An Independent Thanksgiving

Okay, so it is the 2nd year that I've done Thanksgiving on my own. We're heading into the holiday season and I'll probably be doing most of them by myself. My roommates travel and the mister isn't in town for the holidays.

Last year it was a little emotional and overwhelming... This year not so much.

What do you do for Thanksgiving on your own?

- You make a Thanksgiving smoothie (no turkey involved, just fruit).
- You scrub the Thanksgiving tub and do the Thanksgiving dishes (and because you're at home by yourself, you know they stay done).
- You take a Thanksgiving personal spa day - exfoliate, pluck, shave, deep condition and spend 2 hours in a hot bath.
- You pick a TV show (Ugly Betty this time around) and marathon during all of your activities.
- You make some Thanksgiving wraps...
- Then you feel a little left out of the pie-a-thon.
- You go to the corner store and buy a cake mix and some frosting.
- You bake a Thanksgiving cake... and continue to watch Ugly Betty.
- And then you wind up the night with all the skin care you normally neglect... and flossing.

I'm really grateful that I stuck it out here in NYC. I've got a beautiful house, lovely roommates, good friends, a great boyfriend and a loving family. And for Black Friday, I'm staying home, doing some laundry and avoiding all crowds... and eating some Thanksgiving cake.

I have a first world problem.

Today's shipments. 

So I am doing those subscription beauty boxes (glossybox, ipsy, julep)... and they give you great discounts for products. Well, this last month, there were really great coupons. I bought a couple items here... and another couple there.... and then NYX had a great sale and they have these great glittery eyeliners that I've been obsessing about for about a month and then their eyeshadow pots were only a dollar, and their nail polish was only $2 a bottle.

Well, All the orders came in today. Which was surprising. And overwhelming. And eye opening. Looks like I am going to be canceling two of the boxes. But I don't know which to quit.



Ipsy - $10 per month. 4-6 items. 

Brands that I could afford and buy at the duane reade... More makeup than skincare and haircare.

However, if you quit. Then you have to join the waiting list again before you can sign up again.



Glossybox - $23 with shipping per month 4-5 items. 

Luxury foreign and high end brands. Great sized samples. Excellent actual boxes (for easy organizing at home) :) Usually an even smattering of haircare, skincare and makeup.



Julep - $20 per month 3 items. 

3 nail polishes or 2 polishes and 1 beauty product. I CAN skip months with Julep instead of fully quitting.



WEAK! I am weak.

So December... Here we go. Gotta make some cancelations. Save a little money and go through the massive amounts of stuff I already have.

First. World. Problem.

ART NIGHT!

Today was a stay-in-holy-cow-it's-freezing day. Our heater is half working (hey, it's keeping us at about 60 degrees). So I've been wrapped up in Lauren's electric blanket (kind woman) making hot chocolate and thinking of things to bake and cook for the upcoming week so I can keep the oven or stove going. I cooked up a bunch of hamburger for this week's lunches, hot chocolate, soup. I also made baked chicken for lunch. I contemplated brownies... but didn't have the eggs. Next time. 

My dear friend Katya came over for a girls evening. We did the obligatory nail painting and then busted out the art supplies. 

Tamara went on a shopping spree a while back and gave me a bunch of shoe box lids to use for art projects. 5 months later we put them to use. 

I don't know the exact measurements of the "canvases" but I do imagine taking them in and asking for them to be framed in size 9.5... 

Our final products... 

Stranger than thou.

I walked out of the train station, down the front steps. It was all normal, rowdy kids shouting at each other, that sunken looking dude that's always begging for change, a police officer on the corner. I caught the eye of a strange white guy I've never seen before. And believe me, the white people are the minority. You notice someone new. He said hello. I said hi back.

"hope you have a good night!"
"Thanks!" I hefted my bag higher, grabbed my keys and kept walking.

The kitty lady from earlier this week had already filled the food bowls for the strays. The orange one I like so much was sniffing around the fence near the sidewalk. The mind wanders..

Tiffany & Co.... on the way to dinner.

Katya and the delicious mac. 

....Katya and I had the best mac and cheese tonight at S'mac. I'm sure glad I met her. See the doc's office isn't that bad. We're going to have a salon day this December. I ran into this dude peddling a salon package on my way to dinner. $400 worth of services at the 5th ave aveda salon for $69. I told him I couldn't afford it. Then he sweetened the deal. Two packages for $69. It's Christmas after all. It would make a great gift. . I paid for the certificates (mom, don't worry. It's a real thing). And he walked with me from 52nd and 5th down to 34th just sorta chatting along the way.

I walked from the Columbus circle area all the way down to 12th and 1st ave (that's like... 3.2 miles). Man... I can't wait to get home and kick these shoes off. My dogs are barkin'.

