Je voudrais Paris, s’il vous plaît

I miss Paris: the streets, the sights, the sounds, the tastes. I want to wake up to the sounds of traffic whizzing down Rue Saint Jacques, walk down the street for a baguette avec chevre et saumon fume.  I want to keep walking and get lost, stumble upon a café where I can sit for hours with a cappuccino and my notebook.   I want to cough out secondhand smoke and dangle my hands over a bridge crossing the Seine.  I want a thick slice of chocolate cake with raspberry frosting accompanied by a large cup of American coffee at Sugarplum Bakery, reminding me of everything I miss from home.

I sat down at Pinkberry with a friend who’s about to live in Paris for six months; envy was spewing out of me onto a spoonful of pomegranate yogurt.

“Your life is about to change,” I said.

“Just for a few months, then I’ll be back,” he reminded me.

“No, I mean it.  You’re going to live in Paris, and you’ll never be the same again.”

I think I scared him.

Continue reading

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The January Blend

After our last blender broke in a tragic frozen mango daiquiri incident, my roommates and I spent a few very sad months without any type of blending/chopping/mixing device.  But after a sad, long flu and far too much time at home, I realized it was time to invest in a new Magic Bullet, which has since become my best friend, just another way to become a twenty-something grandma…  (No, I’m not being paid to write this, but if you work for Magic Bullet and want to hire me to promote blending things, I’m here!)

While, it’s highly likely that in the next few weeks I’ll forget how to chew, that’s not enough to convince me to stop blending my food.  Everything from pancake batter to sauces to soups, my kitchen spoons have seen a lot of action this month.

Though blended Mac and Cheese isn’t quite the same (and perhaps my only reason for using a fork this past week), warm, not-solid food and I have become inseparable this winter.

Image
A sampling of blended treats

Continue reading

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Issa’s Favorite Things 2012

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR.  MY FAVORITE THINGS LIST IS OUT.  USING CAPSLOCK IS IMPERATIVE WHILE CHANELLING OPRAH.  While do not have Ms. Winfrey’s millions of dollars (I just paid for coffee in coins and a forever stamp), I’m pretty sure that we share a fan base as well as a love for commercialism.  Even though I can’t afford to give you any of these things, it’s to everyone’s benefit to know what they are.

Here are Issa’s Favorite Things of 2012:

Orzo. Is it pasta? Is it rice?  Okay, it’s pasta, but it’s shaped like rice, plus, it’s good in everything.  Seriously.  Everything.

Lisa Frank Holiday stickers. Bringing me back to the 90s with rainbow baby animals, I can’t think of a better gift! These are actually free at Urban Outfitters, so hit me up if you want some.

Happy Unicakkah!

Better than Bouillon. This vegetarian pastey-goopey stuff is actually the best. It’s good as a broth, it’s good as soup, it’s good as a base.  It’s just really, really good.

Woodchuck Hard Cider (A product of Middlebury, VT). I recommend pear flavor, but they’re all crisp, delicious, and gluten free.  Magner’s is a close second, but doesn’t help answering the question: How much wood can a woodchuck chuck? (A: At least a six pack).

Christmas lights.  I never had these growing up and now my apartment is exploding with magical tiny LED bulbs.

Holiday Light explosion!

Kindle.  After my super nice fancy birthday Kindle broke (not my fault!) the thought of living without en eReader was unbearable, so I invested in the cheapest model.  It’s my favorite Kindle yet- so light and easy to use!  The case with the built-in light was also a worthwhile purchase (despite the fact that it costs as much as the KIndle itself..)

Floating book shelves.  Everyone who visits thinks I magically attached books to the wall, but they’re awesome and give you a chance to show off impressively long books you never bothered to finish, like Infinite Jest (one day!)and The Power Broker (don’t bother)And I get a nifty place to display my toy dinosaur!

Floating Shelves

Schwinn Cruiser Bike.  This was the most impractical bike I could purchase, as it’s extremely heavy to lift upstairs in my walk-up (extra workout!) and it’s only slightly smaller than my entire apartment.  That being said, it’s adorable, pink, and fun to ride.

my bikeee

Level Up.  I’m not very app-savvy but I am forgetful.  Perfect for days when you forget your wallet, plus sometimes you get free things!  And when you give it as a gift, you get $5 back. (I’m happy to give this out to millions of people as well).

Google Maps App.  It’s back!  It’s free! Now I can roam aimlessly around the outer boroughs yet again.

