Say "Cheese"!

Three statements you just won't hear in NYC:

1. "I just can't get enough of the vegan pizza here"
2. "Good thing there aren't any decent cheese shops in Manhattan"
3. "Give me a pumpernickel bagel and hold the cream cheese"

What's one thing that pizza and bagels have in common? Where's the best celebrity watching in Manahattan and also where I have a $50 gift certificate to from my BFF? What was I looking forward to saying to "Randy" my fictitious neighborhood bagel monger every day?

"Hey Randy, give me a pumpernickel bagel with veggie cream CHEESE!".

I suppose if I asked you to guess what food item I just found out I'm ridiculously allergic to you would be able to guess pretty quickly. CHEESE!

How can you move to Manhattan and be allergic to cheese? How will establish I my friendship with "Randy"? What will I say when someone comes to visit and asks "Where's the best pizza"?.

Food is a major part of my life. Eating is more than the thing I do too keep from passing out. It's an absolute passion. Cooking, shopping for it, reading about it and of course eating it. And I am planning to do a lot of it in NYC, starting with pizza and my favorite bagel monger. So this little discovery is more than a set back. it's like some sick joke! Basically the same as moving to Seattle and being allergic to salmon and coffee. What's the frickin' point already?!

I'm slightly devastated. Well on the bright side, I guess I will just have to turn my street food intentions towards hot dogs or falafels. I am officially now accepting your favorite NYC street food alternatives!

Yes, Naomi I guess I can believe that I'm moving to NYC

I've been going to my esthetician for about 7 years. Not even your hair stylist can know 'your business' the way an esthetician can, especially when she's giving you your monthly Bikini Extreme wax (we all have our indulgences and necessities). Naomi knows the business of half of Seattle. She's that good and that discreet.

Mid-way through tinting my eyebrows she just stopped and said "I can't believe you are moving to New York". YOU can't believe it? What about ME?! It's like a dream come true everyday. So much of a dream come true that I shared with her my complete vision of how my life will be and what it will look like. Right down to my fictitious neighborhood bagel dude who will be named Rodney.

It goes something like this:

"I live in a 750 sqr ft apartment in TriBeCa with a rooftop deck. It has a small updated kitchen in an open format with a bar/counter and a view of the living room. A small but efficient bedroom and an even smaller office/spare bedroom loft space with a wallbed that converts to a desk.

Every morning I go to the bodega for a coffee (small problem here, I don't actually drink coffee anymore) on my way to the bagel shop where I'm greeted by Rodney (why I've decided to call him Rodney I don't know) who lives with his grandma Gracie in Queens. Rodney doesn't bother to call me by my name. No, he has his own name for the lady from Seattle. He says to me each day "Hey Smiley! What'll it be? A pumpernickel bagel with veggie cream cheese today for ya?". To which I reply "You bet Rodney. How's Gracie doing today?". And so it goes...

On Saturdays MDHK and I wake up at 9:30, go for a run on the West Side Highway, come back, take a shower together, make love (because we don't have any house maintenance to distract us), go visit Rodney for bagels and catch flick at the local cinema."

So, YES Naomi I guess I can believe that I am moving to NYC.