At that point in the mind wanderings, the man from the subway passed me. His phone in one hand. A glowing cigarette in the other, "Hang on a sec. Hey, I wanted to tell you back there, I really like your shoes."

"Thanks, New Balance is the best. I haven't seen you around before. Are you new to the neighborhood?"

"I've been here 2 years. My name is Nathaniel. So you really like them? The shoes?"

"Yeah, I've been through about 7 pairs of new balance."

"They wear out quickly?"

"No. I just mean... brand loyalty, you know? I really like them."

"Do they get hot? Do they keep your feet from getting hot and sweaty?"

"Yes. I mean. They've got mesh outers, so it stays pretty fresh in there."

"Any chance I could see your feet sometime?"

"Oh, wow. Ummm... No. That would make me uncomfortable. But thanks! Hey man, It's nice to meet you. I'll see you around."

And with that. I am 100% sure my day was weirder than yours.

Facts, Coffee Talk, Hurrah! Feminism and Another Musician...

Tonight my friend Cat and I met up for a belated-lated birthday evening. We met up at Washington Square (remember those 25,000 dead bodies?). We stalked some historic sites... First, the archway at Washington Square...

Standing on dead bodies! Also, the well that provided the water to 5th avenue residents was exactly where the fountain today stands. 

Couldn't decide which to use. Mom... input? 

So today is the transgender memorial day? Someone made those birds out of paper. Each one represents a transgendered person martyred for their gender. Underneath each bird is a name and a bit about who they are and how they died. It's nearly 6pm and none of the birds have been stolen. New York, I am impressed. 

Facts...

In 1911 the triangle shirtwaist fire was started when a sewing machine ignited. At that time the area near Washington Square was a garment district. Where the bottom floor was the shop and the upper floors were sweatshops. During the fire, women, trapped by the flames jumped out the window to their deaths. Because of this fire there were changes in fire safety regulations, worker regulations (not locking people in their work space) and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was created.

McSorley's Old Ale House 

And my personal favorite... "at 15 E. 7th st. you'll find McSorley's Old Ale House, the last of New York's "men only" pubs, until it was liberated by Gloria Steinem, an action successfully defended in court by the National Organization for Women in 1970. Today McSorley's welcomes men and women patrons."

Coffee Talk
While waiting for Cat to arrive (my habitual earliness will die when I do), I ordered coffee and got to put some words down. So ermm...  here is my rusty prose.

She makes a stink face. 

     But we gotta let go! 

These small offenses unwittingly performed 

         by strangers are not a just cause 

     for loss of faith in humanity. 

            Rather our vehement & animalistic responses 

            are those that should elicit disdain. 

She makes a stink face? 

     Or maybe she just looks that way. 

Greenwich Village is immersed in shops whose very bricks are steeped in culture and revolution. 

It must emanate. It has been an hour and I haven't seen one iPhone. Rather, long-haired, genderless bohemians - reading magazines, writing in composition books & leaning in too closely to each other while conversing. 

These lives they lead, stimuli. I am green. This educational and social scape. My 20-something self licks it's malnourished, creaking neurons. 

Beans, barnwood floor, vintage shoes, Whitman haunts, reading over shoulders about a different kind of leaves of grass. 

Feminism 

So Cat showed up... and we flexed our right to go to McSorley's. 1970... That is ridiculously late in the civil rights movement to get with the program and let women into your establishment. So, Thank YOU, Gloria Steinem.

It was such a cool place. Sawdust on the floor. Every inch of the walls was covered with framed articles, old photos, pen-knife carved fraternity symbols and lots of dust. We sat in the back, near the kitchen and the unlit fireplace.

This one is for the ladies! 

At McSorley's Ale House, you can order beer. They have a couple different types on tap, namely, Dark or Light. They also have an exhaustive menu including Soup. Sandwich (tuna, ham & cheese, or Liverwurst), Burger and fries or the daily special. I got the burger. Cat got the sandwich.

The food is survival food. Like the kind you read about in books. Take a day-long journey on a horse and buggy. Better pack a hunk of bread, a bit of cheese and some meat. Survival food. Food made for sustenance and just that.

We found the wishbones that were hung by boys and men who went off to WWII. What happened was, they hung the wishbone before they left. And when they returned, they took the wishbone down. Well... There are still quite a few wishbones hanging from the wire. I can't help but wish to be there when the next one gets taken down... if ever. 

Another Music Video

This is a lovely little trio that was playing the L train on Tuesday midday. I always feel sheepish blatantly recording people... so... that's my skirt and the floor. 

This was a strange flute and cello duet. They were just picking up and getting started. It was too dark to get better view... and my phone was too dying to get more. 

