apple sorbet at summer’s end

It’s almost September. How!? As the years goes by, it feels like time just skips ahead. You get stuck in a routine, there’s always work to do, and before you know it, it’s September. I know it can come off as a cliché to talk up mental wellness and other some-such, but time really is limited, and sometimes I struggle to find balance and actually make use of my time. I tend towards apathy, so sometimes it’s difficult for me to get that inertia going, but I don’t want to live with regrets. Especially now, as I’m about to start a new job, I’m looking for a reset.

For me, that means doing things. Planning things. Going out. Seeing friends. In New York City, that often means spending money, which can add up quickly, especially when there are things like Broadway shows, new restaurants, happy hour drinks, or overpriced sorbets calling my name. But if that overpriced sorbet is a light and refreshing melannurca (apple) flavor that I’d never tried before, I’m enjoying it while chatting and people-watching with a friend I haven’t seen in a while, and it offers me a calm break from oppressive 90-degree summer heat? Worth it. Because what use is earning money if it doesn’t get used? I’m still very much a saver, but as long as I remain financially responsible overall, I’ve taken to allowing myself more of these little splurges … because they make me happy.

Gelateria Gentile
229 Elizabeth Street
New York, New York 10012
Nolita
http://www.gelateriagentile.com

cherry blossoms & hanami nights

This was my first year seeing cherry blossoms, or at least my first year experiencing cherry blossoms. Brooklyn Botanic Garden hosts “Hanami Nights” a few days each year, and when a friend asked if I wanted to go, I said sure. And I’ll definitely try to go again next year … with some changes.

A few lessons learned and takeaways:

1. Buy tickets early. My friend got tickets a few weeks before the event, which was necessary since tickets eventually sold out.
2. Don’t count on food. By the time we got in around 6:30pm, they were all out of main dishes and only had overpriced edamame and osumashi soup left. You’re not allowed to bring food in, but I might bring some discreet snacks next time—just in case.
3. Get there early (if you can). The event starts at 5pm and ends at 8:30pm. I don’t know who’s leaving work at 4:30pm, but getting there at 6:30pm was on the late side. In addition to the dismal remaining food options, the picnicking area was already quite crowded. We were still able to find space though, which was helped by us being only a part of two.
4. Bring a blanket. The main appeal of the evening was laying out under a cherry tree while chatting and drinking sake as the sun set. My friend had a blanket and I had a large towel, which made for a decent enough spread. Thankfully the grass was dry and we’re small people. A picnic blanket is now on the shopping list.
5. The more the merrier. But two is fine as well. Most people there seemed to be 20-somethings and 30-somethings in small groups (there were also some couples and families with annoying kids). It was a good chance to catch up one-on-one with my friend, but going with more friends would have also been fun, although would have required more planning.
6. Disconnect. There seem to be increasingly few opportunities to really put your phone down and just be. When’s the last time you sat outside and looked at the flowers or the clouds? Yes the cherry blossoms were beautiful, but more than that, it was peaceful. It wasn’t quiet by any means, but it was full of other people enjoying the garden and also not looking at their phones. That in itself was nice.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
https://www.bbg.org/visit/event/hanami_nights
990 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238

go go go karting

Adrenaline has never been my speed. [Get it? Aren’t I punny?] But sometimes it’s fun to do something out of your comfort zone, and I’m grateful for those who push me to do things outside of my comfort zone. So when a work outing was proposed to a go kart track, I was a little bummed (since the original plan of pumpkin picking was more my speed), but I was also like … eh, sure, why not? A bit of an odd choice for an outing since it’s not so much team-building as try-to-outmaneuver-each-other-while-also-not-kill-each-other, but that’s neither here nor there. In the end, it was fun. Did I do well? No. Did I have a good time? Yes. Did I end up with bruises? Yes. Will I do it again? No. Any regrets? Not at all.

