Wordplay

How to make filled coconut marshmallow cuppies for your roommate’s birthday:

First, find an extra deep cupcake tin and fill it with their favorite flavor cake. This mega tin happened to be a block away from my house in a friend’s well-equipped kitchen.

Next, mix together a secret delicious WOW factor filling. In this case, coconut Cool Whip (half a can of Coco Lopez pina colada mixture and a whole tub of whipped cream). Yes, the Coco Lopez doesn’t look like something you should be putting in a cupcake, but I promise it’s just sugar and coconut. Actually, I have no idea what it is. Let’s not worry about that.

CAREFULLY drill holes in the top of your massive cupcakes (drill=cut), empty the contents (good for impatient nibblers), and fill with your mixed cocolopezwhip (should be pretty melted by now, so you can just spoon that stuff right in).

Deposit your frosting into a zip-top bag, cut off the corner with some scissors and start piping a hat on your open-wound cuppies. You’ll need quite a bit of frosting to cover the holes, but no worries if you mess up, you can cover all your errors with decorative elements. I stuck with the colorless theme and covered the sides with shredded coconut and the top with a mound of mini marshmallows.

Just don’t press too hard on your embellishments…remember, there’s a secret inside that would love to get out via an any inconvenient cracks or punctures you decide to create. Quickly refrigerate to keep the insides…inside. Then gift, sing, consume and tell the birthday boy how messy these were to make.

FYI: You don’t need more than 5 of these. Please do not make more.

Matter of fact, you don’t need more than one. One is enough.

Also: Coco Lopez Whip is GREAT on strawberries.

**Title of this post inspired by “Aunt Jemima!! (the pancake song),” one of the greatest cooking videos of all time (yes, these cupcakes instructions should have been sung and presented in poor stop motion, but I just can’t compete):

I’M NOT KIDDING. HOT GLASSES + FRAMES + FREE RETURNS FOR LESS THAN $100.

It’s no lie. It’s Warby-Parker.

“Warby Parker was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point.“

Rebellious because they make things you want to buy without a middle man mark up. Lofty because they have to handle all the trendy craftmanship themselves. Revolutionary because for every pair you purchase these guys actually donate funds to help other people get vision care around the globe. What the what?!

It’s true. I purchased a pair on Friday and was wearing them the next Wednesday.

The best thing is you–mostly–never have to talk to the inept eyeglasses clerks at your doctor’s office. You will need to send in your PD (pupilary distance), but any nabe eye doc can measure it for you for free in 30 seconds by the front door.

Sadly, due to incredible demand, their try-on-at-home system of sending empty frames isn’t operational at the moment. So yes, you may have to take a leap of faith on your frames, which isn’t easy to do. But come on, for $95, you’d do worse.  I risked it all on the Nedwin and I’m wearing them right now to write this post and have no complaints. Just saying. How can you not love this system they’ve constructed? Especially when they tell the story of how their tongue-twisting name came to be:

“We’ve always been inspired by the master wordsmith and pop culture icon, Mr. Jack Kerouac. Two of his earliest characters, recently uncovered in his personal journals, bore the names Zagg Parker and Warby Pepper. We took the best from each and made it our name.

Kerouac inspired a generation to take a road less traveled and to see the world through a different lens.

We hope your new glasses will provide all the style you need to travel your road with class, and their price will leave you with some extra cash to use on your journey.”

Now, time for a second pair. I’m feeling Zagg. Thoughts?

So I ran it. And I made it. No walking. Like a ****** ******* winner.

The very fit and fast L Saldutti (middle) kept my pace up. I figured if I could just keep time with her, I’d run the whole way. After I thanked her for motivating me in the last half mile, she laughed and revealed she has been just trying to keep pace with ME! Guess you never know who you’re pushing along.

