A tear-free Valentine's Day playlist

In honor of Valentine's Day, here's a list of jams guaranteed to make you smile 'n dance in your pants.  I promise that these tunes will not promote any crying spells and/or entice you to jump off of your roof and/or have a solo emotional-eating fest on your couch...

But first...need a good laugh?  Check out this trippy/creepy music video:  "Frontier Psychiatrist," The Avalanches

In no particular order, of course:

1) Foster the People:  "Helena Beat"

I love this group - you all know "Pumped Up Kicks."  Well, this song is as good or better - amazing acoustics, beat, and very "West Coast." 

2) Kanye West & Pusha T:  "Runaway"

This is my favorite Kanye song - great beat - amazing to listen to as you walk thru the city/commute/workout -  lyrics are pretty powerful.

3) Fun.: "We Are Young"

Heard this for the first time during Superbowl 2012 - singer's voice reminds me of Don McLean's ("Bye Bye Miss American Pie").  Fell in love w/ the refrain - makes me want to slow down and enjoy my young life.

4) Usher (feat. Jay-Z):  "Hot Tottie"

Incredibly sexy.  How can you not love this collaboration?  Trust me on this one.

5) Otis Redding:  "Try a Little Tenderness"

Sweet.  Old fashioned.  Otis' legendary voice will bring a smile to your face.

6) The Temper Trap:  "Sweet Disposition"

Great beat.  Perfect song for a long drive. 

7) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix:  "Lisztomania"

Love the beat, tune, and the dude's voice - completely addicting.

8) Pitbull (feat. Chris Brown):  "International Love"

How can you not love Pitbull?  I go nuts during when he sings in Spanish.  Plus Chris Brown?  Dynamite.

9) Avicii:  "Fade Into Darkness"

This song makes me want to jump up and do a dramatically choreographed solo dance number in da' club.  Love.

10) David Guetta & Sia:  "Titanium"

Sia's voice is incredibly sweet and sexy and David Guetta is beyond talented.  I love these lyrics and wish I could adopt them - motivating and perfect for an intense workout.  Reminds me of my boy, Fabien, in France.  <3

11) Chris Brown (feat. Benny Benassi):  "Beautiful People"

Very sexy, summer-y, and oh-so Miami. 

12) J Cole:  "Work Out"

Lyrics are a bit traif, but I love the beat and think that J Cole is a total babe.

13) Whitney Houston:  "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

OK, so if one song will bring tears to your eyes, it'll be this one.  RIP Whitney.

14) Madonna:  "Nothing Fails (Nevins Mix)"

$10 says that you've never heard this song...and another $10 says that you'll love it.

15) Wyclef Jean:  "Fast Car"

Love everything about this under-the-radar Wyclef jam.  You will, too. 

16) Rick Ross (feat. T-Pain):  "The Boss"

An oldie, but a goodie.  This song makes me feel powerful and not to be messed with.  Love me some Rick Ross.

17) Pauline:  "Never Said I Was An Angel"

Cute, peppy, addicting, and Pauline has a fantastic/unique voice.  You'll be singing this non-stop. 

18) Gypsy Kings:  "Djobi Djoba"

Sexy - Spanish - and extremely transporting.  Close your eyes and enjoy...

19) **Wild Card** Robyn:  "Be Mine! (acoustic version)"

