Office Space

Office Depot sent our office an over-sized box filled with a few desk calendars and seventeen feet of plastic packaging. After being appalled by the waste of plastic (who needs desk calendars protected from breaking?) we decided to turn the strip into temporary installations.

It's the little things that get you through slow Friday afternoons.

 

Falling Behind...

What the hell! December is six weeks away and we have a lot left on our Fall to do list. We've checked off a few things (Hershey Park, pasta making, digging through Second Chance, Oktobertfest drinking in Federal Hill, lounging in the empty Mt Vernon Park fountain...) but we are woefully behind.

We present to you our abridged list of super fun BaltiFall activities. You won't get through them all, but you'll probably get drunk trying.

Oysters at Mamas on the Half Shell

One last hurrah on the patio at Little Havana
Baughers for apple picking
BMA for the Warhol exhibit
Mt Vernon Ghost Tour

Fells Point Halloween

Trying (but inevitably failing) to replicate a seasonal Dangerously Delicious pie

Hanging with the freaks and geeks at the Renaissance Festival
Winterizing & accessorizing on the cheap at Vogue Revisited

Mulling spiced (and spiked) cider and carving pumpkins
Sipping a pumpkin spice latte at The Book Thing
Hot soup on a cold day from Soups On

Bundling up for a Ravens game

Scarecrow making

Bon Fires

Tried and True

(Image courtesy of Canadian House and Home)

[Our duck pictures have disappeared so we present you 

with the kitchen we wish we could have cooked it in]

Every once in awhile we need to put the kitchen experiments on hold and dip into our trusty repertoire of no- fail recipes. Those dishes that you know- no matter what- are going to execute flawlessly and produce a restaurant worthy meal. For us, that dish is Roast Duck with Duck Fat Potatoes. 

Succulent, crispy, unctuous duck. Whether you're trying to impress the in-laws or show your girlfriends who rules the kitchen, this is the golden ticket. It's also an excuse for us to make a trip to our local Asian market (H-Mart deserves its own post) which is always a blast. 

Now we must warn you, albeit it easy, this dish is pretty time consuming. We recommend making it on a weekend or one of those ''sick'' days (your boss will totally understand). Recipe after the jump.

Team Coco!

(Image courtesy of baltimoresun.com)

We are outraged! Not only are we stuck inside on this gorgeous fall day... we're missing Conan O'Brien's big orange blimp flying over Baltimore! The blimp is not just an extension of his famous coif- it's flying to promote the November 8th premier of his new show on TBS. 

Even though we're missing all the fun roof-top picture-taking, we're happy Conan's back!

Wednesday's Own... Things We Love

Being 30 minutes away from sunflower fields.

Finding forgotten pictures from the summer.

Winterizing our Fall wardrobe.

Final image courtesy of zara.com

Mi Viejo Pueblito

We recently ventured to Highlandtown after reading about a new authentic Mexican restaurant. We figured it would be worth traversing across this country's second most dangerous city (sorry for ya, Detroit) to see if its authenticity was a sham. It was not.

Mi Viejo Pueblito is not in the best part of Baltimore, but its super sunny in and exterior brightens the block. MVP is BYOB and conveniently shares a wall with a liquor store. We grabbed a few Coronas and Modelos, scurried past a group of girls carrying butcher knives (true story) and went in.

The place was bright yellow and totally empty. Our adorable hostess/waitress had some mariachi blaring to offset the silence, so we settled into a sunny little corner and began pouring over the extensive menu. Happily sipping our festive brews and chowing down on five different types of salsa and homemade tortilla chips (make sure you ask for all of the salsas) we finally decided on our meals.

For the record, the massive display of Mexican goodness above is an appetizer. Not knowing what we were in for, we ordered several appetizers to share, mauled the chips, salsa and queso and were stuffed when our food arrived. (May we suggest eating like a lady so you have room to sample all your food?) Every person at the table had to request take-home containers, lest we burst open like pinatas.

Four hungry people ordered half the damn menu and the total cost was $55. AND we all had plenty for lunch the next day. MVP has only been open for eight months, so we suggest going now before word gets out. It's the perfect place to take a large group---bring a case of beer, order a bunch of appetizers and enjoy fresh, festive, communal dining. The service is a little slow and you have to bring your own party (this is not a good spot for a first date) but the food and price can't be beat.

 

Mi Viejo Pueblito is located at 601. S Conkling St.

Birch Box

We admit it- we are super guilty of buying things just for the free gifts/samples involved--- Sephora, you get us every time. While abroad this summer we heard from a friend about a business her friends started, and we are now total converts to this cool new way to shop for cosmetics online.

Birchbox.com is a new site that offers memberships for samples. Ten bucks a month will get you four to five deluxe samples from high-end brands (think Kiehls, Nars, benefit...) shipped to your door. Inviting friends to join scores you loyalty points which can be automatically used towards purchasing full sized items right off the site. 
As lovers of good design, we would be remiss not to mention that the packaging is a work of art. Obviously the concept and products from birchbox are excellent, but opening a carefully-wrapped box filled with a sea of pink tissue paper and hand-tied black ribbon is like having twelve chic birthday gifts sent to you each year.

Good things really do come in small packages!