onebiterule

Got up at 6.45 am and made tea. How nice that it’s so light so early now.

Checked email and put up a blog post.

Left at 8am.

A cold, grey morning in Brooklyn.

Went to the dry cleaner’s.

And to the co-op to get dates and cashews.

Came back home and made cashew cardamom balls.

Rolled them in coconut, and put them in tupperware to take to work. My last day at Candle Cafe.

Had a quick breakfast of leftover kale, beans, beets and quinoa.

Headed to the train.

And listened to “The best damn sales book ever” on the way. Definitely jumping into a whole new universe with this real estate thing!

Stopped for a quick cup of coffee. I had lost my taste for coffee for a few months, but in the past few weeks, I’ve been craving regular coffee with a little half and half in the mornings. It gets me jittery though, so I mostly have decaf.

Jen was arranging cookies behind the bar.

Going to miss the vats of home-made pita chips.

Really going to miss Valentino, aka Papi. What a sweetheart!

And Eugenio, the head chef. I surprised him with my camera.

Here’s Andres. Love him too!

And the beautiful veggies.

Hernan and Severo:

Armando:

Angela was in the office when I went up to change.

Along with Ishmael, who is from Ghana.

And Aileen, who just started at the restaurant.

The Quan Yin or Buddha….6 years later I’m still not sure.

This is the drawing that Tianna left behind on her last day, one week ago:

And here’s Georgie (well, it’s Jorge, but there are 4 Jorge’s so everyone was given a different version of the name).

The 86 board: no more sea salad for staff. I can’t wait to be a paying customer who demands her seaweed!!!

A lady rushing by with her stroller…pretty typical!

Juice. A lot of juice.

This is the ramen brigade. The kids buy ramen at the deli next door every day and then sit on the Candle bench to eat it. Kind of ironic.

I did a little drawing of my new career (and Mark asked me whether this is a hand motion they teach in real estate school. It is)!

Ate dinner but forgot to take a picture. Hugo bought me flowers. How sweet!

Mark was upstairs when I went back up to change after my shift.

Took the train home.

This one was shot from the hip.

V. got on and met me at the Bowling Green stop and we rode the rest of the way together.

There was a huge box of wine waiting for him when he got home. And a box for Erica, for when she comes in a few weeks (it’s a doll for Ry’s birthday).

Put my flowers in water.

Played on the ipad while V. ate dinner.

My old and nasty restaurant clothes that headed straight for the garbage.

Took a shower. V. has positioned Obama rather voyeuristically.

I sat on the couch with the intention of watching TV, but fell asleep within a few minutes, so there is no picture.

It’s time for December’s Day in the Life! How time flies!

I got up at 6am, when the cats jumped on my head. Stumbled into the kitchen and fed them.

As almost every morning, took my favorite mug (neurotic?) out of the dishwasher and hand washed it. Made english breakfast tea with milk.

Sat down with Gogo on my lap to drink it and answer a few emails.

Opened the first door on the 19th century replica advent calendar that my mom sent.

Saw there was a text from my friend Gill in Oxford (yay), and we had a little exchange.

Started to paint the door panels on the Tardis wine fridge I’ve been working on.

Left at 8.30am for yoga, grabbing a nut bar from the deli on the way, because there was no food in the house.

Leafless trees on a grey morning with garbage on the street really give me the winter blues.

But a little vinyasa goes a long way to fixing that.

Went to the food co-op to get some basics.

When I got home V. informed me that there had been fraudulent charges on my credit card, so I spent some time on the phone with the bank. Ugh.

Then finished painting the door panels. Vernon put on Christmas music, as he does every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My dad called, so I chatted with him for a while from the bed.

Took a shower. Since we re-papered the bathroom walls last week, this is the view.

V. and I got dressed and ready to go.

Took the train from Grand Army Plaza. (We had a long back and forth about who’s camera to bring, and in the end I thought he brought his and he thought I brought mine, and we didn’t realize until this moment, so we just went with the cell phone camera).

Continuing the Doctor Who theme of the day, I wore my fez and bow tie button.

The man in the red glasses got on and said he was bringing the church to the subway. He played a song called “He is Awesome” on his ghetto blaster and tried to sell the cd.

We got off at Astor Place, where this high rise is very quickly rising high. Those men on the edge scare me.

Had some signs printed at FedEx Kinkos for the Tardis.

Back on the train. Astor Place is the loudest station in NY. Every time a train goes by you have to cover your ears.

Once on the Upper East Side, got on the very short line at Sabarsky.

And were seated in the corner booth…

with a lovely view of all the goings on.

What V. ate:

What I ate (celery salad):

And we shared a strawberry cheesecake.

Strolled over to the Met around 4.30pm.

The Matisse show was only open for member previews, so we just wandered around. This lady with a big booty is from the Neolithic era. She was made more than 6000 years ago. Think about that for a second!

We visited the Rembrandts:

And stopped for a few Hoppers. I never read the description of this before. It says Hopper claimed he “wanted to capture the vulgar colors of cheap restaurants.” V. had just commented on how cozy and inviting it looked. Perception is a funny thing.

Sat with the Singer-Sargents for a while (and you could have left me here for the rest of the night).

On our way to the exit we got sidetracked by the Japanese gallery, and this poem:

With its translation:

Love this earthenware tray:

It was about 7pm by the time we strolled across the park.

Bethesda fountain. Having just watched “The Angels take Manhattan” last night it’s it was another perfect Dr. Who tribute in our day. (And do I wish I had had a real camera with which to take this shot? Yes!)!

Came home and attached the newly printed signs to the Tardis. Several weeks after I started, it’s finally done! Note the wine bottle on the side…V. took it over to our friend Vikram’s house and the two of them hung out until 2am.

