Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

103 degrees.  It's been 103 degrees here.

??!?!?!?!?

How is that even possible?  This is New York.  If I wanted The Sarahan, I woulda stayed in Texas...except it is very humid here also so the heat index is actually 105 degrees.  Again...

?!??!?!??!??!?

I poked fun of the news station here because I thought they were sensationalizing the heat a little earlier this week.  They repeatedly spoke of this "heat wave" for which the city was preparing because temps were going to be in the 90's all weekend. The city was setting up cooling stations for the elderly, etc.  I thought, psssh, that's Texas all of the time.  Yeah, I got served up yet another lesson on what it is to be a New Yorker.  I had to learn it the hard way that yes, even though it is hot in Texas, no one walks outside for miles on end.  Today after work, some of the other residents and I went on a little shopping tour with Laura as our guide.  Laura is one of the senior residents who I believe, genuinely, is an angel.  Not only is she a very nice girl, but Laura is pretty much the reason I am here.  Although we didn't know each other in medical school, I do know her brother, and she put in a good word for me at the program here, which landed me an interview and established a good preceding reputation.  I owe her so much.  It's funny, though, I was told by people at my old program that she and I were very similar to each other, and the residents here refer to me as Laura Version 2.0.  I think it can be said that we are going to be great friends.  Not only did she help me before I came, but she is now my unofficial tour guide and broker all in one.  In one felled swoop, she took us all around the neighborhood today showing us the good places to eat and shop, and she showed me her favorite apartment hunting website and immediately began pointing out potential places to look.  So today (and yesterday!), I went on a walking/shopping tour.  I calculated it, and I walked approximately 3 miles in the heat today as well as yesterday.  It is miserable!  I had to find a bench to rest on my way home because my back was killing me from carrying all my goods and work stuff, and I was sweating like a pig. 

So there I am on my bench- dying of course- when this little old stooped lady walks by me with her walker, stops to look at me, and playfully says "Is it hot?"  Yikes.  I am getting shown up by New Yorkan biddies now.  Anyway, I made it home.  I have to keep two full 1 L bottles of water in my fridge at all times.  I drink tons of the stuff.  And my wardrobe is having to adjust as well.  Everyone here wears dresses, even during the day just out and about, it's all dresses.  If you know me, then you know I own only a handful of dresses (as in, like, 3), and those only come out of the closet approximately only 2.5 times a year.  And forget it if they are short. These legs don't come out of hiding without a good spray tan and shave and some motivational self encouragement for a few hours.  So yesterday I bought a nice long flowy dress, and I have been wearing some of my other shorter dresses with tights (much to my fashionista friend Lauren's dismay because "come on, Jennifer, its July."), but I have some more shopping to do.  NO ONE wears jeans out on the town here unless they are skinny jeans, which, if you paid attention to my comments about my legs, you know that ain't gonna happen either.  I will have to work on making things a little more, ahem, presentable.

I did see a few funny things during my walking that I figured I would share...

Remember, what I told you about specialty stores?

I don't know about this next one.  Uhhh, gross kinda?  I've been told this is "so upper east side."

I didn't get a picture because my phone died, but I wanted to take a picture of a mattress along the sidewalk that said "Become Your Dream" in black permanent marker. I keep seeing these signs all over the city written on pieces of trash on the sidewalk that say "Become Your Dream" and various other messages. I figured that it was just a person writing it on the trash around his or her apartment, but I began seeing it in every neighborhood.  In wanting to find a picture to show you all, I just now googled Become Your Dream to learn yet another interesting story.  It turns out that the Become Your Dream is a campaign by a young artist here in New York named James De La Vega.  De La Vega grew up in Spanish Harlem (also known as East Harlem or El Barrio), the neighborhood just north of where I live.  In fact, the hospital where I work lies on the cusp between upper east side (my neighborhood) and Spanish Harlem, two places which might as well exsit on different planets.  The artist spreads this message around New York as a potential inspiration since he, himself, became his dream. 

Here is a link to a synopsis of the campaign

http://www.harperdesigninternational.com/html/delavega.htm.  

I am including a few lines from the article:

Fish trapped in separate glass bowls, staring longingly at each other. Fidel Castro, wearing a Che Guevara shirt and a New York Yankees baseball cap, with the caption Even Fidel is a Yankee. “The Last Supper” in chalk, featuring skeletons as Christ and the Apostles. A tiny bird, chirping, with the blocky legend This Moment is More Precious Than You Think. Disparate as these messages are, they all exist somewhere on the streets of New York City as artwork created by street artist James de la Vega, described by the New York Times as “a hybrid between a street kid and an Ivy League guerrilla performance artist.”

