good and bad

Sometimes, you can't have just one.

Like the other day, I went to b.good and tried a new burger for me. I usually get the b.good burger with garlicky greens, but with the whole spinach snafu, I figured this would be an opportunity to branch out...to the West Side. Whoa. What an amazingly yummy burger, and very Weight Watcher friendly too, with avocado, salsa and cilantro on a whole wheat bun. It was SO good, I went back for another today (and, it was just as delicious). Plus I got paid, so I can front the $7.35 combo with the fantastic baked fries and a drink. Sure, it's can be crowded at lunchtime, but I'd rather have a hand-packed healthy burger made by good people than chain store food. And they have good music, too.

Then when I went out for a coffee, I stopped by the farmer's market at Copley. Hamilton Farms had a special of fresh raspberries, 2 for $5.00. What do I get to go along with them? A home made whoopie pie, that's what. Boy, did that go really well with my tall non-fat decaf sugar-free vanilla latte. Just the ticket on a Friday afternoon.

home on the range

For the last three weeks Owen & I have been staying over at my parents' house twice a week so he can go to preschool there (in addition to the one he goes to in Boston.) This is mainly because he'd spend a day with my mom anyway, and this way he has something to do on the other day plus make some new friends while my mom can get some work done. The really scary thing is that I'm starting to like staying down there. I get a lot of sleep. I don't have to worry as much about what a wreck my house is. So, this is why I haven't been blogging as much.

What else is odd is that I was one of those kids who *could not wait* to get out of the 'burbs. When I'm tempted to move back down, I dig up this article from the NY Times"Goodbye, Suburbs" about how city-folk just can't really adjust to suburban life. That could be me...

Another thing is that I finally colored my hair red. I had been super lazy and let the gray grow in. Plus, it kind of looked like highlights, which was OK for summer. But after fielding some well meaning comments from people and equally misguided comments from my mother (like "I was never that gray at your age" to "Are you trying to get pregnant?"), I celebrated fall with some Garnier Nutriesse in #56/ Sangria. It would have been Torrid Outrageous Cherry, but the beauty supply store was closed. Owen likes it, and wants me to color my hair blue next! Needless to say, I've had the Tori Amos song Take to the Sky running through my head. "I know I've got some magic/ buried deep in my heart yeah." Sing it , sister. Happy fall everybody.

chocolate chip pancake recipe

Here's the recipe for the pancakes Owen & I made, adapted from a flapjack recipe from Parents magazine, March 05. I halved it. (*= halved for recipe)
1 cup flour*
1.5 tsp baking powder*
dash salt (double into 1/2tsp)
1 Tbsp sugar (was originally 1.5 tbsp)
sprinkle of cinnamon
1 cup milk*
1 egg*
splash vanilla

Mix dry stuff together; add wet ingredients. Mix or whisk. Fold in 2/3 or 3/4 cup chocolate chips (minus a few to make sure they're good).Melt butter or use cooking spray on a hot pan; pour batter in 2-5 inch circles onto pan. Flip. Makes 12-15 pancakes (enough breakfast for 3 and leftovers for late night snacks).
Enjoy!

sheep shop saturday

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, what do I do? Yarn shop! Circles Salon in JP held a Sheep Shop Yarns event with Fonnie, the owner of Sheep Shop. Fonnie's done a great job with these yarns, they're soft and the colors are amazing. I can't wait to knit with them. And Circles is such a warm, homey space. Everyone there was so friendly, sweet and great to talk to.


It wasn't just a shoppy kind of day. Owen & I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Do skim milk and whole wheat flour balance out the chocolate chips? And yes, I am wearing my Duran Duran t-shirt from the concert last year.

