family hotpot

today we had kevin's cousins and nieces over for our first hotpot of the season. shawn, yuka, hana, and kiki arrived around 3, and the girls were walking (no stroller for kiki anymore!), with a bag of boardgames, dessert, and their scooter in tow. it was their first time at the loft so of naturally the girls hopped merrily over the sofa cushions and glided all over the maple floors.

it was a pretty fun afternoon! the girls used some easter cookie cutouts to make sugar cookies in the shapes of rabbits, chicks, eggs, tulips, and daisies. then they taught me how to play their boardgames, which are the most adorable things! the first game was the disney enchanted cupcake party game, where the object of the game was to build two predetermined cupcakes in the theme of various disney princesses. such a cute girly game.

the second game was the sneaky, snacky squirrel game, where the object of the game was to complete a log with its five missing acorns of various colors. i grew up playing games like uno, monopoly, and scattegories. i can't remember having such cute-themed games! the final game we played was good old Chinese checkers.

mae and pierre arrived just in time for dinner, and pierre had his first taste of hotpot! dinner was relaxing and we got to hear about shawn's upcoming show in massachusetts, talk about our individual and group travel plans in taiwan, hong kong, and japan, and little sock monsters graced our dining floor pulling off and swapping socks.

note to self - prepare EXTRA white rice in the future since the little sock monsters are also little rice monsters!

after dinner, the girls iced and decorated the cookies with royal icing and various types of chocolate sprinkles, while the adults enjoyed yuka's simple, yet tasty desserts! they were a green tea ice cream + azuki bean + savory crackers concoction, and they were soooo good.

by the end of the night, the girls were tying themselves up with scarves and socks and running around the counter giggling and falling over each other, while the adults were chatting away. it's always so easy and fun hanging out with them! next time we see each other will be in yuanlin, taiwan in just three weeks time.

擔擔麵

our recent go-to move for a quick, tasty homemade meal is 担担面, a recipe that we learned from fuschia dunlop's most recent cookbook with recipes from southern china, every grain of rice.

the main reason i like homecooked meals is because it almost always tastes better, at least when it comes to chinese food in nyc - a very low bar. another  reason for cooking more at home and eating out less is so that we can choose the ingredients and preparation of our meals. for example, the freshness of the produce and the quality of the meat is hand-selected, and we can determine the amount of oil, condiments, and ingredients for each dish.

for tonight's 擔擔麵  we used dried flat noodles, ground pork, egg, scallions, and substituted sweet corn in place of green peas. it added a bit of sweetness to the meal and rounded out the otherwise strong, savory flavors. the noodle broth is simple - composed of homemade chicken stock, tamari, black vinegar, and angry lady chili oil. we paired the noodles with some pea shoots (豆苗), which we'd picked up in chinatown over the weekend.

shot shot shot shot shot shot

we had a quick bite at one of our favorite local spots, the overpriced, but tasty ootoya, next to my office for dinner. we shared their delicious tsukune with tare and bacon-wrapped tomato yakitori as starters, and kevin had the rosu katsu ju set (breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet simmered in dashi broth and wrapped with custard-like egg over rice) and i had the mini-soboro don (minced chicken with poached egg over rice).

oh man, soboro don is so simple, yet so delicious. this is definitely next on my list of dishes to learn after 肉燥饭 (braised pork belly with shallots over rice)!

after dinner, we headed to MUI in ktown for impromptu drinks with vince & shirley, and the rest of the cmu gang. vince and shirley got engaged in australia in december and it was our first time seeing them since, and my first time to meet shirley. it was so relaxing and nice to catch up with friends. it seems like there are lots of life-changing events for friends these days, whether it's the purchase of a new car, a new home, engagements, and destination weddings (although none of them having to do with us ha).

i love it when impromptu get-togethers work out. there's no anticipation leading up to them, no major expectations for anyone, and the spontaneity of them can often be countered with random acts of celebration.

shot shot shot shot shot shot!

crybaby run

the sun is starting to rise a little bit earlier and sun a little bit later, so kevin and i left work a tad earlier to go for a run with a little light out. kevin claimed it was warm out and changed into shorts, so i did the same. and as a result of my naivete, i left all my cold-weather running gear (gaiter, hat, and gloves) at the apartment. noticing kev was wearing his gaiter in the elevator, however, i ran back quickly to grab mine too. 

