the squirrel whisperer

"may i please have a nut, sir?"

"i demand a nut at this moment!!"

"i'm quite famished myself.  don't mind if i help myself to some."

"oh, don't forget about me!"

(i'm a dork, i know.)

everyone in the park slowly started to notice how all the squirrels and pigeons were flocking to this one old man.  a pigeon just landed and parked on his knee, nonchalantly.  squirrels were at his feet. other birds surrounded him.

and then, he pulled out nuts from his plastic shopping bag and the feeding frenzy began.  i guess they knew it was dinner time.

by the way, did you notice i gave the animals british accents? haha.

-jillian m.


[photos: bobby tutton]

vanessa's dumplings

i read somewhere that vanessa's dumpling house has the best dumplings in new york city.  i looooove dumplings, so obviously i had to try them. 

there's not much to say about the ambiance of the place...it's small, crowded and dim with limited seating.  but the food was amazing and very filling.  i ordered boiled veggie dumplings and a sesame pancake the size of a slice of pizza (it was crisp and tasty on the outside, fluffy on the inside).  bobby ordered delicious fried pork and chive dumplings (which are said to be a favorite among fans) and the fried pork buns. since there were no seats, we carried our takeout to a nearby park and munched on an empty bench.

oh, and the prices? unbelievably cheap!  here's what we spent on lunch, not including drinks and tax:

• chive and pork fried dumplings: 4 for $1
• vegetable boiled dumplings: 7 for $3
• sesame pancake: $0.75
• pork fried buns: 3 for $1

total = $5.75.  yup...for real.

-jillian m.

new camera alert!

just wanted to say a quick thank-you to the people that gave me some suggestions for my new camera!  i seriously considered everything (price, quality, ease, etc.) and i made the decision that my original choice, the nikon d3000, was best for what i was looking for.

so happy with my new purchase!  i can't stop playing around with it and snapping pictures.  click, click, click...i love that sound. 

i went into the backyard for some nature and natural lighting. enjoy some of my first photos with this camera!

-jillian m.

cute tin signs

these signs are all over the city.  and even though they're about as common as anything, i have to smile when i read them.  how clever and funny are they?  and i love the the faded colors and edges ...it's so vintage-y.

i'd like to put up the coffee one in my kitchen.  right over the coffee machine!

-jillian m.

hello fall!

it's here.  and instead of whining about the end of shorts weather, i have decided to embrace the change!  how very un-taurus of me.  things i'm looking forward to: pumpkin-picking, cozy sweaters, halloween, pretty scarves, hot apple cider at the flea market, my knee-high riding boots, flannel, crunchy leaves and cool breezes.

what's your favorite thing about autumn?

-jillian m.


[photos: 1-josep ma. rosell, 2-stacy bass, 3-lori]

scenes from the summer

it's officially the last day of summer.  and i must say, it's been one of the best summers ever.

getting laid off in june was a blessing in disguise.  i got to enjoy my summer off like a college kid again before starting a new job this september.  and that meant beaches, parks, friends, county fairs and plain ol' fun in the sun whenever  i wanted! 

farewell summer.  you were very good to me...

-jillian m.

[photos 1,2: bobby tutton]

purples and greens

i was sorting through some of the pictures i've taken over the past few months and i noticed a recurring theme: purples against a backdrop of greens.

i'm tempted to say these are grapes, but i'm pretty sure they're some other type of berry.  if you know, please tell me!

imagine these lavender flowers with the smaller green leaves as decoration for your hair?  i think it would look so dreamy (and perfect for an outdoor wedding).

 found these in front of a doctor's office.  not too exotic, but still so tiny and cute.

stems of purple peeking out and trying to claim the spotlight from the bold green plants

-jillian m.

guilty pleasures: specialty coffee drinks

high-calorie coffee drinks are one of my many many guilty pleasures.

the caramel latte from Panera probably isn't that bad compared to some of my other favorite drinks (shout out to Gloria Jean's white chocolate caramel cookie chiller!), although it's so yummy.  the best time to enjoy this is when you're having a low-key lunch with a friend or (in this case) the backyard on a nice day.  funny, because coffee is supposed to be a pick-me-up, but it so relaxes me at the same.

it's the little things...


p.s. friday could not have come at a better time.  have a great weekend!

-jillian m.

last days of summer: point pleasant

it may be the last time i get to go to the beach this year (tear).  and to be honest, i never set foot on the sand so i'm not even sure it counts as "going to the beach".  we did the boardwalk thing.  bob is not a big fan of walking the boardwalk, but i really love it.  greasy food, tiki bars, shops selling cheap Jersey shore hoodies and salty sea air.  what's not to love?

oh...and arcade games.  i could actually dedicate a whole other blog post to our (translation: my) competitiveness when it comes to air hockey (or any game, for that matter).   we had some pretty fierce rounds .  the puck paced back and forth at ninety miles an hour...we got sweaty...we pulled arm muscles...it went down.

-jillian m.

Levain cookies, recreated

remember those awesome cookies from Levain Bakery i told you about in this blog post?  well...i (kind of sort of) recreated the recipe (translation: i did my best to create the yummy magic of Levain cookies with this simple mock recipe i found).

ok, so it wasn't as "epic" as i wanted it to be, but that's ok!  there were lessons learned and there are things to be improved for next time (more chocolate chunks, definitely.  perhaps add some vanilla extract?).  and by the way, i'm very open to suggestions for making the cookies less crumbly and more moist! 

with that being said, these cookies were very good.  yes, they looked like scones (or biscuits), but they tasted like warm, home-baked cookies (duh).  a bit crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. 

 the flour, butter, sugar, eggs and chocolate chunks come together.  sometimes, you just have to take matters into your own hands

 big chunks of cookie dough that i'd love to eat as is

 hot out of the oven...

-jillian m.

last days of summer: end-of-summer bbq

an unofficial end to the summer: a labor day barbecue.  it wouldn't have been complete without the four f's: friends, family, fun and of course, food.

we laughed, ate watermelon, sipped on ice-cold refreshments, ate chicken and talked and talked and talked. 

 -jillian m.

running through the fountain

oh, to be a kid again. 

i love how children think.  they don't care about getting their hair or clothes wet.  they just want to have fun doing whatever.  and if that means frolicking through a fountain, then so be it.

sometimes i wish i was that free-spirited.  but for now, i'll just look at these pictures and remember the days when we used to play in fire pump water!

-jillian m.

i love my friends because...

we gossip over wine...

we share fried chicken and waffles together...

and because they take pictures like this...

and this!

-jillian m.