Fab.com. The site for everything you didn’t know you needed!  Including but not limited to: one of a kind prints to decorate your bathroom, magazine subscriptions to high quality publications like Cosmopolitan and The Atlantic, silkscreened tote bags with ironic sayings, animal-themed accessories, and kitchen tools that are designed specifically to make things like butternut squash ravioli.

Bathroom Art

American Apparel Winter Leggings.  So warm, so comfortable, I pretty much live in these.  And they match everything!  Plus, you can sleep in them, and you’re ready to go in the morning.

American Apparel Thigh High Socks.  If you ever get tired of your leggings (unlikely) these are a comfy, warm option more comfortable than tights.

North Face Puffy Coat.  I bought this on my emergency credit card last December, emergency being that I was cold.  Now I get to wear a huge sleeping bag all over the city! Runner up: puffy vest, great for not as cold days and makes any outfit look snazzy.

Legwarmers.  They go with either of the above plus everything else you could ever wear.  While in leggings and legwarmers, quote Flashdance at your leisure.

Roku.  I bought this on a whim on a rainy day and it was perhaps the best purchase of the year.  Friends’ Netflix/Hulu/HBO passwords not included, but necessary.  Also, you can control your Pandora during parties via your iPhone.

Pinterest. If you haven’t been invited yet, I’ll invite you!  Unless it’s no longer invitation only, in which case, why don’t you have Pinterest?  How do you organizes the millions of projects and recipes you’ll never have time to make because you’re too busy pinning?

Ikea Fidjetun Mattress.  Not only is the name super fun to pronounce (fidjetun!), but this is possibly the best sleep you’ll ever get.  Also great for breakfast in bed, dancing on top of, snuggly slumber parties, and a variety of other PG-rated activities.

Incase iPhone slider case. I love this thing: it’s beautiful, light, and keeps my iPhone from cracking. Plus, it’s easy to take on and off, so I can hide things inside!

Mika’s The Origin of Love Album.  Everything pop princess, I saw Mika in concert the night the album dropped and haven’t stopped listening since.

Kat Von D Tattoo Eyeliner.  It’s like a marker, for your eyes! Helps you look like a supermodel/cat everyday!

Urban Ears Plattan Plus Headphones.  I’m on my third pair right now! Note: they do not come with memory enhancing abilities (but they do come in a variety of pretty colors!), so remember where you put them…

A washer and dryer.  After interning at Good Housekeeping for a year, I was pretty unenthused by household appliances. However, having these things in my home has greatly improved my quality of life.

Dr. Dennis Gross Extra Strength Alpha Beta Face Peel.  I’m not quite sure what these do but a friend gave/stole one for me, and it made my face feel nice and tingly.

A 30 Day Metrocard. Okay, so it’s not new for 2012, but this $104 purchase is the golden ticket each month to adventures and happiness. I’m really not sure what I’d do without it.  Best money you can possibly spend.

14-metrocard

Trader Joe’s light Eggnog in coffee.  This is a recipe made up by a college student with party leftovers and it’s awesome.  Bonus points for adding whiskey

Salad grilled cheese.  This is another leftovers recipe, but it’s also awesome and worth gifting to the masses. My gift is this: put leftover salad on buttered bread, cover with cheese, and heat up. Yum.

Spotify.  Again, is this invite only?  Regardless, now I can listen to more than the four CDs I own!  And share playlists.  Hooray!

Longchamp Le Pliage Handbag.  A practical and stylish bag I carry pretty much everywhere.  I don’t see why they’re not unisex, but that’s another issue.

longchamp

Inside New York 2013.  The new edition is INCREDIBLE!!! Whomever published this object of beauty must be extremely talented and gorgeous.

Amazing friends. They cannot be purchased, nor am I planning on giving them away, but nothing on this list even compares to my absolute favorite people in the world. So thanks to all the friends I made, reconnected with, or became closer to in 2012, for being more valuable than an internet TV box and some rice-shaped noodles.

I have human friends too!

THAT’S IT PEOPLE!  THOSE ARE MY FAVORITE THINGS!  BE GLAD YOU READ MY BLOG SO YOU CAN (NOT REALLY) GET ALL THESE THINGS FOR FREE!!!

Happy Hanukah.

xo

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to be a 22-year-old Bubbe

It has not so recently come to my attention that I have several grandma-like habits. I really enjoy being 22 going on 82, so I’m putting together a helpful list of ways you too can live the granny fabulous lifestyle!

1. Speak Yiddish.  Just throw in a few phrases here and there like, “I schlepped all the way uptown and all you want to do is go to 1020? It’s senior night at Havana!”

1a.  Use terms like “senior night” and attend events labeled as such.

