imma miss you, oprah.

aside from a brief stint in college during which my roommate brainwashed me into hating oprah (it was a dark, dark time), oprah has constantly been one of my top inspirations for as long as i can remember. the farewell episodes this week are a liiiiittle much, but i was legit bawling yesterday ...AND today, when stedman came out (omg! he does exist!)

anyways, who else can do it like oprah? NO ONE. i'll sit down to watch an episode, and have my mouth hanging open, then i'll cry, then i'll yell at the tv, then i'll gasp...all in the span of half of an episode.

she's epic...flawless...amazing, etc. and rich as haaaaale. anytime you wanna hang out, oprah, girl...just call me, k? i know you're gonna have a lot of downtime now that the show's over. and gayle is totally using you.

weird shit that tells us that judgement day is coming.

the more i think about it, the more all of this "judgement day" and "rapture" mumbo-jumbo starts to make sense. let's think about it:

1. the daughter of the dude that sang one-hit wonder "achey-breaky heart" is one of the most popular pop stars in the world.

2. one of the other most popular pop stars in the world wears meat and hangs out in eggs.

3. donald trump and his hair were REALISTICALLY considering running for the u.s. presidency.

4. two of the biggest boy bands in history are touring. together. as a supergroup.

5. oprah is ending.

others?

stuff i love: sally hansen's nail effects

ahhhh!!! even just looking at that picture makes me gleeful.

i HATE doing my nails, so when i came across these lil' miracles in the CVS beauty section, i nearly fainted. i don't care if the patterns are tween-ish, i'm in love. the best part? they're not fake nails, but basically just decals you place on your nails and shape with a file to fit. when you're sick of 'em, you take them off with nail polish remover. amazing.

so far, i've tried the fishnet pattern in the top row and the leopard one in the second, and i was thinking the reviews i read that said "ohh i've gotten so many compliments!" were exaggerating. but seriously everywhere i go, random people compliment and/or ask me about them. great conversation starter!

at $8-10, these babies aren't cheap, but they're oh-so-worth it.

100 things to do in 2011: month in review.

i was a little lax in april on completing new list items, but i had to stay true to my promise of keeping y'all updated. y'know? so take it or leave it!

13. see 50 new movies: CONTINUED.

in one ambitious weekend, i watched black swan (most messed up movie EVER) and then jackass 3d to take the edge off. love those dudes.

28. go hiking: COMPLETED.

on a gorgeous sunday morning, i randomly decided to check out breakheart reservation in saugus, a gorgeous park with tons of walking trails. so peaceful & awesome.

32. try one new recipe a month: CONTINUED.

ok, so i'm STILL behind by two recipes, but i made chicken piccata which was effin' delicious. in fact, it might even be my choice to complete #21, "perfect a dish".

61. make $1,000 in freelance: CONTINUED.

another $270 brought in from homerun. hello, $660!

spring mix! (not the salad.)

wasssssssup!

i decided that now that the weather here is remotely starting to resemble normal spring conditions (well, except for today - rainy and like 40. COOL!) i would put together a fun lil' mix to listen to with the windows down and the stereo up. listen to it here, and see below to find out what the hell you're listening to.

1. foster the people - helena beat

a fun lil' song that i came across somewhere or another on the internet. kind of bummed now that i didn't see these guys at sxsw since they played like 20 billion times. also, i think this tune's about suicide, but it's soooo catchy!

2. hollerado - juliette

i did see these guys at sxsw, and they were the best band by far. their music is just as fun as their live show, and this song immediately stuck in my head after their set. love it!

3. fabolous-you be killin' em

f-a-b-o-l-o-u-s. i love this man. "they say she a dime, i say she underrated." indeed.

4. smith westerns - weekend

i hate that this band's combined age is like, twice mine or something (that didn't work out as i'd hoped...) but basically they're like 19 years old and f-ing awesome. that riff!

5. gold motel - perfect in my mind

fronted by a chicky from the hush sound, i caught this girl...and guys in austin. even though i already had this LP on my itunes, seeing their set prompted me to actually give it a good listen. this song is super-sweet and perfect for a sunny spring day.

6. craig david f/ mos def - seven days (premier remix)

FUN FACT: nate dogg (RIP) does not sing the beginning of this song - it's apparently craig david imitating him. neato, huh? anyways, i pretty much just miss craig david and needed a reason to bring this, the best remix EVER, back. first heard it in high school at our little dance recital thing as dewds breakdanced to it. aw yeah.

