choosing change

pizza rolls! or, blogging is like riding a bike, right?

2012-02-09T19:58:00.000-06:00

oh. hey there. remember me? before i begin, let me wish y'all a happy thanksgiving, merry christmas, happy holidays, happy birthday to myself, happy new year (and thanks for reading in 2011) AND happy birthday to marty (!!!), since it is customary to do these things on one's blog and i apparently like disregard these blog rules. well, lots has happened since my last post, namely, approximately 12 national holidays AND marty and i decided to get married! but, more on that later. for now, i think i'll stick to what i'm good at. and as of late, what i've become very good at is roasting vegetables, rolling them up in pizza dough and baking them into savory cinnabons a la the geniuses at pizza delicious. the steps couldn't be easier:

1. roast vegetable of your choice. i tend to stick w/ cauliflower although anything would work (broccoli, brussels sprouts, mushrooms). i usually roast veggies with olive oil, kosher salt, and red pepper flakes at 450 until soft on the inside and crispy on the outside

2. let vegetables cool slightly and chop

3. with a rolling pin, roll out pizza dough (i use pillsbury) into a 12'' x 24'' sheet

4. sprinkle chopped vegetables all over the dough, leaving approx. 1 inch uncovered at the top. sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese.

5. tightly roll up the dough, creating a 24 in log of deliciousness. cut into equal-sized pieces.

6. prepare cupcake tin by pouring 1/2 tsp or so olive oil into each well. place one roll into each well. sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. bake at 425 for 12-15 min, until the rolls are golden.

7. DEVOUR. with pizza sauce for dipping, if desired.

oak street po-boy festival

2011-11-21T06:00:00.002-06:00

fresh off the coattails of our lawmakers' decision to promote childhood obesity, the city of new orleans (being the picture of health, after all) hosted probably the most highly-anticipated food festival of the year: the oak street po-boy festival. in an attempt to beat the crowds - because, you know, god forbid we have to wait in line to buy a 3rd, 4th or 5th po-boy - we skipped breakfast and hit the fest at 11. by 11:15 i was satiated and by 11:30 i had commenced self-loathing. thankfully oak street is long, parking was limited and the temperature hit 80 degrees by noon, so by the time we reached the car, i had sweated out at least one of the po-boys and an entire beer (which, in my mind, means i broke even by having one normal-sized meal. go me).

ya. i don't know.

the bread had more security than herman cain.

new orleans food co-op grand opening

2011-11-17T08:28:00.000-06:00

over the weekend marty and i stopped by the new orleans food co-op grand opening party. the co-op is in the new orleans healing center, which is an amazing community center that houses a gym, yoga studio, used book shop, credit union, a cafe (that doubles as a theatre), and lots of other businesses geared toward wellness and learning. the co-op is is basically a porn shop for a foodie, with the organic fare and rarities like pink himalayan salt. upon entering i busied myself with the free samples and walked away with some locally-made habanero pepper and mango jelly from pepperland farms, which i've since been slathering on anything edible.

shelby & charley

2011-11-14T06:00:00.001-06:00

disclaimer: what started out as a "preview post" of the engagement photos i took yesterday of my friends has turned into a 35-photo tome. woops. in comparison with how many i took, this is actually quite neatly edited. for their photos, shelby & char wanted to marry (pun intended) their favorite parts of new orleans: the beautiful old live oaks with the gritty urban landscape - a some good old new orleans charm sprinkled in for good measure. i hope y'all enjoy!

ps: shelby's girls-only engagement brunch

kitchen curtains and a tour, while we're at it

2011-11-09T06:00:00.006-06:00

{before}

when my parents came to visit a few weeks ago the housewarming gift i asked for a sewing machine. since then, and in preparation for a sew sew darling class i signed up for with my friend renae, i've been experimenting with little projects - namely, these reusable cocktail napkins. last night i finished some simple curtains for the kitchen. since i had the forethought to take pictures of the apartment (i do share an office with a housing attorney after all), i figured i would share some before and after pics of the kitchen... bear in mind it's a work in progress (especially the wall art - suggestions are welcome :)

{after}:

my succulents i've managed to keep alive, in some vintage planters i've started collecting

another yard sale find: an incomplete scrabble set we bought for $2 that i turned into magnets for us to write notes to each other

this & that... or, i love instagram

2011-11-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

1. baked mac & cheese for the lsu/bama game (recipe here) 2. matching minnetonkas 3. new tradition: records on sundays 4. a new - seriously discounted - steven alan plaid 5. $25 mint condition panasonic record player - thank god for craigslist! 6. upcycled stoplights 7. blackened redfish tacos from juan's 8. kicking my butt at trivial pursuit - genius edition 9. dinner from pantry remnants 10. new missoni iphone cover... and yes, my shirt does have a new orleans roach on it

washington, d.c.

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

i got to go to dc again a couple of weeks ago for a conference and this time marty joined me for the last few days of my trip. we were super tourist-y and covered the entire district by foot. the weather was perfectly cool and crisp (enough to get a hilarious woven cat hat and break in my new jacket).

i spotted a street vendor selling some afghani kilim pillow covers for super cheap. looking back, i probably should have just bought the lot.

we headed to the american history museum where we saw the original muppets (!!!) and an el train from chicago

after walking through the national mall we went to the air & space museum for marty to get his nerd on and watch "journey to the stars." they played the show in a dome-shaped theatre with super reclined seats and whoopi goldberg narrated. so obviously i promptly fell asleep.

we ended our saturday at 7th hill pizza and shared the seward square and potomac ave pizzas.

on sunday we got to go to the flea market at eastern market. after ogling all the awesome art, jewelry and antiques (by some miracle i walked away empty-handed), we went inside the market to eat lunch.

marty's head (which is above average in size) for scale

for lunch, we had a random assortment of goodies from the market, including chicken & cranberry and spinach empanadas, and macaroni salad.

earlier in the week i had gone to the zoo! i just had to share some photos since it was so cool - especially watching the pandas eat bamboo.

happy halloween! love, jared & frida

2011-10-31T06:00:00.002-05:00

most popular: marty as jared, the subway guy

most easily confused for anyone but frida kahlo: me as frida kahlo

best couple: becky & clinton as wayne and garth

happy halloween!

