day was, but none of her stories will really make sense until the reality show they’ve been filming about the place premiers in April. I can’t wait, if only to see all the beautiful dresses.

    It’s going to be called “Dresscue me” and will be on Planet Green (I guess Planet Green is being secretive because I can’t link to them about it. Here’s a NY Times article about Shareen & the show). Until then, I loved this video done by Keith Paugh, commissioned by Launderette.

    As you’ll see, Shareen is a fashion philosopher who has a vision for her customers (girls only!), which is why I think the show will be genuinely unique to watch. (You see Joanie a few times in the video, she has long brown hair and is wearing a strapless blue floral dress. Can’t wait to see more of you on the screen, Joan!)  You can also visit Shareen Vintage on Facebook, where previous customers literally gush their love for her clothes.

    Are you looking to contact Joanie Cusack directly? You can do that right here!