Life is good, you guys 🍕🍳
Sometimes I have to remind myself of this.
It’s a beautiful morning in Los Angeles (what else is new), and I'm sitting on the porch, eating a leftover slice of pizza with the perfect sunny egg on top. In a little while, I’ll get dressed and go to the farmer’s market. Spend the thirty-odd dollars I’ve got in my wallet on greens, radishes, brussels sprouts, cucumbers. Tomatoes, if they’re showing up yet. Might splurge and buy some chorizo from my favorite meat guy.
Life is good.
I wrote a whole other draft of this letter two weeks ago, on the plane from Florida, where I was visiting my mom who’d just had a surprise hip replacement, to NYC, where we were holding casting calls for Project Runway. I should have typed the thing up and sent it out the instant I checked into my hotel, but instead I took a walk and took a nap and fell into a vortex of work and friends and cocktails.
The gist of it was: My mom fell down and broke her hip. And man was she cheerful about it. She would not stop pointing out how good the timing was. I just mailed my tax return. I have edits to make on my novel… And I’ve been wanting you to come for a visit!Â
She’s a Silver Lining Lady, my mom. I am not. I am more of a How Do You Not See That Dark Cloud Lady. I can’t help it, especially in the face of her relentless optimism. It’s like I’m constantly scrambling to balance her out.Â
Dark chocolate's so good for you!
Right, but aren't you supposed to get the kind without sugar?
So cool that Reese Witherspoon's creating more parts for women!
Yeah... But why doesn't she hire female writers and directors?
I'm so lucky the previous owner fitted out the condo for her wheelchair! Look how wide the doorways are, it's better than the hospital!
Um. I guess I can't argue with that.
I do this to Ricky, too. Though, as he pointed out recently, I balance his lows as well as his highs. Like, lately, when R gets down about politics, I keep insisting that the world is not about to end. That it’s a better place to be than it was, say, 400 years ago. Or even 40 years ago. And this, um, moment we’re having is a blip. The last gasp of the OLD WHITE GUYS? I’d truly like to believe that.
Maybe I’m not a Dark Cloud Lady so much as I’m a Gemini.
Anyhoo.
Preemptively: The Moms is doing great, thanks for asking. She’s already back at work, and enjoying frequent deliveries of pound cake, beef stew, &c., from thoughtful friends and neighbors. Plus she got a two-week visit from her jerk daughter out of it. Best way to get a visit from your jerk daughter is to have emergency surgery, a fact she cheerfully pointed out several times. (Minus the jerk part. My mom rarely calls me a jerk, even when I’m being a TOTAL JERK.)
*****
This month in music: Lorde sneak-peeked two tracks from her new album, and I’m anxiously awaiting the rest. She lists, among the artists who have influenced her: Kanye, Phil Collins, and Patti Smith. Such an eclectic combo (Phil Collins??) but I'm into it.
This month in stationery: Anthony Bourdain scooped me on this (my fault for not publishing two weeks ago), but may I recommend blank notebooks? Not just buying/collecting them, but actually writing in them. I used to be afraid to write in a blank book, I found the pristine pages daunting, but I've pushed through. I drafted both drafts of this letter in a Moleskine. A crisp citrine Moleskine—or an orange one, those are my faves—will give you that sexy new car feeling for approx .0666% of the price.
This month in gluten-free pizza: R and I do taste tests periodically, and Against the Grain's frozen pizza, which is new? or new to us anyway, is the best we've found in our bougie LA freezer aisles. It's really terrific pizza. Not only the crust but also the sauce and the CHEESE, which figures as they are a Vermont company.
This month in gluten-free pasta: I’ve made this pasta with chorizo and chickpeas recipe several times now, and it is consistently excellent. The key, I feel certain, is to use the highest quality ingredients you can find/afford. A lovingly-made chorizo from, say, The Butcher's Block or Jimenez Family Farm makes all the difference. And I like the brown-rice spaghetti from Trader Joe's, it seems less prone to falling apart than smaller-sized gluten-free pastas.Â
This month in NON-GLUTEN-FREE THINGS I ATE (HYPOCRISY ALERT): First off, I tried to find a taco. I really did. I went to the top-rated taco shop in Saint Petersburg, Florida! Turns out tacos are not the thing to get in Florida. Cuban sandwiches are the thing to get in Florida. I'd never had a Cuban sandwich, and also it's important to check every now and then to make sure I really am sensitive to gluten. I am. Turns out, I am. But. Guess what? CUBAN SANDWICHES ARE DELICIOUS. With roast pork and ham and pickles and melty swiss smooshed down flat on the most delicious crusty bread, the Cuban from Bodega kinda blew my mind. Reader, it was worth the headache.Â
xoxo,
Laramie
p.s. pls forward this to someone who has a complicated relationship with gluten.