2. Force-feed everyone and anyone who crosses the threshold of your house.  Feel free to knock on neighbors’ doors and stuff food down their throats as well.  Everyone appreciated a hot, oil-soaked latke.

3. Knit.   Carrying a knitting bag inside your overstuffed purse will prove useful at all sorts of inopportune times such as while sitting in a lecture/bar/social environment.

4.  Carry a large bag on your person at all times. Contents should include but not be limited to: gum, mints, pens, a lighter, at least 3 tubes of lipstick, Band-Aids, Advil, fast acting Advil, legwarmers, granola bars, and a spare pair of glasses (with oversized frames, of course).  Note: you should probably lose your glasses often, even if they’re already on your face.

5.  Wear bright lipstick, brighter nail polish, enormous jewelry, and match clothing according to personal preference, not societal norms.

6.  Practice selective hearing.  (“What final paper?”  “Who’s Dishwasher?”)

6a.  It’s also appropriate to use speakerphone in public, due to your hearing inabilities.
6b.  On that note, listen to Oldies.  Music isn’t made like it used to be.

7.  Play bingo regularly.

8.  Talk about the olden days frequently.  These olden days include times when Starbucks didn’t have an iPhone app and Facebook didn’t automatically recognize faces to be tagged in photos. Also, when walking around the neighborhood, make sure to loudly point out every place you’ve ever been to/sat in/thought about.  People are really interested in hearing that sort of thing.

9.  Collect coupons and loyalty cards.  If your wallet isn’t bursting with little piece of cardboard covered with various stamps at hole-punches, you’re not doing it right.

10.  Kvetch about being called a bubbe when you know that all you really want to do is sit around drinking tea and slurping soup while admiring pictures of cute kittens on the internet.  Perhaps while simultaneously watching daytime TV from your bathtub…

Grandma Issa
Grandma Issa, expert on all things old people
Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

9 Things on My Chanukah List

The 12 year old I babysit for on the Upper East Side already has a Christmas Powerpoint ready for Santa, so I figured I better get started on my selfish give-me-things-please list.  Feel free to pick and choose what you’d like to gift me!

1.A geltfiend sweater. Or 8.  Because hipsters are Jewish too. You can also never have enough cat sweaters. A puppy swimsuit would also be acceptable.

2. A Twitter nameplate necklace. As today’s Carrie Bradshaw, it’s only natural I have the bling to match.

3. A Jonathan Adler pillow, particularly this one, but I’ll accept any of them, really.

4. A ticket to Paris.  Just because.  A private jet would be nice too. On the same theme of totally practical gifts, perfect French speaking abilities overnight would be much appreciated as well.

5. Waterproof boots.  The poor Australian lambs that gave their lives for my Uggs still make my feet wet.  Sorry lambs.

6. A prettified apartment.  A Rug, mirror box, or hallway mirror are all very nice gifts. Also, a new pasta machine will guarantee you fresh pasta on demand for at least a few months.

7. A job at a magazine/blog/respected publication that allows me to work in my pajamas at a coffeeshop and pays the rent.. On that note, an unlimited Starbucks giftcard wouldn’t be bad either.

8. New clothes for my iPad. A matching hobo bag would also be nice.

9. And World Peace.

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Hurricane Diaries

I’ve been getting a lot of requests from my fans (read: my parents) to write about the hurricane, and while I feel a little silly, as a perfectly safe and healthy refugee avidly searching for WiFi and open Starbucks stores, here it is…

New Yorkers are tough; we like to think we’re impenetrable to danger. Hurricane? Tropical Storm?  Zombie Apocalypse? If we can battle for a spot on the L train during rush hour, we can handle it all.  So when word of yet another hurricane came to town, it was more of an excuse to load up on beer and pasta than to tape our windows and create any type of emergency plan.

Hurricane PARTY

No School! Yay!  More time to mope around the apartment!  Boo.

After a considerably stressful weekend, none of my roommates were in a great mood Sunday evening. As local businesses started closing their doors, we stocked up on our favorite foods (which all, coincidentally, need refrigeration), changed into our Juicy sweatsuits, and cuddled in my bed to watch Sleepless in Seattle while munching on frosted sugar cookies.  Preparing for a hurricane wasn’t too terrible…

According to the weather, the squalls weren’t supposed to start until late Monday afternoon. I still don’t know what squalls are.  But they sound scary and almost make me wish I paid attention in oceanography.   In the spirit of “Bros before Hoes,” a maxim instilled in me by the cashier/therapist at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop who encourages me to eat my feelings, I decided to ride out the hurricane at home with my roommates, who were the best hurricane family I could ask for.  Hurricane Tip #1: stay with friends, they will keep you sane.

