It's another hot morning in NYC and I'm half lying in bed with my feet up on my dresser sipping on an iced hazelnut americano trying to figure out what to eat for breakfast. I'm creating a mental picture of our fridge from memory trying to figure out what I have in there that I can use for breakfast. Might end up with an omelet of some kind, using whatever greens I have in the fridge.

I'm still on a slight vacation high. I can't stop browsing through the photos I've taken. I feel so mentally and emotionally recharged. Physically, not so much as I'm still suffering from bad knees, back and a stiff neck. I've had an appetite for writing and for photography again. Autumn, my favorite season, is right around the corner and soon the trees will change colors and pepper the streets with fallen leaves. Maybe this time I will finally document this transformation as I've been meaning to do the past two years yet keep postponing until it's too late and realize that winter has come.

Two of my bestest friends are coming to NY and I am so excited! Nothing gets me ecstatic than the anticipation of arriving company. Louiie, who keeps telling me she's spoiling me by constantly rearranging her schedule to meet my demands of her coming to NY more often. She's not only coming back once, but might be back four times in a month because of Jet Blue Air's crazy unlimited flight sale for a month! $500 gets you unlimited weekday air travel for the month of September anywhere in the US. She scored a pass and will be coming over every week! and she's decided she'll be making trips to LA, Florida, NYC, Provincetown and Cancun, Mexico.

AJ, whom I haven't seen since Manila is also coming to NY end of September for two weeks! AJ was the friend I was with when I went to Bantayan Island in Cebu. I am so excited!

***meal break***

Made myself a Santa Fe Omelet since I had the ingredients readily available from making guacamole last night. Bell peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions and cheddar tossed in with a couple eggs and olive bread toast made for a pretty decent breakfast.

Time to hit the shower now and get ready to make more money.

I woke up to the sound of jazz music emanating from the kitchen. I walked out and found my two girlie roomies making breakfast. There was fresh coffee in the french press and I poured myself a cup as I waited for Caitlin to finish making the waffles and Mica made the bacon.

Mica's friend Giorgio dropped by soon after and they prepared to head out to walk around the city and take advantage of the sunny day. I, on the other hand, prepared to for laundry as I needed to wash all my winter coats before I store them since winter is officially over.

Strike 1: I went down hauling all my dirty laundry, stuffing them into the washers before I realized that I forgot to bring my laundry detergent with me. I had to call Mica and ask her to bring them down before they head out.

I skyped with Mama after laundry while I decided where to eat dinner. I settled on Cafe Mogador, a Moroccan restaurant in the east village based on it's high ratings and good reviews on Yelp.com. I got dressed and headed out to meet Mica's friend Giorgio, since he was accompanying me to dinner while we waited for Mica to finish her dinner date (long story).

Strike 2: When I met up with Giorgio, I was reaching down the pockets of my drawstring pants and was surprised when my hand met the skin of my thigh. I looked down and (re)discovered a half-foot rip along the seam of my pants. I remembered this happened long ago and I've been meaning to sew it but eventually forgot. I spent the rest of the night with part of my thigh peeking through the side of my pants.

Dinner was fun, despite having just met Giorgio, he was pleasant company and we had comfortable conversation while I stuffed my face with an appetizer of mixed platter of baba ganoush, hummus, tabbouleh and Mediterranean salad followed by an entree of Lamb Couscous.

Strike 3 (you're out!): When it was time to meet up with Mica, I asked for the check, grabbed my bag and was horrified to discover that I did NOT have my wallet on me. I had to embarrassingly ask Giorgio if he could spot the dinner her did not share with me and I promised to pay him back when we met up with Mica. I had only met this guy and he ended up having to pay for my meal. Geezuz. It humiliating that I offered to pay for his drinks just for being kind enough to spot me for a while.

We passed by a used bookstore and I walked away with two books again, About a Boy by Nick Hornby and Revolutionary Road.

We met with Mica and we headed back to the apartment where we watched Into the Wild while sipping on glasses of Pinot Grigio we got from Benny's collection.

