Farhad's 27th birthday

Farhad, Ladan and I: one big happy family. (Ali is in the kitchen.)

Ali's delicious green bean polo (crusty rice).

Another yummy polo, this one with salmon and lima beans.

Farhad, the man of honor.

Tonight, I stopped by Ladan and Ali's house, and Ali was in the kitchen cooking up a storm for Farhad's 27th birthday dinner celebration. They invited me to stay for dinner, and after some persuading (I did not want to intrude), I happily joined them. Ali and Ladan always make the most delicious dinners, and this night was not an exception. There were two different crusty rice dishes: one with meat and one with salmon, and both were incredibly satisfying. And while I am not technically part of the Attaie/Shaikh family, I deeply feel that Ladan and I were sisters in one of our past lives. Dinner was spent with Ladan trying to get me to eat the meat in the polo so I could get all of the flavors of the dish, and then Ali brought out a birthday cake which he had kept at the neighbor's house so as to not spoil the surprise for Farhad. It was a really lovely evening.

Brighton Beach with Ladan

In an attempt to suck the last bits of summer from the marrow bone of life, Ladan and I went to Brighton Beach for one last time before the end of the season. I thought that surely the beach would be super crowded, but everyone must have gone away for the holiday weekend, leaving splendid Brighton Beach all to us. For some reason, I feel that we look like Bert and Ernie in this picture. You see what I mean, right?

Lunching at ici with Susanna

Susanna and I had a lunch date this afternoon, at ici on DeKalb Avenue. I have a particular fondness for their spaetzle, although it has not been on the menu for quite some time these days. Instead, I had the watermelon, feta and mint salad, together with a chocolate croissant; and Susanna had the French toast. It will most likely be one of our last lunches together before Susanna's baby arrives, and we enjoyed the time in the most leisurely and lazy fashion, taking maybe and hour and a half or even two hours for a simple meal. We always have so many things to talk about and I only wish that we had the chance to see one another more often. Given that we work in the same building, have the same commute to work, and live less than a mile from one another, I am not sure how we do not run into one another — but everyone seems to have such full and busy lives these days that it honestly requires a phone call to schedule a phone call date. Is that just a New York thing?

Vegetable lasagna for dinner

I came home from my focus groups in Washington DC today, and randomly decided that I wanted to make a lasagna. While I was able to find whole wheat lasagna noodles at my neighborhood grocery store, I had serious problems finding fresh ricotta. I literally walked every aisle, searching everywhere, and finally had to admit that there was nary a container of Polly-O anywhere in that store. Damn. But, never fear. I am always able to come up with a creative, albeit very unorthodox, way around these sorts of issues. Instead, I bought a few wedges of ricotta salata and then mashed it with my Oxo® potato mashing tool, adding an extra egg for some more moisture — and I was good to go. And while I did not follow my mom's recipe exactly, because that would be too hard for me to do — for instance, I had to use vodka sauce, instead of regular marinara — I did follow her method for layering the ingredients...so that I did not end up with a weird quintuple decker Dagwood-style lasagna thing, but instead it looked like a proper lasagna when I cut a slice. I felt sort of proud of myself, actually. I am not such a fly-by-night cook, when I actually put forth the effort.

Susanna's baby shower

Susanna opening a little gray Makie outfit.

Mitch sitting next to the monkey that I gave them.

Yael with her son Kai.

Susanna and Mitch had their baby shower this afternoon, and it was hosted at a friend's house who lived right across the street, practically, from our old apartment on Lafayette Avenue. In fact, when I looked out her friend's windows, I could see my window boxes with geraniums still blooming, in the windows of my old house. I had a private, and very tiny moment of silence, since I still miss that apartment tremendously.

The shower was lovely, and it was great to see Susanna and Mitch both looking so radiantly expectant — Susanna with baby, Mitch with excitement. And I spent some time catching up with Yael, whom I had not seen since Christmas Eve, which was a few days before her son Kai was born. I also ate two giant French macaroons, each the size of a giant scallop, and then felt sort of ill from a sweetness overload.

