Whipped

I wonder if anyone else in the office thinks about doing whip-its when they open the office fridge and see a bottle of whipped cream??

Nostalgia

A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time

A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.

longing for something past

A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.

a wistful or excessively sentimental sometimes abnormal yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition

Homesickness; esp., a severe and sometimes fatal form of melancholia, due to homesickness

Nostalgia

I wish I knew back when how important the kindred spirits I had met along the way were to keep in my life. I wish I had known that those type of people are hard to find and even harder to replace. Thinking of a few today and wondering.

I did a lot of walking in New York City. I trudged 3-5 miles a day, usually with my knapsack attached to me carrying any necessities I might need- an umbrella, my journal, a travel book, a map, extra scarfs and headgear to keep warm. I felt more tired from walking with this knapsack than I do from an hour of cardio at the gym or at least more sore, but in a bad way. I took baths in the afternoons to relieve the soreness and it felt luxurious. I explored Greenwich Village, the Upper East Side (5th ave mostly), Nolita, Noho, East Village, Soho. It all looked the same to me and I wasn't crazy about any of it. On Thursday afternoon, it rained too hard to walk around and I spent the afternoon in a bookstore and later at a midday movie. It felt so good to spend the day away in this manner!

We found a restaurant that we liked (http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/cornershop/) and we ate there 3 of the nights for dinner. They had good salads and some interesting things like plantains and vegetable kabob. The decor was quaint, the place small and dimly lit with a heavy red velvet curtain at the entrance. It felt like a lot of the time was focused on food - where to eat, what to eat, when to eat, etc. I did ok the first few days (no sugar or gluten) and then on Wednesday, after a portabello and mozzarella salad for lunch in the East Village, I wanted something sweet. We essentially ended up having chocolate for dinner here (http://www.maxbrenner.com/home.aspx). They have a 14 page chocolate menu (crepes, pancakes, chocolate pizza, hot chocolate, desserts, etc). It was pretty impressive, but nauseating. Oh well, I guess vacation is about eating. I ordered a crepe and I couldn't even eat 1/2 of it. It had peanut butter and chocolate in it, caramel sauce on the side, a small scoop of ice cream with chocolate one it, a few banana slices in toffee, and some hazelnut crunch on top of it. Talk about a lot!

Later, I went to a craft store and bought some colored pencils and a blank book and when we went to hear some jazz music I drew and colored designs in my own little world. I need that a lot (my own little world). A couple of nights, I journeled at the bar (It felt good to write!) while Lisa drank wine. Luckily she's laid back and doesn't say anything about my anti-socialness.

I spent some time in Central Park. The first time I went, I didn't have a proper map and tried with no luck to find the Strawberry Fields (a tribute to John Lennon). I went back the next day, map in hand and just as I found the Fields, it started raining pretty heavily. I was eager to take a picture of the Imagine Circle but my camera phone died. It didn't turn on again until I was almost back at the hotel. I went again on our last day there- map and functioning phone in hand, but I've got to say, the picture I took was pretty crappy and I didn't realize it until later.

One cold frigid day, I was walking down 5th Avenue and had just passed St. Patrick's Cathedral and noticed all of these people going in so I followed suit. It turned out it was noon mass. It was pretty wild as I've never been to mass before. Later this afternoon, I met a homeless man named Spider and his dog. I stopped to chat with him and pet his dog. They both haunted my thoughts for days.

We went to Macy's and saw the ball that drops in Time's Square on New Years Eve. We went to Rockefeller Center and saw the tree and the ice skaters. We saw the Cirque du Soleil (the best part of the trip) at Madison Square Garden and then strolled around Times Square. We checked out the windows at Macy's and the shops, tree and more ice skaters at Bryant Park.

It was good to get out of Boston for a while, take time off of work, get out of the routine. It was also good to get back into the routine and anticipate the next vacation.