Location | New York, NY
You’ll be disappointed to hear that today’s 365 has no photo, but I do have a topic… the Harvard Business Review. HBR is a fantastic little magazine that costs a whopping $16.95 when it’s a double issue. As my aspiration to do better in business, the articles are insightful, but… to get a subscription… it’s $99 for 10 issues!!!
Anyone want to get me a subscription?
Location | New York, NY
Take-home box from Amy Ruth's
Hmmm, why does it seem that my inspiration tends to come from food? Today, as a divisional outing, we went to Amy Ruth’s in Harlem for lunch. I’d heard about Amy Ruth’s before, but had never gone. Right next to the 116th stop (it goes under Central Park!), we arrived and entered the next door “event” space. We were all seated and the event was “catered” style from next door.
Lemonade or Sweet Tea. Fried Chicken, Fried Catfish, Cornbread, Macaroni & Cheese, Collard Greens, Sweet Mashed Potatoes, and Peach Cobbler… MRMMMMM!
Luckily after eating I got a take out box to take some of the leftover food home — YAY! I just finished half of the boxed portion off for dinner. Yum…! Inspiration done.
Location | New York, NY
So... Shake Shack is on the ceiling
Today is brought to you by Shake Shack on the ceiling. Yes, I know it’s a ridiculous thing… it’s not inspirational, but it DOES make me warm. So I discovered why my apartment was very cold. For some reason there’s 2 vents on my ceiling, one above my fridge, the other in my bathroom and they both have cold air streaming out of them… why? I have no idea why. It feels like air conditioning. Where on earth is that air coming from? No idea.
Is it coming from upstairs? Perhaps my upstairs neighbors, who are already wildebeests, are also living in an igloo.
Anyway, so I ended up putting a Shake Shack bag (which is perfectly square) over the perfectly square vent. Now I have a bag on my ceiling… but at least it’s warm now! HOORAH!!
Location | New York, NY
Gianduja Custard at Shake Shack
Today’s inspiration is brought to you by the Shake Shack January Monday flavour of the month – gianduja. Gianduja is a type of chocolate that’s made of 30% hazelnut paste. Hence the lovely hazelnut topping on the custard. It’s $3.50 for this small scoop, but it’s well worth it because Shake Shack offers some really amazing custard flavors. Here are this month’s flavors:
I’ll probably stop by again on Sunday for Cinnamon Toast. My favorite custard flavors are “Coffee and Donuts,” “Bellini,” and “Red Velvet.” I’ve had some weird flavors too (melon mint….), but usually Shake Shack does not disappoint. I’m looking forward to the bananas foster flavor around Mardis Gras! Only 3 months until then! 
Location | Ace Hotel, New York
Latte at Stumptown in the Ace Hotel
I have to say, I LOVE the Ace Hotel so far. I’ve been dying to check out the new Stumptown in the Ace Hotel, and today, here I am! At first I thought there was no seating, but I was so excited to hear that you sit inside the hotel lobby. Free WiFi, waiter service too…! Baristas dressed up in prohibition era type clothing… love love love this place! Not to mention that Stumptown coffee is amazingly good (trust me, better than any Starbucks).
Location | New York, NY
This is Steel Train
Today’s 365 is brought to you by Steel Train. What is Steel Train you ask? Well I didn’t know until about 2 hours ago. They’re an indie rock group from Jersey. I went to the Brooklyn Bowl tonight for Albert’s birthday and part of the Brooklyn Bowl is a music venue so there was a Steel Train concert! I’ve never really been into indie rock, but I have to admit that they were pretty good.
It reminded me of the days when I used to be more into music. I’d know all the latest bands and try to essentially “keep up with the Joneses.”
Anyway, while at the Brooklyn Bowl, I made friends with a guy from Japan who’s a guitarist in a band. Didn’t get his contact info though, or else maybe I’d be going to more indie rock concerts?
Location | New York City
Glenfidditch Scotch - Aged 12 Years
Yesterday was the beginning of what would turn into a long (and fun) night. It was New Year’s Eve, I was hosting a bash at my friend, Ning’s, and with a fridge filled only with alcohol (beer, beer and more beer) as well as a bar stocked with whiskey, vodka, rum, etc, we were ready to party.
