The Need to be Cultured

The Met (calling it its full name will
invite sniggering from fellow tourists that
you have just revealed your tourist
identity)

Time flies - it has been more than 7 weeks already since we landed in New York the same day the Pope left.  Am I allowed to strip off my tourist badge now?  Am I now qualified to smugly call myself a local because 1) I know which Starbucks within a 3 mile mile radius come with a bathroom 2) I no longer fluster in the train due to the fact you do not have cell phone reception while riding the subway 3) I now call my phone a cell phone 4) I now bring a book to ride the subway 5) my neighbors no longer ask me if I am friends with another Australian girl in the same building (sure - because everyone knows everyone back home)?

In truth it doesn't feel that long yet.  I think that is largely due to how warm it has been.  Apparently this has been the warmest fall in 25 years.  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/fashion/fall-fashion-too-warm-to-be-cool.html?_r=0  We consider ourselves lucky because every single friend and stranger I spoke to tells me how cold winter is.  Even my SoCal BFF told me how there is no way I am going to survive the winter (instead of suggesting the purchasing of fur or 3 layers of puffer coats, she advised me to simply accept my fate and succumb to mother nature).  So at the moment I am grateful of the mildish weather - although it does mean I have been wearing pretty much the same things since August (no summer and 2 winters in a row - even Jon Snow cannot claim he has experienced the same)!

My life as a greenhorn New Yorker has settled into a routine.  And I sometimes see little things/signs that reminds me I am no longer just having a holiday here.  Some examples below:

- More than 3 types of herb!  Maple syrup! FLOUR!  (this woman must be serious about cooking)

Flour and baking power belong to
no tourist's pantry

 - If you must, the different types of hand-held dish cleaning devices cater to different scenarios: The delicate, the greasy, and the stubborn.

The luxury of having 3 types of dish washing
sponges in the sink. 

 - Getting the hang of loading up a mini dishwasher.

Tip: buy small pots.

Between various household routines, I now have the time to get myself a bit cultured.  (Cue intelligent-looking reading glasses and head-to-toe black outfits)  I signed up to Thought Gallery http://thoughtgallery.org/  which collates information on talks, seminars, and readings in NYC.

I went to a interesting 'lecture' on the book 'Witch of Lime Street' - which describes the story of magician/escape artist Harry Houdini's investigation of famous psychic Mina Crandon.  I was intrigued by the topic - it reminds me of a Japanese drama series I really liked in the early 2000s called 'Trick' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick_(TV_series).  In the show an unpopular magician and arrogant (although somewhat comical) physicist go out as a team and debunk the so-called spiritualists and their super natural phenomenon.  I expect the talk to be about similar activities but it turned out to be so much more.

What lied underneath the famous mediums, was the yearning for knowledge of the afterlife, the need to communicate with dead loved ones, after so many people lost their brothers, husbands, lovers, and sons in the war.  With the desire to believe being so strong - I imagine a lot of the mediums don't even have to be very good.  I didn't grow up in a religious family and would call myself an atheist - however the spiritual need and the curiosity of the unknown always fascinates me.  And in a way it is a reflection of human beings' love and its extension.  I have never heard of anyone wanting to speak to someone they hated or despised through a medium - it is ALWAYS a loved one.  And I do hope true mediumship really exists and perhaps one day we could ring our friends and family from our cell phones and perhaps even go like their photos on the HeavenlyFacebook .  :-)

On the other hand, was the disproving of spiritualism an act to defend science and logic, or an unspoken power play against popular female figures, or that no one shall be more famous than me?  Was this really about the fact that if I could fake it, then you must be faking it?  And it's not real unless I say it is?  Throughout the words in the book the personality of the different parties definitely show through and I guess like any other stories, there is always so much more once you dig beneath the surface.

I am half way through the book and will report back once I finish reading it (and I am still hopeful for a happy ending).  I do have a side note though.  I woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago and noticed there was a vague green light in my bedroom.  I quickly poked Nelson in bed and whispered 'Wake up Nelson - there is a ghost in our bedroom'.  I geared up sufficient courage to grab my glasses and had a proper look at 'the ghost' (I tend to go straight to fight mode during a flight/fight moment - I have a good story of riding the ghost train the first time in my life, perhaps for another day) and realised I had been duped by old school trickery: the book glows in the dark!  Awesome and annoying all at the same time...

