Wow. Has it already been another month? We have 5 months under our belt (and a couple pounds of butter) and I can't decide if it feels like I just got to New York or if I've lived here forever. I am still amazed by it but totally accustomed to it, if that makes any sense. So in honor of our most recent 30 days, here are the 30 things that I've discovered.
1. No matter the temperature I will be sweaty. I thought it was the humidity in the summer, but it turns out when you walk 12 blocks in chilly weather and then up a few flights of stairs, by the time you get to the school locker room, you will be drenched in sweat.
2. Depending on my destination and required degree of looking good, I will take a cab to avoid being a sweaty mess with hair pasted across my forehead.
3. I just realized that this must be how the girls who wear stilettos all the time get around.
4. In an unrelated realization, when I wash dishes, it's usually cups and utensils, which made me realize I don't cook nearly enough at home anymore.
5. We've been eating too much takeout. It's way too convenient. And I am vowing to change that.
6. There are two things that happen ALL THE TIME here that I just don't get. The first is the failure to understand the basic concept of boarding a subway. Listen guy, we all know you want to get on the train and you want to be first, but when you block the entire car from getting off while you try to push your way in...do I need to finish this thought? What the hell? One of my pet peeves used to be people that got on an elevator before letting others exit. Now I have to watch this on a much larger scale at a much greater degree of inconvenience to everyone involved on a daily basis.
7. The second is the use of car horns. Again, WHAT THE HELL? I understand the warning toot when taxis roll through an intersection given the absolute refusal by pedestrians to acknowledge the DON'T WALK hand (myself included), but what is with the laying on the horn for a solid 30 seconds because the driver is mad that the other 20 cars in front of him aren't moving. Dude. Just stop. Please. It makes me feel like everyone driving is angry. And they probably are, but GEEZ.
8. My allergies are brutal here. Sniff.
9. I may have said this already, but I thought culinary school would make me a more confident cook, but with every class I realize how little I actually know.
10. I don't think I will be truly comfortable cooking French food until I've done it over and over and over.
11. Level 3 is all about repetition and perfecting dishes, so that's a start.
12. I keep taking my visitors to Jean Georges for lunch, because as I mentioned previously, it's an amazing deal and one of the best dining experiences you will ever have and I don't know that I could get tired of it.
13. Hollandaise sauce can be a bitch. It can't be too hot or too cold and you have to add the clarified butter very slowly or it will just turn into a gloppy broken mess. But I think I've got it down. Next up, eggs benedict for dinner this week so I can practice my hollandaise and perfectly poached eggs.
14. Not all chefs follow the kitchen dictatorship/hierarchy model. My new Level 3 instructors, Chefs Phil & Janet are more of the "We are all adults, let's act like it" school. It's refreshing to be treated like a grown up and just as effective. No disrespect to Chef Nic, it's just different. We can laugh openly while cooking without fear of being chastised for discussing anything other than the mise en place.
15. I love Fall. I have never welcomed cooler temperatures ever in my life, but after the general stankiness that was summer, it's nice to have some mildly crisp days.
16. Fall food is some of my favorite food. Without having a grill this summer, it wasn't half as much fun cooking up summer dishes. Now I can get excited about cooking at home, making stews, roasts, and apple cobblers. And the heavier recipes we prepare at school are a lot more palatable when it's 60 degrees as opposed to 95.
17. For the first time in several seasons of football, I had a moment where I questioned if it was really worth it. The Chargers looked like garbage for most of the game Sunday night and I just kept thinking "Are we really going to go through this again? Are they really going to dig a huge hole and make us bite our nails until they limp their way into the playoffs?" It's almost easier having a team that just plain sucks. Your expectations are low so it's tough to be truly disappointed. With the Bolts, you get a brilliant game (or at least a couple of wins), then they take a huge dump during a big game and you wonder if they will be able to make anything happen when it really counts. The ups and downs are brutal. I do wonder if I would be better off without this 5 months of highs and lows. Thank god for the bye week coming up, I need a break before I decide if I can continue with this dysfunctional relationship.
18. It's hard to get a cab in the rain.
19. No empty cabs in the rain means you can wait it out indoors somewhere indefinitely, wait on the street and get soaked trying to hail a cab as they all sail past you full of warm dry people, or walk in the direction of home, hoping you see one lit up and empty, which will unfailingly happen once you are three blocks from your apartment and totally drenched.
20. If I wear my rain boots on the days it's supposed to rain, it won't. If I wear my suede boots on the days it's not, it will downpour.
21. My favorite place to shop here is called the Market NYC on Mulberry & Prince in SoHo. It's basically a young designers market held in a church gym on the weekends, with table after table of unique accessories and clothing. I take everyone who visits me there because you can find great original stuff for reasonable prices. We took Mike's aunt and uncle from Buffalo there this weekend and as we walked through, Mike started mentally calculating the prices of all of the things he recognized that I owned from the market. It didn't help when a few of the vendors greeted me by name or with a hug. Whoops.
22. My best friend Jill, who happens to have fantastic taste and a style I often steal from, will be here on Friday, so you know I will be back there yet again. Sorry babe!
23. Speaking of style, New York is an inspiring place for anyone with even a tiny interest in fashion. I am constantly gawking at women passing me on the street to see how they are wearing something. It's an endless supply of ideas and really, anything goes here.
24. On one final fashion note, leggings are not pants. Cover your butt. And put on a bra. You know who you are.
25. I love watching the very talented a cappella group perform under the arch in Washington Square.
26. It's even better when you notice the passed out drunk laying just in front of them.
27. And still better when you realize that the people gathered to listen to the performers just step over said drunk, to get a better position.
28. I enjoy dog watching at the Washington Square dog park just as much as people watching. Try to do it without making up stories about what the dogs are saying to each other. Impossible.
29. On a serious note, it's really tough to be so far away from friends when you feel like they need you. In an update, to my previous post, Kali's treatment seems to be going well. But in an unimaginable twist of fate, Maya was also diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Both babies have a positive prognosis, but will be undergoing chemo over the next few months. Please keep them in your thoughts and if you know Melanie & Kris and would like to find out how you can help, please message me privately. You can also follow their treatment at this website.
30. While it's impossible to make sense of something so senseless, it has made me realize that I know just a few things for sure. Life can be wonderful and it can be terrible. When it's wonderful you have to enjoy it while it is and when it's not, you have to survive it. The easiest way to enjoy it and to survive it is with people that you love and that love you. I am so grateful to have so many of those people in my life. You know who you are and I love you.
No comments:
Post a Comment