What $70 buys you in NYC

Got my groceries the other morning and as I unpacked all the bags onto my kitchen table, I was suddenly very sad. THIS is how much food $70 can buy you in Manhattan:

Not much, right? Pretty much just the bare essentials to get us through about 8-9 days at a time. It's a good thing we're both small people and light eaters!

Just in case you were wondering, there's a fruit and veggie stand on our corner, so that's why my grocery store purchases are light on the fresh stuff :)

Peek-a-boo

This just tickled my funny bone today:

I guess that makes me immature ;)

The Wonders of Wo Hop

I have to take a few minutes to share with all of you the magic of my favorite Chinese food: Wo Hop. 

Located at 17 Mott Street, two blocks downtown of Canal, this is simply the best Chinese food imaginable. The place is tiny, usually crowded, and the service is hurried (although that means you get your food FAST!), but it's worth every inconvenience. They're open 24 hours, and although I've never done it because it's too far from our place, I hear it's great 3 AM post-bar food. I personally want to be sober enough to remember every meal I have at Wo Hop. You can get a huge serving of delicious food for easily less than $10, which is practically a miracle in Manhattan. Make sure you go to the downstairs dining room for the true authentic experience. Cheesy headshots line the walls and make for great conversation starters. Truly, if you haven't been here, you haven't experienced New York yet, but that's just my opinion.

I always smile like this at Wo Hop. That's how good it is.

Check it out. Expect a skeevy diner-like ambiance and amazing, fast, cheap food.

Us New York Girls, We Stick Together

Yesterday, while riding the 6 home from work, I thwarted a crime. Yes, you read that right. I am a real-life crime fighter. Okay, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but it did shake me up a bit.

I was sitting on a crowded train heading back to Midtown when I noticed that the man next to me was taking pictures with his camera phone. Since I am often one to take camera phone pics of outlandish fashion or strange happenings, I nosily looked over to see what he was noticing.

Little did I expect to find that he was trying to get a crotch shot of the girl sitting across from us wearing a short skirt! I stared for a second, flabbergasted and not knowing what to do, before saying as loudly as I could, "Woah, THAT's inappropriate."

He got really mad at me and started yelling that he wasn't doing anything and I could check his phone. I just looked straight ahead until he stormed off at the next stop.

The woman started getting teary and thanked me profusely. I was honestly a little shaken because I wasn't sure how he would react to a little redhead calling him out, but I wasn't about to let him get away with that nastiness.

Once I calmed down, I was really proud. To paraphrase a man wiser than I, Evil is allowed to take hold when good people stand by and do nothing.

You mess with one of us New York ladies, and you mess with us all!

Jumpin' Jiminy!

Today, while my sweet fiance was walking me to the subway stop, we had quite the bizarre experience. 

We had brought out little dog along for the walk and he's the sweetest, most gentle dog ever. He weighs 15 pounds and is all furry. How threatening is that?

This woman walking in the opposite direction of us on a crowded sidewalk jumped so far to get out of the dog's way that she ended up grabbing my arm tightly enough to scratch me with her fingernails. After babbling something in another language that I couldn't understand, she kind of scurried away as fast as she could.

This has happened a couple of times before to us when walking our dog (although I've never been injured from it before!) and I always wonder why these people are scared enough to visibly jump. Maybe it's a cultural thing to not be used to dogs? I don't get it.

Bryant Park is Movin' On Up!

Has anyone seen the new Southwest porch in Bryant Park?

It's gorgeous! It's got porch swings, rocking chairs, cushioned benches, white lights overhead and outlets!

I've been watching them do construction for weeks and it was totally worth it. This is my new fave Bryant Park hangout.

It's perfect for a lazy afternoon blogging (yay!) or for an evening glass of wine with your honey (imbibed from an unmarked water bottle, of course).

Props to Bryant Park and Southwest for making this happen. Just one more reason why Bryant Park is the best park!

Dirty Baby

Today I saw a saw a young woman let the baby she was taking care of (it didn't seem like her daughter) sit on the floor of the subway car and roll around. Umm...gross, anyone?

I get all paranoid when I touch the pole in the subway, nevermind wanting my child to roll around on the floor!

What happened to NYC?

Did I move to Seattle without knowing it? Where is sunny June??

Fresh versus...stale?

Yesterday, while riding on the Q train downtown to Canal, there was a stereotypical empty vomit-covered seat in the corner. No one was sitting there until we stopped at 14th Street and a young couple walked on and made a beeline for the seat. The woman sitting across from it politely volunteered, "Oh, I wouldn't sit there. Look..." and pointed out the dirty trail of what could be anything covering the seat and surrounding floor. The young woman about to sit down then asked, "Is it fresh?"

None of us knew how to answer this question.

But more importantly, does it matter? It's still vomit. Only in New York.

An Authentic NYC Experience

I walk by this billboard in Times Square quite frequently, and it never fails to surprise me that a ubiquitous chain restaurant (which was founded in Atlanta, in case you were wondering) could in any way be a true representation of the "New York Experience".

I just. Don't. Get it.