Thursday, after DH gave a midterm, we went out to celebrate him getting through teaching half a semester.
To Virgils, as usual.
Normal price tag ($65, that's with 3 drinks)

On Friday, we were both in the city, and I was in the area of Hell's kitchen (I was hoping to win "The Book of Mormon" cheap tickets by lottery, but that did not work out.)
So, since I was right there, we went out to a little hole in the wall place for Thai food.

It is a good place if you know what to order - half dishes suck, half of them very yummy. Luckily I know what to order now.

vegetable steamed dumplings with peanuts - Yum.

The whole bill with tip was under $40.

And on Sunday our friends invited us for brunch at their house. Good company and delicious very healthy food. Free.

So, 3 full meals out for less than $103.

If every week was like that, we could easily stay under my eating out budget target.

Sometimes I daydream about getting a 2br in Manhattan so I occasionally browse the listings just to see where the prices are going (always UP).

How much would a coop 2br apartment like this cost in your area?

Frustrating.

People seem to think that used furniture is of such high value that it is non-negotiable.

I found one coffee table that was suitable for a DIY project, the seller wanted $60. I wrote that if they can do $40, I can pick up right away. Reply "no thanks". No counter, or conversations, just a reply that invites no other communication. OK.
(I think I'm being reasonable by negotiating BEFORE I arrange to go to their house, so not to waste anyone's time).

So I see this guy trying to sell that coffee table over and over for now 3 months. One would think he will realize by now it is not priced right, but no. Got the same reply.

I see better and cheaper ones out there, but unfortunately they require driving to Long Island or Ct, which I don't really want to do for something like that.

Also, the amount of people who think their stuff is "vintage" is incredible.
Vintage or not, I don't see the value in these:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fuo/4322733569.html
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fuo/4308961955.html

I started out so well. Took so many lunches to work. Made my own coffee. Got many free meals... And was doing much better than last months, I though.
I did not go shopping...

If I was not tracking, I would have sworn that we had a very frugal month. But in reality, it was worse than the previous month. Almost 2K over the budget. I can't believe it!



It was only due to large amount of extra income from DH's overtime and side job that we did not spend more than we brought in this month.

Seems now matter what we try, we end up in the same place.

I was trying to keep down eating out cost this month, but... it happens to be a restaurant week month. So tomorrow I am trying out Hakkasan. Critics are very split on it. It got a Michelin star, but NYT critic hated it. Other reviewers also very split in opinion.


http://hakkasan.com/newyork/gallery
Yes, it is very expensive (and it is annoying that they publish full menu, but remove all prices). But at a restaurant week set menu, I thought this is a chance to try and see for myself.

And for lunch on Thursday, I'll try Krisabelli (Korean BBQ) place. I am interested how it will compare with my favorite BBQ place in Korea town in Fort Lee.


http://kristalbelli.com/

I'm looking forward to trying these new places. We'll bring our son to the Korean one because it will be for lunch, but Hakkasan is too upscale for toddler at dinner, so this will be our "date night". And we did not go out for brunch this weekend either, this should keep us from going over the eating out budget too much.

This will be my vacation/study trip this year.

Actually, it is 29 days in China - 18 days in Nanjing, weekends in Shanghai, and than a short trip to Chengdu and 5 days in Singapore (DH will join me for 2 weeks of it).

My tickets to and from are booked.
(First class to Shanghai and business class back from Singapore.)

But there are many more details to work out - getting fresh passport, booking DH's flight there, booking internal flights/transportation, finding an apartment in Nanjing(I really don't like the free accommodations they provide - roaches, mold and air conditioning that circulates cigarette smoke from other rooms), hotels everywhere else, visas...

I'm looking forward to it.
A little guilty about leaving LO for that long (though he will be in daddy's more than capable hands for half of it).

I've snapped few pictures of ads I see on bus stops around the city. Tells you something about how different NYC is:



I put few more on my blog:

A stock I bought few days ago already plummeted to over 1,000 down - from 13 to 8.

The irony is, I did not lose this money on something that was highly speculative (where this would be expected), but on a stock I intended to be a long term investment.

I am having a hard time not considering us to be 1,000 poorer. Though if I had gained 1,000 from a stock going up, I would not have counted it in my budget in any way, as it would be unrealized gain and an investment, not part of daily life.

But it is hard not to feel that way, losses feel 20 times more real.

At all.

That's a first. No eating out.

