Art & Sugar

My last full day in New York City was certainly full of excitement!  The main event on our agenda was to take advantage of the two-for-one Metropolitan Museum of Art/The Cloisters admission and see them both.  We'd intended to see the Met first and then rush up to The Cloisters before they closed, but we accidentally got on an express train that changed our minds for us.

The Cloisters

When we got out of the subway, we walked through the beautiful Fort Tryon Park which boasts incredible views of the river and beautiful and well maintained flower gardens.  It would be a great picnic spot, just saying.  By the time we arrived at the medieval looking building, I was glad for the air conditioning.  We spent a few hours looking over the artwork and admiring the architecture, some of which was actual pieces of old monasteries and the like that had been shipped over from Europe.  I'm so glad to have a boyfriend that likes going to museums and engaging in thoughtful conversations about the work in them.  I was a very happy girl that day.

A chapel in The Cloisters

One of many lovely gardens

We knew we weren't going to have enough time to see all of the Met, so when we got there, we took a moment to grab some lunch (the Met cafeteria puts potato chips on their mac & cheese, just sayin') and pinpoint the galleries we wanted to see the most.  For The Writer, it was the Arms and Armor and I wanted to make sure we got to the Egyptian wing and temple.  We also managed to make it through some of the painting and photography before the guards decided it was time for us to go.  I'd wanted to see the McQueen exhibit, but we'd heard the wait was an hour and a half and we didn't have that much time there.  Unfortunately the exhibit will be closing a mere three days before I return to Manhattan.

Since we'd had a late lunch, we weren't quite hungry for dinner when the museum closed.  We were, we decidedly, quite ready for some ice cream.  On our way to the subway that would take us down to Lula's, I spotted a sign in the window of Purple Elephant Cake Boutique that said they had vegan cupcakes.  While neither of us are anywhere close to being vegan, The Writer's lactose intolerance keeps us on the hunt for dairy-free treats and vegan is always a safe choice.  We stopped in and got a few cupcakes, even though we were on our way to eat ice cream.  He had a vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing and I had a sweet-n-salty vanilla cupcake.  I used to never be a cake person, I preferred fruity treats like pies, but this trip ruined me. I officially like cake.

Not letting the fact that we'd just had super sweet cupcake deter us, we continued downtown to Lula's and enjoyed our vegan ice cream cones.  Dinner, at this point, was out of the question.  We were too full on cupcakes and ice cream.  We did feel quite kiddish, having had every kids' dream dinner, so we decided to go to FAO Schwartz because what kid doesn't want to go to a toy store after a sugar-filled meal?  Unfortunately, it had closed by the time we got there. Bedtime, I guess.  Plan B was to stroll casually through the lobby and shops of The Plaza hotel, just to check it out.  I wouldn't mind staying there sometime, that's for sure.

We walked around the park area for a bit before grabbing some groceries and heading to bed.  It seemed the sugar rush we'd ingested was no match for the mileage we'd covered that day.

*Photos by The Writer. I borrowed his camera for a few shots, but most (not obviously taken with a webcam or otherwise cited) are from his camera, as mine is broken : ( *

Hell on a Sunday

Hell's Kitchen, that is.  I went down last Sunday to check out the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market while The Writer was at work.  That place made me wish I'd left more room in my luggage!  Along with the many booths of vintage clothing, antiques, and unique jewelry finds were several different yummy looking food vendors.  I grabbed a New York slice from a shop on a nearby street then chose some delicious dessert from a Je & Jo ice cream stand.  Their organic ice cream carried quite a price tag at $4 per small cup, but it was so rich and creamy that it was easy to savor every bite of my Fresh Mint with Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookie Dough.

The Clutch & Sunnies

 Refreshed, I spent the next few hours sifting though some strange and wonderful goodies and came away with some great finds.  I found a envelope clutch with a tag that said it came from GAP.  I'm not sure how old it is, but the lady at the booth was only asking $5 for it, so I bit.  My other find was a pair of nearly vintage sunnies.  I've been needing a new brown pair and these were a new shape for me.  They're a little scratched, but I like them so much and was able to talk the seller down a bit from his original asking price, so I took them home.