I woke up late on Monday, almost disappointed that flying witches and puppies had yet to zoom past our windows.   Like Irene, we were pretty sure that this was a bunch of fuss over nothing, and we watched our neighbors play football in the street or run around in bikinis and helmets.

Bikinis and helmets are so last season.

Mom: Don’t go outside! Cranes are falling!

By sundown, we were pretty much physically attached to Twitter.   Update: a tree fell!  Update: It’s raining!  Update: Lights are flickering downtown!  Update: Lindsay Lohan said something ridiculous! Hours wasted away as we all re-tweeted wide eyed, dramatic tweets suddenly becoming real as we saw pictures of the fallen crane at One57, the house blown apart in Chelsea, the destruction of Coney Island and the Jersey Shore.  Shit was getting real.

Our roommate Alice, who grew up in New Orleans, instructed us to fill the bathtubs with water and prepare our candles and flashlights.  We compiled scented candles from our bathrooms, a reading light, and an old, dimming flashlight still in my suitcase from a trip to Ecuador two years ago on our coffee table.  Supplies were scarce.

The lights flickered for a few minutes, and as our building rose in screams, the lights went out.

There’s nothing like impending doom to bring people together.  Living in an NYC apartment building is not exactly conducive to being neighborly.  At most, I knew two other people in my six-floor walk up pre-Hurricane.   As soon as the blackout hit, doors were propped open, hands shaken, names and cupcakes and batteries exchanged.  While at first the only thing we all had in common was a mutual frustration with our super, after the first few nights of living without electricity, I knew far more about some of my neighbors than I ever wanted to know.

I made a cupcake menorah to light up our apartment!

While we were hesitant to go outside in the storm, rumors of free ice cream from local powerless bodegas inspired us to pull on our Hunters and brave Sandy.  No pints of Ben & Jerry’s in sight, a candlelit bar pretty much pulled us in.  How often do you get hurricane happy hour?

And then this conversation ensued:

Guy in a Bush-Cheney 2004 Shirt:  So, what do you think about the storm?

Me:  What storm?

GBC2004S: Sandy. Outside.  (Looks at me like I’m crazy).

Me:  Sarcasm.  Like your shirt, right?

GBC2004S: I don’t get it.

Me:  Me neither.  I have to get back to my friend.

GBC2004S: Do you like SPAM?

Me:  Ummmm.

GBC2004S: Well I have tons of SPAM back at my place.  And sardines!  You like sardines?

I only recount this because this may be the first time canned meats have ever been used to pick up a 20-something girl at a bar.  Maybe.

Anyway, back at the home front, we tucked each other into bed, where we dreamed of WiFi and FroYo.

I woke up late Tuesday afternoon, sans electricity. Unsure what to do, I woke my roommates and we decided to venture outside and explore the damage. Without cell service or a working radio, we had absolutely no idea how bad the storm had gotten, or if other neighborhoods were without power, water, and reception.  Four wonderfully unshowered girls heading out to brave a hurricane?  This is the stuff good Discovery Channel specials are made of.

Venturing out after the storm

On our corner, Tompkins Square Park was completely scattered with branches and leaves, many trees uprooted and fallen over.  Further east on Avenue C, the six feet of water was still draining, as people dried out their cars and checked the batteries. Looking around felt so incredibly surreal.  We’d never seen a New York so dark and quiet.

We continued southeast, down the FDR towards the Williamsburg Bridge and eventually the Seaport.  It was cold, we were hungry, and slightly depressed looking at all the damage, but there was pretty much nothing else to do but walk.  The rest of lower Manhattan seemed to think the same—who knew New Yorkers were so outdoorsy!

New Yorkers being Outdoorsy

Countless fallen trees, decapitated pigeons, and washed up piles of debris later, we arrived at South Street Seaport.  Like a scene out of a movie, I watched as groups of people wandered aimlessly, staring at the damage, shocked and questioning if this had all really happened overnight.  Windows were cracked, clothing shop mannequins completely upside down and naked, and even more trees, debris, and other unidentified objects cluttered the cobblestone streets.  The chaos of the damage paired with the city’s overall silence- no music, no subways rumbling, no buses honking, only a few sirens would blare every couple of minutes- was absolutely unreal.  Where were we?

Swimming on the FDR

We dragged our frozen feet back home through desolate Chinatown, almost unrecognizable without its bright lights and swarms of people.  We walked through Soho without seeing a single shopping bag and back through the Lower East Side, stopping every few seconds to examine the damage of the upcoming block.