Especially as I get older, it’s easier and easier to get complacent. To follow the same routine, to go to the same places, to meet the same people, to do the same tried and true things. And while there is a quiet joy that can come from the familiar, there’s also a more dynamic joy that can come from the unknown, from exploring and challenging oneself. That’s the kind of thing that makes you think: Hey, there’s even more to life and to me than I thought. So I’m trying to be more proactive about finding new things, saying yes to new things, and to keeping an open mind about new things. Sure I might give an off-the-wall idea the side eye, and I will likely prefer staying in my apartment to just about any alternative, but whatever it is, I just might say yes.

goodbye to summer & rooftop lunches

Technically it’s been fall for a few weeks already, but now there’s that chill permanently in the air—the one that suggests the cold and darkness to come. That chill means that escaping my desk for lunch no longer entails a trip to the rooftop for a leisurely consuming of food. Partly because it’s too cold to eat outside, but also because work is busier in the fall. Although there’s still usually a trip to the grocery store hot bar and its whopping $10.99 per pound cost, which I gladly pay for the convenience.

Main difference is that now, that paper box of food, instead of slowly deteriorating with the heat or sauces of my lunch while under the sunshine and in the fresh air, is usually still at optimal structural integrity when it gets tossed into the trash after I’ve scarfed down lunch at my desk. Yes, I could eat in the canteen. Or I could take my time even while eating at my desk. But if I’m not going to be outside during the workday, I’d rather take a short lunch and hopefully get off in time to see that sliver of remaining daylight on my way out.

feeling fancy at the twa hotel

Alas, it’s been another looooonnnggggg stretch since I last posted. And a lot has happened since then. New job, not entirely my choice, but also definitely my choice, and … it’s a long story for another day. As part of my new job, I attended an event at the insanely impressive TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Originally designed as the TWA Flight Center in the 1960s by famed architect Eero Saarinen, it was redeveloped into a hotel and conference center and I’d heard people rave about the space, but never had a chance to visit myself … until this past week.

Unfortunately the event I attended was held below grade, so I didn’t get to experience much of the original architecture except for a quick stroll around the main space on my way out, but it was still nice to see. As much as architecture is designed to last decades or centuries, it often isn’t given the opportunity to. So it was nice to see Saarinen’s architecture get a second chance at life. I rarely fly out of JFK, but the next time I do, I’ll try to stop by to experience the space (and bar!) during the day and when I’m less exhausted.

TWA Hotel
One Idlewild Drive, New York, NY 11430
Queens
https://www.twahotel.com

eating out with others

Breakfast bagel spots. Lunch with co-workers. Late night dinners. 24-hour diners. Weekend brunch. Friends visiting from out of town. Get togethers with the usual crowd. Making new friends on Bumble BFF. MeetUp groups. Dating. This past week I’ve had farm-to-table American—trout and veggies (Wm Farmer & Sons), Korean bulgogi and seafood pancakes (Cho Dang Gol), Chinese dry hot pot (Mala House), Italian pizza and cacio e pepe (Vic’s), Japanese hand rolls (Nami Nori), and Nepalese momos (Momo Crave). And you know what? None of those meals I had alone. And all of them cut into my budget way more than I should allow.

New York City has options. Great options. Every cuisine under the sun. As I get older, it’s harder to make new friends and to keep existing connections strong since everyone is always so busy, but I try. And usually it all happens over food. But it certainly isn’t cheap. Any advice column about budgeting will mention cutting back on eating out as one of the strategies, because eating out is substantially more expensive than cooking for yourself. Especially in New York, because everything costs—the food itself, the service, the workers, the rent. Unlike in Asia, there’s no getting a 10-kuai ($1.50) bowl of noodles here. So yeah, eating out is a luxury and I’ve been splurging, but eating out is also a social activity which isn’t as easy to replicate at home unless you’re a good/adventurous cook (and I’m not) and are comfortable having people over (I only invite close friends).