7. biters - melody for lovers

this song reminds me of something i still can't put my finger on, but i dig it. singalong melody, chugging guitars, and all that jazz.

8. olympic hopefuls - holiday

an old time favorite from, oh, 2005 or so. it just reminds me of lemonade and sunshine and happy times.

9. all time low - hello brooklyn

pure pop-punk perfection. i don't even care, ever since itunes genius recommended this song to me, i've trusted its wisdom over most of my friends. give it a listen and tell me you won't be singing this 2 hours from now.

10. wiz khalifa - roll up

oh wiz, you so tricky. no, i'm not including this song because of today's date. in fact, this song is about ROLLING UP...to get his shorty. what a good man.

11. sheepdogs - i don't know

creedence-y, old-fashioned rock. i'm a fan.

12. the rocket summer - hey!

what would a happy spring mix be without an appearance from the happiest man in the world? makes me want to just run outside and frolic.

13. little jackie - the world should revolve around me

formerly imani coppola ("legend of a cowgirl", anyone?), this gal's album is soulful and spunky. get into it!

14. ashley parker angel - i'm better

YES, that would be the ashley parker angel from boy band o-town. he had a solo album that took up residence in my ipod for a good portion of the summer of '06. you'd love this song if i never told you who sang it though. ILU APA.

15. make out - i don't want anyone that wants me

i'm still scared to look up a picture of the lead singer of this band. she's either a super-hot punk chick or a snaggle-toothed cougar. either way, i love her voice and the badassness of this ditty.

16. air traffic - charlotte

upbeat brit pop that will have you singing along by the end. swear.

17. american bang - wild and young

as i've mentioned before, i like this guys better than kings of leon for some reason. probably due in part to the fact that i'm still fangirling over the lead singer. but seriously....they're legit.

be cheerful.

so, for a couple years, i've had a canvas hanging above my bed with the phrase "whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." being all into the law of attraction & that junk, i immediately identified with it. but it wasn't until yesterday that i found out it was part of a larger poem by max ehrmann. basically, this thing is like the guide to life and wayyyy better than that sunscreen song. dig it!

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

100 things to do in 2011: month in review.

march, you were pretty friggin' awesome, i must say. the good news just kept on coming, including finding out that an essay i submitted for an essay anthology about madonna was selected to be published. :) not on any of my lists, but awesome nonetheless! i also knocked a good chunk of the 100 off as well...check it!

1. go to south by southwest: COMPLETED.

as you saw from my last post, i finally made longtime dreams come true last month by going to sxsw. i'm still having withdrawals from margaritas and patios. le sigh!

13. see 50 new movies: CONTINUED.

i'm really gonna need to pick up the pace if i want to complete this goal by the end of the year. my attention span has been like -5, and so the only new movie i saw in march was the lukewarm "take me home tonight". i did like the funny fat guy, though.

14. dine at 50 new restaurants: CONTINUED.

when i wasn't chowing down on free noms during the day, sxsw helped me experience a bunch of new restaurants, like chupacabra cantina (delish pulled pork and chicken tacos), the old pecan street cafe (super-rich seafood crepes), hickory street bar and grill (well i just got a burger, but i also crossed #84 off here) and the famous stubb's bbq (so much meat).

randomly, the only other new places i ate at in my neck of the woods were in somerville's davis square...johnny d's for an amazing brunch, and redbones, a bbq joint which i've been trying to go to FOREVER. oh, and i did go to KO prime for restaurant week, where i tried quail egg and foie gras powder (new foods #2 & #3)

18. visit 1 new state: COMPLETED.

i don't know if everything is bigger in texas, but there are a lot of brown bricks. i think i need to see the other major TX cities before fully forming an opinion, but austin wasn't quite what i expected it to be (my expectation: falling madly in love and already living there by now).

24. see 10 bands live: BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER.

almost 40 bands at sxsw. 'nuff said.

61. make $1,000 in freelance: CONTINUED.

just added up my haul from this month's homerun work and march alone = $255, bringing the total so far to $390. not too shabby.

