leafing through

This time next week, I will be aboard a plane, headed to Madrid, en route to Paris, France!!  Heee!  Just thinking about it has me giddy with excitement.  This trip has been planned and booked since December but it always seemed like such a distant event that I never gave it much thought.  I mean yeah, I want to visit the Louvre and see the Eiffel Tower but it wouldn’t be for months.  Well, the months have passed and in one week, I’ll be in Europe.  Paris, Venice, and Rome.

Last night, I started packing.  I gathered some basic essentials and threw them into my suitcase.  Already I have too many things, tops, shorts, blouses, dresses.  Plus, just checking the weather, it looks like I packed for the wrong season.  It’s going to be in the 50s to low 70s.  Warm, but not hot.  Perfect walking weather.  I am ready for this vacation… just as soon as I gather:

• 1 jacket
• 1 sweater
• 1 skirt
• 3 pants (2 jeans+1 stretchy pants!)
• 2 dresses (1 sweater to go over it if the evening is cool)
• 1 pair of heels + stockings
• 1 pair of sandals
• 1 set of sleepwear
• 3 layerable long sleeve tops
• 1 button down shirt
• 5 t-shirts, maybe 4 if I need to lighten the load
• PASSPORT!!!
• photocopy of passport kept separately
• 2 sets of contact lenses + solution
• sunglasses
• 1 extra pair of glasses
• hand sanitizer
• sunblock
• hair clips, headband, hair bands
• comb and frizz cream
• jewelry bag with a few necklaces, rings, earrings
• camera charger and extra memory cards
• Gorillapod
• CAMERA!!
• gum
• face moisturizers and facial products
• makeup and makeup remover
• dental hygiene necessities
• Europe travel book
• mini notebook
• printouts of online tourist itineraries
• allergy pills
• Pepto pills
• cortisone cream
• travel money belt

I’ve been baking cookies over and over and over again recently.  See??

Batch four

Batch five.

Goodness knows I wish they tasted better than they looked. Texture-wise I mean. These oatmeal raisins are supposed to be chewy! Batch four is cake-like and batch five falls apart when you try to pick them up. Notice they’re still sitting in the oven? I can’t even plate the dang things.

Aside from making my pants too tight, it’s also taught me a thing or two about baking cookies.

And I know this is probably common knowledge to bakers everywhere but it’s new to me! Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

• Oil is not a substitute for good ol’ fashioned buttah! Oil does not hold a cookie together like butter. Oil crumbles. It makes a cookie fall apart.
• Cayenne is surprisingly good for a cookie with a lot of spice flavors like oatmeal raisins.
• Put more cinnamon than the recipe calls for – when it comes to cinnamon, you can’t overdo it.  Pumpkin pie spice is a good substitute for cinnamon or use it in addition.
• Cardamom goes nicely in oatmeal raisin cookies.
• There are other cookies besides oatmeal raisins.
• Oatmeal raisins go great with coffee.  Even the ones that don’t come out right.
• Molasses adds a bit of chew to a cookie.
• Drier doughs usually yield chewier cookies.  Don’t add more liquids thinking it’ll hold together better.  That’s the butter’s job.

Atop the Empire State Building, at around 11 PM, as we were gazing out into the city, applause erupted through a small crowd. We had just witnessed a proposal for a lady’s hand in marriage and the acceptance of the engagement! She was crying with joy exclaiming how she had no idea it was coming and people snapped photos for them. Walking away, I saw her smiling at her ring.

As the Metro train was coming to a halt after work this evening, I saw a man prepare to get off. But before the doors opened, he quietly approached a woman and whispered something to her. She looked expressionless as he handed her a note. She kept her head down reading the note, maybe avoiding eye contact with the man as he watched her read. Then right before he was about to turn around and step off, she looked up at him and gave him a half smile, slight nod, and a mouthed “Okay, I’ll call.” As I followed the man out, he had a bounce in his step and kindly let another lady in front of him as he stepped on the escalator.

New York City makes Washington DC look like the boondocks. As we stepped off the bus when we arrived, I was just amazed by the hordes of people and the tall buildings everywhere! Nut stands, hot dog and gyro carts everywhere. Going in, I thought if I could navigate the MARTA, Metro, and BART, there should be no reason why I can’t navigate the Subway.

I can not navigate the NY city subway. It’s wild. Multiple tunnels, lines, and levels. If not for our wonderful NY resident hostess, we would’ve been lost. But thankfully, she knew where we were going and we went everywhere!! Hudson River, Chelsea Piers, West Village, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, Little Italy, Empire State Building, 30 Rockefeller Plaza all in the course of 1.5 days. Wow. When we arrived back and stepped off the bus in DC, it was so quiet and calm. What a difference, NYC and DC.

Friday, right off the bus, when we flagged down a taxi, this black Cadillac type car picked us up. We figured something was amiss when we didn’t see a meter, and everyone knows NYC cabs have meters. Well, he charged us $15 for what should’ve been $7 but I’m grateful we didn’t get kidnapped! After arriving and dropping off our luggage, we had dinner at Puttanesca, an Italian restaurant not far from where we were staying with our hostess. We shared dishes of monk fish, gnocchi, and goat cheese ravioli. So tasty. But the most memorable was the panna cotta dessert. I will return and I will get the panna cotta! It was light, cool, creamy, not too sweet, melt in your mouth.

