P.T. Barnum, 1869, where he wrote: "'Every cloud,' says the proverb, 'has a silver lining,' and so I did not despair.” Some days you just need to catch a break. You can be having a decent day, nothing out of the ordinary has happened, but for some reason you just need a little emotional lift. That was me yesterday. The irony is that as I felt that way I was researching this topic, it was not lost on me. But I didn’t manage to write anything down until today. Scarlet was right, “tomorrow is another day”. So now that it is officially Find Out Friday I am here with the quickness. I decided that the phrase “silver lining” is used very often in our daily language but like many of the other topics researched in this series I had no idea why. I don’t think anyone around me could tell me either. The saying is easy enough to understand; you are most likely trying to cheer someone up and thus find their individual silver lining for the situation. According t...

I have only ever been to one other “ice cream factory” in my life, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory ( http://bit.ly/2duYu9s ) and that was a total success. Now I was ready to make room in my heart for the one I have come to love in Chinatown. As you read in the previous blog I had spent a lovely Sunday eating dinner at the infamous Nom Wah Tea Parlor. It was my first visit there but it will certainly not be my last. Any good Italian like myself knows that a meal isn’t officially over until dessert is served no matter how full you are. Those fat ladies never sing. We eat until we can’t breathe and then eat some more. I thought since we had shared all of our dishes at this dinner we should have some room for a tad bit of ice cream especially since it was so close by. After a very brief walk around the corner, also a block closer to our car, I saw the line that signaled we had arrived. The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is small but they are dishing out c...

I am not one for a staycation, an idea I presume was born to make those who are off from work but at home feel special. Depending on where you live there could be many things you would like to take part in but never have the time for. If you don’t have the money or the desire to go anyplace far away, a staycation may be for you. As for me I don’t really take staycations. For one thing if I am home and not at work the odds are much more likely that I am in bed with an unbearable migraine. Or as of late because I fell on Governor’s Island ( http://bit.ly/2cLBUqt ) and sprained my elbow and ankle. Thankfully they are healing well. For me a staycation is what I do on the weekends when I am feeling great and the weather is agreeing with me. I take my inspiration from my annual to do list ( http://bit.ly/29H6zRG ) and plan my weekends accordingly. When I decide to add an activity to my schedule that has not come from my to-do list it is usually due to a celebration...

Well Marta and I have finally come face to face. I had starting making arrangements to dine here back in January, then again in the spring, only to be canceled on by my dining companion, as I was walking out of the door.  I am half amazed that our destiny actually took place this past weekend. Finally, finally I was sitting down to the pizza I have been longing for! After all it is a remnant of my 2015 to do list ( http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2015/03/for-year-5-2015-2016-to-do-list.html ). As a pizza lover and pizza blogger I knew I had to have the complete experience. I was going without a care to how long I lingered there. I was determined to try at least two varieties of the pizza I had been hearing so much about. I had only one lunch partner otherwise I might have aimed for a third pie. You would be surprised how much you can eat when you are starving and presented with greatness. I wanted to be sure I got to try two different kinds of pizza ...