Foodie on the Half Shell: Go easy on the Salt

I don’t usually head over to the Garfield area in Pittsburgh unless I’m going to visit friends. It has all the potential in the world to be “with it,” with Spak Brothers and Verde as its food destinations that offer interesting foods with vegan options. Let’s get real though…most of the buildings are boarded up as if the big freeze is coming, and even Bottom Dollar is closing over there. Oh no! What will we do without a Bottom Dollar? No, seriously though…what will we do?

Well, instead of spending $50 dollars on food that will last you a week at Bottom Dollar, try going down the street a bit and spend $50 on a meal that will last you one night at Salt of the Earth. Well, that doesn’t sound exactly economical, but it’s fun!

Step into an open floor plan with long communal tables, where you can see your food being cooked up against one wall and your drinks being made up against the other. The building is small, but the design opens up the restaurant to feel larger.

I personally hate communal sitting. I know it’s the new thing, but I enjoy a sense of privacy, and I think it’s just an excuse for the wait staff to be lazy. I got lucky, and I came with a large party of ten and we took up an entire table. I was comfortable sitting with my family and friends, and I didn’t have to worry about awkward elbow- room or someone asking me to pass the salt. Like no, I will not pass you anything—I’d actually prefer pretending you are not sitting right next to me.

Aside from the seating design, Salt has a lot going for them, but a few things holding them back.

Their menu is impressive looking and everything sounds trendy and delicious, like fish with grapes and foie gras. After reading that most of the chefs that I respect around Pittsburgh enjoy Salt, I was prepared for a “wow” reaction. The fireworks did go off for the sashimi starter that was made of unidentified fish. It was small—made for just one person, but the flavor was impressively large. With curried florets of al dente cauliflower and tart grapes, a lullaby of soft and crunchy and sweet and spicy all came together nicely.

Skip the romaine starter–it is just a boring Caesar salad.  Instead, try the fried Brussels sprouts if you are in the mood. They are nothing fancy, just delicious and greasy.

As for the “mids,” I was not impressed. I could have been trying the wrong dishes, though. I had the risotto as my entrée, which sounded promising. I imagined layers of flavors with the sweet potatoes, the lemon, and the roasted garlic. Unfortunately, it was a one-ton bowl of mush.

Don’t even bother with the mussels—you can make them better at home. When it comes to their entrees, stay safe and try their cheeseburger. It is simple yet divine, with handmade American cheese and tons of pickles all on a brioche bun. Simple is best.

What are really important, though, are their desserts. Salt redeems themselves with their sweets. They worked with different layers of flavors and textures. I had their brownie dessert, which came with ice cream that tasted like you picked a banana off of the tree itself, and peanut brittle. The concoction worked and I am happy I had it…although I am nervous that the dessert tasted amazing just because I was so bummed out by the other courses.

I think the take home about Salt is that they are truly a comfort food restaurant trying to be a contemporary American restaurant. Their hamburgers and fried Brussels sprouts are fantastic. What they should also be serving is rustic mac and cheese and modern meatloaf. I bet they would knock that stuff out of the park. Even though I feel strongly, my family would disagree…mainly because they all ordered the burger, I think.

A perfect dinner there would be a medium rare cheeseburger with a side of fried Brussels sprouts, ended with a brownie dessert. Stick to the simple stuff at Salt. They are still figuring it out.

Little Red Riding Vogue: Rick Owens shocks Paris Fashion Week with nudity

If you aren’t already familiar with the designer Rick Owens, you will be now. Owens, a California native, has had a label since 1994 and showed his first runway collection in September of 2002 at New York Fashion Week. Most recently, he showed his work during Paris Fashion Week.

On Thursday, January 22, Owens sent pantless male models down the runway. I know what you’re thinking. Pantless? Really? Yes, really. In fact, some of the pieces had holes cut out in the crotch area. It wasn’t some slip up; Rick Owens just really wanted Paris Fashion Week to see some male genitalia.

Whether he wanted to shock the crowd or if it was really just the design he liked remains to be seen. Either way, the Internet is going crazy over it and I can’t blame them.

Owens has always been known for his grunge-glamour approach to fashion and the pieces he showcased at Paris Fashion Week maintain that style. For those who aren’t familiar with his work, think Alexander Wang.

