Bookworm: July 2017

“Did you ever want to be a writer?” “No,” she said, and she would have told him. “I only wanted to be a reader.” 
― Ann Patchett, Commonwealth

Loved: 

Commonwealth, Ann Patchett: The most gorgeously-written story of two dysfunctional families, and how their lives intersect through affairs, death, and heartbreak for over fifty years. I couldn't put it down - devoured it in a day. Highly, highly recommend.

A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin: I picked up this collection of short stories at one of my new favorite places in the Bay Area, Dog Eared Books in the Mission. The staff at Dog Eared slip handwritten notes into the inside covers of the books - jokes, reviews, recommendations and commentary - and I find that utterly enchanting. This was a fairly new foray into the world of short stories for me! I prefer to sink my teeth into a lengthy novel, but taking these bit by bit and reading one or two a day was a really fun way to experience the sparse, vernacular-driven writing. A book to nibble, rather than devour (unlike "Commonwealth!") 

The Opposite of Loneliness, Marina Keegan: "A Manual for Cleaning Women" got me on a short story kick, and I finally visited this collection, which was all the rage a couple years ago. The backstory is tragic: Keegan, a 2012 Yale creative writing graduate, was killed in a car accident just five days after her college graduation. Her parents, along with her Yale mentor, compiled her writing into this mesmerizing collection. I laughed out loud, cried, and at certain points had to reread sentences/paragraphs multiple times because they were just so evocative and gut-wrenching. If you haven't read this, do yourself a favor and read it, as soon as possible. 

Enjoyed: 

Rich People Problems, Kevin Kwan: The third book in the "Crazy Rich Asians" series, it made me laugh and was a perfect light beachy read for evenings with a glass of wine on the deck. The title kind of says it all - it was incredibly amusing and I really enjoy Kwan's bizarrely textured, totally foreign world. 

Tolerated: 

Nothing this month! How nice!

Re-reads: 

The Shadow Queen, Margaret Pemberton: I owned this book when I moved to California, but weirdly, I have no memory of actually reading it. I find Wallis Simpson (the woman for whom King Edward VII abdicated the throne back in the 30s) fascinating in a really weird way, but this novel left me kind of lukewarm. It's an easy read about a super interesting historical figure, but I think it could have been better. 

the "Vesta La Crema" salad

You guys, I Frankensteined a salad for roommate dinner late last week, and I can't stop thinking about it. It's to die for, and I would be an utter and complete ass-hat if I didn't share this one with the class. 

First off, a little context: Laura, Dave and I have a favorite pizza place here already. It's called Vesta, and it's located in downtown Redwood City - a darling little hole in the wall with an enormous woodfire pizza oven and no air conditioning, but a huge and shady back patio to mitigate the heat. Their pizzas are fantastically innovative - some of our recent favorites: pistachio pesto and burrata, soppressata with Bing cherries and Calabrian-chile infused honey, and fig and prosciutto. Their July special is a peach and bacon pizza with mascarpone cheese, and I'm not at all ashamed to admit that we've either gone there or ordered it pretty much once a week. 

Additional context, for your edification: One of the wine clubs I joined, La Crema, sends out a newsletter regularly with vineyard information, member specials, and recipes for three-course food and wine pairings. The most recent edition included this recipe for a peach, tomato and corn salad, to be paired with their delicious range of pinot noirs. As I was reading the recipe, I immediately thought of the Vesta pizza, and convinced myself that I needed to make this salad...and add bacon...and a balsamic glaze drizzle...and eat it. All of it. After all, a salad is so much more justifiable than a bacon-covered pizza, isn't it?!

So I did. 

Our bougie apartment complex's outdoor kitchen is not completed yet, so I oven-roasted fresh sweet corn using this recipe. You guys, I had an intense, visceral moment of homesickness shucking the corn over our kitchen trash can...almost an out-of-body flashback to peeling corn on the back patio at our cabin as a teenager, with the concrete burning my feet and the sound of the lake in the background. There's something about sweet corn that immediately takes me back to Spicer, where, I shit you not, we'd occasionally get into debates with family and friends about which farmers had the best, freshest, sweetest corn at any given point in time. I genuinely almost cried when I took the corn out of the oven, with the charred kernels and that perfect roasty scent. SO GOOD. SO MINNESOTA.

