Guess You Just Had To Be There

I got off the G train at Smith and 9th St. stop, pleasantly awaiting there was my friend in her red coat; Jessica. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and my anticipation of this cafe was heightened by the hour fight with the weekend construction schedule of the New York Subway lines. But alas, I finally arrived at my destination. When we walked up to the entrance of “Le Petit Cafe” I closed out the busy industry that was surrounding me, and simply allowed myself to take a deep breath and step into the hidden french villa. I loved this place. The food was delish, but it was the atmosphere that brought me here.

Great Curb appeal!  With the yellow awning and little details, I really began to forget that I was in the middle of a bustling city.

There were candles, beautiful stone, a relaxing water wall, real plants, and fresh flowers.  Jessica and I sat on a wooden bench, that resembled a tree log.

It was rustic, yet elegant, like a villa hidden away in a forest.

This was the chandelier that hung above us.  The ceiling let in a lot of natural light.

Jessica’s coffee, my cappuccino, and the most lovely YELLOW flowers made this morning extra special for us.  That is Jessica’s red coat adding the perfect splash of color to this picture.  Thank you Jessica for a wonderful Saturday morning!

Why am I here?  Not why am I here in New York, silly?  But why am I here writing on the world wide web?  One, I am slightly a theatrical person. (I prefer the word theatrical over dramatic.  Though my family has called me dramatic, and now my husband way to easily follows suit.  I am simply expressive about life, and feel that everything I express is simply the way it needs to be expressed. Anything less would not give justice to my feelings.)  Blogging somewhat provides a stage for your average everyday writer,  whether I have an audience or not. Two, I feel that this is a way to provide some discipline to a very undisciplined writer.  I thought that majoring in creative writing would FORCE me to write and to put things out in a timely matter.  Instead of going to grad school, I got married and realized that grad school really had to take a back seat to many things going on in my life at the time.  I figured I needed to not be forced into the discipline of writing, but just do it, because I loved to.  That has worked out to some degree, but I have fluctuated between writing prolifically and not even picking up a pen to such great extremes that I was starting to go crazy. Three, I love life, and have so many amazing things happen around me, I just can’t think of a better way to share these things, then to blog about them.  Four, I often tell people “I am going to blog about that,”  when they proceed to do something crazy or tell me an off-the-wall kind of story.  I need to have more power behind this previously empty threat! Five, I just recently moved to New York City, and am experiencing so many new and fun things, I need an outlet and a way to remember when, for example, seeing a rat running around was a new experience for me. (More on this later.)  So here, I am blogging about my life, not sure if any one is listening, but a girl has got to start somewhere.

I can’t believe that January has come and gone! In someways this month has gone by incredibly slow, but I still can’t believe that it is over. January is a difficult month. It goes by slowly for many reasons. It is the first month after December, a fast-paced month filled with fun. If you traveled to spend time with family, it is the first month away from your family.  All of a sudden the beautiful lights of the Christmas season are packed away.  Store window displays sparkle a little less, and people begin to “awake” from the holiday spirit, bogged down by New Year’s Resolutions and credit card bills.  In December, when it is cold, it is just part of the beauty of the holidays.  The cold weather is a blessed reason to stay home with people that you love, sipping hot chocolate (at least that is what I would be sipping on), and staying warm together.  In January, it is just COLD!  The same people that brought you warmth, are now just annoying.  The cold weather seems that much colder without the promise of holiday cheer to bring a different perspective to it. And yet, with all these reasons to look down on this crazy month, I am going to miss it. I can’t believe that 1/12th of the year is already gone. Goodbye January.

I finally got the opportunity to go to Peanut Butter & Company in New York City.  If you LOVE peanut butter, than this is probably your heaven.  The menu is full of all sorts of amazing peanut butter sandwich and desert creations.  If you want to check out the menu it is at www.ilovepeanutbutter.com.  I, unfortunately, do not LOVE peanut butter, with me it is only a ‘like’ type of relationship, so I decided to ask one of the workers for a recommendation.  The guy behind the counter recommended ‘the Bee’s Knees’, so naturally I followed his recommendation.  I have to say, I think I ordered one of the most boring sandwiches on the menu.  For a menu that offers amazing creations of peanut butter with any thing from chocolate to bacon, I had to order the one that came with apple butter and wheat germ.  Argh!  Not only that, I felt that the bread was kind of dry and there is nothing worse than dry bread with an already saliva-sponge of a sandwich. The crust on the bread was also extremely tough, and if I hadn’t ordered a wonderful glass of milk and tried a bite of the slightly more exciting flutternutter sandwich (which also had tough/dry bread), all hope would be lost.  As it is, I am no lover of the butter, so I believe that I may be slightly pre-disposed to being a little critical at a store that’s entire focus is surrounding peanut-butter, especially when my taste-buds where less than amused.  I am willing to give it another try, and would be remiss to make a final judgement based on one sandwich sample.

This is it!  Not that impressive looking.  The sandwich in the background is the Flutternutter.  The one in the foreground is the Bee’s Knees.

Inside the Bee’s Knees.

I love the little magic words in life: Please, Thank You and You’re Welcome! I have to admit that since being in NYC, I haven’t heard those words very often. Tonight was an exception though. I am not sure why. It is SOOOOOOOOO cold outside, you would think this would make all New Yorker’s extremely grouchy and irritable. Perhaps, because it was SOOOOOOOOO cold, the chill cut quickly through the exterior and brought out every one’s inner warmth. I even found myself walking around with a huge southern grin for most of the evening. As I exited the 7 train, my love for these words and for my fellow New Yorkers escalated so much that before I could stop myself, I found myself waving good-bye to the train conductor and shouting out “Thank You.” To my surprise, she didn’t just throw up the window and give me a dirty look, but genuinely smiled back and with all warmth of heart, that only the coldest weather can bring out, returned my greeting with a lovely “You Are Welcome.”

Today I woke up. I woke up to many things. I woke up in New York City with beautiful snow falling outside of my window. I woke up and realized that my life has drastically changed since this time last year. I am in a new decade; ah the wonderful thirties! Three years ago today, I was also in New York City. I wasn’t living here, Daniel and I had visited the city for an amazing date, that ended on top of the Empire State Building with Daniel on one knee asking me to marry him! I said yes, as snow swirled all around us. It was a beautiful, beautiful day. It was the first snow of that season and it felt like heaven was smiling down on us. I felt so much joy and hope for the future on that wonderful day. This morning I woke up and I was reminded of that amazing joy. Heaven was once again smiling down on me, and I was remembered! I am living in the most amazing city in the world, married to the most amazing man. I have family and friends, who both love and challenge me. So here I find myself stepping out from behind my journal that stays safely on my shelf and into the world of blogging.