colorful food

Bottega Louie in Downtown LA. Beautiful space. Beautiful food. Beautiful day. One of the first things we sought when I visited A for the first time. Certain foods we fell in love over. Macaroons one of them.

best subway performance

I remember as a child, my dad would tell me he had security cameras up so he would know if I practiced piano or not. I believed him. Perhaps I would have been the piano prodigy they had dreamed of if he had employed this method. 

This kid was playing like Beethoven. I thought it was a recording at first. The dad is tapping out the beat. And every so often the kid would look up, as if checking for approval (which we all know is never going to happen). After his piece, he runs around the platform like he's a superhero while his dad looks on shaking his head dissappointedly and beckoning him back to his seat. After his next piece, he looks up and his dad shakes his head like the child has just shamed the whole clan. And then people drop money into their bag. Kid makes bank! This is amazing. His fingers! So fast! So nimble! So musical!  

 Somehow, these guys are not quite as impressive.

windy city

It was super duper windy yesterday. A good place to be would have been inside. I would much rather listen to the wind howl and try to walk against it. Sometimes I find myself being tossed around like a rag doll in the gusty breath of New York winters. 

things I don't like

I stopped by the produce cart on my way back to the abode. I asked for romaine lettuce, and the guy says, "That's it?" So I also got carrots. And he says again, "That's all? Are you sure? We just got some ginger." So I go for the ginger too. I don't even like carrots, or ginger. So now I have to use all this ginger. We made gingersnap cookies, but they don't have the snap. They're actually good. Better than I expected. I'm impressed with my roommate and I. 

carbon packed roses

The guy I met at the airport brought me roses! How romantical! I love this pink on the white. Gorgeous.

 I removed all the petals and dropped some eucalyptus oil A left last year on them. It's a touch early for mosquito repellent, but my roommate allegedly saw one 2 weeks ago. Fingers crossed for a mild mosquito season this year.

beating heart

Times Square beating heart installation. It's supposed to beat faster if you touch it, and faster if more people touch it. Cute. I went to visit with a friend. What? Friend? I have friends? Be still my beating heart! It took little persuasion seeing as how the alternative was working on her thesis. Life is better with a travel buddy. I'll remain eternally grateful for friends who will go on whatever tame or wild journeys with me.

little pie company

On the way to my rock climbing gym - no, next to my rock climbing gym, lives a bakery called the Little Pie Company. They have a screen door they cool their goods in front of. You can smell the pie from the beginning of the block. There is an aura/cloud/bubble of good smells around the establishment. It's a wonder I ever make it to the climbing wall. This week they gave out a scoutmob for Little Pie Company. I got Mississippi Mud, Old Fashioned Apple, and Triple Berry - in order of preference after the taste test.

dinosaurs once roamed the land

Roar.

I got this dinosaur mold before I left for break. I've been excited to use it. I haven't had the bast record with cakes. Remember my attempt for A's birthday senior year? I'm not sure I remember what it was about, but I think we can both agree it wasn't my best work. I also remember burning out the hand mixer on that cake. It was quite a fiasco. But this time, S even asked for a 2nd piece. That must be a good sign, right?

Year of the dragon!!!

 I convinced some people to go out to Chinatown with me for the Chinese New Year parade. Friends? Dare I say I have friends? We arrived towards the end of it, and caught a glimpse of the crowd at the corner of where we entered to eat. We knew it was the tail end of the parade, but food was beckoning to us. There was so much silly string and confetti. I'd like to see what it's like in China one day for this.

While we were wandering, we noticed a new grocery store. Anybody that knows me should know I love grocery stores. Some people binge eat or watch sappy movies when they have a bad day, going in grocery stores serves as that type of therapy for me. Gotta love grocery store decor.

daylighting

I was not supposed to take pictures here. But I did anyway. Defiant until the day I die! This place was gorgeous, I just could not follow any societal conventions aside from which utensils to use. The food was amazing. The decor was amazing. The lighting was amazing. Although I'm pretty sure this place could have easily been found in the States, it was all amazing!

venetian glass

Is this not worthy of a tourist magazine? Aside from the no people. Do you not want to sit here? A and his fancy schmancy camera.

threw away the key

This was started somewhere else in Europe. People write or inscribe their initials and date on a lock. Lock it to the fence. And throw the key into the river below. There was only one guy selling locks. I would have expected more. I'm sure they would make a killing.

baking upon arrival

My roommate wanted to bake cookies for a cookie party at her work and enlisted my assistance. Kudos to those who bake from scratch for cookie parties, rather than resort to default pansy maneuvers like buying from store. If you buy from a bakery, that is a step up. I wanted to be adventurous and made these five spice cookies. I really liked them, and I think that was the consensus of those who tasted them too. 

 M selected this peanut butter, chocolate chip number. They were also tasty, but I think our first couple batches could have stayed in the over for a little longer. They were more crumbly than the above variety. We ended up with a lot of cookies.

decked out

New York City is like a tourist trap for much of Manhattan below 59th Street. Due to mild winters, I think it must not deter tourists from approaching in the winter. Oh, the hoards of foot traffic obstacles! I cut my losses this last year I'm here to check out the festivities near Rockefeller Plaza. For this holiday season, there were sleazy Santas, heightened security, extra fences, and photos aplenty.

                       

 

school events

This building is normally closed at night. I figure if I can walk through looking like I know what's going on, no one will be any wiser. These school security guards are pretty on top of the ball. Fundraiser for children somewhere. If you're going to make a pretty walkway, do you really expect no one to walk up?

train track art

Love the colors in this. Waiting for the last express purple line into the loop from Evanston. It's like Siberia out there. But it was completely worth it. Had a grand time with my brother! He's the best.

cheaper in NJ

On the off chance I'm forced to go to New Jersey for a class field trip I can't excuse myself out of. There's a bunch of the buildings downtown that are all connected with bridges starting from the train station. So if you work in one of those buildings, you literally never need to go outside. There's food courts and vendors in there too - so really - never have to sully your shoes with NJ pavement. But we did go outside to visit the City Hall. We stopped at an intersection outside the train station to breathe in the bus exhaust. This is the intersection with the most public transit activity in NJ. And they told us to excuse their messy upkeep, because they were in the middle of filming the next DARK KNIGHT!

seasoned my first wok

super duper smoky! make sure to have excellent ventilation!

somewhere in Brooklyn

I'm doing site visits to record parking habits. I've passed this Pikachu 16 times today. Pika pika.

study time

So many copious notes! I am the queen of smart sounding large worded papers! Haha. Haha. Oh, please. You should know me better than that.