Goodbye NY (for a short while)

Before leaving for break I decided to do a few super touristy "Christmas in NY" things. My friend Ben was in town so I took him to Caracas Arepa Bar for arepas and PBR and then to Yaffa Cafe which is a fun and eccentrically decorated 24 hour restaurant/cafe. Ben ordered something that was basically almond syrup and steamed milk and was really excited about it. The next day we went to the Chelsea Market for brunch, where we had an amazing meal at Friedman's Lunch, and incredibly decadent hot chocolate from the famed Jacques Torres which we drank as we walked along the High Line.  Then I went home, finished my paper, and spent the evening making crafts and eating treats with some lovely ladies in my building.

Ben in Chelsea Market (and so excited to be there!)

Vegan treat study break

As you can probably tell, I've been updating a heck of a lot less than usual, as I've been busy working on final papers, looking into classes for the summer, and preparing for next semester. I am SO looking forward to my pretty much 1 month vacation. During that time, I probably won't be updating, but you can definitely expect to hear from me in February.

Last night, I took a break from work and went with my friend Caroline to Babycakes, with is an dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, processed sugar-free bakery! I'm a little skeptical about vegan deserts but I had many people rave about it to me so I knew I had to try it.

babycakes is located on the LES and is super adorable

Yes, I did speak to Jon Stewart about Bruce Springsteen

I've been pretty awful at updating recently, as I've been doing stupid things like writing my final papers and research projects. Damn school, always getting in the way of important things like blogging. I've pretty much moved into the grad lounge at Bobst, to the point where I now recognize the other "regulars". But I'm almost done!

I felt I needed to return to my dear friend the blog as yesterday was one pretty amazing day. It was the day I went to a filming of the Daily Show! I started the day off with a field trip of sorts with my research group member and friend Drew to the New York Historical Society Library. The building is under construction, so after taking us through some crazy back route, up a freight elevator, and cleansing us of all our possessions (well our bags and coats), we were in an absolutely gorgeous reading room, with access to an incredibly amount of rare, old and interesting documents and books. We dorked out looking at Goodyear Dirigible pamphlets from the 1930s (yes, this is what we do in graduate school), and grabbed a tea nearby.

I then met up with my friends Caroline and Rachel at Norma's a very chic restaurant at the Le Parker Meridien for one of the best brunches I've ever had. Rachel and Caroline had chocolate peanut butter waffles, and I had Norma's Eggs Benedict which is Canadian bacon, roast asparagus and poached eggs on top of pancakes, smothered in a truly amazing hollandaise with bottomless glasses of fresh OJ. Definitely not a cheap brunch but a treat nonetheless. On the way out, we posed with the various entries in the Gingerbread House competition, this year theme revolves around movies set in NYC. All pics below are care of Rachel, as I didn't bring my camera (no cameras allowed at Daily Show).

Me with the "Big" entry, complete with FAO Schwartz piano!

Two Canadian ladies and American Thanksgiving

So for Thanksgiving, my mom came and visited, and I moved in with her into a hotel in SoHo. I wish I could say it was relaxing (at times it was quite tiring!) but it was definitely lots of fun. Thursday my mom arrived, and after a stressful moment of thinking she had lost a bag en route from Newark, the bag was recovered and we headed out onto the streets of NY. New York felt like a ghostown on Thanksgiving, with only a few stores open, we grabbed a sandwich at Dean and Deluca (probably the only thing I will ever buy there), and wandered around town. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Bubby's Pie Company with my cousin Jer, and they let us set our own price for the meal, with a section for a charity donation. The food was excellent, although the service was abominably bad (although you can't really get angry on Thanksgiving).

Friday was the dreaded BLACK FRIDAY, when all the stores are apparently wild with shoppers hungry for discounts, but we didn't really find it to match up to the hype (ie no people got trampled). We got some seriously great buys (60 dollars 100% cashmere sweaters at Uniqlo, 40% off everything at Banana Republic, 25% off on oxfords) and didn't feel too crowded. After  along day of shopping, we went to see the incomporable Vanessa Redgrave and James Earle Jones in a staged version of "Driving Miss Daisy" which was poignant, moving and oozing in chemistry by the two leads. Finished the night off with a late dinner in Union Square.

Saturday was just crazy, and I think we probably took on more than we could handle. Took the subway to the Brooklyn Flea, which has now moved into the old Williamsburg Savings Bank, but getting there was less than easy with lots of Subway cancellations (I hate taking the subway on weekends..). Finally made it, and mom had her first pupusa which I think she enjoyed immensely.

Inside the Williamsburg Savings Bank which houses the winter Brooklyn Flea

Me in the Brooklyn Flea

Weekday brunch helps you through a tough week

So this week kind of really sucked. Emotionally I was just all over the place, really not feeling great. I couldn't sleep and I had a lot of tossing and turning kinds of nights about the future. I've started keeping a personal journal again, so I can really get those kinds of worrying thoughts out on the page. My goal is to write in it for about 10 minutes a day, and hopefully just kind of cleanse myself of my irrational, overpowering fears.

