Breakfast Salad

A few of us have dubbed this week at work "salad week." Only salad for lunch every day as a healthy alternative to the usual, i.e. Qdoba. (You can get salad at Qdoba, so that's not really fair).

I told Prudence that I even had a salad for dinner the night before.

"Oh yeah, what was on it?" she asked.

"Spinach. And then there were hashbrowns."

"Adele, I thought you were going to say, you know, carrots, tomatoes, avocados."

Nope. Topped the hashbrown salad with a fried egg.


Hey, greens are involved, which totally makes it a salad. Some might say it's breakfast, but if Martha Stewart deems it a salad, that's good enough for me.

Here's the recipe. Really easy and cheap, just fry potatoes in olive oil, combine with dressing and spinach, Parmesan and then add egg for protein and deliciousness.

Salad discovered via this blog...

Jeffrey Cambell Groovie in Review

I checked back in on the rainbow sandals today: they are sold out, but there's one review up. And it's a doozy.

Here's the text, in case you can't read it:

"The shoes are the best. I own many others, but these are def. my favorites. The bright multicolored heel make them an attractive option for any occasion/outfit. I wore them last weekend to my sister's wedding, and although my mother was horrified, and my sister was too self-absorbed to notice, my dad said they reminded him of the buttons he used to sport back in his "anti-man" hippie days. I only fell over once, but all the looks of jealousy made it worth it. Def a worthwhile buy. ENJOY!"

Urban Farming


I planted two tomato plants this weekend - an urban farming experiment. Only $2 each! Not factoring in $20 of supplies, of course.

"Each of those tomatoes will cost five dollars each," Joe said. Ever the economist.

I am not sure if the trough I put them in will be too shallow for the roots. What do you think? They are doing well for now. Thriving, I dare say. 65 days from now, I will be feasting on tomatoes. Perhaps.

Actually, I will be happy if they make it through this week. Will report back.

An Instagram Evening: Cinco de Mayo Edition

I've transferred my allegiance from Hipstamatic to Instagram. Even though Hipstamatic does have "hip" in the name. Instagram just has more options.

I took all these photos on Cinco de Mayo. Which is in fact completely unrelated to the subject of the photos.

I will keep you abreast of the construction progress on the new D.C. Shake Shack (!). No need to move to NYC now...

Joe's former coworker's magnificent koi pond. It's like a secret garden in the city. I was mesmerized by those fish! Some koi facts: they can weigh 30 pounds and live more than 125 years. It's true, I just fact-checked it. One of the rare koi in this pond is white and has a perfect red dot on his forehead, symbolizing the Japanese flag.

Exploring different Instagram filters.

I couldn't even keep a goldfish alive!

One of the coolest house numbers I've ever seen - metal cutouts of the numbers illuminated from within.

Sweetlife Festival in Review

I must actually be an optimist, because no matter how many times I've been rained on in general admission at outdoor shows, I still buy lawn tickets. An optimist or a cheapskate.

Won't it be nice to picnic on the grass with friends, I think, as I click "purchase." All other occasions when I've sat huddled under a garbage bag to keep out the rain have disappeared from my mind.

Even on Sunday when I was getting ready for the Sweetlife Festival, I looked at the weather and saw a 20% chance of rain. Yay, it won't rain, I decided, specifically choosing to bypass umbrellas. 20% equals 0% for me. Thankfully, Joe convinced me to bring a raincoat.

But even though of course it rained, a steady drizzle that turned into bona ride miserable storm the festival was still fun. Towards the end, the rain disappeared so the crowd could thoroughly enjoy Lupe Fiasco, Girl Talk and The Strokes.

The first two of those acts got panned in the Post, but out in the muddy lawn seats, everyone seemed to be having fun. That's all Girl Talk is about, having fun. Dancing like a maniac with thousands of people doing the same. Also confetti and balloons. There's nothing deeper to it than that. Music purists may be appalled by Girl Talk - 30 second clips of music strung together for the ADD generation. Why listen to an entire concert of one artist when you can listen to the best of 60 artists' work crammed into one hour?

I argue that Girl Talk doesn't equal the apocalypse for pop music. I watched the same crowd get just as jazzed for The Strokes and they are about as classic rock and roll as you'll get in 2011. The two can sit together, in harmony, on the same festival lineup.