Never mind

I changed the look of the picture again. I hated the other one actually. So back to same ol' same ol' until I find something better.
Re-signing off.

Blah

I'm home. Still not feeling 100% and the weather is lousy. I have to go out and get some milk and stuff and I'm really not up to it.
I've been sleeping like a baby though! So I guess eventually that will take care of whatever bug I have.
I must say that I have great neighbors. One of them sent me an e-mail yesterday to see if I was up to going out and after telling her that I was sick she immediately asked if she could get me anything I needed from the store. The word got out since then and I've received a couple of calls offering soup, shopping for groceries, anything I needed. Very nice, and I should have thought of the milk (although up to this morning that was the last thing on my mind) but I didn't, and now that I feel slightly better I have to go out, agh!

I got a phone call from hubby this morning, all is going great. He sounds a little tired (too much partying, hehe) but in very good spirits. I miss him though, and not only for having someone to go get milk when I'm feeling sick.

Damn bug, making me feel all mushy and stuff. Bah, off to bed again. Maybe I'll go out later.
Signing off.

So much for the weekend

I had plans. I was going to clean the house, give myself a facial, manicure and pedicure, buy some flowers, cook a great meal for one, have a glass of wine and veg-out in front of the TV watching the Law and Order marathon.
Besides the TV part none of it happened. I spent the weekend visiting often my great friend the Porcelain God, feeling absolutely miserable and not being able to even phantom any kind of solid food. I've been hit by that damn bug everyone is getting. I felt it for a couple of days, run down, tired, cranky, but thought that it was the Little Creepers that were playing tricks on me. No such luck.
No amounts of Pepto helped, nor did the litters of chamomile tea I drank. I just crawled under the covers, turned on the TV and hoped for the best.
Today I'm a bit better, but the lingering nausea is driving me crazy. Toasts went down fine, but I can't even smell the coffee without gagging. Good thing I love tea.

So I have nothing to say, but wallow in self pity for getting sick on MY weekend. Hubby called and told me that they're having great weather and that he was going to have lunch (gag) with a friend of ours. I don't like him right now, I should be also out there having lunch (double gag) instead of hoping that the damn toast stays down. Oh well, at least one of us is enjoying this. I'll get my turn, as soon as I'm not closely attached to the bathroom.

Off to watch some more mindless marathons.

So there.

Well, I sort of changed it, the look of the picture I mean. They now have a more artsy feeling to it. Whatever, indulge me.

This is my second night in what I'll call the bachelorette pad (only for a week until hubby comes back) and I realize that nothing really is different. Yeah a bit more quiet, but I'm not running around in my underwear doing pirouettes or anything of the sort. The only thing is that it took me about 2 hours of being alone to go back to my old habits: moving stuff around and cleaning at night.
Yesterday, at 11:00PM I started doing the windows because one of them had a smudge... by the time I had moved on to the second window I realized what I was doing and stopped dead on my tracks. I've been known for doing such crazy things and I guess that having Mr. N around sort of keeps me in check. Not last night, boy was I at it. Dust bunnies? Hell no! A couple of fluffed pillows later I decided to really indulge and watch dumb TV (Mr. N is a Dicovery, PBS kind of guy). So I surfed the channels and found... nothing.
I proceeded to go to bed and be bold: I laid in the middle of our king-size bed (yeay! all to myself) and slept like a baby.

So wild times as a single gal? Nope, not happening in this pad. My wildest moment will most likely be when I decide to give myself a facial and walk around the apartment with green gook on my face without fear of giving anyone a heart-attack.

I must be getting old.

New Look?

I learned through reading other blogs that last week was National DeLurking Week, go figure. Apparently it was the week to come out of hiding and post something to those you stalk . Well, as much as it is nice to have comments (somewhat validating your writing I guess?) I do respect the fact that you might just want to take a look and have absolutely nothing to say. I know because I do exactly the same thing.
But I'm thinking about the look of this blog, and although it's starting to look somewhat mine, the fact that you are greeted by 5 huge pictures of me, well, seems a bit narcissistic doesn't it?
I actually love those pictures, they were taken by my cousin as a series of black and whites, but, do you think they they're a bit much?
Let me know what you think of the template as well (if you so wish to).
I'm a big girl, I can take it ;)

Hummus!

