ode to leftovers

most stores don't sell just one chicken breast.  or a 1/3 c of cream of chicken soup.  or a tsp of rosemary.  you have to buy in bulk.  but for meal time - it's just me.  this means leftovers.  lots of leftovers.

 

i don't hate eating leftovers.  i always try to spice them up with something else added to the meal.  like fresh fruit.  applesauce (i love applesauce).  roasted sweet potatoe chips.  etc.  just to keep it interesting.

 

the other thing that is great about leftovers is they become lunch during the week which means i save on average about $40 a week.  bonus!

 

bon appetit as i eat my sunday chicken and rice at work for the third straight day. 

ode to spending time with family

when i started writing my year end letter to put in my christmas cards this year i realized that every single vacation i took in 2012 had a member of my family vacationing with me.  that has never happened since i left the nest many moons ago.  i think family time has risen to the top of the priority list in 2012.  i actively chose to spend my precious vacation days on time with members of my family.  i always knew that i loved my family tremendously but i think 2012 just solidified how much i love to SPEND TIME with them.  there can often be a big difference between loving your family and loving to spend time with them.  

so even though i worked 6 of the 7 business days i was on "vacation" over christmas this year i still loved every moment i got to be with my family.  and i want to say "you're welcome" to joani for allowing her to dive head first into mommy mode and take care of me when i was so sick.  love that my communication with her while in my sick bed was via text.  she's come a long way.  pat yourself on your back my mommy.

i look forward to my time with the family in 2013 - especially my vacay with joani and flex in europe.  time for joani to get another stamp in her passport and what better places to get that stamp than in london and paris?  and flex is just an awesome and easy going travel companion so he is going to be part of the party.  plus three is always better than two.  just remember to do and go where i tell you and we will all have a great time.

ode to helping hands and yellow vests

Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.

this video shows the efforts made by some of my family (looking at you gooch), neighbors and strangers in the rockaways after the devasting superstorm sandy blew through area.  it reminds me of something my grandma jewel and then my mother always said "many hands make light work". 

ode to new york city

if i could write poetry this would be the post to bust it out.  but alas, my talents lie elsewhere.  the reason for my wish to write in verse is that today is my 10 year anniversary with new york city.  i can officially call myself a new yorker.  this city is the one place i have lived the longest consecutively in my young life.  here's a brief run down of the biggest highlights of my relationship with new york city in chronological order:

• moved to new york with two large suitcases and a box of linens
• my first apartment was on 92nd and 2nd street on the fourth floor of a building with a pizzeria on the ground floor
• three weeks after moving i got a job with the NBA retired players association as a coordinator - also worked at bath & body works to supplement the income
• new york fun day was born in december of 2002
• in spring of 2004 i flew on my first international flight to land in paris - spent 5 glorious days in the city of lights with netter and doc 
• survived the blackout that turned off the much needed A/C in the heat of august for three days
• in june of 2005 i left the nba retired players association to take a job with a hedge fund
• moved into my very own apartment in june of 2007...didn't even care that it was on the 5th floor of a walk up because it was my first home
• took more trips to the european continent including rome, florence, london (x2), prague (x2), vienna, budapest and again to paris
• spent 6 weeks caged in my apartment due to a broken ankle sustained at the home of my buddy clare
• took a helicopter tour over the city with my brother flex (my gift to him for helping me move)
• moved into my second very own apartment in 2009 and this building had laundry AND an elevator

this city is hard to live and thrive in.  if you don't absolutely love it then it makes absolutely no financial sense or common sense to continue to call it your home.  there have obviously been times that i have thought about leaving to be closer to family but i also have a family here in the city.  i'm grateful for the many wonderful people i have met throughout my 10 years in this amazing city.  that is what has made these 10 years fly by and mostly filled with happiness and joy.  the opportunity to watch amazing broadway productions and museum exhibits not to mention the great food doesn't hurt either.

i love this city.  those cheap touristy shirts that everyone has to take home really mean something to me.  i love new york.

ode to the passage of time

i remember thinking i wanted to be older when i was younger.  well my younger self, you are older.  the strange thing is i don't feel like i'm "older".  (as an FYI, i classify "older" as double the number of years when i had my original "i want to be older" thought...you can do the math).  i'm pretty sure i'm still mentally in my mid-20s where i'm trying to figure things out.  sometimes i succeed and sometimes i don't.  

the one thing this older stuff has granted is a greater appreciation for nice things.  i'm in negotiations to sell my current HDTV so i can get a bright and shiny new one.  i also am out of debt for the first time since i held my first VISA card.  i've traveled.  i've bought mountains and mountains of clothes that now mostly reside in the closet of my sister-in-law.  i own diamonds that i purchased with my own money.  i have no problem hailing a cab on a regular basis and first class travel should be an automatic each and every time i book a trip.

basically i wanted to be older so that i could experience life and do what i wanted with the money that i worked hard to earn.  the only problem is time is flying by now.  i literally can't grasp the fact that it is mid-April of 2012.  i blink my eyes and we've gone from monday to thursday.  a minute feels like a second and three days feels like one.  tell me i'm right.

i believe this fast rate of time can be directly related to how busy and "full" my life is at that moment.  if there are multiple things happening then you better believe time will speed up rapidly to make me feel like i can't quite get everything done.  so i plead with father time, PLEASE give me maybe another couple hours a day to keep myself from aging before my time.  granted, i would probably use those hours to sleep rather than accomplish something.   but who's counting.