Person of the day: Allison

This morning, we took Allison ice skating to celebrate her 7th birthday — she loves to ice skate. Thankfully, Chelsea Piers has ice skating indoors, all year round. And oddly enough, the rink was practically empty. I guess people only think of ice skating as a sport to play when its cold out. Allison was such a super skater, and this was the first time that we have skated with her where I was not gripped by a terrible backache from leaning over and holding her up while she skated. This time she was able to skate in between Kenny and I, holding each of our hands. It was truly so delightful to skate around and around, holding her little hand. And thankfully, this time, her pants did not keep on falling down from the exertion of skating.

For snack, we bought her tropical fruit flavored Skittles. I ate peanut M&Ms. Of course. And then for lunch, we asked her where she wanted to go, and she chose McDonalds. So we drove to the McDonalds in Tribeca and ordered her a six piece (two nuggets for Kenny, four nuggets for Allison) chicken McNugget Happy Meal, all washed down with a vanilla milkshake. None of which I would ever allow my own child to eat, and I am sure her parents would not allow her to eat so much crap in less than 3 hours (oh, because I then also bought her a cup of ice cream with rainbow sprinkles at Blue Marble in Brooklyn), either. But that is the pleasure of being an aunt. You can treat your niece to all sorts of yummy treats that are actually not very healthy, and its special because she never gets to normally have them. It was a really special day, and not just because of the junk food.

Tomato Jam

Tonight I met Dana's boyfriend Rob, who was extolling the virtues of a tomato jam he ate while he was in Barcelona, the same jam which also happened to be featured this past Wednesday in the Dining Section of the NY Times — a Mark Bittman recipe. I personally am a huge fan of savoury jams, excepting mint jelly which I just find to be rather disgusting. That being said, I plan on picking up some tomatoes at the green market tomorrow, so that I can make this jam on Sunday. I want to spread it on some toasty bread and eat it with some jamón ibérico and hot chocolate, for breakfast.

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeño or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste.

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.

2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.

Yield: About 1 pint.

Dining at Back Forty with Dane

The vine bean and tomato salad with feta cheese partnered with summer succotash.

The doughnuts we should have ordered for dessert.

Tonight, I met Dane for drinks and dinner at Back Forty, a restaurant on Avenue B at 12th Street, owned by the same guy who owns Savoy in NoLiTa. The plan was to meet both Dane and her bopyfriend, Rob for a drink, and then Dane and I would have dinner. But the menu looked so good, that we had to have some onion rings to start, and then the cheese plate with macerated nectarines and honeycomb. Plus some grain/pasta thing that Dane was hankering for.

You can’t toss a parsnip these days without hitting a local and seasonally minded menu. But if anyone deserves credit for championing the Slow Food movement early on, it’s Peter Hoffman, the Alice Waters of Soho, who’s been running the restaurant Savoy for seventeen years, and who can be seen on Greenmarket days tooling around on a converted wheelbarrow-bicycle of sorts loaded down with luscious local produce. He brings his sustainably minded style to Avenue B, where he and his chef de cuisine, Shanna Pacifico, prepare family-friendly fare like Maine-shrimp-and-bacon beignets, Catskills trout, a grass-fed burger, and apple-cider doughnuts. More casual than Savoy, with main courses averaging $15, it’s the sort of spot you’d drop into for a seasonal cocktail or a glass of North Fork wine at the recycled-pine bar.

Barry the Beaver

Today I came into work and found a wrapped package on my desk. Which is always super nice — coming into to work to find gifts on your desk. Unwrapping it, however, revealed a Barry the Beaver — a vibrating vinyl friend. For whatever reason, because of the brands that I work on at work, it is somehow acceptable to give me vibrating sex toys as inspiration. I love this, and its only one of the many reasons why my job is so cool. Henceforth, my Barry the beaver "toy" is now standing next to my Hello Kitty vibrating "toy." 

Hi Shai!

This is not my leg.

On my way home from work tonight, I stopped by Juliana and Eitan's house so that I could hang out and spend some time getting to know their new baby, Shai. At the bris, the moyle totally hogged all of the baby's time, and I wanted to get the chance to hold him in a less stressful situation. He is awfully little, and it was super nice to hold all 8 pounds of him in my arms for almost an hour, just watching him, with rapt attention, like he was the season finale of Gray's Anatomy on television or something. 