I just remade the delicious omelet I had at Cheryl's. I made myself a tomato, asparagus and goat cheese breakfast omelet coupled with my staple triple shot cappuccino. Thank you Ella for telling me about the Bialletti and thank you Grace for buying me one. I can't imagine breakfast without it.

Last night, I said goodbye to the one of many Pauls in my life. Paul (from the restaurant) worked his last shift with me last night. By this time, he would be on a plane headed to Hong Kong, his first trip home in about 4 years. When he comes back to NYC in May he shall be pursuing other business interests and I told him to remember to hire me when his wife does decide to open that studio.

I'm really loving the book Comfort Me with Apples. I found it while browsing through the book section of the flea market last week. They had a 2 for $5 book sale and I just picked up two books based on their title and cover. I'm really, really happy I got it. Although it's written in a tone that paints infidelity in a romantic light, Ruth Reichl writes in a manner that makes you sympathize and understand either sides of the story without being judgmental. She also writes about food with such careful detail and warmth that it makes me sad to have never heard of her until now. I would have enjoyed reading her articles at Gourmet Magazine or reading up on all the restaurants and food she's reviewed within the last two decades. I can only imagine a time where food writing as a profession, was frowned upon and considered a low level career choice. Now, with the advent of the food revolution, food blogs and self proclaimed food writers are everywhere. Some people have mistaken my (this) blog to be a food blog since my photos and stories lately have been revolving around restaurants I've tried and dishes I've made. The blog, still is mostly about me, and whatever I'm into at any point in time. Food has just been a constant factor in my life since I started cooking back in 2006. Prior to that, I can't remember what I'd be writing about.

Caitlin brought home a waffle maker the other day and I got so excited because I thought of buying one before. I woke up this morning and excitedly prepared the batter. However, my overly-excited-inexperienced-in-waffle-making self poured too much batter in the waffle griddle and within seconds, batter flowed all over the kitchen counter and down to the floor. Caitlin's waffle maker was a bit of a mess and I spent 30 minutes, scraping bits of batter off the corners and ridges. I conceded and ended up making my usual silver dollar pancakes, vamping it up a bit with crushed walnuts and sliced strawberries to compensate for my waffle disappointment.

I'm excited and nervous about tonight. I'm Mica's plus one to her dance company's benefit gala. I'm hopping on the New Jersey transit tonight all dressed up for a semi-fancy-schmancy event. People who've worked with me before at The Picture Company know that I like getting dressed up for work a lot. Since I've moved here, it no longer is the case. Being a waitress, my wardrobe now consists of 70% blacks tops and I wear my Nike Air Max 5 out of 7 days in a week. On my days off, I still avoid any shoe with heels higher than an inch because I spend most of the day walking. One time, I braved wearing a pair of 3-inch ankle booties and when I was rushing down the subway trying to catch the train, I slipped and fell, landing on my ass several steps down. I never attend things that require me to get a bit dressed up. I've been in jeans and sneakers the entire time I've been in NYC that my feet have forgotten that it used to be quite at home in heels. Tonight, I'll be wearing satin flats for my commute then change into heels when I reach the venue.

I'm so behind with me extra-curricular projects. My P7D post is a week late. I haven't even started on the flier for the culture exchange which was due TWO WEEKS ago. SHAME ON ME! So I made myself a full breakfast and will work on the flier today before work. I just need to finish the liquor inventory Lily asked me to make. OMG, parang TPC lang ano, gumagawa nanaman ako ng inventory at checklist. Pinaiiral ko nanaman ang pagkaOC ko, pokpek.

Napashopping nanaman ako kahapon bwiset. Hindi ko mapigilan eh. I bought a magazine to read while hosting yesterday and it made me want to buy makeup. I ran to CVS in the afternoon so I bought a couple of items. On my way back to the restaurant, I dropped by Pylones to see if they had anything on sale. They had nothing on sale but that didn't stop me from scoring a couple of items including a funny "reputation bag."

and a cute little piggy cellphone charm with a heart on its bumbum.

I'm naming it LOUIIE!