[COOKED] We Go Together Soup and Sandwich Plate

Cooked is a recurring column where obnoxious foodies can revel in various kitchen gadgetry porn.

One time, I was getting ready to go out on a Saturday night, and my former roommate and her friend were hanging out on the couch in our apartment.

As we said our goodbyes, she turned to her friend and said, "Hey, if you stay here late enough, you'll get to see Amanda come home shitfaced and try to make a grilled cheese!" 

Ever since I've moved to New York, my drunken ritual has been to stumble home and make a grilled cheese.  Why?  Because it's cheaper and healthier than constantly stopping for pizza or diner food at 2AM.  Sure, cooking on a gas stove while you're drunk isn't the smartest thing you can do, but whatever.  I've gotten pretty good at it, too.

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Dear Zara Home: I LOVE YOU. Like A Lot

Can someone, ANYONE, anywhere please explain to me why, why, why, w-h-y we still don't yet have a Zara Home store here stateside??? This fact literally kills me, like dead on the floor, every time I think about it.

For those of you who have never been, Zara Home is a furniture/decor store, open throughout Europe, from the peeps behind the Zara clothing stores (which we have PLENTY of). The store itself is kind of like Anthropologie on crack (though not quite so foofy). It reminds me a lot of ABC Carpet in NYC, but way the hell cheaper. They have gorgeous bedding, soooo many super chic accessories, lovely furniture, dishes, flatware...basically its amazeballs.

Several years ago Greg and I took a trip to Spain that happened to coincide with our move into our new apartment. Planning ahead, I decided to bring an empty suitcase so that I could cart back all the booty I planned to buy at Zara Home.

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[I'M OBSESSED] Decor Demon

Hey, uhm...does anyone know how to frame a website and hang it over your couch? Either that or maybe I'll cancel my cable and just run a slideshow of pics from THE BEST MOTHERFUCKING WEBSITE ON THE WHOLE ENTIRE DUB DUB DUB IN A CONSTANT LOOP (EXCEPT FOR TUESDAY NIGHTS WHEN PRETTY LITTLE LIARS IS ON): DECOR DEMON!!

This hot piece of internet sexiness is the work of Brian Patrick Flynn, and trust: you will soooo be pickin up what he's puttin down. Like insanely chic-n-gorge spaces that he designs for all sorts of fancy and non-fancy people (with links and scoop on all his sources--cause he CARES), beautiful photography (from Sarah Dorio), and so many killer, affordable ideas for shit you can immediately copy, your head's gonna explode.

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How To Clean White Painted Floors

Ok, so I get that not a lot of you guys actually have white painted floors, but I do! And before my ass had them, I googled and googled and googled until my fingers fell off and there was literally NO information on how the hell to clean these mofos.

As I've already said, my white floors complete me--they are my single fave design element in our apt.

Are they harder to clean? In a strange way I think they are almost easier to clean because you can see everything so well. BUT, I will say that the x-factor with us is that we have a dog. And our dog sheds his ass all over the place all year long, so even if we didn't have white floors, we'd still have a way bigger floor maintenance ish than most people.

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[WHASSUP]

+ KELLY BENSIMON IS OUT OF HER FUCKING MIND, THAT'S WHAT (Out Magazine).

+ Hardly mag aims to be the new Sassy (Jezebel).

+ Their Paris apt for your NYC or Brooklyn apt? (Jauntsetter).

+ Even if you watched the shitshow that was Design Star this Sunday, hopefully you've caught up on the magic that was the Mad Men premiere by now. Here's a great recap (NY Mag).

+ Martha Stewart is hosting a Blogger's event on August 5th in NYC...who's going? [I am!] (#marthablogger).

+ I did a guest post! And wrote about the Elle Decor A List! (Belly Button).