fur; no fowl.

every time the family gets together, we have a roasted pig. i didn't have any turkey for thanksgiving. i know, right; how un-american !... but when this beautiful, golden roasted pig takes up the entire dining room table, the turkey just seems like the optional side dish.

perfect day after thanksgiving fat suit. loose anthro sweater with my mom's warm vintage jacket. 

ugh; i'm still stuffed.

Cheese Please

how dare they. i want this.

egg and cheeserz.

i have another top three. marlow and sons bacon, egg, and cheese on a biscuit is in the top three best egg and cheese* sandwiches ever. i would be content separating each component of that sandwich, and eating them individually any time of day. but together....(!!!)

*john's roast pork in south philadelphia is definitely on that list for their sausage egg and cheese. rankings will be determined later ;)

i want to live on a farm.

i love living in philadelphia. and as much as i complain about new york, how can i not love it (all of my posts so far are from ny ;/) but gosh darnit, i want to live on a farm. just like this one.

i usually hate aluminum siding but since the house is on a beautiful upstate new york ranch it's fine. love this couple too. how cute are they, minus the walking around in your underwear in front of a professional photographer who is about to post it on his website part.

these photos are from the selby a couple years back; and no matter how many more great places todd selby finds, this one is still my favorite.

i love meat pillows.

i've been finding myself being a vegetarian on the weekdays, besides the occasional happy hour or canned tuna for lunch. meat is just too god damn expensive. so with pleasure, i accepted the invitation from my cousins and brother-in-law to have a nice saturday night chow-down at fette sau in williamsburg.

fette sau, which is german for "fat pig", provided me with the perfect weekend escape not only from my herbivore filled work week, but from my little northeast bubble. you know those specials on the travel channel that feature bbq joints in the south where people line up for hours to get a cafeteria tray topped with meat and sliced white bread? this is totally that place. 

we were so much in meat heaven, we fantasized about meat pillows.. think about it.

mr. hearst & pulitzer have we got news for you.

oh, what'd being a Newsie ever give me but a dime a day and a few black eyes? You know, I can't afford to be a kid no more, Dave. For the first time in my life, I got money in my pockets. Real money. Money, you understand? I got more on the way and as soon as I collect, I'm gone, I'm away.

oh the young jack kelly. newsies has to be in my top 3 favorite musicals. so when i signed up for a letterpress workshop at the arm, i could not help but think about how newsies i felt. i learned how to use a vandercook press and an old style pilot press. and i printed things like this..

maybe soon, i can print something like this !

sammies.

i love lists. i can't get enough of them. top 3 favorite cheeses; top 3 american cities; etc. etc. 

i definitely found a sandwich that made it into my top 3 best sandwiches ever. saltie makes the best foccacia sprinkled with sea salt and loaded with delicious goodies. i tried the captain's daughter...sardines, a pickled egg, capers, dill, parsley, and some salsa verde concoction !

ugh i need a salt fix now.

now what.

now what. that’s basically my question for everything---
i graduated college; now what? 
i got a full time job with benefits; now what? 
i have a Twitter account; now what? 
i started a blog; now what?


i really can't answer any of those questions but i suppose since this is the first post in mandingSays i should provide some reasoning behind it...  

well, i can't really give you a straight one. as of right now, this blog can pose as somewhat of a casual research project on how finding life's day-to-day pleasures can help avoid a quarter-life crisis. :)

how did my generation, who graduated high school watching my super sweet sixteen end up being thrown into the real world during the longest running recession since the great depression. 

every generation has to go through this "graduating college" and "being poor " thing, you say? well i'd like to think we're special. and we are ! our situation sucks hard ! google the great recession people !

so now what. during an age that generationXers claim to be the "best time our lives", i'm stuck inside reading articles about retirement.

in all seriousness though, my twenties have been... charming. sure, spent my whole childhood on aol; but it's time for new habits. new discoveries.

i am young (am i??!) and curious. and i live off of an entry level salary. i want to do, see, eat, and buy as much as i can. although i have dreams and wishlists of the faraway and expensive, there are plenty of things that are perfect for where i am today and what i can budget in right now. maybe the things i find along my way will help you get through your quarter-life crisis...if not, at least i have blogspot to organize my scatter-brain. for free.


ps, this will probably be the longest post. ever. and maybe the last self-loathing post. maybe.