friday evening report

Hola from my dining table, as per usual! It was a rainy, chilly week in New York. *eye-roll* On my walk this morning, I stubbornly pretended it was still 68 degrees and had my usual TGIF treat of an iced dirty chai latte. It’s SPRING, damnit! My fingers froze but I stand by my choice. I will not return to hot drinks until it’s a sweet, sweet reprieve. So, like, in November. A positive from the rain is that the flowers are looking spectacular. The raindrops covering their petals look like diamonds.

I’m about to have dinner (chicken and rice), wash my hair, and snuggle in bed with a book. Which, I suppose, is a slam dunk for a rainy evening.

See below for everything I’m reading, eating, watching, and thinking about. As well as the “beauty of the week,” and my weekend plans.

reading

Onyx Storm: I don’t really know what’s going on but I’m loving it!!! Hoping to finish this weekend.

Project Hail Mary: I read this on my Kindle when I’m at the restaurant. Project Hail Mary is Austin’s favorite book and though I read the math and science-y paragraphs as, “blah blah blah, and blah blah blah,” I find the protagonist incredibly lovable and I’m 10/10 intrigued. The movie adaptation starring Ryan Gosling comes out next March and there’s a lot of buzz around it.

eating

Sesame Shrimp Noodles — one of our repeat recipes that works with both shrimp and ground chicken. It comes together in 20-25 minutes and always hits the spot!

watching

Alone: 10 survivalists are stranded in nature and whoever lasts the longest, wins. Basically, my version of hell. Their resilience is unbelievable! We loved this season.

The Studio: We’ve only watched two episodes but both were brilliant and we can’t wait to continue. I’m calling it now, this will be one of my favorite shows of the year. (Mamacita y Papi, you would both enjoy this!! Katy I think you and J would also love this!)

thinking about

My definition of “success.” This podcast episode of IMO has inspired me to contemplate what success means to me and what success means to Austin and I. Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson sat down with Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach to answer the question, ‘What does a successful family even look like?’ I can’t wait to chat about this with Austin during our next date night! He listened to the episode while he made dinner today. :’)

beauty of the week

During my Wednesday shift at the restaurant, beauty was in action at table #25. A child—maybe 3.5 or 4 years old—was eating a big plate of buttered rigatoni made especially for him. Homemade pasta, swimming in butter, covered in freshly grated parmesan cheese? Scoot over! Over the course of two hours, he patiently ate one pasta tube at a time, pausing only to scribble in his coloring book while his parents chatted and laughed and shared more complicated entrees. I loved passing by them throughout the night, watching the number of rigatoni start the dwindle. The last little snapshot I saw was of him reaching for a buñuelo, a fried donut hole. A perfect meal, if you ask me.

Another beautiful moment happened on Monday when Austin and I went to Hani’s to try their legendary cinnamon roll. It was delicious, yes, and I highly recommend you go try it immediately, but the beautiful moment was simply sharing a pastry with my 🤭husband.🤭 Enjoying food with him has always been a simple pleasure, a moment I could live in forever.

weekend plans

This weekend will be a sweet one! My in-laws are in town to see Austin perform in Goddess (running at The Public until June 15th) and we’ll share a few lovely meals. I have a solo date on Saturday to see the Broadway show, Maybe Happy Ending, which I’m very excited about because I’ve heard amazing things. I’d love to continue writing a newsletter I started earlier this week, go for a run, tidy my closet a smidge, and make a dent in Onyx Storm. What are your weekend plans?