My Julie/Julia Moment

LONG DAY. Still no voice for work today, so my day was spent in solitude with way too many envelopes. I lent my shoe-soulmate jCrew flats to a friend yesterday, so I had to remind my feet what high heels were ( they thanked me with a large blister). I came home with my head glued to the phone and remembered I hadn't gone food shopping in 2 weeks. Oops.

Grocery shopping attempt 1: Fairview market.
Raving recommendations and the deceivingly bargain-friendly exterior aside, a mere half basket and a $5.99 block of 'Australian' cheddar ( i cant help it; as a cheese conisuier i miss real cheese) later my wallet was $50 lighter! I guess it was naive to believe in the miracle of cheap organic food, but $5.60 for a SMALL box of special k? Really? Take me back to Walmart!

Grocery shopping attempt 2: Street Stall 
Outside Fairview I found the real bargain. A street stall of fresh vegetables. Memories of less than clean 3rd world counterparts were pushed aside by the all-American labeled and packaged produce. $6.5 later I had 2 large boxes of campri tomatoes, a couple of grapefruit, and a bag of onions.

Grocery shopping attempt 3: Trader Joe's 
After I stumbled through the door, my gorgeous roommate Catherine informed me she was off to Trader Joes to buy a pumpkin. Realizing I had forgotten toilet paper ( a clear staple since we'd been out for 2 days) I ventured out again. 2 avenues and 3 blocks later I discovered my drink bottle was open, and that 2 avenues and 3 blocks was more than enough time to drench the entire contents of my lovely, electronic laden bag. However despite the slosh of my bag, Trader Joes did not fail to disappoint. Whole Foods' cheaper baby brother is packed with cheap semi organic produce, and has the appealing constant cycle of new products.

And then came the Julie/Julia moment. Remember how Amy Adams stumbles home from the Subway, and "adds chocolate to cream and butter" and makes a (visually delicious) pie? Well I came home, drained my handbag, put on my Anthropolgie apron and with the help of the world's best ingredients: bread, Feta cheese, Tasty cheese, & Olive oil, I made green bean salad, with juicy tomatoes and onion; bread and cheese on the side. I even managed to not drench my food in olive oil (my equivalent of Julie and Julia's butter addiction). Who says vegetarian food can't be tasty?  I then wound my way up our spiral stairs, and ended up on our gorgeous roof, staring at the cascading architecture, Central Park and the few stars that were out tonight. Alas, Josh is still in Houston, so my meal wasn't as perfect as the movie, but as any aspiring Julia Child knows, a good meal can go a long way. Precooked meals, pasta with canned sauce and popcorn are merely poor imitations of what the explosions of real flavor taste like in your mouth. I hereby resolve to spend this time in New York learning the art of real cooking (meat included - you're welcome Josh!) After all, what is better to cap off a crazy internship day than some fresh food and a bit of serenity?
Thank you Julie and Julia. I even happened to be wearing my pearls.

P.S. The perfect desert is still a chocolate snack pack. I'm sorry, i know Julie and Julia would never approve, but chocolate pudding that's .50c a piece and only 60 calories is still a poor student's winner.