empanada night

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

i am always looking for easy ways to use up leftovers and eat lots of vegetables. that's why marty and i are huge fans of homemade pizza - really, it's just a plate made of dough onto which we throw random chopped up goodies. i recently discovered that my grocery store carries goya empanada dough and was thrilled because there are literally a million different things that can be put in an empanada: chicken, beef, any vegetable under the sun, cheese, guava (for all those times i have extra guava lying around)... so, for dinner the other night i made onion and cheese empanadas (using a recipe from here) along with some delicious chimichurri. best of all, they were baked, not fried (i had enough grease-soaked empanadas in south america:)

oktoberfest

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

one of my favorite fall activities is oktoberfest - it's an excuse to enjoy craft beers and brats while doing the chicken dance in marginally cooler weather. on saturday night marty and i met up with some of my work friends in kenner for deutsches haus' annual celebration. interestingly, new orleans has a very strong german presence... meanwhile, when i try to google "polish" and "new orleans" in the same search, all i get are nail salons (no joke).

yard sale bandit

2011-10-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

the last few weeks marty and i have spent our saturday mornings scouring the city for budget-friendly ~~used shit~~ treasures to dress up our home. although we have managed to find some amazing pieces, it hasn't all been smooth sailing. looking for yard sales on craigslist is like looking for anything else on craigslist - you're going to find normal people with decent taste and you're also going to find the people who are using their old crap as a ruse to kidnap you. my personal favorites included the girl who was selling the entire contents of her kitchen (such as half-empty bags of cornstarch and paprika) and the guy whose moving sale included his, ahem, used adult magazines.

i found this beauty in the lower garden for $8. its owner was giving away free beer with every $2 purchase. well played, lady. well played.

still haven't quite figured out what to do with this amazing ikat fabric... pillows? reupholstering this crazy/amazing chair i bought from the beer lady?

for $5. right.

fiesta ware! in turquoise! this was one of those yard sale moments when you look around and say to yourself, am i the only one seeing this? is it a yard sale mirage?! and then you try not to knock anything over as you lunge at it. true story.

this is just adorable. enough said.

don't quite know what i'll do with these yet. i'm sure pinterest will hook it up.

a natural accent for our bedroom

mom and dad visit - part 2

2011-10-13T06:00:00.002-05:00

following our swamp tour my parents and i went to middendorf's to re-fuel and relax on the breezy dock. the weather was beautiful, the coronas were cold and the fish was deliciously fresh. later in the day we went to art for art's sake on magazine, which the annual new orleans event i look forward to most. every antique store, art gallery and boutique on magazine opens its doors after hours and provides drinks, hors d'oeuvres (ya, i had to google the correct spelling of that), entertainment and discounts (!!!). basically, it's all of my favorite things in one evening (wine, cheese, music and deals:).

mom and dad [finally] visit - part 1

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

my parents finallyyyy came to visit last weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather and see our new apartment. the last time they visited together was over two years ago. dad came last year to help me move in (see pictures from our trip here, here, here, and here). mom visited a few weeks later during the Great Blog Hiatus and Computer Destruction of 2010-2011, so i don't have any blog posts to link to... but i can tell you that mom's visits always result it a lot of wine and shopping and marty having to drive us everywhere. to celebrate my parents' return to the big easy, we had an action-packed weekend full of my favorite things: beignets from cafe du monde, some yard sales, a swamp tour, a trip to middendorf's for their famous thin fried catfish, and a jaunt on magazine street for art for art's sake. and that was just one day :) here are some pictures from the first half of saturday...

street fare derby

2011-10-11T06:00:00.003-05:00

a few weeks ago my friend liz and i went to the street fare derby at the fairgrounds, a festival dedicated to the food truck scene here in nola. all of new orleans' foodies were out in full force, so we only got to enjoy one dish and a disproportionate amount of cocktails (in our defense, the lines at the bar were way shorter).

well played, the big cheesy.

mini modern doll house

2011-09-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

i was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is an entire subset of dollhouse enthusiasts devoted to mid-century modern dollhouses. for the record, asking me how i happened upon this information will not result in an answer, so just don't. there's entire blogs and online shops dedicated to mini modern construction and design (like this. omg!). even cb2 has jumped on the mini modern bandwagon with this affordable (especially when compared to something like this) version, and i'm kind of obsessed with it.

top images via cb2; bottom image via the brick house.

new apartment projects: before & after

2011-09-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

just thought i'd share some projects i've worked on since marty and i moved into our new apartment. to start, i wanted to minimize the amount of different types of wood we have in our apartment, since the floors, moldings and door jambs are all covered in it. so, i repainted my old bedroom dresser, added new hardware and put it in the dining room as a buffet (here are some images i used for two-tone inspiration)

we scooped up this amazing kroehler chair at an estate sale for $25! all it needed was fresh upholstering on the bottom and a new throw pillow (its final resting place in our apartment is still tbd). for now, it will serve as extra seating for book club and saints games.

since we can't afford new nightstands right now (which are surprisingly expensive for such insignificant pieces of furniture!), i decided to take the existing, mismatched ones we had and paint them a uniform color, so they would at least match for the time being. here's one of them:

finally, a few weeks ago becky and i went exploring in her creepy new [old] basement and we found an adorable, but grimy, little fan that had been hidden in the bowels of her garden district house for who knows how long. the only "before" picture i have is this one becky took of me discovering old documents and letters from the early 1960s. because the fan was in such bad shape (i'm inclined to blame katrina?), it desperately needed a steel wool-scrubbing and a paint job, so we went with a sexy black.

new baby second line

2011-09-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

my friend nikki is expecting a little bambino at the end of the month, so she and her husband threw a welcome baby party in their beautiful backyard last night. i call it a welcome baby party as opposed to a baby shower because they were not showered with gifts (that's why showers are called showers, right?) - instead, the soon-to-be-parents asked for support, parenting tips, secondhand baby items and dinner after the baby is born (learn more about alternative gift registries here). i probably won't be able to resist getting them one of these anyway, but that's just me. so the icing on this backyard barbecue was the second line with the 21st century brass band around nikki's neighborhood, which started with the dad-to-be dancing on the shed in the backyard.

here are some other awesome things i've gotten to do in nola in people's back yards - here and here

recent culinary exploits

2011-09-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

pink lemonade cupcakes...