Me with my new shades

I left Hell's Kitchen for the same reason I had to leave SoHo.  If I didn't, I would have kept buying which would have been very bad.  I'm broke nonetheless, but that's not the point. Ha!

I relaxed at Borders until The Writer was out of work.   We were both pretty wiped out, him from a long work week and me from the sun. Poor me, right? 

We took the subway down to Chelsea for a quick and easy dinner at Blossom du Jour.  I had an organic vegan eggplant parmesan sandwich and he had the Midtown Melt.  Both sandwiches were so good! It was hard to not want to order a second. I think we both ended up eating a significant portion of each other's meals as it was! 

New York City Solo

The Writer had to go back to work yesterday, which left me to explore the city on my own.  In all the times I've traveled to NYC, I've never had to navigate on my own.  I wasn't worried. I love subway systems and city grids, they make sense to me, unlike the winding country roads that swirl around until you have no idea who's cornfield you're in.

I hadn't slept especially well, so I spent a few hours in the morning reading in Borders and scouring Sephora's shelves for body care products that line up with my new obsession: paraben, mineral oil, and sodium laureth sulphate free.

Feeling rejuvenated from my lunch with The Writer, I headed down to SoHo for some shopping.  My first destination was Topshop.  I want to say that I loved it and never want to shop anywhere else, but that would be a lie.  I was most impressed by the shoes, however, I found the prices, in general, to be a little outside of my budget.  The clothes were of a higher quality than Forever 21, but had the same hipster shabbiness to them, for the most part. I did find a cute, vintage-inspired red and white polka dot dress that, if it weren't for the price tag, I probably would've bought.  It was 100% silk, and with the heat this week, I'm finding that all I want to wear are lightweight dresses.

I was about to give up on SoHo, but I decided to give a few more stores a try.  Right before a sun shower, I ducked into a little Japanese store with all kinds of interesting things.  It reminded me of a miniature, Asian Ikea.  I wish Ohio'd had one before I came here, because this store was stocked with all kinds of travel accessories.  After the rain, I stopped at another store that reminded me of Ikea.  This one had more furniture and housewares and made me want an apartment that needed decorating.  I then wandered into a little boutique stocked almost entirely of dresses and shoes. Ding, ding, ding!  I found a lightweight, black and white abstract print dress there.  It needs a slip,  but I can probably find one of those today so that I can wear the dress in the next week.

My last purchase of the day came from another boutique a little further down Broadway.  This one was crowded and less classy than I prefer, but I found the perfect maxi dress that I've been searching for.  I deal with a strange phenomenon when maxi dress shopping. Unlike many Americans, I have a waist and that waist needs to be defined by my clothes, otherwise I look like I'm wearing a sack.  Maxi dresses are particularly difficult to shop for, because so many of them feature a gathered empire waist and flow out from under the bust line.  These make me look like arms and a head perched on top of a prairie-like traffic cone. The tiered ones are the worst.  They may flatter thicker girls, but me? I disappear.  This maxi dress was different.  It's a slightly clingy rayon/spandex blend, is strapless, and features a drawstring waistline that falls not too far from my natural waist.  I love the teal color too--I see it being very versatile.  Possibly the best thing about it, it was only $19.99.  If you've shopped for maxi dresses lately, you know its hard to find a nice one on sale for even $30. and that's pushing it.

After that, I thought it best to remove myself from SoHo, lest I be tempted to keep shopping.  I took the train back uptown to meet The Writer for dinner at Otarian, his favorite vegan restaurant.  We had potato and spinach burgers and sweet potato chiplets. Yum!  We did some quick grocery shopping before heading home.

Later on, we took a nighttime stroll along the High Line.  It was every bit as cool as I'd imagined and I really enjoyed the quite walk with my love.  I'm having such a great time on this trip, I don't think I want to leave.