Brooklyn Bridge Park at 11pm

Photo by Wallyg.

There is something incredibly liberating about deciding to go to the beach at 11pm, and while not driving to Brighton Beach, still being able to see sand and water at a moment's notice. Albeit, the sand was underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in the Brooklyn Bridge Park in Dumbo. And while sitting on the rocks, a little rat ran by, enjoying the sand beneath his toes, as well.

Puja, running.

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the photograph that I ordered from the Kids with Cameras website, and it arrived today. For those of you who have seen the movie, Born into Brothels, the picture I ordered was taken by Gour, of his best friend Puja, as she ran away down the sidewalk. Gour and Puja were very close in the film, and in fact, are the only two children whose whereabouts are not known, but they are thought to still be living in the red light district. Needless to say, I did not realize it, but the print is HUGE — 48" x 36". I plan on having it framed to go above my bed, where it will most likely dominate my entire apartment. The irony is not lost on me, incidentally, and it was partly what motivated me to buy this photograph over the one I had originally planned to purchase.

Oatmeal cookies at 11pm

Last week, I made some oatmeal cookie dough to keep in the freezer for whenever I want oatmeal cookies, at a moment's notice. I always form the dough into little logs, so I can freeze them and then slice off as many cookies as I feel like eating. This way, the cookies are always in perfect circles. Or sort of, at least. Tonight, I remembered the dough in the freezer and decided to bake some cookies for a late night snack. Perhaps it was dinner, actually.

Celebrating Helen's birthday

For the third time in one week, I had the veggie tacos at Pacifico — this time time with Helen and Sheri to celebrate Helen's birthday, albeit belatedly. Initially, the plan had been to drink some processco to celebrate, but we could not get the cork out of the bottle. Which was sort of a bummer. So we walked to Pacifico and ordered watermelon margaritas for lunch instead. 

However, the sun was shining super brightly and while I was insistent on sitting in the sun, at a certain point during the lunch, I turned into a crispy potato chip and realized that I just really should not be in the sun, when its actually shining.

After lunch and shopping at Diane T. on Court Street where Helen found a pair of nice-ass jeans for $40, Sheri had to go home to get continue her marathon planning for Burning Man. Helen and I decided to walk along Montague Street and continue shopping in a very leisurely manner. We spent almost an hour in the Korres store, checking out all of the stuff. The Korres store is so lovely, and the staff were super helpful and friendly (props to Lisa for being so awesome). There was no way we could leave without buying anything. Consequently, Helen ended up buying a yummy face cream, and I bought brown mascara that made the blond bits on my lashes actually match the rest of my lashes and a pomegranate-flavored lip gloss.

Life is golden

Tonight, I rode my bike from Columbia Street in Red Hook to our house in Prospect Heights, via the bike lane on Dean Street. The day light was at my most favorite time, which was about an hour or so before sun down...when the light is super beautiful and makes everything feel so golden at that particular hour. The ride was incredibly peaceful, and the cicadas were chirping which means that it is so summertime, and I could hear kids playing happily in the playground. And I was happy. 

Zen Ren

I went to go visit Marcos + Amairis this afternoon, so that we could catch up and most importantly, so I could meet the newest daughter in the Peña-Chavez clan, Ren. It was really nice hanging out with Marcos and Amairis, especially since I have not had the chance to chat with them together in such a long time. It's been years, I think. I was also super impressed with their apartment, which must be the most zen living space in all of Columbia Heights/Cobble Hill.

