Stranger Things on Broadway

There is a new Stranger Things play on Broadway.

Grace had an extra ticket and asked me to go with her.

It's a good play...the staging is incredible, so is the acting.  The story is..... mostly good.

It could have been a half hour shorter.

The end was fantastic, it got a standing ovation.

It'll do well on Broadway, I think.

Despite the play REALLY not being for children, the people behind us brought their child and it was annoying and distracting.

If you are in town and are thinking of seeing it you should.

When I got home there was an AMAZING gift in my mailbox from Dru:

Thanks Dru!!

An Important Update

Today I went to the office and made tea like I always do, and to my surprise, someone found budget somewhere and got more small spoons for the office.

No more shovels!

They are a good size and have a good weight to them.

I have a lot of spoons and don't need more, so if these disappear it won't be because of me.

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I guess I gave Janae a jade plant in college and wrote her a letter.

She was going thru old stuff and found it. This must have been around 1996, prob my second year at Pratt.

I think I wrote a very nice letter!

I Am Unreasonable, A Labyrinth Dilemma, and ...REALLY?

I went to the office today and made tea, because i am always making tea.

Usually the kitchen has nice small teaspoons.

Not today.

They were all gone.

So I had to use the shovel pictured below to stir my tea.

I work for a British company and this would never fly in the London office!

The reason I am unreasonable to complain about this is that I have a spoon of the correct size in my backpack.

I always carry one. Because you never know when you will need a spoon.

I just didn't feel like washing it.

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There is a little labyrinth in Battery Park, and I want to paint there.

So today I took a walk at lunch to scope out the location.

I couldn't find it......

It's been a while since I was in Battery Park and it is a fuckcluster (and also a clusterfuck) of construction.

I am so embarrassed for my city.

It's so bad.

After texting with Kedrin, commiserating about the construction, and admitting defeat, I finally found the hidden secret entrance, which looks like it is barricaded by construction.  You'd never find it unless you were specifically looking.

I can't believe I found it!

It is a very peaceful adorable clearing- or it would be without the construction.

I'm not sure if I want to paint here or not (yet) because that dumb construction wall is such a bummer.

I could move the landscape at the left over, but I don't know.

It does affect the light, and not in a good way.

Something to think about.

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This train notification just came in....... REALLY? SERIOUSLY?

THIS is what we have come to???

Apples, Trees, or Something........

Anyone who knows me for 5 minutes knows I have tea in my veins instead of blood.

Black, green, herbal... I am constantly drinking tea.

Daya also drinks tea.

Mostly herbal.

We do have an astounding amount of tea in this household, and we also go through an astounding amount of it.

Daya might be worse than I am... this is an example of her nightly tea brewing...

Yes all these are hers, brewed at the same time.

She will drink all of it.

I am likely to go through 3-4 large cups a night as well, but I use one cup at a time.....

I can't tell her she might be a little bit like me......

I have to say this somewhere........

 ....... in some ways, my kid is just like me...........

Of course I can never tell her that.

Anyone who knows me knows I drink a stupid amount of tea.

Black and herbal.

After my morning black tea I just switch right over to many various herbal teas and drink that all day every day.

When Daya was younger she wanted nothing to do with my teas.

These days, however, she's as hooked as I am.

When she gets home at night, she makes tea:

Yes, those are 2 large cups each with  3-4 tea bags in them.

I don't even do that......

She's worse than I am!

We go through massive amounts of tea in this household.

The Universe Imploded (PRT)

8:27am, Sunday

I am out of tea.

Well, no of course I am not out of tea but I am out of any sort of good standard black tea, except the decaf I got at Trader Joe's by accident.

While I do have the wonderful Tea Brick that Carey sent me  I have to grate it and I don't want to grate it right now.

I am in shock. I still don't believe it, though it really appears to be true.
The irony is that I found a HUGE box of Twinings Irish Breakfast last week in Manhattan.
I bought two (2) boxes AND THEY ARE BOTH IN MY DESK AT WORK.

I could run down the block (I certainly will later) but I'm not mentally prepared for that.

So I need to wake up with Twinings Mixed Berry Black Tea.



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I started a painting last night, oil.  Here is the first layer, just a block-in, a map.
The goal is to finish this month.

Always Welcome

This tea truck was in my neighborhood.
That is the perfect place for it to be.

A Tea Truck!

Much Matcha

Matcha is a kind of Japanese green tea powder, traditionally used in tea ceremony.  It is also used to flavor sweet things and it is WONDERFUL. I wish I could find matcha kit-kats here.  Even the Japanese groceries don't have them.

Matcha has become trendy here, but I have been seriously into it for over 10 years. It is very healthy for you, too. Fine grade matcha is very expensive. It is prized for its gorgeous emerald color, its health benefits, and its taste.

When I get it in the local Japanese grocery, I pay about $7 an ounce which is pretty good.  As a tea, there are certain ways to prepare it- it is not like regular tea steeped in boiling water.  Anyhow.

Matcha.
Makeup.
They go together.

Melissa from Kiss & Make-Up and I were talking about matcha, and our love of things green, and her trip to Japan (I am insanely jealous). So we decided to do a matcha beauty inspired blog post together.

So here are my matcha-inspired favorites and a matcha-inspired makeup look.

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Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and Green Tea Lavender fragrances
Green Tea has been my favorite Spring/Summer fragrance for several years.  It is lovely.  I think it is also discontinued...but the lavender green tea (I just got this last week) is pretty close.

Most people who know me are aware that I have a really stupid amount of Urban Decay.

It is ridiculous.

I LOVE Urban Decay.

My UD matcha colors:

Kush                    Lounge

I would be terribly remiss if I did not put OIL PAINT in my products list.  Gamblin's pthalo emerald (PG 36) is a great warm-leaning green, for those times when you are not mixing your own. PG 36 is non-toxic and is likely in your green eyeshadow formula.

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I chose Kush for my matcha makeup look. Kush is part of their permanent collection and it is a great color.

I used Kush with these colors from UD Naked Smoky.
1. crease
2. top highlight
3. outer corner
4. inner corner

ALSO USED:
UD 24/7 pencil in Lucky (lower lash line) - discontinued unfortunately
Kat von D tattoo liner (the black one) upper lash line
UD Perversion mascara
Lippie is UD 1993


I don't know how Melissa does this selfie thing all the time.  It's hard.

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My pet rat Q-Tip wanted to be in the matcha blog post because he can rock green like nobody's business.

....and then.....
My cat Isis came over, kissed the rat, and gave me the stink-eye until I told her she could be in the blog post too.  Because she is a cat and that's what they do.

kitty-rattie kiss

matcha stink-eye

Matcha Puddding

In keeping with my adoration of all things with matcha, I have made matcha pudding.

It is so stupid-easy I do not know why I didn't think of this years ago.
I have made matcha waffles, pancakes, tea (obviously), smoothies......I don't know what took me so long with matcha pudding.

Anyhow, mix however much matcha you want (I used probably more than most people would) with vanilla pudding mix. (I used instant)
Then prepare as normal.

Beautiful Matcha Pudding

This week I need to make a matcha angel food cake.