When the night was winding down, my friend John decided he’d take it upon himself to teach me how to drink (and enjoy!?) scotch. Ning had 2 bottles of scotch in his apartment, Glenlivet, Aged 12 Years Single Malt Scotch Whisky and Glenfidditch, also Aged 12 Years Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
Now, I know absolutely nothing about scotch. Frankly, I had no idea that it had to be distilled in Scotland. You’d think I’d make a connection… scotch… Scotland… scotch… Scotland… and no… I did not.
So here’s John’s advice (and this is assuming that you’re like me, knowing nothing about scotch):
As strange as this all sounds (and also slightly obvious). This took me FOREVER to master. Boy, I felt completely ridiculous trying to do this careful “dance” in my mouth with tongue, scotch, breathing, mouth shut. Of course, my mouth and throat were burning after awhile because I was having trouble trying to understand how someone could enjoy scotch.
I have a feeling that it’s going to be one of those “acquired taste” things, but maybe I can get into it? Despite that completely tipsy drunken feeling I had only after a little bit.
Location | New York City
So until I actually get the blog up and running, I’m starting my new project here. It’s called 365. Essentially I’m going to try to blog about 1 thing every day that I find inspiration in, or something that I’ve learned about. The cool thing is… it goes really well in conjunction with the Explore! blog. It’s part of my resolution to explore and seek out new things and find inspiration in the everyday. Hopefully I’ll be able to move these entries off of Explore to their own home soon.
Location | New York City
One thing I’m always thankful for is that I live in a city where there’s plenty to explore. My cousins are currently visiting from Michigan, so I took them on a mini tour of New York. We went up to Central Park to walk around. The lighting was perfect, but I wish I had someone who enjoyed shooting as much as me there. The weather was beautiful, it was around 50 degrees, beautiful clear blue skies and sunny.
Perfect lighting in "The Mall" section of Central Park
We strolled through the section of the park known as “The Mall” over to where the Bethesda Terrance & Fountain, where we found that the fountain had been drained. We walked up to where the sailboat pond (known as The Conservatory Water) is and found that it too had been drained! Earlier in the summer Greg and I had visited to go inside the Kerbs Memorial Boathouse where the Central Park Model Yacht Club houses their boats.
We walked upwards toward the Met and over to Belvedere Castle. I’d never gone there before and this was a treat. The view is pretty breathtaking up there. Although when you look south, you can only see treetops, but when you look north you get an amazing view of the Turtle Pond below, then over the Great Lawn and into the Upper East Side.
The view from Belvedere Castle
After spending some time there, we walked through The Ramble over to Strawberry Fields near the Upper West Side. I’d never seen the Imagine memorial (for John Lennon) and stopped a second to take a picture.
I love this song.
After that we exited the park and took the train down to Midtown and walked over to Rockefeller Center to see the big tree. The crowd was insane. They blocked off the roads because there were just too many people flocking to see the tree. It took us about half an hour just to get through the crowd.
We walked down Fifth Avenue (a bad idea during the holiday season) toward the New York Public Library on 42nd street. We sat in front of the library for a bit to rest before we went around to Bryant Park. They had their holiday shops up and their lovely little tree and ice skating rink. They rename the winter version “The Pond.” We took a bunch of pictures around the tree and watch the Zamboni go round and round on the rink.
Bryant Park Tree
After that we walked over to Grand Central where I showed them the inside and then we went our separate ways.
My cousins, Billy, me, Andrew and Tim.
Location | New York City
If there’s one place I’ve been meaning to visit for awhile, it’s The High Line. Sometimes I just love being a tourist in my own city! Yesterday was a chilly 17 degrees while also the calm before the biggest snowstorm of 2009 (well the end of 2009). We accumulated around 12-15 inches last night.
Yesterday, in snow and cold wind, my friends Yaya, Matty and Steve walked from my apartment to The High Line. The High Line is a park built on the remnants of an elevated rail line that lifted freight cars 30 feet above the streets in the west side of Manhattan. It runs from the Meatpacking district (Gansevoort St) up to 34th Street.
The High Line is really pretty lit-up
So The High Line is a cemented sidewalk with some wildlife on each side. At night they light it up so it is a really beautiful setting against the backdrop of the city.
Keep It Wild! Stay on the Path!