it was only when we got outside and started moving that i realized he was wearing his hat and gloves as well. darn, i had taken him too literally. it was not "warm" out at all, it was 36F and temperatures were falling. on top of it all, i think my gps watch may have been malfunctioning due to the cold temperatures and it was measuring our pace at 8:40 at times and 7:30 at other times.

the combination of being out of shape + frustration of not being dressed properly + having no idea what our pace was + running on an empty stomach was too much for me. i stopped after mile 4 and walked the last half mile up to meet kevin at the piers.

what a lousy evening!! i titled it my crybaby run because inside i was having a seriously lame tantrum.

wall street refugee

I a little past 8pm last night, kevin came out of the apartment office and started messaging furiously over his macbook pro, simultaneously reading a lengthy article on bloomberg. alerted by this somewhat abnormal behavior, i asked him what was going on?

apparently a writer at bloomberg, who had been hounding kevin, his current, and former colleagues, finally published the article he had been working on for months that evening. the title was "meet wall street refugees running bonds at freddie mac".

the article was filled with suggestive, yet unfounded innuendos, inaccuracies, and some outright errors. it is unclear why an editor would approve an article like this, which skirts around any real substance or an interesting angle, but it definitely cast a shadow over their team and processes.

it has now been nearly one year since kevin made the difficult decision to leave his career of 12 years at citigroup as a sell-side mbs trader to join freddie mac as part of a team which manages its $400 Bn mortgage portfolio. the transition required a bit of faith, patience, and flexibility, but my wall street refugee has far less political office nonsense, overnight stress, and work-related travel these days, and is happier as a result.

there is light at the end of the tunnel.

security blanket

minutes after leaving the apartment building and upon entering the subway station on 23rd street this morning, i realized that i left my cell phone at home! 

as we walked along the subway platform, a look of desperation shadowed my face as the realization sunk in: no phone for a day? how will i reach people? what if i need to access something from my gmail account? kevin saw how crestfallen i was and suggested i go back to retrieve it, but the train was arriving in 3 minutes and i decided it's my own punishment for not being more careful packing my purse in the morning. off to work we went!

at the office, i had a long list of things to get done (mondays ahhh!!) and worked slowly to get through the list and check off each item as it was completed. it actually didn't really occur to me that i was missing my phone again until i was trying to send an email to our homepolish designer, which i eventually just sent from my work email. my greatest concern, however, was that people might be trying to reach me and i didn't want to inadvertently ignore any friends.

oh there was one other time i was pining for my phone and that was while i was waiting for the train on the way home. but other than that, leaving it at home really didn't make much of a difference and i actually felt much more focused at the office.

when i arrived home, i changed out of my work clothes into my "home clothes" and started preparing dinner. it wasn't until much later when i actually checked my phone and saw: 0 messages! haha .. i had been worrying for nothing.

it might not be a terrible idea to leave the security blanket, i mean, cell phone at home a little more in the future.

slow food day

today was absolutely gorgeous out! we awoke to the sun peeking in through the edges of our bedroom roller shades. i think it was the first day in a while where it's been clear and sunny out. and on top of that, temperatures rose and it was 30-40s out. it was delightful ...

while kevin had his pour-over stumptown coffee, i prepared pork shoulder (蹄膀) which would braise for the next eight hours, and pork rib soup (排骨汤), just like my mom used to. the lunar new year started on february 19th, and we didn't have a proper celebration this year, so i was planning out a mini-feast for tonight.

we ran a few errands in the morning, which consisted of the third trip to container store and adorama for the weekend, i think? ha. i love the bigso boxes of sweden designs so have been measuring and trying to pick up the right size boxes to organize some of the clutter on our bookshelves. unfortunately, the piano books which i want to organize are about 1/2" too long for the bigso file containers in the end. darn.

in the afternoon, we putzed around the apartment, unpacked a couple boxes, and i started preparing for dinner around 5 while glancing at the oscars red carpet in between. the dishes were ready to go by 6, so we skyped for a while with allyson and met baby dennis for the first time :D he is a beautiful, sweet boy, and was trying so hard to say "HI" at the tender age of six months. i think allyson thought we were skyping to share our own great news, but uhm, lol, we didn't have the news she was hoping for. LOL.