Muahahahahaha....

Apart from going to talks, I have also been enjoying visiting the many museums this city has to offer.   I love going to museums by myself:  I can take my time, set my own pace,  have 3 afternoon teas (and pretend I was only at the cafe to get a bottle of water).  The only thing I didn't like was having no one to share my (inappropriate) thoughts when I see something ridiculously interesting... which is everywhere when you are in a museum.  So here I am... sharing them with myself again (plus my international fan base out there obviously).

- At the American Museum of Natural History:

Who would have thought?!  Sea Scallops
have rows and rows of eyes.  Now that is one
creature that should not get made into bras.

Now that is something I would like for
Christmas please - a stomach bigger than myself.

After living in Australia for 16 years no
American spider is capable of making
me gasp with fear.  (pffft) Not even this
hairy dude.

You don't need a sign to tell me
they are some ugly sweaters.  See wanting to talk
to the dead I get, spending $25 on an ugly
sweater I don't get.

- At the Met (the Metropolitan Museum of Art):

Your highness, I present you the
straw flip flop Cinderella left on the stairs
last night.  

Why are slugs included as part of the
Egyptian language?  What could it possibly mean?
Perhaps to describe slimy politicians. 

If you are happy and you know it clap your hands!

My precious....

Fascinating sculpture but wow!  Kids - this is where
hamburgers and veal chops come from.

  I love what the It girls were wearing 4000 years ago.
And I am disappointed they don't sell
these in the Met shop.

The proof that Thanksgiving originated in Egypt.

If that is not a Longchamp Le Pliage
after a full day of shopping I don't know
what that is.
http://us.longchamp.com/pliage/nylon

Egyptian Smartphone cover - and judging by
where the camera is, I would say it is intended
for a Samsung Galaxy s6.

Don't mind me - I am just an innocent
baboon with princess Leia's hairdo.

Yes I definitely feel more cultured now.

Welcome to Da Hood!

It doesn't matter that I have never watched
the show, or that it is about murder and
dark family history.  The fact that they were filming
on 'my' street is freaking amazing.

I was woken up one Monday morning with people yelling 'Rollinggggggg.... Action!' right outside our bedroom window.  Honestly living in New York does not get much more exciting than this.  (I know I need to get out more... but hey, having people yelling at each other at close proximity without having to worry about anyone's life in danger is pretty awesome)  I opened the blinds and the director actually turned around - he was sitting in front of my window!  I pulled a chair and sat there behind him and watched the filming (best seat in da house).  In the scene some people had to walk out of a building for like 10 times - no talking involved... (I can do this!  I can be a star!)  (And I was a bit jealous that those people were not walking out of my building for 10 times)

So, week 6 in New York was all about getting to know my neighborhood.  (On top of what I could find here anyway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea,_Manhattan )

The only 'attraction' in Chelsea that I was aware of before moving to NYC was the High Line.  It is a really cool urban project that transformed an abandoned railway into a park in the sky https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Line_(New_York_City) , and also a convenient spot for me to have a decent walk without having to stop for traffic lights (it gets really crowded on a nice day though)  I love observing the changing colors of the flora (I am a child of the sub-tropics and the land of only two seasons, and was never properly introduced to autumn colors).  What is even better than looking at plants is to discreetly peek into the windows of the apartments along the High Line.  It is the ultimate amusement to wonder and ponder lives behind those windows - do people live next to the HL to look at the HL all day, or to be looked at all day?  Those novelty toys on the window sill - does it imply children in residence or just the children at heart?  Sun decks in apartment blocks that are visible from the HL - people watching in both ways, or impractical features?  There is even one apartment unit that has its own live-cam, which you can goto a particular URL to see the video clip of yourself walking past - is that even legal?!  Seriously I can walk along this 'park' all day and not get bored.  And I can't wait to see how winter is going to transform the HL.  (I expect snowmen - and I expect to be impressed!)

Next to the 16th St elevator, that takes you up to the High Line, is the Chelsea Market.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Market  The coolest thing (for me anyway) about Chelsea Market is that this is the place where the Oreo was invented.  (Brings back all the lovely camping memories of a cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a ready-to-be-dunked Oreo in the other)  It is a somewhat touristy place (you can purchase totes and t-shirts that says 'Chelsea Market'), but lovely all the same.  I like watching the fish mongers hard at work, bakers tucking in balls of doughs for bed, and pasta chef cooking someone's Chelsea Market memories on the spot, even when they know the combination chosen by said someone might not work (Pesto sauce + lobster is not what dreams are made of.  Fabulous on their own but don't play nice together).

