things you see while on the subway

Really, it's the little things that amuse on the 8.30am commute, when you are waiting for your second train because the first one was too crowded to get on.

le printemps est arrive!

It's spring! Time for doing new things, like making new kinds of desserts . . . (here is an Indian coconut layer cake I made the other day . . . yum!) (don't ask how much butter there was in it).


On Wednesday night we found a little bar hidden away on West 4th Street near NYU that serves Belgian beer. We aren't the biggest fans of Belgian beer, but the space is really cool and it would be lovely in the summer because they have a great patio.


On Thursday I went for a long walk in Central Park with my friend Sarah. In addition to realizing how out of shape I am, we saw turtles sunning themselves, and I got a little sun myself!


The cherries are blooming, a sure sign that spring is indeed on its way . . .


Later that day I attended a conference at the Columbia Law School. (The conference actually had nothing to do with law - it was on collective memory, return and commemoration issues in cultural studies.) The Law School is a special brand of High Modernist architecture that I actually find stunning. The balcony on the right makes the whole monolithic feel of it seem to make sense. The conference was good too.


On my way down Amsterdam Ave. to meet Chance after the conference, I passed by the cathedral of St. John the Divine. In the evening light it's magnificent. It's really massive. If you look closely you can see people on the lower right hand side of the photo. It dwarfs them!


On Friday we wandered around the "Curry Hill" neighborhood in Manhattan, so called because of all the Indian restaurants there. We ducked in to Kalustyan's, a Middle Eastern grocery store that also stocks a lot of Indian ingredients. Actually they have everything, from Latin American products to African ones! It's amazing. And upstairs there is this friendly gentleman, who made us sample his many Middle Eastern dishes. Oh man. SO good.


We stayed for lunch.

Happy Spring!