happy birthday to us! oh, and new year to you.

tomorrow is the first day of 2011, and burning down the house’s first birthday. if that’s not cause for a jpeg of neon-colored candles, i don’t know what is. i started this blog mostly because i finally moved to brooklyn and consequently, finally had a kitchen in which to explore my foodieness. the whole music obsession thing had been already going on for about 20+ years so that aspect was obvious.

as 2010 went on, i got too busy for my britches and sadly, BDTH suffered. but i’ve got a plan in 2011: new recipes every monday, food and music spotlights on wednesdays, and a weekly roundup on fridays. i’m pretty damn excited. in the meantime, i’ll give in to the year-end mush and share my BDTH highlights of the year…

food: winning 3rd place in the brooklyn edition of the food experiment this fall, and seeing wylie dufresne nod in approval after trying my beet bread pudding dish. the win was sweeter because of help from the inspirational and all-around awesome friend danielle gould there, co-creator of food + tech connect–the flourish of which was another major highlight of the year for me to watch. girl’s going places… if you aren’t already following her, you should start doing that like now.

music: helping dissolve the myth that classical music is dead, or more accurately, stale, by exposing more people to groundbreaking works such as those on indie-classical label new amsterdam records was a major highlight. this is a goal i’ve been working toward since i was just starting on cello and heard smashing pumpkins’ “disarm” or saw nirvana rocking with my instrument of choice during their mtv unplugged concert (after which all of my time was instantly devoted to practicing back up on “man who sold the world”).

it was the first time i heard my old instrument used for something other than mozart, and i suddenly realized that the music in my walkman (yeah, 90s!) was just what i knew as “classical music” evolved and in different forms. an obvious connection, but an important one that created a transparency of “genre” labels and helped me become the curious music listener i am excited to be today.

health & fitness: i took time to understand food’s power as with my first recipe for chicken noodle soup, but want this to be a bigger part of BDTH in 2011. my ’10 highlights were qualifying for the 2011 nyc marathon (my first, yikes!) and making a bicycle my primary form of transportation. as such, i need more fuel and energy than ever and hope to share the healthful info and tips i learn on here in case you’re battling the same kind of splenda demons as i am.

finally, i want to say thanks to you my reader, or accidental discoverer of this site via google, for stopping by and giving it an eye. drop a note anytime, especially if it’s with a link to something funny involving kittens. have fun this weekend and i’ll be here with a new recipe on monday!  xjill

the final run.

this is what chocolate-flavored power gel tastes like, by the way.

today was my ninth and final race of 2010, and the one that clinched my spot in the 2011 new york marathon. i rarely remember to make a playlist for my half marathons, so to celebrate this final body battery i made one. a real good one, i think. unfortunately i learned my headphones were broken when i got to the race, so i’ve decided to post it here in case someone else can use it more than i did, and to feel less annoyed about the time i spent making this only to run in silence for over 2 hours.

you can download the mix HERE. i had them in a specific order in my playlist but then it went to hell when i exported it so shuffle as you see fit.

1. new order – “age of consent”
2. paul mccartney – “coming up”
3. joy division – “disorder”
4. lcd soundsystem – “get innocuous”
5. rilo kiley – “it’s a hit”
6. the clash – “magnificent seven”
7. sunset rubdown – “mending of the gown”
8. belle & sebastian – “your cover’s blown”
9. talking heads – “book i read”
10. arcade fire – “i’m sleeping in a submarine”
11. interpol – “obstacle 1″
12. delta spirit – “trashcan”
13. talking heads – “i zimbra”
14. crystal castles vs health – “crimewave”
15. wolf parade – “disco sheets”
16. david bowie – “let’s dance”
17. r. kelly – “ignition”
18. broken social scene – “almost crimes”
19. wolf parade – “lousy pictures”
20. radiohead – “weird fishes/arpeggi”
21. the clash – “rudie can’t fail”
22. arthur russell – “this is how we walk on the moon”
23. beach fossils – “twelve roses”
24. of montreal – “the party’s crashing us”
25. ra ra riot – “too too fast”
26. hot chip – “transmission” (joy division cover)
27. radiohead – idioteque
28. brian eno – “the true wheel”
29. yeah yeah yeahs – “maps”
30. the feelies – “crazy rhythms”
31. fiery furnaces – “sweet spots”
32. tokyo police club – “your english is good”
33. frank zappa – “baby snakes”
34. new order – “temptation”
35. the rapture – “house of jealous lovers”
36. arcade fire – “neighborhood #1 (tunnels)”
37. depeche mode – “enjoy the silence”

it’s nothing more curated than some songs i like to run to since most of my favorite bands and songs aren’t on here, which includes artists i work with just because it’s easier for me to get into “zone out running mode.”

enjoy, i hope!