Whew!  This is tear-jerker and definitely speaks to all of us who've had our hearts broken.  Can you handle it?  It was too good not to include, sorry y'all.

~~~

Until we eat again,

The Lunch Belle

P.S.  Do you have any songs that you think should be added to the list?  I'd love to hear some of your favorites!  Happy Valentine's Day to you all...

Is this *not* the funniest teapot you've seen in, say, forever?

Click on the photo to learn more: unfortunately, at the moment, the vendor has sold out of these but, apparently, he's making more. I want one!~~~

Until we eat again,

The Lunch Belle

Fall fashions: my 'wish list'

Every night before I turn off the lights, I flip through the glossy pages of the fashion catalogs/magazines I receive in the mail.  If I like what I see, I fold the page in half so that I can "oooo and awe" and get inspired.  Nine times out of ten, I have to replicate the ideas I that see in the fancy Saks spreads at much less expensive ateliers.  But, with fall/winter about to make her debut, here are some items on my very far-fetched 'wish list.'  Or, at least the articles that will be my fashion muses for the months to come. 

Hey, a girl can dream - big dreams - right?  What do you have your eyes on this season?

Rachel Zoe: Ali Wrap CapeChristian Louboutin: "Metalipp"

Van Cleef & Arpels: Lucky Alhambra Butterfly Pendant on ChainBurberry: Leather Pocket DressValentino: Suede Over-The-Knee Bow BootsHerve Leger: Strapless Essential Dress~~~

Until we eat again,

The Lunch Belle

I will never forget

Dear readers,

As it becomes nightfall in NYC, I sit here, close to my window, waiting for the sky to fully darken so that I can see the two illuminated beams of bright, royal blue light (symbolizing the twin towers) pierce through the heavens.  Today marks my eighth "September 11th" in my beloved NYC, and I can hardly believe that ten years have passed since that horrific day.  

I remember my mom saying, "Today is going to be one of those days that you'll remember, exactly where you were and what you were doing, for the rest of your life.  It's your generation's version of what the JFK assassination was for mine."  She was right.  Where were you on 9/11/01?  What were you doing when you heard the news, and how did those events impact the rest of your day/week/month and year(s) to come?  

On September 11th, 2001, I was awoken by the annoying and repeated ringing of my cell phone.  I tried to ignore the first ten rings, but after about fifteen of them, I came to.  "Damn it, I probably missed my class," I mumbled.  After all, I was in my senior year of college and, to be quite honest, I had a rather "laissez faire" attitude about the semester.  I was tired, hungover and, for god's sake, it was 8:50-something in the morning.  When my phone began ringing again, I picked up.  It was my mom.  "A plane just flew in to the World Trade Center," she gasped, "turn on the TV!"

Rewind to January 2001: as a Restaurant/Hotel & Institutional Management major, it was imperative that juniors got internships during the summer before their senior year, in the hopes of landing a coveted position with that said company upon graduation.  Whether it be through a local restaurant/hotel/institution, or one outside of Lubbock, Texas, the choice was ours.  It was around this time that I thought, If I have to do an internship in Restaurant/Hotel, shouldn't I do mine in the "restaurant capital of the world?" 

That was it.  I had my heart set on NYC.  So when a local Marriott representative came to one of my classes to speak about opportunities with the company, I made sure to figure out just how I could score an internship in the Big Apple.  "I'll pass your information along," he promised.  And he did.

March 2001: I was home for spring break - checking my email one afternoon - when I received a note from Marriott saying that I was accepted in to their internship program.  "It's someone from NY!"  I yelled out to my family.  As I continued to read the email out loud, I can still remember saying, "...We have a position open at two properties.  Please choose one: Courtyard NY LaGuardia (Airport) or the NY Marriott World Trade Center."  "Hmmm, LaGuardia?  Isn't that the airport?"  I asked.  My dad nodded.  I didn't know anything about the "World Trade Center," but I did know that it was 1) in Manhattan and 2) it consisted of two ginormous twin towers.  I responded to the email immediately, with the obvious choice: NY Marriott World Trade Center.

May 2001: Rachel, my sorority sister - also doing an internship that summer, and I moved in to a women's dormitory together at the end of May.  We were so excited to be spending three months in NYC...by ourselves! 

The day following my arrival, I was to report to the hotel to get my security badges and be guided on a quick "walk through" of the property.  Now remember, kids, these were the days before websites like Hopstop and Google Maps, so I followed point-by-point directions from the E-train, which were kindly given to me by human resources.  I made my way through the WTC's (WTC is short for "World Trade Center") underground mall, and finally, after walking around in cirlces, I found the WTC "employee entrance," which was located down yet another two flights of stairs.

After my badge was processed and I completed my "quickie" tour of the hotel, I was told to arrive the following morning at 7am to begin my internship.  I had the rest of the day to myself!  I'll never forget walking out of the revolving doors in the hotel lobby and on to the WTC plaza...looking up...and gasping.  "Wow."  I sat on a bench, looked up again, only to realize that I was getting dizzy.  So I layed down, fixated on those two towers scraping the clear blue sky, and smiled.  A tear rolled down my cheek.  I was finally here.

The building in the middle was my hotel! May - August, 2001: from waitressing at both of the hotel's restaurants - managing the floor - answering the phone for room service orders - and everything in between, I spent a "grownup" forty hours/week at the World Trade Center.  It was there that I learned: working IN restaurants/hotels was not for me - my feet and back hurt from standing for long periods of time - I probably shouldn't have eaten the leftover food on my customer's plates - Spanish is an invaluable language to know/speak - people outside of Texas only know of Lubbock because of Bobby Knight - people outside of Texas hate George Bush.  It was also there that I met some of the most interesting, hard working, and kind hearted folks.  Two of which have remained dear friends of mine for the past ten years.  Bill and Ron were lunch guests during my waitressing rotation and, although their table was not in my "section" when they sat down, I made sure to tell my coworkers that "they were mine" anyways.  The dynamic duo were eagerly flipping through the pages of a bright, rainbow splashed "The Gay Guide to New Orleans" book that was the size of a dictionary.  From that day onward, a friendship was born.  In fact, it was Bill who picked me up from the airport after I officially moved to NYC in 2004.

There are, however, things I regret from that summer: I was the worst intern in history (I was NOT offered a job with Marriott post-internship) - I should have taken advantage of my employee discount and gone to the top of the WTC, to the viewing deck, but shrugged it off, thinking, "I'll do it another time...it'll always be here" - I didn't get enough of my coworker's contact information before I left.

...and two weeks after my return back to Texas, I awoke to my mom's phone call on 9/11/01.  In the days and months that followed, the gravity of being so far removed from a city and a situation that I was almost a part of was almost too intense.  It was this yearning, this need to get back to New York that kicked every ounce of my being and motivation in to high gear.  I promised myself that I would do whatever it took to return to the city that had such a tight grasp on my heart.  Although I wouldn't get to call myself a 'New Yorker' for two more years, I fought each and every day until I made that dream a reality.  And ever since stepping off of that plane at LaGuardia on May 8, 2004, I've never looked back.  Not once.

That's my story.  What's yours?  God bless you, this country, this city.  I love NY.