daisy arrived around 7 and kevin seated us in the prime positions at the dinner table to feast our eyes on the tv. daisy had seen a few of the nominated films, while kevin and i had seen none, so we were lucky to have her as our hollywood-oscars-celebrity-gossip guide throughout the evening. neil patrick harris was the host this year, and made a few memorable comments throughout the night.

my favorite: "she had to have a lot of balls to wear that dress" :p

it was a relaxing fun night, and it felt like we had front row seats at the dolby theatre! and i was totally stuffed.

menu

sauteed baby bok choy

luffa with enoki mushrooms (兹瓜)

egg with dried baby anchovies
braised pork shoulder (红烧蹄膀)
pork rib soup with kombu (海带排骨汤)
red bean soup with peanut and black sesame glutinous balls

adventures with meko

new york city was a winter wonderfuland on saturday and and meko was in town! 

i met up with meko and her friend in town, christen, for an afternoon of shopping and coffee in flatiron and union square. christen, in town for the week from taipei, was on the hunt for a pair of black leather boots and a beanie. after much searching along fifth and sixth ave in the non-stop blizzard (thank goodness we were all bundled up in our hardshells with hoods on), we finally found her the perfect pair of flat-bottom black leather boots at dsw and a caramel beanie with a big furry ball next door at nordstrom rack for christen.

and although it was cold and messy, and i was unprepared for the snow-slush-dark mush with my uggs, there's something fun about walking through the city when tourists and out-of-towners are off the streets!

we finished off the afternoon with some chocolat chaud and financiers at maison kayser. yumm ... though note to self - chocolat chaud in paris has not met its match in nyc yet!

where can a girl go to find a proper chocolat chaud?

the little things

happy friday!

i was a little slow this morning getting out of bed, so kevin heading off to the train without me. we usually take the 1 train together to 42nd street, but every once in a while, we'll get separated in our morning commutes. 

this morning, however, i was pleasantly surprised with my mini toppot stainless steel insulated mug filled with kevin's pour-over coffee. black. hot. just the way i like it. and it left me bouncing off the walls for the next 16 hours as well.

in the evening, we met at the apartment around 6 and kevin had picked up some yummy cheese at the grand central murray's. what a cool work place, where one can access irving coffee, shake shack, junior's cheesecake, and murray's cheese all in one building. we had our favorite aged gouda, and tried two new ones as well.

yep, it's the little things we do for each other, uhm, that he does for me :p

at quarter after six, the doorbell rang and we met with kristofer ghady, our homepolish interior designer, for the first time. while we have picked up most of the furniture for the loft, i think we're reaching the point where we are looking for someone with a good eye and modeling capabilities to give us  ideas and renderings for the master bedroom, and to help us pick out the finishing touches which will make each room feel cohesive. kris was super easy going and we enjoyed our consultation with him. we'll speak with a decorilla designer this weekend as well, and make a decision from there.

yay, the weekend is here!

bryant park

my office is located in the seagreen glass metlife building at the southwest corner of 42nd street and sixth avenue. directly across the street is the gorgeous bryant park, which houses a number of tasty restaurants, food stands, and public seating, and hosts a variety of activities throughout the year, including and ice skating rink and holiday shops in the winter and yoga and movies on the great lawn in the summers. 

last summer, i actually took a week-long photography class at the international center of photography, located just a block north of the park, and we visited the park daily for our photo assignments. there are local new yorkers taking a coffee break, mothers pushing their young children in strollers, tourists looking for a place to rest, vendors peddling their handmade goods, and homeless people scattered throughout the public spaces at bryant park, all contributing to its life and colorful atmosphere.

i decided to do a little reading up on the park which i walk through almost on a daily basis. it turns out it's existed much longer and endured many more milestones than i could have imagined.

1686: the area known as bryant park was wilderness 

1823-40: designated a potter's field (a graveyard for the poor), after which the bodies were excavated and moved to ward's island

1847: renamed reservoir square, named after the neighboring 4-acre man-made croton distributing reservoir located at 42nd st and fifth avenue. the croton distribution reservoir was new york city's foremost watersource surrounded by 50 ft high and 25 ft wide granite walls which served as public promenades providing panoramic views of the city.

