The Panic Room

I was always a pretty nervous kid. Worried, a lot and just overall anxious. About my grades, boys, my friends, my family. Typical stuff, I suppose, for a teenager.

But, now, it’s beyond anxiousness. You see, about the time of my 33^rd birthday (this past November) I started having panic attacks. Some small, and some big, but all equally scary. These have been moments when I felt as if my world was closing in and my lungs could not counter the feeling, let alone manage to take actual gulps of air. And twice I found myself on the couch shaking uncontrollably for long stretches of time. I could always function and do the day-to-day after an episode, but in that moment, that actual moment I feel paralyzed-with fear, with illness, and well, with panic. But, then I get into a panic about when the next one will happen, to the point that it might trigger another. I assure you, it’s not a fun pattern to be trapped in.

Read More

Better than the Ice Cream Man

With the holiday season behind us sometimes it’s nice just to have a little something made without heavy cream in the form of a casserole dish; something portable. Now seems like as good of a time as any to talk about one of most current food trends … the food cart.

When I was young this just meant an overpriced bomb pop served by some creepy dude that was likely counting back change to kiddos stoned. But, now, as an adult, it means goodness in a portable wrapper-burritos, fish tacos, pizza, falafel, Korean … mmmm burritos.

And I’m not talking fast food, here, but the carts and trucks that are the lifeline to a city. Some of this popularity is in fact what’s in the container, the other, is the score of finding the truck (a Twitter account helps) while they tussle with permitting. Here’s a look at some of the most buzz-worthy trucks cruising the streets beyond the bomb pop.

So here’s to the New Year and a new decade of eating diverse (local) foods. And for all of you readers in cities with the tasty food cart, be sure you post your favorites. Stay hungry my friends, stay hungry.

BBQ Island
Dessert Truck
Farm 255
Green Truck
Hellava Falafel
Jay Jay’s Good Food Truck
Kogi
Moya Taco * This is rumored to be gone by Chowhound, but i do not have confirmation. I had to list in the hopes that Moya is still alive and kicking; if not, a big tear.
On the Fly
Rickshaw Dumplings
Roli Roti
Skillet
Taquria Star
The Mighty Cone
The Sweets Truck

Vision Board

I read somewhere that most people tend to stick to their goals better if they can visualize them. My mind is apparently wired the same as the majority, because if I see it, it’s generally easier for me to achieve it. In lieu of the standard resolutions for this coming decade, here’s my vision. My creative board of what I’d like to happen and what inspires me to make it a reality. Universe, are you listening? Bueller?… Bueller?… So, what’s on your vision board?

Postcards from Vietnam

Another check-in with Eric & Beth, our friends from the blog El Mundo.  This postcard proves to be an adventurous one … Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Another stop on their trip around the world.

Since in today’s tech age the physical postcard has now been altered to text messaging, here’s the abbreviated (somewhat) summary with photos…

ngoại động từ (English translation from Vietnamese-enjoy!).

Read More

Combat Christmas

I didn’t write this week’s post. An old friend tracked down through the power of social networking did. He has graciously written an extraordinary piece for danapop in what I think captures the true essence of the holiday season.

Happy holidays all.

dp

When I was a kid, I used to watch the holiday messages made by troops stationed overseas.  I aspired to be like those soldiers on television.  I envied those who were off in some far away country, doing interesting things.  I wanted to give a big smile, a wave and tell everyone best wishes from somewhere nobody had ever heard of.  Of course, when I was growing up, we were not at war.

I recently had the opportunity to make just such a video.   You could record a holiday message in an area set aside in the morale tent.  I sat down on the stool, looked at the camera, started to say something, but nothing came out.  I looked at film tech and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”  I then grabbed my helmet and walked off to a meeting to talk about the latest insurgent tactics.

I am not sure why I couldn’t say anything.  Maybe because it was September and it was 110 degrees.  Maybe because Christmas was the last thing I was thinking about.  Maybe because I didn’t want to make a video wishing everyone back home a Merry Christmas, when there was the possibility that I might be dead before the video even aired back home.  And when I tried to say Merry Christmas in September, it just sort of…died on my lips.

Time back home is marked by holidays and the passage of seasons.  The hands on the clock and the days on the calendar have meaning.  Around September, when the air first starts to get a chill, we pull our sweaters out of the closet and can’t help, but think that soon it will be Christmas.

Read More

A Clicquot Worthy Work Life

Ah the art of Savoir-Faire.  Does it really come down to a good haircut and good champagne? Maybe.

Merriam Webster’s definition of the French noun is this:

sa⋅voir-faire

Capacity for appropriate action; especially: a polished sureness in social behavior.

I find it funny right now, in this economy, I’ve gotten a part-time job to fill in some holes with my freelance work while my husband and I both search for full-time work again post his layoff. Oh right, the funny (ironic) part–the 20 hours a week I am working at a gourmet retail store called Bella Cucina Artful Food is the best 20 hours a week I spend. What does that say? I adore it. I love my coworkers, love the product, love our customers and honestly cannot believe I get paid to chat about food all day. That’s interesting to me, considering I’ve spend the better part of my adult life getting the good degree, landing the coveted position at top companies–and for what? To find out I adore retail (or maybe it’s the chatting about luxurious foods all day part)?

