Though the weather has been pretty gray and rainy, Spring has hit the city and I hit the streets. Yesterday I was out in East London for StreetFest, a live art street festival, for a little Sunday chillin
Badmanz
Fleshy canvas
Found this guy representing my Alma Mater in the crowd. HU is everywhere
Performance by Devlin
StreetFest was pretty cool and a nice way to kick off festival season. Definitely ready for all the Spring and Summer fun to come. xx
Sundays are a sacred day to me. The one day meant for true relaxation... no matter how stressful your week has been, or what stresses the week to come might bring. Wrapping up my vacation time, I spent last weekend in Paris (one of my favorite places as you know). Here are a few pictures from my Sunday wanderings in the city.
I spent the day wandering around my friend Adi's neighborhood. Pictures in front of the Pantheon
**haha had to add this- I found this ridiculous music video shot in front of the Pantheon**
After that we headed to Jardin du Luxembourg. The park was packed with people trying to enjoy one of the first days of Spring
It was lovely to sit out in the sun and people watch for a few hours
More strolling led me to a really cool bookstore near Norte Dame. Shakespeare and Company has a host of new and antique books. Upstairs there is also a darling library where you can sit and enjoy classics or your new purchases
To end the day I went to Le Caveau des Oubliettes "The cave of the forgotten"- a former dungeon style jail turned Sunday blues spot. I was fortunate enough to get to hear Adi's friend Mike (pictured above to the left playing the guitar) perform... he was AMAZING! I never ever thought I'd hear some real down home blues in Paris.
Just next door to Le Caveau des Oubliettes is Aux Trois Maillets. Upstairs you can get one of the best steaks in Paris, and downstairs is a renowned old school cabaret. Perfect late night entertainment and eatz.
I'm remembering my lovely Sunday in Paris and already missing it. Its back to work now unfortunately.
.. I guess stickers are no exception?? As I've been walking around DC for the past few weeks/ months I've been noticing stickers...everywhere. Some pretty cool ones at that. I was on a walk in Adams Morgan today and just took some pictures of some I came across.
The trend is a great expression of art, politics, social issues, and of course self. Its also a lot cooler to see a sticker on the back of a street sign than tags on the sides of buildings. Philly has murals, maybe DC will be known for its stickers?
While the signs of spring are everywhere, its still cold as hell in DC... definitely not the 80 degree weather I was enjoying in Mexico. To combat the cold and get back on my cooking game I decided to make what will hopefully be my last stew for awhile.
...Besides, my bestie Jared bought me a slow cooker for Christmas and I've been dying to use it! Best gift ever!!
I've done stews plenty of times so I'm comfortable eyeballing amounts and just winging it. For anyone looking to try a stew of their own here is a recipe from allrecipes.com specifically for slow cookers
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I use soy sauce instead)
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
Directions
Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.
before the meat goes in the slow cooker season and tenderize
Next brown the meat. I use flour but it isn't necessary. Just a few minutes on each side in the pan will do the trick
Chop the potatoes and veggies
Secret ingredient: BEER!!! I used Black and Tan by Yuengling this time, but any dark ale will do
Put everything in the pot and let it rock. 12 hour cook time :( on low if your patient, 6 hours :) on high if your ready to eat like me
Enjoy a bowl and check out the side bar for my cooking music
As is the time honored tradition, me and a group of my friends traveled to Cancun, Mexico for a break from the cold and to get little wild. These are just a few of my favorite photos.
We stayed at the Bracelo Tucancun Beach resort which had an awesome view and kept the mini fridge stocked with Modelo!!
For shopping we went downtown Cancun to one of the more popular markets, Market 28. This was one of our favorite salesmen...he kept telling us he couldn't get enough of our brown sugar
My bestie Jared always making faces
After a couple days of Hotel food we were dying for local cuisine....BEST TACOS EVER!
Cancun was an amazing time and way too much fun.
Check out the side bar for the "Try five beers" Cancun edition for a little taste of Cancun of your own
