That's right. Yesterday I had a slice of pizza. I had taken a nice healthy sandwich with me for dinner, which I ate. But then my brain/stomach ( sometimes I am not sure which it is) let's eat something else too. Thus began the half hour long search to find something that will satisfy my craving and will cost me the least amount of money because these days I am not making any. Up & down Broadway I went. Between 28th & 23rd streets. From one pizza joint to an expensive Deli (you know even if they look modest their prices are not. Us Asians are business minded people after all).
So I stopped by at Broadway Pizza. Looked at their options. $2 will get me a slice of cheese pizza. I don't like that. I wanted some toppings, but that exceeded my budget. Until this point I didnt realize that my budget was $2. Now that that became clear my search became easier or difficult depending on how you look at it. I walked out of Broadway Pizza and walked over to the Deli i mentioned. (OH- I should mention that while I am parading up & down Broadway with my $2 budget, it is cold and raining in the month of June...go figure...AND .... I had no Umbrella..This is the perfect story...Our heroine - in search- with a mission- odds stacked against her- but she will conquer- she is determined.......hehe)
So, I went to the Deli where everything is priced double. I pick up a package of sweet & sour peanuts. Not really what my taste buds wanted, I realised, but it might have fallen in my budget and I could have convinved my taste buds. But then I asked for the price. It was.......$2.25......Can you believe it? I told you ...EXPENSIVE.......Well, I walked out of there. It was over my budget and I was going to stick to it.
Now, this patch of Broadway, after 6pm, is quite desolate and shops start closing around 5:30pm. All that's open are shops selling perfumes and bags by the dozens. You have seen those. They sell in bulk. So, after the Deli there wasn't anything as I walked down the streets. Now I knew there was a Qdoba (a Mexican Grill Fran introduced me to. It is like Chipotle) on 23rd street very close to Broadway. So, I thought as I walked. I have had their Mango Salad on a day I had money, or felt like I had money. It was GOOD. So, my taste buds started yelling...Qdoba! Qdoba! Qdoba!....Oh my brain was under attack.... It yeilded. I walked over to Qdoba... prepared that perhaps I WILL have to go over budget. After all it was a salad, healthy for me, better than a slice of pizza. So, I asked how much it was. Whopping $8.59!!!!!!!! Jeez..... I thought....I cannot do this. Then I saw they had a bowl of Tortilla Soup for about $4. So, I thought that would be a good compromise. But when I looked at the size of the bowl in which they serve that $4 soup.... I thought No Thanks. The guy behind the counter must be a kind soul. May be he too understands what it is like to have a budget of $2. He said would I like a taste of the soup? Would I? Of course not! I thought to myself. Do you think I am cheap and cannot afford a bowl of soup? But reluctently I took the little sample of soup he poured for me. I didn't want him to feel rejected for trying to do a good deed. So, for his benefit I tasted the soup. It was GOOD! But I told myself that it had too much salt. Not worth spending my $4 & going over budget. So, I walked out and back on Broadway. This time uptown.
So, as I walked back..... I tried to re-evaluate my options. It was the Deli or Broadway Pizza. Well, as I said the Deli was expensive, so I decided to find me something at the pizza joint. Well, I must have been the only customer in their history to take so much time deciding what pizza slice I wanted. I looked at the prices and what that would offer me. Oh when I say it was tough... I mean it was TOUGH. I was going to go over budget....I realized that. But by how much?... And then I thought, well if I am going over budget, might as well just order what looked good. So, I ordered a slice with spinach and cottage cheese and some tomatoes. yeah, I know what you are thinking. That must be an expensive slice. And it was. It cost me $4.25. *sigh*
I was disappointed in myself. Not only did I over-exceed my budget, I was eating unhealthy food. Oh well... I thought to myself. Such is life. I took my slice, mad at the pizza place owner. WEird I know. But I was mad at him for selling such expensive pizza. I walked out in anger. Went to my French class and ate it there. It was OKAY. Not the greatest pizza I have ever had.
Then after the class I left bloated. Whether I was or not, who knows, but I sure as hell felt it. Disappointed.... I took the train to go home. In my neighborhood grocery store I had to stop by to get cereal for our household. Well, what do you know. At the checkout counter, I picked up a box of those small chocolate covered doughnuts. Yeah I know......this was the proof that now I was in my downward spiral. I had given up on being healthy or staying within my budget.
Well, at home I ate 3 doughnuts WITH mint-chocolate-chip Icecream. Yup....now I was deep into it. Feeling bad AND good at the same time. Spent the rest of the night plopped on my couch in front of the TV watching So You Think You Can Dance and watching all those skinny people with toned bodies dancing and flying away...More downward movement at this point in my spiral.
Went to bed feeling defeated. Worried that I will wake up with a puffy face and bloated body. Oh well.........It is the morning now......both of those things are true. I have had 2 doughnuts with my coffee this morning. Yup the spiral has got me tight in its grip right now.....Who knows when I will be free!
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