But there were definitely some great parts of the week. Firstly, I got back into going to the gym regularly, and am already feeling better because of that. I've conveniently scheduled the gym trips around watching reruns of the Daily Show- perfect! I should mention BTW for those who don't know, that I will be going to a taping of the daily show on December 8! A dream come true.

On Wednesday I had brunch with my usual food mates, Caroline and Rachel at Bubby's Pie Company. I can definitely say that the Sour Cream Pancakes were some of the best I've ever had. And they served them with Real, Canadian Syrup.

Those eggs were perfectly overeasy. There's something about Farm Fresh eggs that just tastes better!

One of the rare pictures of me on this blog!

Last night was also a definite highlight. Met up for 5pm happy hour beers with Alex and Jake at Great Jones Cafe. It's a great place. Small, kitschy, with 1 dollar cornbread, and Neil Young on the stereo. We each had pulled pork sandwiches with potato salad for dinner (I swear, I eat really really healthy at home!). Then we went to see Client 9, which is that documentary about the rise and fall of Elliot Spitzer, which we all thought was a major disappointment. We spent the next hour or so drinking tea and tearing apart the movie. Totally nerdy, totally awesome night.

So even in the crappy weeks, there are good things.

A New York-y day in Midtown and WAFFLES!

But I'm back. With some somewhat dated photos!

Grad School research projects are fun!

I spent a Saturday with Jake wandering around Central Park. This kid was better at making bubbles than the bubble guy.

Jake is always a good person to wander with.

We both agreed that the trees looked like something out of a fairytale

A meal of sidedishes

Tonight for dinner I basically just made a bunch of sidedishes. Sweet potato fries, asparagus with a panko and parmesan crust, and tomato salad with balsamic. But all those sidedishes came together to form a meal of awesome preportions!

Asparagus right out of the oven. I highly recommend making this. They were perfectly cooked.

Harlem, Hell's Kitchen and Halloween

So my brother came to visit this past weekend, and we spent our time doing a few touristy things and a lot of fun things. Friday he arrived and I took him to Clinton St Baking Company for brunch. We wandered the LES, SoHo, and then through some of Greenwich. That night we met up for dinner in Harlem with Jake at Amy Ruth's. I'd been looking forward to this meal and it definitely matched up to my expectations. I had the Reverend Al Sharpton (Chicken n Waffles), my bro had the Barack Obama (Fried Chicken) with a side of mac and cheese and butter corn, and Jake had the Reggie Harris (Honey Dipped Fried Chicken) with a side of mac and cheese and collard greens (on my recommendation). Add the fact that they bring you homemade cornbread the second you sit down and I'm happy enough I can overlook the fact that my Joe Fresh pleather jacket still smells like fried chicken.

The Reverend Al Sharpton (the meal)

Now I get why people sing all about Autumn in New York

Eating a frozen yogurt in Union Square Park while doing school reading. This is a good way to 'work'.

The leaves changed! When did this happen?

On the way back from doing my reading in the park, I was checking out some of the vendors on the street and I just couldn't resist this total impulse buy:

The truth is I don't think any of us would really like to know what Woody would do..

In other news, Fish's Eddy is my new favourite store. There are a few New York-y things I was thinking of getting people as gifts. Favourites include: New York Skyline, Brooklyn Pattern, and the "Brooklynese" dishes.

Tomorrow morning my brother arrives for a weekend visit, and tomorrow evening, I am taking him to Amy Ruth's in Harlem, for Chicken & Waffles and a slice of Red Velvet Cake (I found out about it on Yelp. Apparently its the less touristy Sylvia's). Mmmmmmm!

Stumbling upon the High Line

This past weekend I wasn't feeling so rad.  I don't know what it was but I was just in a crummy mood, and missed Joe a lot, was starting to get nervous about my school performance, and was sitting at a cafe feeling down and out so I decided to get out and just start walking. And this is what is amazing about New York. I just walked west. I knew I would encounter something, and of course I did.

I found myself, after about 25 minutes of walking through the West village and Chelsea, in the Meatpacking district (I recognized Diane Von Furstenburg and Jeffrey, which I remember visiting with my mom about 10 years ago. The whole neighbourhood had since been transformed). Chic looking restaurants, and TONS of high end boutiques line the cobblestone streets.

Pastis, where I ate with my parents when they dropped me off. I was in a far less stable place at that point.

View of the Meatpacking district from above

PIZZA!

Rachel at Grimaldis under the Brooklyn bridge. Truly truly delicious pizza. Note the adorable child in the backround.

Some Canadians in New York

So the past little while has been pretty nice, with another visit from Joe, Canadian Thanksgiving, and general fun times.