Water level line at a local downton business

We headed home for another family meal, and perhaps a new apartment favorite, Hurricane Spaghetti.  What is Hurricane Spaghetti, one may ask?  Combine all the pasta sauces in your now defunct refrigerator, mix with ominously warm fresh vegetables, and pour over copious amounts of pasta boiled on your gas stove, and Hurricane Spaghetti for all!

A good percentage of time in our tiny apartment is spent communicating with each other via text message, social media, and occasionally through song and dance.  Nightly conversations take place solely over Instagram comments and planning to watch TV together almost always occurs via group iChat.  Why talk when we can text?  However, none of these luxuries were available during the blackout.  We had to converse over lunch, plan our next meal, decide what we wanted to do together by actually looking at each other’s faces.  If one good thing came out of the hurricane, it was our ability to relate to each other as people, to remember that we’re not just screennames and profiles and hashtags, but actual breathing, feeling creatures who can hear each other laugh louder than any LOL.

After inhaling our spaghetti by the fire escape (for light), we bundled up again deciding to make the most of the sunlight and go for another work.  New Yorkers are not outdoorsy.  We’re far too busy to wander the streets aimlessly, observe nature, take in the scenery.  There’s always somewhere to go and something to do!  But suddenly there wasn’t.

Optimism in our neighborhood

Vendors on 14th Street were selling batteries, flashlights, radios, and umbrellas.  New Yorkers walked slowly, cautious of the lack of traffic lights on the streets, still absorbing the disaster scene.  As the sun set, flashlights were removed from fleeces and parkas, and suddenly Lower Manhattan resembled more of a Girlscouts campsite than the world’s busiest metropolis.

We walked to 14th & 8th, were the front of a building was completely blown off. Unable to even imagine what would have happened had that been our building, we all felt lucky for not incurring any heavy damage.  Reporters speaking in English, Spanish, Polish, Russian, and some other indistinguishable languages stood outside the Chelsea apartment, letting the world know what we were observing with our own eyes. Nearby, crowds fought for access to outlets on the CNN truck to charge their iPhones.  It was an interesting parallel to the decimated building, to say the least.

Walking home through the twisting streets of pitch black Greenwich Village seemed oddly suited to Halloween.  This was a city we’d never seen before, regardless of how many times we’d been to the bars and bakeries we walked by.  And as odd as it may sound, I felt a nostalgia for a New York I’d never lived in.  A New York completely lit by candlelight, like many of the bars and restaurants downtown.  A New York where people weren’t listening to iPods or chatting on cell phones on the street, but rather wishing each other a good evening. Everything was beautiful and romantic, and so terrible that this odd sense of peace could only be caused by a disaster.

A very eerie Greenwich Village

After a brief stop at Kimmel, the NYU student center overflowing with refugees from the dorms, we headed home to make Hurricane Fried Rice, another recipe I’m happy to share.  Cut up all remaining vegetables, tofu, and cook in soy sauce/any other Asian sauce left in the fridge.  Add cooked rice and an abundance of eggs.  Yum.  We each split up tasks: washing, chopping, stir frying, serving.  For months, we’ve never planed a family meal, nor have we ever cooperated in the kitchen/living room so efficiently and happily.  We ate our copious amounts of food by candlelight, once again agreeing that we ate better during Sandy than ever.

mmm hurricane fried rice– an instant classic!

There’s only so long you can read your e-reader by candlelight before you feel like your eyes will fall out.  Sitting in the dark is depressing.  It just is.  Even surrounded by good friends, and perhaps better food, not being able to see, not being able to go anywhere or communicate in anyway with the outside world gets overwhelmingly sad.   Cabin fever had set in, as proven by the neighbor who’d climbed up our fire escape with a flashlight, either to scare us or befriend us, I’m still unsure. And with that, we headed to the bars, cash-only and candlelit, where we chatted with neighbors, compared war stories, and made new friends.  The East Village is not a bad place to ride out the hurricane.

Our corner pizza place was lit by candles

Without any connection to the outside world, we relied solely on word of mouth to let us know what was happening.  Rumor had it, everywhere above 39th street had power, and our four dead iPhones were practically begging for battery power.  We packed up backpacks of electronics and chargers, granola bars, water bottles, and cash, and began our track uptown. Each block, it was amazing to see how many businesses were open, how many restaurants were serving what they could and how much people tried to function as if this were any other Wednesday.  If New Yorkers can be described in one word, persistent may be it.