Today I brought in my own lunch (I made Lamb Korma for dinner yesterday, and had enough left for lunch for me and DH).

I'm doing really good on food. That is a combination of conscious efforts, using few extras - small gift card here), promotion with a gift card there, a "reward" meal. Also, DH was on travel few days last week, so his meals are covered.

After massive research, I managed to book Cathay Pacific's first class flight to Shanghai (via HK).

I am so excited.
Two years ago I flew to Japan and China in first on Delta (which for international first is not bad at all, I have only good things to say about service. It is nothing like domestic). The flat bed and a "suite" make the flight so enjoyable (not to mention being treated like a human being), for the first time my flights seemed too short!
And now I am lucky enough to score Cathay Pacific, which is one of the best Asian airlines. It is not Etihad or Singapore air, but it definitely among the top few.

Here are some photos from Cathay's website:









The width of the seat is TWICE the size of an economy seat, of course it reclines into a flat bed, there is real bedding, pillow, comforter, luxury pajamas, luxurious amenity kit in a designer bag, spa and pre-flight dinner in the lounge (maybe, my departure time is late). And, of course, flowing alcohol throughout the flight.


I can also use any of these lounges:
http://www.loungebuddy.com/ultimate-guide-cathay-pacific-lounges-hong-kong-international-airport/
there is plently of food and drink in each of them. This is just one:
http://www.ausbt.com.au/cathay-pacific-s-the-cabin-hk

But, have I completely lost touch with reality and paid 16K for one way flight?
Not quite. I got it on a Mile Saver AA miles award - 67.5K in miles. In JULY! On Cathay! (finding that award availability is like mining for gold), and I had to pay about $300 to get to that mileage. That is quite a value in my book ))

Doughnut supply was disrupted by bad weather, so I had a greek yogurt with a power bar. Both were brought from home as "emergency" food, for just such an occasion.

For lunch, I went to Chipotle. Not because I like it, but because I had a gift card that I bought for a preschool teacher, but there was a gift pool, so I did not end up giving it. So I used part of it today.

I got a burrito bowl and ate half for lunch, and half for dinner. That was not really to save money, but because that portion size is exactly for 2 meals.

Last week I confirmed that I'm going to China again this summer, and I want to make it an amazing and luxurious trip, so I am working to make that happen by looking for great flights and accommodations, and by saving on things that are not as important to me, to have that money later.

Breakfast - coconut cream doughnut $3.25
I treated a co-worker to a doughnut for another 3.25, but I count it towards "gifts" not food for budget purposes.
Made my own coffee.

Lunch - Comped by Roti yay! $10 value
Dessert - my personal trainer brought me some crapes she made. I had those with tea and honey. Free.

For dinner, instead of picking something up on my way to the train station, I went home and rummaged through the fridge. I found a fennel bulb, 2 bell peppers and I baked them with some balsamic vinegar. A tortilla filled with egg, a little bit of cheese and some jalapeños, toasted on cast iron skillet and simple meal is ready.
Grapefruit for dessert.

My son is at grandmas, and my husband was traveling on business, so his meal will be covered.

So all and all, record cheap food day. Of course, this was partially due to eating things I bought before.

I made my own coffee at the office instead of buying it in Manhattan.
$3.25 Coconut cream doughnut (cannot make my own)

Brought simple lunch from home.

For dinner, even though we did not have enough groceries, I improvised. I stopped by Cosi and got a signature salad. Just one (I would normally buy one for DH and for me). Instead, I expanded this one salad at home by adding more greens and fruit. And I had a tiny piece of lamb left (not enough for anything) so I made a half sandwich to go with it (cosi flat bread, lamb, tomatoes, chipotle in adobo sauce and mayo).
$10

I got early release at 3 due to weather. It was beautiful out.

It would have been ok, if I just took the 1,050 option profit and stopped at that point. But I did not, so I lost it, and possibly more. So in total, we spent close to 900 more than we took home in January.

I'm not including the gift anywhere in these numbers, because the purpose of it is not to cover overspending.



This month I have GOT TO do better.
I will challenge myself to cut down food costs and some discretionary spending. The challenge is to see how much I can bring it down in February compared to last month.

Everything is piled up at once in our family.

At the time when DH is teaching for the first time (as an after hours second job, on top of his full time job), he has two large projects at work, and our entire family was sick for a week and a half).

So running behind schedule on studying for him (massive stress), behind schedule on projects at work, and on top of all this he will be working on two of his normal days off this week. Classes also start this week.

