soak it up

I have been so sick of the horrible humidity paired with stormy wind and rain of the past few days…come on fall, hurry up and take over New York!  (my 6 beautiful coats are still waiting to be shown the streets of NY…) Now, finally able to soak up the sun rather than ‘be’ soaking, it truly feels like fall today. I find it incredible that the days where I choose to do the simplest things here often turn out to be the loveliest...I think my expectations of New York were that if you aren’t trying to do about 7 things at once, your day has been a waste.  The elusiveness of time here definitely makes it feel this way…I always seem to be running 30 minutes behind!

So, people watching with Marnie at Tompkins Square Park seemed to be the perfect antithesis to this NYC fast-forward lifestyle.  Old Greek women with walking sticks, cigarette smoking musicians lounging on the hill, gay men with tiny dogs and a noisy outdoor karate lesson for kids were only some of the diverse individuals taking part in the East Village community lifestyle.  Iced coffee and green tea in hand, we ourselves became part of this dynamic setting.

The perfect hangover cure lunch of an egg sandwich (my first ever!) and poached eggs on English muffins inspired Marnie to lead me toward my first (and only) addiction in the city…’Lulu’s Sweet Apothecary’.  I had been complaining how much I miss ice cream because I don’t eat dairy, so she took me to this vegan (so all non-dairy) ice-cream shop where everything is made out of cashews or soybeans. There are the most amazing flavours, including soft serve and a ‘drumstick’ flavour!  Chocolate choc-chip was my go to choice…but Marnie’s soft serve ‘twist’ with candied pecans was incredible. I am expecting many freezing yet amazing afternoons of sitting in the cold as fall sets in, eating ice-cream on the wooden bench in front of Lulu’s.