A Little About Mei

I spent the first three years of my life living in a small village in the outskirts of Jiangmen city in Guangdong, China. I lived with my mother and her family in the village she grew up. She needed the watchful eyes of my grandparents and her five siblings to keep track of me. I was an early bloomer for a toddler – walking, talking, and eating solid foods all by the time I was 1. For many mothers, such achievements were moments of happiness and while my mother was happy, she was also anxious.

I was a rowdy child who did what I pleased, and often took advantage of the fact that my father was away. Stories of how I left the house at dawn to watch vendors set up market or how I got my mother in trouble for stabbing a friend in attempts to administer a “shot” are often retold when my childhood is discussed. I don’t remember my childhood antics and even if I did, I would lie and say otherwise.

My father was not around much during my childhood because he was living in the United States. Eventually visas were issued for us to join him. At the age of 3, I left China and arrived to Ridgewood, Queens. A little more than a year after settling in Ridgewood, my parents gave me a brother. I wanted to return him.

When the time came, I attended the local elementary school with dreams of becoming a doctor and then the local middle school with ambitions to become a stockbroker. I chose to venture out of Ridgewood for high school, replacing the local high school with a school in Union Square, Manhattan. I was no longer sure what I wanted to be.

By the time I received my high school diploma, I discovered I had a knack for writing. What surprised me even more was that I enjoyed writing. I applied to a college in the city and pursued a double major in English language arts and media studies.

I am currently in my last semester of college – a far cry from where I thought I would be 10 years ago, but I don’t mind. While I spent my childhood ambitiously planning out the life I was to lead, my adult life has simply been about living in the moment – to savor every experience that comes my way.

Midtown Cheapie: Sunrise for Thai

peppered Thai chicken & rice w. a sunny side up egg ($7.35)

Sunrise Market
12 E. 41st Street
Btwn. 5th and Madison

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Sole reason why I would ever step into Red Lobster.

First Day at Princeton

Downtown Princeton is where my BF took me on our first official date. We had ice cream at the Halo Pub, made a stop at Princeton Record Exchange, had lunch at Panera Bread and walked around the Princeton University campus and Palmer Square. Unbeknownst to my BF at the time, it was the perfect sort of outing for me.

I remember walking around the Princeton Campus for the very first time feeling a little like Alice (of Wonderland) - the more I walked around the curiouser and curiouser I got. Where does this lead? Are those the dorms? How old is this? How pretty is that? I wonder what it looks like inside! It's been a while since I first took these pictures with my first generation iPhone but each time I visit, I'm still enchanted by the old age charm of the campus and it's surrounding town.

Rainy Day @ Trader Joe's

The only time when I can walk into Trader Joes, grab everything I need and am out the door in 20 minutes is on a rainy day. I seize every moment to avoid a line, even if it means walking around in the rain!

Trying to keep it healthy with some yogurt and salad...just ignore everything else in the cart.

Finally Sigmund's!

Sigmund's Pretzel was brought to my attention while I was reading the New York Times one morning. I had just moved into the LES and was thinking how convenient it would be for me to walk over to their store and pick up a few treats. I am not usually a pretzel person. I don't like the hard pretzels that you buy at the grocery store/supermarket or the ones from the street vendors. EW! However I was a little intrigued with Sigmund's Pretzels judging from what I read in NYT's article.

Sigmund's Pretzel Shop boasts pretzel made the old fashion way - freshly mixed and twisted by hand with a flavor and aroma that comes from a traditional baking method rather than butter according to the NYT. For more of the article, click here.

Interestingly enough, my first experience with Sigmund's Pretzel Shop was delayed as they were closed the day I went. I did not know this before hand and was completely at a lost as to where the shop was. Apparently, the store front is very discreet and with the gates down, I missed it completely. When I finally got my hands on these buttery crunchy yet soft pretzel was at the Hester Street Fair. It was pure delicious coincidence.









"The goal is to have two distinct eating experiences, one crunchy and one fluffy,in a single pretzel." - Jeffrey Hamelman

Since then, I've had Sigmund's delicious pretzels at various locations all over the city. If you can't make it to their LES store front, you'll still be able to grab a snack from their pretzel stands at the Hester Street Fair, the Brooklyn Flea, and in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, aka the Met. Enjoy!

A Shack in the Park

The West Coast have In 'N Out Burgers, however we have a shack in the park.

Escaping the line in the Upper East Side Shake Shack...YUM!!!