SHORTS

I need new shorts for Greece!!!! I have an arsenal of skirts, but when I get hot and sweaty I'm going to want a good sturdy pair of shorts. And I've outgrown the two pairs of jcrew shorts I got at Rugged 4 years ago, but am still not making enough money (or any, soon) to buy them full price... does TJ Maxx ever stock jcrew?! mahhhh. Target shorts are gross.

Soundtrack: Vicky Christina Barcelona

Perfect summer romance music: Spanish guitar. And Chris Messina... drool.

Big Train Chai

The weather is warming up! Not without the occasional flash flood, though.

Yesterday Cat and I went to Kaldi's on De Mun in Clayton to study. There weren't enough seats next to outlets for our old dying computers, but since we were there I thought I'd get a drink. They have great fair trade organic teas, which was making it difficult for me to decide between a late and tea. When I told this to the barista (who was sporting a wicked wizard beard and some earrings that looked like feathers), he suggested his "favorite:" a dirty chai, which is chai with espresso shots. He looked like a coffee house expert--or at least something that should have been in Kerouac's The Dharma Bums--so naturally I got it. But now all I want is chai! And the BEST chai, which was introduced to me by one Miss Caitlin Mulligan, is Big Train Chai. Its super creamy, best with milk and is GREAT iced. My favorite is the Vanilla Chai. Unfortunately, I've only found this two places, one in D.C. and one in Champaign, IL. Caitlin always ordered hers online, so I'm going to have to resort to that if I move to Houston... or just find a cool tea place, whichever comes first.

Everything for camping

Things I have:

• cold weather sleeping bag
• backpack
• sleeping pad
• hiking boots
• long underwear
• camelback
• tarp
• rope
• first aid kit (with CPR mask!)
• headlamp
• waterbottles/nalgenes
• hammock

Things I don't have

• Cook stove and pot set
• 2-person tent (with footprint)
• water filtration gear
• multi-tool

I'm so close to having it all! It's hard (but not impossible) to camp by myself without a tent and a cook stove, so those are first on my list. They are also the most expensive. I've held out because whenever I've gone camping someone else has had everything I haven't. But the last time I went camping was two years ago. I should probably stop waiting for someone with gear to invite me to go camping and just buy the stuff I need and then make the time to go. It's on the agenda for this summer. Just like straws, its going to happen.

Vanity

The way my room is set up right now is pretty perfect: big bed, huge dresser, closet, sitting space, bookshelves... but there isn't space for much else. If I had a huge room, or maybe just more wall space (I have a corner room with 3 windows), I would start shopping in earnest for a vanity table.

The pictures are of two vanities I saw in antique stores in the Cherokee Row Antique District. The first one is really my ideal table. It has a huge mirror and drawers to fit all of my make-up and hair accessories. Maybe I want one of these because I've watched old movies where all of the best female lead characters are shown getting ready at their vanity tables. Maybe it's my practical side showing: it would be nice to have a place to just sit while I get ready, instead of rushing around like a crazy person running around half dressed between my room and the bathroom. Also, standing in the bathroom and leaning over the sink to get close to the mirror just doesn't make sense. Women, why do we do this?! There is a perfectly good piece of furniture that facilitates a relaxed pre-event environment. I'm going to wager that if I have a vanity table to get ready at, I will be less anxious when I am getting ready to go out, and might actually make time to get ready in the morning. I've already got an image in my head of me as the elegant Greta Garbo living in high society Paris in the movie Camille (except I won't die of TB in the end).

Portable External Hard Drive

My laptop's hard drive is full.

Unfortunately, I am too tired and burnt-out from the semester to even Google what I could do to free up some space. I bought some time by deleting all of the Sublime from my music library, but it also can't hurt to ask my fairy god parents for a portable external hard drive.

One of the Housing and Urban Design students (a.k.a. cool future architects that are technology and design saavy) in my class at Wash U pulled one of these out today. She had saved her power point presentation on her external hard drive and just brought it to class and plugged it in to the computer hard drive like a USB.

If I had one (in red, if possible) I would be killing two birds with one stone: I would have a foot in the door to the cool kids club and I would have some serious extra space. Win-win!

μπρίκι

I am gearing up for Greece, June 2010!! The μπρίκι is on my list to purchase while I am over there. As it's been uncomfortably hot in our apartment this week, I've been experimenting with making iced coffee to keep me awake through my not-quite-all-nighters. I am the Lester Bangs to your William Miller, you could call me at 3 a.m. and I would be up. "Of course I'm home. I'm always home. I'm uncool." I wonder what my roommates think when they open the fridge and see the coffee pot on the top shelf (not to mention see the pile of dishes from midnight snacking I have yet to tackle). Anyway, the best homemade iced coffee is done the Greek way, I like mine sweet. Mmmm, the μπρίκι kind of reminds me of what mate, a traditional tea that Argentinians drink, is made in. I can't WAIT to travel! "Morocco. A seat by the window, please."

On a side note, I've realized that the majority of the things I want thus far are for my kitchen... that will not remain the case, but my kitchen must be the area most lacking things, or at least, the area with the most room for improvement and expansion. I'm all about utility, and not one for decorations, so that might be one reason why I'm content with everything else.

And, I LOVE FOOD.

But not cleaning.