Hot Child in the City

It was HOT in New York today.  To escape the heat, The Writer and I went to the Guggenheim.  We got a late start after a lazy morning and took the subway up to the Upper East Side.  We crossed through Central park, around the reservoir, to get there.  It may not have been the most direct route, but the scenic stroll was well worth it.  Once at the museum, I was surprised by the size of the collection and exhibits.  Most of the art museums I've been too could take days to get through, but we made it through the Guggenheim in practically no time by comparison.  I found the Impressionist exhibit to be my favorite.  I forget how much I like Van Gogh and Seurat until I see their work up close. Fantastic!

After our self-guided tour, we wandered up and down Madison Ave. a bit to find lunch.  The counter girl at Marco Polo's Deli and Pizzeria was a little annoyed at life, it seemed, but our panini and Philly steak sandwich were just what we needed.

Next on our agenda was to go out for ice cream.  This was a first for us, as a couple, since The Writer is lactose intolerant.  We'd had dairy-free ice cream at home, but never been able to go out for a cone together.  In his explorations of the city prior to my arrival, he'd discovered Lula's Sweet Apothecary in the East Village.  We got a little turned around in the Village and my feet started to ache unbearable just as we found the tiny shop.  The guy behind the counter seemed so happy about his work and patiently offered me samples until I made my final selection (strawberry and cookies & cream on a sugar cone).  everything served at Lula's is all natural and vegan, so it's safe for The Writer's tummy.  Did I mention it was delicious?  I'm glad we finally found it.  Now we can go back all the time!

Day 12: Something You Never Get Compliments For

I am a sort-of vegetarian. I don't eat mammals. I had to expand from "no red meat" to "no mammals" since pork is technically "the other white meat" but is still a mammal that I have no interest in eating.  I began limiting my diet back in high school.  I gradually cut back on meats, even trying full vegetarianism.  Due somewhat to parental protests, I agreed to keep eating chicken and other poultry and seafood.

I can't remember anyone complimenting me on my choice to not eat mammals.  The closest thing to a compliment has come from others who limit their meat intake, and even some of those don't understand why I only eliminate mammals from my diet.  I used to try to explain it to nearly everyone who sneered at my choice or told me it was weird.  I've stopped doing that, for the most part, unless I sense they are truly curious and not just critical because they'd eaten six burgers that day.

I do it partially for humane reasons.  It doesn't take much searching to uncover the cruelties commonly forced on animals bred for slaughter.  Electric prods, unnaturally altered diets, confined living quarters: it's all so unnatural.  Do I love my burger enough to put another living being through unnecessary pain and growth hormones? No. I'd also like to add that, although I will still eat poultry or fish, I do my best to find hormone-free, free range, non-farm raised, etc.  I'm lucky to live in Ohio in this respect, the Amish raise some darn tasty natural chicken.

The other part of my reasoning is health related.  Red meat just isn't that good for you.  People with high cholesterol and other diseases are instructed to cut it out of their diets.  The chemicals used to treat meats practically carcinogenic.  People who don't eat red meat live an average of two years longer than their carnivorous counterparts.  Not to mention digestion.  The human body is not designed to digest red meat. It gets to your intestines, sits there, and rots until it can be processed.  Yum?  I'm out to have the flattest, leanest belly that I can, and having food sitting in my intestines for long periods of time doesn't sound like a great contributor to that cause.  It is high in protein, so I have to find that elsewhere, but the fat content is worth the trade.

Not to mention the quality of commercially prepared meat products.  Taco Bell faced a class-action lawsuit over their "ground beef product" which claimed that what they were selling as beef contained less than the USDA standard of 40% meat.  The lawsuit was later dropped, but it brought to my attention that the government required something to be only 40% meat in order to be marketed as "meat."  I don't know about you, but I'd like to know what I'm eating and you can bet that there are some gray areas in that other 60% that may or may not be good for a human body in the long run.

Long story short, I think I have pretty good cause for not eating mammals.  "Because it tastes good" isn't cause enough for me to ignore all the evidence again red meat, particularly.  I don't try to convert anyone to my way of eating, nor do I expect people to abstain from burgers around me.  I just choose not to eat them.  I don't talk about it unless asked.