Hermit Crab

My days of living while only marginally affected by the blasted economy are over. When I moved to New York I imagined scrimping and saving. Happily, that wasn't necessary, and I enjoyed buying a salad or sushi for my lunch break almost every day (not only was this convenient but also very healthy), while still having enough money to occasionally eat out for dinner, go to a movie, or even a play. Sure, I wasn't saving a cent, but you guys; I LOVE to eat out.

I love that someone else makes this delicious food and brings it to me. I love the constant water refills. I love the atmosphere (hopefully). I love the sociality of it. Just sitting down and talking and eating and drinking with a friend or friends? What could be bett

er?! I love how grown-up it feels to meet for lunch. I love not worrying about money enough to grant the luxury of eating out. I love the ENDLESS options in NYC. I love the regulars. Oh how I love the regulars. The places that you love so much that you want to go there again and again until you've gotten the chance to try every option and decide which one is the best. Friends, add something to my list of favorite things to do: it is Eating Out.

I wasn't eating out all the time. But I was eating out more 

than once a week, and this was in addition to the afore-mentioned salad or sushi I would purchase for my lunch break. And can you blame me? In a city where you can get anything and everything from anywhere in the world? And you're a twentysomething and friends from work frequently ask you to go out for a bite? Who wants to ever say no to th

at? Well thank you for ending this pipe dream for me, place-of-employment-that-

shall-remain-nameless.

This week they have halved my hours. HALVED. My hours? They are cut in half. What a karate kick to the gut. And the bank account. And eventually the savings account.

Well, I am trying to make the best of my misfortune. I am not going to quit the place-of-employment because 1) I need money 2)despite how they are currently treating me I like the place enough not to hate my life while spending half my days there

 and 3)they are sending me to San Francisco in March for a training program so I can't leave them until that happens at the very least.

Before you ask, yes, I have had a sit-down serious conversation with my store manager about this situation. And no, it obviously did not lead to a permanent solution. I just have to hang in there.

And perhaps get a new job. Here's hoping that Whole Foods would like to hire another part-time cashier, because I would sure like to have a discount on the only items that I am now allowing myself to purchase. And heaven knows, I really love Whole Foods.

Speaking of which, I am now, obviously unable to eat out. Happily, this coincides with a major effort I started a couple of weeks ago to eat healthy aga

in! Like, really healthy. With a giftcard to B&N I bought myself these three books the other night to usher me into this new era of preparing whole and healthy foods for myself:

Ok, that last one isn't healthy per-say. But it does allow me to make healthier and cheaper choices by using my own oven.

I am loving Animal, Vegetable, Miracle you guys. I definitely recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in farmers markets, our culture's food choices, eating organically or locally, leaving a smaller carbon footprint, or eating healthy period. It is really easy to read, and honestly more of a page turner for me than some fiction I've read recently. I am so excited for the Union Square farmer's market to start up again. This is weeks and weeks away and is only the tip of the iceberg of my SAD. But Whole Foods definitely embraces the eating locally effort. If you don't know, the book is written by a mother of a family that vowed to eat only what they could grow themselves or acquire locally for a year, and includes tons of research and exploration into the American food culture.

So here's to a new life of staying in, cooking for myself, exploring new delicious vegan recipes, pouncing on giftcards like they are blocks of gold, and all in all enjoying the life of an urban hermit. Hopefully not in a crabby way, but I'm sure some days will get there. Especially in this dead of winter.

It's a good things I have a couple of new roommates to entertain me:

This is the Craigslist roommate's dog, Scout. She's been here a month and half but is moving away soon. :( She's so well-behaved it's like having a cat.
This is Lennox. He was a sort-of-stray that my roommate brought home last week. He's not quite fully-grown and is a complete rascal.

You would not believe the knock-down drag-out play fights these two have all. day. long.