Best motivators:
-The fact that I had an obnoxious Mean Girls-esque getup (see matching Brooks running top and shorts) in a sea of quirky sad “see you at the finish line” and “fast is as slow as we go” company mottos T-shirts. You can look lame walking in a T-shirt, but you just look like an A-hole walking in a matching uniform)
-Crowds of walkers (I pass you, I pass you, whoa, don’t trip me!–I pass you, too)
-Crowds of runners (You’re still running? YOURE’ still running, too? Wait, YOU can’t still be running!)
-The dude running with the giant back-to-the-future boombox strapped to his back with truck ties, blasting 80s music, going FASTER than me
-Random confused/excited onlookers and park-goers, cheering us on (gave a surprised few some spontaneous high fives)
-People with asses about four times my size, hauling ass
-Wanting to see the surprised/proud look on the face of a very patient and supportive bf at the finish line tent after being told that his usually lazy and downright slow partner didn’t walk one step.

The final time? 37.20

DON’T STOP WON’T STOP

A torched cherry-flavored experiment in gluttony and social networking, the folks behind Hotel Thrillist: Miami surely outdid themselves at the Fontainebleau this month. Is it one of those “you check in, but you never check out” types of gimmicks? No. Does it leave a taste of “Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn” in your mouth? Maybe. Did I secrete Boom Boom for days upon my return to New York? Unfortunatleyslashfortunately yes.

So how does one Hotel Thrillist? Step one: Arrive, fashionably whenever (also good if your plane is grounded thanks to exploding lavatories), inspect swag, tweetle several ridiculous photos of you plus swag plus the Fontainebleau, send your coordinates to Nick McGlynn (photographer extrodinaire) via ESP and have him take copious amounts of useless photos of you holding said swag: For instance HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Proceed to tropical storm cocktail hour by the pool, gale-force winds free of charge and surprise yourself by not hating your first Bacardi Torched Cherry and Coke of the weekend. It helped to brave the storm.

Step 2: Wipe off the Florida rain, gussy yaself, and mingle with some damnfabulous people at the Bacardi sponsored pre-dinner fete. Have yourself another TC & Coke and taste a sampling of Miami’s finest culinary delights: Gotham Steak, Hakkasan, Solo, and the most mouth-watering how-can-you-exist truffle polenta from Scarpetta. (I need you.)

Step 3: Without a 5-hour enegry retailer near by, Boom Boom instead and try to sip another TC&C at Liv, the sparklyest upon sparklyest of the Klubz on the beach. Convenient for us, since it’s in the hotel. That’s a step step, trip trip down the hall, tap tap in the elevator, and another hop, jump, and a trip right to the line (which we skipped). Sup.

Performance by J. Cole.

Step 4: Spend the next day swimming in a sea of TC&C under the hot firey Florida sun. Your options include the pool, the cabana, the other pool, the bazaar, the water slide, and THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. If you need to recover/adjust your pupils to the light, there’s a Bobby Flay-worthy grill challenge happening poolside. If you can bear it, slip on ya Stunnas and get some custom quickie couture from Krel. She fits, cuts, clips, twists, rips, and sews you into an organic creation in less than five minutes. What’s not to love?

Performance by Kat DeLuna.

Step 5, 6, 7, 8 and beyond: Head to Red Steakhouse, where they may/may not have great steaks, but they sure do have great desserts. Hide your Harry Potter-esque magically-refilling glass of TC&C  from the tornado lightening, watch a capoeira troupe beat their drums, talk to a parrot, beware the fire dancer, befriend a baby gator (get a lil nostalgic about college), and do your best at battling any self-esteem issues you may have as an onslaught of sex-personified Miami Heat dancers surprise everyone with a jig.

Retreat to Fontainebleau for a–suprise!–TC night cap (no longer an informed decision of your now cherry-tinted taste buds, but a good vs. evil-esque battle between common sense and the Bacardi gods, which you are shamelessly losing) , a little star gazing, and a greater admiration for everyone that invited you there (don’t they work hard!).

Post Hotel Thrillist? Go home and follow all your new friends on twitter: @DevonGiddon @BoomBoomBaby @Marv_Carbonado @Bespoken4 @AsherT @Boehmcke @EmilyGannett @sheerling @chumiston Or just THIS WHOLE LIST.

Miss you, Miami!