74: play a board game: COMPLETED.

i just realized when reviewing the list that i did this on friday night. my roomie had some work friends over for a poker game, except only one of them actually played poker. so we ordered pizza and drank wine and played balderdash. good, clean fun. except for the "law" question that asked us to finish the phrase "in an illinois state park, it is illegal to give...." i mean, come on. you're thinking that too.

84. eat fried pickles: COMPLETED.

hickory street bar & grill in austin was not messing around - they had damn fried pickle SPEARS. none of this dill chip crap. sure, we waited like 40 minutes for them for some reason, but it was worth it.

92. visit a historic landmark: COMPLETED.

on a random detour to try and find a "pop-up" show in downtown austin that had apparently already happened, gleni and i ended up right in front of the state capitol building. picture-taking ensued. good enough for me!

the 10 commandments of sxsw.

hey, y'all!

so i just got back from a fabulous few days in austin, texas, where i achieved my bucket list dreams of attending the south by southwest music festival with my good college pal, gleni. and we had a BLAST eating, drinking, seeing almost 40 bands from wednesday through saturday. in that time, we developed a collective list of "10 sxsw commandments" that we think will be beneficial to future festival-goers (and us next year, because we're totally gonna try to make this an annual thing). enjoy!

1. thou shalt get free stuff.

calling sxsw a "free-for-all" is really no exaggeration. in fact, besides spending money for sit-down dinners, a few drinks and bartender tips, we often found ourselves realizing that we hadn't spent a cent by like 4pm every day. given the extremely high concentration of sponsored day parties with free beer and food, you can't swing a dead cat without being able to chow down and get liquored up for no cost. prime example - the free margaritas and food at the rachael ray party. i'm talking flank steak tost-achos, pulled pork tacos and chipotle sliders, people (see photo). it was highly depressing to go back to actually paying for things on monday. wahh wahh. also, work those connections! i never have any, but i tend to know well-connected people. thanks to gleni, we got into the badge-only barsuk showcase and badge-only sonicbids party fo' free, and drank in the VIP tent at the dig for fire lawn party. just sayin'.

2. thou shalt resist temptation to buy a badge.

despite my comment above about the badge-only thangs, SERIOUSLY IT'S NOT WORTH THE $700. those two events were rare in that nearly everything else we went to let us in, no badge, no wristband, no problem. i actually laugh now to think about the first night when we arrived and i meekly walked up to the bouncer of the showcase we had decided on. "do you need a badge?" "no, it's $8." works for me.

3. thou shalt stay hydrated.

one of my most-used words during the week was "WATER". a) you're walking and standing and all that jazz b) it's texas. it's hot. despite the fact that you're not sweating that much you're still getting totally parched. c) the alcohol combined with the heat can be a bad, bad thing. so thankfully, almost every venue has a huge water cooler that you can use for refills in between draaanks. or just ask the bartender. they get it.

4. thou shalt eat breakfast.

the fact that our hotel had amaaaazing TEXAS-SHAPED WAFFLES aside, even a habitual breakfast-skipper like me realized that i was going to need to fortify myself for each long day if i was going to survive. also, we really had no clue when we were actually going to eat next. so, dammit, we woke up by 9 every morning to make the continental breakfast...sleep be damned.

5. thou shalt sit down for dinner.

i was going to make this one "thou shalt wear comfortable shoes", but i'm not even sure your feet would make it out alive in even the comfiest of sneakers. seriously, my ankles and feet SWELLED UP. how does that even happen?! but i digress. the most appropriate plan of attack is to utilize benches and anything you can sit on during the day, and make sure you find a sit-down restaurant for dinner, even if it's super-casual. chances are that you ate your lunch from a truck, so it's important to rest the tootsies before the long night of showcase fun ahead of you.

6. thou shalt enjoy the weather.

omg i miss patios so much. while i guess it's typical for it to rain at least one day during sxsw, we had absolutely perfect weather every day we were there - sunny and 84 during the day, clear and probably in the high 60s at night. fortunately, while the festival is held in bars around downtown austin, you're not limited to dark dingy spaces - a bunch of the venues have patio or deck space for shows as well. try to go to some! you'll be reminiscing fondly on them when you're getting 4 inches of snow at the end of march upon your return (no, i'm not bitter). :)

7. thou shalt go with the flow.

with literally thousands of bands playing sxsw every year, plus hundreds of day parties, there's no possible way that you'd ever be able to see everyone and everything. gleni and i decided from the beginning that we would never let ourselves be in a place of "we're doing this, so we're missing that". and we definitely had a better time because of it! you should still make a schedule, if only to outline your options of who's playing when and where, so you can be prepared to decide what you feel like doing when that time comes. but stay open to random fun, too - we had thought that rachael ray party was invite-only, but wandered down to find out that they were letting just about anyone in. schweet!