...and jalapeno-cheddar pinwheels for book club

leftover jerk chicken (from here) and salami pizza

new weekend breakfast ritual: breakfast salad!

chicken and mushroom paella (a hybrid of this and this)

cowbell

2011-08-31T06:00:00.001-05:00

the gambit released its best of new orleans issue this week (aka the what to see and do in new orleans bible) and i have spent the better part of yesterday studying, taking notes and memorizing the food & drink section. interestingly, the best new restaurant winner was cowbell, where marty and i went just the other day for a end-of-the-week burger date. the restaurant is in an old gas station in the riverbend neighborhood on bustling and adorable oak street. everything inside is recycled - from the doors that make up the tables to the old metal food tins and mason jars that have been turned into lamps. and the burgers, with their homemade agogo sauce (mayo, sriracha, 900 cloves of garlic and some kind of addictive substance) were amazing.

surfboard table

2011-08-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

marty and i moved into a new apartment - which should explain the recent choosing change silence as i have been working on putting together our new home. in an attempt to disguise the fact that the bulk of our furniture consists of hand-me-downs, items from my parent's basement and thrift store finds, i've been scouring blogs and hardware stores for repurposing ideas. marty and i both love mid-century modern anything (how original, i know), so that's where we've focused our attention. one of the first amazing pieces i found was this surfboard table at a thrift store for $30 - the catch, of course, being that whoever owned it had covered it with sticky contact paper to hide water rings, burns marks and who knows what else. so, marty sanded it down, we stained it a gorgeous chocolate brown and [in my opinion] we restored it to its former glory!

before:

after:

nesting doll tattoos

2011-07-29T13:24:00.001-05:00

how great is this tattoo idea (altho these "tattoos" above were actually created with a felt-tip marker)? such a cool tat for brave (and like-minded, of course) siblings or a family! y'all know i love my matryoshkas.

idea & photo by stealing hearts on flickr

chicago art prints

2011-07-28T11:09:00.000-05:00

marty and i were at a wedding this past weekend in chicago. initially i was at a loss about what to get the bride and groom* until i stumbled upon this adorable etsy shop. hopefully the couple is honeymooning and won't be reading this post, since we ended up choosing these heart-shaped prints of chicago's map and flag. aren't they adorable?

*sidenote: when wedding gift shopping, instead of buying egg slicers and KitchenAid mixers, i usually prefer to get ideas of the couple's style from their registries and then choose a piece of artwork i think will suit their tastes - this usually ends up being more memorable for them and fun for me! wedding etiquette blasphemy, i know, but i am my father's daughter, after all.

backyard scrabble

2011-07-21T10:11:00.000-05:00

this is quite possibly the coolest idea i've ever seen. it blows my super scrabble board (a christmas gift from marty from a few years ago) out of the water!

jamaica.

2011-06-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

just thought i would share some photos from our recent trip to jamaica, which basically consisted of beach, red stripe, jerk chicken, repeat. we stayed in negril and spent a night in montego bay. in negril, we stayed in an adorable boutique hotel, the palms negril, where everyone knew our name by the end of the first day, we didn't have to fight over beach chairs and no one judged us when we ordered hawaiian pizza and played cards on our porch. our biggest adventure consisted of an accidental trip to the famous and super annoying rick's cafe (we intended to go to the sweet spot, a local jerk chicken joint. and when we got into the cab the cab driver sped off and we thought he knew where we wanted to go. and he thought we wanted rick's cafe. so that's how that happened). and of course parasailing - the most effortless $10 a minute i ever spent.

summer of da ginger

2011-06-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

i'm glad that someone decided to address the well-known phenomenon know as the "summer of da ginger." it clearly goes without saying that summer - the season of unremitting sun exposure, constant outdoor activity and frequent spf disregard - is when my fair-skinned companion positively thrives. no? perhaps this individual hopes to bring some much-needed exposure to the red-headed community. maybe it's a declaration that this summer, no amount of sun burn will stand in this ginger's way. either way, i think these photos demonstrate that this discrete campaign is definitely attracting the right audience.

p.s.: yes, those wayfarers do say chicago on the side. no apologies from that ginger.

anxiety girl!

2011-06-08T21:19:00.001-05:00

literally*, this is me.

by natalie dee, via a cup of jo

*to be said like a kardashian, obvs

the butcher

2011-06-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

marty and i finally tried the butcher a few weeks ago. i was already a huge fan of cochon, the butcher's big brother/restaurant, partly because the head chef has a polish last name, partly because they smoke all their own meats, and partly because you can eat like a king even if you're on a budget. the butcher is basically the daytime version of cochon, with delicious hand-crafted sandwiches, a myriad of small plates and lots of pickled goodies. it made the over-30-minute-long wait almost 100% worth it. we followed up with some delish homemade carrot cake whoopie pies (i used this recipe). i definitely will be returning when i'm craving gastropub grub but it's too early to start drinking.

most delayed post ever - jazz fest!

2011-06-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

now that my computer is back in action and i have a proper place in which to organize my photos - as if keeping them on several, easily misplaced sd cards wasn't a brilliant idea - i can start re-enjoying them here on this humble little blog. during the first weekend of may, marty and i got to go to jazz fest (my first time!). stupidly i didn't realize that jazz fest is so much more than a music festival - it really celebrates the culture of the city and the many cultures that contribute to it. in addition to enjoying ms. lauryn hill, who miraculously took the stage on timeish, mystikal (yes. mystikal.), and anders osborne yum, i got to meet and speak to dan baum, the author of nine lives: death and life in new orleans*, see mardi gras indians, and participate in a real haitian "second line" with RAM. to top it all off, i got to hang out with my friends AND eat some delicious food (helloooo, cochon de lait po' boys!). definitely one of my favorite festival days ever.

b.t.dubs, we here at choosing change heart festivals... check out our adventures at strawberry fest, blues & bbq fest, lolla, cajun zydeco/creole tomato/louisiana seafood fest, oyster fest, and of course, wednesdays at the square here and here

mustaches are quickly becoming my favorite thing ever, probably as a tribute to this guy

*read this book. read it if you think you know everything there is to know about new orleans, read it if you know nothing about new orleans. it'll teach you a lot.