1878: construction of the sixth ave elevated railway began, casting a shadow over the park

1884: renamed bryant park to honor the new york evening post editor william cullen bryant

1899: reservoir structure was removed and construction of the new york public library building began

1930s: park suffered neglect and considered disreputable

1933-34: redesigned as a great depression public works project and the great lawn, hedges, and iron fence were added

1938-39: the sixth ave el was was closed on december 4, 1938 and razed in 1939

1969: 40,000 person rally held as part of the nationwide moratorium to end the war in vietnam

1970s: taken over by drug dealers, prostitutes, and homeless, and considered a "no-go zone" by ordinary citizens and visitors

1979-83: coordinated program of amenities, including book and flower markets, cafes, landscape improvements, and entertainment activities was initiated by the parks council

1988: bryant park restoration corp privately funded a redesign and restoration of the park

2000s: bprc added a custom-built carousel and revived the tradition of an open-air library, the reading room

and finally ..

josephine shaw lowell memorial fountain: the black granite memorial commemorates social worker, josephine shaw lowell, who founded the charity organization society. it is made of stony creek granite and bronze and was installed at the east side of bryant park in 1913. it was relocated to the west side of the park in 1936. in 2009, the fountain was winterized with the installation of an internal electric heating system, enabling it to be left on in subzero temperatures and gather icicles.

happy lunar new year!

the life-changing magic of tidying up

marie kondo's "the life changing magic of tidying up: the japanese art of decluttering and organizing" has been a really fun read! i first read about this international bestseller in a nytimes article a few months ago, and i found it hilarious that a woman was going through each item of clothing and asking "does this spark joy?" 

i was also intrigued that the book's existence and popularity suggests there are actually disorganized, messy japanese households. since when? from what i saw in japan, my japanese colleagues are always very put together, super-organized, and have extremely tidy desks.

while reading this book, i immediately thought about clothes in my closet which needed to be donated and keepsakes from my childhood and college years which could be discarded. although we are not yet at the point where we are ready to do a thorough konmari tidying up of the entire apartment yet, hopefully we can apply the konmari method and techniques in the coming months. 


she's totally right - i feel much happier and uplifted when i've employed some of her techniques and i think kevin and i are able to live happier lives with fewer distractions cluttering up the space around us. 

the most important takeaway for me from this book was to treat your personal items with respect. whether it's clothing that you wear on a daily basis and keep neatly folded or hanging in your closet, or clothes that you no longer wear, which should be passed onto a new owner who can take pleasure in it, or a gift that you've received which you keep hidden in the back of your closet, all personal belongings should be treated respectfully, and that i think is the basis for most of the lessons from her book.

two thumbs up for this quick read!

and yep, that tastiness is part of my second batch of levain copycat cookies. this time, i used ghiradelli's dark chocolate 60% cacao bittersweet chips. tasty, but not as sweet as the first batch, which used milk chocolate chips. i think i'm going to dial back the baking soda a touch next time as well to see if i can get the texture a little less cake-y.

sick day

didn't sleep well last night, headaches in the morning, kevin left for work around 7, and i decided to sleep-in and take a sick day. when i awoke, it was snowing out! it was a serene day to be home catching up on sleep, gilmore girls, some cooking, and a little baking :)

this is a photo from our master bath window.

lazy vs kevin

a little stumptown coffee and hot cocoa, some remorse about not looking more seriously at the gorgeous gilsey house in up-and-coming nomad, and a trip to the 23rd st home depot to pick up some spackle, a spackle knife, and a mini paint roller.

i was very lazy today.

kevin, however, was quite productive. after we had our california closets installed back in december, our closet walls were littered with holes from the previous rods and shelves. on our day OFF (which i took very seriously), kevin removed the contents of three of our closets, and spackled the holes up! they don't look much better yet, but we'll see how it looks after some sanding and painting next week.

girltime in billyburg

on one of the coldest and windiest days of the year (4F-25F), and in spite of the construction and closures of multiple subway lines, three manhattan troopers made their way down to union square station and made their way into brooklyn for a cozy brunch in east williamsburg. these troopers were daisy, mae, and jen (me).

