Susane Colasanti - Journal

People sometimes ask me why I pay so much rent to live in a tiny apartment (which is an average size for the West Village but microscopic anywhere else) when I could own a massive five-bedroom house in Kentucky for the same amount. The reasons for this are infinite. It's mostly about the energy. It's also about experiences like last Saturday night, aka The Ultimate New York City Night.

I'm a huge fan of a certain famous person who lives in my neighborhood. Out of respect for his privacy, I can't write his name here. However, I can give you the following hints about his identity:

1. I mentioned I was going to his house on my Twitter.
2. We get together now and then to have lunch.

He just bought a house a few blocks away from my place. You basically have to be him to own an entire brownstone around here. A friend of mine is his interior designer, so I got to visit his house. It's still being worked on, which means I'm allowed to show you a photo or two. This is part of his changing room:



The first floor has an amazing front room with a fireplace (I think there are eight fireplaces in total) and built-in bookshelves around the windows. Built-in bookshelves are a passionate desire of mine. These won't stay white like mine will be one day, but they are still gorgeous:



After the tour, we went to The Waverly Inn. I've always wanted to go there. It's this restaurant that doesn't even have a phone number -reservations are that exclusive. But another friend of mine (who is the boyfriend of my interior designer friend) is a fitness instructor at Equinox around the corner, so he'll saunter over during the day to make reservations. I know, my friends are outstanding! Shout-out to SP for hooking me up. Usually there's some movie star or other at The Waverly Inn. There wasn't anyone famous there Saturday night, though. Just some guy who looked like that guy from that show. But I do have one thing to show you:



See this plate of mac and cheese? It's not just any mac and cheese. This mac and cheese is $95.00. It has shaved white truffles on top. While I think it's outrageous that there can be $95.00 mac and cheese, I cannot deny its deliciousness.

That's the news from the nabe for now. When his house is finished and I get to see it again, I might be able to post a photo or two here. Stay tuned.

Found him.



It's the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck! With Doug in the window! He's out a few days each week, but it's been so hot that I didn't want ice cream. Which I know sounds counterintuitive. It's just that when it's really hot out, your ice cream melts in like three seconds. How much fun is that? So I waited until it wasn't scorching and tracked down the truck. Doug is super creative with the toppings. He uses bacon to create the wildly popular Choinkwich. He has toppings like curried coconut, Nutella, Trix, pickles, and pumpkin butter. I'm sort of a purist when it comes to ice cream. I felt like an unadventurous dork getting my cup of vanilla with butterscotch and extra sprinkles. I prefer cones, but the cup was to prevent melting accidents. Unfortunately, the combination of my being a slow eater and August in New York resulted in the wind zinging melted ice cream right out of my cup. I've made a pact to return when it's cooler, when I will be more adventurous. Not that I'm always more adventurous when it's cooler. But this is a special occasion. The pumpkin butter sounds pretty good. So yeah, the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck is making quite a splash around these parts. Even NPR interviewed Doug. That's how much of a rock star he is.

For the rest of the week, I'll be unplugged from the Internet. I'm going to Vancouver, where it's supposed to get down to the 50s at night! Yay for a cool, refreshing break. I like to do a technology cleanse every so often, so four days away from the computer will be restorative. Otherwise known as How Things Were Not Too Long Ago. Catch you next week. Stay cool!

Earlier this week, I was in one of those situations where my neighbor forgot to turn his alarm off before leaving for Europe. So every morning at 5:00 (or maybe 4:00 - I was too groggy to tell time, even on my digital clock), his alarm would go off and I got to wake up super early. Fun times! It was one of those alarms that get angrier the longer you don't turn them off. It would start of all normal, like be-da-lee-dee...be-da-lee-dee. But then it would get all loud like EH-EH-EH. For an hour. There was no going back to sleep after that rude awakening. I think my super finally found a key, because the alarm didn't go off this morning. Either that or I was so exhausted I slept through it.

This might not have been a problem if I was a morning person. My circadian rhythm dictates that I am a night person. Back in high school, it was always so hard for me to wake up early. I usually stayed up way too late. Every day of my teen life being the worst day ever didn't motivate me to get up early, either. Getting up was easier when I was a teacher because I actually wanted to go to school, but it was still horrific to set my alarm for times like 4:45. No one should be awake at 4:45. That's just wrong. So since I like staying up late, I couldn't get myself to adjust to my neighbor's alarm clock by going to sleep earlier. If I'm not making much sense right now, we can totally blame him.