Peaches, on the other hand? California all the way. I've never seen such enormous ones in my life (and now I'm feeling weird about that sentence because the peach emoji supposedly euphemistically references butts, HA.). The ones I picked up at our local Safeway for like, under a dollar were easily the sweetest peaches I've ever eaten. No buts/butts about it. 

Dave is a cherry tomato fiend, so I got heirloom cherry tomatoes (which I didn't even know were a thing before Thursday), and I was a bit enthusiastic with the mozzarella pearls (because extra cheese never hurt any recipe). I ended up using four pieces of bacon, thinking (rightly) that too much would overwhelm the more subtle flavors. It was the perfect umami addition, though!

After mixing the whole thing up, I served it with spinach on the side to augment it and sneak some green vegetables in...because I still need to work on the green vegetables thing, honestly. And we drizzled it all with the Gia Russa balsamic glaze, which was the perfect sweet counterpoint to the herby lemon dressing. 

I'm in love, basically, with a salad. 

I'm not going to subject you all to my admittedly sub-par food photography skills, but to Frankenstein this baby for yourself, follow La Crema's recipe, with bacon to your liking and a generous amount of spinach. Balsamic glaze optional but highly encouraged...as is a healthy pour of wine (yesterday, I went with Hanna's rosé!)...of course! 

Life lately...

Snippets and bits that have fallen through the cracks in the last several weeks...

dining al fresco on roasted chicken with homemade basil pesto and heirloom tomatoes (and wine, duh, always wine)

getting ready for the next in my series of "Lizzie's Bedroom Gallery Walls"

dying over the gorgeous organ in Stanford Memorial Church on a private tour

taking advantage of workplace flexibility to park at a café table in Stanford's Rodin Sculpture Garden

spoiling Fiona rotten

trying new breweries with Dave

capturing Dave's extreme Californianess (it's a word, obviously) post-beers

falling in love with our sunsets on a daily basis

seeing old movies at Palo Alto's adorable downtown theater

finding hidden corners all over campus

screen-shotting Snapchats of Zach and Colleen's cutest little droid (in the onesie I bought him for his gender reveal! Thank goodness he was a boy - although I guess they could've just glued a bow on for a little girl!)

spoiling Fiona rotten

brunching in Berkeley at Five

having fun with Snapchat filters and an oblivious roommate

practicing calligraphy on a variety of pretty mail

cleaning my Backer flats on a day when I unfortunately accidentally wore them to work

watching sunsets on campus during class breaks

hanging out with these goons (more to come soon on the best weekend!)

...and did I mention spoiling Fiona rotten? 

You can take the girl out of Minnesota...

...but can't take the Target out of the Minnesota girl. 

East Palo Alto just opened a new Target store on Sunday, and naturally I had to check it out after work/the gym yesterday. Guys - I basically blacked out in a Target-y haze. They were fully stocked. They had everything. The store was pristine. I had SO MUCH FUN. 

Target's killing it currently with their Who What Wear collection, and I may or may not have found myself in a dressing room with legit fifteen things to try on. Ended up coming home with...

...this off-the-shoulder, bell-sleeved white wonder...perfect for refreshing my tired wardrobe of summer whites (and kind of adjacent to this fantastic Anthropologie top, which I just can't justify at that price)...

...and this dress, which I saw on a blogger I follow and was intrigued by to the point where I had to try it. Still not sure I'm keeping it, but we'll see. 

They are, however, sadly discontinuing their Merona and Mossimo lines to introduce twelve new brands, and I'm kind of sad. Merona had great work basics and Mossimo has produced most of my casual "idgaf" sundresses for the past several years. I justified an oh-so-trendy cold-shoulder, bell-sleeved top (that I cannot find ANYWHERE on their admittedly awful website!) because it's basically going to be a collector's item once Merona stops being produced...and also it's a super cheap way to try a trend that, I'm sure, will be out in about five minutes flat. (Plus, it's blue and white striped. I'm powerless.)