bundled up in our uggs (three shades: black, grey, and chestnut), hooded winter coats, and gloves, we forged through the icy streets of brooklyn to arrive at okonomi with a table that had just been cleared. yay! we were being rewarded for our perseverance :p

it was the usual staff, though the fish offerings were different. today we were offered fat pieces of big-eye tuna, mackerel, and perch, and we ordered all three, along with the whitefish sashimi with yusco and the brown rice with katsuobushi, uni, and onsen tamago. as usual, the meal was DELICIOUS! i wish i could prepare and have this food daily ... i guess i "could" and maybe i will try it one of these days (note to self: learn to make onsen tamago!). the conversation was fun and light-hearted and i wish we could have stayed longer but there was a line of people waiting for our table ~ girl bonding time :)

and speaking of hearts ..

after lunch, we treated ourselves to sweets at bakeri on wythe and north 8th. i got the rosemary hazlenut chocolate chip cookie and peanut chocolate chip cookie. both flavors were pretty interesting, and i liked the whole peanuts in the PB cookies.

next time, we'll have to try a place in greenpoint together!

valentine's in billyburg

today was 20-30F and it was supposed to be the warmest day over the three-day holiday weekend so we bundled up in our icebreaker baselayers (these saved my butt for the last two winters) and hard shells and walked around the city all afternoon. 

from 24th street down to broome street, we were on a mission to find a bench for the master bedroom, and two nightstands and a desk for the guestroom. and i think we found a couple options we liked at bludot and cb2. going to let the ideas marinate for a while and make a decision next week.

i had been planning on stopping by the apartment to change out of my multi-wool layered outfit before dinner, but lost track of time in the afternoon so we headed directly to williamsburg. it was really nice to walk around in our old neighborhood again - so much has changed already!

at six, we arrived at fiore, one of our fave italian spots. it was as we'd remembered it: quiet, aromatic, and with a very homey feeling. since we arrived at the geriatric seating time, there were only one or two other tables taken at the time and we chose a table near the back of the restaurant by their outdoor space. 

we shared the arugula burrata salad and the grilled radicchio and proscuitto as appetizers, and ordered the tagliatelle alla bolognese and spaghetinni al pomodoro for our entrees. who knew radicchio could be the star of its own dish! the fresh pastas were delightful, and reminded us of why we love this place - the food, service, and ambiance are all so understated.

it was a relaxing, tasty evening, and by the time we were leaving around 8pm, the restaurant was completely full ~ the perks of eating early :) 

happy valentine's day!

ravagh

we had dinner at ravagh's with college friends on this glacial evening to celebrate susan's 34th birthday! our reservation was downsized from a party of 16 to a party of 7, but it was a fun evening with delicious food and great service!

dinner included kashk-bademjan, mirza ghasemi, stuffed pepper, the chicken, lamb, and beef kebabs, and all their specialty rices. the crowd pleaser, as usual, was the khoresh fesenjan. for dessert, we had baklava (one piece per person is not enough!) and the persian mint tea, a great way to finish off a chilly night this winter!

best: pre-ordered a copy of harper lee's "go set a watchman", the unpublished, unedited sequel to "to kill a mockingbird" which was actually written before its prequel. it is slated to arrive on july 14, 2015. although there was much initial controversy over the legitimacy of the manuscript and lee's approval of its publication, from what i've been reading this past week, harper has acknowledged multiple times her desire for its publication.

worst: skipped breakfast in the morning because things were busy on the desk, and by the time i finally picked up lunch around 1:30, i had lost my appetite. not sure if i'm getting sick or something ..

smile: susan wore a couple very puffy layers yesterday, including a large checkered-pattern fleece jacket on top. super fun to hug :)

we closed!

mortgage rates have been falling and reaching record lows again. while it cost my parents 12-14% to finance the home we grew up in in the 80s, it now costs just 3-4% for a loan of multiple size.

in the past when rates have fallen, i've called around to a few banks to find out their refi rates and gone with whoever offered me the lowest. after marrying a mortgage trader, however, i've learned that the whole mortgage rate locking business is conducted completely different by those who are in the industry. 

they are completely neurotic and always looking for opportunities that the rate could go lower. they are fighting to get that last 1/8th or 1/4 of a point which could mean the difference of tens of thousands of dollars. i wonder how much i could have "saved" had i been a bit more knowledgeable in the fixed income markets.