Some people find cooking relaxing, but it’s always been a chore for me. Work is also stressful at the moment, so having people to talk to, eating good food, trying new things, and not having to cook myself is part of my self care. And as long as I balance the eating out with eating in, and don’t get in the habit of eating out all the time, I’ll be fine. I’m fortunate enough to be able to splurge once in a while, and while my bank account is taking a bit of a hit this summer, as long as I keep the big picture in mind and reign myself in when necessary, I’ll be just fine. Come winter I’ll probably turn into a hermit anyway.

Lox Sandwich & Iced Coffee – Semicolon

Semicolon Cafe
516a 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016
Murray Hill
https://semicoloncafe.com

Smoked Salmon Toast – Esme

Esme
999 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Greenpoint
https://www.esmebk.com

Double Cheeseburger with Sweet Potato Fries – The Gem Saloon

The Gem Saloon
375 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016
Murray Hill
https://www.thegemsaloonnyc.com

Sausage Gravy Smothered Chicken – Jacob’s Pickles

Jacob’s Pickles
509 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10024
Upper West Side
https://www.jacobspickles.com

Temaki “Create Your Own” Set – Nami Nori

Nami Nori
33 Carmine Street, New York, NY 10014
West Village
https://naminori.nyc

keeping my kitchen clean

I am three months behind on my timesheets. The last few weeks (months?) have been busy at work. Because there’s a lot of work to do. Although I do have a team, we have different roles and responsibilities, so for the most part I act as a team of one. Yay me. (Despite what may sound like complaining, I do like what I do, which is why I still do it.)

When things get busy at work, some life stuff tends to fall off the to-do list. And while some people may consider eating a priority, I’ve always been more of a “eat to live” rather than “live to eat” person, and when I’m busy or stressed, I’m more of a “forget to eat” rather than “stress eat” person. So I wasn’t eating regularly. So I tried Factor. (This is by no means an ad or sponsored post, but if you do want to try it, you can click here.)

In the past I’ve tried Blue Apron, but I didn’t like it because of all the waste (all the packaging) and the fact that it still required a fair bit of time and prep. I can cook, but I’m not good at it and I don’t particularly enjoy it, so meal kits like Blue Apron only reduced the shopping time and the meal planning, and in the end didn’t feel worth it. So anyhow, I got a coupon to try Factor (I think it was included in a package I had ordered) so I figured, why not? It’s also a meal kit, but they’re premade meals that are basically glorified TV dinners (although fresh not frozen), so it seemed like a good life-sustaining option with high convenience factor. The packaging doesn’t feel as wasteful either, since the cardboard sleeves and plastic trays are recyclable.

I opted for ten meals a week, and it is pricey—without discount it works out to about $13 a meal, which isn’t ridiculous (given that I’m in New York and takeout can also be pretty pricey), but it’s certainly no comparison to cooking for myself. The Factor food, however, is rather tasty, good flavor and texture. Even though the dishes can be a bit hit or miss, I’ve finished all of them and they’re better than what I usually cook for myself. I might reduce the number of meals per week, which would raise the per unit cost, but we’ll see. Another concern is the reliability of their shipping. My first shipment arrived fine. The second shipment was sent to the wrong building.

What I find kind of … uncomfortable? … is how much I like the service. I don’t know why I tend to guilt myself over things like this, but I’m trying to get over it. Part of me is like: “Uh, seriously, you can’t even make your own food? Are you really that lazy? Just throwing away money like that?” And the other part of me is like: “Hey you’ve probably eaten more calories this past week with Factor than the week prior. You’re saving yourself so much time and aggravation by having someone else feed you. And you can afford it, so what’s the big deal?” I’m probably Factor’s target demographic—single professional who can’t really cook but is trying to eat healthy—and based on how well these meal kit companies are doing, I guess there’s a lot of us. That’s comforting, but it’s also kind of a sad statement for society that there are so many of us who are so busily working that we have basically lost the ability to properly feed ourselves. Eh. Oh well. I’m being fed, so I guess that’s good.

fall is nyc’s best season

There is a decided chill in the air and voila … summer is definitely over. Yay! Fall is a breath of fresh air—literally and figuratively. Summer in the city certainly has its benefits, but after a while … all that humidity and hot trash smell and ugh … it just starts to get to you. So now that I can finally turn off my very noisy air conditioner, and either rely on the breeze through my window or *gasp* not even open the window without boiling to death, it’s a welcome moment. Very welcome.

