This Charming Baltimore

Baltimore is a place that never fails to give me the best vibes. It was the place I visited in high school to buy music and eat hip food -- to feel really cool and urban. I still go there to feel that way. Hampden is my neighborhood of choice because of it has a perfect amount of rad stuff condensed into this one little walkable place. I went specifically on Thursday because I had a vision of this Saturday night, and it involved me wearing a vintage hat.

Yes, I did purchase one of these. And I am stoked on it.

Don't try to pass these mini beanie babies off to me as "small plush animals." I know exactly what they are.

I met up with my boyfriend for a light snack. Here he is setting the table.

I'm thisclose to starting a related Tumblr with all my hilariously bad mirror self-portraits. It seems like an important thing to do. This way you'll be able to tell that I have been wearing the same sweatshirt for the past three days (from D.C. to the dentist, to Baltimore and back.)

Isn't going to the dentist such a weird experience? When you have a problem, they shoot your gums with numb-'em-up juice, then you lean back and have your tooth/teeth operated on. When you come back up there's blood on your snap bib and you keep biting the inside of your cheek because you can't feel half of your mouth.

There's a lot of retro candy in Hampden. I got the violet mints because they smell Divine (see what I did there Baltimore nerds?)

I Only Have Eyes for Food

Did you know that in some cultures, adding an obscene amount of rice noodles and slimy green beans to a plate you picked up at the end of a buffet can constitute "research?" It's true for "journalists." I'm writing a top-secret piece about buffets in a certain Nation's Capital, and um, I forced two of my pals to come with.

They loved it.

What's not to love when there's self-serve ice cream and endless baked goods awaiting you after you slog through a disappointingly small number of vegetarian options?

 

Who doesn't expect onion rings to punctuate a Chinese buffet? Not this girl.

 

So many carbs, amiriiiite ladies?

Keep anticipating photos of me in various mirrors, because seems to be a running theme of self-portraits here. After getting utterly sick because of our own inability to control our portions, we went to the National Mall, where we saw Song 1, a highly recommended little short art film that happens to be screening right onto the Hirshhorn Museum. You must see it to believe it.

Just Another Diamond Sunday

It's easy to make the perfect rainy Sunday! Just follow my basic instructions: eat brunch (even if it's underwhelming) with your friends, see a movie with your friends, play with a dog that now belongs to your friend. It's that simple, people.

Sometimes restaurants focus too much on their theme -- in this case, strangely, a certain early 20th century writer known for his, um, "understated" writing style -- to create really tasty foods. It's okay though. Any pre-1p.m. meal on a cold Sunday is still better than nothing. We saw Damsels in Distress, which made me laugh a lot and also miss college very much. I apparently spent too much of my time in school fine-tuning my Tumblr, not enough trying to make my dance moves go viral.

Alyssa adopted a very sweet dog. I felt like I was meeting her child, because that's how awesomely creepy dog people like me can be.

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Alison B. Alison B.

Have you ever come across something in a front yard and thought, "dog or grill?" That happened to me today, with the object above. I went to Delaware today. Tried to go to Wilmington first but wasn't into it so I tried out Newark, the good ol' college town. The Main Street is the classic college vibe -- restaurants with dorky puns for names (see "Brewed Awakenings," below), boys with terrible style, a hookah bar, stores with crappy lighting.

But then I found the National 5 & 10. This is my favorite type of store. The kind that hasn't shifted its stock in like 30 years, and has everything from University of Delaware booty shorts to super-old watch bands. There is visible dust on certain items, but you can stock up on office supplies and shop for your Halloween costume in one go.

 

Looks like they ordered just a few too many beards and 'staches this year.

But don't you love the opportunity to buy Halloween-costume goods in April? Me too. This reminded me of that dream I once had to open up a "cool and curated" party supply shop. I will sell selected flowers, too. This will happen within the next five years. I just need to figure out where. While at National 5 & 10 I took the opportunity to do a little personal accessories shopping:

I liked National 5 & 10, but there were a lot of rules.

 

 

They even had those crazy blue books you'd use during college exams to answer essays with the utmost of mediocrity.

 Then I got a bahn mi and um, the rest is history, folks.

Adventures Close to Home

Can one blog oneself out of depression? Faced with a desire to get out of the house, I thought "I should do something cool and take pictures and then put them online for my bored friends to look at." So that's this I guess. A small park-like thing in an adjacent town. Lots of sunlight filtering through leaves and white buds and wild mustard. Can I tell you how excited I get when I see wild mustard? Very excited. You can eat it and it tastes really good, and it grows all over the place. One time I harvested some in Accord, NY to bring down to my friends in NYC and then I dropped it all on the floor immediately after washing it. That was awesome.

Once you learn what it looks like you see it everywhere. That's a blurry picture above, so please consult your nearest foraging expert before trying to harvest for yourself.

 

 Is your favorite plant the fern? So's mine.

 

Don't you love when you see some natural structure that looks like a little fortress that some weird forest creature made? Me too. That's the best.

Rainy Days and Wednesdays Always Get Me Down

Rainy days are the best, am I right? I kind of wish I could, say, walk around in the lush green of rain while there's this special little dry forcefield just protecting me from the wet. That doesn't exist yet, though, and my windshield wipers aren't too good. I felt like an adventure today which actually just meant me half-assing it and then ending up sitting in a lot of dumb traffic everywhere I went. No spontaneous driving adventures for you, little Mid-Atlantic girl. I did, however, pick up the new Domino, which is apparently just a sporadic special issue, due to come out whenever they feel like releasing one. It made me feel super young. Where's the shelter magazine for young cheap faux-urbanite hipsters? Should I start that, or...

 

 

Waking Up in the City That Has to Sleep at Some Point

I went to New York City this weekend, maybe you've heard of it? I lived in Brooklyn for like nine months once, actually moving away almost two years ago now. Not sure if you consider >1 year a legit residence in a place, but I did receive mail once or twice. I have conflicted feelings about NYC -- mostly it makes me feel (literally) dirty and uncool. But I guess once you finally embrace those feelings, you can have some fun. This weekend was fun: Central Park (and its overpriced ice cream), requisite Cortelyou Rd. visits (and Sycamore purchases), brunches and booze and spending too much cash. Plus a crucial birthday and absurd weather. All in all, pretty nice place to visit and stuff.