Lots Of Food

Clearly I am busy, since my writings are sporadic, far and in between. Sadly, not much of it amounts to good material for interesting tales.
I work for LM, which is getting increasingly hectic and harder to control. I work for Sanavita, which I really enjoy and have time to read and talk to the employees about our spiritual selves. I love that place. I go to classes after going to the gym. Rinse, repeat.

Let's see...I finished Middlesex a few days ago. Really interesting book, but I was not a fan of the ending. I liked the symbolism and all, but the ending could have been a bit more satisfying for me.

Rimi came to stay over for a night last Thursday. She came in late, we chit chatted for a while late into the morning. It was really nice to see her, but it was too bad we didn't see any more of each other than just the sleep-over party we created.

The next day I woke up really early so I could go to a long day of Wasserman's Boot Camp for NonProfit Professionals. It was pretty informative, I learned a lot of little nuances and nuggets about the "world-changing" industry. And I networked a bit with a few professionals from non-profits that I really want to work for! Maybe someday...
The cool part about there was that, by chance!, I ended up being sat next to this German exchange student I met on the first day of the semester that I quickly grew ga-ga for! Too bad I quickly found out he's already taken, and leaving soon. But it was really fun to bond with him the whole day. He reminds me a LOT of Felix. It must be a German thing.
It was too bad that they had only wheat & gluten things to eat for breakfast and lunch. I had to smile with meal bars. I hit the gym afterwards.
Lauren and I chilled out afterwards for the night. I don't remember what we were up to exactly...

The next day I woke up and got ready early in the morning to go uptown to Harlem, also known as "where white people don't go to". My friend Billy (Venezuelan) had called me up earlier in the week to ask me for help moving him into his sublet apartment. He was moving back from Minnesota and had a UHaul full of stuff. So I helped him for a few hours haul his stuff up three flights of stairs into his studio with his other buddy Luciano (also Venezuelan). I felt very athletic while moving up and down the stairs loaded down with a bunch of stuff.
After we had an interestingly complicated time trying to return the UHaul, we celebrated his move-in with lunch at this amazing little taqueria near his apartment. Translation: thank goodness I was with two Spanish-as-first-language guys. I had no idea what I ordered, and everyone was speaking Spanish! It was kind of cool, and I think I'm picking up the language a bit.
We then went back to Billy's place and listened to Latin alternative rock, like Gustavo Cerati. I really liked it! Who knew?
Later that night I got home with a cup of Very Berry (so so good frozen yogurt), and Neil came over and we chit chatted until late.

Skip to Tuesday, where I discovered the magnificence of Charlie Brown from a glorious vegan tapas place I will discuss later. ALSO! Auriane from ScPo and her English boyfriend Giles come into town for the week! I haven't seen them for almost a year now! I made them go to GoBo and they ventured into real vegetarian goodness, which they actually really enjoyed! We talked a lot, and I gave them a tour in my neighborhood afterwards. It was a sweet time, and I hope to be going to Paris sometime soon to enjoy their company some more.

On Wednesday I finally started running outside again! It is sooo much better than running on blasted treadmills. I actually can last for 40 minutes outside.

On Thursday I was up early to dig thoroughly in the library archives for my 30-page business case. Pretty exhausting materials, just to warn you.
When I walked over to work, I ran into my coworkers and was pulled into a Korean BBQ, Do Hwa. The bibimbop there was pretty great, but the place wasn't terribly gf-friendly. At the restaurant I was trying to educate a few of my coworkers about the joys and sensuality of food. A lot of them listened and were quite interested in what I knew and felt with food - and my love of most foods - but one would have nothing to do with it. To her, food is purely a functional thing; for nourishing body of needed minerals. Funny, she was a pretty large women...which shows that she apparently uses food for something a little more than just nourishment.
I ran to a meeting with a professor, which was followed by a fast run-in at a Stern Senior event: wine tasting! I apparently know the valedictorian of Stern, and his dad's vineyard sponsored a wine tasting event for us. The wine was really excellent, too! Sadly, I don't drink much (if at all) anymore, and the finger foods were all gluten, so I got tipsy rather quickly. I hung out with some good friends I hadn't seen in a while, and found out one of them is engaged with a guy she met abroad! Amazing.
I wish I enjoyed Chambers still. Damn shame.

Friday I worked for 12 hours, both as an intern and as a student.