bridal brunch

2011-06-06T06:00:00.006-05:00

not surprisingly, i have had a slew of friends get engaged these last few months (at age 26? shocking, i know). most recently, our friends shelby and charley (yes! of athena fame!) decided to get hitched, so becky and i jumped on the chance to put together a little ladies brunch to celebrate. we ate at atchafalaya, where we toasted with make-your-own bloody mary's and silly mustache straws and wore diamond rings that put shelby's to shame (i think you'll see the comparison down below - no competition!).

the bride-to-be at the head of the table, so she could be adored properly

another future bride!

of course, no congratulatory brunch would be complete without a photo shoot in front of a giant cast-iron skillet holding handmade pinwheels. duh! congrats shelb! and meghan too!

apartment therapy, i'm lookin' at you

2011-06-03T06:00:00.002-05:00

i had the opportunity to visit my friend peter's amazing loft this weekend while i was in chicago. he spent the last year and a half renovating it after a stringent application process to become a tenant in this over-100-year-old warehouse. he hand-picked all the fixtures (and designed the lamp in the bedroom by himself!), built the incredible shelving units from scratch, and furnished the giant space with gorgeous mid-century pieces like a set of eames chairs and vintage brunswick pool table. it is, in a word (or two), loft heaven.

memorial day

2011-06-02T06:00:00.004-05:00

i got to spend this past memorial weekend with my family in chicago! memorial day was super low-key. i made sliders (using this recipe) which were a huge hit - even my mom, a self-proclaimed "non-burger person" (as if someone like that could even exist) gobbled them up! meanwhile my mom made her famous taco salad, and we also had salmon salad-stuff avocados, fresh veggies and some delicious and patriotic! desserts from steve's deli. it was so wonderful to be able to spend a relaxing day with my family.

check out everyone busting a gut over old pictures of us!

avant garden

2011-04-22T06:26:00.001-05:00

this past weekend becky and i ventured to the treme to check out avant garden, an arts market hosted by constance, a local new orleans arts organization. the wares ranged from vintage clothing and records to stationary printed on recycled paper and furniture made from salvaged wood (see the coffee table below? those etchings in the wood are actually old termite tracks. eeps!). my favorite vendor (also pictured below) was jewelry artist nailah ricco, whose etsy shop you just have to see. i'll just go ahead and add it to the list of totally-unique-and-badass-things-you-get-to-do-in-someone's-backyard-in-new-orleans.

just a few things from the weekend...

2011-04-18T06:26:00.005-05:00

slow-cooked carnitas tacos (i used this recipe with a few edits - namely, more chicken stock!)

chopped onions for homemade onion dip

hilarious new sunnies at crawfest 2011

blast from the past: brought out my old box full of embroidery thread (friendship bracelets, hello!?) for an ambitious project

ps...

2011-04-14T06:26:00.000-05:00

once you start canning things, you get to do stuff like this:

eeps! too cute!

how to can pontchatoula strawberries*

2011-04-13T06:26:00.001-05:00

so i had to do something with my abundance of strawberries. chocolate-covered? been there, done that. on top of pancakes? already used a container for that over the weekend. i don't have a waffle iron, so strawberry belgian waffles were out. other than freezing some, eating some with cereal, and having some in a bowl sprinkled with sugar, i still had about 10 lbs of strawberries to tackle. so, like any self-respecting polish person, i called my grandma and figured out how to can those babies. it was surprisingly easy and will be gratifying if i can wait long enough to eat them. wanna know how i did it?

not everyone raise your hands at once, please.

i learned how to sterilize jars here. unfortunately, there is no such convenient link to my 20-minute conversation with my grandma, so here goes:

you need fresh strawberries and sugar** (seriously, that's it)
wash the strawberries thoroughly. important: do not cut off their stems until after they've been washed! otherwise, they will soak up way too much water
cut off the stems and dab the berries with a paper towel. place all the berries in a bowl and add enough sugar so that each strawberry has nice little comfy sugar coat. cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight
the next day (i waited approximately 24 hours), place the strawberries along with their juices in a pot and cook over low heat, while you sterilize the jars. let the berries cook down a little (see the "before" and "after" photos below!)
while the jars and strawberries are still hot, fill each jar to the top and cover right away. flip the jars over (this is really to see if you've closed them properly), cover with a dishrag or towel and let them cool. DONE!

note: if, down the line, you notice the berries have become puffy or the cover of the jar has puffed up, do not eat them! they've gone bad. have a berry funeral and move on.

*please note: strawberries other than festival strawberries will work just fine, i guess

**try your darnedest to ignore that little voice in your head saying, "use splenda! it'll taste the same!" it won't. trust me. and you shut your mouth, little voice.

oh, the places you'll go!

2011-04-12T06:26:00.000-05:00

before i begin, let me first apologize for the lack of human subjects that you actually might know or recognize in my posts (namely, me, marty, becky, etc). the heat has arrived and outdoor activities and restaurants such as the one featured in this post just aren't conducive to attractive picture taking. that said, i think the photographs in this particular instance might speak for themselves. on our way to strawberry fest, my friends amanda and rob and i stopped at middendorf's for lunch. we had some delicious, super-thin fried catfish, cornbread hushpuppies, stuffed crab, oysters and shrimp - and we got to enjoy it all on a deck on lake maurepas (and i got to dip my toes in the sand, even though it wasn't a real beach!).

pontchatoula strawberry festival

2011-04-11T06:26:00.001-05:00

festival season is definitely upon us! i spent the weekend eating and sweating my way through two festivals - french quarter festival and the pontchatoula* strawberry festival. i didn't take any photos at the french quarter fest because i was concerned about injuring my camera with the gallons of water that were pouring from my face and hands. in pontchatoula the situation repeated itself but i'd never been so i couldn't not photograph the experience for my mom. i walked away with some delicious pepper jelly, a tray of 12 cartons of strawberries (jarring adventures to come!), and some lovely tan lines.

*good luck pronouncing that, chicagoans!

gone crawfishin'

2011-04-08T06:26:00.002-05:00

liz - my and becky's beloved crawmama - introduced us to fisherman's cove in kenner this past weekend (following our little adventure outside the law). i cannot even tell you how many lbs of these delicious little crawfishies we ate. yes. there were multiple lbs.

ps - nola friends: crawfish boil this saturday for a good cause

wednesday at the square!