In all of this huffufle, I wasn't able to track down the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. The dude is away for a few days, so I'll have to report back to you on that next week. Good thing Crumbs is always around. It's been a while since I've shared any Crumbs cupcake adventures with you, so I stopped in to see what's new. They are getting seriously creative with cupcake names. There was the Half-Blood Prince and the Elvis. When I saw the S'mores, I knew I had to document one for you:



For now, I need to catch up on sleep. I also want to find a power strip with a plug that fits flatly against the wall. I have a new Crate & Barrel entertainment cabinet that I wanted to push back against the wall, but the plug on my power strip behind the cabinet is so massive that there's this annoying space between the cabinet and the wall. I guess a trip to Bed & Bath is inevitable. If I wasn't such an organization freak, I'd think this type of preoccupation was a result of sleep deprivation. But no, it's just me. Cheers!

Congrats to last week's contest winner Ashley T.! She will be receiving a signed copy of When It Happens.

Remember Taylor's amazing bokeh photos? Well, I received a most excellent gift. Taylor sent me a few prints, including my favorite one. I'm still searching for the perfect frame.



It's obvious from your comments that Veronica Mars should be the next show in my Netflix queue. I've heard so many people rave about this show with total fanaticism. I'm all over it.

Karma shined its light on me yesterday. After years of going to mean doctors who are so rushed they don't let you ask questions, I found the best doctor ever. His nurse is also the best. Even the receptionist rocks. I just felt so good, having my annual checkup without the drama. It didn't even bother me when they took blood, the way it usually does. It's a sad commentary on the state of health insurance in this country (because the quality of your insurance usually determines the quality of in-network doctors available) that I'm excited to finally receive basic care. Without anyone yelling at me.

I'll leave you with this warm fuzzy from Crumbs, which is expanding locations at warp speed. Their Valentine's Day cupcakes were just as cute and tasty as you'd expect.

The party's already started over at Crumbs... 

Does anyone celebrate Festivus for real? If so, what do you do with your Festivus pole? Does it just sit there, or do you dance around it or something?

Allison and I had our annual gift exchange at Crumbs yesterday. Crumbs featured snowflake cupcakes and assorted holiday cookies:



After we unwrapped everything, it looked like this:



Highlights included the new Neil Young Sugar Mountain (for her) and Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street (for me).

I'm off to the chilly Canadian tundra. SP's ma saved the Christmas tree for me to decorate tomorrow morning because she rocks like that.

Have a wonderful week of holiday celebration!  I wish you a time filled with laughter and happiness, friends and family, hope and light.

Your TGIM thought of the day is brought to you by my fave cupcake shop, Crumbs. Allison and I are loving their Halloween cupcake assortment. We went a little crazy:


If you are one of my fellow neighbors here in NYC, you will be stoked to know that Crumbs has a new shop near Union Square (University Place between 13th and 14th). They're planning like a zillion new shops over the next few years, so maybe one will appear near you!

1. Laila is visiting from San Francisco. She was the inspiration for the Laila character in When It Happens. You know it's close to Halloween when pumpkin (for her) and ghost (for me) cookies abound. Laila was really excited about the cookies:



2. Washington Square Park has been under construction for what seems like forever. I am happy to report that it's almost done! The fence is still up, but I used my Harriet the Spy skills to document this for you. And yes, I did have a spy notebook and spy route in fourth grade, just like Harriet.



3. My weekend will be very exclusive. Only two guests are invited: me and the Waiting for You copyedits. I've decided to use purple as my colored pencil choice for the manuscript. Also, I have designated my place as a Dwight Schrute workspace.



Dream big.

You know how sometimes when you go to sleep, you get your pillow all puffy and there's a cool summer breeze blowing in and it's like you've achieved perfect sleeping conditions?  That was me last night.  And still me this morning.  With a dream about John Krasinski (we were doing spin art on the boardwalk) in between.  So it was not the easiest thing to get out of bed.  But!  I am finishing a book three polish for my editor today (the line edit is next), so I sprang out of bed all excited to get that done.  Springing out of bed is not something I did when I was a teacher, because springing anywhere before 6:00 a.m. can be hazardous to my circadian rhythm.

From my latest Crumbs excursion.  The flower part was extra delicious.



Freedom to eat cupcakes made me think about what's going on in Los Angeles.  This whole ban on construction of new fast-food restaurants in low-income neighborhoods is hardcore.  Residents of urban areas definitely need access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.  It's beyond upsetting that so many kids don't have the chance to develop healthy lifestyles because they eat so much fast food and aren't exposed to fresh produce.  So yes, we need to eat less junk food and more healthy food.  But should anyone have the power to decide what everyone else is allowed to eat?

Here in New York, we are now trans fats free.  And smoking has been illegal in bars for years, which I love because that means I can hang out with my friends and drink my Shirley Temple (or Roy Rogers; sometimes I get a little crazy) without my contacts burning into my eyes.  But how far is too far?  Where's the line?  What's next - a ban on free sugars?  I can totally see a future where black market cupcakes are sold on sketchy street corners on the DL, next to the crack dealers.  And I'd really rather get my fix at Crumbs.