I accidentally ran into my first NYC sample sale at Chelsea Market - what an experience!  It was the Helmut Lang sample sale, held in a vast empty room.  You have to line up to get in and inside there are racks and racks of goodies.  Everything was at least 60% off and they were all separated by the different sizes which I appreciate!  The real eye opener for me was the changing 'room' though - I don't think I had experienced anything like this before.  I found myself entering an area the size of a large living room, fenced off by fabric screens, and filled by mirrors.  Everyone was in various stages of dressing or un-dressing and people were not really talking to each other (so there was this silent frenzy).  I was grateful that I was just trying on a jacket - I am not sure I feel comfortable stripping in front of strangers yet.  I guess you put privacy, body image, and a little bit of dignity aside when you shop in a sample sale.  (This woman was trying on some skinny leather pants and she could't get them on/take them off - I was too embarrassed to go help her)  I guess I am going to need more practice to become a fully-fledged New Yorker.  (What better ways than to go to more sample sales! haha)

Now comes the real business.  One can never claim one knows their hood unless they know where to grocery shop.  My favourite grocery shopping destination at the moment is the Westside supermarket.  It is only a block away from our apartment and has a large range of everything, including Game of Thrones beer and Nando's Peri-Peri sauce (below)!

Winter is coming.
Drink beer (says Jon Snow).

Colorfully stocked fruit and
vegetable section

Nothing answers to calls of homesickness
like the full range of Nando's Peri Peri sauce

The only things that are not so awesome about Westside supermarket are that 1) the aisles are tiny and do not cater for 2 way traffic.  So be prepared to act out the scenes of 'Goats on a log bridge' and decide quick which goat you want to be.  (I am always the goat who is happy to give way but horrible at reversing my shopping trolley)  2) The shop has a large cheese section (it is famous for its large cheese section) so it always smells... like a cheese shop.  Depends on the day sometimes the strong smell can put me off cheese a bit.  And the massive number of options adds to the stress level.

With the commodity stuff sorted it is time to resume our weekend brunch routine.  We found this lovely cafe called the Grey Dog.  (16th St between 7th and 8th Aves) Friendly service, good food, nice and relaxing ambience, and reasonable price.  Expect to line up on weekends though.  (here below Don Don is having the Grey Dog breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage (yes - that flat thing) and pancakes.  Hot drink of his choice is the spiced chai with a little bit of honey.)

I can do this everyday - until I become a fat dog

Last included in my neighborhood exploration (for now - I am expanding my reach!  New Yorkers lock up your puppies - Ashley is the new woman about town!) is the lovely Union Square.  It is not located within Chelsea technically but it is so close to us I am claiming it as mine!  So autumn, so lush, so New York.

Union Square on a fine day

Walking home while crossing 6th Ave - now
where is the famous New York
traffic?

My Kitchen Rules

Nothing to do with a kitchen - but I would
like to open this new post with my dinosaur
doodle.

Now we have moved in and slowly settled into our new home, it seems appropriate to raise the bar on my housewife credentials.  It has been 8 weeks since I cooked last time (if you are interested, it was Hainan chicken and rice).  Never thought I would say this but I have missed cooking using a kitchen properly.  (Eating out can get a bit exhausting once you go over a month - you can only get so excited about staying next door to a Shake Shack).

Challenge for the week was all about the one-pot wonders.  I have decided to 'survive' for the next 3 months (while we wait for our shipping container to arrive in New York) on one pot and one fry pan alone, plus our camping fry pan/small pot packed in our 'flying' luggage that came with us.  I got an army of an iron grill, a wok, a casserole Dutch oven (my first Le Creuset from mum), a fully fledged paella pan, and a pot - joining Nelson and myself around Christmas so must practice extreme self control not filling up the kitchen already. Lets see what I can do with what I have!

Before I got to cook though, grocery shopping proved to be slightly challenging.  On top of no longer knowing which aisle contains what goodies (I missed the days when I could shop in the Manly Coles blind-folded while greeting all the staff by their first names), I have to re-learn a whole heaps of food names.