Saturday I woke up at the crack of dawn so I could go to Stern and work as an ambassador for an all-day event. The senior in high school that were excepted to Stern for next year came in to decide if they really wanted to go to Stern. I smiled and led people around, and talked my brains off. You know, people think that they're so original and that they are asking profound questions.....yet they all ask the same things! I repeated myself for hours. Much of it I made up.
The whole day was catered, too. I ate probably ate about 4 servings/bowls of fruit.
They had told me beforehand they would have GF stuff, but they didn't, so I didn't get to stuff my face with the catered goodness. But it was genuinely disgusting the amount of food that was provided. Perhaps I was sensitive to this because of my inability to eat it all. But there were TABLES of food left uneaten after it all. They were going to just load it up into bags and pitch it all! Which made me really really upset. So, I made several trips out of Stern, holding mass quantities of bagels and cookies and sandwiches, and doled it out to the nearby homeless.
Afterwards, I worked in the computer lab on my big project.
I stayed at Stern for 12 hours.
But Lauren was my saving grace! I hung out with her for the rest of the evening. We edited her film a little bit, but then went to the best tapas place known to man: Sacred Chow. The little hole in the wall was charming, and everything tasted absolutely amazing! And their brownie sundae was simply ambrosial. No doubt I'll become a regular in due time.
Lauren and I just talked about our normal joyous, but personal, stuff. Hours of contemplations, reflections, and revelations.

Today was Molly's art show! I haven't seen her in months! But I love how getting together with her is almost like we have just seen each other, like no real time has lapsed. She's surely someone who'll be there always for me. I went with the parents, who were in town. Molly's photographs were really quite good, too! I had a potato knish.
Afterwards I napped at Roosevelt Island, was driven back into town by my mom, and then grocery shopped before Danielle came over to talk. We just talked for a few hours.
And I made this great little dish with lightly-seasoned quinoa, steamed kale, and my new favorite meat: CHORIZO! It was really really delicious.

I'm sure I have work to make up now.

A Quick Note

I'm also sad that my world map is now outdated.
First Montenegro, now Kosovo. Well, I guess I'll have to go to Staples sometime in the nearby future...

A Legendary Carnival

**Note: I have posted this part on both blogs because it is both international and domestic.**

I went on the Carnival Legend in the early morning of Sunday, with a myriad of people. There were: senior citizens avoiding assisted living, groups of college boys ready for some boozing, groups of college girls ready for some boozing, family reunions, young families with crying children and awkward teens, LOTS of romantic couples, 3 wedding parties, girlfriends on a week getaway, and some other stragglers (us included).
A few notes abut the cruise ship before I go on about my adventures:

• I loved it! It was a really great escape.
• The exterior was mammoth.
  
• The interior was rather gawdy. It reminded me a lot of DisneyWorld or something family-oriented with lots of bulky ornaments.
• There was an ungodly amount of food available at ALL TIMES. Deej would have loved it. People ate 24/7, too! There were buffets, ice cream stations, pizzerias, one sushi table, a bakery, and loads of bars and lounges with bar food. Most people probably gained no less than 5 pounds on the trip. Luckily, I couldn't eat very much of the constant food (gluten), so I only gained about 2 pounds, mostly from water retention.
• The dinners were always very good.
  
• Every night my mom and I would walk into our stateroom with a new adorable towel animal. Some of them had my sunglass on them for a cute effect.
• The servers, waitstaff, and other staff were absolutely amazing! They knew our names before we sat down the first night! After the first night and me telling someone my love of Shirley Temples, the drink server (Calvert) brought me one as soon as I got to our table. They danced and sang and joked with us, but it wasn't fake; they were seemingly having a genuine good time and enjoying our company. And the hostess of the ship came to our table every night to help me pick out gluten free meals for the next day, dessert included. It really made the trip a lot more special.
• A lot of the cruise I napped. Every day I had a nap. I was relaxing!
  
• The ship did sway back and forth, but I did not get seasick. It was almost lulling.
• Everytime we docked or tendered at a port, we were with about 3 other cruise ships. It was like looking at the looming monsters in the background, watching its little precious possessions (the islands, that is). Kind of creepy, to me.
• No, I did not party on the ship. I flirted with some waiters, but otherwise, I was alseep by midnight. There were clubs on the ship, but most of them were full of 18 year-olds or drunk freshmen. I didn't mind.
  

Monday was a day at sea. I went to the spa (yes, there was a spa) and had an Ionithermie treatment on my legs. They rub algae all over you and put electrical sensors on you that stimulate your muscles and break up the cellulite! Slightly uncomfortable, but I cut off 5 inches that day! Sadly, within a few hours after the treatment, I accidentally fell asleep outside in the sun and got 2nd degree burns all over my back and legs. I puffed up like a cream puff like you wouldn't believe, and the burns made it hard to walk and sit (and do most things) for the rest of the trip. I also attempted some Pilates on the ship, but the sway of the ship made it virtually impossible to balance.