And here is a link to another blog called The Upper East Side Informer (I might have to start reading this), in which the author describes why the artist's work is so meaningful to her and what it was like to have a personal enounter with him. http://uppereastsideinformer.blogspot.com/2010/03/become-your-dream.html

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

This is one of De La Vegas' murals located at E95th street between 1st and 2nd Ave.  I have passed this mural before not knowing, again, why it was there.

 

And what would a blog entry be if I didn't include a section on food.  So here is the designated section called

 

FOOD

 

I want to reiterate again the goodness that is the bakery called "Two Little Red Hens."  I have been avoiding that place lately despite many tempting moments passing it by, mostly because I am trying to reduce the size of my rear end.  These are not rear-end-reducing snacks.  But today, a colleague wanted cupcakes after work.  "Have you tried Two Little Red Hens?" I implored,  to which his answer was no.  I told him these are the best cupcakes EVER. He was skeptical, as he has established his loyalty to Corner Store Cafe and their reportedly delectable Red Velvet cupcakes.  However, I believe I proved myself as a worthy source, since he and I both are not impressed with Crumbs Cupcakes (or the supposed IT place for cupcakes in NYC - cupcakes are kind of a big deal here).  He agreed to try it and informed me that I would be beaten if I failed.  Alas, I succeeded in my quest.  We tried a sampler of their mini size cupcakes consisting of Red Velvet, Strawberry Jam, Boston Cream, and Fudge Iced Yellow Cake, and he had to admit that he was impressed.  Although this place is tiny, it is an adorable old fashioned bakery where the girls behind the counter wear bandanas around their heads tied up old style.  We also had some yummy iced lattes.  Next time cupcakes are in order, however, I will be visiting his place of choice.  Not that I really mind, of course.

 

 

Another place that is quickly becoming an obsession is the Good Health Cafe.  I told you guys about this place in a previous blog.  I never thought I would be craving vegan food.  The day after I had it the first time, I wanted to go back to try some more of the menu.  This time I had the Vegetarian spring roll for appetizer, the Crispy Soy Chick'n Bacon Burger (described as "Gourmet in Flavor. A crispy meatless soy chick'n burger, topped with crispy vegan bacon, pepper-onion, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and vegan mayo), and the vegan chocolate mousse cake.  All of it was delicious, and I cut it all in half and had plenty for two meals.

And then I couldn't help myself.  I got home from my exhausting day of shopping yesterday (yes, I know...life is hard), and I didn't feel like cooking anything.  I went for delivery but all the greasy ethnic food or pizza just sounded like too much.  I ordered Good Health Cafe for the third day in a row.  I wanted to try something new, but I was compelled to get the Black Bean Bacon vegan burger again.  It's amazing.  I realize after yelping this place that this choice is a favorite of many people.  I am glad it was the first one I picked.  It was as delicious the second time as it was the first, and I tried the soy chicken nuggets with honey mustard as well.  Again, I cut this all in half to split it over two meals.  Who knew vegan and veggie meals could be this great?

Last but not least (and I promise I am wrapping it up), I tried a new place this evening that naturally turned out to be fantastic.  Lauren cabbed it up to my neck of the woods to bring me some end tables, and she wanted to stick around here for dinner.  So of course, I asked my tour guide Laura what she suggested for two girls looking for some good grub.  She suggested Uptown Lounge.  Ohmygoodness.  I knew my trusted tour guide would not let us down. We both loved it.  Not only was the atmosphere kind of chic and hip, but the food was great! We split the goat cheese and spinach quesadillas and the rosemary and goat cheese stuffed chicken.  Yes, I know.  We are goat cheese freaks.  I also tried the white wine sangria.  I usually am a red wine kind of girl, but with the heat, the white just sounded more refreshing.  It was good of course, nice and sweet with a hint of peach flavor and not too heavy of a drink for a hot summer evening.  I am keeping this one on my list of places to re-visit, and their sign out front reported a very tempting brunch deal including sangria.

 

This is a picture of the place during the day.  Once night sets in, the ambience is maintained and possibly even improved.  What a find. It's amazing to me how thin everyone is here when there is so much food around.  I could eat at a different restaurant every meal in the upper east side only and never run out of options, I don't think.  Let's not try it and say we did though.

Alright, that concludes this marathon of an entry (not that any of them are really all that short).  I have to report that I went wandering about yesterday and discovered two important things.  One, I have laundry in my building located just the next block over on the other side of the building, and two, there is a pool and park right behind my building as well.  Woo hoo.