kevin's hawk-eyes have been following the mortgage market for many years now, but especially closely the last few months as rates fell below than our original rate. a few months ago, we locked in a refi rate, and after much hemming and hawing, we finally closed yesterday!

worst: working late on index rebalance announcements and not leaving the office until 7pm. the only other people on the floor were the facilities management.

best: arriving home to a delicious home-cooked meal: 擔擔麵 and 豆苗 i love cooking for kevin, but it's comforting to know that on the nights when i get stuck at work late, he can prepare a delicious meal for us! thank you ..

smile: the amazing chocolate chip cookies (CCC) at culture coffee that daisy introduced me to. wow ... i think i may like these better than levains! bigger chocolate chips, a bit more dimension to the flavor (savory and sweet, somehow), and the perfect mix of chewy yet brittleness. not sure i want to know how to make these ... 

flashback

what is this?

this was after my desperate attempt to stay warm on our walk back from the chelsea home depot on sunday. i cut a hole in the bottom of the HD bag and stuck it over my head, putting my hands through the handles. it looked a bit foolish, but when it's 36f and im wearing shorts and a dri-fit long sleeve shirt, it was worth it!

i heart craigslist

last week, i listed a few pre-owned items on craigslist for sale, including an hp color printer-scanner-copier, marble saarinen table, and a 3-cup zojirushi rice cooker with fuzzy technology. and in the same week, i received several emails from interested buyers for all three.

now taking photos and listing the items is quite easy and fun. but it's when the buyer asks for my address and actually comes over that always leaves me feeling a little ill-prepared and creeped out. yes, even when i live in a full-time doorman building. a lot of what if's pop into my mind .. but for the most part, i was able to schedule all of the exchanges when kevin was at the apt too.

and you know what? i had the most amazing experiences with all three buyers! :) from the courteous and prompt email correspondence to the actual meeting, all three buyers have been super friendly and kind!

i'm not sure when i started feeling so cynical and having so little faith in people in new york city, but these recent experiences have brought smiles to my face. the first guy who came to buy the rice cooker arrived by bicycle and was carrying a huge box-shaped backpack, the kind you see the pizza delivery guys wear! he asked if the rice cooker played the little music tune and chuckled and said that he loved the tune! omg ... i was touched and dropped the price immediately. LOL. after that incident, kev has been teasing me that i'm ready to give away the craigslist items to anyone who is nice to me. 

i think he's right ... i'm a terrible businessperson!

best: tried a new lunch spot and had the most amazing avocado toast  from better being! the avocado is seasoned so nicely and it's quite filling! this bad boy is definitely going into the rotation.

worst: every morning. what's up with the teammate who strolls onto the trading floor late with a breakfast order of egg whites and potatoes from fika, who proceeds to use his pepper mill to grind fresh pepper onto his eggs and position his personal ipad in between his turret and keyboard? i have not embellished this at all ...

smile: coincidentally, mae and pierre are on the same flight and seated in the same row as kevin and me for our flight back from taiwan in march! row 55, baby, we'll be guarding the toilets darn. lol.

books books books

it was 36F and windy out, but we got our butts out on the west side highway for the first run in a couple weeks. the first six miles were very painful, as we ran against strong northern winds the entire way and through some icy-slushy patches. the views of the snow-laden parks and iced-hudson river, however, were immaculate. it felt like an old black and white photograph that extended from 59th street up to 125th street.

on the way back, i couldn't keep it together after mile 11. i told kevin to finish up, but i needed a big PBJ sando, tomato soup, donuts, and swedish meatballs. STAT. we hunkered down to the chelsea piers 'wichcraft and most of my dream was fulfilled (thank you hub!) :)

kevin and i finished setting up our bookshelves today! with the help of a milwaukee drill and impact driver, and an 8 ft ladder, it only took us a gazillion hours to set up these guys. lol. the shelves are actually quite easy to put together, but it was deciding on where we wanted them positioned along the wall and how far apart we wanted them which took a bit of time. i'm pretty happy with the results though, and now we have a place for our books (the ones that spark joy and the ones that spark misery ha), some of the nice gifts we've received through the years, and some small photographs.

i love how light and airy they feel and look, while still doing the job of carrying up to 700 lbs of books per bookshelf, which is an equivalent of 2,100 lbs of books in total (??). nuts! i'm thinking of getting a couple more for our bedroom and the guestroom. still need to go through the books a second time and toss some of the duplicates from our respective collections and get rid of books which are better in someone else's collection.

