Guess You Just Had To Be There

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.