Overall, the look was intriguing, but of course, this collection has now been made unforgettable by the addition of the publicity.

Some of the pieces featured chest cut outs as well—although we live in a society where male chests are acceptable in public. This does, however, raise the question of acceptable nudity?

The fashion world is one of the few places where nudity can be respected as art. Plenty of designers showcase pieces where women’s chests are visible. Maybe Owens is trying to take another step forward with nudity in fashion. The real proof will be if female models in fashion start flaunting dresses with crotch holes, too.

Foodie on the Half Shell: New Years resolutions for a foodie

My New Years resolution for 2015 was all about food–as is everything else in my life. I wanted to get healthier, maybe lose the 20 pounds I gained in the last two years, and limit my eating habits to a more vegan-friendly diet. I knew I had to write down concrete resolutions, though, if I ever wanted to see them put into action.

  1. Vegan before six. (Which pretty much means at dinner I eat cheese, because cheese is everything.)

  2. Work out two to three days a week. This may not sound like a lot but I have realized if I put my expectations too high, I get really sad when I don’t work out a lot and end up not going.

  3. No drinking during the week. It’s just healthy to drink less in general!

  4. Cook seasonally.

For the first two weeks, I am happy to say I have been successful in my endeavors. I have felt amazing eating so much produce rather than cheese and carbs. I hope to fill up the column this semester with all types of vegan and seasonal ideas. The seasonal inspiration is mainly from a cookbook I picked up in New York City over winter break. The book is called “In Season,” by Sarah Raven. Each chapter is devoted to different types of produce that are in season in certain months. It comes with some amazing recipes to get you really excited about what is sustainably growing during the different seasons.

My recipe I would like to share with you today is not entirely in season, but it’s not completely out of season either. I made a butternut squash with goat cheese and thyme, baked with breadcrumbs and parmesan on top. It is best served with a simple pasta or large green salad.

What you will need for a main dish for one person, or a smaller dish for two people:

1 butternut squash

1 Tbs of thyme

2 Tbs of goat cheese

¼ cups of parmesan

¼ cups of breadcrumbs

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Start with setting your oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butternut squash in half, lengthwise. Scrape the seeds and guts out. Rub olive oil and salt and pepper on the two fleshy halves of the squash and place them both face down on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the flesh is soft. When finished baking, take the squash out and let it cool until you are able to handle it.

Scrape the meat out of one half of the squash, leaving a layer of flesh remaining. Scrape the other half out completely. Put the scraped out contents into a bowl with the goat cheese and thyme. Check seasonings and add more salt and pepper if needed. Stuff the shell with the layer of flesh remaining with the goat cheese and squash mix. Sprinkle with parmesan and bread crumbs, and drizzle it with a little bit of olive oil to finish it off. Pop in the oven with the setting on low broil. Take out when the top is browned.

Little Red Riding Vogue: Marsala chosen as Pantone’s Color of the Year

Whether you realize it or not, at the beginning of every year, an important decision is made in the fashion world. It affects clothes, makeup, home goods—you name it. This monumental moment is when Pantone chooses the Color of the Year.

Last year was Radiant Orchid. The year before was Emerald. This year, is the year of Marsala, which Pantone describes as, “a naturally robust and earthy red wine.”

So what exactly is Marsala? It’s not a color you use in your everyday vocabulary, but no doubt you’ve seen it before. Marsala is a passionate red with calming natural tones. Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, said, “Marsala is a subtly seductive shade, one that draws us in to its embracing warmth.” Still, how many products can you think of that are exactly Marsala? To make this a bit easier to follow—understand that this decision leaves a broad spectrum.

When Pantone announces the Color of the Year, stores scramble to find what they carry in that shade. Usually, it’s not much. They can easily make products to fit that description, but that would take too long, and by the time they have the product out, someone else has already drawn their customer’s attention. The secret is to stretch the color.

When Emerald was announced, suddenly, any shade of green would do. When Radiant Orchid was chosen, people started stocking products in shades of purple. By choosing Marsala, Pantone has given us a year of red.

The color is chosen carefully based on trends seen throughout different markets. Eiseman said of Marsala, “This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings, and interiors.”

However, The Color of the Year, isn’t the only prediction Pantone makes. They also make specific predictions for incoming fashion. Their Fashion Color Report for Spring 2015 was based on the New York Fashion Week from September 4-11, 2014.