I've been wanting to make hummus for ages now, and so today I decided hummus or bust. So hummus it was. I can't believe that I never made it before: Tahini, chickpeas, garlic, salt, food processor and voila! Added roasted peppers and some olive oil and I'm in heaven. It was blended to the consistency that I wanted (a bit crunchy) and it's ready to be devoured by N and yours truly. 

Why did it take me so long to make it? That is one of those questions that has no logical answer. I think that the tahini was the culprit, I didn't quite know where to get it from (I know, I know, I'm in NYC so I could have looked anywhere, I never looked, shoot me). So N suggested I go to this little Palestinian store in our neighborhood. Well, big mistake. I had been in the store once before and couldn't think why I had never gone back. The moment I stepped inside I remembered: I love that store! As soon as you walk-in the smell of spices greets you and lures to buy everything. You look at what they have on the shelves and even if you do not understand what is written, it looks so appealing that you want to get it and eat it right there on the spot. 

They have all kinds of couscous, semolina, rice, you name it, in little plastic bags that still have the look they were put together by hand. You want pita? I've never seen such a variety of it, and fresh! I passed by their desert display shutting my eyes because just the smell of honey and pistachios was making my mouth water. I strolled through the aisles all the while mumbling in an almost frenetic way "tahini, tahini" so as to remind myself that I had come for one, and only one condiment. I walked out with the tahini, roasted red peppers and Markouk bread, and quite proud of myself for not buying the entire store. 

I keep forgetting that besides the local, generic supermarket there are an infinite amount of small stores that carry amazing food and are kept by amazing people. The local Turkish store that is on my way home has one of my favorite snacks: Turkish pizza (or Lahmacun as I've learned it's called). If you've never tried it you have to; It's light, it's healthy, and it's soooo good. The small supermarket a couple of blocks away is mainly Korean and among many delicious things, has huge jars of Korean pickled cabbage (for like, nothing), the kind of thing that I would eat every day if it didn't kill my stomach. Curry? I am so close to Jackson Heights (or little India as it has been called) that I might as well be in New Delhi. The local Colombian restaurant makes for $5.99 one of the best roasted chickens I've had. There are a couple of Mexican stores that carry everything I need when I feel nostalgic. 

And the people? The manager of the small supermarket that is right by my subway station went as far as to call his mother to ask her for a good hummus recipe for me. The man from the Turkish deli greets me every morning, as does the Jewish old man that has a shoe-repair store. The cashier at the pharmacy sends me notes when it's hubby doing the shopping and the elder that is always standing by his building wishes me every morning a good day. 

I love my neighborhood. As much as I often feel that it's too far, or that I hate the subway ride, the fact that I can breathe when I leave Manhattan and feel like there are other human beings surrounding me makes it a special place to come back to. I've got the food, I've got the people. Doesn't get any much better than that now, does it?

Can someone please?

Hit me over the head and tell me that it IS winter and it IS 2007. Whatever happened to the hype of a new year? It feels old already... I need to go back to school. 7 Days into the year and it feels like the same old story.
So yes, I expected to have a brand new shiny year, like a car that smells good and all. But no, same ol' same ol'. It's still Sunday and I still have to go to work tomorrow... And you all know how much I loooove Sundays. Yuk.

Quiet weekend, no news. Maybe something will happen tomorrow that will be worth me mentioning it? Dunno.
But anyway, happy b-day to Jen, welcome back to the blogosphere Sam, and way to go on the homemade pasta Lena (I'm so jealous I might even get me one of those contraptions and let hubby do the work).

Signing off.

Out of sync

Those who know me know that I dread the cold temperatures of winter, but this weather is ridiculous! New York City on January 6 is NOT supposed to be 70F (21C for 3/4 of the world).
And so keeping with the tradition of completely being confused as to what to wear throughout these months, I was again fooled by mother nature. Hubby and I went for a walk and I thought that I was going to suffer from heat-stroke after only one block.

Even though I was aware that it was unseasonably warm out there, my brain could only process that it is winter after all, and so although I didn't put my mittens and hat on I did don a heavy sweater. N took one look at me and in his ever-so-wise way said "don't you think it's a little too much?", to which I replied "It's January!" and off we went (His Wiseness doesn't argue with his wife when she makes no sense).
Weeeelllll, not smart. I came back to the house ready to put on a swimming suit and jump into any body of water (but the bathtub, it's too small to be "jumping" into unless I want to break something). So out the sweater came and t-shirt it was.

