Luxirare

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So it’s pretty clear by now that I’ve made more than enough attempts at difficult recipes, things that aren’t exactly realistic for a person who has a serious job, or someone who has a family, kids to pick up from soccer practice, or for a typical twenty-thirty something that works 9-7 and then goes out every night for happy hour. For me, these recipes are difficult, and there is so much research I have to do to find out about molecular gastronomy. But honestly, it is much harder to be creative when there are severe constraints on one’s time and space. I do realize that for most 20 somethings living in urban areas, one tends to deal with limited spaces in kitchens with little access to machines. It may not even be due to economic scarcity, one can still have money and not have the space to keep all these tools, but you understand what I’m getting at. Time and space, always two things we struggle with.

First things first, grocery shopping.

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What is it about dogs that makes you feel like everything will be okay when you come home completely stressed and drained from work?

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Everyone once in a long long while, there’s a model that represents every girly childhood wish you had for the perfect kind of face, or at least one you imagined for yourself. Suzie Bird is one of the rare gems, a visual dream. Something very alien like and refined about her face. She reminds me of Audrey Hepburn. Weird thing is though I don’t think her look translates very well on the runway. She looks so much better in editorials and street candids. It’s almost as though she’s too refined for the runway, she doesn’t fit that typical eastern-euro-below-17 bill.

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I don’t know what it is about Adidas but lately I think I’ll find just about any excuse to include a piece of triple stripe into my daily wardrobe. I like Nike as well but there is something about these triple white stripes, they’re instantly recognizable. This past year I’ve completely cleaned out my wardrobe, and needed some basic jackets and long sleeve shirts to flesh out my closet, something a little sportier but still put together. Some of these adidas pieces are items I’ve had for years (like track pants and shorts), and recently I added some tops. I don’t know what is happening with Adidas + their design team nowadays but their  new items are fantastic, just concise, modern updates on their classic pieces.

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One of the best times for me to shoot is over the weekend, sometimes I shoot during the week too but over the weekend either I prepare meals for my friends or my family and the food I get to shoot for this blog is just a reflection of these short lifestyle instances. I think nearly everyone I knew had President’s day off, and I had the luxury of making and eating dinner with my dad. Yes this is a luxury, because I don’t get to do this as often as I’d like to as of late, and another luxury is that I have my camera on hand. Love it when I am in the mood to take some photos and when the food that is produced from the photos are enjoyed by a real life loving family member. The only way this situation could be better if I was serving this food to any of my readers. One day?

For dinner I didn’t have to stress myself out too much, this meal was probably the simplest of all, and I think my dad’s favorite to date. He literally scraped the pot, and I’ve never seen such behavior from him. My dad, what can I say. King of poker faces and exceedingly smug. Let’s not forget that he doesn’t speak, even when spoken to. How are we related again? Scraping a plate is something he never does because he doesn’t want to show too much emotion. But last night he got emotional.

So we start with this idea of a Japanese hot pot, but again, I want major reduction. Only essential ingredients. Usually a Japanese hot pot is served with a medley of vegetables and meat (think mushrooms), you can almost compare these hot pots with Shabu-Shabu, but hot pots are a little more personal. Each individual gets their own pot, or it can be shared between two people. What I love is that the pot you use to cook your meal in becomes the final dish, and it keeps everything nice and warm. But again, cutting to the base flavor of the Japanese hot pot would be to start with the soup base. What would a hot pot be without a good soup base? Nothing.

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Ikea food, what can I say? The only place that is less expensive than McDonalds. Ikea is probably one of the most powerful brands in the world, I’d have to say in terms of power, McDonalds takes the cake, but just imagine how many young struggling families Ikea has helped, from couples who have had their first kid, to the newly married…

Today I had to meet my landlord here, don’t know how we chose Ikea, but I love to have breakfast here. He is leaving for Dubai soon so we needed to tie up some loose ends. Everything is from my iPhone, I thought it would be way too strange to bring my DSLR to shoot arty photos of maple syrup dripping..Though I have endured humiliation at the fanciest of places to shoot photos for this blog…

Walking in, got here first, and saw an adorable, beautiful young girl with plates of food in front of her eating happily. She got the french toast sticks, I guess I didn’t need to look at the menu now.

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This post is for all my readers who are either getting over a painful breakup, recently divorced, or single. But you know Valentine’s day is just another excuse for couples to go out to dinner or drink (or both)… and why shouldn’t this apply to people who aren’t coupled up?? Valentine’s day is pretty open ended for me.

Obviously today is also just another excuse for companies to make money, whatever, I don’t care. I think it’s fine to get into Valentine’s Day, if you want to wear something red or pink, great. More enthusiasm, the better. Outfit priorities. I designed a new jumpsuit for spring and summer, a spin-off on the older jumpsuit, but tube top style. A little convenience added in though, for girls who are always stressed out about strapless styles and bra situations.

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