Flushing Fun

Saturday was all about a brisk walk in a great, close neighborhood for just the kind of outing I could tolerate. We settled on Flushing, Queens after deciding that Chinese food sounded good (I'd been craving it since my birthday) and a trip to Chinatown in Manhattan was too far for these soon-to-be-tired girls. In 20 minutes we could be on and off the train in downtown Flushing and in a Chinatown that most agree rivals--if not surpasses--the one in the city. Yes, Queens has it all and sometimes it's best to really enjoy what you have nearby (and stroller-free, I might add!). So that was our goal and Nacho delivered on finding a few options for lunch which I quickly narrowed down as we arrived in the nabe. It began to snow and spit icy slush in our faces which made the decision even easier.  We opted for a place called Spicy & Tasty on Prince Street and it was both--a definite hit and somewhere I'd be tempted to take friends. There was plenty of space and the selection offered lots of dishes with nice flavors and plenty of heat if that's what you wanted. The girls dug into rice bowls and Elisa picked out all the shrimp from our lo mien while Nacho and I tried dan-dan noodles, spicy oil covered dumplings and a spicy beef noodle soup. Lots of food and a total bill of $32--a definite triumph on this lazy day.  Afterwards we wandered a bit past a few other must-try places before going back to the slushy place Elisa begged for. This time I went for the Thai milk tea slushy with bubbles, and it was deliciously creamy and chewy at the same time.  As we headed back to the train, Elisa needed a pit stop so we popped into the library which has such a nice vantage point along the main drag. A few minutes later we were on our way home and ready for a family nap that lasted until almost 5 p.m. For a cold afternoon in January, I'd say we did pretty good. 

Welcome, 2014!

So I wrote a whole post about our little outing today and promptly lost it when my mobile blogging app decided to take a break. Harumph. Oh well. I suppose the mantra of the day is stay calm and be flexible. Like when we got out in the freezing cold to join some friends for a New Year's Day dim sum lunch in Flushing and then there were no seats left for us at the reserved tables (to be fair, we were nearly 15 min. late).  Friends offered to shove in, but the thought of holding a squirmy kid on my lap while I tried to enjoy a meal sounded like pure torture. No, thanks. So we turned and made our way out of the giant mall, and back through the amazing grocery store with its piles of exotic fruits and down the street. Surely we could do better than this for our first outing of the new year. And as luck would have it, one of our favorite Vietnamese places up the road had plenty of open tables and we settled in to an enjoyable family meal in relative peace. This was more like it.

Something about January 1st always sets the tone for my monthly, if not yearly, outlook. Doing something together as a family, trying something new, and being out in the city we love were all good omens. Even though I woke with a horrible back ache and stomach pains that fortunately died down with some ibuprofen and a little sleeping in, I managed to make the most of the day.  I didn't decide to stay home or just give up. And given how easy that is when it's 20 some-odd degrees out, I was proud of myself for not just muddling through but really enjoying the day. The girls were champs during our about-face in the first restaurant despite Elisa's questioning when we were going to see her friends. And I was delighted to hear Carolina tell me the big bowl of rice I ordered for her was "delicious." Elisa gorged on the lemongrass beef bits I gave her from my vermicelli bowl. And Nacho quietly gulped down an iced coffee while Carolina screamed abuse at me for "more CAFE!" out of mine.  Ah yes. She likes what she likes. 

The two girls went practically ballistic when we bumped into the Burns family post-dim sum and joined them for a sweet slushy treat at Quickly.  So. much. shrieking. Geez. Carolina can take it up a few octaves these days, and Elisa just winds her up with taunts and tickles until I'm ready to say BASTA YA! But again, staying calm, I just smiled and shushed them until it was time to hit the train home.  The first family nap of the year was a perfect way to end the activity of the day and now we're bracing for re-integration into school life again tomorrow--yikes!--and a coming snow storm for Thursday/Friday that will see the first real accumulation of the year (8-10 inches most are predicting).  So here's to all that's yet to come in '14, and staying calm and positive about it. I'm going to work on that the most this year. It's going to be great. No really.