2011-04-07T06:26:00.000-05:00

my favorite weekday new orleans activity has returned! after work today becky and i headed to wednesday at the square to see trombone shorty, eat some crawfish queso and relax a little after a long day. the weather was perfect, the music was amazing (we'll definitely be going to see trombone shorty again this weekend at french quarter fest!), and it was just what we needed to get us through till friday!

and the award for the coolest thing i've ever done in new orleans goes to...

2011-04-06T06:26:00.001-05:00

a few weeks ago, marty and i had the pleasure of getting an invite to a tiny courtyard concert. it all started with an email from my friend cheryl, who is a huge fan of pearl and the beard. the band played sxsw in austin and they were supposed to stop in new orleans on their way back up north (they're originally from brooklyn). when suddenly new orleans disappeared from their website, cheryl emailed them to ask why?! apparently the venue had fallen through, so cheryl offered to find them a place to play. what she found, through her incredible network of friends, was the most beautiful, dreamy courtyard on tchopitoulas street. chef aron made red beans and rice, collard greens and rosemary cornbread (!!!), and the gals and guy of pearl and the beard shared their talent and music. neither marty nor i had ever heard of pearl and the beard, but as soon as i heard key words such as "intimate outdoor concert" and "our chef friend will cater" and "new york times-acclaimed band...," i was sold and so was mart. we were thrilled. it was, as the title of this post suggests, the coolest thing i've ever gotten to do in new orleans, if not my life (yes, i went there).

check out pearl and the beard on their website, facebook, youtube, and see their sleepover shows here, here and here.

one day at horrorland

2011-04-05T06:26:00.003-05:00

this past weekend, becky, liz and i decided to be a little adventurous and a lot illegal and visit the abandoned six flags just outside of new orleans, which has been closed since hurricane katrina. it was unlike anything we'd ever seen - creepy, empty, terrifying - even in broad daylight.

it was the real-life version of r.l. stine's above-referenced goosebumps book, which haunted me so that i still remember its number in the series.

the entrance is scattered with debris, office equipment, old computers, and graffiti'ed admonitions, discouraging one's entrance into the park. further in we found defunct amusement rides with the cars still stuck up top and stuffed animals that had floated out of the carnival game booths and into the middle of the park. the "guest relations" office boasted a water line of approximately 4 feet. after our bravery ran out (which didn't take long), we were happy to leave this amusement park graveyard.

dining chair update: before and after

2011-04-04T06:26:00.001-05:00

i recently purchased a mid-century dining set (finally! 8 months without a table has been kind of annoying). i instantly fell in love with the chairs but they needed a little love. aside from the fact that the padding was so thin it was like sitting on the floor, the upholstery was torn, covered in cat hair and hideous. ok, maybe needing only a "little" love is an understatement.

re-upholstering the chairs was pretty easy, but time-consuming and frustrating. frustrating because whoever re-upholstered the chairs 30 years ago went the lazy route and covered the original upholstery instead of removing it first and starting clean. SO it was time-consuming because it took me twice as long to get down to the seat. after that, all i did was add a layer of 1-inch foam, wrapped the seat in batting and stapled down the fabric. it took a while to figure out the best technique, but about halfway through i declared i'd become a professional (i think the corner, pictured below, proves my point).

the old upholstery. "ew" doesn't even begin to describe it.

pizza delicious!

2011-04-01T06:26:00.006-05:00

too. full. to. blog.*

marty and i finally had the chance to join the secret society known as the pizza delicious following. the premise is as follows: every sunday (and now thursday!) a few friends in the restaurant business get together and make pizza. they start taking phone orders about 5 hours before they start cooking, make only a few "flavors" of their choice (today's were puttanesca with pepperoni, sausage, peppers & onions, and margherita), and cook until they run out. the whole operation takes place in a small, single-oven kitchen in the bywater, and delivery is available by bike only - of course. simple business model, simple post. simply pizza delicious.

p.s. they also make rolls, which is basically pizza dough and fillings, similar to a cinnamon roll. marty and i tried the broccoli and cauliflower flavors - yum! those didn't make it longer than the car ride home.

i need to stock up on car napkins, btdubs.

*all i have to say is: thank god i worked out today

yes, we're from new orleans

2011-03-31T06:26:00.001-05:00

don't worry, natives. by "from" i only mean that am a resident, am employed, pay taxes and generally fulfill all the more mundane requirements of being "from" a place (i.e., grocery shopping at breaux mart, enjoying coffee from cc's, listening to wwoz, decorating my house with throws, etc) - AND i eat crawfish on newspaper (the gambit, to be exact) in my living room (while watching anthony bourdain's "no reservations" in new orleans, no less) on tuesdays with my roommate.

AND we suck the heads.

but don't worry, i know where i'm from.

carnage.

ps - speaking of crawfish, remember this?!

mardi gras!

2011-03-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

wow this is late. forgive me? with my computer having bitten the dust and our internet on the fritz, blogging has not been in the cards. in addition i had to allot time for mardi gras celebration and recovery and many, many guests in the past few weeks - with more to come! i just wanted to quickly share a little series of photographs i did in order to memorialize the countless parades i went to during carnival. the first three photos are roommate, me and our friend liz after pontchartrain.

following pygmalion

marty and i after carrollton and king arthur

after muses - with my shoe! (confused? read this)

following iris and tucks

marty and i after proteus and orpheus on lundi gras

valentine's day spread

2011-02-15T07:49:00.002-06:00

who needs to go out to eat when you've got this?

food coma

2011-02-13T20:31:00.005-06:00

these past few weekends i've devoted my time to trying out new recipes. last weekend's favorite was roasted chicken with dijon sauce with parmesan couscous and garlicky al dente green beans. after learning that cake boss buddy valastro now has a cooking show, i immediately tried his wings recipe for the superbowl - and they were a hit*! this weekend i tried making beer bread**, which is by far the easiest, most idiot-proof baked good on the planet. since enjoying it with cajun spinach & crawfish dip during my jersey shore viewing party, i've had it plain (breaking off crumbs every time i walk into the kitchen) and toasted with apple butter (!!!) from the edible schoolyard. finally, in honor of my dear friend maggie's birthday this weekend, i embarked on an arduous journey to bake red velvet cupcakes from scratch (clearly i was still on a high from my successful bread-making experience). they were... alright. edible. good enough. considering the time, effort and expense that went into this (albeit pretty) mediocrity, i do believe i will be sticking to boxed mixes and cupcakes & co. for now.

update: i forgot to mention we also had homemade sliders on saturday night! i used ina garten's recipe since it was my first time making burgers of any kind, and thankfully ina knew that when burgers are mini, they better be flavorful. these were perfect! i, of course, doubled the fresh herb and dijon mustard content (we non-tasters tend to do that) and topped them with caramelized onions and cabot extra-sharp cheddar. YUM.

