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10.21.2010




1. WELCOME!


so of all the things my mom and i put into our shopping cart at target today, this was by far my favorite. i mean, i really like my new hamper and hand towels, but a welcome mat was something i was really looking forward to finding. i was so sure that i wasn't going to find exactly what i had envisioned in my mind for a welcome mat. to tell you the truth, i thought i was going to have to customize my own perfect design with the words "knock if you love hushpuppies" embroidered across the center. but as it turns out, the instant i saw this mat, i fell in love. the pattern reminds me of stones that i have next to my bed in raleigh and of course i love the idea of having the word "peace" close to my front door. so please...wipe your feet, grab a lemon, and come on in!


2. mets parking only


those of you who are either in my family or have been to my grandparents' house probably have some idea of what this picture means. or everyone may be thinking to themselves "what the hell is this?" well, for as long as i've been visiting 20 warwick circle in new jersey--about 25 years this tuesday--i have always loved three things about the garage:

1. tennis ball: there is a tennis ball that hangs down from a string and is centered in a way so that it hits the windshield when the car is pulled in just enough. clever, i know.
2. mets parking: although it is a one car garage, for as long as i can remember, there is a sign that hangs on the wall claming that this parking area is strictly for mets fans only.
frozen water: in the garage fridge you can be sure to find all kinds of random things. coors light for the repairmen and yours truly, leftovers from marco polo, bagel and lox platters from so-and-so's bar mitzvah. the list goes on and on. but the one thing you are guaranteed to always find if you open the freezer door (besides yodels for my uncle mitchell), is bottled water.

you may be wondering why anybody would choose to put their bottled water in the freezer, but it's quite simple really. when you go out to run errands and grab a bottle of water from the fridge, it only seems to stay cold for about ten minutes. now i'm just guessing on this one, i'm sure my grandma could tell you a twenty five minute story--which would somehow involve her hairdresser, a butcher, two sales clerks, potato salad from king's, and her good friends norma and al--about the first time she decided to put water in the freezer, but i would assume that a long time ago, it occured to her that if the water starts out as a bottle-shaped block of ice, it's only going to melt and give you, well, ice water. it's quite brilliant. and today, i followed in her footsteps.


3. i'd like to make a toast


i would love to tell you about some funky meal that i got from an off-the-beaten-path restaurant for dinner, but this was as fancy as it got for me tonight. feeling completely drained (seriously, i've been blowing my nose seven times a minute) and still under the weather, i decided that tonight my dinner needed to be as simple as it can get. i put peanut butter on everything, ESPECIALLY toast (i mean, it just belongs there), but tonight i actually had to sacrifice the "peanut" and just stick with butter. wow, that was a lot of puns.

holy sh*t i'm turning into my dad.

 let's just say, the fact that my toast was peanut butter-less should give you an idea for how crappy i'm feeling. i know this is just a cold that will pass shortly, but it's been kind of a bummer in the meantime. although my scrambled eggs and toast were delicious, the reason this made my TEAPOT list today is so that i could tell you about the awesome meal that my mom got to eat.


i've been telling her about the kale greek salad at the 101 diner for a while now. i've never had it--i prefer their grilled cheeses and sweet potato fries--but i knew it was right up her alley. we picked this up for her on the way home and (of course) she topped it with california's entire supply of avocados and paired it with whole foods vegetable soup., a cracker with hummus, and a side of vitamins. i lived vicariously through her delicious meal; sadly, my tastebuds have left me this week.

i think they're just resting for my best friend's visit :)


highlight of the day:

"just because it's called a "cake fork" doesn't mean i'm going to eat cake with it!"


no, my highlight of the day is not these pans--but this will lead me into my story. as we zipped our target cart in and out of every single isle, my mom and i discussed things to buy for my new place. our first laugh came when we saw the tiniest pan we had ever seen (pictured above on the left). i wanted to give you some idea of it's size, so i placed it next to the pan on the right which is a regular small skillet.

i don't know about now, but at the age he is pictured below, this little frying pan would have been the perfect size for...


it probably would have always been too small for...


anyway, back to the story. after my mom and i had our laugh at the mini cookware, we began seriously debating what items would be going into my apartment. my mom and i see things from two very different perspectives.

she sees a brand new beautiful dining room set with dark cherry wood that features stylish carved trim accents and has matching chair sets with plush cushions.

i see a table.

i love every detail she has put into decorating our home in raleigh. every space in every room, down to the inch, was calculated and had a lot of time and thought put into it. of course i'm happy to have her here with me helping me figure out what to do with my new space, but our styles (decorating-wise and spending-wise) are slightly different. i'm happy with a $10 silverware set, and she would rather buy me the one that's $30 because it "feels nicer in your hand." i realize that i don't need to be buying everything as cheap as it comes, but i like the idea of trying to save money in places that you can.

as my mom was unpackaging and unwrapping box sets of silverware, leaving me to fear that we would end up handcuffed by target police and i wouldn't get to bring my new welcome mat along, she began handing me utensils and explaning why it was important that they didn't feel clunky in my hand. as i tried to reason to her that i would be happy stocking up on plastic sporks from the chinese restaurant and that i really prefered smaller forks in general, she finally said something that put me over the edge.

"no, no, no. these smaller forks are your cake forks."

"just because it's a "cake fork" doesn't mean i'm going to eat cake with it!"

as we both burst into laughter, i thought that would be the final argument over expenses. i was wrong. when we strolled into the toilet paper isle, i began looking for the discounted angel soft i normally buy. of course my mom went straight for the fancy quilted northern ultra brand, waving it around and yelling "this is what we use at home!" i took a deep breath and then, there it was again. the edge.

"wait. is this the one with the hearts on it?"

as i opened my mouth and out tumbled the words, "SERIOUSLY?! I USE THAT TO WIPE MY A...." we laughed so hard that we forgot all about the cake fork.

3 comments:

Casey Ann said...

The welcome mat is the most essential part of an apartment!!! I looked for weeks for one. Of course, mine says, "Wipe Your Paws." So typical.

Carolina Belle said...

I love, love, love the welcome mat.

Also, I think that tiny pan is an egg pan, no?

Get well soon!!!

Thinking Mama said...

It was great meeting you and your cool mom tonight at Whole Foods. Wow, L.A. is a crazy place; welcome to it!