Falafel Review #1: Mister Falafel

i hadn't planned on making Mister Falafel my first falafel stop, but as i found in my last post, plans are for suckers.

chris and i are pretty hungry and decided to pop in, after dodging the seven thousand trattorias on 7th avenue.  Mister Falafel is a hole in the wall, cheesily decorated joint where you walk in and there is a counter for to go orders.  this never stops me when it comes to falafel; i first fell in love with falafel in a similar venue (shout out to sultan's market in wicker park, chicago).

mister falafel's falafel can be summed up as greasy:  the little balls are spiced to perfection on the inside, but they are dark, heavy, and too oily on the outside.  you can get it with whatever topping you like (i choose a simple hummus, tomato and lettuce) and it is served in a boring, white, cold pita.  let's just say that the combination of refined wheat from the pita, and the grease, does not digest so joyfully.

this only makes me more determined to find that perfect falafel!  suggestions welcome!

random kindness and generosity

life is full of amazing surprises...

just when you think you have things planned and mapped out, a wrench is thrown into your plans. yesterday i had a plan to go explore a new neighborhood, and literally mapped out my day by routes.

i wake up bright and early, to sounds of a critter that i believe has found a home in my radiator, or somewhere in the wall?   chris comes over not feeling well, i make him tea. we call the maintenance people, the never come.  i decide that this will not stop me!   and leaving chris to a nap, set out to go explore... i get as far as the station and realize my metrocard is gone! i am livid, disappointed and i just feel sad.

it's a week pass, and it was only the 4th day into the week!  mta only reimburses lost biweekly and monthly passes.  i have a melt down, like a 2 year old because i am really trying to stay on the tightest of budgets.  my sweet fiance (who is not feeling well)  tries to make me feel better by taking me to lunch.  it is about 1:30, and we are overwhelmed and hungry. we set out to the mexican restaurant in my neighborhood, it doesn't open until 4:30... and neither do any of the other restaurants in the area.  so we walk through prospect park, not really knowing where we'll end up.

as we walk through park slope and by the brownstones, crunching leaves under our feet, the sun shining brightly, but not enough to make me wish i'd brought my sunglasses, i realize that this day has turned out perfectly.  we talk about things we've never discussed.  we eat mr. falafel ( in depth falafel review to come) and have the most amazing vegan butter pecan ice cream at the v spot!

and the icing on the cake came today!  i am standing at the metrocard dispenser machine digging in my purse for my wallet, when a man comes over to me and says "you want me to swipe you in for free?"  i was skeptical, but he walked over to the turnstile, swiped his card, and i went through.  and then he just walked away.   i was amazed at his kindness, and reminded of just how much God is always taking care of me!  I will be passing that on.

back, and better than ever!

it's been a long while since i have posted.  i have lots to share.

i came back from my show and found an apartment, found a day job, got my wisdom teeth out, bought a wedding dress, ... and a whole lotta other stuff. 

anyway, i am finally feeling rejuvenated, and i'm starting up my quest to discover new york one borough at a time.  in conjunction with this, i will be in search of the best falafel sandwich in the city! 

what qualifies as good falafel, you ask?  light, crispy, little balls, with a perfect balance of toppings (tahini, hummus, etc.), wrapped in soft, warm pita.   suggestions are welcome!

in coming blogs you will also hear me talk about leaving it up on the cheap.  i have scaled down and i will be sharing how i've been surviving on a part time job in this expensive city.  it has been an experience that has, at times, been frustrating (cheap make-up crumbles the day after you buy it)  but i know that it will make me smarter about money when i have more of it.

ok, i promise not to stay away too long!  

Play Me, I'm Yours!

So, yesterday, I hear about a composer doing a free impromptu concert in the lincoln center plaza.  If it's free, it's for me, I'll take three!  I hop on the F and I'm so sure that it will take me right to lincoln center plaza.  wrong!  (can we have a discussion about how just in one month i have forgotten the transit system, so sad) so i end up walking about a mile to get there and i'm late, and looking around, and i see a piano, free for the playing.  currently there is a person sitting at the piano playing a soaring piece and a beautiful operatic soprano singing this aria!  I'm enthralled, even though i know this is not the composer I came to see. 

I sit here for a while.  the soprano leaves, people meander by, some tinkling with it a little, and then and older woman, her husband and her granddaughter walk by.  the older woman sits down and starts playing so beautifully!  When she stops we are all clapping, she gives a shy shrug and leaves.  i hear a women nearby say that there are 60 pianos planted all over the city, just for people to sit down and play!  It's part of Sing For Hope , an amazing and inspiring project.  There are even some pianos in Brooklyn, and you better believe that until July 5 (that's when the project ends) I will be where these pianos are!  Who's with me?

next time i'll have pictures!

Home, Sweet, Home? or seven giddy smiles

There's a question mark there, because I wonder whether or not I can call a place I'm subletting home.  I mean, I'm using someone else's furniture, and roommate.  All the same it feels spectacular to be back in New York. (That's right, spectacular.) I just came from a town of 4400 people.  I think there is no need to elaborate.

In just 4 weeks, some things have already changed here, and although I thoroughly enjoyed the experience in Sullivan, I am so giddy about being back that everything seems extra amazing to me!  Here's a list of things in the city that are putting smiles on my lips:

1. the gentleman sleeping next to me on the train, "snoring".  it sounds more like a moose mating call, and it makes everyone around us smirk, giggle and exchange glances.
2. i peek over someones shoulder on the same train and see her putting together a jigsaw puzzle on her iPhone.  there's an app for that!?  awesome!
3. in one month away, 8 avenue in midtown somehow manages to install a shake shack!  (i'm not particularly a fan of shakes, but i know it will make my honey happier than a clam)
4. speaking of my honey, i get to meet him at the stage door again!
5. speaking of my honey, he gets a smoothie from juice generation, and (gasp) can not finish it, so he gives it to me!  talk about a role reversal!
6. my brother calls me to say he's coming to visit me in this amazing city! (a perk of living in an amazing place: visitors like never before!)
7. all the dried mango i can eat!!!! yum!

:)

super girl

so remember when i went to that veggie pride parade.  i met someone there who said something that i can't get out of my head.

i'm there wearing my super hero shirt.  it is this red t-shirt with every comic book female super hero ever on it.  i always get lots of compliments from men who love these ladies when i wear it (sometimes it gets a little awkward because the superheroes are across my boobs, and they start pointing them each out by name).  In light of this, I don't think unusual when a certain gentleman (i'll call him ed (because that may or may not be his name, i can't remember)) compliments me on it.  Ed, however, is super enthusiastic about it, so I tell him that i had a super hero party on my 22nd birthday and everyone dressed up as a super hero.  This intrigued him even more, and he began to talk about the impact that super heroes have on our culture in a positive way. He loves the idea of some normal person having a great capacity to make an impact,  and how we all possess these powers, even beyond our understanding, or imagination.

Ed's words plus summer stock remind me that I am capable of so much more than I know.  Physically, creatively, and even in relationships.  Working at a summer theatre, in which I'm working on two shows at a time, forming substantial relationships, and challenging myself on every level - all at lightning speed is the quintessential super natural experience, evoking an energy and assertiveness that I forget that I have! 

Here are some pictures from this super natural experience.  :)

Whoa!

So, I know it's been a while since I posted - but my heavens, 21 days??!  Here's what's been keeping my away:

A couple Sundays ago I attend my first meetup with the NYC Vegan Eatup..... the Veggie Pride Parade!  I meet lots of friendly vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians!!!  There's lots of free food, (even from the V spot (delectable empanadas)) coupons, and random packets of emergenC!  

The following Wednesday, my friend Annie comes to visit!  My first visitor!!! We see Billy Elliot right away (2nd time for me, but it was so wonderful all over again), and attend an artist alliance meetup.  The next day we go to the Broadway Show League Softball games in Central Park (CK is on the Billy Elliot team and they played the American Idiot team (they lost that week, but this week they kicked In the Height's butt!)) We have a deliciously amazing lunch at Harry's Burrito, (they are surprisingly super vegan friendly, and have better cheeze than blokheads)

Then we (with my friend Amanda go wedding dress shopping at the Macy's on 34th street.

The next day we have a picnic in beautiful Prospect Park, and i show Annie where Chris proposed!

Then we go to Ripley Grier to have a tap lesson with Chris/CK.

Saturday we both fly out of town - but not before having breakfast at Cafe Luluc (delicious Chickpea Salad just down the street from me) and going to the dance parade on 14th street!  Of course this is all interspersed with a lot of girl talk, as I really haven't had much of that since I've moved to New York.  I realized how much I need that!

Now I am in Sullivan, IL putting together Showboat and Sleeping Beauty.  And really this is the first break I've had in which I haven't been eating, faxing things home, wedding planning, or sleeping!!!

For the next month my posts will be about Sullivan, and the show, and perhaps some random rants... but in a month we will pick up again with NYC exploration!!!!  I hope I still have your readership! :)

xoxo

the upper eastside is exhausting.

i'm sitting in the kitchen, looking out the window.  the sky is pale blue, the cloud i see looks like a turtle.   people are busy on smith street.  the breeze is coming in.  it's a good day to not explore.

i love exploring, don't get me wrong, but i think i'm still recovering from last saturday, which was ultimately too overwhelming to write about until today.

i set out at noon to discover the upper east side, i hop on the f train and it takes me straight to roosevelt island.  this is a tiny island with not much to do on it, except walk around, enjoy the quiet, green spaces, cobblestone streets, and the manhattan skyline.  that's perfectly fine with me.  i feel like i haven't seen a dandelion puff in ages...

i get back on the f and take it to 63rd street where there is this busy street fair. (a pleasant surprise)  as i'm walking i can't figure out if there is a particular theme for this here festival.  the vendors sell a random assortment of art, jewelry, cleaning supplies,  clothing, thai curry... i sift through this place quickly (the sun is getting hot), and then pop into a tiny store called "tender buttons".   this place is a museum-like button lover's heaven.  i never knew people were this serious about buttons. this youtube video pretty much sums up the shop. Tender Buttons

around this time i get a little lost and see jack nicholson eating on a patio outside of a restaurant.  i update my facebook status.  this is my  first celebrity sighting, and i didn't really believe my guide book when it spoke of the spots to see celebrities.  (although, daily,  i kind of hope to see one of the real housewives of nyc that supposedly lives in my neighborhood... if you can call her a celebrity)
 
i begin to walk north in search of food, and i pass this little boy who tells his nanny "i could fire you, you know?"  appalling!  i could puke all over that little spoiled brat, although he's probably just sad that his parents are not with him on a beautiful saturday afternoon.  i'm starting not to like this area.  the people aren't as open to chatting as in other parts i've discoverd, and it's kind of boring to walk around.  the fun places are spread out for blocks, and my feet hurt.

then i see "shakespeare and co. " a little bookstore with lots of great titles.  and an empty seat!!!! (never to be found in a border's on a saturday).  i get to sit down with a book called Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF.  this is a hilarious book about the crazy things people sell on Etsy.  I laughed out loud, and was often disgusted. (you should check out the website.)

 i now have a little over an hour before i babysit, so i go to one of my new favorite places, "hale and hearty soups".  half a hummus-veggie-sandwich and soup later, i'm back up looking to discover something interesting. ( don't get me wrong there are plenty of museums up here, but today i don't have the time or money) i was hoping for something a little more exciting in this neighborhood. but i just feel weird... and tired.

no more exploring if i can't take my time.

tomorrow i can, and i can't wait to tell you all about "the lower east side"...

but today i'm just gonna enjoy brooklyn... the turtle cloud looks like a goose now.

Long Island City and Astoria

When I originally began my quest - "to Discover New York One Neighborhood At a Time", I planned to start in Lower Manhattan and work my way up, so that each neighborhood would be connected in my brain.  But this Saturday is bright and sunny, I have to babysit in Astoria, so I decide, that maybe order is overrated.

I have to babysit at 5:15, so I make it out of the door at about 12:30. Banana, check, Map, check, Sunglasses, can't find them.  I decide to squint.  The F and G trains are  literally right below me, so I hop on the G and take it to Court Square in Astoria. I have to get out of the subway station to transfer to the 7, and as I walk there I see a big sign that says "PS 1 MoMA".  I had read about this "Contemporary Art Museum", and since it was right there, as clear as day, I decide to go on in and see some art.

Here's the thing with me and art museums - I can't spend hours at different exhibits, poking into different rooms.  I usually focus on one exhibit, sometimes even one or two paintings, I stare at it, take it in and leave.  It's easier for me to appreciate one piece than glance at hundreds, and have no memory to leave with.  This isn't the most cost effective way to look at art, (which is I was a frequent visitor of the Chicago Art Institute on Thursdays evenings when it is free!) but luckily they are installing a new exhibit today, and they're only asking for donations.  I donate the student rate: $2.  (General Admission is $5)

The museum is in an old public school, and as I walk through the hallways, it feels like I am in a nightmare, or a horror film that takes place in an old public school. (See the picture below) It is very raw, desolate, and institutional, and there aren't many signs directing me, so I end up on the 3rd floor where there is an exhibit called "100 years version #2".  This is a sort of multi-media history of provocative, groundbreaking performance art spanning the 20th century, including  videos of Martha Graham's "Lamentations",  Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" (in which she sits motionless on a stage while audience members cut pieces of her clothing off until she is almost nude) and a Cuban artist (whose name escapes me) painting with her body as the tool and blood as the paint.   

(a stairwell in the museum/creepy school)

I let that marinate and find my way out of the museum.  (It's so cheap (and quite close to home)  that I'm sure I'll be back for more)  I hop on that 7 to Vernon Blvd, get out and walk through an industrial area that is turning up condos everywhere.  Here I find the most wonderful spot called Gantry Plaza State Park!  This is a beautiful green spot with 4 piers that stretch out into the East River.  On this sunny Saturday afternoon, there are families playing, and  couples strolling the boardwalk, but it's not nearly as crowded as I'd thought.  I sit, eat a banana, wish that it was Chris' day off, walk the boardwalk, watch two little girls fight over a doll, and then I get up and go look for a tea shop that is in my guide book.  I fail miserably at deciphering addresses in Queens, (It really is a different language) and I just get back to the train, happy to have found such a lovely treasure!

 (you can lay down on those wooden benches)

I'm on the 7, to the N, and I'm back in Astoria (Gantry Plaza State Park was in Long Island City) at Ditmars Ave.  I am super excited to find this cafe called Freeze Peach (my book says it's very vegan friendly).  I'm at the exact spot, I'm checking my address reading rules... this is it, right?  Why is there a bank here?????

My poor, unsuspecting  Columbia Guide to New York 2007 was written before the "economic downturn"  (later that night, a cab driver tells me that it closed in the fall) .  Lesson learned.  Double check before you hit the hot spots! 


I settle for a tiny cafe called Bistro 33: Side Door.  I can't eat much there, so settle for a salad.... it's a salad.  (They don't take plastic, so I have to find an ATM) Then I rush around the corner to "pretend to play Super Mario Brothers" with a 4 and a half year old,  and snuggle a chubby 6th month old. 

A lovely day!

new yorkers: an empire state of kind?

the other day i say to chris, "i think people are nicer in new york, than they are in chicago".  i didn't say this without thought,  i had been caught off guard by people in subways, cafes, on the street, who are just personable, friendly, and happy to help me.

of course chris replies "is it possible that they aren't actually nicer, but they are just more everything, because there are more people and they are more extreme in every way". hmmm, that would mean that they're really mean too... oh no!

i don't think so, i just haven't seen it. 

the day before i leave chicago, i get into a fight with a man in the alley behind my apartment.  he tells me i'm the dumbest girl in the world and that his son went to school with barack obama, he keeps going as i just pretend he isn't there.  so maybe i have a chip on my shoulder. maybe chicagoans deserve to be a little cranky, i mean, the weather for one thing, the politics for another, the cubs, i could go on...

it also occurrs to me that maybe i am different. maybe because i'm happier and more carefree, people find me more approachable and easier to be nice to.   i've only been here for a few weeks, and i've helped out a lot of strangers, mostly elderly people, asking for help.

one young man, a tourist, with a french/african accent, asks me if i am american, i say yes.  he asks, "what does this bull mean?"  (there is a huge statue of a bull in the financial district) i am actually able to share with him my knowledge from the amazing Columbia Guide to New York 2007!!  "the bull is a symbol of power and money"

speaking of money, i still haven't found a job. can you get paid for being happy and carefree, wandering new york, blogging.  let me know!

a puff of smoke

it's monday afternoon, about 3 o'clock, i hop on the f train, transfer to the a, transfer to the 5 and get off at bowling green. (this sounds tedious, but it's really quick, actually) this is battery park, and awfully familiar. i am conquering the financial district today, but i guess i didn't realize that i had been to battery park before. i am immediately excited because the blossoms on the trees are oh so beautiful, and they weren't here when i was here last, and it was also dark then. not today. today is a bright and sunny, blue sky, warm enough to take off my sweater day.

tourists are promenading along the promenade, and i feel like one of them, because i'm wearing tennis shoes with jeans. ( a new yorker would never wear such a get-up.) i'm also carrying the columbia guide to new york 2007.... and not working on a monday. (so when exactly do i stop being a tourist)

(an unnamed couple having a moment)

i wander for a while, sit down, and then i stand up and decide it's time to get financial already! i walk to wall street, where it seems like everyone and their hedge fund manager is outside smoking a cigarette, i mean really, i didn't stop to take pictures of the new york stock exchange because i thought i'd be enveloped in a puff of smoke. get me outta here! cough!

i pop into a borders to sit down for a minute and put a mailing address on a birthday card. i'm back out and i fall in line with the suits that were just released for the day, and i'm looking for a mailbox. i figure i'll find one if i just fall in line... and then there it is... as plain as day...not a mailbox - ground zero.

i'll be honest, i was not looking to visit the site of the world trade center. i'm that person who visited auschwitz and secretly regretted it right after. and 9/11 was a mere 9 and a half years ago, there is no way i want to visit the very spot it took place.

i'm standing here looking at this huge area. things are moving, in and out, construction workers, trucks, equipment, there is so much productivity. this may sound wierd, but i really feel, as i'm watching all of this movement, a sense of rebirth, and even... hope? is that a platitude? cliche? probably, but there is a sense of a new beginning here, and frankly that's kind of the theme of my life...

...so i'll go with it.

accidental exlporation!

i officially began my journey to "discover new york, one borough at a time", on monday in the financial district, but the day before i did some impromptu exploring in the upper west side:

chris and are awake at 7am to go to a church called redeemer. a few of his company mates attend that church, so after service we are at brunch with them at mermaid inn. (makes getting up early so worth it). it is such a sunny, gorgeous day, we sit outside on their patio. i'm having the steel cut oatmeal (dee-licious) and green tea (one lump or two? they have sugar cubes at this place), they're discussing (and tasting) the difference between frittatas, omelettes, and egg casseroles.

they all have two shows afterward so, at the suggestion of their stage manager i make my way to the 77th street sunday flea market! now, i don't have the patience to look through racks of random clothes, but if i had my own home right now (i'm subletting) i would be in heaven. they have the most amazing home goods for a great deal. and a little haggling never hurt anyone either. (i too was nervous about haggling until i read this: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/bargaining-skills)

after dreaming about the day i can fill my home with baskets and mirrors and antiques, i am wandering, looking for a place to print out more resumes, and babysitting flyers. go-go-gadget blackberry map, and i decide that i can just walk to a fedex office. i start out and get distracted by this shop called therapie. difficult to describe, but i think i'm in love with it. you walk in and there's all of this beautiful stationary, but they also have a large selection of high and low end hair and beauty products. (including devacurl a few dollars less than you'd find it at ulta; a curly girl's dream). they have a little loft area with undergarments and their accessories, i buy what is called a "comfy bra" for $9, ( my regular bras give me acid reflux, and this has worked wonderfully for that) they also have an overwhelming basement toy area. i'm not going down there.

after this, i say "tia focus!!!" and i continue to walk toward fedex office and find myself in a very familiar space. "i've seen that urban outfitters before" i say to myself. i text my pal andrew " i think i'm in you neighborhood" he texts back "stop! what? don't lie... it's not funny... wait for real?" i don't think he knows i moved here. we meet up for about 5 minutes, until he has to run off to a meeting. sigh.

it was nice to see a familiar face.

more on monday's adventures to come. it's time to get up and make someone hire me.

what i've learned about my fiance; ms. frizzle and julie and julia.

chris (or ck in some circles) and i have been together for almost 3 years and we have been long distance the entire time, until a week and a half ago. now we are a 10 minute bus ride away from each other. which is amazing and wonderful, and a whole lot of other adjectives. best of all, it just feels normal. i have always believed, and even more now, that distance is the perfect test of commitment. things have not always been rosy for us, (we have had miscommunications, heart-wrenching fights and taken breaks) but the bottom line is that i'm supposed to be with him. he's a dream come true! that said, i am learning new things about him everyday, for example:

the kid can NOT relax: he teaches on his days off, (after a week of 8 very physical shows) and his idea of relaxing is watching a show that makes my heart race more than ryan's bootcamp, "24"; and playing a very disturbing video game called "modern warfare". very bloody. not relaxing.

while i'm not relaxing with him, i'm looking for a job a bit more vigorously. today, i'm sitting in starbuck's making a flyer for babysitting, trying to make my text vertical for those little rip-off tabs at the bottom, and a nice lady stops and asks for my card. gotta love people who look over your shoulder at your computer screen. (i mean that with all sincerity because i do it all the time).

