Mar 31, 2007

Saturday.


I was walking home from the subway tonight and passed by this bright patch of tulips (and clearly came home & played with the picture). I hope, I hope, I hope this means that spring is finally here. Today was a bit chilly, but at least above freezing. I wore sandals all day long, and only a light coat. I packed away my puffy warm coats this afternoon, and am hoping that I don't need to pull them out again.

Yesterday was our 23-month anniversary. We celebrated by getting falafel at our favorite Lebanese place and returning my broken lip gloss at Sephora. Nothing glamorous, but fun to hang out with each other anyway. The big 2-year is coming up next month. Time has flown by.

Today was a good day. A happy Saturday. I met my friend Allison for brunch at Friend of a Farmer. After watching a horrific video of slaughterhouse practices last night, I didn't quite have the stomach for any of the meat dishes... I stuck with granola with yogurt and fresh fruit. It was delicious. After brunch, I wandered around the Farmer's Market at Union Square, then had to take my ipod to a doctors appointment. The other day was a sad one for my rectangular friend. I was on the treadmill when it suddenly froze. Within an hour or so, there was a sad ipod face on the screen. It wasn't looking good. I made an appointment for the Genius Bar at the Apple store in Soho. After a brief consultation with my assigned genius, he decided that it was dead, and kindly gave me a replacement (thanks to the warranty), waiving the $50 fee for some reason. I did not complain, and quickly went to H&M and spent what I would have on the ipod on 2 really cute dresses (okay- and a tiny bit more). I'm into dresses lately for some reason... Black and white dresses, specifically. I bought a yellow tshirt, too, just to break the mold a bit. I need to add a bit of color to my wardrobe.

I came home and fell asleep on Mike's shoulder while he played a few serious games of Halo on XBox. He hasn't quite grown out of this yet, and I'm fairly certain that he never will, but that's okay. I think that the best quote of the afternoon was, "Hey, did you see that? I totally dominated that guy." He was really proud. Mike gets pretty excited during his XBox Live sessions. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around, until I suddenly felt the need to de-clutter. The next hour or so was spent going through closets, bins and drawers, getting rid of things we don't need and putting away the things we don't often use. I feel much better.

We met our friends Elly & Scott for dinner tonight at a place called Basta Pasta. Asian-Italian fusion. I suppose that you can find just about anything in New York (or any combination). It was a good meal with good friends. Elly & Scott made me feel good by telling me that my molten chocolate cake is better than the one we shared after our meal. After dinner, Mike and Scott took off to watch the boy's session of Conference and Elly and I wandered around, including a trip to Trader Joe's. I came home with a few fun things that I didn't know I needed until I saw them. Among them- gnocchi. I love gnocchi. I just can't figure out how to cook it just right at home. It's one of those things that is easily ruined in restaurants, which means it is often ruined in my own kitchen. The texture never seems right. Maybe that't not my fault? I'll give it a shot tomorrow.


And finally- my new favorite food. Elly introduced me to Altoids dark chocolate covered mints tonight, and I am already hooked. They are absolutely delicious, and the perfect after-meal sweet tooth fixed. Mike has eaten 5 in the 5 minutes that he has been home.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh, I envy you for being able to shop at Trader Joes. Sounds like you made some good purchases/new finds. Have you ever made gnocchi? From scratch? I tried it once and I remember it being delicious. Post pictures of the new dresses. And I'm glad your weather is spring-y. Hopefully NY isn't as bi-polar as Utah. Sigh.

Missy said...

I've never had gnocchi. Post pictures of that (when you make it) and the dresses. I love seeing your new finds.

Don't you love Trader Joe's? It's my favorite.

k. said...

Gnocchi is definitely my favorite pasta, but it's tricky... sometimes it is azing, other times it is awful. Kelli, I've never made it from scratch, but I imagine it is complicated. Do you have a good recipe, or did you have it at a restaurant? I just bought a frozen bag at TD's, but it is stuffed with spinach and cheese. It sounds yummy... I'll let you know how it turns out (I think I'll try it for dinner tonight).

I went to TJ's late last night (around 9:30 pm), which meant that we avoided the crowd. I love that the prices are reasonable and that the selection is so fun. Mike picked up a bag of frozen edamame from there the other week, and we had it as our Conference snack today. Yum. Whole Foods is only about 3 blocks away from TJ's, and they have a bigger selection of produce, etc. The downside to both of these places is that they are at Union Square, which is a 20 minute trip home via subway for me. It's no fun carrying big grocery bags, especially with my back, so I have to be a smart shopper. I wish I had a car. In the suburbs. That I could park in the driveway of a yellow house. Sigh.

Kelli, don't you like Wild Oats? I haven't been there in a long time, but imagine that they have some similar products as Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Not quite? Next time I come to Utah I'll pack you a box of fun favorites.

Unknown said...

I made it. When we lived in the yellow brick house, actually. It turned out well and wasn't as tricky as I would have thought...but it does take time. (Potatoe dumplings.)

I'm not a huge fan of Wild Oats. It's pricey but lacking in the quality and selection (in the produce department mainly...and the fish--our staples). I definitely miss Whole Foods!