*my chicken wings edit: 2tbsp honey (instead of 1/4 c.), omit sherry, add 2tbsp Frank's Red Hot and 2tbsp spicy pepper jelly (also from edible schoolyard), 2tbsp rosemary (instead of 1tbsp), omit red chili. i also added whole sprigs of rosemary to the plastic bag the chicken marinaded in.

**beer bread edit: omit 2 bulbs of garlic, add 1tsp garlic powder, 2 tbsp rosemary (instead of 1tbsp)

end of road trip blues

2011-02-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

my week's worth of reminiscing is sadly coming to an end. our second day in st. louis was... how do i adequately describe it... do you remember that feeling you had every sunday morning (or, in my case, afternoon and well into the evening) in college? well, suffice it to say that nora showed everyone a grand old time. the night before started with pitchers of beer, toasted ravioli and darts. to say it went downhill from there would be an understatement. we proceeded to dance party in nora's adorable apartment and make spectacles of ourselves in front of all of her seemingly way-more-mature-than-we-ever-were-at-their-age friends. this was followed by karaoke - in public - where we sang "kiss" by prince and also participated wholeheartedly in everyone else's strangers' karaoke selections. approximately 9 hours in our night and 7 hours after everyone should have gone to bed, we headed to the notorious underage bar on campus where it felt like an episode of teen mom. in my jeans, knee-high flats, knee-length puffy coat and cardigan, i looked at my fellow [frighteningly underdressed considering the subzero temps outside] bargoers with the same look of concern i normally give 18-year-old janelle while she's out clubbing and leaves jace at home...

teen mom 2 fans? anybody? no? okay, moving on...

finally the night ended with 3am pizza, appropriately bookending our day of health and nutrition. the next day was spent peeling everybody out of bed before check-out, taking last-minute photographs of st. louis to prove to my parents i actually did something on this trip other than eat and drink, and visiting famed bbq joint pappy's smokehouse before hitting the road. it was a whirlwind!

dancers among us

2011-02-08T09:00:00.003-06:00

roomie found these incredible photographs of the dancers among us. they are just unbelievable! my favorites are the ones of the dancer/tourists. see them all here.

also, congrats to my college friend beck (featured on choosing change here) for making the front page of the business section on the new york times (see the article here)!

image via jordan matter photography

meet me in st. louis

2011-02-03T06:26:00.000-06:00

only slightly behind schedule, marty and i hit the road toward st. louis after our day in memphis. following our arrival, we met up with marty's sisters nora and annie and annie's husband dan. our first stop was gus' pretzels for a quick snack. the options were as follows: hot dogs, brats or salsiccia baked into pretzels, and pretzels. following this nutritious brain food we took a tour of the anheuser-busch brewery. by "tour" i mean we attended beer school and got to see the famed budweiser clydesdales! unbeknownst to me, a-b actually owns a herd of 250 clydesdales. we got to see like 10 of them and it was awesome! they had the funniest names, including mark, laddie, general and bill. after seeing the clydesdales we moved on to the hospitality portion of the tour (forgoing the touring part of the tour altogether) and enjoyed some freshly brewed brews.

walking in memphis

2011-02-02T06:26:00.001-06:00

cheesy song lyrics aside (did i just get them stuck in your head? sorry! ...not.), we spent the majority of our short time in memphis walking around the downtown area. chilly weather or not, it was shocking to see how few people were out and about! memphis really feels like it's been deserted, so it was very surprising to learn it is the 19th largest city, by population, in the united states! the weather was beautiful and we had a lot of fried chicken to walk off, so we hit up some of the city's most important landmarks (the lorraine motel, sun studio, some hoarder's antique store on front street, etc) and ended up - shockingly, i know - on beale street for some blues.

road trip!

2011-02-01T06:26:00.000-06:00

marty turned the big 2-6 this weekend so we decided to hit the road and drive to memphis for one night and st. louis the next. marty had never been to memphis (but i have! see photos here and here), and meanwhile his sister nora has been living in st. louis for almost 4 years and we had never visited her, so the birthday road trip was born.

of course the trip started at 7am with a trip to the maple st. patisserie for some delicious pastries and coffee. i swear they put crack in their baked goods, they are so addicting! the ham and cheese croissant is the biggest breakfast indulgence but its totally worth it.

oh, hilarious roadside landmarks!

i spent the second half of our leg to memphis searching for a great place to eat lunch on my yelp app and found gus's world famous hot & spicy chicken and O.M.G. is all i can say. mind you, the photos are blurry not because my camera isn't awesome - because it is - they are blurry because we were both too excited about eating what turned out to be the best fried chicken both of us had ever had to hold the camera straight.

the book nook

2011-01-31T11:00:00.000-06:00

since my work friends and i started a book club, the little reading nook becky and i created by our big bright window in our all-purpose room has totally come in handy. from it you can see our huge magnolia tree and the neighbors' bright blue pool surrounded by palm trees. you feel like you're on vacation! thanks to our book nook, i finished the irresistible henry house in a flash (probably because it was amazing and so fun to read) - although nothing, not even a full pot of coffee and the sun streaming in could make freedom bearable (sorry, new york times and the millions of people who got duped into liking this book). during book club downtime i've finished water for elephants (i realize i am three years late in hopping on that bandwagon but i was blown away - the circus is so fascinating!) and now i'm reading the help, which made driving through jackson, mississippi this weekend interesting since the book takes place there in the 1960s (more on the birthday roadtrip later!). next on the book club's agenda is the next thing on my list! since i got to pick henry house, it won't be my turn for quite a while, but does anyone have any book recommendations? i've got a book nook and i need to use it!