Russ + Jen's wedding

Brooklyn Bridge Esplanade with Hafeez

Olafur Eliasson's much-publicized $15 million initiative was to create four waterfalls ranging from 90 to 120 feet in height that will appear from June 26 to Oct. 13 and run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In addition to the waterfall at Pier 35, just north of the Manhattan Bridge, there will be one in Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, another between Piers 4 and 5 near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and a fourth on the north shore of Governors Island. Mr. Eliasson said he purposely left the scaffolding highly visible. “Scaffolding is not an unfamiliar structure in New York,” he said. “You see it on every construction site in the city. I want people to know that this is both a natural phenomenon and a cultural one.” — The New York Times

Hafeez and I met for lunch this afternoon, and then decided to take a walk to the Brooklyn Bridge Esplanade to walk off our tacos from Pacifico. It was one of those perfectly brilliant blue days, and we remembered that we could view the New York City Waterfalls from the Esplanade — in fact, we could see three different falls from our vantage point. I had only really ever seen the one that is best viewed from the Manhattan Bridge as I rode my bike to work, so it was really cool to see the other three waterfalls.

Mango for breakfast

My plants

My jade plants are getting some fresh air on my balcony, after I sprayed their leaves with Leaf Shine. Then I read the instructions and it specifically stated to NOT spray it on succulents. Oops.

My outdoor bamboo plant sometimes is more like an indoor plant that takes brief forays into the real world. Whenever it looks like inclement weather, I bring the plant inside, lest it fall off the balcony and hit someone below.

My cactus from Joni somehow has managed to still hang in there. And while it has grown a few new arms since Joni gave it to me almost four years ago, this little plant is very slow to grow. I've seen huge cactus of the same species and I wonder what I need to do to encourage mine to grow at a more speedy rate. It is like goldfish — and the larger the pot, the larger the plant will grow to fit the pot? Because I have had this plant in its original plastic plant pot since Joni gave it to me. Perhaps I need to transplant it. I am sure that there are absolutely zero nutrients left in that sand/soil anymore.

My closet

This morning, I snapped to attention and realized that I needed to do something with my closet. Mainly, I had to get around to sewing a curtain so that I was not forced to look at my wardrobe every time I sat in my kitchen. I am sure there is something terribly un-feng shui about seeing your dresses and sneakers while eating your dinner. 

When I was at IKEA last weekend, Ladan and I bought these nifty curtain systems, that have little clips and a wire that gets clamped between two posts. You know, totally IKEA-style. I had also bought some lovely IKEA fabric about two years ago, when I planned to sew curtains for our bedroom, which never happened for whatever reason. So while waiting for my house keeper to arrive, I quickly sewed a curtain that would hang in the closet doorway. And I have to say, I totally love it. I just want to buy some large grommets now, so that the edge of the curtain does not get all dirty from my grubby little paws zipping it open and closed a million times a day.

After I hung the curtain, I decided to go to the MUJI store. Believe it or not, this is only the second time that I have ever been, despite it being open for more than 8 months. And the first time I went was also this week. That being said, I bought a whole set of MUJI PPE drawers to fit in the bottom of my closet. While I could have conveniently bought the Rubbermaid version at the Rite-Aid across the street from my house, I, deep in my heart, have the utmost faith that the MUJI drawers are better in every way. Despite the fact that I am pretty certain I now have a hernia from lugging them around lower Manhattan while looking for a cab that was not off duty at 4:30pm on a Friday. I just need to hang a few more hooks (for my book bags) and then my closet is totally finished.

Borough Hall subway station

Dinner in Mill Basin with the Prinskys

Tonight after a long day spent in New Brunswick, NJ discussing new concepts for intimacy lubricants, I drove to Josh and Julie's house in Millbasin (Brooklyn) for dinner. I have not seen either of them for awhile, and it was really good to see them.Actually it was great to see them. Josh gave me a tour of his house that included showing me what I thought was going to be his wedding silverware, but actually turned out to be the equivalent of good china, but reborn as a fancy poker set. And he also showed me bedroom furniture which they bought in Las Vegas and shipped home. I saw their patio furniture which was a father's day gift from baby Joe. And can we talk about how baby Joe is so freaking adorable with his little eight teeth and his big blue eyes? And his little face covered in tomato sauce.

Storm clouds over Brooklyn Heights

I love summer storms.

What I did today

Today, I woke up at 6:30am, and vaccuumed my entire apartment. Cleaned the bathroom, which I particularly hate to do. Then I did a load of laundry of only green, orange and black clothes — darks.