Panic station at the local supermarket.

The cuts of meats are called different names comparing to what I was used to in Australia.  For example, I have always thought filet mignon is a type of steak you order at a restaurant, which has a piece of juicy bacon wrapped around it (and I had always been so careful not to let the bacon become separated from the steak).  Turned out it is same as 'eye fillet' from back home.

I notice they seem to label the meat based on what they are best used for too.  This doesn't help me though as I could not find a pack of beef that says 'Chinese Beef Noodle Soup'.   I also realised ground meat means minced meat (and not meat from the ground, why can't they call it 'grounded' meat?). Shallot is called scallion here (it is not a species of the scallop family apparently - I saw 'scallion pancakes' in a few Chinese restaurant menus and thought they were suspicious seafood because they seem so cheap).  As for my favourite herb - coriander, you get cilantro!  And when people do use the term coriander, they are really talking about coriander seeds.  I told Nelson - forget about having the culture shock at work, if you want the real deal, try grocery shopping!

My fist test 'subject' was the Chinese Beef Noodle Soup. (always start with something basic) Stir fry chopped onion, ginger, then chopped beef, add in soy sauce (I bought a bottle of organic Soy Sauce - sooo posh), sugar, and rice wine.  Add in chopped tomatoes and carrots (they are very skinny - I wonder if that is normal) and stew for 2 hours. Viola - there you have it (all done in one pot! Noodles was cooked in the fry pan).

Verdict:  The beef seemed dry and too lean - must research on which 'cut' to get next time.  Soup was good!

At least bok choy is still called bok choy.

Next up was seafood pasta!  I was very excited about this dish after I saw the massive variety of seafood available at the Lobster Place in Chelsea Markets.  Seafood (cockles from NZ, green mussels, prawns, massive scallops from Maine.  And I 'met' Monkfish for the first time.  Very mild taste but excellent texture) was fried with onion and cooked in chopped tomatoes with some dry white wine.  Linguine was freshly made at Rana (also in Chelsea Markets)  I was very tempted to try the lobsters - perhaps next time.

Verdict: Simple, good looking dish purely based on freshness of the seafood.  Awesome as leftover.

Motivation for the next dish is to have something that we could eat on the couch.  (I might regret this later, having white rug and white couch and all - we shall see).  I found this recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/classic-ragu-bolognese-365181 and made a stewed-for-3-hours Beef Ragu.  This is the first time in my life that I actually made the bolognese sauce from scratch and I must say it does make a difference.  It was also interesting using both beef and veal mince.  It was hard work chopping up everything though (who would have thought there were so much veggies in the bolognese).  Pasta was Barilla's Mezzi Ragatoni - I have always had a soft spot for Barilla after I did a Case Study on their logistics operation when I did my Masters.  No recollection what the case study was about though and it doesn't matter.  They have me as a customer for life.  :-)

Verdict:  Perfect for eating-on-sofa while watching 30th Anniversary edition E.T. on Halloween night.  Still made me cry like a little girl (the movie, not the Ragu).

After the somewhat successful dinner exercise I felt that I was up for a breakfast challenge:  the face-sized pancake.  This was also my first attempt at making pancakes from scratch (instead of using the mix/shake formula).  I used the camping fry pan and glad to report that it is still good after years of abuse.  :-)

Verdict:  Nelson approved.  Fluffy enough and not too sweet.  It was a pain to wash everything afterwards though.

Do not judge a pancake by its face

Now, the moment that is almost more exciting than Xmas:  I received my spanking new Tatung rice cooker!  This is the one household appliance that literally every Taiwanese kid grows up with.  Any young person who leaves home, be it for backpacking, going overseas to study, getting married, moving for a new job - the one thing that mum always pack their suitcases with, is a Tatung rice cooker.

Mum literally packed my first Tatung rice cooker in my suitcase when I went to Sydney 16 years ago, which was green and a rare species, as it comes with an Australian plug and was 240v friendly.  These are hard to find and if you have one, you hold onto it like an heirloom piece.  However all our electronic appliances had to go into storage when we moved to the States (damn you 110v!) and I couldn't bring my trusted green-faced friend with me - I had an emotional moment packing it into the cupboard box.  Do not despair though, as every cloud has its silver lining!  This means I get to 'choose' my own Tatung in a colour that I desire!  (I heard they come in pink nowadays hahaha)

It was not as easy as I thought trying to decide on the colour and size though.  After going through all the fancy colours I have decided to settle with the stainless steel one (I am a mature adult after all) - however, should I get the 4, 6 person capacity, or 10, or 20?  It seems excessive even to get the 6 persons as it is supposed to just feed the two of us and I was also concerned about precious kitchen bench real estate in a New York apartment.