art nook

2011-01-28T06:26:00.000-06:00

b's head nearly exploded from joy when i told her i had an easel at my disposal. it was the first thing standing in our apartment and continues to be one of the only things we own with legs (fyi - this is a poorly shielded cheap shot at the fact that we still do not own a table and i do not foresee us owning one in the immediate future). my old work bench (formally seen here) serves as a great base for the vintage trunk we use to store art supplies.

cocktail nook

2011-01-27T06:26:00.001-06:00

i've been a terrible blogger and haven't bragged with pictures of my adorable new orleans apartment (well, except for here). so, over the next couple of days, i'll share some of the "nooks" becky and i have carved out of our little place. our apartment being as little as it is naturally lends itself to the creation of nooks, since there isn't enough space to really create separate areas; that, and we don't have enough furniture for that sort of thing. after i saw this post on a cup of jo, i knew we would need to have a fully stocked, old school bar (um, hello?). becky came up with the idea of mad men-inspired crystal decanters (which we have yet to fill with booze), and i obliged by seeking them out not surprisingly in my parents' basement. my parents also had this amazing bar cart, which happens to have been one of their first purchases in the united states. how cool!? from chicago in the 1980s to new orleans today, it is now adorned with some select libations and a traditional albeit slightly scary-looking mask.

jolie & elizabeth

2011-01-26T06:26:00.001-06:00

roomie's been modeling for new orleans designers jolie & elizabeth for a few months now (check them out here and here). a few weeks ago we decided to join forces and play around town with my camera and photograph some new, mardi gras-inspired designs. this past weekend the sun came out and the weather was relatively agreeable so we got to finally collaborate and have some fun. we ended up shooting some photos by the new orleans school of ballet, the milan lounge, and on marty's roof and front porch (of all places!). i don't know what it is that made jolie think i was qualified to take pictures of her beautiful designs, but here we are. not bad for my first time, right?

bee-fense!

2011-01-25T06:26:00.000-06:00

i got to go to my very first hornets game last night! marty got me a $10 ticket (we're talking nosebleeds, people. the air was so thin up there that we needed oxygen tanks) and it was a ball (no pun intended)! the game was super exciting and the hornets ended up winning at the last second, 91-89. my favorite part of the whole thing was the fact that instead of chanting "defense," the entire arena chanted "bee-fense." hilarious! thanks for the night out, martian :)

welcome to 2011 - with baby fever!

2011-01-21T06:26:00.001-06:00

it feels to me like 2011 has greeted the universe with a baby boom. several friends of friends' (so, in polish, my "cousins") have had some adorable little bambinos in the last week. all of my hollywood besties - namely, natalie portman, alicia silverstone, victoria beckham and marion cotillard (swoon!) - are with child. two of my favorite bloggers (this cutie and this lil bee) are expecting as well. and to top things off, my ADORABLE friend evelyn is having a little boy in a few short weeks!

i do take issue with evelyn, of course, because we took the bar together and it took me until thanksgiving to realize she was in her first trimester during bar study. mind you, this was the girl waking up at the buttcrack of dawn to go to a 6am hot yoga class before bar review and then lapping me at the library every single day (if and when i showed up, that is). here i already thought evelyn was undoubtedly the most put-together person i'd ever met, only to find out she was with child the entire time. needless to say, i'm really glad i passed too because otherwise i would have felt like a real idiot next to her.

evelyn of course made it up to me by inviting me to her baby shower! all is forgiven, as it was my first ever baby shower (marty's, too... thank god for co-ed everything these days!). i take great pride in the gifts we (right - "we") chose - a short stack of golden books (talk about blast from the past!) and some adorable onesies from storyville, a great local screenprint shop with the funniest shirts ever! the shower was so sweet. i can't wait to meet little michael!

ornaments

2010-12-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

i've been collecting blown-glass ornaments for ages, but this is the first christmas that i've actually used them all at once. so it'd been quite a while since i saw most of them, buried as they were in layers of years of collecting. each one is more unique than the last, so i took pictures of my [new] old favorites to share :)

i got this little louisiana crab when marty and i visited new orleans for the first time ever in june 2008. and yes, you can buy ornaments year-round here. why do you think i moved?

oh, christmas tree

2010-12-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

this being my first christmas in new orleans, i decided to go with a non-traditional tree to compliment my collection of blown-glass ornaments. and by tree, i mean trees. given that there is no snow, few leaves on the ground (after all, palm trees don't go bare for the winter) and temperatures holding pretty steadily in the 60s, i figured that the only way to properly get into the christmas spirit would be to turn my apartment into the north pole. so, i bought two trees, the largest, longest strands of lights i could find, and a rustic wreath that becky covered in glittery cupcakes. we settled into our north faces (this continues to excite becky, the floridian), brewed some tea and caramel hot chocolate, and blasted n'sync's christmas album while we decorated our little home.

where to drink in new orleans

2010-12-04T05:43:00.000-06:00

this new orleans drinking guide is kind of amazing. for a better look, check it out here.

holidays! they're here!

2010-12-03T16:18:00.006-06:00

behold, an influx of photographs because i have been neglecting my blogging responsibilities for so long. honestly it's only because being an attorney doesn't leave me with much time or desire to sit in front of my computer and blog.

for the record, i do realize that was a shameless plug of my profession. oh well. it still shocks me sometimes, and as long as it does, i will have to repeat it aloud to make it true.

i kicked off this holiday season with one of my favorite events of the year: the 4th annual white family door county thanksgiving trip! it was, as expected, a weekend full of beers, board games, cheese curds (oh, wisconsin), hiking, and laziness. in other words, HEAVEN. my dad outfitted us with some of his homemade moonshine and we had a ball!

meet & greet

2010-10-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

so you know how famous people love new orleans? well, it's true. where else would one be able to show up late* to a gogol bordello show, only to stay while the bar emptied of gypsy punk fans and suddenly see the lead singer, eugene hutz, hanging around and drinking bottled water? the republic in NEW ORLEANS, that's where!

i got to speak in polish with eugene, a native of the ukraine.

marty was incredibly starstruck and kept telling eugene that america loved him, and, in the alternative, that he was a premium dancer (if you don't know what he was referring to, then you must rent this movie).

eugene said that he loved new orleans because it was dirty and grimy in a way that reminded him of rio, moreso than any other city in the world. i took that to be an enormous compliment.

all in all, showing up late turned out to be incredibly serendipitous. from now on, i will always find out i passed the bar, day-drink too many 25 cent martinis, and pass out for a 3 hour nap before every gogol show i attend.