8. thou shalt wear earplugs.

it may sound nerdy now, but your ears will be thanking you after you've seen about 10 million bands. even the cheap ones from walgreens or cvs will eliminate that terrible post-show ringing and if you have long hair (or some sort of shaggy 'do - you hipster, you) it'll cover the 'plugs with no one being the wiser if you're still embarrassed.

9. thou shalt make new friends.

sxsw, we determined, is a "rock 'n' roll summer camp by day, and rock 'n' roll mardi gras by night". and it's so true! in both of those situations, everyone's just out to have a great time and chat, and sxsw is no different. so talk to everyone - from bartenders to waiters, to shuttle drivers and passengers. ah, the shuttle. we had signed up for a shuttle from our hotel to and from downtown (dubbed the "drunk shuttle" at 2:30am) and it quickly became one of our favorite times. we took it once with a norwegian rock band who warned us not to be irish whores on st. patty's day, and another with a smart-ass san franciscan with whom i traded "that's what she said jokes", a wasted kid on the phone with someone he referred to as "drinking buddy" and more.

10. thou shalt tweet and update facebook statuses frequently.

f the jealous haters! sure, no one will respond to any of your tweets or updates, but they're reading them, and it's still important if only to keep a live blog of sorts with your adventures so you can remember them later. trust me, the 4 nights and 3 days become a big blur once you get to the end of them, so it's good to be able to look back for reference.

calling all funny adoptees: seeking submissions!

are you adopted? are you hilarious? do you like to write?

as an adoptee who doesn't take anything, including myself, too seriously, i think it's about time that there's a book about adoption that ISN'T heartwrenching, tear-jerking, super-sad, etc. etc.

so, if you have a funny, TRUE story that relates to being adopted in some way - whether it's speculating about your birthparents, getting an unexpected reaction from someone about the fact that you're adopted, or something completely different yet utterly chuckle-worthy, i want to hear it! i'm collecting these essays with the hopes of compiling them into a published, printed collection.

WORD COUNT: your submission should be between 1,000 and 5,000 words and double-spaced.

DEADLINE: may 1, 2011

DETAILS: please send your submission as a microsoft word attachment to kimwindyka@gmail.com along with your full name and contact info, and any relevant background information. feel free to email me with any questions as well.

thank you!

100 things to do in 2011: month in review

HEY! so february was a liiiittle slow, but i managed to whittle down the list a bit more. check it:

9. complete my book proposal: STARTED.

so, after researching classes there for like, months, i signed up for a class at boston's grub street writing center (called "finding your book") and it was amazing. for 6 weeks, i got to hang out with great, nice writers for 3 hours on monday nights while we workshopped each other's ideas and excerpts. i got to flesh out my idea, and now have a decent chunk of my proposal done, PLUS another idea which you'll all read about soon. YAY! :)

14. dine at 50 new restaurants: CONTINUED.

okay, so despite dining out a ton this month and even spending $55 on a tab, i sadly only visited one new-to-me restaurant, foundry on elm in davis square, somerville. i DID have poutine for the first time there as well (y'know, the dish all the canadians love that's basically french fries covered in gravy and cheese? nom), so that has to count for something, right?

36. see a stand-up comedian: COMPLETED.

if you missed my previous entry, i saw sinbad with my dad a few weekends ago and he was nothing short of brilliant. just a legendary man.

61. make $1,000 in freelance: STARTED.

i snagged a great gig writing daily boston deals for the groupon-y site (but bettah!) homerun.com, and i've already made over $100 in my first month. oh heyyy.