Gogo and I snuggled up on the couch, with some tea, to watch “Brave,” but I fell asleep within the first half hour and just went to bed.

Election day! Both Erica and I forgot to shoot our day in the life earlier in the week, so yesterday we caught up…which was perfect timing considering the suspenseful, momentous day! As usual, you will find Erica’s post over here.

I started my day at 5.30am. Too nervous about the election to sleep. Had some tea and checked email.

Had to finish the white house cake for delivery before 11.30am, so I was pretty focused on that, and this was the only picture of the process.

Got done by 11am and boxed it all up. My friend Nidhi came over to help me load it into the car, but I was way too worried about that process and forgot to take pictures.

Packed a repair kit just in case anything went wrong in transport.

Also forgot my camera at home so the next few shots are from my ancient phone. This was Rahman, my very careful and helpful driver!

The cake was for a retirement home, and this was the party setup they had. Apparently there was going to be an Obama impersonator later, as well as a Giuliani, because they couldn’t find a Romney. Kind of wish I could have stayed.

By the time I was done it was 1pm and I was starving, so I went to Peacefood Cafe, which is a great vegan spot on 83rd and Amsterdam.

Had a japanese pumpkin sandwich with caramelized onions and walnuts. Yum.

Then a piece of raw key lime pie. It was AMAZING. The picture makes it look very sad. Don’t pay any attention. Got a piece to take home for Vernon, which I ate half of on Wednesday. Must try to replicate soon!!

And look what was across the street: A Steven Alan outlet store. I got excited but was then underwhelmed by what I found inside (thank goodness for my wallet).

Got on the B train at 81st, which is exciting because it wasn’t running for days after hurricane Sandy.

On the train, I listened to the audiobook version of “Whatever you do don’t run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide” (which is on my phone, so I couldn’t take a picture of it with my phone. It both terrifies me and REALLY makes me want to drop everything and become a safari guide.  Stared at my feet (and those of the woman across from me) and fantasized about that.

This guy came up the stairs in front of me in Park Slope. Good for him. Though I suspect he was the only non-partisan in NY?

When we took the cake to the car, the super saw us and said “man, I want some cake,” so when I got home, frosted some cake scraps for him.

Then did a few loads of laundry.

Tackled the incredible mess in the kitchen.

With help from Obama.

V came home early (yay) (in the background is the unfinished “turn our wine fridge into a Tardis project).

V brought mail from my mom: a German magazine with Christmas cookie insert. Very exciting. Thanks mom!!

Shredded some paper that was part of the kitchen mess.

While Didi watched from her perch in the corner of the couch.

V. cleaned the fish tank.

I folded laundry while listening to NPR election coverage.

And Didi enjoyed the warm clothes.

Went to Geido, our favorite Japanese restaurant down the block for dinner

Had soba salads.

V. had fish.

I had tofu steak.

Shared steamed broccoli…

and asparagus with sesame sauce.

Came home and put some veggie soup on for breakfast.

Prophetic soup noodles:

Sat down to watch some election coverage.

Then decided to take a break and watch Homeland.

Cuddled the cutest kitty in the world.

Drank a lot of wine.

Refreshed Facebook every few minutes to commiserate with everyone who was on the edge of their seats.

And screamed and did a happy dance when Obama’s victory was finally declared. Phew!

Time for another Day in the Life post. As always, Erica’s is over here.

I had an early appointment, so I got up at 7.20am, got dressed and left by 7.40am.

It was a grey and misty but warm morning.

The train pulled into the station as I came down the stairs (so proud I got the American flag in the shot…)!

Headed to the Upper West Side, reading Jung on Dreams…

Picked up some tea at Starbucks….

And went to my meeting.

Walked up Broadway and passed this intriguing sculpture:

Went to Zabars to pick up some pastries for a photo project.

Then back on the train to Brooklyn.

Saw the first chestnut of the season on our block.

And thought I’d capture the philosophical sign on our street as well:

Our elevator is slow enough to play with taking pictures on the ride up.

Had breakfast: kale, rice beans and avocado.

Checked some blogs while eating.

V. stayed home from work because he wasn’t feeling well.

I took some food shots in my little makeshift photo studio.

Did laundry and got bleach on my favorite sweatshirt. Argh!!!

V started to catalogue the very limited wine selection in his new wine fridge (#manhobbies)

Went for a late lunch at Leelawadee…a little Thai place we love in the neighborhood. How cute are the frangipani blossoms on the wall?

Had salad and a spring roll.

Then tofu with Thai basil. Yum.

Went to the dry cleaner.

And to the post office. The woman at the window took something like 30 minutes. People had post office rage on line!!

Also went to the vet to buy special cat food, but forgot to take a picture.

Then got back on the train at 4 to go to Chelsea for a food show with Candle.

Stopped to get coffee at Le Pain for my co-workers.

Just Food works to connect local farmers to their communities. Very cool. They have this annual event to connect local restaurants and their food to the people of NYC.

Was sent for another coffee run to Le Pain right after I got there.

The centerpieces were wilted before things started.

But chef Angel made up for it with his amazing flower arrangement. Check out the root vegetables in the bottom of the vase!

He made butternut squash puree with a root vegetable salad and pumpkin seed vinaigrette.

There was live jazz.

And a lot of people.

And the chefs right next to us were making serious meat.

Herbivores and carnivores co-mingled happily all night.

V was uptown having dinner with his friend, so he met me on the train at 14th St. and we rode home together.

I browsed some Halloween dessert ideas, mostly to avoid watching the political debates.

Took a shower and went to bed.