Tuesday we tendered to Georgetown, Grand Cayman. The water is gorgeous, and the port was very quaint and colorful. I was a bit disappointed in how developed and merchanidized the port was. People were there to strictly shop, I gathered. Meanwhile I hobbled off the beaten path a bit and enjoyed the quiet, simple scenery of residential neighborhoods.

Wednesday was our stop in Cozumel, Mexico. This was one of the highlights, for me; I signed up to take a boatride to the mainland and see the Mayan Ruins of Tulum!!! The half-hour boatride to and fro was so rocky that the stewards ended up handing out vomit bags to most of the tourists. We landed on the Mexican Riviera at Playa del Carmen, where we boarded our "Sun & Fun" bus and took the hour-long ride to the ruins.
We stopped at a Mayan shop on the side of the street to pick up some souvenirs before getting to the ruins, and I bought some black obsidian stone (which was supposedly mistaken as gold...it shines in the sunlight!). I tasted very nice and smooth tequila, it didn't taste as rank as the stuff from home. The air was extremely arid and hot.
We finally got to Tulum, where we had to walk a kilometer to the groundsite. The cripple I was griped, but the real me was bouncing up and down like a three year old. We got there, and it was huge. The Mayan ruins are absolutely stunning. Behind the walled "temple village" is the amazing beach and port with at least 5 hues of bright blue water and palm trees hugging the ruins. The buildings and foundations were clearly well designed and planned, especially since most positions of ruins coincided with solstices and equinoxes. The massive "human sacrifice" temple was peering over the rest of the city and had a very regal aura to it. Iguanas were everywhere!
After I scurried around the walled city, I walked back before the departure time the indulge in a frozen margarita and arroz con carne. The drink was so strong I barely made a dent in it before feeling mighty punchy, and the arroz were fabulous and super spicy. The ride back to the port (and the ship) were light while I conversed with the older woman next to me.
On the ship, I watched a hypnotist that made a man stuff balloons in his clothing and then pop them (believing they were monkeys).

Thursday was our Belize City day. It was pouring for a lot of the day. Mom was pretty reluctant to the idea of venturing off into the city and away from the port, but after agreeing to shopping for about an hour or so, I finally coaxed her off into "unchartered territories". It was pretty run down (it looked beaten up by storms), and people roamed around on the street shoeless (which I marvel at). But it was still charming. Everyone was super nice and would stop to say hello just because you were there! The city area we were in looked kind of like a slum, but I didn't feel in danger at all ever. I also encouraged my mom to get some fresh fruit and a smoothie before heading back to the ship. All I can say is: they don't make it like that in the US. Simply ambrosial.
While in Belize, I was walking and talking pictures while I heard my name being called. Calvert, one of our servers, comes over to say hello! It was so fun to run into someone else I knew randomly, even if we were both there for the same reason (ahem, the cruise). Mom commented that only I would be able to run into someone randomly and unintentionally in some foreign city, seeing as I have in most cities I've been to recently.
Later that night on the boat was a Robe Party, which was the ship's attempt to have a Toga Party without the college connotations.

Friday was Roatan, Honduras. This one my favorite, and most pleasantly surprising, port. It's this giant, lush jungle-like island full of happy people, pretty landscape, tropical everything, fantastic beaches, and developing ports and bays! I swear, I'm moving there someday. After cruising through some of the little shops on the port, I hazed my mom into a carride with one of the locals to get a better tour of the island. Kicking and screaming, my mom boarded our vehicle and quickly befriended the driver while she showed us around the place.
We saw 2 shipwrecks in the waters on our drive. It was fantastic to see these rusted and gutted skeletons in the reefs. It made me feel a little pirate in me. We bounced and bobbed on the hilly and rocky roads to some of the developing "American" areas, which were, of course, phenomenal. We ended the ride with a visit to the West Bay; where all of the surfers and beach bums have created a great little area of a beach town to congregate.
Of course, there was a big food event on the ship that night: Midnight Artisan Food Gallery. It took 200 manhours to craft these amazing and lifelike sculptures and wonders of architecture in our dining room. It took a little less than 10 hours for the artwork to be completely devoured by the hungry masses of the cruisers. I couldn't eat most of it, luckily. How do people eat that late?

We had our final day at sea. I read, I napped, I ran around the dock, and I went to the gym. While at the gym, I noticed the other gym-goers were gawking at me in disgust. I quickly found out that my sweat had crept under my burnt skin and had blistered the majority of my body to the point that it was squirting out of my skin as I flexed. Disgusting, yes, but also rather funny!
At our final dinner, our table of now closely-knit women shared emails and numbers, and I exchanged emails with two of the waiting staff.
The final show on the cruise was a bunch of the cruisers impersonating singers. It was....interesting.