It’s a beautiful morning in Los Angeles (what else is new), and I'm sitting on the porch, eating a leftover slice of pizza with the perfect sunny egg on top. In a little while, I’ll get dressed and go to the farmer’s market. Spend the thirty-odd dollars I’ve got in my wallet on greens, radishes, brussels sprouts, cucumbers. Tomatoes, if they’re showing up yet. Might splurge and buy some chorizo from my favorite meat guy.
Life is good.
I wrote a whole other draft of this letter two weeks ago, on the plane from Florida, where I was visiting my mom who’d just had a surprise hip replacement, to NYC, where we were holding casting calls for Project Runway. I should have typed the thing up and sent it out the instant I checked into my hotel, but instead I took a walk and took a nap and fell into a vortex of work and friends and cocktails.
The gist of it was: My mom fell down and broke her hip. And man was she cheerful about it. She would not stop pointing out how good the timing was. I just mailed my tax return. I have edits to make on my novel… And I’ve been wanting you to come for a visit!Â
She’s a Silver Lining Lady, my mom. I am not. I am more of a How Do You Not See That Dark Cloud Lady. I can’t help it, especially in the face of her relentless optimism. It’s like I’m constantly scrambling to balance her out.Â
Dark chocolate's so good for you!
Right, but aren't you supposed to get the kind without sugar?
So cool that Reese Witherspoon's creating more parts for women!
Yeah... But why doesn't she hire female writers and directors?
I'm so lucky the previous owner fitted out the condo for her wheelchair! Look how wide the doorways are, it's better than the hospital!
Um. I guess I can't argue with that.
I do this to Ricky, too. Though, as he pointed out recently, I balance his lows as well as his highs. Like, lately, when R gets down about politics, I keep insisting that the world is not about to end. That it’s a better place to be than it was, say, 400 years ago. Or even 40 years ago. And this, um, moment we’re having is a blip. The last gasp of the OLD WHITE GUYS? I’d truly like to believe that.
Maybe I’m not a Dark Cloud Lady so much as I’m a Gemini.
Anyhoo.
Preemptively: The Moms is doing great, thanks for asking. She’s already back at work, and enjoying frequent deliveries of pound cake, beef stew, &c., from thoughtful friends and neighbors. Plus she got a two-week visit from her jerk daughter out of it. Best way to get a visit from your jerk daughter is to have emergency surgery, a fact she cheerfully pointed out several times. (Minus the jerk part. My mom rarely calls me a jerk, even when I’m being a TOTAL JERK.)
*****
This month in music: Lorde sneak-peeked two tracks from her new album, and I’m anxiously awaiting the rest. She lists, among the artists who have influenced her: Kanye, Phil Collins, and Patti Smith. Such an eclectic combo (Phil Collins??) but I'm into it.
This month in stationery: Anthony Bourdain scooped me on this (my fault for not publishing two weeks ago), but may I recommend blank notebooks? Not just buying/collecting them, but actually writing in them. I used to be afraid to write in a blank book, I found the pristine pages daunting, but I've pushed through. I drafted both drafts of this letter in a Moleskine. A crisp citrine Moleskine—or an orange one, those are my faves—will give you that sexy new car feeling for approx .0666% of the price.
This month in gluten-free pizza: R and I do taste tests periodically, and Against the Grain's frozen pizza, which is new? or new to us anyway, is the best we've found in our bougie LA freezer aisles. It's really terrific pizza. Not only the crust but also the sauce and the CHEESE, which figures as they are a Vermont company.
This month in gluten-free pasta: I’ve made this pasta with chorizo and chickpeas recipe several times now, and it is consistently excellent. The key, I feel certain, is to use the highest quality ingredients you can find/afford. A lovingly-made chorizo from, say, The Butcher's Block or Jimenez Family Farm makes all the difference. And I like the brown-rice spaghetti from Trader Joe's, it seems less prone to falling apart than smaller-sized gluten-free pastas.Â
This month in NON-GLUTEN-FREE THINGS I ATE (HYPOCRISY ALERT): First off, I tried to find a taco. I really did. I went to the top-rated taco shop in Saint Petersburg, Florida! Turns out tacos are not the thing to get in Florida. Cuban sandwiches are the thing to get in Florida. I'd never had a Cuban sandwich, and also it's important to check every now and then to make sure I really am sensitive to gluten. I am. Turns out, I am. But. Guess what? CUBAN SANDWICHES ARE DELICIOUS. With roast pork and ham and pickles and melty swiss smooshed down flat on the most delicious crusty bread, the Cuban from Bodega kinda blew my mind. Reader, it was worth the headache.Â
xoxo,
Laramie
p.s. pls forward this to someone who has a complicated relationship with gluten.
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