Their predictions for colors are soft, cool hues with natural neutrals. For women’s fashion, they expect an eclectic, ethereal mix. For men’s fashion, they call for uncontrived, natural, deep tones.

Knowing this, Marsala is a smart choice for Color of the Year. It’s deep and warm, but soft and natural enough to come across as an almost neutral shade of red. As Eiseman said, it translates well to different products without appearing gaudy or overwhelming.

All hail Marsala until they choose something else for 2016.

 

Foodie on the Half Shell: Cooking for loved ones

Fall is my birthday season, and I turned 21. It is like the missing piece to my being a real food and drink connoisseur has been put into place. Fall rocks for so many different reasons–those mainly having to do with food. On my birthday, my family takes me out to one of my favorite restaurants, and I get to eat (and drink) all of my favorite things.

It is also party season, and all of the goodies come out to play such as warm dips, candy, nachos, baked goods with cute Halloween sprinkles, and hot cider. The goodies are pretty much impossible to ignore, and thus far I have had at least one piece of candy a day since two weeks ago…oops. Candy isn’t even that good, but when Kit Kats are just sitting out, how am I not suppose to snack on them?

For my birthday, my partner made me an amazing dinner as a surprise for me. I had no idea what he was making, but I wasn’t expecting anything too fancy. His specialty is French toast, so I was prepared to eat some breakfast for dinner. That being said, I was still rooting for a serious dinner, so I handed him one of my favorite cookbooks for him to get some great ideas.

The cookbook is actually called “Intercourses,” by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge. Yes, “Intercourses.”

It is a cookbook full of “aphrodisiac” recipes, but that’s not why I love the cookbook so much. The recipes are amazing, aphrodisiac or not. Each recipe comes with it’s own love story that inspired it. I encourage anyone who loves to cook to invest in this book; it is a classic in the cookbook realm.

Photo Credit: Olivia Beals

Photo Credit: Olivia Beals

When I got home, I was so happy and relieved to find a very confident and rather handsome cook in my kitchen. Thick cuts of bright pink salmon were marinating in a honey pepper sauce that ended up being baked; Moroccan couscous had been made already; and there was roasted asparagus.

Before we had even begun to eat dinner, we learned how to shuck oysters, and then we got to enjoy them. Wholey’s Fish Market in the Strip District has great oysters. They look intimidating and a little creepy, but they are fresh and great to eat raw.

The dinner itself was delicious, and the pepper and honey salmon was extremely flavorful. For dessert, Ben went to Priory Bakery in North Side to pick up some delicious cupcakes. The ladies at Priory are awesome and very talented.

Ben isn’t a natural cook, but that’s the cool thing about recipes—you don’t have to be. All cooks start out with a recipe, and that is how they learn what works and what doesn’t.

Ben was daunted by the idea of cooking for me, but following the steps was easy for him. We all like to be cooked for at least once in a while, and if you have a significant other or friend that you want to cook for you, guide them in the right direction by giving them a cookbook or website.

It will be fun for them to decide what to cook, especially if the recipes are intriguing and tasty. They will end up feeling really proud of themselves for what they have accomplished, and your encouraging words and reaction may contribute to them doing it again for you!

Little Red Riding Vogue: Singing in the rain

Without a doubt, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I’ve always been a sucker for adventurous fashion, and Halloween is the one day when you can really let your freak flag fly.

The only problem I have with Halloween is the constant struggle to settle on only one costume. As someone who loves any excuse to dress up or pull together an interesting outfit, Halloween can be torture. It’s the one day a year when I can wear absolutely whatever I want–or be whoever I want to be–and not be judged, and I’m expected to choose only one outfit?

In high school I used to dress up the entire week of Halloween, or sometimes even the whole month of October. I love to express myself, and I figured that was the one time I could get away with it.

Now that I’m older, I’m a little less adventurous with how many costumes I pull together, but it does give me more time to dedicate to each costume.

Last year I was Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid as she turned to foam. It was inspired by runway makeup I had seen where they used small rhinestones dripping down the face like tears. I decided to mix that with a flowing white dress, a sea-foam green wig, and lots of glitter and face paint. I put fishnets over my arms and used a sponge and body paint to dab color onto my skin in a scaly pattern. I topped it off with a layer of white glitter.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the costume. Most people had no idea who I was until I told them, but the reception was pretty good after I explained the concept more. As a joke I went around saying it was, “the ultimate ‘forever alone’ costume.”

