mmmmm cookie

Mmm dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie at Levain Bakery. Cookies are done on the outside but still doughy on the inside and served warm...so good. At $4 a pop they are part of the NYC foodie craze but still worth it as the occasional treat after a few educational hours at the nearby Natural History Musuem.

 

Fall in Central Park

 

 

Wishful Drinking

So last night was another successful Hiptix night! I went with the girls to see Carrie Fisher's one woman play which has gotten pretty decent reviews so I had high hopes. As it turns out, there was no need to worry. Carrie right away reminded me all the good parts of my mother: warm, friendly, sassy, articulate, and funny as hell. Thankfully, my mother is not batshit crazy, lol, as Carrie calls herself. 


The play was a bit out of place in the huge Studio 54 theater. It was definitely written for a smaller, more intimate and confessional space. Carrie made the best of it by wearing pajamas, directly interacting with the audience and using a comfy living room set. She was just completely charming from the first as she honestly revealed all the drama in her life and had a good time with it. There was a great quote like if it ain't funny, then it's just the truth. She satisfied all the voyeuristic-fan vibes from the audience and also managed to guide us, in the second and more somber act, to thinking about addiction to narrative. She was an addict most of her life and most of that was in the public eye. 

It was a great night at the theater- lots of laughs and even a little wisdom sprinkled in :)

big apple gem: tea & sympathy

When I first moved to NYC I ended up moving in with one of the girls who shared a semester abroad in London with me. We congregated at a little tea house run by "real" Brits with firm manners and great accents. There's a little strip of 3 shops generously labeled Little Britain down by 8th ave and 14th st where you can get hot and fresh fish and chips at A Salt & Battery, cream tea at Tea & Sympathy and British goodies, candies and tea accessories at their store.

They have a variety of teas which come with a variety of eccentric tea pots in a teeny tiny shop crammed with tables and stacks of cakes and scones.

The place is also known for its list of house rules and strict waiting policy, but the staff is fair and efficient- the only problem comes from other pushy new yorkers trying to get in their british goodies.

Their other food is pretty good. I've had a very decent quiche and salad. But's it really afternoon tea that shines. Their clotted cream is just right- oh so buttery and creamy but not to sweet.

I love to go their with friends and slowly drink my little pot of looseleaf tea. I love wondering which pot or cup I will get this time. On a rainy NYC day I could almost be in London again.

The hunt

Over the weekend I went apartment hunting with a friend of mine because NYC real estate fascinates me. Not the negotiating, lease signing, background checking side; just the visual side and voyeuristic thrill of peeking into buildings to see how other New Yorkers live their life. Dealing with the financial side of getting an apartment in NYC is a real pain in the arse, so I was glad just to tag along for fun.

We were looking in two neighborhoods- East Gramercy (in the 20s around 1st and 2nd ave) and Midtown West (in  the 40s and 50s around 10th and 11th ave). These two areas are pretty lively but still far enough to the east or west to avoid the price rise of central buildings. They also have a lower "cool" factor, ie they are not as chic or well known as their neighboors like St.Marks or Astor place near Gramercy or Chlesea and the UWS on either side of Midtown west. This is a picture from Best Apartments website where we looked at some apts.

We saw a whole range of quality, too. One apartment in MW had exposed brick, a washing machine, a dishwasher, a fireplace, wood floors and two evenly sized bedrooms. What a looker! The flaws in other places: being on the first floor or basement, tiny bathrooms, no living room, bathroom access only through the bedrooms, railroad style narrow hallways. One apartment had a roof deck with a giant couch, a table and tons of beer bottles- a little too frat. Another was right next to a bakery and made the building smell delicious. One had a rundown entrance way but a beautiful apartment interior. Far from the subway or close; five flights or one; big bedrooms or small. There are so many options in New York!

Update: now the search has become a battle between Midtown West and Midtown East. There are some nice apartments on 57th st and 9th ave- right near Columbus Circle & Central Park. The NYC quirk: all of the bedrooms have built in loft beds, which is kind of interesting. Another traditional 3 bedroom in the 50s on 2nd ave but since all of our friends live on the West side (including me!) that seems far away and not as interesting as Gramercy. All of these average out to about $850 a person.

Update to the update: my friend just put down a deposit on a first floor apartment at 52nd and 9th ave which apparently has a nice little patio! Can't wait to see it :) extra sq footage always wins in the end

I can has cheezeburger

Orion is now a LOL Cat

Google is adorable

In honor of Sesame Street's 40th birthday!

In West Philadelphia...

so yes I am a dork for actually singing the Fresh Prince theme song when I went to visit a friend in West Philly last weekend. Although Septa was on strike, I got a ride with a friend to Philly and spent the weekend doing things within walking distance.