Saturday. Food. Gluttonous amounts of it.

1. The Grey Dog’s Coffee. They have great (huge!!) sandwiches and breakfast items. We made a rookie mistake trying to eat the whole thing. We should have shared our entrees. It was a lot of delicious food and I couldn’t stop myself from finishing it all myself!
2. Bubble Tea at Chinatown. We all know how filling bubble tea can be. Ooof!
3. Banh Mi Saigon Bakery for banh mi. We shared this time, but I think I wound up eating almost a whole thing myself because I guess I was the only sardine fan. What!? They’re good!
4. Mamoun’s Falafels. Their falafel sandwiches might have been my favorite out of this entire trip. So flavorful. I will be back for this one!
5. John’s Pizzeria. Three of us shared a medium sized cheese pizza. I was already too full but managed to eat a slice. Fresh tomatoey sauce, thin crispy crust. Don’t try to soak up the grease with your napkin. It will pick up all the good cheese. Just enjoy! I will be back for more NY pizza but I do want to try others. Not that John’s wasn’t wonderful, I mean as full as I was, I still thoroughly enjoyed it, but there are so many choices, I figure I needn’t have the same one twice.

During the day, we went to two farmer’s markets and then Chinatown. I wanted to experience shopping the knockoffs and bargaining. And I did. Only I came home with 2 non-functioning janky watches. Ah street peddlers, it’s part of the experience though. We also walked by Little Italy. Then to the Empire State Building. Even at 10:30 in the evening, the lines were still a little over 30 minutes.

The views at night were spectacular though. You could see the city all lit up. In between, we took a break and played 5 hours of Fat Princess on the PS3. The object is like capture the flag. You have to keep the opponent’s princess in prison while rescuing your own princess. Meanwhile, you want to feed your prisoner so she gets fat and hard to carry. After you rescue yours you can also feed her so she’s harder to kidnap. “I’m hungry” she says during the whole game. It has cute graphics and yet it’s bloody.

Sunday we woke up and watched VH1’s Tough Love Couples. The drama is Jerry Springer-esque. I have it on my DVR queue now! After packing up, we walked out to eat on 9th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen. We were expecting to just have a normal brunch but lo! There was a huge street fair.

I felt like I had won the vacation lottery!! So we shopped jewelry and ate along the way. It was the perfect combination of food and shopping. We shared pupusas with slaw, tamales, crepes, gyros, arepas, emanadas and the girls got the rings and necklaces. I know they’re tchotchkes but that’s the charm of them. I didn’t want to leave, but we had to catch a bus back and before that, I wanted to check out 30 Rock! We got a nice little tour of the NBC office building and checked out the Saturday Night Live set.

Tina Fey used this restroom!
For our trip back we grabbed a final lunch, reuben sandwich. I wanted a street vendor hot dog sorta, but I was afraid of being trapped on a bus and eating questionable foods. Maybe next time. There will definitely be a next time and another and another.

Visiting New York City was like taking a 5 hour bus ride to another country. I pictured myself having to live there and how my life would change. I’d have to walk up 5 flights of steps daily. If I forgot something, I would think long and hard about whether I really needed it. Laundry? Suddenly, handwashing doesn’t seem like such a hard task compared to lugging it to and from a store to have it done. Closet space is such a premium, I’d have to quickly learn how to shop judiciously and toss frequently. Grocery shopping would be different. Cooking in a limited spaced kitchen would require some creativity and resourcefulness. My herb garden would probably not exist. I now have a different appreciation for the slower paced life in Washington. It’s much more relaxed and spacious here. And this trip really made me see how little we really need. Maybe I do have enough shoes. And I won’t complain about not having enough closet space anymore. It’s all so spacious!

And we’re off! I’ll be leaving from work to catch the Chinatown bus to New York City. First on the agenda, food. What else!?

My face has been itchin’ since this past weekend. The Internet and I think it’s cosmetic dermatitis, some kind of reaction to a facial product. I don’t know if it was sunburn, a bad reaction to Bare Escentuals mineral makeup, or maybe my face is saying “Stop being such a cheapass!” to the CVS knockoff of Olay facial lotion. Right now, based on where the rash is covering, I think it was the Clinique sunblock + 5 hours of sun. It was a great product and made my face very soft when I used it normally. Then when I went out Saturday for 5 hours in the sun I got a sunburn where the block didn’t cover and where the block did cover, my face freaked out. Itchy. Bumps. Rash. Yuck. No one can see it, but I feel it and I see it. And it isn’t pretty or comfortable. I’m not sure what is really causing it but whatever it is, my face ain’t havin’ it. I got some allergy tablets and also Eucerin Calming Creme. I was going to get a hydrocortisone cream but the pharmacist told me to go with Aquaphor or Eucerin. I suspect for the face, they don’t recommend anything too strong. Face products are always so iffy. I don’t want to point at Clinique or Bare Escentuals because who knows what it really was. But I’m not taking any chances when I travel to New York. I got new sunblock and makeup. Neutrogena Mineral Sheers powder and Dry-Touch sunblock. After testing the Mineral Sheers powder, I think it feels and looks nice. I’ll have to give it a day-long test to really see how it holds up but I love that it’s very light. Also, don’t worry too much about buying the right color if you want to try it. It’s so sheer, it barely makes a difference.