~~~

Until we eat again,

The Lunch Belle 

Things that make you go "grrrr"

I'm in a sassy mood today.  Everything is driving me nuts - chapping my hide - and getting on my last nerve.  Here are a couple of straws, slowly piling on top of one other, that are about to break this camel's back at any given moment:

*The fact that, when you click on any one of Grub Street's links, you're automatically taken away from the website and redirected to that particular hyperlink's page.  Hitting the "back button" is a necessary and super annoying evil.

*Seeing "back to school" commercials in July: if this pisses me off, I can only imagine how angry school-age kids become.  I mean, what a total summer buzz kill!  For the love of god, can't Target wait just a couple more weeks? 

*People who cannot control the blow dryer in the women's locker room: I'm putting on my mascara and you're blowing your hair dry - we're sharing the same primping mirror.  Control your hand motions and stop pointing the dryer's barrel towards my face!  

*Xi'an Famous Foods: not what I expected at all.  The noodles were good, but the setup of the joint was a total clusterf+ck.  You place your food order at a tiny counter IMMEDIATELY after entering the restaurant - pay - and, after all of this, are finally able to grab a seat.  Order numbers are yelled out and served on a long table for the customer to retrieve.  There is no soy sauce or napkins on the tables or, anywhere in sight, and, if you ask an employee for one or the other, you feel like the "local yokel."  Look, I wasn't expecting a 5-star restaurant/service, but a little something to wipe-off my hands and mouth, and some liquid sodium for my noodles wouldn't have been too shabby.  That's all. 

*The lack of sandwich variety at Pret-a-Manger: granted, I love my Avocado/Pine Nut wrap, but what's going to happen when I'm in the mood for something else?  After all, I've already "overdone" everything else on their menu.  And to add insult to injury, Pret did away with my favorite sandwich of all time, the tomato/brie baguette.  

*Coworkers who sneeze w/o covering their mouths: we have three culprits in our office, and they haven't a clue that the rest of us are repulsed, even though I've sent a multitude of passive/aggressive mass "Ms. Manners" emails.          