score for team cheng in our first real home project!

best: getting together with childhood potluck friends and families of +25 years now. it's great that everyone makes the trek out to get together even in this cold weather and it was our first time meeting baby sophie :)

worst: cleaning up after hosting is no fun! thank goodness for the dishwashers and the neato! :)

gear: for 36F and a long run, i wore a pair of nike running shorts, a short-sleeve dri-fit t-shirt, and a long-sleeve dri-fit shirt, along with a pair of gloves, my visor (ALWAYS), and a gaiter. i ended up using the gaiter over my head to keep my ears warm, but overall, i think it was the right amount of gear for the weather.

uhm, wore a plastic home depot bag with a hole cut out of the bottom over my shoulders on the way back from HD to keep warm. kevin and the doorman enjoyed that very much :p i was warm so i also found enjoyment out of my macguyer move!

smile: kevin surprised me with valentine's day donuts from doughnut plant: the heart-shaped yeast donut is rose flavor and the round cake donut is honey with bee pollen! the honey with bee pollen was very nice, not too sweet, and with subtle hints of bee pollen (sprinkled on top), and the rose flavor was so nice too! it reminded me of all the rose petal flavor treats in japan. both go perfect with a cup of tea! 

i'm not a big believer in valentine's day because i'm not sure what we are supposed to be celebrating, but i do believe that true love can be counted in donuts.

saturday @ the sill

today i visited the sill, a little shop in the eastern part of chinatown/LES that sends gardeners out to nurseries in long island and select plants which could thrive in nyc apartments! although the store itself is relatively small, just around 300 square feet, their selection is quite extensive ranging from miniature succulents to 7 ft tall fiddle leaf fig trees. most importantly, the founder and specialists there are all very knowledgeable and their priority is to  recommend the best plant for each person's needs.

kevin actually discovered the sill from reading one of the blogs that i subscribe to, and got one my birthday presents there: a miniature succulent in an ivory ceramic pot and a generous gift certificate.

the shop has glass on two sides facing north and east, and was relatively warm and humid inside when i visited, giving the feeling of being inside a greenhouse. the first thing i noticed was that all the plants inside were vibrant and flourishing in the naturally lit environment. how do i create this environment in our apartment? well, a couple more humidifiers in the winter for starters!

i had a chance to speak with sam, the store manager, who gave me tips on how to care for our new fiddle leaf fig tree and snake plant. the former has started to shed a couple of its lower leaves, which have been slowly yellowing, so i've been feeling a bit sad and worried about it. 

she also introduced me to a host of other small plants which might be appropriate for a wall which i'm thinking about lining with plants. the wall i am thinking of faces south, but gets indirect natural light, so she suggested a number of low to moderate light varieties such as the zz plant, pothos, and philodendron. the philodendron is actually known for cleaning the air (similar to the snake plant, it removes formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and benzene), and it's also quite pretty so that's a plus.

afterwards we stopped by the shop to pick up our finished cutting board! the board and class were actually kevin's birthday gift from 2014. it was such a fun couple of weeks in class, meeting pete, learning about his passion, his business ideas, and being able to bring home a gorgeous work of art that we created with, yep, our bare hands. a labor of love :)

i had a craving for italian tonight so kevin suggested l'artusi, one of our favorite spots in the west village. actually let's be honest - it is my favorite italian spot in the city. kevin and i both threw each other surprise birthday parties in the second floor wine room a few years ago, and we try to go back from time to time, though we now opt for bar seating to catch glimpses of the chef and line cooks.

we were seated at the bar in front of a cheese and pastry station, where we watched a young asian cook prepare dozens of trays of hazelnut desserts, cheese plates, and ice cream. it reminded me of kitchen confidential and i thought about how much experience she must have had to get to this point in her career. the head chef was in the center of the kitchen, basically acting as the brain of the entire operations as she liaised with the wait staff, the line cooks, and checked every single dish before it was brought to the table. such a cool (though tiring) job!

