What I'm Into Lately

1. Saganaki-  I don't know how this wonderful creation had escaped me before my move to Melbourne, but here, saganaki, a delicious piece of pan-fried Greek cheese, is everywhere.  It's traditionally served on its own with a slice of lemon (eat it while it's hot and squeaky!) but also goes well with salads or on pizza.  To the mad Greek genius who invented saganaki, I salute you.


2. Spanish clothing chains.  So, clothes shopping in Australia is the pits.  The clothes are generally low in quality and high in price, and most of my go-to stores like Banana Republic and Ann Taylor don't exist here (hey, I've upscaled since those grad school Old Navy days).  Oh, how I long for Natick Mall.  However, I've found a glimmer of hope in two Spanish chains- the first is MNG, called Mango in some countries.  I like their clothing, and even though it's not particularly inexpensive, at least it seems well made, and their jeans are a bargain for $50, considering it's hard to find decent jeans under $100 in this strange land.  The other store I've become fond of is Zara- it caused quite a stir when it first opened in Melbourne, and I couldn't handle the crowds and the tendency towards weird European trendiness.  However, once the hubub died down a bit I gave it another chance and found myself two pairs of pants and a dress, all on sale.  So consider me a Zara convert.

3.  And now that we're onto clothing chains, on my last trip back to the US I spent a couple of fun days in New York City, and discovered a new amazing Japanese clothing chain- Uniqlo.  It's amazing. Excellent basics in both men and women's clothing, and a wide range of sizes available (i.e. the jeans were long enough for me, so don't worry that everything will be made for tiny Japanese ladies).  Loved it!

4.  Last but not least, I'm seriously into the new cable television  installed in the work lunchroom (or tea room, as they're called here).  Why? Because I can watch the NBA playoffs on my lunch break- yeah Celtics! On the other hand, the people eating lunch during game four of the Eastern Conference Finals may think I'm insane.