*Spin instructors who have the crappiest playlists: bad music can make a 45-minute class feel like a 2-hour trek up the Alps.  Hold that cheesy Neil Diamond song for the stretching session and give me my rap/hip hop!

I'm curious: what's driving you nuts today? 

~~~

Until we eat again,

The Lunch Belle

Last one standing

Greetings from a wet, dark, and dreary New York City...

I'm finding it hard to believe that, just one week ago, I was wrapping-up a 72-hour President's Day weekend visit in Chicago.  And speaking of the "Windy City, aside from gorging myself on Lou Malnati's deep-dish pizza, my first-ever Chicago-style hot dog from Mustard's Last Stand, a rajas gordita and an ice-cold horchata from Taqueria Los Comales, and an incredibly juicy Portillo's Italian Beef - I was really hoping that I would get an opportunity to spend some time at what was formerly the Henry Horner Homes (West Side), the Robert Taylor Homes (South Side), and Cabrini-Green (North Side) or, what is now called, "Parkside of Old Town."

For the majority of you that do not know me personally, there is one thing that you do know: I LOVE food.  But here's a factoid that even some acquaintances of mine may or may not know: I have been fascinated by, interested in, and extremely passionate about urban sociology since I was a small girl.  This term is lengthy and broad and encompasses a multitude of issues, but here's what it means to me: Why?

When I was in elementary school, my grandfather and I used to go out for "dates" once/month.  He would treat me to lunch and then we would do an activity of my choosing.  While I assume that most children my age would choose to go to an arcade or a toy store, I had my Poppy drive me around the perimeters of various housing projects.  I wanted to understand why everyone didn't live in a free-standing home or take family vacations.  I was also curious about what it was like to ride the public bus, as the vast majority of folks - unlike that of major cities - had cars.  I had lots and lots of questions. 

Fast forward 20-years...

Two of the three most powerful books that I've read in the past ten years both have to do with Chicago (the latter two listed): And The Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, by Randy Shilts - There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America, by Alex Kotlowitz - and Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets, by Sudhir Venkatesh.  I had originally purchased a picture book about Cabrini-Green, which then led me to "There Are No Children Here," and finally, "Gang Leader for a Day."  I have never experienced such a vast array of emotions from one topic: I cried, rejoiced, laughed, felt shamed, outrage, happiness, disgust, hopelessness, etc.  This text truly struck a chord somewhere deep inside of me.    

Because high-rise public housing in Chicago was so unsuccessful, none of these buildings exist today - except for one.  With the two days that I had in Chicago last weekend, I was hoping to stop by and see, for myself, Cabrini-Green's remaining "White" building, before it would be demolished.  Unfortunately, I never got that opportunity.  I did, however, get to see the structure from the window of the elevated train, as we veered through downtown Chicago.  I also passed over what was formerly the Henry Horner Homes.

www.ChicagoNow.comI'm disappointed that I did not get to see any of these sights "in person," per se, but I am incredibly grateful to authors Alex Kotlowitz and Sudhir Venkatesh.  Each of their books is written with so much detail that, if you close your eyes, you can visualize yourself climbing up one of the building's stairwells, or breaking bread in one of the other tenant's apartments.  Where else will an outsider, like myself, get to relive these men's incredibly unique experiences, encounters, and amazing relationships?

In terms of some raw visuals, I've come across an outstanding photographer, David Schalliol, who has captured many phenomenal snapshots of all-things Chicago Housing Authority and the former projects mentioned above.  Click here to check out his Flickr gallery.     

~~~

On a lighter note, here are some of my favorite snapshots from my visit to Chi-town.  Enjoy!

Lou Malnati's famous Chicago style deep-dish pizza piePortillo's Italian Beef sandwichGordita con queso y rajas, Taqueria Los ComalesChicago-style hot dog, pre-bite @ Mustard's Last StandChicago-style hot dog, post-bite @ Mustard's Last Stand...and there's one more photo...

But first, you have to ask yourself, "Am I ready to see 'The Lunch Belle' channel her inner Kevin McAllister, sans makeup, looking like a hot mess?"  If so, proceed...

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Yours truly, in front of the famous "Home Alone" house.~

Read it & eat,

The Lunch Belle