Philadelphia is a nice change of pace from NYC. I loved the residential streets with those stone quaker houses and trees dripping with autumn leaves. The weather was quite warm and we walked around Clark Park and through the Penn Campus which is full of red brick buildings and curiously charming dilapidated frat buildings.

We also stuffed our faces- with lavender mint chocolate sauce from the farmer's market, Ethiopian food from a nearby restaurant, stove popped popcorn, a six pack of Jamaican Red Stripe, dark chocolate dipped biscuits, numerous cups of coffee and a gluttonous breakfast of cheese grits, eggs, bacon and cider. What a glorious time!

We also made it halfway through a 26 episode long Anime series called Ouran High School Host Club, which I really enjoyed. It's a light hearted and surreal anime about high school kids acting out a whole variety of fetishes and fantasies in a PG-13 way. All in all a great weekend!

Rating NYC yogurt

I love me some yogurt! Here are my ratings based on taste, location, price and line wait

1. Brown Cow Maple Cream Top: $3-4 at Whole Foods depending when it's on sale. rich and creamy, fattylicious and decadent. Lines are medium wait- locations more convenient.

2. Brown Cow Vanilla: $3-4 at Whole Foods depending when it's on sale. not as decadent as the maple cream, but still the richest of the brands.

3. Whole Foods Vanilla: a 365 organic brand, $3
nicely creamy, not very sweet so good for breakfast

4. Trader Joe's Vanilla: $3
little too sweet- you can taste the sweetner, but still creamy. Ridiculous lines and inconvenient location.

5. Pathmark Vanilla: $2-3 depending on sales
emergency yogurt- not worth the discount for this grainy yogurt. Bad lines, great location.

Jane Austen fan fic

So big nerd moment of the week: I watched Lost in Austen. It's a about a modern day reader of Jane Austen who trades place with Elizabeth Bennett in a time machine switch-a-roo sort of way. Except she doesn't travel back in time but into Austen's Pride & Prejudice.

The main character, Amanda, then bungles the entire novel in a delightful way that highlights the differences in our modern world. For example, Jane Bennett does marry Mr.Collins because it is the practical thing to do, but then Mr.Bingly starts drinking and they decide to run away together to America- a "modern" choice if ever there was one.

This is blatant fan fiction as it places a modern day fan smack dab in the Austen world. The movie depends on the viewer's synchronous placement as a fan- it's a web of Austen jokes, turns of language, play with character and above all, the at home fan's complete and utter love for Mr.Darcy. Amanda is our on screen replacement. Not only does she love Austen's work she loves the recreations and adaptations just as much. Right from the beginning, she says that Mr.Darcy (the Lost in Austen Mr. Darcy) is no Colin Firth (one of the other and perhaps most famous Mr. Darcy, who also appeared in Bridget Jones' Diary as the modern Mr.Darcy). The best moment for me is when Darcy declares he loves Amanda and she asks him to do her a favor. The next thing you see is this:



which is a visual homage to Colin Firth's diving into the lake scene which has been over analyzed and enjoyed by every Austen nerd out there. It's a moment of pure visual fetishization of the male body/masculine ideal. Everyone always wonders at the fact that Elizabeth's feelings start to change when she sees Pemberley. Well, it's because she starts to feel desire- for beauty, for belonging, for wealth, for physical presences and bodies. This moment of female desire is rare in fiction in general, and it has been drawn out of Austen (scene never happens in the book) and treasured.

To be explicit, it's rare for female desire to exist and not be punished in some way. Lizzy is bold about her desire and she gets rewarded for it. In the film, Lizzy is also pretty straight about not wanting to leave the modern world. She ditches Darcy for London, short hair and a cell phone :)

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed this series- the Brits do tend to get it right! Austen has long been one of my favorite writers because she combined such great melodrama with biting social criticism and excellent wit. Lost in Austen managed to capture some of that by re-interpreting the plot and characters and all the what ifs. But it still gave priority to the female reader's pleasure which is fabulous!

cyber buy

I just bought this camera:
and instead of giving my home address I gave my work address because it is much easier for me to get things shipped to work. About 10 seconds after I ordered the camera, my bank called me from the fraud department because I had not used my home address. Talk about on the ball! They were very nice and added my work address to my folder but boy did I feel monitored. Panopticon anyone?

Anyway I'm excited about getting my new sony digital camera, which I heavily researched and is supposed to be pretty good for it's price point (under $200). It's not as sleeky and Zoolander tiny as some of the other brands but it's supposed to have good image quality and that's what I am looking for, along with rechargeable batteries- go green everyone :)

I can't wait to take pictures of London and New York and add some personality to this blog.