Happy Thanksgiving! I am getting settled here in Brooklyn, and Mom and Dad visited for the holiday! They got here on Wednesday, although I had to work and couldn't see them until yesterday. Since pretty much everything is closed on Thanksgiving, we just walked around Prospect Park, which I hadn't even seen yet before going into Manhattan for dinner. I also showed them my apartment, which I think they thought was alright, but they really didn't like the neighborhood. But let's all remember that Brooklyn is Brooklyn, and a single girl living by herself can only afford so much at the beginning of her career. But rest assured that I am safe and well looked after!

Dinner was great though. We went to Mercer Kitchen, which is a Jean-George restaurant in SoHo. Very chic and fashionable. And they have a special turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, which was wonderful. Turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, brussels sprouts (which I love), and sweet potatoes with a great pumpkin pie for dessert. I had asked Harold, my boss, to call and make the reservation for me, so they sent us a mid-course of a tuna pizza with wasabi (my mother tried sushi!). They also sent a free apple tart dessert, which was delicious! We were, needless to say, stuffed.

Today we started with a walk to Brooklyn Heights (a very nice, expensive neighborhood along the water near the Brooklyn Bridge) which has a nice little walk along the river where you can see the statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, downtown Manhattan, and the Empire State building. After that, Dad went back to the hotel for a nap and Mom and I did a little shopping. Nothing too big, as I have lost much of my endurance for shopping, but I did my best.

Then tonight we had dinner at Commerce, which is always fun and a little nerve wracking for me. It was great though. Mom and I split the chicken for two, which is delightful, and she had the split pea soup and Dad had the sweet potato tortelloni. They sent us a lobster mid-course and several desserts. Again stuffed.

And now I'm back at home, since I have to work tomorrow morning and they are planning to leave fairly (alright, very very) early.

And, in my focus on all of the not so great things that have happened to me lately, I forgot to mention the highlight, a visit from Wendee! She was in town for a conference for work and we got to spend half of Monday together. I was so excited! It was great. We did a bit of shopping at Macy's at Herald Square (the big one) and then I showed her around the West Village, stopped into Magnolia Bakery for some treats, and then on to Commerce for dinner (this seems to be a pattern). Dinner was great and I haven't been so full in ages. We had the porterhouse for two, with cippolini onions, creamy spinach, and potato roti (the best hash browns you've ever tasted). They sent us out a little sampling of our raw appetizers, again, go me for getting Wendee to try sushi! But I ate most of it. I had a ton of fun and really enjoyed a chance to talk. it's hard to do that the few times I get to go home.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to all of you soon! Until then, all of my love and happy holidays!

S

It has been a very long month since I last wrote. I'm just going to sum it up quickly, as much of it isn't really quite the thing you talk about. Unless you're doing some heavy duty gossiping. Basically it goes like this...

Steve left N.Y. for Florida to help his dad out (who was sick), the lease in Harlem was up (a month early, thank you B.W.) and since I had 2 weeks notice to pack up all of my stuff and his and no time to find a new apartment I was temporarily homeless. Well, kinda. I always had a place to stay. Everyone at work made sure of that. I am pretty much surrounded by people who take care of me. I stayed with one girl from work for 2 weeks until she moved back home to Israel, then I stayed with my manager Mali for a week, and then I finally found an apartment!

I found a very small studio in Brooklyn. It's a block away from Prospect Park, the second largest park in New York City. I haven't been there yet, but then I've only been living here for two weeks. I really love it. It's on the second floor and, while it's only one room, I have two closets (one of which is pretty big, with lots of shelves). The kitchen is basically a wall. By basically, I mean literally. But it's big enough for what I need it for, which is pretty much holding my cereal and take out. I don't really have any furniture except for my bed and a bookcase, but I'm going to take my time finding things that I really like and fit me well. I'll post some pictures later, when it's looking less like a small room full of boxes of books and more like a home.

In there somewhere I also broke up with Steve. Things had just not been going well and it just didn't feel right any more.

I've been really happy lately though. Even with the homelessness and the ending for a very long relationship. I really feel like I'm starting fresh, which is exciting. and I'd better go try to put some more of these boxes away. I'll write again soon, barring more homelessness.

I haven't had a day off since I last wrote, so I've been working a lot. I went to a really great play a couple of weeks ago with my friend Carlos. It was directed and compiled by another friend of mine, Andrea, who I work with. It was a collection of pieces by and about Sylvia Plath called Ariel View, a bit of a collage really, with no linear plot or story really, just a picture of who she was. A bit difficult to explain, but very impressive acting. All of it really. It was a part of an independent theater festival and very fun. A very New York kind of day. Other than that, it's been a very low key kind of week (weeks). I've been working on a scarf and reading Jane Austin's Literary Manuscripts.