We had to wake up before the sun rose on Sunday to make our planes. With a huge line of other people disembarking, we trudged off of the port and into the car of the grandparents once more. I think it will be forever a tradition with me to break my luggage as I return to the US from some foreign place. This time the wheel literally fell off. Apparently I picked up the flu on the ship from one of the servers (in a wholly kosher way), so I started getting nauseous as soon as I got into the plane.
When I got back to Newark, Dad Bill and Aimee picked me up to bring me back to the city for Easter Sunday. I got carsick quickly. And NO ONE EVER TOLD ME that you'd feel seasick once getting OFF of the bloody ship! Anyways, I ruined Easter by being unable to eat anything Dad made (and he made it gluten free just for me!). I crashed into bed early, feeling like I was on a rocking ship.

The last two days I have fought off the flu mostly and have things running back to normal. All quiet on the western front, for now.

2 Weeks Ago...

Alex was visiting me 2 weeks ago, when I last wrote. We had a pretty great time and talked a lot. Lots of bonding, a bit walking around...sadly, I was still working and studying for midterms when she came over, so a lot of the sightseeing she had to do on her own. But for the jetlag she first felt, she was QUITE the trooper! She came to Chamber rehearsal the first night and partook in our singing extraordinary attempts. Poor girl, wanted to conk out and I wouldn't let her until 11pm.
We went one night out to dinner with one of her Polish-American friends from Australia (this is her normal relations with people; meeting them in their unnatural countries). It was this pretty overpriced restaurant in SoHo, Boom, where the waiter acted dim and I had to explain in full detail 3 times what "gluten" was. It was frustrating, but the company was alright. I later parted ways with her and her group of friends to get a flourless chocolate cake from Cocoa Bar (which, I will admit, was a bit disappointing, too) and spent the remainder of the night with Lauren and Jenni chez eux.
That Saturday Alex and I ran to meet up with Kami before he left for France. I will miss that boy, he was such a sweetheart.

Monday through Wednesday were pretty boring. I just worked and studied. I had a big midterm on Wednesday, and when that was done, I ran around and finished many errands that I had been avoiding.
Thursday night after work I went ou to dinner with my boss and co-worker. We went to this LOVELY tapas bar called Alta, where we spent 5 hours drinking wine, eating tapas, and talking about all kinds of interesting topics. I learned all about Santiago! Scary... After getting home not-so-sober around midnight and drunk-dialing a certain Matt, I went to bed and woke up in the morning to say farewell to my dear Alex. She left for DC that day, and the next day I was out of town myself. Parting is such sweet sorrow to those you hold dear. I was treated out again by my boss to lunch, where we finished our conversation a bit before heading back to a long day at work.

Saturday morning I had to haul my luggage and me all the way to Newark. It took two hours. Yet again I missed out on making nice talk to a cute guy who was going to sit next to me, in which the fates scolded me by having a big grumpy man sit right between the two of us in the plane. Another trip where I was smeared onto the window of the moving vessel. I slept most of the way to Tampa. And then, I was picked up by "them": the grandparents. The ones who say terrible things to me and my family on a frequent basis. Waiting for my mom's flight, grandma scolded and lamented about all of the trouble she had put herself in just to buy my mother and me treats for our one "short" day visit that neither of us could eat (meet diabetes and celiac). Despite my attempts at being helpful and showing them a long list of Tampa restaurants with gluten-free menus, my grandmother insisted on a buffet-styled dump for dinner where they didn't even understand what I meant by eating limitations. Yeah, I got sick that night a bit. And grandma & grandpa complained the whole dinner about how terrible it all was, though they picked the darn place.

The next morning my mom and I rushed to get ready and leave so we could get to the ship port as early as possible to escape the grandparental grips.

A Few Of The Rendez-Vous

Last Monday I made dinner for Dad and Bill. They seemed to like it alright, though it took forever and a day to cook. It had okra (which I am now quite fond of) and it was pretty simple but healthy! We had a nice discussion about what I plan on doing with my life (which, of course, is hard to figure out) and I got back home at a decent hour to start my homework.