I’m going to NYC!! While this will be my third time there, it will feel like the first time because the first time I was too young to remember and the second time I went to a wedding and left immediately. I didn’t get to do very much.

So after doing some research and asking for ideas, I have a list of places to eat and things to do. I know I won’t get to all of them but if I get to even one or two, I’ll be more than satisfied.

Food -

Not Food -

Cafe Asia, Peking Gourmet Inn, and Vegetable Garden.

On Saturday, we originally set out for a lazy walk through the city. This stroll turned into a 9-mile walk! We went by an artist flea-market at Court House, across the Potomac to DC, through Georgetown by the Capital Crescent Trail, to the shops along Georgetown, to Foggy Bottom, to the Watergate Hotel, to the Washington Harbour, back to the Key Bridge. Stopped by Cafe Asia for a snack which turned into dinner at 4:30 and then light grocery shopping on the way home. It was a good 5 hour hike and the couch never looked so inviting as it did when I fell into it at the end of the walk.

Then yesterday, we had Peking duck for Mother’s Day lunch. It was carved perfectly with the layer of fat removed, the wraps were freshly made, and it was delicious! Then we played Wii! According to Wii Fit, I’m 50! It’s a very fun game and I’m considering getting it. If you don’t have time to go to the gym or just don’t feel like making the trip, this is a great way to get some physical activity and have fun at the same time. It’s also a good group game too.

Onward to Vegetable Garden for dinner. Vegan fare. Pretty healthy, but only okay taste. I think we can find better vegetarian food at other restaurants that don’t only serve vegetarian. Indian or Thai places, for instance.

Ok I’m back to pb&j again this morning. Must give my belly a break before this coming weekend!

If you’ve never heard of Landmark Forums, well, neither had I until maybe sometime last year. Go ahead and Google/Wikipedia them. You’ll read the good, bad, and that they’re banned in some countries for being some kind of new agey cult thing. Yeah, freaked the crap outta me for a while there! Basically though, I think they’re just a business. They teach people personal development stuff and a lot of it is founded on psychological concepts which aren’t new, but they break it down for you (or sometimes they make up words and turn them into jargon which irritates the crap out of me “racket,” “technology?” wtf?! English!?). For example, last night, they talked about our inner voices that tell us we can’t do this or that. These limitations we put on ourselves could stifle us achieving our dreams if we aren’t cognizant. Sounds familiar? Self-fulfilling prophecy. Then they talked about something they term “already always listening” which is (if I’m even explaining it correctly) – we hear what we wanna hear. So for example, if I’d read about the cult thing and decided they were evil, everything they said to me from that point forward would sound like “drink Kool-Aid, drink it!!” And I would’ve gotten nothing out of it. But I tried not to do that, so I got some interesting tidbits from it. Like you shouldn’t limit yourself by labeling yourself. Or don’t get stuck in a path thinking it’s the only way to go and there’s either right or wrong. You can explore other options. Kinda’ like negotiations. You don’t have to compromise if you can get to the underlying motivations. When you hear it, it’s very intuitive. Almost common sense-like but at the same time, why didn’t I think of that!? Duh! Until someone points out that classic example fo splitting the orange in half as a compromise when in fact one person wanted the rind to cook with and the other wanted the fruit center to eat.

So then we took a break, and that’s when they want you to register for their class. If you don’t sign up, random strangers, dubbed “volunteers” will harass you. Why not? Do you want to open a realm of possibilities to your life? Are you satisfied with all aspects of your life? Would you want to have the skills to achieve more? What are your reservations? It’s like an infomercial gone Chuck Norris on you. Granted I’ve never attended a full on class but part of that mysteriousness gives me the heebie jeebies. And definitely the hovering and pressuring creeps me out. They have days where you can listen in on part of a class such as last night, but I just sense that they’re holding back on the juicy parts. Maybe if they offered the class on a take it now, and pay what you want after. Like a volunteer payment thing. Say I think I got $100 value out of it, I’ll slip a $50 into the donation box, I would go to satisfy my curiosity. As it were, I’ll just have to let my life be less than better-than-it-could-be I guess.

This is a holiday to honor cervesas, tequilas, and margaritas right? For a while I used to think it was Mexico’s independence day. I recently learned it’s about the Mexican’s defeat of the French in the Battle of Pueblo in 1862. Mucho mucho anos ago. So we’re celebrating a war! Salud!

I’m going to a farmer’s market after work today. Not to celebrate 5 Mayo but because now that it’s May, most all farmer’s markets have begun!
(Update: Skipped Farmers Market – metro skipped that stop due to overcrowding so I took that as a sign to go home and watch Spongebob instead.)