Weekend Reads: Nowhere to go but up

This past week has not been my best…

1) I’ve had a cold for 4+ weeks now. The only thing that seems to be helping is this new cough suppressant prescription from the Dr. BUT COME ON. I am so sick of being sick. So much soup. So much tea. So much ugh ness.

2) I had 3 cooking fails this week. THREE. I mean, one or two is ok, but THREE?! The universe is unhappy with me. First one was with my mom, we attempted to use her slow cooker to make chicken cashew. NOPE. Not good. The chicken was overcooked and grody. And the sauce was just… very salty. Second, I thought it would be a good idea to start poaching chicken for dinner so I tried to poach 2 chicken breasts so I’d be prepped for the following evening. Yikes. That was gross (and a waste!). Rubbery and just not appetizing. #cerealfordinner Third, I tried a roasted cauliflower dish from Food52 that was one of its genius recipes. I’ve been dying to try this recipe for awhile but needed to gather the ingredients. There are 2 steps—first poaching (ugh) then roasting. That slippery cauliflower head totally fell off of the baking pan and onto my kitchen door. THEN I put it back on the pan, into the oven, roasted it and… it was not great. Seriously. I ate some, but tossed the rest. I was planning on having it for lunch the next day! Major fail.

3) I read a book (review next week) called I’ll Give  You The Sun (YA, angsty, love, siblings, artsy) and cried (not a little). And proceeded to fall asleep and wake up with MAJOR puff eye. And I had no cucumbers. So I brewed a black tea bag and a green tea bag then lay down on my couch and hoped that would work. NOPE.

4) Somehow my gchat mysteriously no longer works at work. :(

I’m thinking next week is going to be better… right? The high points of this week were: some beautiful fog that rolled into Boston, that book, I bought a couple Christmas presents, listening to Whitney Houston’s new live album, and of course, Serial. It hasn't all been bad!! 

Happy Weekend! Let's kick off the new week in style:

A map of heel heights across the country from Gilt. Speaking of, how cute are these shoes?

Cereal Killer Cafe in London? Loooooooove that idea!! (Especially with my recent kitchen fails...)

So smooth, Brokaw, sooooooo smoooooth.

Love this idea of solar panels on bike paths. I hope it works!!

A font for people with Dyslexia. Putting font creating talent to good use.

Some of the first Street Style pics... 1910-1920 in France. Those hats! Those outfits!

How good does this chocolate crunch recipe look? YUM. Might have to attempt to make that soon...

I love this bath mat. Locals Only. Wouldn't that be great for my imaginary beach house? As would this wallpaper. (DYING for my own place with space to spread out)

Now I'm dying to go to Pike Place in Seattle.

Enjoy the week!