burgers and shakes...

Still a bit jet lagged... Back from New York only for 4 days and I miss it so much I started planning the next trip there already!!!

My second visit has been about 37 times better than the first one! Mainly because it was without the terrible flight to get there and the stress and the quarrels and the allergic reaction which led to the elephant foot (long story...) and the boat ride (nearly the worst 3 hours of my life...),  all things that I prefer to forget when reminiscing my first time in the city that never sleeps. No, this time it was perfect!!! And after almost a week of "better than shoes" experiences, I have so much to share with you and I am thrilled to do so... plus, it has been pointed out to me that I have not blogged for ages... rightfully so ;)

So I will start with the first "better that shoes" thing which I enjoyed there: the "Shake Shack"!!! Now, please do not dismiss it as trivial (yeah, yeah, you went to the States and you had a good hamburger, big deal...) because it is all but that. Details: On my way there and while I was enjoying an amazing flight upgraded very reasonably to the business class, I watched Antony Bourdain's show about a layover in NY where he said that the best burgers are to be found in the "Shake Shack". Now, imagine the coincidence that I get to my hotel and right next door, literally, there it is!

First dinner there. Queue for 15' (starting even outside the shack) and another 10' after ordering already made it hardly a fast food... To get a table there, is a quest but, as for the queue you have to endure because after the ordeal is over and you get your order in front of you and you sink you teeth in that juicy, delicious, succulent burger and you accompany that with fries with melted cheese on top and you wash it all down with a sip of their amazing original lemonade, ohhhhhh heavens!!!! What a burger! The meat is seasoned to perfection, the lettuce crunchy, the tomato juicy and the sauce, really saucy ;)

Obviously this was not the only time I dinned there, needless to say that I did try also the shakes that are divine too and I do admit I had a dose of their nectar even at the airport right before I boarded to come back... Yep, as you suspected, there are countless calories in those babies but NY has so many things to see and do that no worries, they are all nicely burnt while walking around enjoying yourselves ;)



 

moments of happines...

I have said it many times before, I'm sure I have written here too, that in my view happiness is not a constant state one can find themselves at some point in their lives. I do not believe that the pursuit of happiness can ever be fruitful because happiness as such, as in a beautiful rose garden that one can finally arrive at, well, doesn't exist.  What I believe we get to have is moments of happiness and the more we have the better our lives feel. And we need to train ourselves to see these moments, to not let them pass unfelt, to appreciate them no matter how brief they might be.

So that's how I live my life. I go to work every morning, some days are good and productive, some days are hell and drain the energy out of me completely, some days I am bored, some days I am full of will. Then I go run errands, supermarket, dry cleaners, chores and the mundane just like every other working woman, no more no less. And then I get to be home, make some dinner, some times really dragging myself to do that, sometimes with a bit more brio (usually on Fridays that is..) and finally, after the kitchen is cleaned and all is done,  I get to sit and relax with my partner.

That's my favourite moment of the day, right there. My moment of sheer happiness. When all the chores are done, when the worries of the day fade away, when the TV is on and we are watching something good or we get to catch up on our social networks, both with an iPad on our hands, but always cuddled up on the sofa together, safe, comfortable, cosy, that, right then and there is my bliss! I do not need anything more you see... These are my everyday "better than shoes" moments. And I treasure them! More than any shoe I could possibly treasure ;)

anticipation...

...may be better than shoes ;)

I am a person who has been cursed to suffer in anticipation many, many, really more times than I can count on... I start to think about the worse possible scenario, play it in my head in every bloody detail, stress, think even more about my stress and analyze the crap out of it until the actual moment when the event (whichever it may be) materializes and... everything blows off... because it has been so huge in my head it can only be smaller in reality...

But, on the other hand, I am a person who can take immense pleasure in anticipation as well (ok, there might be sexual innuendo in what I just wrote, scratch that out please, I don't even know exactly what it is much less mean it so forget about it... please...).

Where was I?... Right, enjoying anticipating things. Yes. I have been known to smile at least two days before my school field trips as a child as I would be so excited about them. And parties, later. And holidays. Holidays really the most as I (being the control freak I am) try to book them long in advance and then I spend weeks, months fantasizing about them and having such great time in the mere thought of how great it will be! Oh, I can be like a child in these things, not sleeping the night before my voyage due to my excitement (and the fear I will not hear the alarm clock as it happened when I was leaving for my first holiday alone, age 15, destination France... made it just... true story!)

So, yes, I my opinion anticipation of good things is a good thing on its own merit, a great thing, a "better than shoes" thing... it's being happy about the potential to be happy, it's the extension of happiness therefore... thoughts? ;)