So instead of me and him just having 2 full time jobs with long commute and a toddler, there is now 2 full time jobs, one part-time job(that takes as many hours as a full time job), and 2 days of overtime this week for him. wow!!! (He is not getting time and a half for it, only his regular rate).

And we won't have a winter vacation this year (due to his obligations at work and the fact he can't miss classes). I did sign up for it by encouraging him to take the teaching position.

Money wise, not worth it. But, it does look good on a resume and does qualify you as an expert in your field if you are teaching your subject on a graduate level in one of the top degree programmes in the country for this field.

It would not have been nearly as difficult if it did not just co-inside in time with extreme workload at his primary job. That multiplied the stress.

But now there are so much obligations for the next 3 months. Going back to just 2 full time jobs with massive commute will seem like a vacation in comparison.

We are just not able to do everything. Our apartment is starting to look like an episode of "hoarders", I've missed 3 training sessions and two language classes in the last two weeks, fridge is empty and I will be buying takeout again today, and I'm falling behind on a lot of daily life tasks. My poor DH has it even tougher...

Great news on my wet iphone situation -- after I had to pay to Apple to have it replaced, DH submitted a claim to his credit card for their purchase protection benefit, and it was approved. I will be getting a check back for $268, so this destroyed iphone will end costing us nothing ))
That was something that cheered me up yesterday -- I was so miserable, down with a cold that is tearing up my throat and nose, so a bit of good news helped.

1) Sold Apple option 2 - $220 profit (taxable).

2) and I won $22 cashword scratch off ($25-$3)
I found one really old one that had $2 on it, turned it in, added $3 to get 2 cashwords and 1 mega millions.
I buy maybe $3-5 worth of tickets once every 2-3 months.
So I spend $3 on tickets, won $25.
I like cashword, because it is fun to do with my toddler -- we are looking for letters, trying to read words. I don't explain a concept of lottery to him, of course, it is just a letter searching game for him.

Oh, and the check from surrendering DH's whole life policy finally came. It was not 6k like I thought, but 5,400. Says on the letter that 1,500 of it is subject to taxes. I am very confused as to why since the policy was open for more than 15 years and more went into the policy than we are getting out. Hmm...

Went to an interesting discussion today. Joe Stiglitz and few other economists talking about issues related to income inequality.



Very interesting topic. I read his articles in NYT from time to time. I know he wrote a book on this subject and I will probably buy it (he was not selling it or even plugging it today), he just wanted to get his points across.

Interesting little article in NYT makes few good points:

My son has a cold. I took 2 days off work to stay home and take care of him and my DH took one. And it was pretty hard. Poor thing is miserable. We are pretty miserable too.

Today and tomorrow we are taking a break. My son is with my mom until evening, and she is using grandma methods to get him better. He is getting excellent care, so I'm glad to have a little break. She works full time too, so we will have to figure something out if he is not well by Tuesday (DH has a day off on Monday, but I don't).

I haven't had a chance to exercise in 4 day, so today was my first chance to run. We drove to Fort Tyron park to run (I wanted to try out a new route). Wasn't so great - it turned out much smaller than I remember it when just walking, so I had to make loops, and that is boring. So my timing was much worse than usual. I did my minimum 4 miles and that's it. My heart was not in it today and the energy was not there. The scenery was pretty.





I think we are getting my son's cold - He sneezed/coughed in my face more times than I can count. Now my throat is starting to hurt and my nose is beginning to run.

This was my first time out of the house in 3 days. Tomorrow we will go out for a "bad" brunch and dessert.

But just because I did not leave the house, does not mean I did not spend money.
Amazon is too easy. And did you know you can order liquor online?

Oh, and I got into another option - AAPL 560 call for Feb. That is very high risk and I am quite nervous. I should really stop doing such short-term calls. Man, I hope this quarter is great for AAPL!

So bad news -- I am already overbudget by $45 on eating out, and this is only January 15. I have to admit that $300 was not a realistic number for us. I will adjust it to $500 for this month.

We obviously needed to make more money for the monthly budget to balance. And we did!

We took a chance and bought a stock option 2 days ago -- 550 AAPL call. Paid $1,613 for it. Today APPL soared to $558. We sold the option for $2,463. After commissions, we made $834 in 2 days. We will owe taxes on it. Assuming we will pay 40% (besides federal there is state and city, which are very high for us), that leaves us with after-tax profit of $500. So that should fix our over budget problem for January.

