i'll admit that i'm particular about the way things look. maybe that's why i'm surprised by the ridiculous condo developer decisions i've seen during our housing search ... but i kind of don't think so ...

some of my favorites so far:

• chopping up modern-looking loft-style condos into a rat warren of tiny rooms ... and then adding colonial finishings

• believing that you're going to get $1.2M for a third-floor walkup with mediocre appliances, a bunch of itsy-bitsy rooms, and no view

• building the unit such that there's a giant streetlight right outside the floor-to-ceiling living room window ... and bizarrely featuring a closeup of a small, unremarkable microwave in the listing photos

• designing a living room that it would be impossible to situate regular-sized furniture in ... and then putting the kitchen under the stairs

• doing a poor job of covering for recent water damage in several units

• see above on the water damage ... and also creating a "private" roof terrace surrounded on three sides by a wooden fence, with the open side directly facing - and right next to - the public roof deck - i know i love spending $900k to feel like a zoo animal!

• claiming that a platform raised up three feet from the floor of the main condo is a "loft"

• advertising "soaring 9-foot ceilings" (this one's so common, I can't really call any specific location out for it)

so without yet cracking open the bottle i procured online, i finally tasted hou hou shu!

this time at ps7 - which on a side note, is home of edward's beloved lavender gimlet and a few other tasty drinks. at $20 for a 175 mL, the price was double what i paid online, but possibly worth it, if just for the bizarre candle-holder-like glasses that it was served in.

but that's not important. what is important is that it was everything that i was hoping it would be ... and then some. i think it's safe to say it's my new favorite drink.

so what's it like?

• insanely awesome - not like anything else.

• refreshing and light - a little bit fizzy; a little bit milky; sweet, but not overly so. the taste is slightly reminiscent of horchata, which i also love, but there's also a little bit of fruit (melon? strawberry?) in there.

• in the words of our dinner companion, "i could drink this for breakfast".

• finally, lest anyone accuse me of rampant alcoholism, i will point out that hou hou shu is a mere 6% alcohol by volume.

from the annals of "i'm-trying-to-convince-myself-this-is-a-good-thing", edward and i stopped by de vinos on 18th last night to find not one but two varieties of hou hou shu (pink bottle is supposed to be slightly sweeter than blue) newly stocked!

i have something to share. i feel kind of funny about it because i automatically hate all things that smack of hippie. examples:

• patchouli
• those horrible poncho/shirt things from south america
• mandals
• not bathing

my parents were hippies, back in the day - among the first to join the peace corps, lived on an indian reservation - the whole deal. although really, they were of the beat generation, which, in my mind, is a lot more awesome than being a hippie because it involves wearing stylish attire and writing or painting incomprehensible things while clothing yourself in the metaphoric mantle of counterculture.

anyway. back to my tip. i have a friend who is incredibly frugal and environmentally responsible. she's always telling me to do crazy things like wash out plastic bags, make my own pork stock, and line-dry my clothes. yeah, whatever - i grew up without a car, eating homemade yogurt, and being deprived of television. it ain't me, babe.

however, her email yesterday said that she'd taken to washing her hair with baking soda (1 T + water as shampoo) and vinegar (1 T + water as conditioner) and it was amazing. well, i'm experimental. i decided to try it. keep in mind that my hair is naturally the texture of straw that has been left baking in the sun for several years. i use exclusively kerastase, which i consider to be the rolls-royce of haircare products.

so i cannot overexpress my surprise at finding that it actually, strangely, works - and it even feels like i used conditioner. totally weird, right? anyway, my review:

• positives: shiny, soft, manageable hair, very low cost
• negatives: somewhat messy to use, moderate vinegar smell, only used once; long-term usage might result in hair loss - who can say?

so, edward, still feeling pretty good about the whole engagement thing?