ode to a universal sizing chart

i'm generally always "in between" sizes, when shopping for mass produced clothing.  it never fails that one part of the clothing is either too big or too small.  i think this result is the main motivation why i want to learn to sew.  i'm so tired of the waist on my pants being so loose but the legs a bit snug around, as my sister-in-law sunshine calls them, my "last name thighs". 

what i want is a universal sizing chart so you always know exactly what size to pull off the racks at each and every store you shop.  because buying one size at one store and then buying the same size at an online store and the online merchandise doesn't fit is a pain in the you know where.  

come on "fashion" industry.  figure out how to have a universal sizing chart.  i mean really...for the good of humanity it is about time!

ode to HGTV

my friend preppy told me about her recent addiction to watching HGTV.  i thought it was kind of odd but didn't voice that opinion to her directly.  in my mind there were so many other great cable shows to enjoy like AMC, Bravo, ABC Family, Bio, etc.  Who wants to watch shows about how to build a deck?  or what kind of paint and primer combo is best to disguise a red wall?  or heaven forbid, watching men compete in a show about who can make the best bird feeder out of popsicle sticks?  needless to say, it didn't intrigue me but i thought that my friend preppy is a pretty urbane, cultured and sophisticated new yorker/san franciscan so maybe i should see what all of the hoopla was about.  big mistake.  huge.

i have now turned into an HGTV groupie.  it is my go-to surfing channel if i'm waiting for my prime time shows to commence or i need something in the background while i cook or if i'm just lounging on my couch in my 400 something square foot apartment that i pay a rent of 4 digits to call my home.  some of my favorite shows are house hunters international, property virgins, for rent and my first place.  the mistake in converting to the dark side of watching others search for properties is that i have some serious, hard core house envy.  i want to be one of the young whipper snappers that is buying their first home full of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen with an island and deck in the back yard.  oh and did i mention all of the homes seem to have a dishwasher and laundry facilities?  because they all do.  be still my beating heart.

don't get me wrong...my relationship with new york city seems to be on solid footing.  we still spend lots of wonderful hours together basking in vibrancy, culture, energy and street fairs selling food on a stick.  it's just that HGTV has opened up a new adult world to me full of people concerned about mortgages, location vs. space, and how close is too close to one's parents.  as well as how to compromise on paint colors and how big is too big when buying a new HDTV for the family room.

sometimes i wonder if i could have a long term relationship with a place like los angeles, san diego, phoenix or portland that is just as vibrant, cultured and energetic but with an added bonus of a mortgage full of equity and maybe a yard where my one day dog can romp and play.  i think in many ways it is better to not realize what is out there so you don't know anything but your chosen way of life.  unfortunately HGTV burst that bubble of ignorance. 

ode to central air

my apartment has two window a/c units.  one for the living room/kitchen and one for my bedroom.  it is imperative to keep the bedroom door closed when running its a/c unit.  this traps all of the cold air so it cools down that room quickly.  it is also important to turn on the a/c at least 30 minutes prior to sleepy time. 

the unit currently in the bedroom was a hand me down a/c from the previous apartment tenants of artiste and california lady.  it has worked great for the past two years.  unfortunately the machine died on one of the hottest days i've ever experienced as a new yorker.  the lights were on but nothing was happening so i was forced to sleep on my couch in the living room.  not ideal.

that night i bought an a/c unit online at best buy.com to make sure they didn't run out during this colossal heat wave.  picked up the new a/c unit on saturday but the crazy thing is now the old machine is working just fine!  i don't get it.  one day i get nothing when i desperately need it and now i get all the cold air i could want.  so do i keep the new a/c and put the old one on the street for a lucky soul to pick up or take the new a/c unit back via a cab to the best buy on 86th and lexington?

if only i had an apartment with central air...

ode to a dishwasher

most of the inconveniences about living in new york are easily negated because of the awesome aspects of living in new york. today there is nothing about living in NYC that makes up for not having a dishwasher. i'm kinda done with doing all my dishes by hand. ok, i'm only one person so how many dishes can i possibly dirty...you'd be surprised.

maybe one day if i'm really good, my relationship with new york will produce a dishwasher. a girl can dream...

ode to a cupcake

i've haven't been subtle in my angst against Rockefeller Center. now i have another item to add to my list of annoyance. a magnolia bakery has opened in Rock Center! how could this be a bad thing you ask...it's a bad thing because i absolutely LOVE and ADORE cupcakes. see exhibit A...my birthday last year. netter even bought me a cupcake tree to display my cupcake baking skills. i had friends over last year after park avenue singing for...you guessed it...red velvet cupcakes. yoga master is hosting a party tomorrow night and asked me to stop by to be her official cupcake taste tester - i plan to go to her place after my gym work out! i'm a little out of control.

i wouldn't say i have any addictive vices when it comes to food. however, since jersey girl pointed out the magnolia bakery on the corner of 49th and 6th i have been a total of 9 times (out of a short duration of time); often ordering multiple cupcakes. yesterday i convinced my co-worker Mo to join me on my magnolia pilgrimage thinking that if i bring it friend then it is okay to get yet another cupcake.

please friends - i beg you to help me stop the magnolia madness. if you see me in the bakery, i give you permission to pull me out bodily kicking and screaming. also, if you're in my apartment please remove all cupcake baking items. i need your help to control the demon.