Tuesday after work I went to dinner at Vento on Stern's dime. The best part of the meal, for me, was the Shirley Temple that I forced the waiters to bring me rounds of. The worst part of the meal was that almost everything had gluten in it! The appetizers were plentiful, and I couldn't eat a damn one of them, sans the olives and the garden salad. The waiter apologized to me for this, but I really should have known better...anyways, the food was good that I got to eat. The salmon was excellent! And I bonded with my friend Paul during the dinner, so no huge loss. The Stern alumnus there was completely drunk and rambled about not being a negotiator (sign of weakness or something...). What a laugh!
Afterwards I went to school to help teach Rob how to salsa. We didn't get too far though...mostly because we had to first teach him rhythm and music. Baby steps...though I had a ball with him

Wednesday I found out my Columbia application was due in two days, so I hauled my energy completely to the writing and completion of 2 essays for submission. I ended up going to Neil's place and hanging out with him and Chaz while they watched "I Know Who Killed Me" and I wrote my essays. Worst movie ever, by the way.

By Friday I was finally done with my application and passed it in! I celebrated my completion by getting sick on a really AMAZING cookie at Jacques Torres and chasing it with their spicy hot chocolate. Lots of gluten, bad. Worth it? I think so. I then spent the evening at Lauren's and celebrated more with chocolate-covered strawberries. We waited for Matt to show up so we could go to Jenni's rock show debut. She was nervous to the point of being sick, but she really did well! If only she had more confidence. Afterwards we went back to their apartment and talked more, like usual.

I walked around and worked on errands and homework all Saturday. I don't know why, but I was struggling concentrating on much, so I finally sought refuge at Lauren's again, this time to watch A Knight's Tale. What a classic.

I was supposed to go on a date after Chambers on Sunday with this guy, but he ended up forgetting and I wallowed in disappointment (or let down?) with some AMAZING chocolate from Australian! It's this great Dutch company that makes Australian ice cream with Belgian chocolate in New York! What else but globalisation. It really was amazing, though. I will definitely visit later on...And then I ventured on a romantic adventure on the eastern parts of St Marks Place. What gems in the city I had never known about! Health stores, kosher stores, a fabulous bookshop! I went nuts!
I then met up with Kami and had dinner with him at a Korean restaurant in the neighborhood. We had a great time joking around and talking about the world and our experiences, life, all of that. In English, sadly, but I was impressed with how much he had improved. We had talked for a few hours, and ended it with him coming back to talk to Deejay about Thailand. The UN is forcing Kami to go to Thailand for a conference there that he put together for free. Poor kid.

There was another Rendez-vous at FIAF on Tuesday that I went to. I miss French a lot, and it felt good just getting back into it! I want more now...
Beforehand I went to another career fair, which was not useful for me again (be surprised). I got some freebies at least. And I ended up meeting a woman teaching another man Farsi at school and got her information so we could arrange something between us. I'll be fluent in no time.

Wednesday I cleared my schedule to go visit Sanavita to meditate. Lord, did I need it! I worked out a lot of issues I was going through, and some more interesting phenomenons happened while I was going through my shamanic journey. I have a lot to work out still, but it was nice getting myself back into itself and kind of sinking into my core. I am feeling better again.

Finally! Today my dear Alex came in from Paris! She's jet-lagged now and is asleep, but she is wonderful and I'm so glad to have her with me for the week. We had a great talk, I cooked us dinner, and she brought me Swiss chocolate! Oh man....that girl knows me too well. I look forward to some interesting days with her.

A Trip To DC

So a few Thursdays ago I woke up at 5am to drive down to Washington DC for a career fair at Georgetown U. The drive down was noisy, which made me sad. Really, people, who is actually awake enough to talk at that ungodly hour of day?
The career fair was....fairly unfruitful, methinks. I really don't like career fairs that much, I've decided. Not only do the table runners not usually want people for hire, but they're also not going to really help you get a job at that organization. A lot of the organizations were either looking for on-the-spot-start-work-on-Monday candidates or people with 5-7 years experience in the field of choice. Both options are not probably going to help out COLLEGE STUDENTS in job hunts. What college kid has either 5-7 years working in Cambodia already? I finally finished stealing lots of good treats and goodies from the recruiters and tried getting off of the campus to meet up with Aimee on some main street. Well, I got lost on the Georgetown campus. Mind you, I'm not used to campuses, so I was nervous because I was on closed fields of students, and it was quiet, and I was lost.
I finally found my way off of campus and back into real civilization - grumpy and tired and hungry - and I just HAPPENED to run into Lidjia from ScPo in Paris! AND she was holding a baguette, to boot! It was a great run-in, and she brought me by Rahul's house (who was also a buddy in France) to say a brief hello. I don't understand how I also happen to run into people from one part of the world in completely random other parts of the world. It's kind of creepy, the rate that it happens to me.
Anyways, I finally eat downtown some salad and waited for Aimee to pick me up. We ended up going to her friend Maureen's for dinner (gluten-free pizza, anyone?) and girls' night discussions. We finally stumbled back to Aimee's place and went to bed relatively early.

