I Don't Know Why, But I Really Hate Rachel Ray

You know that cheery personality lady on food network and a million other places? (Including dunkin' donuts coffee commercials) Well. I have an irrational hatred of her! I have no idea why... it has something to do with her voice and her constant upbeatness and her annoying abbreviations. Haha. E-V-O-O! :(

Why am I talking about Rachel Ray? I tend to avoid her as much as possible on TV, so while yes, I was just watching Top Chef Masters, that has absolutely nothing to do with THAT WOMAN. The reason, however, that I am mentioning her is that I just realized I have a relatively short amount of time (considering work and all) before I move into my very own apartment!

I'm a fair cook. I can follow recipies pretty well but I've never really cooked much more than once (lack of experience and all) and I have to ask/look up a bazillion things that cook books just assume you know. I own a brownie/fruit bar pastery type cook book, but nothing that'll help me COOK. I'd really like someone to buy me a housewarming Joy of Cooking type thing, but I'm not sure that'll happen, so I think I'll just photocopy my mother's cookbooks, put them in a binder or whatnot. And she has this Rachel Ray cookbook with, as much as I hate to admit it some decent recipes.

BUT I CAN HEAR HER VOICE WHEN I READ IT, it's clear she actually wrote it, no ghost writing for her. Which in her case (or rather, my case) isn't a good thing! I hate using it because of that, even though the dishes are quickish and there are quite a lot of things I'd like to try (particularly the cocktails!!)

Hopefully this'll turn out like my irrational distaste for Bobby Flay.... which is to say that it dissipates. Of course, he's only my favorite iron chef now because Morimoto and Batali disappeared and well. Cat Cora is just like. Blarg. and Michael Symon is..... OH MY GOD so much worse than Flay (Besh should have won >_<).

Would You Really Walk Down the Aisle to This?

This video has been going around recently. All I can say to it is.... what the hell? Walking, no, dancing, down the aisle to Chris Brown's "Forever". I mean, let's not even discuss the quality of the song itself. (Because I WILL have something to say about that, too, not being such a Chris Brown fan.) But really? You want to walk down the aisle to something that you wouldn't otherwise even remember in 10 years?

Does sophistication have less value in the modern day? I suppose that's a loaded question... Let's say, does classic style have no support among us youngin's ? I'm not saying there can't be variety, or fun, but for a once in a life time thing, it really should last a life time! It's like a getting a tattoo... you don't want to get a reference to some TV show you just fell in love with, or name your child Sabrina because you can't get enough Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

See look, there's this video... See, it's a fun pop culture reference, but it takes place at the reception, which is basically just one hyped up party! That's the time for fun, not the ceremony. That being said... I'm not a big fan of this video either... Sure it's at the reception, but you're going to ruin your first dance? I dunno. I guess I like keeping once in a life time things special. You'll only have your first dance as Mr. and Mrs. once.

I suppose my conclusion is.... please, nothing except the wedding march for walking down the aisle okay? Anything I can at least stomach (if not exactly approve of) but seriously. You'll thank me later.

Cakes! Yum yum.

So, I was watching Ace of Cakes and I thought to myself, "MAN, wouldn't it be awesome to have an excuse to order an awesome insane cake?" Unfortunately, the only time I'm liable to have a reason to buy a complex cake is... well, a wedding cake? So here we go....

First off, jeez, wedding cakes can be expensive. The cheap ones appear to be $5... a serving. And a wedding cake is something like 150 servings. So cheap is what? $750? I guess that's okay. But I'm sorry. Like I saw one cake, $13.50 a serving ($2000!), that was dusted with pearl dust. The place that I saw the most pretty cakes, http://somethingsweetbymichelle.com/ , they don't even post the prices on the website!! (If you have to ask, you can't afford it?)

How much can you really justify paying for something that you eat in one evening, that's the question. I read a tip regarding this: make everything except one layer cardboard that's beeniced, and then just give out sheet cake to everyone else except the bride and groom. And thereally short cakes just kinda look pathetic. I think I'd rather have a fake cake, haha. This one to the left is pretty cool though, as short cakes go.

There are some really cool cakes out there. I mean, really. I saw a beehive cake on Amazing Wedding Cakes (although I don't think that would be such a good choice for a wedding cake). And some of the more wedding themed ones are very fun looking, even modern. I seem to have a pretty classic taste though. I prefer them to be predominantly white or beige or gold or light pink, and my favorite decoration is flowers. There are some other rather pretty ones, but anything with black is too dark ( in my opinion) for a wedding!!

And then there's this "Groom's Cake" thing that all these shows seem to suggest that I've never heard of before this. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! Haha. The cakes are kind of crazy, maybe pretty fun though. I think it'd only be a good idea for a bachelor's party or maybe the rehersal dinner? But I don't think it'd be worth spending a lot of money, and it looks like they typically use a bunch of fondant (fondant being the more expensive, slicker/harder icing...). I realy don't know anything about them, besides the fact that those are usually the more interesting (interesting vs. beautiful) cakes.

Do I Really Need a Rug?

My theme is something like this: basic modern black and white meets organic blues and purples. The walls in my room go along well with this idea- all white, so with other black and silver and white furniture we have a very good (but very plain base). I'll have candles and vases with flowers and posters and pillows to make things a little more beautiful, but what about the floor? It's carpeted, so I hardly NEED a rug.

The problem is, rugs are expensive. Anything that would cover the area I'm looking at will probably be $80 minimum, and from what I've seen looking, there isn't too much that really matches my theme! I could always wait until I find something just right and add it later, but I know when all my heavy furniture is in place, I won't want to go to the trouble to put it under everything.

Does anyone know where I could see a good selection of relatively cheap rugs, or can anyone think of something they've seen that'll match my design scheme? The closest thing I've found is $250 so I'm definitely still on the lookout.

To Bean Bag Chair or Not to Bean Bag Chair...

So, the bean bag chair. Well, couch really. I went into LoveSac (lovesac
.com) with one of my roommates for fun and indeed. Love. Now, the one we thought was heavenly certainly deserved to be... it was about $800. The sales associate let us in on an awesome deal- $450 for the bag (and footstool!) to the right.

Now that is by no means cheap. It would be the single most expensive item in the apartment, and I didn't exactly spare any expense in my bedroom. But we were originally going to buy a nice new TV and that would have been about the same amount.

Besides, when else besides college can you justify using a bean bag chair as a couch?

Bienvenue!

Interior design, food, weddings... I have a limited need to think about these things right now. Still, I do, and my boyfriend has finally snapped, refusing to listen to another word about realty or $5000 dresses. Enter this blog: I will present to you my thoughts and inspiration for my future (particularly the domestic parts!!) and you can have the chance to look at the inside of my head... or not!

Enjoy :)