mft #3: Luna bars

If I were religious, healthy snack bars would be God (which, incidentally, is not why I am not religious). They fulfill my need for nutritious sustenance when can’t find the time for it. And of the countless brands I’ve tried, Luna is definitely the best. I remember going crazy once and deciding that I was going to order 50 of them online and have it shipped because I was sick of buying them one at a time, but ended up buying 50…dozen bars. For a while I hated them because I felt compelled to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But I’m happy to say that we’ve since rekindled our relationship, and I, again, can’t live without them.

Luna’s made by the same team as Clif Bar, but ‘reformulated’ for women. This means they are smaller, contain more calcium/iron, and have a slightly cheesy quote on each wrapper. Luna bars are excellent because they come in about 15 different flavors, 70% organic, and they’re all good. My favorites are Toasted Nuts n’ Cranberry and S’mores. I’m a huge fan of snack-bars to begin with, because they’re so easy to pop into my bag when I’m running around doing errands, or trying to catch the subways in the mornings. But I like Luna the best for their their taste, variety, and chewiness (I love chewy, nutty things jammed together). They also don’t melt as easily as other bars.

you can find it at: grocery stores, health-food stores, pharmacies. I’m sure I still have a pile of them somewhere if you’d like to purchase them from me. unopened!

child’s play

The Greatest Game Ever Played.

No surprises. Based on a real story whose beginning and end we already knew. And on top of that, I mean, it’s made by Disney! Did anyone even go to theater to watch this movie?

They aired it on TV today. I had tears in my eyes by the end. So, I think I’m going to be making my first DVD purchase.

I’m frustrated. I know that working in another country means dealing with different viewpoints. But here’s one thing I’m sure of: the opposite of advancement and growth is not decline. It is stagnation.

Indifference is destructive.

mft #2: Nike + iPod

It’s simply, and utterly, one of the coolest collaborations ever – a match made in heaven. It’s the combination of a small sensor (that you put inside your shoes) and a receiver (that you plug into your iPod nano), and it saved me from my hatred of running on the treadmill. The sensor/receiver combo can record everything: time, distance, calories, etc. a voice gives you distance/calorie updates at the push of a button. With this, I can break free from the gym and hit the parks, trails, city blocks. It’s the best part of waking up.
And the coolest of all, you can upload your data onto nike.com, which then gives you another slew of options – high definition graphs and charts, options to compete against others, etc.

you can find it at: at the Apple store, but you can also find them online, at sports stores, wherever.

mft #1: the real Bagel

So I will kick off the MFT series with the one thing that I’ve missed the most and that my life isn’t quite complete without – real, authentic Bagels, with a capital “B”.

Yes, there is a thing as an authentic Bagel. It’s the kind that is freshly boiled and right out of the oven – they are big and thick, with a crunchy crust and a warm, chewy center that is doughy but not overly so. Top with some fresh cream cheese, smoked salmon, tomato slices – hello, lover.

Any other type of “bagel”, especially those that need to be toasted, or come from bags(?!), are knock-offs. They are also known as crap.

you can find it at: the birthplace of the American bagel. In New York, the best-bagel war will never end, but my favorite is at Ess-a-Bagel, but don’t mind the line, and unless you’d like to be yelled at, don’t ask for your bagel toasted! and on the days i find myself on the UWS, i will almost always go to the original H&H Bagels on 80th st.

my favorite things (MFT) series

**note: this is completely unrelated and has nothing to do with Oprah’s Favorite Things. or anything at all with Oprah. thank god.

After living in a foreign country for so many months, I find myself dreaming about and craving for things back home that i either loved or didn’t realize I loved. so I will begin to list them on this blog and publicly declare my love for them.

**also note: it will be my goal to not fill this up with entries on food. but no promises.

genesis

I am from New York. I love to jog along the Hudson. I love wine. I love cafes. I decided to take a temporary job opportunity that comes only once in a lifetime. So now I’m in a place, a country, where women cover their skin in public, where alcohol is forbidden, and where Unilever convinces everyone that Nescafe is coffee.

I’m starting this blog because I realized that I am otherwise too utterly and completely absorbed in my job, which takes up almost all of my time, and in the oddities of living in this country, which takes up almost all of my energy. So this blog will be my periodic escape from here, without the need for an international flight. Which inevitably means that this blog is destined to be about nothing related to work.

** incidentally, I am writing about my experience in another blog. I don’t care to link the two blogs, so please email me if interested.