My friend Jon came to visit from Portland. His cousin was getting married, so he came into town a couple of days early. I went over to Brooklyn, where he was staying with our friend Craig, to a bar called Marlow & Sons, which was pretty cool. Very Brooklyn, full of marginally employed artists in odd clothes dancing enthusiastically, but cool none the less. It was great to see Jon, and Craig too, since I never see him otherwise. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get out to Oregon soon.

I'd better go, it's getting late and I still have some laundry to do and ice cream to eat. I'll write again soon!

-s

Phew! It's been ages. I wish I could say that work has been really busy, but it's summer in the city and it just really hasn't been all that busy. I did get to go to Rachel's wedding in July, which was wonderful. Rachel asked me last minute to read a poem during the ceremony. I'm not very well versed in poetry, but it I really liked it. A very sweet poem by Pablo Neruda. It really was great to see at least most of the family, and it was very nice to get out of the city. It's been 7 months since I'd been away and it was really nice to see space, abeit a very flat space.

My friend Liz and her husband moved to Richmond this week, which was sad. I'll miss her. She's my knitting buddy and the most constant of my girl friends here. I'm hoping I'll be able to go visit her sometime soon, but with the fall season, and its accompanying boost in covers, just around the corner, it'll be a while. But I did get to have breakfast with her yesterday and even had time to run over to our favorite yarn shop/cafe, the Point, which is also conveniently located near work. They were having a big summer yarn sale, so I couldn't resist picking a few things up. I'm not sure what exactly what I'm going to do with it yet, but I'll figure it out. And maybe even post some pictures.

I've been trying to organize my knitting lately (by this I mean intermittantly over the last 2 months). All it's really amounted it is moving it all from several bins and a bag into a large cardboard box for sorting. It's also made me realize that I have a lot of unfinished projects, projects not even started, projects only half concieved, and yarn that I have only the slightest of clues as to what it could be used for. And a drawer full of needles, many of which are duplicates. I have two days off this week, today and tomorrow, so hopefully something will be done with this.

Well, I'm going to try to find some patterns for all of this now. I hope everyone back home had a great fairweek and is well and happy!

I would start by apologizing for taking so long to post again, but I think you have all heard it so many times before that it just doesn't matter anymore. I've now been on the fish station at work for about a month, I think. and I'm really enjoying it. We just changed half of my garnishes and I really like all of them. The lobster Newburg is now a lobster with corn chowder like garnish, basically bacon, corn, fingerling potato, chantrelle mushrooms, and a corn sauce. It's delicious. The whole steamed dorade is now a whole roasted dorade, roasted on fennel sticks (that's the dried stalk of a fennel plant) and garlic and served with citrus braised fennel and tomato compote. Also delicious. it's a perfect summer dish...light, flavorful, and relatively low in all of those things people who wear bathingsuits look out for.

Outside of work, I've been quite busy. Last week I had jury duty, which was really boring, but since it was right before Memorial Day weekend, there weren't any cases, I just just got to go home. But I still spent my day off in an office building, which did not make me happy. Yesterday and today I have off, the first two day weekend in ages. I cannot describe to you how awesome it is to have two days off in a row like this. Everyone considers it normal, and when it's not, it's the most amazing luxury. It's definitely going in the "Someday" pile for me. Someday, I will have two days off. Someday. Until then, I'd better go work on a top secret project. ciao.

In the time since I last wrote, quite a bit has happened. Not necessarily to me, since I've pretty much just been working, but such is my life. Steve had his last day of work on Saturday, which was not entirely voluntary, since the fish company he worked for is nearly bankrupt, but we're optimistic about it. He's going to take a week to write and meet with his manager, and then he's been offered jobs managing a couple of different fish companies. So, basically, it's like a vacation.

Commerce has been crazy busy lately. We got written up in New York magazine, Time Out New York, so we've been fully booked thursday through saturday. I've got some really fun new spring dishes, which I really enjoy. I've been cooking a lot of asparagus, morels, spring onions and garlic, ramps (it's a wild leek type thing). Basically, lots of green. And we had a duck special this weekend, which Mom will tell you, sells really really well. And David Schwimmer has come in for dinner twice.

Other than that, the highlights of my week were pretty much the yarn I got from Rachel, which is absolutely beautiful, and the warm weather we had on Saturday. I can't wait to find a pattern that will really let the yarn shine.

Hopefully in a week I'll have much more interesting news and maybe some photos to show.

Pheww! Today is my second day off since I started work. And work is going well. Very well. I'm working the entremet station, which I may have mentioned last time. I'm cooking vegetables like I was when I left Blue Hill. the difference at Commerce is that the vegetables are not being covered up with sugar. I'm again glazing about 5 different kinds of vegetables, carrots, rutabega, celery root, green celery, salsify, parsnips, tiny turnips, and sometimes sunchokes. but I only have something like 2 real purees, spinach and garlic, which are only used as components and, of course, potato puree! Which is slightly a pain in my butt, because it takes ages to dry out, but which tastes pretty much exactly like heaven. there are certain garnishes which are especially challenging for me, but I really feel that I'm learning from them and with them as opposed to just working around them. I don't think I can stress enough how much I'm loving this job. The hours are long, but not impossible and there is such joint goal and mission and drive. It's very inspirational.

