foodie summer 2012: turkey and mushrooms on rice

How do people come up with creative names for dishes? I'm not a chef or even a cook - I mostly just throw a bunch of things together and call it a day. But since the apartment I'm subletting is so well-equipped with the quintessential white bowls and plates necessary for food photography, I thought I'd give it a try.

We had some leftover turkey from our turkey sliders, so I cut them up into bite size pieces and sauteed them with some mushrooms and the frozen grilled corn from Trader Joe's. Then, I added balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, tomato sauce, and white wine to create a sort of gravy.

Love and right triangles,

april

just pink

shirt, thrifted.

dress, H&M.

shoes, Kors via Crossroads Trading, Williamsburg.

watch, Aldo.

Yesterday, my roomie and I ventured to Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg, shopped around at Artists & Fleas, and then did some thrifting at Crossroads Trading. All amazing places to shop, especially Crossroads Trading, where the clothing is great, and the prices are actually affordable.

The one thing I miss about suburbia is the endless amount of amazing finds I always take home with me from Salvation Army. And for extremely cheap prices. But in cities, large ones like New York, and even smaller ones, like Providence, the Salvation Army stores are too often ransacked by hipsters and vintage store owners, leaving nothing good for the rest of us who don't mind browsing for hours to find that one amazing sequin blazer for only five dollars. I refuse to spend eighty dollars on a dress that I could easily find for four dollars in my hometown.

Does anyone know of a good, real cheap thrift store in New York/Brooklyn?

love and right triangles,

april

gotta get down on friday

jacket, thrifted.

top, F21.

skirt, H&M.

shoes, Marshall's.

necklace, made by me.

watch, Aldo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!

have a good weekend!

love and right triangles,

april

blazer city

YESTERDAY:

 blazer, thrifted.

top, made by me.

skirt, H&M.

flats, H&M.

earrings, freebie.

bracelets, gift/freebies.

ring, Forever 21.

watch, Aldo.

TODAY:

blazer, thrifted.

tee, Old Navy.

skirt, UO.

shoes, H&M.

necklace, freebie.

belt, thrifted.

watch, Aldo.

It's finally getting sunny and summerHOTHOTHOT in the next few days, which is a million times better than the cloudy, rainy, humid dreariness we've been forced to live with.

And actually, the hotter it gets, the more I'll wear my favorite blazers and jackets and cardigans, because it'll be so chilly in our air-conditioned offices.

love and right triangles,

april

fun/orange/blue

top, H&M

pants, H&M

shoes, Berk's

FUN COLORS. ORANGE PANTS. BLUE SHOES.

love and right triangles,

april

making up for lost color

dress, diy from vintage dress via Etsy.

shirt, thrifted.

necklaces, Aldo.

watch, Aldo.

shoes, TJ Maxx.

In order to compensate for the lack of color of Friday's outfit, I had to do a one-eighty today. Fun, neon, geometric, light, bright, wacky.

love and right triangles,

april

foodie summer 2012: turkey sliders

Trader Joe's sells mini hamburger buns. Duh, I couldn't resist.

My roomie and I did some collaborative cooking tonight and made extra delicious turkey sliders, with caramelized onions and mushroom relish. And lots of sriracha on top, obviously.

There was the juicyness of the turkey, the sweetness of the onion, the sourness of the lime juice (in the mushroom relish), and the spicyness of the sriracha. 

So profesh.

love and right triangles,

april

Black and White

blouse, F21

skirt, H&M

shoes, UO

necklace, Aldo

Today I'm black and white all over in honor of my monochrome friend slash co-intern who only wears black and sometimes other neutrals. And it was so hard. I just had to throw on a neon necklace and put on some bright lipstick. SO HARD, I think I'm going to have to over compensate for the next week and wear CRAZY COLOR.

Have an amazing weekend!

love and right triangles,

april

paint splatters

shirt, thrifted

tank, Target

belt, thrifted

skirt, UO

shoes, Target

Today, I:

1. Had a pretty good day at work.

2. Got to leave from work early......so naturally I bought a pair of shoes.

3. Went out for dinner and drinks with friends at a Korean fusion/bar in Alphabet City called Fat Buddha- I wouldn't recommend it for dinner but maybe for drinks later in night- it's got a cool vibe and they play great music.

4. Got cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake Soho! Best cupcakes in the world, duh.

love and right triangles,

april

succinct

blazer, thrifted

top, DKNY via Macy's

skirt, thrifted/diy

shoes, Necessary Clothing

HOW IS YOUR SUMMER?

love and right triangles,

april

first day

blazer, thrifted.

top, F21.

belt, thrifted.

skirt, thrifted culottes --> diy hi-lo skirt.

shoes, Necessary Clothing.

I really missed working at Hearst Tower - it's amazing to be back. It's a beautiful building, and I got to have lunch with my friend from my internship last year, and my boss is so nice, and I hope I get the chance to work there for real when I become a real person.