Dinner? well, since it's warm: chicken with rosemary... yup, summery kind of dinner.
I finally used the rosemary that I had so dutifully put into ice-cube trays when I did my urban harvest. I can vouch that the whole freezing in ice-cubes works, the house smells great!

In another piece of useless blabbering (which by the way I've seen spelled as blabbing which is not quite the same thing – Blabbing: To reveal (secret matters) especially through indiscreet or unreserved talk; Blabber: To chatter – I'm not indiscreet and so this is not blabbing but blabbering).
So where was I? Oh yes, useless chattering. I was thinking about being lazy and not sticking to my resolution of writing more. Which led me to think about being lazy in general and all the little forms it takes, which in turn took on the form of a list: The Height of Laziness. And here it is for your enjoyment, feel free to add your "proud" moments.

The Height of Laziness
1) Leaving the toilet paper resting ON TOP of the empty roll instead of just changing it (mea culpa, can't even blame hubby for that one).
2) Walking around in circles looking for the remote control (because actually changing the channel, song, etc by hand is unheard of).
3) Eating on the kitchen counter (place settings, plates and cutlery for two? so passé).
4) Seeing dust bunnies procreating and multiplying and constantly repeating "next week I'm definitely taking care of them" (and months pass until the only choice left is to either do it or move to a new place).
5) Considering the option of going out with wet hair even if it's 10F outside (because the 5 minutes it takes to blow-dry your hair is waaaay too long - not styling, just drying).
6) Not shaving until you can't distinguish between your husband's legs and your own (hair cannot grow that much in one day, or two or three, can it?).
7) Serving yourself yesterday's left-over coffee and nuking it (throwing it out, getting the coffee out of the refrigerator, pouring water and turning the machine on? too many steps).
8) Waiting until a bikini bottom is the last piece of clean underwear you have before doing laundry (and no, it's not a fashion statement, I despise doing laundry).
9) Making sure that whatever clothes you buy are wrinkle free (I have an iron somewhere, it scares me, I bet it's the dust-bunnies' pimp).
10) Making a list instead of doing all the afore mentioned.

Rest assured, the house is clean, but far from perfect. Then again, perfection can be so boring. Right? Right.

Update: The bunnies have moved on to a better place (the vacuum cleaner). May they rest in peace. I'm still working on the rest of it, including the toilet paper...

Newbie

I've been in a semi-comatose state the whole day. You would think that it was because of the *ahem* small meal that we had tackled last night, but no, must've been something else since we almost didn't eat.
As usual, when hubby and I get ready for a "degustatory" feast we end up not eating over half of it. I guess it happens to all cooks: after a day of being in the kitchen with the smells and (most likely) tasting everything you make, by the time dinner comes you are no longer hungry.
So we have an incredible amount of left-overs that I have been, slowly but surely, going to visit on a regular basis today.

Last night, after munching on some prosciutto, jamon serrano, nuts and smoked salmon, we proceeded to have the goat cheese clafouti (I do have pictures of how great everything looked though... besides the clafouti who didn't have enough time to cool down before we inhaled it). Needless to say that we couldn't even look at the rest of the meal after that. The shrimps, scallops, lamb and fresh pasta with mushrooms were abandoned without a second glance. We wobbled unto the living room at about 8:30, not from alcohol consumption mind you, but from utter exhaustion. After having the oven on for over 4 hours the house felt like a Turkish bath and we were ready to take a nap. I couldn't even drink the champagne! (which, if you know me, is a big deal).

Although we tried to stay put, we both fell deeply asleep (snoring and all) each on our respective couches in front of the TV. I have to say, as much as I hate doing that, I could not keep my eyes open and so I welcomed the godforsaken act with a sigh of relief.

I woke up at 11:50PM and proceeded to shake hubby up so that we could at least share a new year kiss, which he dutifully obliged to. Put the food away and off to bed we went.
Today I woke up at 7:30 (hate to say it, but I'm starting to follow my grandparents schedule here), cleaned some more and... started surfing... Hi, my name is Nath and I'm an internet addict...

Aaaanyway, I started attacking the left overs at around 8:30 - I must say, smoked salmon for breakfast? oh yeah!-. By 12:30 I had a mimosa, cheese, a piece of lamb and some dried fruits.
No wonder I felt sluggish the whole day.

Well, the year started, if not with a bang, at least with a slight tap on the door; Loud enough for me to hear, soft enough that it didn't make me run the other way. And that in my book, is a good start.