Thursday Eve

Spotted: Thursday evening dinner party down on the patio below. Summer in NYC is really fab. Plus I can eavesdrop perfectly while sitting in my Texas chair, sipping rose and finishing up this month's Real Simple.

Can't wait to hear what their discussions entail!

90 Cal cans of dp! How cool!!!

july already?

it's july already. and this morning while preparing my breakfast smoothie i decided that i should set some sort of goal for myself for july. after all, it's 1/2 way through the year so this is really just a new years resolution refresh.

my original new years resolution was to start cooking more and to make a better effort at exploring recipes. i was doing a fairly good job at keeping up this resolution for Q1.

then we finally got around to pulling the trigger on the kitchen remodel...and it was a process... (see below)

so what better time to start back up with the cooking and baking? with a slight twist. i'm going to make an effort to cook and prepare foods that are in season.

it's always easy to cook with frozen veggies, and food that's always in season (ex. my staple baked potatoes) but there's a slight challenge that comes when you force yourself to cook with in season ingredients.

to kick off this new year's resolution pt. 2, i'll be making chicken strips, veggies and pasta salad tonight. i'm also dying to make the best blueberry crumble known to man (a recipe from drami), and something with rhubarb. and i may just visit the greenmarket this weekend to further inspire.

any other suggestions?

gleeful

i didn't jump on the Glee bandwagon at first, not because I didn't want to, but because i couldn't remember what time/day it came on. i would go into work on Wednesday mornings and realize I'd missed it again. i even downloaded the soundtrack from the first season and bopped along to it to and from work just so i would be a little in the loop.

it was a never ending and very frustrating cycle that i couldn't escape from.

until the past few weeks. i just finished watching my 3rd episode and it was fantastic! i think it was the season 1 finale? whichever episode it was, the best part was that my mom and i texted through the whole thing!!

i won't recount the entire convo, but my favorite was absolutely the first:

mom: is the pregnant girl on stage?

there's just something about being able to connect with your mom on the most basic things that is so fulfilling. especially when she's so so far away.

salutations

this morning i started something new:

i ran to yoga.

did yoga.

was going to run back from yoga, but i couldn't feel my legs.

i discovered that yoga to the people has a 7am class on tuesdays and thursdays at their 38th street location. it's awesome and only $5/class. there were only 8 people as opposed to the 55 expected for the 6pm class. plus, i was done with my workout by 8am, and it was a true sun salutation. how cool!

at the end of yoga classes, the instructors read a quote for you to reflect on. today's quote was really great:

"Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure"

- Paulo Coelho Author of The Alchemist

the paris!

a few months ago on a very chilly nyc eve, i saw coco, before chanel at the paris! theater. it was quite glamorous.

photo (cinemeablend.com)

a few weeks after that, i saw a single man at the paris! equally as glamorous.

photo (designcrave.com)

i highly recommend the films and the theater, whenever you can. also, be on the lookout for my reappearance as julianne moore's character in a single man, i'm currently working on the big hair portion.

oh madison

ever since i started my new job back in october, i've done a lot more walking. from home to work and from work to home. specifically, i've been walking up and down madison avenue. i chose madison because "it's like being in europe."

or so some say.

i've found that the walk does a world of wonder for me, it puts a new spin on the day and there is just so much to see and enjoy. examples below:

1. in november, i walked up behind a family that was on their way to dinner. it was such a look into a manhattan family's evening. the mom had picked up the kids and the dad had met them on the corner, or at least that's what i got from eavesdropping. they were headed to a restaurant around the corner, and the dad had to tell the mother and daughter to "watch out". guess i got too close...
   
2. back in december when my mom and emily were in town, we ran into my mom's cousins, who were looking for chinese food. on madison. i had to tell them to go to 2nd ave, madison ave doesn't carry chinese food thank you very much!
   
3. the christmas windows in the ralph lauren kids store on 73rd and madison. amazing. but most amazing was the fact that the clothes for the 2 year olds were all white. WHITE. too much.
4. the french dress shop, with the extreme a-line dress always in the window. picture the dress that diane keaton wears in "father of the bride", but with a popped silk collar. always a different dress, but always the same display.
5. the designer consignment shops that are always closed at 6 on the dot. i can only imagine that they have the most fabulous stylings of old new york. if they closed at 8, i would be a much better dressed 25 year old.
6. madison is home to clyde's, the upper class pharmacy that makes appearances on gossip girl.
7. there are no starbuck's on madison, only nespresso's and coffee carts in the mornings. let me tell you, it's quite hard to resist the jelly donut from all those coffee cart guys, especially when you're on madison.
   

but honestly my favorite thing about madison ave is that it let's me daydream.