It's Sunday night. The weather has been stubborn all day, as angsty as a frustrated teenager. I woke up to dark gray skies. The trees lining our street bent and shivered in the heavy gusts of winds coming off the bay. The rain thudded against the windows. When I padded downstairs in slippers and pajamas, the kitchen skylight was being pelted with water: a persistent tap-tap-tap of heavy raindrops.
Read morePerfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
A few things I love lately are surprising, and others wholly unsurprising. I hope they brighten up your October in some unexpected way. I hope something here makes you smile, or feel a pang of the good kind of nostalgia, or gives you a little shiver of comfort. The sort of comfort that makes you sink into yourself: The same sensation you get when it's chilly outside and you wrap a sweater tightly around yourself, or when you're cold and you step into a warm storefront, or when you smell the aroma of garlic and olive oil cooking on the stove.
Read moreCornmeal Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
What I'm loving: The warmth of just-tumbled clothes from the dryer. Today is unexpectedly chilly, with a gray drizzle that stops and starts, set against a similarly slate gray sky. I pull on my softest long-sleeved t-shirt, an old heather gray one that's worn around the cuffs and neck, emblazoned with the name of my college.
Read moreSOFT + CHEWY FUNFETTI COOKIES
The air above the stove is hot and thick with the scent of cumin and fish sauce. The wooden floor feels cool against my bare feet, which are sticky and rubbed red from wandering the city streets in sneakers and no socks (I know! Not wise. It was the consequence of rushing out the door. I also wore a tank top all day printed with the words tacos + tequila so clearly today wasn't tops, sartorially speaking). Wednesday is an unpredictable day. On this one, too many cherries were consumed (I can't learn my lesson here). I drank a decent amount of coconut seltzer and ginger kombucha. My skin stings with sunburn.
Read moreULTIMATE MAGIC COOKIE BARS
Less is more, they say. But listen, sometimes more is more. For example, one cookie would be less and two cookies would be more and you see where I'm going with this. Or, to put it another way, sparkling wine alone would be less but a measure of St-Germain and lemon juice and simple syrup and a sprig of mint and a splash of seltzer water topped with sparkling wine would be more.
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