I have Tuesdays off, which is bittersweet. I'm glad to have a set day off so I can look forward and plan, but Steve's days off are Sunday and Monday, so I don't get to see him much, which sucks. But I've been keeping busy, basically just running errands and that sort of thing. It's been a bit too cold lately to do much else anyway. Hopefully by the time it warms up I'll have two days off. Well, I'd better go finish my laundry. I'll write again next week!

I'm officially employed! Starting Monday, I'll be working. I went in three days this week to get the kitchen cleaned up, scrub pots and receive in our first shipment of food. There is something wonderful about filling an empty walk-in refrigerator with lovely fruits and vegetables.

I also got a chance to meet the other people I'll be working with. They've pretty much all worked together before at March, so I'm referred to as 'the new girl'. They're all quite a bit more experienced than I am though. As I'm nervous already about starting, this doesn't exactly serve to boost my confidence. Harold and Snir keep telling me how very hard it's going to be, asking if I'm ready. They're saying it mainly in a joking way, since Snir has faith in my abilities and Harold trusts Snir's judgment (and I wouldn't have been hired if they really thought I couldn't do it). I'm trying to keep this in mind. I also felt similarly when I started at Blue Hill and even back at school, yet I did well in both places. I'll do fine. It's just going to be very hard and I'll go down pretty spectacularly several times, I'd guess. But I'll learn. and remember what it was that I love about cooking in the first place.

I've been trying to prepare for the other side of my working life, which is basically sleeping and eating breakfast. I've been cleaning and organizing like a mad woman, so there's less to do once I don't have the time anymore. I'm also going to make a huge grocery run soon here, stock up on late-night snacky foods and cereal. and of course, before I start working here for real there is the super bowl. Several people are coming over to watch it tomorrow, mostly boys (story of my life), but thankfully our friend Carlos is going to be here too, so he'll help by making some food so I won't have to do all of it. and I think Liz is coming over, so I'll have someone to talk to while the game's on.

It's been a while, I know. I'd gotten rather a bit discouraged with lack of readership, because, really what is the point when no one is reading? But I'm back. And still unemployed. Although we do have a name! I think it's going to be called Commerce, after the street it's located on. And Snir has assured me that I'll be employed in 2008, although a line in the NYtimes yesterday said that we were supposed to open next month some time. There is still a little bit of red tape to work through first though, so no definite date yet.

I've been keeping busy though. I've been cooking a good bit. Making stocks every other day it seems. I've made bread, mornay sauce (that's a cheese sauce) to go with Steve's Hot Browns (a casserole of sorts from Kentucky of bread, roasted turkey, cheese sauce, roasted tomato, and bacon), macaroni and cheese with tomatoes and spinach, roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots and onions, chicken noodle soup, and braised lamb shanks with creamy white beans and gremolata (I even have a picture of that!). So we've been eating well. I also now have two FOs (finished objects) that I've knitted and am actively working on two more, with at least one tumbling around in my head. I've pictures of the FOs too.

I'm particularly happy about one of the scarves I've finished. I saw a similar scarf at the Gap when Jodi and Kelli were here last. I think. I didn't really like any of their colors, and the pattern seemed simple enough, simple ribbing with a cable pattern at each end to cinch it in and create architectural interest. I also just happened to have three skeins of this beautiful medium gray alpaca wool in my stash, just waiting to be used. It's curling a bit, as you can see, on the edges, so I'm going to try blocking it (wetting and lying out to dry while pinned in place) hopefully that will straighten it out. And then I'll send it on to Dana in Denver. No reason really, it just really seemed like her scarf from the beginning. I really hope she likes it.

The bright colored scarf I've been working on for what seems like ages now. I started it last summer while I was still living in Pleasantville, but I ran out of yarn and had to have it ordered from Wales. Which took a very long time. And the colors aren't exactly the same, but I don't think I really mind.

Happy New Year everyone! I'm finally kind of getting up and around. I've eaten a fabulous sandwich from across the street and am now lying down to finish watching Sabrina and then to move on to Emma. Steve's gone back to bed to take a nap and I suppose that sometime I'll have to get up again to find dinner. That is what happens when you don't get home until 5am. But we had a great time last night. We stayed with Liz, Josh, Libby, Phillip, Brent and his girls at a bar in the West Village until a bit after midnight, then headed over to the lower east side to meet up with Carlos and some of his friends from college at a horrible bar. We soon left there to find relative peace at the hi-fi (lovely little bar with a great jukebox) and didn't leave there until they kicked us out. Very fun, but now I don't want to move for the rest of the day. So I think I won't.