Well of course, when in doubt, talk to mum.  Mum convinced me to get the 10 capacity as it is more versatile and means I can stew a large pot of soup in winter time (Yay I will never go hungry ever again).

The shiny Tatung Rice Cooker
seems to fit in well with my Le Creuset
and camping fry pan.
One big happy family!

With the rice cooker in residence it means now I can try out varieties of the rice dishes.  Included in my experiment was the Omu-rice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurice  It was a fun dish to make!  Unfortunately because I had to use the camping fry pan -  the omelette was just too small to wrap the rice properly (I shall call this the Omu-overflow-rice - talking about innovation!).  Wait till our paella pan arrives I shall make the biggest omelette ever.

Failed at the attempt to draw a love heart
with the ketchup.

Will continue with my food experiment and report back later!  You never know I might even try baking at some point.  Nelson is really loving the fresh home-made food - well lets enjoy it while we can shall we?  :-)

Week 5 Highlights:

- Visited the American Museum of Natural History:  Spent hours just looking at rock samples, live butterflies, and had fun exploring all the dinosaur rooms.  I have never seen a dino skeleton before and somehow had been putting them in the same bucket as unicorns.  When I was surrounded by all these massive skeletons though, they feel more real than ever.  Must go back to visit again!

Hello Rexy!

- My first Halloween:  It is even more full on than I expected!  Everywhere I went the shops and windows and homes were elaborately decorated.  Originally I was very excited and planned to deck out our new home with all the Halloween junk I could lay my hands on.  However by the time Halloween was really approaching I was so exhausted from all the stuff I had to buy for the new apartment that the last thing I wanted to do was to go to a shop and buy more stuff.

So Nelson and I celebrated our first Halloween by checking out the Village Halloween parade (reminds me of the Sydney Mardi Gras actually) on 6th Ave and then went home to watch E.T. (the movie).  I was expecting the parties to go wild and people staying up dancing in their costumes all night but everyone seemed to have either gone home or gone to bed around mid-night and our street went back to being pretty quiet.  This is indeed a very civilised place.  :-)

Casa Mia

'My' street - it was barricaded for the Halloween parade.
No one was murdered don't worry.

This is the big week!  We are finally moving into our new home!  Back in Software Development this would be what we call the Implementation Week.  Speaking of which, some folks rave about the Agile approach - you release small amount of features on a regular basis and you continuously correct and improve and add more features until you get to a stage where everything is close to perfect.  I kinda dig it too (I had my own Scrum Wall back in our Sydney home to manage the whole big overseas move).  However when it comes to moving into a new place I am all about Waterfall and the Big Bang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model.  Continuos 'development' would mean I will be living in the 'moving' stage for an extended period of time, and after all the chaos we went through ever since Nelson got his job offer I don't think I could handle any more of that.  :-)

Without further ado, let me walk you through this Waterfall project:

Requirements:

• Sufficient 'stuff' to enable running of 2 co-dependent adults' day-to-day lives.  This include (but not limit to):
• Enough couch space so the above mentioned adults do not bicker over who is taking up more than their fare share of the sofa rendering the other person sulking on an ottoman
• Comfortable mechanism to put feet up when required, after a long day of working/museum hopping
• Enough storage for pots, pans and cutleries
• Enough pot(s), pan(s), and cutleries to last till shipping container arrive post Christmas (I now no longer remember what is in shipping...)
• Somewhere to have meals like civilised human beings (which means not on the sofa)
• Somewhere for the same adults to use their laptops without having to visit chiropractor afterwards
• Storage for files, documents and random work stuff
• Comfortable device to sleep on after a long day of working/museum hopping/shopping (which means camping air mattresses do not count)
• Somewhere for he-who-shall-not-be-named to dump clothes in the bedroom so they do not infest the apartment like cane toads https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia
• Storage for clothes, shoes, and general crap
• Somewhere to put dirty laundry
• Privacy mechanism to enable situations such as not decently-dressed or dozing off on the couch with mouth opened
• Constraints:
• Only one bedroom
• Tiny kitchen
• Little built in storage space
• Small bathroom
• No internal laundry
• Limited budget cannot go crazy and buy posh designer furniture like in movies

This would give you an idea on how
 small the kitchen is - and the stove is smaller
than the microwave!
Welcome to #NYC living - so I heard.
ps. excuse my feet!