Lunchbreak and November's Ipsy

Today isn't very interesting. I'm at work for a few hours manning the desk while doc does some Alzheimer's screenings. Then I'm going to be home with the mister watching movies and cooking. Better adventures tomorrow, I promise.

I was out to lunch yesterday. I only go out when I work the long day at the doc's. 10 hours. I don't want to pack a lunch and then go hunting for a place to eat it. I am CERTAINLY not going to eat it in the office. The point is to get away from that place. Plus, even if I'm "on lunch," if I'm in the vicinity, I'm still expected to answer the phones and be all customer service-y.

Anyway... I've taken to this little place called La Parisienne. It's a hole in the wall diner with better prices than the fancy restaurants surrounding it... and it's not a chain. This Russian guy owns it. Russian owner, Latin workers, American/Greek food and it's called La Parisienne. It's my multicultural experience for the day.

This is the diner... don't worry, that guy picking at his face doesn't serve food. He's the owner. 

If I get out of the diner too early, I take a stroll through central park. Can't go too far into it but it's nice to get the daily dose of trees. These photos are at 2:30pm. The tall buildings make everything so dark. It is in the shade until you get far enough in. 

From the Artists Gate entrance. 

What? Renovation... new carpet? An extra guest room? Painting the roses red? 

This is where the rickshaws sleep. $2 per minute per ride is the lowest price I've seen so far. 

I just like that this dude is wearing a crown of birds. 

Also, It is a good day when one of the beauty box subscriptions comes in. Yesterday was PARTICULARLY lucky. I had two come in on the same day. I'm not going to bore you with both of the reviews. Ipsy won the awesome contest this month, so I'll review that one. 

Ipsy 

It's $11.23 a month including shipping. The Ipsy November Glambag was a hit.

First, it came in a gold alligator skin looking bag. FUN! 

$13 - Nailtini Nail polish in Champagne. So new years! This is why I love fall and winter. Glitter and shimmer is easy to find, buy and wear! 

$16.50 - EM Michelle Phan Lipstick in Nude. This makes me think of Connie and Carla.

"Straw hair and beige lips?" 

"What?! It's the new look." 

"Yeah... for dead Californians." 

$14 - Starlooks liner in Topaz - silvery, glittery, holiday goodness. 

$9 - Pixi Bronzer (sample size) in Subtly Suntouched - Hey, the first bronzer that's hasn't turned me orange! Extraordinary. 

$2 - Galaxy Chic Eyeshadow in Aphrodite - I feel meh about this. Baked eyeshadows are always chalky. But it blends well. Anyone want an eyeshadow? It's a shimmery deep magenta color. 

$14 - Be a Bombshell lip crayon in Hot Damn - Pinky Red. It'll need a brown lipliner to darken and warm up the color. But I do love a lip crayon. I'm not sure if it's the lipstick part that I love more or that it's a crayon so it's not even makeup anymore but arts and crafts. 

So what was that again? $11.23 for $68.50 of cosmetics. This is what hooks me. I get to try new stuff. For so cheap. I wish I had this in Idaho... the drugstores out there don't carry a lot of this and a lot of these brands only pair with certain distributors (see: not walmart or mart-y like stores). 

Backlog (photo heavy)

Had a good weekend with the mister. One of the lovely practitioners in our office gave him a jacket from UniQlo (p.s. friends - it's worth looking up. Great clothes. Great prices). We took the jacket back for something a bit more "him." And we did a little sight-seeing.

The Christmas decorations started in October. I saw trees getting wrapped along 5th avenue in OCTOBER. BEFORE. HALLOWEEN. I think it's because Hanukkah is early this year and everyone just pairs it with Christmas. Hanukkah starts the night before Thanksgiving. That's crazy, right?!

Anyway... Here's the city in preparation for the season.

Big Box Stores are turning into Big Giftbox Stores. (Cartier Jewelry in the red ribbon). 

Just some perspective... That is the scaffolding for trimming the Rockefeller Tree

The Tree from the front side... 

Zamboni on the Rockefeller Rink. Look at those trees. Remind you of Temple Square? 

 And of course there is the every day festivity that is NYC. Art deco sculptures, architecture, taking photos during red lights and embracing that someone might think I'm a tourist. Also, points to the gentleman for being patient while I settled into the "mom should see this" mindset.

Above an entryway to one of the buildings in the Rockefeller Plaza. 

That Atlas guy... and a christmas-y wreath in the background. 

Fancy building... The one in front of the METLIFE/Panam monster. Oncoming traffic. Cardboard box... or as they call them here, Derelict Studio Housing. Funnily enough, on the very next block, the maison du 5th avenue is for lease. 6 floors to call your own, right on fifth avenue. Betcha it's 100 million dollars to buy. 

Typical view of waiting for a train...  tick. tock. SCREEEEEEAAAAACHHHH! CLANG! CLANG!