An altered hurricane menu

As we reached 40th Street, the chaos thickened.  Groups were camped out inside banks, crowded near street planters, gathered in doorways and bathrooms, all with powerstrips to charge their devices.  Midtown Manhattan looked like a refugee camp out of a Woody Allen movie, which will come out in June 2013 and will be called something like “Sandy, Cristina, New York, with Love.”

Starbucks Refugee Camp

After an extremely frustrating search for any type of power outlet, and perhaps Wifi, we finally settled in a corner at the Atrium Mall on 3rd & 55th, which is perhaps the worst place to catch up on work and studying in Manhattan, but refugees can’t be choosey.  (Sidenote: I, and no one else, should ever return to Ess-a-Bagel on 3rd Ave.  After a few miles of walking, and a generous purchase at their business, my roommates along with a dozen other displaced New Yorkers were kicked out extremely rudely for taking up space. On any day, this would be a terrible way to conduct business, but especially today, when customers were literally fighting with the boorish employee for five more minutes of electricity after buying a dozen bagels and lunch, I was horrified. Um, sorry my family thinks I’m dead. Not. Seriously, Ess-a-Bagel, you are dead to me.)

The fate of Ess-a-Bagel?

We camped out at Atrium until 7, catching up on phone calls and email, letting the world know we were alive!  Being disconnected for three days had been frustrating, but nice in a way.  There was no temptation to check my phone every five minutes, no reason to tweet a joke about what I was doing, or pause the fun to take the perfect picture for Instagram.  Everything was just about being in the moment, and a part of me was sad to return to real life.

Refugees find power and internet!

Back home for another incredible meal (we needed to empty the freezer of all of our fresh pasta), we decided that we wouldn’t let Sandy ruin our Halloween.  My roommate Val and I followed up on an earlier idea to dress up as Abby & Brittany Hensel.  We made an awesome costume by candlelight, similar to the way the pilgrims altered their clothes for 22 year old conjoined twins, and headed out to celebrate.  The parade may have been cancelled, but the amazing thing about New York, is that nothing can stop us from having a good time.  Villagers came out in costumes, distributing extra candles to brighten the bars (and add a slightly terrifying additional fire hazard).  Neighbors complimented our costume and bought us matching drinks, and overall apartment 3F had an unforgettable Halloween.

We’re just like everyone else!

Thursday brought us back to real life.  Cold and sad, it was time to leave the safe bubble of our apartment.  We hadn’t been apart since Sunday night (hence all of the “we” in this post), but we all needed a warm shower and perhaps more cell phone service, so we walked up to Grand Central, from where subways were now running, and went our separate ways.

A warm shower and a cozy evening at Barnard brought me back to real life.  In a way, it was frustrating to see so much of the city functioning as absolutely nothing had happened, while millions of people were without power or water, many immobile in their buildings, or without a home at all.  As mayor of NYC, I would have declared Wednesday a day of service to help repair and city and assist those in need, not a day for everyone to go back to work and school, but maybe I’ll save that for my campaign in a few decades.

No one uptown had any idea what it was like downtown

While the option to stay uptown was always open to me, I’m so glad I decided to stay home with my roommates.  I learned so much about myself, about the city, and just about people in the past week, and while much of the damage is devastating, it was nice to see some positivity come out of the hurricane.  Whether it was getting to know neighbors by name, sharing a taco provided by a local restaurant, or bonding with other volunteers at local relief sites, there’s no reason to not take as much positivity out of Sandy as possible.

Now that our lights are back on, our refrigerator is clean and empty, and the apartment is back to normal, the only thing left is to help the rest of the city get back on its feet.  Local businesses lost tens of thousands of dollars, thousands of people are hungry, thirsty, and cold, and some are without homes. Whether its time, goods, money, or just good vibes, Beyonce and I encourage you to give what you can to help New York and the surrounding areas recover from the past week’s events.

Check out these websites for more information on helping out:

https://lowereastside.recovers.org
http://caaav.org/update-on-caaavs-efforts-post-hurricane-sandy-volunteer-and-donate
http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy
http://signup.madeinles.org

Posted in NYC | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ramen Diaries: Stir Fry

Ever since returning from Paris, where I ate several portions of lavish food daily, I’ve been doing that poor college student thing, you know, where you don’t eat a three course meal three times a day… Real life is kind of a bummer.  Gone are the days of chèvre and saumon fume and sauvignon blanc.