This was a VERY RISKY thing to do, and this was a one time deal. I dared to do it because I believed that Apple will likely have a very strong quarter, and so there would be some volatility as we get closer to the earnings call. We are not doing this again for a long time.

It is a relief to be done with the risk and to be balanced again!

It is not because I live next to the GWB, or get stuck in traffic there with a toddler strapped in tight into his car seat.

But that these are the type of things, petty, vindictive, no regard for their constituents well being...

All of these people had a responsibility to ALL residents of their state, not just districts that voted for them. None of them not only not gave a f* about their welfare, but were actively malicious.

And that this seems to be the culture among these people and from the exchanges looks like it is done on a routine basis. And about how the appointee system works...

They should all go to jail, for sabotage of some kind. But of course, that won't happen. I'm sure they will be protected by Christie's political supporters in exchange for not implicating him. They have little choice but to keep quiet. Where are they going to go afterwards? But if they play along, when things die down, they will get cushy low-profile jobs in corporations that support Christie and will be well compensated to pay all their legal bills.

I, as a normal adult person, can envision possible consequences of such actions -- from bad, like pre-schoolers in school buses barely potty trained and unable to hold it for that long and traumatized by being embarassed by their peers and not being able to even get cleaned up. To people missing interviews or arriving late for jobs where they can't be late... to worst possible scenario - like someone being stuck in an ambulance with their baby in critical condition, and powerless to do anything for hours but to slowly watch them die.

Christmas month, Chinese New Year month, 3 mortgage payment months, 2 month where semi-annual car insurance bill is due, month where annual life insurance bill is due... Month where taxes are due, birthdays. Than there are months where something expensive breaks...

UGGGG!

We lasted 7 days before going out as a family again. That is a good stretch.

Brunch is a kind of tradition. I remember going to cafes with my mom on Saturdays when I was little. The calm atmosphere, tablecloth, attention. It was special. So we make a point to go out as a family on a weekend. DS is 3, but he is already learning to behave well in restaurants.

There is this British gastropub we like, and it has the best fish and chips in town. I don't normally like fried fish at all, but this is great. There is something about the batter that is special, and haddock itself so juicy and tender...



So we had that, a burger with bacon and stilton, and some beer and coffee.





$74 Expensive, but that's what prices are. If we had credit card debt, we would cut that out, but as long as we manage, it is important to me to keep our family outings.

After that, off to my favorite cake place. 2 slices of cake and one latte: $28

I ate 1.5 of those slices. I justified it to myself by saying that it is not good for a 3 year old to eat the entire slice. So that's probably another 1,200 calories. ouch

Picked up few specialty things since we were in the area:
Small loaf of bread from the shop few blocks away. $7 Special tumeric/hazelnut/pecan/some other stuff loaf.


Citarella shopping for fish tacos tonight:
Red snapper 1.35lb when weighted, 260 grams after it was filleted $17.08
1 mango $1.99
cilantro $1.99
Prince Edward oysters 1 dozen $18.99
Eggs organic, 1/2 dozen $4.29
Milk, org, quart $5.99
caramelized walnuts (impulse purchase, turned out not so good) $9.08
total at Citarella: $59.41

Little one has fun shopping on UES. One macaroon - $2.50

We did not buy everything we saw

When we got home and put our son for a nap, I went for a run.



I intended to do a minimal 4 mile run but miscalculated turn back point and did 5.6 miles instead (averaged out to an 11 min mile sustained for about 1 hour straight, which is not bad for me). It was dark when I got home. Of course that 540 calorie run won't dent the 3,000 calories I had in one meal, but it still does make a difference.

Today was not a cheap day.

I bought few things I needed, and few that I wanted.

Needed to replace my pillow. It has been few years and it has started to bother me. $49 on myhabit.com (cheapest pillow I ever bought) Goose down - normally they go for $100+
I need 2, but I bought one so far, to see if I like it before buying a second one.

2 sweaters for my son (he is growing out of what he has). One very pretty one and one more casual but still cute, for daycare) and a long-sleeve t-shirt: $76


Popcorners kettle flavor chips $26.13
These are individual 1.1oz packets, so I will eat controlled amount, I really like to have these with a drink.

Lysol wipes and Mr. Clean erasers $10.53

Brainquest exercise cards (for my 3 year old son's speech improvement) - $10.75

new fan for desktop computer $6

DH went for a guys night out with his friends. So that will be dinner and poker this time. (he only does it once in 2 months and it usually does not cost much). He is still out so I don't know the cost.