A few other quick Target faves:

I love the Sonia Kashuk lipstick, and have since Courtney surprised me with a few way back in 2014! I bought "Peach Passion" last night and it's an excellent subtle, not-neon coral for summer. 

One of the first things to get dropped in the face of a California budget was regular shellac manicures and pedicures. Instead, I'm embracing the art of the self-mani with basic nail polish. My problem, however, is that I'm incredibly hard on regular manicures, with most lasting just a day or two before I've bitten and scraped and cracked and smudged them beyond acceptability. So I picked up some Essie Gel Couture to try, in a nice, basic pale pink. I don't have high hopes - but we'll see! 

Also, I'm obsessed with L'Oreal Pure Clay masks. My mom and I bought a couple when she was here helping me move in June, and I do one at least once a week - I'm a huge fan of the charcoal Detoxify, but also love the Purify&Mattify. (Plus, seriously, they're sooo cheap. It's heavenly!)

A final item of note: Target's candle selection is absolutely bonkers, friends. And the best part is that a lot of their candles are manufactured by Illume, the same brand that produces ridiculously fragrant (and expensive) candles for Anthropologie, Patina, etc. I tend to find myself lost in the candle aisle most times I go to Target, but my favorite spot for absurdly cheap hidden gems is actually the dollar section right in the front of the store. You can thank me later! 

Inventory: July 2017

As of 8pm last night...hiiiii, guys, did you miss me?!

Making: time to write - finally - after several weeks of choosing to pursue other things instead (oops). 

Cooking: a giant batch of shredded pesto chicken from this recipe, which I can't wait to use to throw together a perfect Caprese...on Wednesday, once the madness of work and classes slows down for the week.

Drinking: the last of today's 100 oz of water, out of a Notre Dame Band pint glass, naturally.

Reading: Aziz Ansari's "Modern Romance" (which I borrowed from Dave, and can't stop laughing at), Marina Keegan's "The Opposite of Loneliness," and "Riches, Rivals and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America" (for my museum class!). Also just finished "Commonwealth" by Ann Patchett and it is remarkable. 

Wanting: tickets to Joshua Henry's revue in downtown San Francisco next Monday night. Alas, class!

Looking: at the palm trees outside my bedroom window and still marveling over the fact that I live here. 

Playing: with the New York Times crossword puzzle app, daily (Dave and I are addicted). 

Listening: to La Cenerentola in advance of the Merola Program's performance on August 5th!

Wishing: that this past weekend's Schwegfam reunion here could have lasted like...five more weekends in a row. Too much fun, campers. 

Enjoying: Laura's shared affinity for candles (you should see how many we've got hoarded in our extremely girly apartment, oh dear). 

Waiting: for next month's trip home and October's NYC trip to see "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812!"

Liking: HAIM's new album, quite a lot. 

Wondering: what area to explore this weekend. I'm leaning toward the Presidio...

Hoping: that tonight's opera class midterm went as well as I thought it did. 

Marveling: at NorCal sunsets. Can you get over that sky up top?!

Needing: to find the perfect blackout drapes and hang my double curtain rod (can't wait for better sleep in a pitch-black room!). 

Smelling: my bedside Lilac Blossoms candle, which is olfactory crack in its best, most deliciously floral form. 

Wearing: this nightshirt from J.Crew, which I had monogrammed (because, duh, I've never met a monogram I didn't loooove.).

Following: a handful of awesome new literature-centric Instagram accounts (Reese Witherspoon Book Club, Hot Dudes Reading, Books and Abe, The Shelf, and Subway Book Review).

Noticing: how heavenly-cool it gets here after dark. I'm coming to love sleeping with my window open.

Knowing: that I really should set my alarm for ten minutes earlier tomorrow morning. Also knowing that, realistically, I'm not going to do that. 

Thinking: about my own mortality, but not in a morbid way, in a healthy way that's largely inspired by recent reading material and class discussions and my conversation about goals(z) with my boss earlier. 

Bookmarking: options for wall-hanging wine racks for our kitchen - the "join four wine clubs in a month" choice might've been a tiiiiiny bit excessive.

Giggling: over this hilarious analysis of which past American president would win in a mass knife fight - a longer read, but it's hilarious and well worth it! 

Feeling: pretty damn good about things.