Lenox Coffee

Lenox Coffee- 60 West 129th Street




This is my new favorite place to hang out. Everybody does not know my name. And Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Joey are not ever seen sitting on the couch. But they could be. It has that Central Perk vibe to it. Harlem is changing and in big and exciting ways. This is a place you can sit and read the newspaper in. It is an independently owned coffee shop (with some good sandwiches/pastries). Nothing against Starbucks, but I just feel at home here. I hope it continues to thrive. It's only been open two months, but if you're in the area - support it! And you just might see me :)

Cheers

Cheers to the freaken' weekend!



And also to my birthday. The big 32.

I had planned a wonderful sit down dinner party with my closest friends for Saturday January 21, 2012. It was all set and ready to happen...a personalized catered party by one of my best friends Carrie Vail...that was finished off with a cake prepared by a friend Ashley. Both go to Johnson & Wales in Culinary / Baking Pastry respectively. How lucky am I!?


The theme? Once Upon a Time - - The TV show. The dinner consisted of Red Riding Hood Crostinis, Rumplestiltskin's Golden Bisque, Snow White's Winter Salad and Prince Charming's Royal Fowl. The cake was devil's food with the decoration on top of a basket of red apples and the evil queen's hat leaning against it. It was magical. Carrie had printed out the menu on beautiful designer paper and I had made place cards for everyone, sporting a picture of a different character from the show on each.


Me - Evil Queen
Carrie - Regina Mills
Ashley - Ruby
John - Rumplestiltskin
Cristina - Mary Margaret
Alex - Graham
Elle - Cinderella
Teresa - Snow White
Amy - Emma Swan
Dave - Prince Charming
Kari - Henry


The party favors were a hot chocolate package with a bag of cinnamon. They were named appropriately 'Emma's Cinnamon Topped Hot Cocoa.' A big hit!


The night was a lot of fun and filled with laughter and good conversation. We played games and watched a movie and drank some delicious drinks. Sadly a few couldn't make it due to the weather. Snow is beautiful, and created a nice backdrop to the theme of my party, but overall it ruined a bit of the party.

Along with good food and good company I also got two tweets from Lana Parrilla, who plays the Evil Queen / Regina Mills on Once Upon a Time!! She is my absolute favorite on the show and one of my all time favorite actors. Getting not only a birthday tweet from her but also another tweet about the party just about made my life!

Grateful

"- You're not even grateful, are you?
-Grateful? For the worst fucking experience of my life?
- You hold to your pain like it means something; like it's worth something. Well let me tell you, it's not worth a shit. Let it go. Infinite possibilities and all you can do is whine...
-What am I suppose to do?
-What do you think? You can do anything, you lucky bastard, you're alive! What's a little pain compared to that?
-It can't be that simple.
-What if it is? "

- Six Feet Under


Change is hard.
Depression gets really fucking boring , when you have the time to sit with it.
Maybe it doesn't get better?
But there are days like today, when winter has finally come and the cold hits my face and permeates through my bones.
I don't have answers. I don't have a plan.
But I have my health. And I'm starting to get into the best shape of my life. And to see my body change is powerful. You don't realize. I didn't. Maybe you did? How amazing the human body is. I am thankful for that.

I opened a drawer about three weeks ago and there was something really sweet inside.

I am Human

I am female
I am male

I am caucasian
I am african american
I am asian american
I am native american

I am gay
I am a lesbian
I am transgendered
I am a transexual

I am blonde
I am brunette
I am a red head

I am tall
I am short
I am average

I am skinny
I am overweight

I am shy
I am loud
I am popular
I am a loner

I like to read
I like to write
I like to sing
I like to dance
I like to run
I like to play sports
I like to hang out with friends
I like to paint
I like to make videos
I like to watch TV
I like to see movies
I like to take photographs

I am catholic
I am protestant
I am jewish
I am christian

I feel
I love
I hate
I am happy
I am sad
I am angry

I am human
I am me.

**This post is for all of those who have been bullied at any point in their lives...and for those who have been the bullies...this is to show that we are all the same, we are all human.**

Lindsay

A Case of You

I've been running all my life
I run away I run away from good
I've been waiting all my life
You're not a day not a day
too soon

The heart is hard to translate
But after 31 years
I see
I feel
I believe
And I'm ready
to drink a Case of You

Thanks to Sia and Florence and Joni Mitchell.

I forgot how much I love "Yellow Ledbetter" from Pearl Jam. The guitar and the drums that begin and end the song have put me in a good mood all week. I love any art that can do that.

Written Word

The screen stares back at me. Always in white. The blinking cursor. What to write? Every character is 80 percent you. You are the characters. It's the next 20 percent you have to worry about. Or that is what I believe. Words of wisdom... as I approach... 32?

Happy New Year.

Follow me on twitter markers31... I'll tweet you back and say fuck like Ellen Barkin. How cool is she? Her work in The Normal Heart on broadway last year was the kind of theater experience anyone would dream of.

As I dream of what else to write. I think I have a story. I think I have a character or two. The excitement. The disappointment. The solitude. The determination and the discipline it takes to write. Just a word. A sentence. A paragraph. A thought. Something original. That hasn't influenced me? But everyday influences me. Every thought that maybe today.... I ... grow .. learn. Believe again.

I'm believing in again. Today at least. And words are starting to stare back at me. I'm about to give birth to new characters. And I didn't even have to endure labor, but I ate more than usual :)