busy

People are coming and people are going. Birthdays are passing and apartments are changing. That is to say, locations are changing as we all do the annual apartment shuffle. Manhattan to Brooklyn, Brooklyn back to Manhattan, uptown, downtown, east side or west side? Things are busy but I haven't started feeling stressed until recently, when I realized we're actually going to be looking for a new place to live in a couple weeks. May is going to be crazy. But before then:

Took a walk in the northern part of central park yesterday, around the bridal path where all the cherry blossom trees are currently blooming. It was a little chilly and started to drizzle at one point, but still very pretty. Now that I've got my summer haircut too, I'm ready for the wonderfulness that is the "good weather" months in NYC. (Or maybe I should say weeks instead of months.) When one can wear a tank top and skirt and sit outside on the cafe sidewalk sipping a margarita, or lounge in the park in the evening listening to a free concert, or read a book on a blanket with friends while dog-and-people watching.

Madre is coming to visit this weekend and boy do we have plans. These plans involve eating. And eating. And sight seeing and eating. Shopping... and then probably more eating. I have promised myself to take actual pictures this weekend, so I'm sure there will be evidence of this anticipated eating. Mmm.

V is for Visitors

(Whatever happened to that alien show, btw?)

So this weekend was craziness. We had friends from Ohio, Providence, and Texas all visiting and all meeting up on Friday at CC Music Factory's housewarming party. Good times were had by all. Then Saturday some of us had a recovery lunch party at Momofuku Noodle Bar. Finally, I had an excuse to spend $16 on a bowl of ramen, a bowl that I had heard so much about and been meaning to try for ages. Behold:
Mmmm porky deliciousness! We all decided it was very good, if a little salty, but not so amazing that we would be returning each week. Plus we had to wait like an hour for a table. But I'm glad we went! The hamachi and foie gras we all shared was also delicious.

Saturday night was slightly more chill. Sunday was for brunch! Went to a little restaurant near our apartment and had to wait again... for like an hour. Grr. I'm starting to not be a fan of eating out during the day on the weekends. Luckily we were smart and made a reservation for dinner (Soho Park! Such nostalgia for my old neighborhood again!) and it worked out very nicely, considering there were 10 of us and that's usually not the greatest number to go out in.

I'm very much looking forward to the end of this week, weather wise. A repeat of Prospect Park playing on Saturday seems imminent. Tonight should also be awesome, as our (mine and J's) wife (Danny) is making us paella for dinner and we have that to look forward to when we get home from our long, wearying days at work. And sangria? Perfection.

I tweeted this

but I will post it here for my non twittering friends (no pressure! it's just another giant time suck, I swear you're not missing anything!)

Things I am Excited About:
--Spring weather (slash Mister Softee, obvi)
--Friday's party
--Depositing my tax refunds once I get those checks
--Friends visiting this weekend
--Mom visiting in April (which means, therefore: Tim Burton exhibit, Eating Tour, Top of the Rock, and eatingggg)
--Books 5 and 6 in the Sookie Stackhouse (aka True Blood) series that are sitting on my desk, waiting for me to read them on the train
--Having next Friday off of work!

Thing I am Both Excited and Terrified About:
--Finding a new apartment and having to move out

I know there's still a week of March left, but my calendar for April is already filling up and it's going to be awesome. Can't wait. Let's fast forward to Friday night, shall we? Kthanks.

Happy St Patty's day!

It is a fine and sunny 60 degree day in NYC, and the revelers are already out in full swing. But I thought I would commemorate this Irish holiday differently... with POETRY. That's right kids, here's some WB Yeats for your Saint Patrick's Day pleasure. My favorites:

HE WISHES FOR CLOTHS OF HEAVEN

HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with the golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams beneath your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams...

THE OLD MEN ADMIRING THEMSELVES IN THE WATER

I HEARD the old, old men say,

"Everything alters,

And one by one we drop away."

They had hands like claws, and their knees

Were twisted like the old thorn trees

By the waters.

I heard the old, old men say,

"All that's beautiful drifts away

Like the waters."