I’ve returned to an endless bowl of ramen noodles.  A college student’s go-to ingredient for a cheap, delicious, and less than nutritional meal.  That and a can of Keystone and you can fit in on any campus in the country.  (This is the part where I don’t complain about spending an entire paycheck on a new iPhone but rather accept my fate as a smartphone addicted twenty-something who has doomed herself to a rather limited food budget for questionable financial decisions…)

I’ve loved packaged ramen pretty much forever, but after a few two many bowls of dehydrated noodles in powder, I needed to find a way to spice up my meals.

At first I tried to literally just add spice, in the form of frozen Thai chili peppers that were left in my freezer by someone at some point.  Point being, I did not purchase them.  And whomever did probably intended to kill me.  Chopping the peppers and adding them to the noodles was a huge mistake: the seeds were unbearably spicy.  I had two friends distract me while I consumed what I deemed “The Death Plate,” too stubborn and too broke to throw out a dinner.

The next night’s ramen fiesta was a success, and thus, the inspiration for this post:  I stir-fried chopped garlic, whole Thai peppers, and a frozen bag of “Asian” vegetables in coconut oil, cooked the noodles in the provided broth, mixed everything together, and topped the plate with a fried egg. Bon appetite!

Posted in blog | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

We’ll Always Have Paris

There’s no good way to say goodbye to Paris. In fact, I’m not sure there’s any good way to say goodbye to a place. You can’t hug it and promise to text in the morning,  I can’t poke the Eiffel Tower on Facebook or Skype into my favorite cafes.

It was hard to leave new York, I was scared about what the next month would bring, but i knew I’d be back in 30 days, which is no time at all.  When I booked the car to take me to Orly, I realize I. Had no idea when I’d be back. If ever. I planned to spend my last day re-visiting all the sights I loved, trying to check museums off my list and photograph anything and everything that I’d seen everyday and would suddenly not see the next morning.

Thursday morning I met up with my friend’s high school French exchange student, Anne Charlotte, at Le Carousel de Louvre, which is basically a glorified food court.

Reunited!

We caught up on the last few years and headed to Les Arts Décoratifs to see an exhibit about Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, a less intense version of the Met’s Alexander McQueen exhibit last summer. There’s something about seeing clothes presented in a gallery rather than just on the rack that’s so intriguing and beautiful; you can appreciate the art, design, and construction of the pieces rather than thinking about how a dress would look on you or where you’d wear it to. Seeing the evolution of the Louis Vuitton trunks from quality checkered travel cases to the gaudy bags/status symbols they are today was also surprisingly fascinating.  We both enjoyed tiny exhibit on Babar and rooms of Art Deco architecture at the museum.

That afternoon, convinced a few friends after class to venture to the legendary Longchamp Store.  The rainbow of purses, plus the surprising discount, made another rainy day adventure totally worthwhile.

shop the rainbow

We ventured through the pouring rain for one last dinner at Fuxia, an impressively cheap and amazingly delicious Italian restaurant we found in Le Marais that had another branch near the Luxembourg Garden.  I’ll seriously miss the food here.  Especially the tomato carpaccio…

Friday morning was spent with chocolate chaud, edits, laptops, edits, more edits, and reading, eager to meet our 5:00pm portfolio deadline for workshop.

After completing my work faster than expected, I headed out with a friend to do what we all really come to Paris to do: shop.

And shop we did: clothes, shoes, lingerie, gifts, jewelry.  I had a few euros to get rid of and I took full advantage.  Unlike American shopowners, Parisian shopowners are honest.  They’ll tell you if something looks bad on you, and not encourage you to buy anything unstylish.  It seems like their overall goal is customer happiness, rather than making a sale, which is oddly comforting.

let’s go to the mall

Naturally, I overslept Saturday morning, Bastille Day, so my plan to have my last petit dejeuner was already ruined. This year’s Bastille Day was Disco themed, so enormous mirrored disco balls covered the city, making the day extravagantly bright.  If only Fourth of July had themes…

I decided to walk to the Orsay, grabbing a baguette sandwich for lunch on the way. I can’t believe i waited so long to visit the Orsay- it was incredible! The museum is housed in an old train station, so in edition to its amazing collection of impressionist artwork, the building itself is a spectacle to enjoy.  The views over the Seine were also gorgeous, even in the overcast weather.

oh hey, Orsay

Since I’d arrived in Paris, this was one of my first days wandering the city alone. No company, no agenda, just the city. I reveled in being a free agent, but found after a few hours I was sad not to be able to share my reveling, my enthusiasm for Paris with someone else. (I did, however, stop into a few puppy shops, and share my enthusiasm with a few too many adorable dogs…)

I wandered the streets aimlessly, trying to remember every little cafe and beret and landmark. I had the best chocolate eclair I’ve ever eaten at a small patisserie only a few blocks from home. It’s funny how you only start seeing a place in a new way when you know your time there is limited.

