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Author: gracespaulding@aol.com

Ariannagram: 9 Reasons Thank U, Next Is A Better Enneagram Album Than Sleeping At Last’s

Ariannagram: 9 Reasons Thank U, Next Is A Better Enneagram Album Than Sleeping At Last’s

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I finally finished this post, and it only took half as long as it did for Sleeping At Last to create his entire Enneagram album! This thesis has been met with a wide range of reactions, from full-on support (mostly my boyfriend + one friend) to a girl who self-identifies as a 2 who, upon hearing the song that corresponds with her number from this album, said succinctly, “no, Sleeping At Last’s is better.” (She obviously has a 1 wing)….

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Hot Stew & Cold Soup

Hot Stew & Cold Soup

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Oftentimes, it’s better to let someone else do the talking about the food. In this case, it’s Anthony Bourdain and he’s talking about the virtues of vichyssoise. I asked our patient British waiter what this delightfully cool, tasty liquid was. “Vichyssoise,” came the reply, a word that to this day—even though it’s now a tired old warhorse of a menu selection and one I’ve prepared thousands of times—still has a magical ring to it. —Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential In fact, it…

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Snow Days & Charades

Snow Days & Charades

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     The first time I ever watched Charade, it was during a typhoon day in the Philippines. We were in the basement of the Baucks’ house, the place where we watched so many formative movies—Legally Blonde, all of the Star Wars movies, most likely You’ve Got Mail, anything else?—while we had the day off from school. Charade was scary enough for me as an 11-year old that all of the dead bodies they portrayed gave me a true fright,…

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More Like “Ugh in the Afternoon”

More Like “Ugh in the Afternoon”

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     I guess it’s true that there are fewer Audrey Hepburn movies that I have seen than not; hopefully this project will change that! I mostly stick to the basics: Sabrina (I prefer the remake, honestly), Roman Holiday (best), Breakfast At Tiffany’s (fave), How to Steal A Million (enjoyed), Charade (love!) and Wait Until Dark (so good). Since I’m absolutely plowing my way through the recipes in the book, I better get started watching more of her movies. I’ve…

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Madeleines & Mac and Cheese, Bellinis & Spanish Tortillas; or “Adulting, But Make It Potatoes”

Madeleines & Mac and Cheese, Bellinis & Spanish Tortillas; or “Adulting, But Make It Potatoes”

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Krystal deigned to visit me in the northernmost reaches of Massachusetts where I live (basically New Hampshire, as I tell people, which is like the world’s saddest inside joke between me and just my address; no one laughs at it—of course, how could they). 80% of what we did was eat potatoes. At one point, Krystal said, it seems like we’re guessing at what adults do. Is this right? Are we doing this right? We ask as we cook about…

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Why Audrey?

Why Audrey?

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For good reason, people ask me regularly why I love Audrey Hepburn so much. I feel very rationally about my love for her, so I have less of a visceral reaction than when people ask me, for example, why I love Beyonce so much (to be fair, they have stopped asking me this so often, which they should, and good for them/thank you)  or even why I love Ariana Grande so much, which I have been developing a thesis on,…

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What’s In A Thanksgiving Movie?

What’s In A Thanksgiving Movie?

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I recently saw a post on an Instagram story examining what qualifies as a Thanksgiving movie. I was  thrilled, because I love Christmas and celebrating it as much as it’s worth, but that also means wanting to not dilute it until it bleeds out into the other holidays. Granted, in the Philippines where I grew up, they start celebrating in the “brr” months (as in, Septembrr”) and I never could complain. But in a country where Halloween and Thanksgiving are…

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Whole30 pt. 3: Body Stuff

Whole30 pt. 3: Body Stuff

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I’ve been putting this post off for a while because it feels so out of character, and because I’m just a non-expert on all of this and am thusly hesitant to add my voice to the cybernoise. So here are some of the thoughts I was frantically trying to articulate in the audio diary ep this week: I live in a well-represented, privileged body, and I have no experience with eating disorders, so don’t take my word for any of…

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Whole30 First 10 Days: “Are You Kidding Me?”

Whole30 First 10 Days: “Are You Kidding Me?”

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Day 10 is officially over. Let’s assess the damage. Day 1: “Vegans have it so easy.” Day 2: We went to happy hour, which was not the greatest idea in hindsight. Day 3: “Venti pumpkin spice almond milk latte for free. Are you m************ kidding me?” Day 4: “I wish we were allowed to have wine. I just feel like that’s unacceptable to take out of someone’s diet.” Day 5: “I was just about to have a piece of bread….

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Whole30 Compliant

Whole30 Compliant

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  Over the weekend at our Kaleidoscope retreat, we performed a grocery store challenge: two teams bought ingredients for dinner and dessert respectively, then we switched roles to prepare each part of the meal for the rest of the group. While this could have been a tame endeavor, each team took the creative license to provide a little bit of a challenge to the other. The rules: you have 10 minutes and $20 to purchase the groceries; you must use each ingredient,…

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