Angels in the Library [Fresh(man) Baked Goods]

I love life right now

a little while ago

I was attempting to understand synesthsia and phantom limbs

whilst tackling a statistics assignment in Excel

when I got a frantic phone call at the library desk

it was a poor girl and she said "is there anyone there that can help me with Excel?"

she's probably an English major, or better yet, a Religion major

with no concept of what math is anymore

taking intro Econ

puts a smile on my face to know

I'm not in this boat alone

the next great thing that happened?

I found a book called

The Bagel:The Surprising History of a Modest Bread

which got my foodie senses tingling

and made me miss Astoria, home of the best, fattest bagels

just when I started feeling a growl rising in my stomach

a freshman from my dorm came over to the library, like a savior

and brought me a perfect square of apple crumble,

this isn't your run of the mill freshman

this is a supreme lady baker freshman angel

(she's out of this world cute: think neon pink berets and scuba masks)

who concocts delicious baked goods every single day

I hear a quiet knock on my door every night at around 8,

at peak study time, while I'm jamming to some JLO,

and she's there with a new treat

so far I've had to die for walnut banana bread

(I'm such a sucker for walnuts)

strawberry cupcakes,

oatmeal, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

(the chocolate was gooey just like on TV)

and apple walnut bread,

the food gods sent her to live in my dorm

to help me combat the blues I get from

not being able to watch the Food Network

The library is poorly lit

(which is why I can't sit at my desk without getting sleepy crossed eyes)

so the crumble doesn't read in a photo as the shining beacon it truly was

but it saved me.

31 Cent Scoop Not

Today is 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins

and instead of standing on an incredibly long line

with 2 dimes, 2 nickels, and a penny

clenched in my hand

I'm in the library, at work

miles away from the nearest Baskin Robbins

and tubs of cookie dough, pistachio, and

strawberry cheesecake ice cream

instead, I'm eating a Sweet & Low mint

now let me tell you, that is not a fair trade off

in my heart I'm wishing for blackberry mocha chip

(no sugar added) ice cream

it's literally the best

it makes me feel like I'm strolling in a field full of puppies,

not exactly, but almost

the sad thing is

that all I have in my wallet is

14 cents,

a packet of Splenda,

and 8 bandaids.

Prisoners Love Pastries Too.

In the library basement

I feel quite queer,

almost like a prisoner because I'm underground

and the windows are way above my head

and I can only see the clouds

moving really slowly across the sky behind some tree branches,

no buildings, no sidewalks, nothing in sight

just the ugly foliage print on the library carpet, 

and the steam rising from my tea

I'm trying to load up on brain food

like peppermint tea, almonds, and chocolate raspberry truffles

the truffles I deemed brain food by my own scientific study

so eat up all the raspberry flavored chocolate you want

and I bet you'll have the will to finish any paper

I gave up pastries for Lent

but I'm not really religious

I just like giving stuff up for Lent,

something must be empowering about the sense of communal sacrifice or something

who knows, 

either which way I died in Stop & Shop yesterday in the

Yesterday's Baked Goods section:

a small slice of heaven

what's better than sweets and a sale?

nothing besides a sweet sale on shoes

but the low priced chocolate cakes, raspberry danishes, sweet bread, lady fingers, and 

other nomlicious treats were off limits for me

even though I could have bought an entire birthday cake

complete with sprinkles for just $2.98

I settled for some 100 calorie packs of chocolate covered pretzels,

mixed berry english muffins (sent from heaven, sadly they are seasonal), and strawberries

but I still cannot get those cheap treats out of my head

so here is my little homage to all things buttery, sugary, floury and delish that my

poor little heart is craving in the prison of the library

Yes folks, a chocolate cupcake with raspberry buttercream and raspberry preserve filling

this is my ideal dessert, dainty & dangerous

I'm nuts for anything raspberry

its my anti-drug

Thumbprint cookies,

two words: I DIE

these happen to be a Christmas tradition in my family

I always get a small tin of them from my uncle & aunt, better than a typical gift any day

white chocolate raspberry cheesecake

this is the most romantic dessert I could ever think of

Lent is so anti-romance

oh little luscious berries, you are quite tart and bumpy naturally

but you produce the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 

cupcakes, chocolates and other sweet treats of my life

thanks for making everything more nom

for now, in my new life free from pastries

I'll just have to settle on saltines

one cracker with a touch of peanut butter, the other with a glop of jelly

a little bit of vanilla fro-yo in the middle

and I almost feel like I'm eating a cookie sandwich(from Milk&Cookies in the West Village)

I must be delusional.

Homesickness

I buried my heart in Tompkin's Square,

really I did,

I found a twig by the dog run 

and made a hole to put it in

I put in some Belgian fries, a Metrocard and a pistachio ice cream cone so it wouldn't get lonely while i was away at college

there is this one squirrel that has lived in Tompkin's for years, she's a redhead 

so I named her Lindsay

This is my perpetual nostalgia acting up again

which always seems to happen when I should be doing something important

like figuring out how to be in the Tao & outlining Confucius' beliefs

but who cares about Confucius

when you're just 5 days away from going home

from escaping this snow/hail/rain [in that order]

and finals, and rotting in the library

I hate Poughkeepsie,

I figured my heart would too

that's why I left it behind to mingle with the pigeons

and smell the scents of great New York pizza

and maybe have a conversation with a few knowledgable bums

When I get back, it'll have all these great stories to tell me

while all I'm going to have to say is that the Forever 21 here is really small

and that the squirrels are really incarnations of 

English majors that could'nt find careers-

that's going to be me

maybe then I could be a bum in Tompkin's Square

watching the kids on the tire swings

and eating Belgian fries with the best barbecue sauce in the world.

Strawberry Snow

I'm in the library, looking out the window

procrastinating on revising a creative piece for my English class about deception & lies

you know what's deceptive?

the snow.

It's probably about 20 degrees outside, 

just frigid: 2 sweaters and 2 pairs of socks cold

perfect weather for thigh high leg warmers

but not the perfect weather for ice cream

so the snow sits there and doesn't melt all day, even when the sun shines on it,

but I bet if I had an ice cream cone and held it outside 

it would melt all over my gloves 

so the snow is fooling us all. 

i wish it would just go away.

so i can have a strawberry ice cream cone, 

after all, strawberry is the cutest flavor you could eat.