I've been staying up way late reading I Love You, Beth Cooper.  Larry Doyle is a freaking genius.  This book is so hilarious and smart on every single page and his observations of universal experiences are perfect.  Like this one, during graduation when everyone is packed into a gym with no air and someone tries to open the back doors:  "Three thousand heads turned simultaneously, expecting the doors to fly open with minty gusts of chilled wind, maybe even light flurries."  This story opens with the valedictorian announcing his love for the head cheerleader in his speech.  How fun is that?  And why is this book classified as adult fiction instead of YA?

Speaking of YA, John Green explained why the paperback edition of An Abundance of Katherines will be available for the low low price of $3.99.  Go on with your fine self, master nerd fighter.

As an even more low-budge way to spread the love, why not let that special someone know just how you feel by making your own virtual candy heart?  They're good all year, you know.  Of course the ultimate candy destination is Dylan's Candy Bar, where my friend Joe and I went after our frozen hot chocolates at Serendipity.  Dylan's has miles of every kind of candy in existence, including random old-school finds like Sky Bars and Moon Pies:



Even their stairs like candy:



Joe located the ultimate dentist's fantasy.  It's this candy called Grillz, where you actually deposit your teeth and gums directly into this mold of sugar:



On that disturbing note, here's the daily Deep Thought by Jack Handey to chew on.

The last time I called to renew my subscription to CosmoGIRL!, the guy was like, "Oh, that must be for your kids."  I didn't feel the need to tell him that a.) I don't have any kids and b.) just because I'm an older girl doesn't mean I don't enjoy my teen mag fix.

When I got my August issue yesterday, I was alarmed to see "Hottest Back to School Looks" on the cover.  New York City public schools just had their graduation a few days ago and now we're already talking about going back?  When can kids get a mental academic break around here?  That's wild.  But then I saw page 53, and it turned into a good kind of wild.  There's a half-page ad for Take Me There, right under an ad for deodorant! 

In other sweet news, Allison tried the Artie Lange cupcake during our latest Crumbs excursion.  I was feeling old-school and went with my vanilla sprinkle.



Feel the summer breeze...

When I'm feeling particularly geeked out, I say "fork" when I'm done with something.  As in "stick a fork in me, I'm done."  Here are some things I'm done with.

1.  The revision of book three is done.  Moving on to my draft of book four after a short staycation.

2.  First order of business during my staycation:  Season Two of Friday Night Lights.  Dude, I'm already done with the whole freaking season.  That show is like the most delicious potato chip can't-watch-just-one-ep phenomenon.  My only complaint is that it was too short.  Question:  Given the writers' strike, what's going to happen with the current season of my shows (which I hear has been wrapping up recently)?  Will there only be nine eps of The Office?  That's just sad.

3.  My search for the ultimate cupcake blog is over.  Cupcakes Take the Cake is it.

4.  Coffee Talk topic:  Are New Yorkers rude?  Conclusion:  No.  We walk very quickly and may accidentally bump into the occasional tourist, but we're great with directions.  Let's get over the myth and be done with it, as explained in this Smithsonian article, "You Got a Problem With That?".

5.  This isn't a Friday Five.  It's fork.

Seeing - 5th Avenue & Washington Square Park:  Pink flowers on two trees.  The best evidence is evidence of spring.

Also seeing - That grassy area where Miranda and Steve got married:  White flowers on a tree.  More evidence.

Tasting - Crumbs, East Village:  Carrot cupcake.  Which has an iced carrot on it.



Missing - South Beach, Miami:  Happy palm trees.



Admiring - World Financial Center:  The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.  The New York Times calls it an "environmental version of the AIDS quilt."



Collecting - Facebook:  Pieces of Flair.  They're just so dang cute.

Here I am at Cupcake Cafe, the adorable cupcake place inside of Books of Wonder.  In case you haven't heard, Books of Wonder is the oldest and largest independent children's bookstore in NYC.  The genius behind the bookstore is friendly neighbor Peter Glassman, often seen chilling with his customers.



Dude!  Color-coordinated cupcake clothing again!  See how my shirt matches the flower's leaves?  Yeah, it's all about the details.  So here's a detailed pic of Cupcake Cafe's fancy flowers:

So of course I couldn't wait to get to Crumbs for a special Easter cupcake.  I wanted one with pink icing and a bunny on it.  And guess what?  That's exactly what I found!  Plus, I got to share the experience with a very special visitor.

Here's Daria Snadowsky adultolescent, author of the ravely reviewed Anatomy of a Boyfriend.  Daria is all about the red velvet cake, so she got Crumbs' famous red velvet cupcake.  Bonus:  We're totally wearing color-coordinated cupcake clothing.  Unplanned!



These are our cupcakes, up close and personal style:



And yes, they tasted as good as they look.