peanut butter & jelly jam: The Year of New

With the new year comes an attempt at a new outlook on life, new lessons to be learned and new experiences to be had. I learned in 2007 that while you do command your own life, some things are just uncontrollable despite how badly you want to be able to control them. It's hard to succumb to the fact that these uncontrollable things are just that, but it seems that the best thing you can do is to realize it, recognize it and do what's necessary to move forward, even if it is difficult. I do however, believe that you can control what you decide to do with the fact that some things in life are just out of your hands, and I do believe that everything has a potential lesson attached to it, no matter how positive or negative it feels. If not necessarily a lesson, something can be gained, growth can occur.

I guess that's my little new year's inspirational bit (for myself if anything). Today is the third day of 2008. I'm pretty backed up on my blog posts, so for now, I'll skip right to the foods I ate on the first day of the year and post other foods later.

Jan. 1 - I woke up very late in the afternoon, a time that I will not disclose out of sheer shame (not really, but kind of). I didn't feel very happy, very refreshed, very new at all, but I knew it was the first day of the new year, that it was a beautiful day out and that I had to make the most of it.

I proceeded to watch a movie at my apartment (so much for making the most of the day), to which I almost feel asleep, and made sure to make plans so I got myself out of the house.

Dinner plans consisted of - yes - pho! No pictures this time, but I met Wendy and Heather at a pho restaurant in Chinatown that wasn't Pho Grand. I ordered my usual pho with brisket and eye round and Wendy and Heather were dinner twins ordering the sauteed curry chicken with rice. Their chicken and rice came on one of those oblongly-shaped, mass-produced chinese bordered plates - a pretty good size for $5! Our total bill was less than $20 (and it included summer rolls)! We ripped through our plates, needing solid food to soak up what was left in our bellies from the night before. Plenty of tea was had given the cold night and we found ourselves wondering where to go next.

It's amazing to see a city with a population that has recently surged to over 8 million people (!), completely dead and quiet on the first day of the year! We brainstormed what we wanted to do, where we wanted to go and we concluded that maybe we could check out what movies were playing and if that wasn't a go, dessert somewhere yummy. We opted for the latter, but walked all around looking for a place that was even open, nonetheless that would let us sit down just for dessert.

Finally, after two subway rides, we landed at Coffee Shop in Union Square. We welcomed the warmth and the number of empty tables. Still, the door guy had to check to see if we could just have dessert. After he and the two model-looking hostesses discussed as if there were a line out the door of people waiting for dinner, we were in! We were led to the back where big groups of friends sat laughing and talking. It was a heart-warming sight. Our waitress was a bit odd, very earthy, mother love goddess-esque, but with bright lipstick. It just seemed like she should've been at a small casual coffee shop in Eugene, Oregon or something. I think I recall Heather describing her as "fairy-like." The pretty lights may have added to this feeling...but mostly, it was just her outfit of a hobo-looking beanie, an oversized drapey sweater over a long broomstick looking skirt and her spacey demeanor.

Anyway, Heather ordered the pumpkin cheesecake, Wendy, the bread pudding, and me, the warm apple crisp. Heather's cheesecake was more like a small cylindrical piece (as opposed to slice) of cheesecake on a huge plate painted with chocolate. Wendy's bread pudding was actually a rather large ball that looked almost like a big chocolate-covered apple, with another ball [of ice cream] sitting next to it and my apple crisp came a la mode, with swirls of warm caramel swimming underneath. We all had some more tea, which proved even more comforting and refreshing. The tea bags came in individual boxes, which Wendy said was something along the lines of environmentally unsound (each box did also have plastic wrapping too). The night too, was comforting and refreshing with good people, good conversation and good food. I hope that the new year will follow suit and be filled with the same meaningful things!