Just a quick note: Aimee's cat sleeps with me on my bladder. I'm glad that the cat likes me enough to cuddle at nighttime, but it's hard waking up in the middle of the night feeling really heavy and having a strong urge to use the facilities.

Friday Aimee accidentally locked me in her apartment, meaning no running, so instead I completely cleaned her place for a few hours instead. Afterwards I headed off to work at our organization's DC office, which is completely different than the NYC office. Kind of interesting, really...
Anyways, dinner was with Aimee and her boyfriend, Mike, at Legal Sea Foods. Another great gluten-free meal, where I ate far too much. Good wine, too.

I finally got my run on Saturday! A good 4-miler put me back in a good mood, and I felt compelled afterwards to drag Aimee to shop at Potomac Mills for some essentials that I lacked.
We met up for dinner at Five Guys, meaning I completely backstepped my dietary habits with a big greasy burger (no bun) and a LOT of fries. Since I'd already put the day's diet to hell, I decided to drive it home with a fabulous Mississippi Mud Pie at Cosi.
We went then to this bar, Buffalo Billiards, for someone's birthday. I knew no one, but then quickly finding myself flirting with a cute guy all night long. He's from Michigan. He's a musician and violinist. He was really cute. Too bad for me that he's so far away. At least I gave him my number, right? Aimee also interrogated the guy, once drunk, about whether or not he was a good guy. Thanks, sister, I'll take it from there.

Sunday was the drive back to the city. I had a nightmare drive back, though; imagine those commercials where these really skinny guys are being squished up to the wall of the bus by a gargantuan person in the seat next to them. That was me. Next to a 300-400 pound woman, and making love to the window for about 4.5 hours. I think it was the first time in my life I actually felt genuinely small.
Got home and went into grocery shopping chaos! Everyone and their mother were in the Whole Foods with me, and I didn't know what to do with myself! Just exercise patience, I guess.

Some Little Thiings & One Bigger Thing

Last weekend I had lunch with my older friend Billy. We got sushi. It was nice to see him. He's an interesting guy; he is from Venezuela but moved to Minneapolis for education. Then he moved to NYC in the summer for cathartic healing after a divorce. And now he's back in MN selling all of his possessions so he can hop from place to place as an art educator. He was visiting NYC for a few days to do some business deals, I think.
Anyways, we talked and joked a lot. The sushi was good. I am calling him Amen Ra now because he looks just like a toss-up between a pharaoh and Mr. Clean.

I celebrated Valentine's Day with Lauren and Jenni. I ended up buying an entire wheel of French Camembert at Murray's (because I can eat French cheeses somehow) and apricot spread. We feasted on cookies (dough and cooked), chocolate goods, and cheese. The wheel was finished quickly. And I had a bloated stomach for a few days after. We enjoyed our Love Day enough, and I think we got more out of it than most did.

The next day I ate dinner with Andy & his lover boy, Evan. Evan is a great guy! I feel like I can really connect with him, which is fabulous. We ate at my favorite, VP2, and discussed my shamanic journey. Andy and I ended up getting dessert afterwards at Whole Foods (berries and soy chocolate pudding!) and discussed more about our lives and his medical endeavors.

I had another session at Sanavita. It was a completely different experience from the time before; this time, I was completely awake and a aware of everything during and after the journey. Alexander, my friendly shaman, pin-pointed one of my main human struggles, and we worked through it. He reminded me that people with our strength in energy shouldn't focus our energy in concentrated amounts because it's too powerful. I am starting to understand the shamanic journey now.
I played with his babies afterwards for about an hour. They are absolutely adorable, but I made the infant boy cry a bit, I'm afraid. Too much?
Then I went back to Lauren to talk about my healing session. As always. We have interesting conversations that no one else would be able to handle, I feel.

This week has been a lot of...just...preparing. Take that for what it's worth.

I also got tea with Natasha, after about over a year of neglect. She looked like she was a bit out of it. Afterwards I drank tea with Rob, my rock. He always makes me giggle and laugh, just because of his ridiculous stories. Quite a change between those two tea dates. Rob ended up scolding me for much of the night about men's names and that I was never allowed to date men with these "soft" names (hahahahahahahahaha *breathe* hahahahahahahah). And I still need to teach Rob how to salsa...I promised.

I keep sleeping through yoga class! I need to get that under control.
Working on Friday...in DC

A Controversy

Alright, this seriously the world out to get me...
All I have wanted the last few days are pomegranate seeds!!!
Not pomegranate juice.
Not pomegranate-flavored stuff.
Not pomegranate smoothies.
The seeds.
Give me a pomegranate, and I shall shuck it.