*like, pitifully late. as in, we saw 2.5 songs, all the time wondering why the band and the crowd were already so jazzed up and sweaty

this is how you carve a pumpkin

2010-10-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

roommate's boyfriend surprised us last sunday night with 4 personal pumpkins he'd gone on a trek to find (apparently, pumpkins are incredibly hard to find in new orleans). we each spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet, searching for images and inspiration. in the end, the results were unique and amazingly dignified*.

jack skellington by yours truly

jackie o. lantern by becky

gene simmons by clinton

murderous kool-aid guy by marty

*ok, not really

dc!

2010-10-23T14:10:00.006-05:00

i had the pleasure of going to dc for nearly a week, courtesy of my new job. i hadn't been since i was 14 years old, so it was amazing to be able to experience the nation's capitol as an adult. the conference i was at took up a lot of my time, but i tried to make the best of it and was determined to visit as many of dc's neighborhoods as i possibly could. in the end, i got to hang out at a jazz lounge in dupont circle, at a french bistro and at marvin on u street, visited the eastern market, ate greek food in capitol hill, and traipsed all over the georgetown area.

i found the metro stops to be beautiful and inspiring. the size and architecture of each stop was amazing!

i got to attend a super fancy-pants dinner at the reagan international trade center. david gregory, host of meet the press, was the emcee! i told ya - fancy.

ever since i started following naomi davis' adorbs blog, the rockstar diaries, i've wanted to visit the capitol hill neighborhood to see what was so special about it! obviously i feel in love with the eastern market, housed in a historical building and home to TONS of fresh food, including meats, cheese, veggies, pastries and fresh flowers.

the georgetown area was perfectly quaint - but way more crowded than i expected. a few too many chain stores and gourmet cupcake shoppes for my taste, but it was a bustling neighborhood and fun to walk around, thanks to the perfect weather.

this painting reminded me of the little prince, my absolute favorite book!

georgetown was... georgetown. imposing, gothic, ivy-leagueish.

this marginally interesting church was the only building in arlington, va (where i stayed) i found worthy of a photograph

cheddar biscuit joy

2010-10-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

i tried my hand at biscuits from scratch yesterday using this recipe. for a first-timer, i think i did pretty well for myself. fresh out of the oven, paired with marty's homemade chili (i acted as his sous chef in that regard), it was the perfect sunday night meal. i'm just surprised i actually had all the ingredients AND tools (namely, a biscuit cutter).

taj mahal at the square

2010-10-17T09:57:00.004-05:00

my roommate has been working at the jazz & heritage foundation for a few months and one of the biggest projects she's worked on is the crescent city blues & bbq (!!!) festival going on this weekend. marty and i went last night to lafayette square (our favorite) to see taj mahal perform. we ran into a bunch of friends and got to see a blues legend - for free! thanks to roomie for all her hard work!

bbq, baby!

2010-10-10T15:19:00.002-05:00

i have a newfound obsession with barbecue since my dad and i tried dry rub for the first time in memphis. since i resigned myself to celebrating with food this weekend, marty and i headed to the joint in the bywater for some brisket, baked beans, carolina-style pulled pork and mac 'n cheese. seeing as it was stupidly our first meal of the day, we (ahem, marty) went a little overboard and ordered three meals for 2 people.

marty and his two full meals

MORE big news!

2010-10-08T15:10:00.006-05:00

i passed the bar! after months of waiting (and weeks and weeks spent studying, but that's neither here nor there) i FINALLY got the results - and i have passed!

this is, without a doubt, the only time in my life i've wanted a test result to be positive

anyway, my title is officially esquire. my friend maggie, who also passed, told me yesterday that her mother started referring to her as "maggie, esq." so now everything maggie does is soooo maggie-esque. it has a nice ring to it, wouldn't you agree?

to celebrate, a big group of us went to commander's palace, which is surely one of the most fancy-pants restaurants in new orleans. while i'd have been just as happy grabbing a celebratory po' boy and an abita, what drew us in was the discounted lunch menu and the 25 cent martinis.

mini-cocktails, courtesy of the owner after she found out we had 3 newly-barred attorneys at the table

my pork tenderloin with roasted pumpkin and liquified hazelnut

marty's duck po' boy

my absolute favorite people

big news!

2010-09-07T20:59:00.003-05:00

i bought a car! it's a nissan rogue and it's ALL MINE!

*okay. please forgive the uber cheesy photo. i know i look like one of those girls who demonstrate the cars at an auto show. in my defense, marty and i were headed for a wedding when my dad wanted to take the picture. besides, i am so high on life right now i don't care how stupid i look.

quote of the day

2010-09-03T18:29:00.003-05:00

on new orleans: "we don't hide our crazy people. we bring them out and parade them around" - dixie carter

first day.

2010-09-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

yesterday was my first day at my new job! yes, i am officially an attorney in new orleans. well, not an attorney. a legal fellow who hopefully passed the bar. and whose criminal background check hasn't come in yet, so i cannot be around children, elderly or disabled individuals while at work. it's kind of awkward. come october, i should be official!

anyway, my first day was crazy busy. i didn't even stop to eat! things will inevitably calm down once i get myself organized (aka go ocd on my desk, track down a filing cabinet and buy myself a planner). everything is very exciting and pretty nerve-wracking. hopefully my second day will involve some sustenance.

image via we heart it

our gallery wall

2010-09-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

ever since becky and i decided to move in together, we dreamt of two things: a gallery wall, and a new orleans-style mantel we could decorate with odds and ends. the apartment i found for us was perfect in all but one aspect: it did not have the mantel we'd envisioned cluttering with our crap for so long. so, we set out on a search for a mantel we could install on one of our many 12-foot-high walls and discovered that old mantels are actually quite pricey. well, you know how when you stop looking for something, you find it? when my dad was in town, we spent some time in magazine street's many antique stores, ogling at the prices and trying not to knock anything over. then i discovered this garage, and lo and behold, what do i find but our dream mantel. the price wasn't right at first, but with dad on my side, we quickly negotiated a fair price and hit the road with our steal.

our gallery wall is made up of art from new orleans, originals by becky and my mom's best friend, and gifts from friends

becky's custom-made simon piece

on the right, a sculpture becky made.