(c) William Butler Yeats

What I wouldn't give for a pint of Magners and to be traipsing across the Galway coastal countryside right now....

Dear Real Estate Market,

Please stay crappy for at least another three months. Or, better yet, get crappier! Because we have our hearts set on moving back to Manhattan, and if this cannot happen because rents are once again over-inflated and impossible to manage on an assistant's salary, well we will be very sad. And please don't send any brokers our way that would like to swindle us out of money, in the form of a broker's fee or any other hidden fee crap. We will not stand for that.

Prepare to be hit come early May! Prepare to be conquered! If only you knew how much I want to get this over with RIGHT NOW... but alas, we must be patient. And as the air turns warm and the sun shines on our faces with the promise of spring and rejuvenation, we rub our palms together in anticipation of the task before us. We set our brows with determination! We scour the Craigslist ads until our eyes blur the images of renovated kitchen tiles and stainless steel appliances and exposed brick all together! We calculate and recalculate rent and utilities costs and still, probably, end up weeping at the thought of all the moneys lost to simply dwelling in a dwelling!

Bring it.

February Madness is now March Madness

I went to a Japanese novel reading last night--Rieko Matsuura's THE APPRENTICESHIP OF BIG TOE P (and in case you were wondering, the P stands for penis (and fyi, the Japanese word for big toe-penis is oyayubi no penisu)) about a girl who wakes up one afternoon and her big toe has turned into a penis. Recommended reading, that one. Also the event was very good, especially since the book translator was there and we all know how I feel about people who translate Asian literature (hint: they are awesome).

But that is not the point of this post, actually. I met a friend of mine there and for whatever reason we started talking about budgets, and food, and I had to admit that I've been very bad about budgeting myself this month. I blame the blizzard for preventing me from easy grocery shopping excursions! But really, it's very easy to slip into a pattern of, Oh I'll just buy something to eat, I don't have time/am too lazy to cook something. Plus I've been meeting up with people after work and that is not very conducive to cooking, either for that night or for lunch the next day.

My friend told me that her first year out of college she put herself on a $5 a day budget for food (she also works in the publishing industry, thus the budgeting). $5!! (That meant: two meals of oatmeal and Chinese take out for dinner. Nice). Now she's moved up to $10 a day, which, actually the more that I thought about it, is pretty reasonable. I try to only eat out once or twice during the week and allot myself a coffee or two, and then expect to eat out Friday and Saturday nights, plus get drinks.

The problem with actually having money in my bank account now is that it seems much easier to spend a little here and there. But actually, the only reason I have money now is because I've been budgeting! Once you let that budgeting slip, that money disappears realllll fast and then you have to start all over again with the rigorous budgeting and being that friend who's like "I dunno about tonight, I can't spend any more money this week..." etc etc. SO March is going to be different. No more wantonly spending 8 dollars on a salad for lunch from Pret! No more ordering drinks with dinner! Although my new found love for happy hour specials might still need to be indulged once a week...

Back to books: Am currently almost done with SONS AND OTHER FLAMMABLE OBJECTS and still have to read KITCHEN, BECAUSE SHE CAN, and I LOVED I LOST I MADE SPAGHETTI before they are overdue at the library and J gets fined because she checked them out for me. Fingers crossed tomorrow is a snow day (hah, not likely) and I can stay home and read.

Neglectful, I am

It's a new year already, and yet no new posts. Well, happy year of the Tiger everyone, and I have been quite busy lately, with some changes afoot. Basically I have become a busy person! Working and socializing (reconnecting!) and reading and writing and all that. Oh, and eating. And figuring out the wonderfulness of my new Blackberry. So, because I have become too lazy to upload pictures from my actual camera, here are some pictures from my Tour to tide you over until I get around to crafting an actual post:

We made leather necklace things at Bloomingdales because we are crafty people.


Ok you can't see it so well since the pic is so small, but yay for riding the Q train late at night! Everyone is thrilled.


Finally we got ourselves a room at Bar 675. And proceeded to watching a riveting Curling match (bout? set? game? round?).