I like Purple Carrots

Yes, mighty tasty. Purple cauliflower is about the same as normal.

So I've cooked at home 3 days this week! Ok, ok, aided by Whole Foods each time :-). Love that place. Went Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. It's amazing what you can do with time and boredom. Need a bit of motivation too. I have so much time up here - wish I had friends here to go out with! I think I've become a real New Yorker because I don't want to do anything anymore. Maybe it's the chilly weather, but I sorta just want to whole in at home and relax. Don't care about discovering new restaurants or adventuring or seeing everything I hear about. I'm ready to go home.

But back to cooking - had some good salads (despite the fact our little fridge is too cold and eveyrhting has ice on it). Wednesday I cooked brussel sprouts! I was very proud of myself - my "trying new vegetables" campaign. Even found out the stove works :-). But Mom - don't understand why you don't like them - they are pretty good. :-). Wednesday I got some stuffed chicken (with apples and fontina) and a ring of squash to go with them. Pretty good. And Thursday I got some awesome pizza at Whole Foods and chowed that down - got "Black and White" which had olive tapenade and mozzarella with tomatoes too. And a slice of Mediterranean vegie with tomatoes, artichockes and lots of colorful olives. Fun :-). Also got a gingerbread cookie for dessert - yum. And been enjoying Starbucks gingerbread lattes :-). Everything pumpkin and gingerbread - can't go wrong. Tuesday I sort of invited myself to get dinner with my mentor because he gave me a ride to the train station. Got some pumpkin soup and a salad. Again yum. The cold really justifies things like soup and boots and scarves and hats which we have down south, but I never really took advantage of. So yeah - good week. And there's been some problem with my Netflix this week, but I discovered streaming TV on ABC's website so that's fun :-). At work I've been getting into possible new projects - they are pretty exciting. Some are a little wacky even :-). Enticing.

Had some coffee cake this morning for breakfast - also from Whole Foods. I've been craving my Mom's - this was actually pretty close. Then I braved the cold with my many layers to go on a bike ride again! It was sunny, but in the low 40s and the problem was really the WIND! Wind sucks, let me tell you. I didn't experience it the whole ride, but when I did, it sucked. Once I really thought it was pushing me so much that my bike wasn't making forward progress! But it was :-). Went up to the park again - this time trying different streets - up 8th Ave and down 7th. I'd say don't ever go down 7th btw - it includes Time Square which is very slow to move through. But anyway - braved the streets - I get better manuevering around cars and cabs every time. And went to the park - beautiful! Love that place. And now it's way more colorful and leaves were actually falling all over too - very pretty. Saw some awesome reds and yellows. So calming. And passed all my favorite spots - went over to look at my stone bridge, too. Even though it's hilly, that is just one of my favorite things - riding around that park. It's the best :-). And I kept toasty - even was over-warm sometimes, but better that than the alternative.

Another thing I'm really going to miss is the Empire State Building. I don't really know why - maybe it's all the movies I've watched about it. The statue has more symbolism, but I just love randomly gazing up into the sky and catching a glimpse of the tall building. I look at it everyday from the highway we drive to go to work. Every night I check what color it is lit up with. My favorite was purple-green-yellow :-). And I love that I can walk 100 feet down to 5th Ave and peek up at it. It's reassuring somehow - watching over me. Even though you can't see it from everywhere, you pass a certain street, and you can see it again. Lovely :-).

So, another weekend in the city... Sigh. It's less inviting now. I had a good lunch at "Chat n' Chew" on my street - very cute place. Had butternut squash soup and fish tacos - yum. And have a "free pass" to get into a cool club for a show tonight - thanks to Naveen's friend of friend. I'm seeing Ingrid Michaelson even though I don't know her. :-). Should be fun. And I want to go see Avenue Q this weekend, although the damn stage hands are striking, so that might be out. We'll see. But I can't wait until Tuesday - I wing to the bay for Thanksgiving with family - yay!! Stoked :-). Happy weekend all...