despite this and last week's heat, today was delicious. I mean delicious. My mom and I were leaving a store around the 33rd and 5th and almost walked right past Cafe M, which is in that general area. We came upon this exquisite piece of joy:
a delicious red velvet cupcake. which we shared
upon leaving with that much more joy in our tummies, i caught this shot of the empire state building.
after walking around in the sweltering heat, and then continuing on to get a pedicure with an immaculate foot massage, we were hungry again. feast your eyes:
overall it was a good day. and our tummies were satisfied, and we survived this ridiculous humid hot day. did i mention we got AMAZING bubble tea from Crazy Bananas not too long before the red velvet cupcake? yeah...you're jealous =)
Anyone who knows anything....(kidding) knows who Conor Oberst is. Former frontman of Desaparecidos, Bright Eyes, Commander Venus, Park Ave, flew solo, chilled with The Mystic Valley Band, and now his current project Monsters of Folk (collaboration of other indie frontmen). Oberst has been around for quite some time. Of course, he can never ever be replaced, but there is a new artist. An artist, that I think carries an uncanny resemblance and sound.
Conor J. O'Brien, frontman of Villagers, entered the scene not too long ago with the debut album " Becoming a Jackal ", also the title of Villagers' first single. Needless to say, both artists are of equal greatness, Oberst has just been around far longer.
Though, I do have one question. Were they separated at birth? Because, they have the same name, they're both Irish, their voices are slightly different but more the same. Their appearances...well...I'll let you be the judge.
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Either way. I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to see what else Mr. O'Brien graces our ears with.
I passed by this little restaurant no bigger than my own bedroom and picked up a menu. The tagline said something about your body thanking you or feeling the difference. I suppose the food is supposed to be good for you. To be honest, stomach aches usually ail me in the middle of a meal after a few bites. But I kid you not when I say that no such stomach ache came during the sandwich that I ordered.
The hummus on the whole grain pita bread was so creamy and delicious. The cucumbers, tomatoes, and slices of lettuce were so crunchy and all went with the texture of spicy spiced spicy chicken pieces.
If I only had taken a camera in the midst of my feast. It was delicious. 63rd and 1st = Jerusalem Grill.
Do yourself a favor and stop by Click here for a review or two about the joint. Other than a few impatient parents with crying kids, there's a lot of good things said!
As I'm enjoying the creation I have just made for a brunch, I'm also resizing the photos. I'm also realizing that the amount of food I made was a bit too much, so my mom was lucky enough to get the scraps. Good scraps, but still scraps. Inspired by smashed goods' passion for breakfast sandwiches and vegetables thrown in as well, I made my own breakfast masterpiece.
First, I cut up a few of those leftover baby red potatoes, followed by 3 baby carrots, and some red and green lettuce. Next, 2 organic free range eggs, and last an inch cube of Cabot reduced fat sharp white cheddar. After cooking all that up together, I threw the mashup onto 2 delicious pieces of 12 grain bread. I thought it was suprisingly good, considering the idea came to me suddenly. Here's what it ended up looking like:
So earlier this evening, considering it's 11:48PM as I begin this, my mother and I prepared a delicious dinner. It was pretty spur of the moment considering we were thinking about take-out from our corner Greek restaurant Ethos. Pretty delicious, but we thought we'd do our own take on their Garides Sta Karvouna, or grilled shrimp with fresh herbs in a lemon and olive oil sauce.
The dinner we prepared was probably a lot healthier as far as we knew, since we at least knew what was really going into it. To start, just grab a few jumbo shrimp from your local supermarket freezer section, OR if you're lucky enough to have your own fresh fish store like us, stop by there and pick up some (guaranteed fresher). You'll need a side dish or two. Since the side dish that comes with the Garides Sta Karvouna is usually potatoes in a lemon sauce and herbs, I did my own take on that. You'll need baby red potatoes and some rosemary, and (we used extra virgin) olive oil. Lastly, despite what they say about asparagus, we grilled it up and threw a bit of parmesan cheese on it. You wash your shrimp, grill them up in a soy & garlic sauce (you can definitely make this yourself) and fish ALWAYS cooks quick so about 10-12 minutes, grill up those asparagus (about 10-15 spears) and then sprinkle a bit of the parmesan, and lastly cut up those baby reds and then throw them in a bowl with some olive oil and fresh rosemary. Mix that up with your hands (if you're not afraid to get your hands oily, think it's probably good for the skin) and then toss them onto anything oven friendly, sprinkle a little sea salt for flavor, and set the oven for 30 minutes. (Time varies depending on how many potatoes you cut up, we used 8 cause ours were really tiny!). And Voila! Dinner is served!! Delicious.
Are you one of those people that suffers along with me during the fall and winter allergies? It sounds silly I know. Most people have allergy issues when it's spring and summer perhaps, but fall and winter. Silly. But there is a trick. The trick is to find locally grown honey in your neighborhood. Believe me, seek and you shall find. I didn't even think there would be a bee colony in this area, the city! Union square at that! But still...the bees make honey in the city and they're here to help. Take one spoonful of honey everyday at least once a day and your eyes will be out of the excruciating aching pain that they were in the week before you tried it! Why is this you ask? Just think about it so I don't have to explain it in depth since even I don't understand all of it, but I get the jist of it. Bees carry pollen and such, and it sticks to them and then they go back to their hives and make some of that sweet delicious honey. You are then surrounded by the same pollen that they carried through the city from flower to flower. So you eat the honey, you build an immunity to it, and you're safe from allergies.
TRICK- Eat locally grown honey to cure your fall allergies! TREAT- Eating the honey.
Need help finding that locally grown honey? Go on down to the farmers market on Wednesdays held in Union Square. Name of the honey: Berkshire Berries Roof-top Magic New York City Honey.
Earlier this year, my mom's cousin, Charles Fina, passed away due to Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in May. Even before his passing, Charles was able to attend an event called "Light The Night" to support finding a cure for his illness. Perhaps you've seen commercials on TV or advertisements on the train or bus for it, because I know I have. Tina Fey is a spokesperson for the event that occurs in several places all over the states. Maybe you're curious what's going to happen. "Light The Night" is a few mile walk through a park depending on where you're located. While you're walking, you carry a balloon. Each balloon has a little light attached to it on the inside giving the balloon a special glow, hence the name Light the Night. The three colors of balloons are gold, to remember a lost loved one, white, to celebrate your survival of Leukemia/Lymphoma, and blue, to give hope and show support. Come on kids! Support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!
Would you like to show support or get involved? Here comes the info kids!
If you have Facebook, hook it up by becoming a member of the Light The Night group and read a detailed .
Now, to become a member of the Charles Fina team, click here!! To get more info about the NYC Walk, click here!!
Watch this short video, a little of 6 minutes- but come on, what's 6 minutes compared to this great cause?
Charles Fina's son Michael giving YOU a reason to come to Light the Night!!
Light the Night for someone you know, knew, or just to show support to your friends or family:
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