Recently I have been under an unusually high level of stress. Obviously.
The morning after Arte Agave, I woke up not hungover, but sore.
My guess is that after fifteen margaritas (I exaggerate) and tequila punches, I slept in an unmoving heap for eight plus hours. Ouch. My neck, my back, etc. Continue reading
How could I not feature someone whose professional title is Chief Excitement Officer?! That’s Sabina aka @SabinaKnows.
Sabina, co-founder of Tin Shingle, is my Brooklyn neighbor. I admire her enthusiasm for entrepreneurship – hers and that of others. Here’s your chance to get to know Sabina.
OneChicklette: Your favorite qualities in a love interest Continue reading
Google Maps told me the walk would be 0.9 miles. The humidity was rising, but a mile isn’t so far.
Plus I had just eaten a chocolate muffin from St. Balmain, justifying the indulgence by noting that there would be zero chocolate muffins in Kenya.
Once I passed the McCarren Park pool, the walk started sucking. The part of Greenpoint I found myself in would be best described as Not Cute. Homely, perhaps, as opposed to homey.
Around the 0.7 mile mark, I wanted to shout “this is for you, Maasai kids!” but they couldn’t possibly have heard me over the noise from the BQE.
I started crying almost as soon as I walked into the Greenpoint dollar store.
Not because I was in a dollar store, per se, but because as I shuffled up and down the aisles, I was reminded of the directions my trip organizer had given me about how to choose a gift for my “buddy,” the student who would be my companion during my days volunteering at the Maasai school.
Books need to be culturally sensitive. Don’t buy candy–most of the kids won’t have a toothbrush.
Avoid anything that requires batteries or electricity. These kids don’t have access to either. A well-intentioned volunteer gave his buddy an iPod, but once the battery dies, it’s useless.
Good gifts include a simple journal, a solar-powered flashlight or a puzzle that shows a picture the kids can relate to.
At the dollar store, I felt like a failure. None of the toys seemed right for my teenage buddy, a fourteen year old boy named Steven.
As I put a notebook, a pack of pencils and a pencil case in my cart, my heart sank: I had just committed to buying office supplies for someone who will almost certainly help me have an eye-opening, life-affecting experience.
I suppose he already has, in some ways.
Hopefully when the time comes, my modest gifts will somehow be the right ones.
[For context, this post was written on late on Thursday, July 10 and scheduled for Monday, July 14. I’m set to present these tokens to Steven on Friday, July 18.]
It has been a week of great food for me. Next week, it will be mostly salads and trips to the gym!
1. The Goodwin (Greenwich Village, NYC) – I picked it on a whim for a Saturday night dinner with two girlfriends based on nothing more than OpenTable availability, location and a glimpse at the menu. Fortunately The Goodwin was a unanimous hit. We loved the charming – albeit cramped – space, and the menu was fantastic.
Try the pork shoulder ‘pig in a blanket’ or the wonderful burrata.
2. Jockey Club (Guadalajara) – if you go, get the Arrachera steak. It’s similar to the cut we call skirt steak in the U.S. Mine was buttery, rich and tender. They also offer plenty of Mexican delicacies in addition to traditional steakhouse fare. I really enjoyed the grilled cheese appetizer called queso panela.
3. La Tequila (Guadalajara) – Order the queso. Paired with terrific tortillas, I could have made a meal out of just this appetizer. The upstairs dining area is more atmospheric than the main floor, in my opinion.
4. Kestane Kebab (Greenpoint, Brooklyn) – I’m cheating on this one. Using Seamless.com, I had food delivered. So good and a great value. I love the lentil soup, any of the spit roasted chicken items and, of course, baklava.
5. Bann (Midtown Manhattan) – I didn’t get a pic of my dish of noodles and soy-marinated beef (Bann Gooksu) but did snap a shot of my friend’s pork ribs. Quite a platter, and part of Bann’s current Restaurant Week offering. At Bann it was $38 for three courses.
Of course our cocktails, including my soju lemonades, took the price higher.
Where have you eaten recently?
Related posts:
One of my good friends lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, north of where I reside in Williamsburg. She has a car and I don’t so we often hang out in the ‘burg.
People act like Greenpoint and Williamsburg are the same. They definitely are not.
On Sunday I went to Greenpoint.
Greenpoint map
We planned to have brunch at the Manhattan Inn but my friend, who is gluten-free, noticed that the menu there changed and is no longer as GF-friendly.
Instead we went to Enid’s and had a great meal and catch-up. I had the fried jalepeno grits with eggs in case you’re curious. Brunch for two – one entree each, a shared fruit plate and a large French press – came to $42 including tip.
After brunch, we went to Cafe Grumpy to try to do some work. Yes, the place you have seen in Girls episodes on HBO. It’s one block from my friend’s apartment and a nice little spot.
And how was your weekend?
I took a nice long walk around my neighborhood Saturday. You should come and visit – there’s much more I want to see.
First thing, I grabbed a bite to eat at Fabiane’s in spite of @cherry_blossomz advice that while the food was good, the service was awful. She was right. Noted. Also, if you visit the web site, prepare yourself for some terrible smooth jazz. I warned you.
If I were paranoid, I’d tell you about how other diners got real knives while mine was plastic. Continue reading
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