Still, it rained a lot last Halloween and it completely killed my costume and my spirits. That’s why this year I decided to try being more practical.

This year I wanted to go for something a little darker, and went dressed as Alex from Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” movie.

Photo Credit: Indigo Baloch

Photo Credit: Indigo Baloch

I started by going out and buying a simple white dress shirt and white skinny jeans from Target. I wanted something nice, but not too expensive since I probably wouldn’t wear them again. Then I got white suspenders from Hot Topic, eyeball ping-pong balls from Spirit, and fake blood and false eyelashes from Target. I already had black Dr. Martens and a bowler cap.

The only part I had to make was the cufflinks. Alex has these great bloody eyeball cufflinks that I pulled together by cutting the ping-pong balls in half, gluing them to the cuffs of the shirt, and then painting around them with fake blood.

Unfortunately, the fake blood took forever to dry and, when they were still wet the next morning, I took a hairdryer to them. It partially melted one of the eyes, but I figured it just made it extra creepy—which is never a bad thing for a costume like that.

Compared to the mermaid costume, the makeup was a piece of cake. I just got false eyelashes that looked like the ones Alex wore, turned one upside down, and glued it right under my lower lash. It felt uncomfortable at first, but by the end of the night, I had all but forgotten it.

It rained a bit and was pretty cold on Halloween night so I was grateful to have a relatively warm costume. Also, the rain wasn’t all bad as it gave me a chance to run around singing “Singing in the Rain.”

All told, I had a pretty successful Halloween, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with my costume. It wasn’t so elaborate that I stressed myself out, but it looked good and authentic, and I got tons of compliments from “A Clockwork Orange” fans!

Foodie on the Half Shell: Perfect pasta

Pasta Carbonara is a decadent and delicious dish that is made from cream, egg, cheese, black pepper, and bacon, but it is not especially great for your arteries.

I don’t eat bacon, but I love the heartiness and warmth of the dish. The smokiness of the lox–which is a fancy way of saying smoked salmon–is a perfect substitute for bacon, and you still get the salty and meaty taste. I was inspired to do a lighter version of pasta carbonara since I wasn’t going to use the fatty bacon, and I used Greek yogurt instead of cream.

I take dinner very seriously, and I cook most nights of the week. Dinner is my time to shine, practice cooking, and to explore different ideas and flavors. I look at dinner as my main meal of the day, and I make sure that it’s healthful roots shine through.

Cooking with fresh produce and fish is very important to me, and it is a sure way to spruce the nutrients up in your cooking. I am the only one who cooks in my house (out of the two of us), and I feel a certain responsibility to provide my partner with foods that will enhance his life and health.

That may sound dramatic, but food is a huge part of who we are and what we become. I want to be healthy, innovative, and a little bit spicy–so I try and eat that way, too! I see that my partner has good eating habits that he has learned from me, and I feel really proud that I gave him those skills and values. That is a big part of why I love to cook and why I love to write about cooking–I want others to have a great relationship with food, like I do. My relationship with food is getting pretty serious!

This recipe is filling and tasty. With the substitution of smoked salmon and Greek yogurt, the dish is transformed into a lighter alternative with a lot less fat. This dish is tangy from the yogurt, salty from the lox, and a little spicy from the black pepper and cayenne. Even people who don’t like to eat fish will love this dish.

What you will need for two people:

1 cup of orzo al dente

1 package of smoked salmon, chopped

1 small red onion

3 cloves of garlic minced ( I love a lot of garlic. Feel free to use less)

1/3 cup of Greek yogurt

1 egg whisked

3/4 cup grated parmesan

a bunch of basil chopped

1 tsp of cayenne pepper

tons of black pepper

Saute the garlic and onion with olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the chopped salmon. When the salmon’s color turns a lighter pink, add the orzo into the pan. Mix the greek yogurt in until it is well-incorporated. Add the whisked egg and the parmesan and mix. Add the cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt. Don’t worry about overdoing it on the black pepper, it is a key ingredient. The consistency should not be too creamy or saucy, but a little dryer than you might expect. Top with parmesan and fresh basil and enjoy.