At any rate, I don’t think Mireille Guiliano (the queen of Savoir Faire) would be all that surprised. See, she was CEO of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne and took it to 25% share of the market while she was at the helm (she was there from 1984 until her retirement in 2007). And she’s recently written a fabulous business book called Women, Work & The Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility.

This little gem is one part business book, one part style and etiquette. The perfect read in today’s corporate culture.

Read More

Sixthman

Work life for me has always been a delicate balance of finding something I’m passionate about and how that fits into my life in the bigger sense. Now that my husband and I are both in the market for full-time work (click here to hear all about the highs and lows of job loss), it sometimes makes you look at what you’ve done in the past career-wise to see if you’d in fact, like to revisit it.

Thankfully, I’ve enjoyed most of the jobs I’ve had throughout my career (give or take … bosses, now that’s another story, ahem, I digress). Before I became a full-time freelance writer, I was a publicist-a senior publicist to be exact–at a top entertainment boutique firm in Atlanta. Most of my clients were in the food realm, but I did assist on other accounts, and one of them, was by far the most fun … Sixthman.

This niche travel company has booked some of the best known musicians in the world on its music cruises, which essentially put musicians and their fans on the same boat at sea. On any given ship you get to see impromptu performances, as well as your favorite singer hanging out on the Lido Deck. Sixthman charter boats have booked everyone from The Barenaked Ladies to Josh Rouse to Lynyrd Skynyrd … a ship full of fans signing “Sweet Home Alabama” in unison is something, let me tell you. Oh–and even this guy, whose time on a Sixthman ship created quite the Internet buzz with this photo.

I recently got a chance to chat with Sixthman founder Andy Levine who, by the way, seems to have mastered the balance of one’s passion, one’s work, and one’s life.
Read More

Goodie Gift Guide

I adore giving and receiving food as gifts. These days you’d be hard pressed to not find your favorite specialty items online. Here’s a food roundup of sorts, containing what I think are the best edible presents–anyone on your list would be thrilled to gobble up. I’ve tried to include finds from my own travels and discoveries from friends, as well as, fellow writer recommendations. From the best ice cream evah to snack worthy options that would’ve curbed Chris Farley’s hunger … ’tis the season for a full tummy’s worth of gift options.

Read More

Turkey Tension Playlist II

In keeping with tradition, it’s time for the annual playlist fitting of all the turkey and tension your family can handle. This year’s list combines all the components of both food and family dysfunction with a side of past relationship awkwardness. The whole mess equals a true symbol of going home for the holidays in music form.

Here’s to not taking our issues, others, or ourselves too seriously this season. Oink oink, my good man!
Read More

One Man’s Prison is Another Man’s Home

Oh, give me a home
Where the buffalo roam

The state song of Kansas is “Home on the Range.” I remember squawking it off-key at the top of my lungs as a child during school concert performances. Growing up in Leavenworth and Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, you’re always aware of the prisons. There they are. In my child mind I knew it housed and employed people, but that was the extent. In high school my biggest problems (thankfully) were worrying if anyone thought it looked strange that my boyfriend was 6’2” and I was only 5’2” and if I could get the timing right on Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s ‘Good Vibrations’ for a cheerleading halftime performance. But, the prisons were there the whole time. I didn’t see what they really meant, the strange juxtaposition against Leavenworth’s charming downtown filled with historic buildings–one man’s idea of home in sharp contract with another.

Watch any military movie and some superior will shout at his enlisted soldier to shape up or he’ll be transferred to Leavenworth (meaning Ft. Leavenworth, which is the U.S. military’s only prison). Our house on post, the one I lived in from second grade until sixth, stood on a hill overlooking the back of the prison. People used to ask our family all the time if we were frightened to live there, and I don’t remember ever being scared. Even as a child I sort of thought the last place an escaped prisoner would want to be is hanging around in the same area he just tried to rid himself of.

Once we moved off post, to The Boss’s House, we were less than a mile from Leavenworth’s federal prison. Nicknamed, “The Big House,” it has housed the likes of Al Capone, Leonard Peltier, and more recently, Michael Vick.

Dahlia Lithwick wrote an amazing piece for Slate that stuck with me as it delves into topics and issues I won’t even begin to pretend I’m intelligent enough to bring up regarding the prison system in the United States. It’s incredibly well written and a must-read.  I suppose I give more thought about the justice and sentencing more than the average person because of where I’m from. But, when you pass the federal prison in Leavenworth, one thing that always sticks out to me isn’t the barbed wire, or the guards, or the gates … it’s the buffalo. Some yards from the prisoner’s cages are buffalo roaming, grazing and semi-free.

Since the culture of prison is so engrained in Leavenworth’s society, it comes as no surprise that a friend of mine from my high school graduating class is tied to the prisons. Both his parents were incarcerated during pivotal moments in his life. He broke the cycle and is strong enough and man enough to speak about it today. I’m so proud to share this Q&A a longtime in the making.

Especially now with the holidays approaching it’s the age-old lesson of–it doesn’t matter where you are, someone always has it better, but we must remember those who have it worse. We decided together to keep his identity anonymous, but his story could be anyone. For me, this story is one worth hugging everyone in your life a little tighter and never allowing the past dictate the future.
Read More