But no, not in Whole Foods, nor in any nearby bodega are there pomegranates to be found.
I have searched high and low. To no avail!
And let me tell you; pomegranate juice does NOT cut it! It doesn't even taste like the seed part!

This mission is not over. Oh, no. It is war now: me versus merchants hiding my prized seeds.

Another Quick Update

Loads is going on. I'm not necessarily saying my life is interesting. I go to the gym, I go to school, I go to work, I go to bed. Rinse, repeat. That's my life in a nutshell. But I'll fill in quickly on some key events that have happened since my last brief...

Lauren and I celebrated a very merry un-birthday (as noted earlier) on the Saturday between our birthdays. It was great! I started the day with going to Lululemon's for my hemmed pants, and then I met up with Lauren to start the night of festivities. We first went to La Paella and had some tapas for a meal. And it was very good. I've gotten her hooked on tapas, I think.
Afterward, we discovered a bakery (Pinisi) next to our hookah bar (Sultana) and pre-gamed the night with our own slices of flourless chocolate cake (called the "xs"). Let me just tell you...it was magnificent and heavenly! So gooey and rich! We have been going back ever since just to order a slice or two of that cake. And they have other good cakes, too, but we rarely venture to their other products.
The Sultana tea party was subdued, but good. Not everyone who promised to come came, but those who did come had a good time with us, and we laughed, drank glorious mint green tea, and ate more. Their Moroccan Cigars and grape leaves were amazing....but their cakes were also amazing! We ended up getting more cake for us, sharing, and the owner of the hookah lounge gave us a birthday cake to boot! By the end of our time at the lounge, Lauren and I were completely stuffed and drunk with cake.
We went out to visit some friends at a few bars, but we didn't do much while there. We were far too full to drink anything, so we ended up going back to her place early and played with her Tarot Cards.

The next week I became extremely sick. I had an ear infection, a sinus infection, and I struggled with flu symptoms for two days. I ended up going to the doctor on Wednesday for her to tell me that my 99.2F temperature wasn't a fever (which, it was), and then she dolled me a doctor's note and some drugs to get me back to normal. I missed class on Wednesday, and I was miserable on Thursday. I even had to leave a Reynold's Speaker Event early (I was excited about it, too) because I was unable to think or listen at all. I finally got better, after a few days of misery.

I got a really cheap haircut at Aveda's Institute! It was really interesting; the student took 2 hours with me and my hair, to make sure that my trim was not going to get messed up, and I was monitored by some supervisor, too! The haircut was a great deal, and I'd probably do it again.
Lauren and I celebrated the Superbowl by eating exorbitant amounts of chocolate and avocado dip at her apartment. We oggled at the commercials online (I loved the eTrade ones), but otherwise didn't bother watching the game. We just kept the windows open and listened to the bars around us and people's reactions to the game. NYC was CRAZY after the Giants won, and the streets were full of shouts and screams until late that night.

I had dinner with Dad on Monday at a really nice place, Lumi. Their salmon was really fabulous! And Dad indulged my sweet tooth a lot that night with an added trip to my little favorite spot uptown, Corrado. We had a nice talk, too. It was a good night.
I went to FIAF on Tuesday and, despite really frustratingly struggling with my French that day, made a group of friends who have agreed to try to put together a French restaurant run sometime soon so we can continue our French speaking.
Work's been really really busy. There's a LOT to do, I stay late, and I don't think it'll be possible to finish all of my projects by June. At least I really like my co-workers and my boss. Great people.

I had dinner with Danie at Gobo on Friday after work. We talked and caught up, but it was short-lived because she wanted to sleep early. Welcome to my life for the past month. I feel like I crash earlier and earlier as time progresses. 10pm?! Come on, really now.
I ended up meeting up with Nate and his friends for a little bit that night, too. That wasn't very eventful, so not much to say but that I really hate PDA.

Yesterday I had an amazing experience at SanaVita. I had a shamanic journey, let's just say, and I learned a whole lot about myself. Lots of things happened with the shaman that were....out of this world. And I feel a lot better from that. I already booked next week to do something similar with him.
I ended up hanging out with Lauren, Jenni, and Matt the rest of the night. We ate (stuffed ourselves is more like it) at Casa Mono. Really excellent tapas, once again. The food was soooo good, and we were all giddy with the quality of the food afterwards. After, though, Lauren and I ended up spending the night low key and gushing about our spiritual selves.

That's all that's been going on. In a nutshell, at least.

