Have your Cake, oh and your beer too

In the three months I've lived in New York, here's what I've learned:

1. Sometimes when people cross the street hailing cabs they look like Nazis.

I discovered this on Monday as I was walking along Gramercy after work. My personal method for grabbing the attention of a taxi is the "half snap" or even swiping the palm out to the side, like you're waving hello to a giant. Clearly, this was not the choice of the man that extended his arm in front of him in a "Hail Hitler" pose as he paced back and forth along the crosswalk. But hey, you gotta do you, right?

2. Every minute counts.

It's all about matching the platforms when you're taking the train to work. Remember that time you were polite and didn't rush around the woman pushing her frilled out pug in a stroller? Maybe it only took an additional two minutes of walking, but then the doors to your transfer closed just as you got there. Two minutes became 15 minutes as you waited for the next train to arrive. Then you hit a train delay because someone vommited at a stop ahead. When you got out of the subway station, you hit the end of the blinking hand, making you stop at every block the rest of your walk. You don't defy the hand telling you not to cross because oh ...

Lesson 2.5 CABS WILL NOT STOP IF YOU CROSS IN FRONT OF THEM

And why did this all happen to you? Because you didn't shove the stroller woman out of the way to save two minutes of walking. Perhaps if she were pushing around a baby kangaroo it would have been worth it, but no, it was just a dog that has a more expensive wardrobe than you. Are we bitter? We sure are.

3. It's cool to name your bar a place that normally isn't a bar (i.e. The Library or Arlene's Grocery)

What's the purpose of this? Well, it's conversational really, so that you can say "I got wasted at the library last night."

But I suppose the other takeaway here is that things aren't always as they seem. You may think you're going to a cake shop, but it's kind of a record store, no wait, it's also a bar (Cakeshop, Ludlow between Rivington and Stanton). Jenn and I went to Cake shop the other night and I excitedly told Jenn, "I can order cake and beer here whilst I look through records!" I don't even like beer, but I had to do it because I could.

Hence... cake + beer:


You're probably thinking that the combination is odd and you are absolutely correct. Rolling rock doesn't complement carrot cake cupcake or oreo cake. You're probably also thinking "I'd never order cake at a bar." Never say never! The cakes weren't bad. The cream cheese frosting on the carrot cake cupcake was enjoyed by this frosting hater (pointing to me). I couldn't even tell the cupcake was vegan (Vegan is not a bad word). The oreo cake was moist, however, I'm going to agree with Jenn who mentioned it would have been better with ice cream (not beer). Would I try this combination again? Probably not, like I said it was odd. But the point is.. I could.