Right at 10am, I rode my bike to IKEA, in order to arrive before the thronging hordes of Brooklynites and Manhattanites. IKEA was completely empty!! and my bike was the only bike in the whole bike rack. I breezed through the showroom, picked up my duvet covers, some pillows, some more hangers and hooks, two plant pots and lastly, two Sebastian stools in white. Since I was not able to carry half that stuff on my bike, I arranged for same day delivery (again, NO WAIT!!), and was out of IKEA in less than 30 minutes. I put my plant pots into my bike bag, and I was off.

From Red Hook, I rode my bike to Park Slope to get a new tire put on my bike, at R+A Cycles. The annoying guy who yelled at me about losing my seat on my Rocky Mountain, and told me to wait with my "papi" was there, but thankfully, an older guy waited on me. They have completely redone the interior of the bike store, and with it, their attitude. My service was super quick, and the staff was as nice as bike store people usually are. They are certainly no Mike from Bicycle Station, of course, but I needed my tire changed quickly and I knew that Bicycle Station would have been mobbed. While I waited the 15 minutes for them to change my tire, I went to the Met Foods on Fifth Avenue, and bought four goat milk yogurts, Ecover stain remover, a bar of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and some Ecover washing up liquid. I also popped into the wine store where Mr. Prinsky buys his wine, and bought a one person sized bottle of Il Procesco. I strapped my groceries to my luggage rack, and headed towards the Natty Garden.

At the garden store, I bought a Jasmine plant, and was hoping for a cactus — either a Christmas cactus (mine died while I was in Brazil/China) or one exactly like the one Joni gave me almost five years ago. No dice on either variety, so I just stuck with the jasmine. Which was promptly wedged into my grocery bag and bungee-corded to my bike, securely.

I then rode home in time to wait for my IKEA delivery. Helen came over to keep me company while we waited for my Sebastian stools to arrive and then she helped me assemble them, which means I now can actually sit down on something instead of standing around feeling anxious.

Dining alfresco at Pacifico

picture by Smojo.

My IKEA delivery did not arrive today until 4pm, which forced Helen and I to wait to late afternoon before we could take our lunch. Being that the weather was so beautiful, we opted for outdoor dining, and went to Pacifico on Pacific Street just west of Smith Street. Online, it seems to have gotten really crummy reviews, which thankfully I did not read until just now or else we would have never eaten there. And then we would have missed the delicious veggie tacos (pumpkin, spinach and mushroom), which tasted perfect — at least when paired with a cold Negro Modelo. The outdoor space was reminiscent of a rickety mercado during Christmas time, in a third world country, but somehow, it seemed to work in a pleasantly kitschy kind of way.

After our almuerzo, we walked over to One Girl Cookies on Dean Street and I ordered the Susanna and Lana, while Helen had the Juliette and another one whose name I forgot. 

Watching the Olympics with Helen

On the way home from my hair appointment this evening, I called Helen and stopped by to visit her. Together, we watched the opening ceremonies for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and decided that China won. Hands down, they had the best opening ceremonies of any Olympics, ever. The amount of energy expended — 2008 drummers! 2008 tae kwon do-ers! — made us wonder how long they all had practiced for this one night. And where? I mean, where do you organize 2008 of anything, let alone people with gigantic drums or with kicking arms and legs? It was incredibly impressive and made me wish that I had gone to see the Olympics, despite the fact that I usually think the opening ceremony stuff is boring and stupid. I wish I gone to see the architecture of the Birds Nest Stadium (鸟巢)designed by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron...it looks amazing.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

I am not sure who watched " My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ), amongst other films, which I loved, and therefore can't wait to view Hayao Miyazaki's new film, "Gake no ue no Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ)." The film is inspired by "The Little Mermaid" and tells the story of a fish-girl, Ponyo, saved by a five-year-old boy, Sousuke. It is done completely with traditional hand-drawn animation, not using any computer graphics. Since it was just released in Japan a few weeks ago, I am hoping that I can find it somewhere in the East Village.