It's oddly cold for June, but at least that means I won't be nasty and sweaty on the subway platforms, at least for now. And it's the nice kind of cold where any clothing will do - it's (mostly) warm enough for all-out summer clothes, but it's cold enough for winter clothes too (a guy in the elevator today was wearing a puffy coat!).

And, today, the Sweetery truck was giving out free desserts to Hearst employees at lunch time! It was amazing - cookies and mini cheesecakes and other yumminess, all made with Maker's Mark bourbon. 

love and right triangles,

april

foodie summer 2012: lamb noodle soup

I moved into New York on Saturday with the help of my dad, who drove me down from our home upstate, and carried my heavy things up to my 3rd floor apartment, and took me grocery shopping. (Thanks, dad!) And of course, we went to Flushing, Queens for dinner (and so he could buy lots of Asian liquor to bring home).

We ended up ordering far too much food for just the two of us, so I brought home the leftovers. One was a lamb dish, seasoned with cumin and cilantro. So salty and overseasoned - perfect to make into soup.

HOW IT'S MADE

boiled some water

threw in some noodles (spaghetti) and the lamb

added a touch of soy sauce and a lot of sriracha

wilted some mixed greens into the broth

cook until noodles are done!

add more sriracha, duh.

eat. with chopsticks.

love and right triangles,

april

never forget

animal prints and complementary colors

Animal print day!

dress, made by me

shirt, thrifted

belt, H&M

shoes, Merona for Target

bow, made by me

top, Forever 21

pants, Zara

necklace, made by me

watch, gift :)

belt, stolen from mom

shoes, thrifted

These are the last outfit photos I have from New York City!

But now I'm in Brownland aka back at school and loooooving it.

MORE TO COME

love and right triangles,

april 

you can't sit with us!

cardigan, H&M

tank, DKNY via Macy's

pants, Zara

shoes, thrifted

belt, Forever 21

watch, NY&Co

These photos are looooooooooong overdue...

One week at Seventeen, all of us interns decided to do spirit week, and in true Mean Girls fashion, "on Wednesdays, we wear pink."

And in true April fashion, on spirit days, I go all out. head to toe pink!

Many more catchup posts to come!

love and right triangles,

april

pink pants

pants, Zara

tank, H&M

blazer, thrifted

shoes, Urban Outfitters

bag, freebie

belt, mommy

COLORED PANTS! Have you any idea how long I've been searching? My denim/black/grey pant collection does not work for my COLOR-ness. 

ZARA! Have you any idea how amazing this store is? I would literally wear everything they sell. And they were having a HUGE sale, and if I let myself own a credit card, I would have maxed it out. Good thing I refuse to get one.

STUDS! I totally found these random studs on the floor of the Seventeen fashion closet while I was just sittin' & chillin' one day, and decided to put them on my blazer.

love and right triangles,

april

ps: TWEET @ me! @apezhang

if i only had a brain

skirt, H&M

top, Old Navy

shoes, Payless

bag, freebie

blazer, thrifted

earrings, thrifted

turtle ring, Target

bow ring, Forever 21

slap watch, gift

i usually wear shorts under skirts and dresses because of: a) wind, b) stairs, c) dirty subway seats, d) constant sitting down/bending over/standing up again at work, e) that awkward sweatiness

except today i didn't. 

there was probably/definitely a lot of unnecessary panty flashing going on. it was breezy. eek!

What do you do to fix all of the above problems with wearing dresses/skirts?

love and right triangles,

april

lumos

diy deathly hallows necklace

My childhood is over.

Waaaaaaaaahh.

dress, selfmade

shoes, H&M

necklace, selfmade

earrings, freebie

Last night, friends and I went to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter 7 pt. 2, obviously. 

IT WAS AMAZE-TASTIC

SO INTENSE

SO SAD

SO GOOD

I made this dress for the occasion out of black twill from the amazing garment district in New York, a Clorox bleach pen, and beads & paillettes also from the garment district.

And the deathly hallows necklace! I made that by cutting up my Panera card, taping it, and then painting it with black nail polish. The silver part was part of a necklace I had lying around.

Time to go be an adult now.

love and right triangles,

april

do it alllllllll again

dress, selfmade

cardigan, H&M

belt, thrifted

shoes, Payless

bag, Aldo

earrings, freebie

Mucho apologies for the lack of posts this week!!

Mucho thanks to Marissa for being my substitute photog :)

love and right triangles,

april

80s day

dress, selfmade

blazer, thrifted

belt, thrifted

shoes, thrifted

Happy Fourth of July weekend!!

Things about NYC that I love:

1. the woman at the Columbia-116th st. subway station that hands out the free Metro paper every morning

2. the New York Public Library (finally got my library card!)

3. crazies on the subway

4. crazies on the streets

5. crazies

6. yummy margaritas

7. the flower shops on every street corner

to be continued!

love and right triangles,

april