Last night I had a great workout. I'm trying out new gym in Grand Central and they have a lot of great equipment.
My HR monitor says 790 calories. Don't know if I should believe it. It was 1hr 20 min of strength circuit training with short hard bursts of cardio.
Got home, made quick dinner - buttermilk chicken and beans:



Then, after DS went to sleep, DH and I had some margaritas and I had with it about 4 oz of really nice cheese, with freshly toasted pecans and honey. (Ate back my exercise calories and then some, but it was good!)

This morning, DH had to go to work on a day he was supposed to work from home.

So I took my son on a trip to Grand Central again. He loved the snowy weather, the train trip, and he really liked a model train showcase in the Transit Museum store. He spend 1.5 hours fascinated, examining every detail and chasing trains around. It was a very nice setup, with layers of details at every level. Some of the miniature people even moved. And it was free.











Expenses
Breakfast:
$3.25 1 Tres Leches doughnut
$4.73 1 almond croissant and coffee
2nd almond croissant DS got for free, because he was so cute.



My muscles hurt after yesterday.

Morning doughnut $3.25
Coffee - made my own at work

Lunch $12.41
I packed a nice lunch. (Buttermilk chicken and fava beans and baby lima beans mixed in with a little brown rice). I made twice as much for last nights dinner to take leftovers to lunch. Today I was running out to catch the train and forgot it until I locked the door. I did not have one minute to spare to go back. So I bought lunch, and will eat what I packed for dinner. This means no cooking today (I will just have to make a vegetable side, but that's fast). I will hit the gym after work instead of making another dinner. Maybe me forgetting my lunch was for the best.

Lock for gym locker $10.11 (I lost the one I had)

Set of Dominoes $7.97
(Pre-school teacher mentioned that DS did not seem to get the concept. Since we don't have this game at home, I bought it so I could play together with him. That way I'm sure that way he will pick it up in no time.)

I did an unbelievable (for a woman) thing. I forgot my purse today (hopefully at home and not in a hallway or elevator - I am a bit nervous about that. It had my checkbooks, cards, ID, cash ipad..).

How did this happen? I packed my lunch today. So I was holding something in my hand, and that was a familiar feeling. It just was not a purse, it was a bag with lunch items. So I had NO money, no make-up, absolutely nothing! I had my work id and metronorth pass in one holder in one pocket of my coat, and my iphone in the other. I had one second to decide if I should turn back or not. If I turned back, I would miss the train and be 40 minutes late. If I went to work, I would be uncomfortable all day, but I had a way to get to work and a way to get in. So I decided against being late, if I could avoid it.

So for breakfast I brewed my own coffee with hazelnut half and half, and ate a greek yogurt I had in the fridge and a granola bar crumpled in. And I had brought my lunch. A piece of arctic char, a squash and mushroom side, a flour tortilla and an egg. Nothing exciting, but it will get me by.

Yesterday I went out for drinks with co-workers, which was surprisingly cheap. A bar nearby gives special happy hour deal for employees of my organization. So one white russian and one beer were only $7 together. For midtown Manhattan, that is seriously cheap. $4 tip, so $11 total.

Today, since I have 10 punches on my loyalty card, I got my latte for free:

And they only charged me $2.75 for my favorite doughnut too!


It is a really cold today, but I am perfectly fine in my uggs, my wool tights, baklava, ski mask and very good ski gloves.

Personal training session today (400 calories to my 2014 bank) $180 (I'm getting a free one session in Jan. and she was on vacation for one week, so less than usual).
Lunch - cosi signature salad. $8.70
DH lunch $7
1lb of Columbia Supremo for the house, $13.99

Yesterday:
They ran out of coconut cream doughnuts yesterday morning, so I had to go to plan b and get Pret ham and cheese croissant. That and coffee was $4.73. I had 3 hours of sleep and did not care to make my own coffee.
Lunch was a salad bowl from Roti. Very tasty and filling. It had fresh hummus, pita, chicken, spicy sauce... $9.74
Gas $50
Ez-pass $300
Replacement iphone $273
Maintenance charges for January $1,386
student loan $141
DH lunch $10

Money spent first January 1-7 -- $5,624. That's pretty scary. (This figure does include our mortgage and maintenance charges).

Today we left the apartment for the first time in 3 days (except going for a run) We had dinner, dessert, and did grocery shopping.

