The great debate in my head

Today, on the F train, there was a man with a bike and a basket and a box. The box was in the basket and the basket on the front of the bike. In the box? A bird. It was curious. I'm hoping he was rescuing the bird? Needless to say, I was freaked out. I have a fear of birds which has been slowly cured by living in New York City, however I will never ever ever be able to deal with birds indoors. Not okay. I had to get up and move. I'm a total loser.

New thought: What should I do what should I do what should I do?

Let me tell you, this question has been haunting me for years. Singing or flute? Songwriting or classical? Joni Mitchell or Emmanuel Pahud? (grrrar, I know). Everyone who doesn't understand tells me to do both. But it's not that easy. In order to play flute, I need to practice consistently and a lot. That means coming home from a full day of work and playing my instrument for a couple of hours. Leading a band takes just as much time. Getting gigs, setting up rehearsals, practicing and writing new music that people will actually like... pressure!

I know I want to go back to school. I know I don't have time/money to go back to school for about two years. I know that in order to go back to school I need to practice and audition and try to get money thrown at me. I know that I love my fiance and my friends a lot and I don't want to neglect them. Soooo, BAH!

This week is especially crazy because I have been gone for two weekends in a row, which means the house is a mess, laundry has piled up, the kitchen cupboards are barren, and I haven't spent a minute of quality time with my sweet man (or friends for that matter)... annnnd on top of the normal activity of keeping up with life, I have my flute lesson, two rehearsals with our new vocalist, one rehearsal with the band and tons of preparation to do for all of it-- all this week.

Oh yeah, and our save the dates need to go out pronto. Martha Stweart says to send destination wedding notices out 9-12 months before your wedding and I totally believe her. We're falling behind, people!! Martha frowns on my wedding.

Vent session over.

Angelic City

We are heading to hot and sweaty LA tonight! Of course we are leaving NYC during the 7th Ave Fall Festival and as soon as the 60 degree weather kicks into gear. Sad!

Oh well, California here I come!

Out of my way, door!

I think one of the most sinking feelings you can have is arriving at your front door only to discover that your keys are, in fact, on the other side of that door.

French Fry Quest Part 1

Pommes Prites:

I started with the supposed best, which probably wasn't the greatest idea, considering it's all downhill from here: Pommes Frites has been rumored to have the best fries in the city, with everything else falling short of its glorious greasiness.

I think they might all be dead right.

Pommes Frites, located on the lower east side of Manhattan, is your classic "hole-in-the-wall" joint. We arrived late on a Friday night and had to stand in a long, chilly line outside. They fry the fries right in front of your face, which you would think would be kinda gross, but it actually makes the experience even more suspenseful and exciting.

There is limited seating in the back, which we didn't score, but I think standing on a street corner, devouring the best french fries in the entire world made it even more worth it. There's something special about stopping dead in your tracks, unable to move from the need to keep (nom nom nom) shoving (nom nom) french fries (nom)... into (nom)... your face (nom nom.)

There are 25 dipping sauces to choose from, which made the ordering process more time consuming since, you know... there are 25 dipping sauces to choose from. So cool. And so good. We went with Rosemary Garlic mayo and Honey Mustard. Yes, indeed.

My rating:

1. Saltiness, greasiness, goodness.... 5
   
2. Crispiness, crunchiness, and soft in the middle.....4
   
3. HOT (so important!)....5

That is a whopping 14 points PLUS a bonus point for dipping sauces. Um, hello. That's a perfect score, people.

Go there now.

I said now.

You say potato, I say "gimme!"

No matter how you slice, dice, saute, bake, boil, mash, or fry up a potato, it's the most wonderfully delicious food that one can possibly consume, right right right?

Over the next couple of months, I am going on a quest for the finest fries in the city. There are many places that brag to have the best of the best when it comes to my favorite little side dish and what better place to look than in this fine city of ours.

I will be visiting some of the most famed french fry joints in the city and then blogging about my experience. Here is who made the cut, all according to word-of-mouth and my own research.

Pommes Frites (2nd Ave and 7th Street)

Loreley's (7 Rivington Street)

Cafe de Bruxelles (118 Greenwich Ave)

Grand Saloon (158 East 23rd Street)

Dram Shop (Park Slope)

Sidecar (Park Slope)

Chain Restaurants: Five guys (Park Slope) and Uno's (Bay Ridge).

Here is how each place is being judged, each on a scale of 1-5

1. Saltiness, greasiness, goodness
2. Crispiness, crunchiness, and soft in the middle
   
3. HOT (so important!)

Bonus points go to dipping sauces of any kind that are not ketchup.

Fun times are sure to be ahead for me!

PS- Yes, this is really only an excuse to eat fries and feel like I'm doing something constructive at the same time.

Shiny happy people holding hands....

I get to wake up next to my best friend every single day.

It's hard to escape thinking about friendships when my future mister and I are currently going down a list of everyone we've ever known and marking them as "yes" or "no" for an invite to our wedding. I feel like as I get older, my friends start to take on a different meaning to me. To risk sounding cheesy, they become more like family...Obviously college was completely different, when we literally had dozens of friends at our doorsteps at any given time. Now I feel fortunate to have a handful of friends that I can trust and rely on whenever life is good, bad, or ugly. I think my friends know that I would absolutely drop anything for them in time of need and I know I could expect the same in return. And as I sit here writing this, I'm thinking of several people who I know would do that, hands down, in a heartbeat, no questions asked. I want to be that kind of friend.

I had a friendship end this past year, which of course has catapulted me into uber-reflective mode. It's not worth going into the details, but what I can tell you is that there was a complete realization on my part that I was being undervalued as a friend. And let me tell you something: that is the worst feeling. That moment in life where you realize that this person doesn't like you. Bottom line. Breakup.

It's more than not being liked though, it's being appreciated and respected for who you are and the roadblocks you've been through to get to this point. And I can say, with confidence, that my friends love me. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. Could each of my friends rattle off my flaws to you? Indeed. Would they? Never.

I get very ruminative when it comes to things like this, mostly because I want to learn from past mistakes. Life is too short to just cross your arms and walk away from something, dismissing the meaning it could have on your own growth as a human being. With each year that goes by, I can't help but notice the new shapes my life is taking. It's hard enough to make time for myself, much less the people that have somehow found me interesting enough to keep them company. But it's worth every second of time that I put into friendships. I guess I just feel lucky.