Design:

• Two couches - one each (no bickering!)
• Long coffee table with storage for laptops also for putting feet up
• A kitchen island that works as 1) extra food preparation space 2) storage 3) dining table 4) desk 5) inspection station when HUGE toilet paper rolls were accidentally bought

• A decent bed and an even more decent mattress - no earthquake when someone tosses and turns
• A bench at the end of the bed (as a stop gate to prevent the day's clothes to go on the floor)
• Chest of drawers in the bedroom (to make up the lack of actual storage space in the storage space)
• Large laundry basket
• Blinds (faux wood for the bathroom, timber for the rest of the apartment)
• Buy only 1 x pot and 1 x pan and 2 sets of cutleries (and see if we could last till Christmas...)

Implementation Day 1 - Wednesday

• The first to arrive were the lovely folks from West Elm.  3 guys to deliver 3 pieces of furniture (2 of them were tiny nightstands).  Go American efficiency!

the 3 amigos - one box each keeps the chiropractor away!

• Next up were the boys from http://www.ifurnitureassembly.com/, Konstian and Konstian (no kidding!)  These are the guys who 1) shop in IKEA on my behalf (with a shopping list I created on the IKEA website), and 2) went to the New Jersey IKEA to save me money on tax, and 3) delivered all the flat packs to the apartment, and 4) assemble all of them on site in a speedy and friendly manner.  They are truly amazing!  They have put together a 2 seater sofa (which is called a love seat here), a kitchen island, a chest of many many drawers, and put up a massive mirror on the bedroom wall.  They also cleaned up afterwards.

Konstian #1 putting the love seat together.
Notice that he took off his shoes
and did all the work on cupboard boxes.
His mom has taught him well!

• While I went cushion shopping (partially because I felt bad just sitting there watching the boys lived through my ultimate nightmare of putting up IKEA furniture), CB2 had delivered the red sofa and floor lamp.  With moi MIA means they missed out on the tip!  Uh-oh! (oh well)
• Last but not least:  Sitting room rug has arrived too! 

End of Day 1:

Implementation Day 2 - Thursday

• Guys from Times Warners came to install the cable for internet - can't live without that.  (side note:  the live-in Super told me we are the only unit out of 50 in the building who don't have a TV.  I wonder how she knows that... and I am keeping the trend strong.  TV sets are a real mood killer.  I am bringing reading and chatting back in fashion!)

Shower caps on shoes - Yes Respect the Floor!  I like it.

• Time to call the ifurnitureassembly boys back!  This time only one of the Konstians turned up.  We now have a sideboard for the sitting room and the coffee table!

End of Day 2: (somehow managed to bruise my finger without having to assemble anything whatsoever)

Implementation Day 3 - Friday

• Today is the day I could finally use the bathroom without worrying about if I might accidentally scare little children - no extra explanation needed.

Shower curtain from Anthropologie.
Before the blinds were installed
I had to use 2 large shopping bags
as my modesty screen.

• We also moved all our stuff from Midtown to our new home in a Uber car.  With a modest gratitude the Uber driver was quite happy to help us move all the luggages to the front door.

Implementation Day 4 - Sunday (final implementation yahoo!)

• The bed has arrived!  Round of beer for everyone!  Now I can call this a home.  To celebrate the happy occasion I made the first home-cooked breakfast in a very long time.  It was a mix between a traditional Aussie brekkie and American style (thanks to the bagel) but yes it is nice 'to be home'!

Week 4 non-moving-related highlights:

- First house party in NYC:  we got invited to a really lovely dinner party in the Upper West Side.  Great food and great company and a very disturbing party game called https://cardsagainsthumanity.com/  There are some words that I can no longer un-learn since... and not in a good way.  :-)

The most extravagant charcuterie board ever.  

Next week:  my one-pot wonders!