(photos by Nick McGlynn/Random Night Out and my polaroid camera…or something).

I:

Posed for a photo at the Buzzfeed office-warming party:

Caught a screening of Sex and the City 3, courtesy of HP and their SATC2 collaboration (hence the HP photo lab pic):

Started a link list on Delicious, you know, just for fun:

Saw GLEE Live! at Radio City, where I was surprised with a signed photo from Lea Michele–a gift from a coworker. Simply delightful.

Sipped some alchemist drinks at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. DElish. Yes, it was THIS kind of party.

Started DIGGing, as per a work-related request. Social media is, like, hot right now…or something?

Compiled all the HOT social media in a Flavors.me account:

And drank endless buckets of Torched Cherry Bacardi at Hotel Thrillist Miami, this past weekend in south Florida. Many thanks to the folks who made THAT happen.

Coming up? REST.

I made two of these–one for mom and one for adopted mom–for mother’s day and I only drew a tiny bit of blood. If you’re looking for a homemade card (and you can’t draw or paint or sew or decoupage), this is the craft for you. All you need is patience. And elf fingers.

Pick a word (the shorter, the better–meaning, don’t get ahead of yourself here) and trace it on the inside front flap of the card. Make sure to do this BACKWARDS, because you’re working from the inside out. Or just pick a palindrome (emordnilap!) and save yourself the trouble–like kayak or radar. Epic is the card that with “radar” on the front in tiny bumps. Epic.

Then find a safety pin (safety first!) and start poking though your card. It’s easier to poke through the paper into a soft surface like a piece of foam board or a perfectly awesome round cork trivet that you remembered you had under a recipe book in your kitchen. See if you have one of those.

My finger started to get sore after the fourth hole, so I wrapped the pin in a piece of elastic I had lying around my well-equipped craft room to soften the blow. Worked great. Just keep poking until you fill in your sketch. Hundreds of tiny little bumps on a card = something thoughtful you can FEEL.

Last step! Admire and run your sore fingers over the bumps about a million jillion times. Then send to your mom, or person of interest, and remind them to check the mail (what mother doesn’t check the mail the day before mother’s day?! GRR!) Also, cool trick: Tell your recipient to hold the front flap of their card up to a lampshade to see something quite pretty. K. Your turn. Happy mother’s day.

NY weather has warmed but there’s still that annoying spring chill that gets you when you decide to dress down. All the better to bring/wear/drag along something to keep it out. Also, though, ropes are just cool. Boatish. Is it too macabre to wear ropes around your neck? Does it speak to your darker nature? Maybe. But it’s a good tongue-in-check type of statement. And with all these (some warm) adornment options, it’s a perfect blend of fash and function. Help me decide?

a and e: necklush, $42-$74 b: Sailor Knot Necklace from The Vamoose, $29 c: DIY rope necklace from Love Maegan d: Tan cloud scarf from rosetung, $65

a: Tidal wave cowl from knittles, $60 b and c: Hunter velvet upcycled scarf necklace from lilian asterfield by nicole deponte, $29 and hunter velvet wrap necklace, $38 d: Fun T-shirt DIY necklace refashion from I Still Love You e: Staring at stars mixed yarn eternity scarf from Urban Outfitters,$28 f: Medusa necklace 1.0 from Accessorius, $54

iPhone + Camerbag app + blooms = new post

The dashing Christoph Neimann (who made these fun LEGO creations), drew some maps. Not a real map, you say? Well then what’s a map if it’s not showing you where you’ve been or how you got there?

More marvelous maps here: NYT Op online.

Or just skip to the source: christophniemann.com

Flashback 3rd grade. Windsuit pants, insulated lunch boxes, and CRAYONS.

What’s better than a 64-pack of Crayola sharpener-in-the-back-of-the-box CRAYONS?

I like to call this one “Mystery of the Missing Mariachi”

Above: “The Red Leaves Are Coming! The Red Leaves Are Coming!”

Below: “Tony Wants Tucan for Dinner”

And the last?  ”Self Portrait.”

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