We managed to tear Owen away from the Duoplo Legos and train tracks to check out the Children's Book Festival at Copley Plaza. Some of the events we wanted to see weren't running on time (or at least in the order that ran on-line), so Tak took Owen home for a nap after lunch. After I got my yarn on at Circles, I visited Dan & Sarah et al at the Freedom Rally. Went home, had dinner, did our night time thing. Got locked out while doing laundry; luckily our neighbor came home and let me call to wake up Tak, who fell asleep with Owen. He didn't wake up until after I'd been knocking at the door/wall for about 10 minutes. At least the laundry got folded while it was still warm! I also finally finished my sister's scarf. As in: it is for her, but she also began it when she learned how to knit, and she didn't want to finish it. So now it just needs to be blocked. Birthday present: done.

jam packed

Finally writing about the NY trip. It was great. Bus ride sucked. At least I was on Greyhound/ Peter Pan (not Fung Wah). I was totally exhausted, so I'm sure that didn't help my bus-sickness. Then, it was so long, we had two movies: The Pacifier and Just Like Heaven. I thought I was going to hurl as we drove stop and go through the city. was so glad to be off that bus. I ended taking the train back--and it was totally worth the extra cash.

So, I did a ton but still managed to relax. Ate, drank, and shopped. After I had a couple Tylenol and a ginger ale to recover from the bus ride, I got my eyebrows threaded. One of my coworkers suggested Pinky, so I checked out her salon (on 6th between 38th & 37th), which was fast (less than 10 minutes), mostly painless, and cheap ($6! vs. $18 in Boston). I met up with Lorie and we had a drink at Bryant Park. Sarah arrived and I dashed off to meet Karen at Penelope for an early dinner. Best Mac & Cheese ever (even better than Scollay Square, and they have amazing Mac & Cheese), and the catfish finger salad was delish. The "penny" sized chocolate cupcakes with mocha frosting were, dare I say, better than Magnolia's. Karen went off shopping, and I met back up with Lorie & Sarah at PS54 (Lexington & 30th), with an OK mojito but super tasty Mac & Cheese puffs (balls of Mac & Cheese deep fried), fish tacos, and shredded braised rib nachos. Really good size portions for "small plates," and not horrendously expensive ($9-15 each). We got in a cab back to Brooklyn, dropped my junk off at Lorie & Pete's, and hung out for awhile at Soda Lounge. We walked Sarah home, and crashed out. What a blissful, child-free night of sleep--until 10AM. Luxurious.

We went to Beast for brunch, and while we were waiting for Sarah & Dan, we checked out a cute little shop, Red Lipstick (560 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn), where I got some cute hoop earrings (can't remember the designer's name) & a shirt (the owner is a knitter & sells her hats, scarves, etc too). Beast was fantastic. I had the French Toast, but it was really the bread basket that sealed the deal. Because I wanted to check out Brooklyn General Store (it's a yarn shop), D & S gave us a ride in their adorable new Mini. Fun! But BGS was closed (dammit), so we went to Knitting Hands on Atlantic Ave instead. And also to Layers (394 Atlantic Ave.), where I found a really neat pair of Tuareg earrings from Africa. Then we went home, packed, got a sandwich from City Sub, walked around a little bit, and I got on the train. This is, of course, after getting that awful sick sinking feeling in my stomach upon getting off at Port Authority/42nd St., so we turned around & went to Penn Station. Such a smart choice. Comfy seats, walking around, eating the rest of my sandwich in the dining car without bothering anyone else. Here are my souvenirs.


Finally got home around midnight. Next morning: made breakfast for Tak's parents. Took them to South Station (yes, they take the Fung Wah since it's down the street from where they live), and took Owen to the Children's Museum.

8/30-9/2: Spent the better part of the week cranking through knitting a birthday gift, and slept over at my parents' with Owen. Crashed out around 9:30 Thursday and Friday night.
9/3-9/4: Stayed up late Saturday night cleaning for my friend Michelle's visit--she's one of my best friends from high school AND she introduced me to Tak on her 21st birthday (they went to BU together). She's out visiting for the week & came by for brunch.


Now I need to get back on the program after all the hanging out & period/binge eating.
Owen starts preschool #2 next week. Should be interesting. At least his aim has gotten better!