 

Foodie on the Half Shell: Everybody loves brunch

Brunch is one word with so many different meanings. It is the epitome of meals, encompassing sandwiches, waffles, eggs, potatoes, scones, mimosas, and bloody marys. It is a meal that is full of so many possibilities, and without any boundaries.

I love to go out for brunch. It is an event and party in itself. With the autumn coming, and the cool wind invading my home, I have the desire to go shopping in little boutiques for pumpkin scented stuff and blankets. To top it off, I want a chai tea with some inventive version of brunch. My ideal brunch involves smoked salmon, cheeses, potatoes, pickles, and spicy stuff. Bagels and lox with a spicy bloody mary fit that picture.

Whenever my partner, Ben, has a morning off during the weekend, we sleep in and end up starving when we wake up. It is around noon when we head out, but we still want breakfast. Pamela’s down in the Strip is a go-to, but we wanted to try something different recently.

Coca Café in Lawrenceville is a tiny café that doesn’t look like much from outside, but once you are inside it is a colorful blast from the past. The mix-matched furniture creates a home style from the 60’s feel. It isn’t a huge café, but it is big enough to keep a crowd moving. On a Sunday around one in the afternoon, we waited for about fifteen minutes for a table.
Coca Café only has brunch on Sundays, and their menu changes weekly. I ordered their house tea smoked salmon omelet. Their eggs were cooked perfectly, and it was stuffed with goat cheese, dill, grape tomatoes and salmon. It came with crunchy home fries.

It was delicious, and tasted very fresh. Ben got their–wait for it–herb goat cheese stuffed French toast, dusted with powdered sugar and topped with strawberries. It was good without syrup, but it was incredible with the syrup. The savory and salty of the goat cheese with the sweetness of the powdered sugar and fruit went together like brunch heaven.

This spot is perfect for a morning out with your friends or loved one. It has a large scope of foods, and they even have vegetarian sausages, which are super tasty. It is also in a part of town that is really hopping with fun shops, salons, restaurants and cafés.

It will fulfill all of your hipster needs, such as kosher pickles, barbershops, vintage clothes, and BPA-free toys. Head down to Lawrenceville and enjoy the tastiness Coca Café has in store for you.

Little Red Riding Vogue: Review of New York Fashion Week

Now that things from 2014’s New York Fashion Week have settled down a bit, it’s time to analyze and review! Although I love the classics like Chanel and Dior, I have to say, I always get especially excited to see shows from more alternative fashion houses.

One of my favorites will always be Kate Spade. Part of that may stem from the fact that her pieces are often somewhat affordable—especially if you hit up an outlet. This year she continued with her usual style of color blocking, stripes, and florals. In my opinion, she nailed it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! She showed off some great dresses and bags that I can’t wait to see in the stores.

Another fantastic collection came from Zimmermann who charmed with ruffled gowns and gleaming blouses. Zimmermann chose to play with many textures and colors, and it definitely gets your attention. With dreamy periwinkle and creamsicle tones, this collection has me absolutely swooning. Any one of their pieces could make me feel like a princess in a Disney movie.

Now if you’re looking to be a specific princess—namely Jasmine—you should check out the collection from The Blonds. As usual, The Blonds dominated with a specific theme in mind. This time, they showed off gorgeous sequined and beaded outfits, often with beautiful billowy bottoms that couldn’t help but remind me of Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin. All told, it was iconic as always.

Anna Sui, a regular at this point, knew what she was doing and rocked fashion week with a collection boasting dozens of unique patterns and cuts. Each outfit was uniquely edgy and charming with tones ranging from scarlet to indigo. She even threw in a few metallics to rival Zimmermann.

One thing I always love to see at fashion week is collaboration. In Jeremy Scott’s case, it was none other than Miley Cyrus. To be specific, Cyrus created a series of collaged sculptures to exhibit at Scott’s show. And she couldn’t have picked a better partner. Scott is well-known for his colorful, “out-there” style which he reiterated this year.

One of the best shows this year had to be Betsey Johnson who went above and beyond as usual. This time, her show’s theme was marriage equality. The show’s openers were models styled as same-sex couples. Many of the models throughout the show were also drag-queens—each one sashaying down the runway in one of Johnson’s crush-worthy, over-the-top ball gowns. She relied, as always, on girly tones and cuts, rocking the femininity of each queen.