Joe looking suave, reading a Gibson novel in a Williamsburg cafe

We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving at Maria and Daniels along with another 2 Canadians and 1 American.

Maria and Joe and their bazillion pound turkey

Cupcakes, Farmers Markets and so forth

So I discovered my current favourite cupcake place and it happens to be like, 5 minutes from my house. It's called Butter Lane. What more do you need to know??

Me inside Butter Lane. Look at the wallpaper!

YUUUUUUUUM! Their vanilla buttercream has flecks of vanilla bean in it.

Built to Spill rocks my socks off in Williamsburg

Last night I went to one of the best shows I've seen in a while, Built to Spill at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. First off, I should mention that I really effing love Williamsburg. Yes, I know it is hipster heaven blah blah blah, but maybe the reason hipsters flock there is because it is legitimately awesome. It only takes me 20 minutes to get there from my place, and I think I'm gonna start spending more time there.

I went to the show with Linnete, my new concert buddy. Here we are sitting on the floor during the opening act.

Local opener Love is Laughter

My wicked witch of the west boots

Linnete

Dance party on a rooftop in Alphabet City

Getting down to hip hop bollywood remixes at a costume party

Graffiti in the bathroom at the bar The Library

View from Uma's roof

Weekend Visitor!

So Joe came to visit this weekend, along with his two awesome friends Mark and Laura. We went to the MOMA and ate and drank to our hearts content. Some highlights!

I welcomed Joe to NYC with his favourite food (Perogies) at Veselka

I'm a dork. Good coffee though

Katz's! Two pickle options= awesome.

Listening to Illmatic on the R train

I'm sorry faithful readers (I think there are some of you) for slacking in the updates. The first reason is that technically I was participating in a Google fast of sorts (which of course includes blogger) for a Digital Media class assignment, although in actuality I was slacking ALL over the place. The second reason is that my life has been pretty calm and uneventful as I was adjusting to classes, and then fasting for Yom Kippur.


I've had time to take in new delicious tastes (Porchetta sandwiches mmmm), I spent some time with a new friend reading in a cafe in Chelsea, I discovered that St Marks Books on my corner is awesome, although the lox spread at my local bagel joint is NOT (It's no Murrays) and I've realized the awesomeness of 3 dollar wine at Trader Joes.

I also finally got to experience the R train above ground as I went to visit my cousin in Park Slope, which was something I had been looking forward to for a while.

Crossing the Manhattan Bridge

This coming week will involve lots of intense work, and then Thursday I have some very special guests coming to visit, and one super special one in particular who will be staying with me. It promises to be a VERY exciting weekend!

Perfect Wednesday lunch..

Bagel from Murray's Bagels in Chelsea with Lox Cream Cheese spread

Islanding, exploring, eating

So the first week of classes came and went. Thus far I'm feeling pretty good, although definitely intimidated! I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel a little nauseous when I saw Heidegger on the reading list for my core. Still though, there is no question that I am at an amazing institution with a group of really fascinating and bright students and profs. I can only hope I'll measure up...

In more fun news, I have been spending a lot of time exploring with my good friend Jake. On Friday we wandered around Greenwich village, including a stop at Jane Jacob's New York abode (a necessary stop when on a walking adventure with an urban planning student) and a cute cafe. Then we hit up the Strand bookstore and- holy crap- book heaven! Jake and I spent most of our time on the 3rd floor looking at first additions and rare books.

Heres Jake dorking out in the philosophy section. He will hate me for posting this.

Long weekend adventures

I'm starting to really like it here. That doesn't mean I'm totally comfortable or that I don't go running back to my room sometimes to watch the Sopranos and shut out the noise and chaos of the city, but goddamn this place is amazing.

On Saturday I woke up and went to the Union Square farmers market. There is so much amazing produce it blew my mind, and it happens 3 times a week, five minutes from my house.

Herb and tea man. Purchased small bag of Zatar spice mix.

About as congested as the Halifax farmers market

Beginnings

I live here!

Thrift store on my block

My East Village neighbourhood

My school, Steinhardt

MCC students picnicking in Washington Square park and our unsolicited entertainment

Washington Square Park (NYUs unofficial quad)

More updates..with pictures!

So things are gradually getting better. I now know what my nearest subway stop is (Astor Place), I have picniced in Central Park, visited a penthouse on the upper east side, bought some groceries, met some wonderful people in my program and drank beer with them, wandered around my East Village neighbourhood and seen an excellent Broadway show (Memphis). I am still lonely, and still feel a little lost and out of place, but for godsakes it hasn't even been a week!

I also managed to set up my room (it is a work in progress- mostly the empty wall above my bed). See below:

The records came with me..of course

Pavement watches over me. Also note two big wonderful windows!

Work may occur here. But probably just blogging and and record listening.

I got lots of stuffs.

The obvious soundtrack.