That night, in lieu of crowded Bastille Day festivities, I met friends for Indian food at a restaurant in a building from the 17th century.  We’re dubious to whether or not this is actually true.

Food is not spicy in Paris. Flavorful, but never spicy. Even the various chutneys, curries, and other dishes we enjoyed barely had a hint of spice. Indian food for beginners.

After gorging ourselves on lentils and cauliflower and naan, we went out for one last gaufres avec glacé (we wanted macaroons, but all the patisseries close far too early, yes, even Paris has its weak points…)

On the stoops of the Pantheon, we watched fireworks explode behind the Eiffel Tower, the best cliched way to end my month in France.

It seems surreal actually, that I lived in Paris for a month. Getting back to New York was shocking, I was convinced that all the street lights and crossing signs had been replaced while I was away– everything is just so bright! I just jumped back into real life- apartment, job, friends, work- as if a month of my life hadn’t been sent elsewhere, disrupting my usual pattern. I feel like I was in Paris forever and I simultaneously feel like I never left.

I’m sitting in a tea house in Park Slope, listening to some guy sing about how sad he is to be single (maybe because you’re playing for an audience of mommies and lesbians. Just a thought), and I can’t help comparing it to Paris, just like I compared Paris to New York every day I was there.

I’m so happy I went to Paris. I’m so happy to be back home in New York.  I’m happy I had space from my regular life, to learn and grow and get a new perspective, and I’m happy that Paris encouraged me to take risks, challenge myself, and explore the world.

Posted in Travel | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

“When good Americans die, they go to Paris” ― Oscar Wilde

Determined to hit every museum in Paris during my last week, I found one of the few that was open on Monday: Eugene Delacroix’s house and studio. Though it’s understated, it was pleasant to walk around the building where Delacroix created the gorgeous paintings I’d seen in the Louvre just days earlier.  Neither the artwork or the architecture of the building was exquisite, but seeing artifacts like Delacroix’s easel and pallet with oil paints splattered on it made the visit worthwhile.

Delacroix’s paint

With ample time left before class (the museum is petite) I wandered around in the finally gorgeous weather, and stopped at Ugo Traiteur for the freshest takeout Italian food I’ve ever had. Salmon with lemon and basil accompanied with vegetable tortellini in a ratatouille of tomatoes and zucchini made the perfect picnic lunch.

That night, we treated ourselves to dinner again at Le Grenier de Notre Dame, a vegetarian restaurant serving French classics without the meat.  While my carnivorous friends were less than enthused, the food was flavorful and fresh, a much needed serving of vegetables in contrast with Paris’ endless carbs.

Vegetarians vegging

We spent the rest of the evening wandering the streets, stopping for sweets and crepes after our large meal.

Before class on Tuesday, I visited Le Bon Marche (The Good Market) with a friend.  The Bloomingdale’s of Paris, this elegant department store had everything: clothes, homewares, fine dining, knitting supplies…  The sleek multilevel marble interior was the perfect place to spend a morning.

le bon marche #heaven

The Rodin Museum is open late on Wednesdays, so we planned to visit then. After trudging through the pouring rain to reach the home of “The Thinker”, we learned that the museum that night was closed for a private event.  Seriously?  On the only night it’s open late? At least we passed Gertrude Stein and Edith Wharton’s homes on the way, which made the stormy trek somewhat worthwhile…

Stein’s home on Rue de Fleur. Kathy Bates wasn’t here, unfortunately.

We took an unplanned excursion to Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb.  The gardens outside were incredibly colorful and beautiful in the newly emerged sun, and Napoleon’s tomb was larger than life enormous.  After a glamorous photoshoot, we walked under the Eiffel Tower and crossed the river in search of food.

Napoleon’s Tomb

My roommate in NYC told me that if there was one thing I needed to do in Paris, it was to visit L’as du Falafel (The World of Falafel).  I live a block away from Mamoun’s.  People come from Brooklyn to go to Mamoun’s (it’s that good), so I didn’t see the big deal.

L’as du Falafel was a big deal, a big deal stuffed in a freshly baked pita and topped with creamy smoked eggplant.  Words cannot do this sandwich justice. Book a ticket to Paris, you’ll see.

After a filling and delicious meal, we headed to a cafe in Bastille to write while enjoying molten chocolate cake.  Paris, you’ve outdone yourself.  Plus, I met this cute guy…

Le cutie
Posted in Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment