3 on Thursday

The Konters are on cloud 9 right now because last week on July 22nd my nephew, Brooks Lawrence Konter, made his grand entrance into this world.  I am home right now enjoying every moment with him and already beginning the process of spoiling him rotten.  That's why Godmothers exist.

1. My precious little Brooksy, only a few hours old.  He's perfect.
2. After Brooks came into our lives, I got all sorts of excited and wound up, so I decided to walk to work to expend some of that energy.  I stumbled upon an art installation in Times Square called Nearness by Cuban artist Arlés del Rio that is basically human silhouettes made out of chain link fencing.  I like when artists encourage interaction with their work as this one does.
3. If you're like me and find the best form of running motivation to be a good playlist, then you need to check out jog.fm.  Basically, you can enter the pace at which you intend to run and the site provides a list of songs set to the appropriate beats per minute.  I made a playlist with a bunch of the songs on the 8:35 pace list, but I think my next move will be to download the app which works as a sort of radio station based on your pace.  

Book Review: China Dolls

Three Chinese girls meet on the streets of San Francisco and immediately link themselves together for the next ten years.  They have little in common other than their desire to escape their current lives and the hole that is missing from never having real friends.  Grace, a wide-eyed innocent, has left her small, Midwestern town to escape an abusive father and to pursue her love of dance.  Helen does not know what she wants other than to experience life outside her "proper" Chinese family and their restrictive compound in the bubble of Chinatown.  Ruby wants fame, plain and simple.  They spend the next decade performing at "Oriental" clubs in San Francisco and around the Chop Suey Circuit, where their bond is often tested.

Always a fan of Lisa See's work, I was captivated by her portrayal of Chinese performers in America during World War II.  At the heart of it, however, is a study of female friendship and how it bends around jealousies, secrets, and prejudice.  

4 out of 5 stars.

Isabella's

When we made plans with friends for a Monday night supper, they suggested their neighborhood since we rarely go there and restaurant week as a way to up the ante without throwing out too much money...and then we all ordered off the regular menu instead of the restaurant week one.  Best laid plans, right?

Isabella's labels itself a Mediterranean restaurant, and I can kind of see it with the artichokes and calamari starters, but I would really classify this as Continental with enough items like crab and meat hash, a cheeseburger, and cod on the menu.  I, myself, went the more Continental route by ordering a wedge salad (thankfully not drenched in dressing) and the sweet pea ravioli.  There wasn't much sauce so I felt the plate didn't quite match the menu's description, but I was still very pleased with what was in front of me.  I prefer my ravioli to have very little sauce because I actually want to taste the filling.  And don't even try to give me ravioli that's not packed with filling.  They are supposed to be like plump pillows - the kind that make you sleep like a baby, not the kind that give you a crick in the neck.  I was pleased with the amount of filling here so all was good.

The restaurant felt very Uptown.  And by that I mean we were easily the rowdiest Monday night crowd they've seen.  Most of the clientele looked established: sport coats, shift dresses, and scarves around the shoulders.  Still, it had a neighborhood vibe so we didn't feel out of place.  Also, I was wearing Lily Pulitzer so I blended right in.

Tip: don't feel like you have to do the restaurant week menu.  Sure, it sounds like a great deal: $38 for 3 courses - wow!  (nevermind that it used to be $34...) But if you're not a dessert person or if the smaller special menu doesn't really call to you, just order off the regular menu.  Two really good courses is always going to leave you more satisfied than three meh courses.  We were way happier with our selections this way and my whole meal came to $27 instead of $38.  This is a noteable difference when you're also tacking on alcohol as my group is wont to do.

Monday Reads

1. A Comcast agent spent 20 minutes trying to dissuade customers from cancelling service.  Listening to the recording is actually painful.  I cringe.  Comcast is embarrassed but also stand by their aggressive retention tactics.
2. I get how a visit to a concentration camp could be a powerful experience - so moving you would want to document the moment.  Unfortunately, I do not think Instagramming a smiling selfie at Auschwitz is not the proper way to do so.  In an age where we are never without our cell phones - which are our cameras - we need to develop a more polite way to record serious events.
3. At first, it seems as though impulsiveness (the desire to act right now) and procrastination (the desire to act later) are opposites, but those traits may actually share genetic material.  One guy has compared behaviors of identical twins to those of fraternal twins to prove it.
4. 100+ scientists worked together to map the genetics of schizophrenia.  That's some serious teamwork.  They have been able to identify 108 spots in our DNA that link to the disease - 83 of which were previously unknown.  This is a big step towards treating the disorder.

Breads Bakery

I was very strategic with my run recently.  I planned it so that I would finish at Breads Bakery just in time for breakfast/brunch.  After running the 1.7 miles there, I felt confident I had earned my meal.  In fact, I felt confident I had earned three meals because I purchased a leek quiche (seemed breakfast-y), a tuna sandwich, and a bureka (how could I not?!  They're hard to find in NYC!).  

Everything was great and nothing was too dense.  Like perfect French pastry...except it's made by an Israeli.  I would NEVER normally order a tuna sandwich.  I'm scared of them unless I make it myself.  This time, however, the cashier recommended it highly and I was in the mood to go wherever the wind took me.  I'm glad I listened.  The tuna was less of a salad, more just tuna on bread (that's a good thing in my book) with tomato, sliced hard boiled egg, lettuce, and cucumber.  Not only do I now trust their tuna sandwich, I think it's better than mine.

Snickity Snack: Avocado White Bean Dip

This might be the healthiest snack you can make and still be satisfied.  It tastes so good but it's one of those things where you're practically burning more calories by chewing than you're ingesting.

Just combine avocado and drained white beans in a food processor with olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste.  The whole burning more calories than you're taking in is a slight stretch, but this is still super duper healthy.  Everyone says avocado "is good fat!  good fat!" and white beans have plenty of protein so you're chillin in a pretty healthy place, especially if you just dip veggies like I did.  (When I told my Mom about this recipe she said pita chips would be great but less healthy - I leave the choice up to you.  You are your own boss.)

The avocado provides a rich, velvety flavor while the white beans get the texture up to snuff for a good dip.  The red pepper flakes are necessary for dimension - this is what keeps it from tasting like mush.

Tip: prep your veggies in advance.  If you're already shaving two carrots for snack number one, might as well shave the whole bunch so you have a fridge full of ready to eat veggies for the week.  You might eat all of this avocado white bean dip in one sitting (like I did), but then you can rip into a tub of hummus and you'll have the veggies already ready to go.  It'll keep you from reaching for the chips.

3 on Thursday

To onlookers, my weekend probably looked pretty boring.  Following a low key dinner on Friday I spent all of Saturday on my own.  Sure, I took a quick subway ride to SoHo, but most of the day was spent watching tv on the couch and reading a book in bed.  Even when I did venture out on Sunday, I did little more than lay on a blanket in Central Park.  After four very busy weekends, boring was the most exciting thing that could have happened to me.

1. One of my favorite things about summer is cherries.  I eat them the way other people eat popcorn and enjoy spitting out the pits, as un-ladylike as it may be.  Now that I finally picked up my first bowl, it really feels like summer has gotten underway.
2. I received a bottle of nude nail polish in a gift bag and though I thought it would totally wash me out, I'm diggin the trend.
3. I stopped by one of my favorite book stores, The Strand, on my to meet Matt and Karina for drinks on Friday.  So.  Many.  Books.  I love craning over the bargain priced books on the side walk.  It feels very New York to me.  I walked away with a copy of Cyrano de Bergerac for 52 cents (including tax).