Yay to spending significant periods of time outdoors! Outdoor brunch! Outdoor stroll! Exploring Central Park without wanting to stab myself in the eye (or escape extremely quickly)! But alas, fall in New York City is pretty short-lived and it’s already starting to turn just a tad too cold. My plants outside are no longer doing so well and the beans will probably need to get pulled in the next few weeks if this weather keeps up. Hopefully I can at least get a few radishes and greens before frost. And I’ll be sure to enjoy the nice fall weather while I can!

somehow I’ve become a crochet person

Amazing how your hobbies come to define you. Way back when I was an undergraduate, I taught myself to crochet by watching YouTube videos. And now? I’m a legit crocheter.

In my last semester of college, I was finishing my degrees and only taking classes part-time, but most of my friends were on a different degree path and busy in studio. So I had a lot of alone time. I had two part-time jobs, was doing a lot of baking and crafting, and at some point was looking for a new challenge. In terms of textile/fiber crafts, my mom taught me to sew when I was young, I was cross-stitching, weaving, and latch hooking by elementary/middle school, and took a fiber arts class in high school, where I learned embroidery. But even though my mother is a knitter, I never got the hang of it. So what possessed me to learn crochet? I can’t remember. Must’ve been boredom.

And here’s the thing. After I learned the basic stitches and made some trivets, I graduated and didn’t crochet for a loooooong time—a hiatus of something like six years. Then at some point I picked it up again and it became a proper hobby, accelerated by 1) having a stable income with which I could splurge on yarn, 2) having the time and wanting a task while watching television, and 3) the discovery of Ravelry and the r/crochet subreddit. Then the pandemic happened, I had a lot of alone time, and the crocheting went into overdrive.

Now I comfortably use “frog” as a verb, regularly purchase hundreds of dollars worth of yarn at a time, and am running out of friends/family to gift crocheted items to. So yeah. Somehow I adopted crocheting and it’s now my primary hobby.

For the above blanket, I used the Kinlough Aran Afghan pattern, a J crochet hook, five skeins of Caron One Pound in Dove, and a heck of a lot of time. It was completed in just over a month during evenings and weekends, and gifted to a friend for her wedding.

the new york brunch @ penelope

I’m trying to get back into the swing of regularly posting, but keep getting stalled when working on the longer posts, so here’s a quick one just to get me in the swing of things:

New York. Summer. Sunday. Brunch! It’s a thing. Especially when it’s “al fresco” a.k.a. outside. But … the sidewalk ain’t the most glamorous location for brunch. The street sheds that popped up during the pandemic are sticking around, so on the plus side, there’s a more seating options and usually less wait, as long as you don’t mind people constantly passing by. Now, if you haven’t heard of Penelope, it’s a pretty popular brunch spot in the city. Nothing super fancy, just solid classic American food. I pass by it regularly and it’s always pretty busy, especially weekend mornings when I’m usually headed to the grocery store, but this was the first time I actually ate there.

I had a blueberry lemonade—nice and refreshing!—and the croque madame—good, but on the heavy side. To be fair, the croque madame probably wasn’t my best choice considering I’m lactose intolerant (even though I had pills with me), I generally don’t eat much in the morning, and it was a bit warm out, so my appetite was a bit dampened. But I took half of it home and polished off those leftovers the next day. The service was good but a bit slow, which was understandable since it was a busy Sunday morning and it looked like there was only one server in our area (which was probably like eight tables). All in all, I’ll definitely return to Penelope, but next time I’ll opt for inside (to get a proper vibe of the place, to eat in peace, and for air conditioning) and I’d try one of their signature bowls … or maybe the blueberry pancakes. Mmm …

Penelope
159 Lexington Avenue
(at East 30th Street)
Murray Hill, New York, NY