Growing Old

This evening was a time of catching up. I skyped with my parents for almost an hour, chatted about Thanksgiving and my plans to come home for Christmas, and caught each other up with what was going on.

Then I decided to read up on my brothers blog. He's getting married next year and he just got an awesome promotion at work. I rarely speak with him on the phone, but when I do it's so great to hear his voice. He's so inspiring, and so when I read his blog, I feel that same sort of inspiration.

And I found myself getting teary eyed as I read how he's rearranging his apartment to make new space for his fiancee who will be moving in soon. It was so touching and it settled in that my big brother is starting his own family. What does that mean for our family? I already don't see alot of him!

Ugh. Such a selfish thought. But it's the same feeling I feel when my good friend starts dating someone. I grew up mostly as an only child (big bro is 12 years older than me) so I am quite possessive.

Oh well.

Well Hello!

I musttttt start writing on this thing again! I like to share my thoughts and current obsessions, so here's where I'll start.

I'm cooking split pea soup right now and I added CHIA SEEDS to the broth. What are chia seeds? They are a wonder seed. The are full of fiber, they're tasteless, and you can eat them on just about anything. They absorb water so they keep you full for longer, and they're a wonderful antioxident. I'm trying to eat them everyday.

I've been watching Kimora Lee Simmons' reality show. She is an inspiration to me for some reason. I connect with her on so many levels. She's simply fabulous (which is her motto.) She's just given me the confidence not to take any BS from anyone. Don't be afraid to let people know who you are, what you stand for, and what you need! When someone isn't doing their job, she calls them out on it. And she is always dressed to impress. It shows that she means business. And I like that.

Lastly, I have moved into a new apartment. I signed a year lease! It's quite lovely. Nice neighborhood, nice apartment, good deal. I'll be honest - living with other people has never been something I enjoyed but I'm trying to come to terms with it. I think i just have very high standards for the way I live and I have yet to find someone who shares that same standard. These are the perils of having grown up mostly as an only child. I expect too much.

Pics of my soup to come!

Abu Dhabi!!!

So the 12-hour plane ride went quite quickly. There was so much food to eat and so many movies to watch!

I started out by watching “Nine” while eating a delicious selection of Chicken in Arabic yogurt and basmati rice. And they had pineapple juice! My fav…. I topped off my meal with an apple crisp with vanilla custard. I was very satisfied.

I fell asleep and when I woke up, I found out that I had missed the mid-flight snack, which was a choice between popcorn and a frozen snickers ice cream. I was upset!

It was time for another movie and another meal! Although it was breakfast, I decided to munch on the baked tilapia with rice, fresh seasonal fruit, and a hot chocolate. I watched “Up in The Air” and loved it! I’ve never been a huge fan of his, but I can see why America loves George Clooney.

We landed, whizzed through customs, got our bags, and got picked up to go to the hotel. When we proceeded to the check in line, they told us we were in the executive suites and we’d need to head upstairs to check in.

We entered the 10th floor where we were greeted with tea or coffee, fresh almonds, pistachios, and DATES. I LOVE DATES! We opened the door to our room, where we were awaited with complimentary fruit, a gift bag, and other delectables!

Today we had to be up early, so we headed down to the buffet breakfast. Then we got picked up to head to the Grand Mosque, get a tour of the New NYU campus, tour of the Abu Dhabi mall, and dinner on the Marine.

Some of the highlights of the day – getting to wear an Abaya and Sheila in the Grand Mosque, the kiwi and lime juice I had with lunch, swimming in the Arabian Gulf that had a perfect temperature warm enough to keep us swimming until 6 pm.

I am happy to report that I did get tan, do plan on eating more dates tomorrow, and trying more exotic juice drinks!



-- Dominique

Moving is Stressful

I moved into a new apartment and it's so incredibly stressful. Stressful to try to lug furniture around manhattan and brooklyn and up 4 flights of stairs, stressful to have to deal with roommates who may live differently than you, and stressful to realize that you're actually an adult who must pay rent and buy groceries.

I finally got a bed today. Up until now, I've been sleeping on an air mattress. It feels so nice to have a big bed to sprawl out on. I can eat chips and drink iced tea and watch Lost all within a few inches of myself!

Also, I've been eating really badly the last few days. The kitchen in this new apartment was not clean so I didn't want to cook in it until it was cleaned up. Today I nearly had a conniption fit as I made pasta for lunch. I decided to have a "dirty dinner" as I like to call it - soda, pizza, and chips. I was in no mood to cook and I had a raging headache from running around the city trying to get cleaning supplies, a chest of drawers, and other household items.

I felt guilty when i was at the grocery store, but there's nothing better to cure a headache than just-out-of-the-oven pizza and salty potato chips!

My boyfriend abandons me on holidays. Like today - it's Passover and he went home and he's not even Jewish! I guess those are the perks to having your family only 2 hours away.

I must vent - may I?

I was on the subway today headed home. I was in the first car of the train. I could not find one damn seat to sit in! Everywhere I turned, there was an overweight person taking up 2 seats. I was verrrrrrrrry upset. And they knew I was upset because I let out a huge breath of disappointment. Then, this really big woman came in. She was huge. "Precious" huge. Now, I had been standing for the entire trip and she didnt get into the subway until about halfway through my ride. Someone finally stood up and there were 2 empty seats. As i started to approach one of the empty seats, she quickly dodged in before me and sat down, taking up both seats. I stared at her and she looked at me as if to say, "Yea I know I'm taking up 2 seats, but it's not my fault. Now get yo curly ass away from my seat."

ughhhhhh. I'm still mad.

My Blog Is Back

I had to keep writing. Why did I stop this thing? Oh, because I was going through relationship problems and hated the world.
Well I have so many interesting and weird things going on that I must share.

Here are my current thoughts:

1) If I was rich, I would buy enough Almond Butter to last me a year. And not just almond butter, but Cashew, Macadamia, Pecan, Walnut, and Coconut Butter. They're so f-ing expensive and so good. That is on my to-do list when I get my first big check.

2) I am moving out of my grandmothers house and subletting an apartment (do you sublet an apartment or a room? who cares.) I'm moving in with a fellow Tisch alum, a film student. He and I have had some rough patches in the past. He cast me in his film at the same time I was cast in a Tisch Mainstage. My first love is Theatre and it was my priority at the time. Of course the schedules conflicted and so I dropped out of his film. We didn't speak for a year after that, and now I'm going to be his roommate.

3) I received a raise at work. A testament to me I suppose because I've only been working there for 4 months. This morning I sent an email to my boss asking him if I could be a server because I needed to make more money. I haven't gotten a response yet. I'm so scared to check my email! What if he's mad at me?

4) One of the reasons I'm so excited about moving out of grandma's house is because I'll get to cook the foods I like! She's a vegan and alwayssss in her kitchen. I haven't cooked a home-made meal in months and one of the first things I'm going to do when I move in is cook a quiche for Easter.

5) I've decided to allow myself to buy one thing per week that I want, instead of spending all my money in one sitting. So, 3 weeks ago I started out by buying a nice new bra, the week after that I bought suede flats from Aldo, and last week I bought this expensive homeopathic medicine I've wanted. It's sort of fun looking forward to the one gift I give myself each week.

okay, time to go shopping for sheets and hangers.

Goodbye

It's time i delete this thing. Thanks for reading!