"quit makin' faces at me!!"

oh god...oh god. if you only know sinbad from such CLASSIC movies as "houseguest", "jingle all the way", and "first kid", you're missing out. in middle school, my dad and i were watching tv one saturday afternoon and happened upon an old sinbad stand-up special that was on comedy central, and proceeded to ROFLOAO for the next hour and a half. i was introduced to a brand new world of hilarity that i never knew....the genius that is sinbad.

so clearly, when i was trying desperately to come up with a great christmas present idea for mi padre this year and saw that the man/the myth/the legend was on tour and coming to the wilbur theatre, i knew it was the perfect idea.

seriously, i had tears rolling down my cheeks and my face was in PAIN from howling with laughter. the entire audience was just dying the entire 2+ hours (!!!) the man was on stage last night, talking about everything from boston drivers to online dating to sending a ragtag army of serial killers overseas. and, as i knew from seeing his previous material, the man is FUNNY AS HELL without using any word worse than "damn" - i'm no prude, but it's just refreshing and totally awesome that he's so hilar on his own that he doesn't even need to pepper anything extra in. seriously, see him if he comes to your town. check out some of my two fave clips - one from that special that started it all, and one from his most recent special, "sinbad where u been?" LOVE.

slow it down...

totally crushing taylor-hanson-style on this man right now and would pretty much do anything for him:

who is he, you ask? his name is jaren johnston and he's the lead singer of southern rock outfit american bang. it doesn't hurt that their music is totally better than kings of leon (as a brilliant youtuber said, "this is what happens when the black crowes, tom petty, and kings of leon have a threesome and don't use protection. awesome band." more beauty/awesome below!! ok i'll stop now.

100 things to do in 2011: month in review

hello again, friends! i come to you a month into the new year, still feeling pretty good about 2011. i've been keeping painstaking track of the items i've completed and made a dent in from my list of 100 things to do in 2011, so let's take a look, shall we?

12. finish the crossword every day for a month: COMPLETED.

i'm currently completing today's usa today puzzle, and am shocked that i actually knocked this one off in the first month. full disclosure...while i didn't have time to do a puzzle every single day, i made sure to make up for any missed ones in the following days. commitment!!

14. dine at 50 new restaurants: STARTED.

slightly disappointed at my pathetic showing of eateries in the first month, but i guess i was too busy focusing on my fast food avoidance (see below). however, i had an amazing breakfast at blue moon grill, a nommy pre-bowling cheeseburger at kings, and killed 1.5 birds with 1 stone at the beehive.

19. win a contest: COMPLETED.

i enter contests like it's my job, so i'm not incredibly shocked about this one. when white castle announced a twitter giveaway for telling them what you'd do if you were stuck in a white castle restaurant for 24 hours, i was all over it. clearly, i'd pretend i was the queen of white castle, decorate the restaurant in regal fashion, and sit on my throne and eat sliders all day. bam. the next week, i get a cardboard crave case filled with a white castle baseball cap (STYLIN'), a scented candle (literallysmellslikeburgerswtf), a coffee table book, a car magnet that reads "craver on board", a t-shirt and a bunch of other awesome junk. what makes it even more amazing is that i've only actually been to white castle once in my life.

25. try 5 new foods: STARTED.

can you believe i'd never tried veal? me neither. i think it had something to do with being told it was cow tongue when i was like 8, and never bothering/caring to actually find out if that was true. but i finally did it...in the form of a veal parm sub. MEH.

32. try one new recipe a month: STARTED.

i made an absolutely godawful crock pot meatloaf during a snowstorm. i was all excited to eat it after a horrible shoveling experience, and couldn't even get through a slice. lesson learned: meatloaves belong in the oven.

47. spend a day in newburyport: COMPLETEDISH.

okay, so basically what i meant by this is that i just wanted to go to newburyport because i'd never been. emily and i wandered around for a little bit and went into some cute shops while digesting our cupcakes from eat cake!, so that was sufficent for me. semantics...

75. go to a jazz brunch: COMPLETED.

i met up with an old roommate for brunch at the beehive in boston, a cute lil' bistro with live jazz on saturdays and sundays. we wolfed down delicious omelettes while some soft sax played in the background. just lovely, really!

81. whiten my teeth: COMPLETED.

i found a package of crest whitestrips that i'd abandoned and have been surprisingly diligent about remembering to use them. i'm almost done, but i can see a difference already!

94. go a month without fast food: COMPLETED.

ooooh, this was a doozy. towards the end of the month, i started having dreams about being stalked by 1/3 pound angus burgers and swimming in vats of ketchup with french fries. but folks, i did it. and you can too! but for real, if it wasn't for being ridiculously snowed in right now, i'd be parked at some mcdonald's with 5 bags in the passenger seat. :)