Sunday: Good Morning Sunshine

Shann cooks, local-style: Spam Fried Rice, Sunny-Side Eggs

See You...

...later this week. The early chill of Fall feels absolutely wonderful, so I'll be spending the next few days out with knitted grey scarves. On the way home from the Greenmarket last week, I came across many $2 cacti lined in a row, all splitting images of Helix from back in Spring. There was one on the right end, twice as tall as the rest. So I picked it up, removed $2 from my pocketbook and paid the owner. "Ahhhh," he said, "nono, this one is $3!" And before I could ask why, he nodded solemnly before saying, "this is the tallest of them all." How could I argue?

The cactus found a home on my windowsill next to Bush Basil and Golden Tree. I found Golden Tree at the Chelsea antique market a month ago with Shann, Steph, and Darien.

The tree is utterly useless. But I love it all the same.

When I came home on Sunday, I sat down at my desk, turn to the right wall and saw...a birdcage! Upon moving into our new apartment, I decided it would be quite nice to have golden birdcage with a pair of lovebirds. But seeing as it would be completely unreasonable (where to put the birdcage? what if: they're noisy...they stink...management doesn't allow pets?), Shann surprised me with the next best thing. A golden paper birdcage with not just lovebirds, but a baby peacock! Talk about quality apartment-mates :)

So here is what my room currently looks like. Steph helped me carry home this column I purchased from a store on 13th Street last month. Like Golden Tree, and Big Bowl, the column serves absolutely no purpose aside from sheer aesthetic value. If you're going to have fun, you might as well have fun right?

I've also acquired in my first real mirror - a large golden one that goes rather nicely with the room. The mirror was an impossible pain to hang, so much thanks to Don (and the stud finder!) for affixing it flush on my East wall. The room is complete, except for maybe a rug, heheh. I can't wait for it to get colder - more reasons to snuggle into bed with thick socks and a book. Mugs of hot tea, too! Alas, the work day isn't over yet...

...but I'll be warming up with a 9th Street latte in due time. Have a lovely week :)

9th Street Espresso
341 E 10th Street
New York, NY 10009
(212) 777-3508

Otto & Retipping Shoes

Life is the funniest thing I know. You must already be aware that life encompasses the strange and odd and wonderful all at once. But I never cease to blink in wonderment each time it takes me by surprise. Enroute to the shoe repair shop with Steph, we came across a fact. It was an utterly unexpected fact revealing a surprising side to an individual. That fact tripped upon another, shedding light upon something we had previously agreed would never be answered. It's ridiculous how small and crazy, absolutely crazy, this world is. And with all that considered, after colliding into a fantastical coincidence the day prior, life is indeed wonderful...or as Steph decided after we dropped off our heels to be retipped, "I love life!"

Hours before, I was at Otto for a long and lazy lunch. I love Otto as much as I love life. Now, now you might think that is exaggerated, but no, it is the honest and complete truth. I love Otto most in the afternoons, weekends or weekdays. I love it just the same during peak dinner hours, though get irritated by the crowds. I've never been a fan of crowds or big groups in general. Dining in big groups is the worst form of dining.

On that afternoon I nestled into the corner bar seat closest to the windows and counted exactly five other people seated along the bar. One couple sharing gelato and a bottle of wine, a young boy around 21 with the Olive Oil Copetta, and two older males dining alone, one in a business suit, and another in a white button down and jeans. I browsed the menu for items anew and realized that I had not yet tried the brussel sprouts before! And because what has never been tasted must be had, a dish of the brussel sprouts vincotto was soon set in front of me. I tucked each half away, one by one, over the NYT and Daily News, which bore the dooming proclaimation of "777" in bold letters.

Then I moved on to the carbonara which only gets better with every visit. The one pasta dish I would gladly eat on a daily basis. Rich, eggy and marked with salty bits of pancetta, the carbonara is better shared, but unless you have to worry about slinking into a corset post-lunch, there's no reason you can't down it alone.

And then dessert. The caramel coppetta is my current affair. A deep wonder composed from a base of chocolate crumbles, a generous round of caramel gelato and coffee bourbon sauce. Sliced bananas, buttered pecans and a lush pipe of mascarpone crema brought dessert and that midday meal to the sweetest, most satisfying end possible.

Otto
1 Fifth Avenue
NY, NY 10003
(212) 995-9559