So Fatiguée

I have had a lot on my plate lately, and most of it just deals with work and classes.
I went to Mariam's bday party at Crocodile Lounge; the singlemost worst place for me to ever want to go to. Free pizza per beer bought. Let's think about this one: a gluten and dairy-free girl walks into a bar....But it was fun regardless. I felt bad because a few of the kids there apparently knew me and my mind ran a blank. Classy. Katherin, Mariam, and I bonded a bit about the gym.

After about two weeks of going late-night to bars and hookah lounges and everything else in between, Lauren and I FINALLY successfully found a hookah café that served the tea we wanted for our birthday celebrations! Thank god! And it's an adorable little place. I'm excited for tomorrow...

The family came to town for last weekend to celebrate my 22nd. We mostly chilled out (literally, it's freezing) in the Roosevelt Island apartment, which is all fine. It was funny to me how hard it was to accommodate for me and my new dietary habits. My mom wanted to make a casserole dish with Cream of Mushroom, but was not convinced that it had dairy in it. And the next few times I requested certain foods that I knew were pretty safe for me, though everyone else seemed to look at the food as if it were alien. Oh, it was also funny to me that for my birthday dinner we made gluten&dairy-free chili.....and they had put out cheesy garlic bread. Hahaha at least the rest of them enjoyed it.
I got some really great business suits and dresses for my birthday.
On Saturday I dragged the girls to the MoMa because it had a few exhibitions I was interested in. I really do love art, but I'm not one to stand and gaze at the art for minutes. I like walking through it, taking it all in. Aimee and I were trailblazing the place while Andrea and my mom put every painting into their longterm memories. I'm just joking, Mom. But my favorite parts of the exhibits were the really weird stuff. Aimee and I enjoyed two very specific moving art pieces: "Gordon's Makes Us Very Drunk", where two proper British guys were sitting around repeating the phrase, and another where some earthy fellow kept moving in abrupt ways and repeating, "I Am Making Art".
The next day we say 27 Dresses with all of the other women of Manhattan. It was SUCH a chick-flick!!! But I enjoyed it mostly, I chortled at a few ridiculous parts, and the women's reactions to certain parts of the movie were stereotypical.
We also went to Lululemon's to get some new gym clothes for my birthday. That place is like gym-aholic's heaven! I could have taken one of everything!!!! Too bad I'm so short; I'm still waiting for a pair of pants to be hemmed for my height.

Before school started, I ended up getting some really sweet tea with Neil and chit chatting about our dysfunctional selves, and in between errands Aaron came over and remarked at my overly-somber mood. I'm working on it, folks.

And then my birthday occurred. I wouldn't say it happened, because I will be officially partaking in celebrating it this weekend, but it did happen; my birthday in fact exists, and I recognized its existence. As did about 65 other people on Facebook. But alas, it was the first day of classes, and I had work until 6pm. And some of my nearest and dearest forgot it completely. So, it wasn't too festive. Class was intimidating, and work was super busy, as always.
Afterwards, I met up with Katherin and Deej at Risotteria to have a little birthday dinner. Too bad it is gluten free, but not dairy free. I was a bit upset, and settled for the salad. I indulged in a brownie and a fudgey, though. So so good.

Oh yeah, I got my final grade for Fall semester in: Law = A. I rule. How appropriate I'm at a law organization now.

Wednesday I was nonstop for 12 hours. I had a class (where I met the most beautiful German. We'll be married soon, just you wait.) that I couldn't follow (mostly due to the beautiful foreigner near me....I was having trouble concentrating. I'm serious.), bought books, and then a 3-hour doozy where the ever-intense professor let us know just how much work we had in store for our class. Help? After class I had a Chambers meeting, and hit starvation mode, so I crawled home and ate some food before napping.

Yesterday was another day of classes and work. And then another Chambers meeting afterwards. I got home 10 hours later, and was so exhausted that I amounted to nothing for about 5 hours before allowing myself to sleep. Must keep a normal schedule, right?

I would just like to state now my disgust for Washington Square Park's state right now. Tourists stop me on the street all week asking me where the arch is, simply because it is pitch black at night. That's not the park nor atmosphere I recall and love of the village. Way to go, NYC; you're officially dismantling the charm and touristic value of New York City during a time it needs it most (like, say, a recession).

What else......hmmmm....today I worked again. I was nonstop working (be surprised) and a lot of the work was really frustrating. Oh well. And I talked to Kendra and played "catch up" with her for about 30 minutes before my phone conked out. I'm now debating going to a birthday party for Chantal from SciPo in midtown or staying in my warm apartment and doing something similar to that of last night: resting.