l'artusi's menu, wine list, and service is as we'd recalled - impeccable. we ordered the butter lettuce salad to start, and our favorite dishes - the spaghetti with garlic, chilies, and parmesan, and the hangar steak with crispy potatoes and salsa bianco. they took a little longer than usual with our steak, so the chef sent over a complimentary dish of roasted brussel sprouts. usually the spaghetti is the most memorable part of the night for me, but tonight, it was the medium-seared steak and buttery crispy potatoes. always the best!

best: we saw two HUGE - i mean, 7-8 ft tall, snowmen in the area. haha ... it's been a while since i've seen snowmen, and i don't think i've ever seen one this big!

worst: found out that our pete doesn't make custom shelves. darn. we really like his style and his respect for his art, and would have loved to have one of his creations in the loft. he says it doesn't pay well enough - i guess i can understand that. it is business after all.

smile: happy birthday, jayjay! he turned 11 today :)

date night

a few months ago, i mentioned that one of our close friends had recently started dating someone, and although we've hung out a couple times now in larger group settings, we finally pinned out an evening to go out, just the four of us.

we had a 7pm reservation at takashi, a japanese yakiniku restaurant which is special to us since we went on our first date here back in the summer of 2011. let it be known that it was also one block away from kevin's apartment - hmm ... anyways, armed with beers, umeshu, and cocktails, we enjoyed plate after plate of beef shank buns, grilled shio-tan, kalbi, harami, and rice-bombs (thanks hubby for always doing an amazing job of ordering for us!) as we got to know jay's girlfriend, kathy.

they sat very close throughout dinner, each putting food on the other's plate throughout the night, and holding hands the entire time! during dinner, jay said yes to pretty much anything that kathy suggested regardless of his aversion for activities other than broadway shows, golf, and tennis, so we knew THIS WAS SERIOUS. i think he even offered to go cycling with us and bought *gasp* running shoes. all jokes aside, they did seem to have a lot in common, especially their love of broadway shows.

for dessert, we had the vanilla soft-serve with the works, which includes  shiratama mochi balls, azuki, black sesame powder, and green tea syrup! although i had been feeling under the weather during the day, it was a wonderful way to spend the evening and exciting to see a young couple start their journey together ... 

best: a pop of color from my ikat purple patagonia troposphere jacket amongst a sea of blacks and grey coats during our morning commute.

worst: on-and-off mind numbing headaches for the past two weeks. sometimes even the advil and tylenol doesn't help, but hopefully we're both getting better soon.

smile: impromptu chai tea latte break with daisy on a wintry afternoon.

cheese rocks

since moving to chelsea, my commute time has been shortened to 10-15 minutes door-to-door, with 1 train stations one block from my office and one block from the loft. it's extremely convenient in the winter or rainy seasons - just short enough to manage without donning hat, gloves, or an umbrella!

today, however, was an exception to my commute home. instead of heading north on seventh ave as i usually do after getting off the train, i decided to walk west on 23rd ... straight into the big booty bread co!

now, what to pair with dinner? well, herb cheese rocks and cheese buns, of course. and a fudge brownie for dessert. both kevin and i have been recovering from a lingering cold accompanied by massive headaches, so tonight we would treat ourselves. the cheese breads were fresh out of the oven and still warm in the bag - i couldn't wait to get home.

unfortunately, or fortunately, i was caught by a condo board member on my way into the building and pulled aside for a twenty-minute tour of his newly renovated 3 bedroom apartment in addition to discussions about a multi-million dollar proposal for the lobby and hallway renovation. he was looking for support before the upcoming annual shareholder's meeting. oh boy ..

when i finally made it home an hour later than originally intended, kevin had beat there and was more than happy to help take down the cheese breads. they were somehow STILL warm, and the insides were very QQ, almost mochi-like. we finished both of them in minutes.

on the side, we nibbled on cherry tomatoes with MOMO sesame dressing. it's delicious! MOMO dressing is a company based on brooklyn which makes a variety of salad dressings with no preservatives. whole foods in chelsea and tribeca recently started carrying their products, so we were fortunate to be able to purchase them across the street! talk about freshness :) you can also pick them up at smorgasburg in williamsburg, which is where we originally got them from.

finally dinner, an amalgamation of superbowl chili and red quinoa - high in protein, for sure (cheese, beef, beans, quinoa - LOL), with sauteed kale on the side. i found a comfortable spot on the couch and stayed there for the rest of the night watching gilmore girls :)