july.

JULY! WHIZ-BANG! THE FLAG! This month's newsletter is dedicated to all things SUMMER and DC and THIS HERE COUNTRY, and includes (but does not limit itself to) an Elizabeth Graeber-illustrated recipe from the ladies of Hand Drawn Bazaar (friends! advertisers! Summer-lovers!), a collaborative CHER collage (between myself, my dear friend Kelly Hughes, and a stack of old National Geographics), and trips to two of my favorite places in and around DC: Maine Avenue and Roosevelt Island.
As always, you can navigate this thing using the links below each post, or you can view the whole newsletter at once by clicking that "July" tag up there below the Panda Header.
May your July involve pool passes, fireworks, freedom fries, and - of course -A WHOLE LOT OF AMERICA. Thanks so much for subscribing!

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

maine ave.  half-breed.  sriracha slaw.  roosevelt island.  D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

maine ave.

The fish market at Maine Avenue is one of my favorite places in the city; growing up I'd go a couple times a year with my Dad (and always the day before Thanksgiving, so he could buy oysters for a stuffing), and now Mitchell and I try to get down there as often as possible during the Summer months (while there was a time when I wouldn't touch that aforementioned stuffing with a ten foot pole, the tides turned around age 25 and I'm now a FIEND for a half dozen, raw, with hot sauce, and on a paper plate. OFFICIAL DC RESIDENT). While this trip was less SHELLFISH-FOCUSED and more about getting some time in with our new camera, it shouldn't go without saying that a) we left that place with no less than two pounds of squid (that evening's PASTA PARTY was one for the books), and b) as is always the case at Maine Avenue, some unlikely sights presented themselves (namely, THAT CAT).

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER 

july.  half-breed.  sriracha slaw.  roosevelt island.  D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

half-breed.

My friend Kelly Hughes and I share a common SPIRIT ANIMAL, and that spirit animal is 70s-era CHER, on a HORSE, singing HALF-BREED. As so when faced with scissors and a spare afternoon, our collaborative, National Geographic-sourced collage pretty much pieced ITSELF together.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

july.  maine ave.  sriracha slaw.  roosevelt island.  D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

sriracha slaw.

illustrations by Elizabeth Graeber.

Illustrator Elizabeth Graeber and writer Glory Edim are the LADY-MASTERMINDS behind Hand Drawn Bazaar - a traveling treasure hunt of flea markets, farmers markets, and fairs (local, abroad, and everywhere in between). Recipes feature prominently in the Hand Drawn Bazaar repertoire, and Elizabeth was generous enough to illustrate the following, INTENSELY Summer-appropriate Slaw recipe (from the Sriracha Cookbook) for your viewing/Summer-sides PLEASURE:

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER 

july.  maine ave.  half-breed.  roosevelt island.  D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

roosevelt island.

I'm pretty sure that fifteen years had passed between the last time I went to Roosevelt Island and my visit a few weekends ago; it was not only ENTIRELY UNCHANGED by time, but in its WILDNESS managed to live up to about a million hours of childhood memories. I'm siked to make it back a few more times before Fall, and oh, REAL QUICK - Katie's taste in hiking boots is aspirational, no?

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

july.  maine ave.  half-breed.  sriracha slaw.  D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

Presented without comment, a cataloging of stickers - questionable, slightly questionable, and otherwise - on a motorcycle helmet I thrifted a couple of years ago in Maryland:
-"I WOKE UP THIS MORNING/STICKY, BROKE & CONFUSED"
-"'In Case Of Emergency/Give Me Head'"
-"Rte. 129 BODY SURFERS"
-"God Bless AMERICA"
-"PRACTICE SAFE SEX/GO FUCK YOURSELF!"
-"SPEAK ENGLISH OR GET THE FUCK OUT!!!" (with Statue of Liberty)
-"PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN" (with Confederate flag)
-"D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F."
-"WINE ME, DINE ME/69 ME!"
-"YOUR FACE OR MINE?"
-"HELMET LAWS SUCK"
-"IF I DON'T GET LAID SOON...I'M GOING TO HURT SOMEONE!"
-"RIDE TO LIVE/LIVE TO RIDE/DRUG FREE"
-"LEGALIZE FREEDOM"
-and the requisite, waving, American Flag.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

july.  maine ave.  half-breed.  sriracha slaw.  roosevelt island.