***

my true-blue-friend-til-the-end Lindsay gave me this amazing guide book called the Columbia Guide to New York 2007. So yesterday I dig it up and find some very interesting information! for instance, did you know that the island of manhattan was "bought" from native americans for the equivalent of $24! and also there is a magical bus in china town that will take you to boston for $15! yowzers! (as i'm typing this i realize that i'm picturing ms. frizzle and the magic school bus taking me to sensational, yet educational destinations)

anyway, i decide to be very "julie and julia" and make my way through this guide book, visiting each burough and neighborhood. dining, visiting museums, seeing the sites and blogging about it along the way! i will get through it by the end of the summer! i start monday in the Financial District! which i hope is more exciting than it sounds.

purging, and why i'm doing nothing right now.

there comes a point in the moving process when you just start to throw away everything. (that tiny sewing machine that i used for making small purses out of placemats one Christmas - trash; that bag of old cassette tapes, including hanson's mmmbop single - trash; old notes from jr. high and high school still in their fancily folded glory.... hesitation... deep breath... trash!) after you've been to the salvation army a couple of times, and just really don't think anyone will have use for the recordings of your old voice lessons, the only place for it is the trash. i've never been a minimalist, but i must make room for blessings to come. i've even parted with my shoes that i bought in prague (the soles are finally so worn that i slipped on concrete.) and i've even cleaned out my e-mail box, unsubscribing from hanes.com's weekly e-mails and other guilty pleasures.

here's a quick replay of march:
week 1: friends over for "packing sessions" (note: when these sessions involved wine, they did not involve much packing)
week 2: more vigorous packing waylaid by a sneaky cold that attacked my voice... and redbox movies.
week 3: a farewell cabaret composed of my favorite chicago voices (pictured below), including a wacky medley of my favorite audition songs.
week 4: working, wrapping up my glee club, sneaky cold morphs into coughing up blood, packing, selling furniture, community group farewell karaoke vegan party, cleaning, loading up car, driving to michigan, cleaning out my old things from parent's basement (to make room for the things i can't take to new york with me), driving through the night to get to brooklyn by morning (getting a speeding ticket in ohio (don't tell my mom)), getting mad lost in new jersey (at the very end of my journey when i'm starving and i've been up all night), and finally settling into my new neighborhood in Brooklyn's delightful Cobble Hill.

so, i'd like to say that i'm anxiously looking for a job, but i'm not. i'm exploring and sleeping, and i'm okay with that.

don't tell my mom though.

I'm blogging again!

It's been a long time since I have blogged. But, I think this is the best time to start since I'm
a. engaged which makes me extra reflective
b. moving to new york in a few months which makes me extra reflective
c. it's the new year and that makes me extra reflective

so hear are my present tendencies; my present adventures:

my birthday was yesterday! this is me doing some of my favorite things:

1. get up and notice that the sun is shining just for me
   
2. make a delicious tofu scramble with fresh asparagus, tomatoes and peppers
3. have a dance party in sunshine yellow pants
4. change pants and head to my massage (courtesy of my fiance), which is a dream come true
   
5. have lunch at aladdin's eatery (rolled dawali pita and hummus)
   
6. walk over to world market (if you join their explorer club they give you $10 on your birthday) and buy dark chocolate, stationary, a sympathy card and a bag of little candles.
7. walk over to borders to pick up "letters to a young artist" by anna deavere smith.
   
8. contemplate whether i can rightfully consider myself "young" anymore, while waiting for them to look for it. they don't have it
   
9. decide i could still consider myself young
10. drive over to anthropologie. (if you get an anthro card (not a credit card) they give you 15% off on your entire order in your birthday month, and a necklace with a little birthday candle on it.)
    
11. smell all of their candles. (it comes down to almond biscotti and white chocolate mousse)
12. buy the white chocolate mousse candle.
13. drive home.
14. sing some songs (i'm trying to find a good pop ballad)
15. go to community group where we talk about dreams (we're reading Genesis 37 and "go go go Joseph" keeps looping in my head)
    
16. celebrate my birthday with my community group and two vegan cupcakes from Fritz! (I didn't even know they had vegan cupcakes... trouble)
17. drive back home
18. find a perfect parking spot!
19. skype with faraway fiance, while burning my new delicious candle
20. fall asleep looking at his handsome face...
    

26 is gonna be awesome!