If you missed my piece on the new designers at Marc by Marc Jacobs, check it out because that’s all I have to say about the new MBMJ previewed at fashion week. It’s flawless, shocking, and so Luella. With bright colors, color blocking, polka-dots, and bold text, Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley have stolen my heart once again.

Finally, there’s Altuzarra who is now featuring pieces at Target. Who doesn’t love high fashion at affordable prices? None of what was shown at fashion week is on the racks at Target (simply because this is their 2015 Ready to Wear, and also because these are not pieces they designed for Target), but nonetheless, it was darling and daring, shifting from baby pinks and blues to black and gold.

Overall it was a fantastic fashion week that has me drooling and dreaming about all the amazing pieces the designers of the world are creating.

Little Red Riding Vogue: A whirlwind of a summer

Over the summer I had the incredible opportunity to work for Pittsburgh’s WHIRL Magazine as a Fashion Editorial intern. For those not familiar with WHIRL, WHIRL technically has three publications: WHIRL Magazine, Edible Allegheny, and WHIRL Wedding Guide.

For anyone interested in the happenings of Pittsburgh—anyone who wants to know about the best restaurants, shows, stores, etc. in Pittsburgh—read WHIRL Magazine. Anyone interested in finding out more about local farmers markets, healthy recipes, and gardening should check out Edible Allegheny. Finally, if you’re planning a Pittsburgh wedding, you have to read WHIRL Wedding Guide. It lists all of the best venues, caterers, event planners, etc. in Pittsburgh.

Although each magazine is so unique, it all falls under one fearless leader: Christine Tumpson. As an editorial intern, Christine, WHIRL’s editor-in-chief, was my direct supervisor. She taught me so much about the world of magazines—and also about life.

Photo Courtesy of Veronica Cheng WHIRL interns at lunch

Photo Courtesy of Veronica Cheng
WHIRL interns at lunch

When I signed on for the internship, I was a little afraid that it could easily turn into a sequel for “The Devil Wears Prada.” I had no idea what to expect. The employees at WHIRL that I had been emailing about my paperwork seemed nice enough, but I couldn’t get a good read on Christine. When I showed up for my first day, I was about 20 minutes early—trying to make a good impression. Christine hadn’t even come in yet.

Christine was the kind of boss that everyone wishes they had. She’s like the mom everyone wishes they had. She lives by the flow of the world and sometimes she’d send us out to the most interesting places on the most exciting adventures. On one of my first days, she told two other interns and me that we had to take the bike trail down to this bike museum and then to a café she loved.

We got lost, there was a torrential downpour, but by the time we found the bike museum, it didn’t even matter. We were soaked to our cores, but walking into Bicycle Heaven was like entering another world. When we mentioned we were from WHIRL, we were given a tour of their extraordinary bike collection and given a brief history of their work.

Once we were finished, we trekked back out into the pouring rain to Chateau Café and Cakery for a fantastic lunch. When we checked out at the register we were all given little coasters with Pittsburgh themed things on them. When they had my order ready, they called out, “Roberto Clemente Bridge!” I don’t know of any other restaurant that does this.

Christine’s focus for our internship was not just to familiarize us with magazines, but to familiarize us with Pittsburgh. After all, that is WHIRL’s goal. At least once a week, she’d send all of us interns out for lunch to some incredible restaurant in Pittsburgh so we could immerse ourselves in our city and build friendships that I’m sure will last our whole lives. She introduced us to stores that I never knew existed, and now cannot live without.

Throughout the course of my internship, I assisted in major photo shoots, styled and managed minor photo shoots, wrote blogs for said photo shoots, assisted in major events, distributed magazines, collected products from stores, assisted in editing the magazine, and so much more.

I got to walk into stores, pick out whatever I wanted, and leave with so many bags I couldn’t walk in a straight line (although I did have to return them after the photo shoots). I got to go to some of the trendiest and most expensive restaurants in town for lunch. I got to see Pitcher Park Memorial Skate Park before it opened. Through WHIRL’s amazing, annual One WHIRL Yoga Fest, I found out that I actually love yoga and want to get much better at it.

For one summer I got to live out my dream job and be part of a family unlike any I have ever met. As we like to say at WHIRL, it was a ‘whirl-wind!’

Check out the denim blog I did for them here!