The Imposter - A Recommendation

“A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.”

— IMDB

You need to see this movie. I just watched it last night and man, it's really good. I don't really want to give away too much information, so I'll just leave it at that description above. I'd never heard of the documentary OR the story when it happened in real life, so maybe that's why I was so blown away? Or maybe it's just a really good watch. My brother Robbie told me to see it, and I was skeptical at first because, well, he likes almost every movie out there. I was going to list some of the worst ones he's liked, but realized that might be a bit rough to do since I'm really trying to commend his taste right now.

See it. Now. 

“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”

— Maya Angelou

Roar - Katy Perry

Not even a proper Katy Perry fan but I cannot stop listening to this song. LOVE. 

Side Dish of Corn

You might think this is a dumb post, but I just ate this stuff and I'll never cook corn the same way from now on.  

I love corn. My mom would always boil it, strain it and then put some butter on it and voila. Beautiful. But I just ate/made some corn that blows that old corn out of the water (haha!). 

What should you do? 

Okay. You need some organic corn-on-the-cob, garlic cloves, olive oil, kosher salt and ground black pepper. If you use one ear of corn, then chop one clove of garlic and pour 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. (If you use two ears of corn then use two cloves and 3 tablespoons of olive oil - you get the picture.) 

Stand the corn-on-the-cob upright in the frying pan and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the cob (it's easy to do this right in the pan 'cause if you do it on a cutting board the kernels go flying everywhere. I mean everywhere.) into the pan. Add the chopped garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook it up. Takes maybe three-four minutes. And you will have the best tasting corn of your damn life. I could eat buckets of this stuff. And the beautiful part? Doesn't need any butter! I know! But butter's great! However you truly don't need a smidgen of it here.  

Exfoliating Bath Gloves

Here's a short story.  

I used to use these bath gloves reLIGiously for months and months (for, oh, about three times a week? Some say there's a danger of over-exfoliating if you do it that much, but... well, you already know how I thrive in the face of danger). Then the summertime happened and I stopped - why? No real reason, was just trying to shake up my shower life so I started using more soap and less body wash. ANYWAY, I haven't used those exfoliating bath gloves in months. About two weeks ago, I started noticing some rough skin on one part of my back, which puzzled me. And today, I was hanging out in my shower and thought,  "Hey! Where are my gloves?! I could use a real scrubbing." So I put those gloves on and went to town. Then I came outta the shower and I looked at that rough patch of skin and... FUCKING SMOOTH AS EVER. All that roughness was gone. In ONE exfoliation session. Do you understand how nuts that is? I can only imagine all that rough ass skin on all y'all who ain't using these gloves. Makes me shudder. 

Story over.  

Moral of the story? You need these gloves in your life. Men and women alike. You feel like a freak at first, just naked and standing there with these silly gloves on, but man - the outcome makes it so worth it. And I've grown to love these guys. They'll be apart of my shower hangouts for the rest of my life, I think. I'm pretty sure you can use soap with the gloves, but it just feels so much more refreshing to use some body wash that you love that smells outrageous, in my opinion. 

The gloves cost around $5 and are sold, um, everywhere. Drug stores, Wal-Mart, The Body Shop, online, etc. I'm not sure how often you're supposed to replace them, but I think I probably replace them... twice a year. And if that sounds gross to you, well, that's really judgmental. 

Campfire Fishing Rod

If there are two things you should know about me, here they are: 

1. I love grilled food.
2. I hate fire. (Really. I was forced to learn how to strike a match at age 21 when it became ridiculous that I hadn't learned already.) 

Now, with this knowledge in mind, I am the perfect candidate to own one of these guys. 

Campfire Fishing Rod!

If this looks as wonderful to you as it does to me, you can buy one for $29.95 over here. Just a great idea.

“Put a stereo or iPod dock permanently in your bathroom. Hearing music while showering will make that day 86% more lovely.”

— #lizadvice

Walking To The Crown of The Statue of Liberty

I have wanted to walk to the crown of The Statue of Liberty since I was a little girl. I literally was informed about what New York City was (when I was about... 8 years old, I'll say) - heard about this grand statue, and DREAMT about getting to be at the top of it one day. Why? 'Cause it seemed to symbolize so much about this incredible city that everyone around me seemed to love and talk about so much. 

It was closed for many years after September 11th, then re-opened right before Hurricane Sandy last year. It was open for three days before that storm shut it down again. It just re-opened last month, and I finally got to go up it yesterday. It was glorious. Not really life-altering glorious, but the kind of glorious that I've been anticipating for a very long time.  

You have the option of taking the stairs or an elevator to get to the platform (we opted elevator, since I wanted to save my legs for the stairs to the top). Once you get there, there's an entrance to the crown stairs (these are the tickets you need to buy in advance of even getting to Battery Park in Manhattan, days/months in advance), and then you proceed through the coolest, tiniest, at-some-points-darkest spiral staircase that leads you to the crown. These are not a lot of stairs. A few floors basically. I could do it without too much aggravation, and that's saying something. 

The crown itself holds less than ten people probably. I had no idea it would be that small, I thought I'd be able to roam freely and widely - not the case. That doesn't mean that it's not amazing, though, 'cause it really is. And honestly, I don't know why. Just felt cool as hell to be inside that lady. I would've paid $100 for that ticket, so I'm thankful the city of New York doesn't know that fact. 

All in all, I loved it. It's something I wanted to do for such a long time and I'm so glad it finally happened. For sure, it's maybe the most touristy thing you can do in New York - but so what?! Tourists are people, too! They came to see stuff, leave them alone and let them see it! God. Makes me so mad when people are all, "Ugh. Tourists." Get over yourself, bud. You're not better than anyone.

You can order crown tickets at statuecruises.com for $20 each. They make you pick a day and time when you buy the tickets, so have an idea of when you're coming. Also, make sure you go with someone who doesn't complain about lines (not long lines, but lines) and security and such 'cause this experience is RIPE with that stuff. Thankfully I went with someone laid back, normal and great - and that's how this event should be experienced (thanks, Nathan!), so keep that in mind. 

Poutine Pizza at Pizza Hut

The above is a photo of the Cheesy Beef Poutine Pizza from Pizza Hut (minus the beef and with extra fries) that I ordered at my parent's house in Mississauga, Ontario a few weeks ago. I'd been waiting a long time (two months) to finally try this bad boy. Verdict? Disappointing!  

Were my expectations high? God, yes! Was there any way that it could've been amazing? Probably not. But not because putting poutine on top of a pizza is a bad idea... moreso just because it was foolish for me to expect Pizza Hut to carefully concoct such a delicate Canadian creation.  

I was told that there would be gravy instead of pizza sauce. There was none (or none that my gentle eyes could detect). I was also told that actual Quebecois curds were being used, and not the generic Hut mozzarella. I was misinformed. 

Yes, maybe I shouldn't have made my substitutions (of the no beef and the added frie-age) , but am I not entitled to some actual deliverance of A POUTINE?! I think so. 

Honestly, the pizza wasn't terrible. I ate probably... three slices over the span of many hours. It was just dry as fuck. If anything, this whole experience has made me want to try and make my OWN version one day. You know, when I'm at a more stable point in my life and can undertake such a challenge. For now, though? I shall only express my disappointment.  

It was a courageous try, Pizza Hut. But please... you're embarrassing all Canadians by keeping that trash on your fine menu. Good day. 

(*EDIT NOTE: I just looked on their site and it's totally off the menu now. Either this blog post WORKED in the two seconds since I put it up, or the Hut really has a handle on things. Commendable.)