A quick synopsis from The Japan Times:

The title character, Ponyo (voice by Yuria Nara), is a girl fish with a human face who decides one day to leave her underwater home — and her school of smaller sisters — to see what lies on the surface. Riding on the back of a jellyfish, she is nearly trapped by a drift net, but escapes — with her head stuck in a glass jar. Sosuke (Hiroki Doi), a boy who lives on a house on a seaside cliff, spots Ponyo in the shallows and rescues her. He is delighted with his new pet — and Ponyo is delighted to be in the human world at last. She says her first words, to Sosuke’s astonishment — and begins a transformation from half-fish to human.

Bike Dispenser

My friend Diane sent me the link to Bike Dispenser, which is ingenius, and of course, only available in the bike friendly country of Holland. Maybe now that New York has taken an interest in its bikers, and has started to build more robust bike lanes, the Bike Dispenser won't be far behind. I am not holding my breath, though.

A Bikedispenser is a fully automated bicycle rental station. This means that at locations where you would like to have or use a bike such as a train station, transportation hub or parking garage, you can rent a bike very easily, quickly and simply. For architects or urban planners, the Bikedispenser meets the need to store a substantial number of bikes (50-100) in a compact and safe environment. The technology of the Bikedispenser also enables underground installation upon specification.

By holding your (OV)chipcard near to the reader, you start the process of renting a bicycle within 15 seconds. When you return the bike, the system will recognize the user and complete the transaction. The bicycle will disappear in the clearly indicated depository and will be stored in a safe and indoor location while you are already on your way and in time for your next train.

Organic futons

Who even knew an organic futon could even exist? I have actually ordered a new bed, but tat does not arrive for a few months — which is a story unto itself. That being said, there was no way that I could sleep on an air mattress for more than a few days, as I felt like I was napping on an inflatable pool float...so I decided to order a futon for the meantime and fold it up and put it away for guests whenever my new mattress actually arrives. So I googled "Japanese futons," and came up with Abundant Earth. They make organic cotton futons (even ones for babies!), that then come wrapped in organic wool, unless you have a Doctor's note specifying that you can sleep on a futon that is not flame retardant. Um, whatever. You can even specify the thickness of the futon, from 3" thick to 8". If I had known beforehand how amazingly comfortable the futon would be at 3", I might have just ordered the 8" thick futon as my real mattress, but you know, so be it. Anyway, the futon is amazing. It came trussed with cotton wrappers, and wrapped in recycled brown paper. When I unrolled it, it had the most delicious scent of organic-ness. Sheep, and fresh grass, and sunshine — I kid you not. Even my friend Ladan commented on how nice it smelled.

Now, to maintain it, I just need to flip it every week for the first month, and then every month afterwards. Oh, and they suggest hanging it over the balcony on sunny days to air it out and to sunshine bleach it. Being that I ordered a full size futon, I am not sure I can heft it out my skinny little balcony door and drape it over my balcony on sunny days. First of all, what if it rains while I am at work, and I come home to a soggy organic mess? Or what if it falls eleven stories down and lands in my neighbor's back garden? However, I might look into one of their wooden drying racks — where most of the wood is from rescued mill ends which would otherwise be chipped and burned, and all of the wood used is from sustainably harvested second growth forests. Nice, right?

Ivan Bliznak

This is my colleague's desktop picture, and for some reason I love it. Maybe because I am a sucker for friendly little monsters with wide spaced eyes and big smiley faces. Or perhaps its because its called "Whining Monsters," which is how I feel most of the time. Its created by Ivan Bliznak: you can check out a link to him/his information, here.

Destination: Central Park on a Monday afternoon

I took a personal day today because I needed a day to recollect my thoughts. However, I still had my Spanish lesson at 6pm, for which I did not do my homework in advance — I am such a poor student. My plan was to get uptown a little early, and lay in the park studying before I had to go to class. However, the sun was shining so brightly, and I was so tired, that I fell asleep while memorizing verbs — actually before I even had the chance to memorize any verbs. And I have to say, napping in the park on a Monday afternoon is one of the most delightful experiences. Everyone should do it at least once a year. If not once a week. Monday naps in the park should be required for optimal mental health, in my opinion.