First stop: Lady M (dessert)
http://www.ladym.com/cakes/
For my favorite dessert in the whole of NYC -- green tea crepe cake.
$18 for 2 slices to go ($8 per slice and $2 tip -- the woman opened it up for me after they were closed for 2 minutes, and they usually do not do that.

Than to O Merveilleux, where I got 3 mini belgian pasties as a thank you for my neighbor, a small treat for DH and a big merveilleux for myself, to tie me over until dinner. $15
http://www.omerveilleux.com/

Than Citarella for fresh seafood.
http://www.citarella.com/
$60.74
Arctic char 2.3lb(weighted before filleting) $22.98 - I love it, it is extremely fresh and I cook it rare, so I buy it even though it is farmed, I just can't help it.
I buy the whole fish (have to pay for the whole fish) and than have them fillet it right there, that way I can see how fresh the fish by looking at it fist, how clear and moist the eyes, how good the body of the fish looks... and it won't be soaked in phosphates or sulphates. But fillet, of course is much smaller than the 2lb fish.
Very symbolic amount of St. Andre 0.225lb - $3.15 and some Pyrenees de chvre 0.53lb $11.23
One dozen live oysters. $17.99. I don't normally buy oysters, but DH recently purchased an oyster shackling knife, so I got the hint.
1/2 lb coffee beans columbian supremo $5.39

Than dinner at Virgil's BBQ.
http://www.virgilsbbq.com/
I can't stay away from trainwreck fries.
$78 for dinner (1 appetizer, 1 entree and 3 Magic Hat #9 beers, all shared between me and DH.
$7 two hours of street parking.

Than going for the rest of grocery shopping at Fairway.
http://www.fairwaymarket.com/
spinach bunch $2.09
wild king salmon (0.39lb) $15.83
org buttermilk $3.99
chicken broth $2.5
pink lady apples (1.73lb) $4.31
garlic 0.8lb $3.19
squash acorn org (1.71lb) $4.26
Avocado, haas (4) $8
broccoli rabe 1.28lb $5.11
grey p mustard $3.79
maille mustard $3.00
flour tortillas $3.89
Wallaby org greek yogurt (6) $10 on sale
rice org $5.49
blood orange 0.78lb $2.15
beet golden bunch org $2.99
mushrooms blend (2) $3.99
pears, red d'anjou $2.07
onions 2.06lb $2.61
yams org 2 $2.62
strawberries, pack $3.99
pack of limes, managers special $1.99
pack of ripe pears, managers special $1.99
cilantro $1.99
ribeye steak org 0.57lb $11.39
chicken legs, org $12.66
fennel 2 bulbs $5.98
can't discern code $1.99
pineapple fresh $3.99
acorn squash 2lb $2
1.4lb peppers orange $6.99
3 mangos $5
leeks bunch $2.99
herring, 3 filetts $8.79
tomato grape $2.5
mayo $5.99
misc specialty grocery $8.69
peppercorns $4.49
coke 0 - 7.5oz can 6 pack $4.19
deposit bottle $0.4
raw coconut water 2 16oz bottles $9.98
sambal chili paste $3.99
bean sauce $2.99
magic hat #9 6 pack $11.49
deposit bottle $0.30
milk org 1 gallon $6.99
tax $1.39
balance $230.18

Sure, there are a few luxury items, but a most of the grocery list is just normal healthy food.

On Friday my employer was closed, so I got a free day off! I cooked varied meals, including Dutch baby for breakfast and chicken Chettinad curry from this recipe for dinner.

http://showmethecurry.com/non-vegetarian/chettinad-chicken-curry.html
Luckily, I live in NYC where I can find every single ingredient needed, including fresh curry leaves.

So Thursday and Friday were NSD.

They were also lovely nights for sitting on our glass-in terrace at night, sipping cocktails in the candle light and watching the snow fall (and stay). The problem is, after 3 cocktails your judgement is impaired. So, as a result I finished ALL the chevre des Pyrenees we had in the house, ALL of the St. Andre, and in my tipsy state I somehow managed to make cheese quesadillas with all the mozzarella we had. That's not the first time I did that in the last couple of weeks. After a few drinks I go straight for the cheese.

And today we are going out for Lady M for green tea crepe cake and than dinner -- this is our last day without our son, just the 2 of us, so we will take advantage and go out, just the 2 of us.

4 miles today (deep wet slush everywhere, so my heart was not in it). 407cal
2014 workout bank new total: 1,258