it took me a long time to get up the gumption to do it, but this month i started buying my produce on the street like the rest of my neighbors do. i don't know, it seemed intimidating.
one time while buying bell peppers on amsterdam i witnessed a woman stroll past, grab a banana and hand a quarter to the food cart guy, all without breaking stride or making any eye contact with anybody at all. it. was. amazing.
This made me laugh. I love buying produce from the street-- it took me a while to get used to it (because here in London they have bowls of fruit/vegetables that cost a pound, but they never list that price, so I was always like, how am I supposed to know what it costs? So confusing) but now it is pretty much the only place I buy produce. It is so easy and actually cheap and good. I love the thought of calling my children "Londoners" because they were born here, but I don't know...I was born and raised in Boston until I was five, but I don't necessarily think of myself as "Bostonian". Maybe I should?
ReplyDeleteoh and yes, I've cried on the subway...except here it is the tube, but same thing, I guess?
ReplyDeleteThat lady not breaking stride--that is definitely a sign you are a new yorker.
ReplyDeleteOh my...I visited http://mormonheygirl.tumblr.com/...lol..."Oh hey girl,when I count my blessings, I make sure to count you twice."
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT...and the site!
:)
Fresh produce is always the way to go. For me [in Michingan] I have found that the Farmer Markets or 'on the street' markets are more inexpensive as well. I have taken up 'juicing' and I can buy tons of fruits and veggies for what seems like a quarter of the cost if I were to get it at a super market like Kroger or Mejier [not sure if you have those in NY]. Either way, so happy you ventured out to this fresh produce on the street!
ReplyDeleteI have lived in nyc for almost 6 years now. I moved here from a small town in Texas.... everyone said I fit right into the NYC lifestyle. I swear I was born in the wrong state! But it's nice to have some southern hospitality with a big city attitude. it's a nice mix! p.s. I love the city and fruit markets!
ReplyDeletehehehe you make me laugh, girl! :D
ReplyDeleteI love that ep of HIMYM. And I'm jealous of Huck and his real-New-Yorker-ness. That kid is way cooler than I am.
ReplyDeleteI live in Philadelphia. I buy freshly cut mango almost every day out of a "Fruit truck" Fruit from a truck is the best kind of fruit if you ask me. I'm jealous of your expansive street fruit and veggie stands though. Not as common in Philly, although in the summer months I do get to enjoy a small farmer's market set up right next to my office. Best broccoli in existence!!
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a produce stand a mile from my house. I loved walking there everyday to buy whatever sounded good. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is my hubby and I's MOST FAVORITE SHOW EVER! We watch it every night as we are getting dinner ready and after our baby girl goes to bed. We are from Kansas City, but live down town and can relate to some of it. Goodness, what a great post :) Well, now I want to be a New Yorker, too.
ReplyDeleteox, amanda
http://mamawatters.blogspot.com/
mmmm... I love me some street bananas! :)
ReplyDelete(I actually do buy most/all of my produce on the street - we have a "fruit guy" on every corner of my block, so we love strolling and comparing, then buying a bit from here, a bit from there...)
I hope I can be a real new yorker one day and buy a banana without breaking a stride. I would even be ok with having to stand still and make lots of eye contact to live there.
ReplyDeletehaha i LOVED that episode of how i met your mother, too! and i would LOVE to live in nyc. my hubs does NOT like the bustle. he said i can only move there if i'm widowed. obviously, i would choose my hubs over the city. it's close, though ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't usually buy produce on the street but I agree - it can be added to the list of real new Yorker things. I kind of agree with the ten years but will give people 7. and navigating around tourists is totally true. as is crying on the subway. but stealing cabs?! Natalie that is not cool. come on now.
ReplyDelete@colleen, i edited to clarify what i meant by "stealing" cabs. but also, when hailing a cab at 9 months pregnant, you kind of stop caring a little bit. ;)
Deletehaha - I'll give you that. at that point the other person should just give it to you!
Deletehow fun is that, to buy off the street. I am even scared at our small country food markets. My hubs doesn't like big cities either, which makes me sad. He doesn't really like the country either, so we are stuck in the middle :( Can I just say how adorable Huck looks in the pics, he is leaning in almost all of the pics and it cracks me up. It's like he wants to see and touch everything you do. so precious.
ReplyDeleteI have a testimony of the Ryan now. Thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteAnd big-city living makes you cry in public. My roomie Dana and I cried into each other's shoulders on the Metro on MANY occasions, though Dana's last instance involved a highly interesting F-word-laden tirade against the Paris police. Though at the time we were hopping the turnstile, so I guess we deserved it (I collected 60 euros worth of fines by the end of the semester!). Dana Ruiz actually is a fellow NYer--I hope you two one day meet!!!
Stealing cabs doesn't make you a NYer. It just makes you kind of a jerk. It really bothers me when people use "I'm a NYer!" as an excuse to put themselves above other people. It definitely take a certain degree of toughness to deal with NY, but it seems like some people move here just so they have an excuse to ask entitled all the time.
ReplyDeleteSorry, major pet peeve of mine.
@jack and cassie i agree, kindness is never a quality you're free to "lose" just because you live in a tough city, but you do gotta move fast and get out of everyone's way here. it's almost it's own kind of consideration. (i edited a the post a little about the cab thing, i guess i gave the impression i've literally stolen a cab that someone else has hailed. i would NEVER!)
Deletevery european ;) I like it! Good for you.
ReplyDeleteI adore your blog and reading it! You have such a great/unique style. :-)What is that back carrier you have? I have a 15 month old boy and he would love if I carried him around in this.
ReplyDeleteI love this! And I would be all over those produce stands! HIMYM is one of my favorite shows too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, totally get the potential ickiness factor of food on the street, but it's good healthy food, better than a hot dog outta that definitely icky water.
ReplyDeletesoft surrounding's marketing plan worked...those boots. i'm in love. (also - i'm in denver but i eat mexican corn from a street vendor almost every day haha..a little sketchy but it's THE BEST. speaking of which, you guys should visit denver sometime : )
ReplyDeletehaha! you and huck look too cute! and love the boots!
ReplyDeletehttp://babybakerlove.blogspot.com/
Great post! I've never been to NYC, but when my husband and I were on our honeymoon we bought some fruit from a street vendor in Finland. I guess maybe it's kind of the same...!
ReplyDeleteAnd if you don't mind me asking, what brand of baby carrier is Huck in? Do you like it/is it comfortable?
@natasha and jesse and @holly- it's an ergo! we love it.
DeleteLike shopping at a sainsburys instead of eating out every meal in London? or not? The produce looks delicious though. Maybe they should start this in Phoenix?
ReplyDeleteLidia Lavonna
I'm impressed with the banana lady's skills. You'll get there, Nat. I just know it. I bet you Huck could do it with his eyes closed if you let him try, being a native and all.
ReplyDelete♥Abbey
Along Abbey Road
I love love love HIMYM. We started watching it during the first season and the other day they showed th pilot on syndication and my husband and I looked at each other unable to believe that it's been on this long!
ReplyDeleteThe NYer episode is one of my favorites...I've totally "stolen" cabs and have had them stolen. The best is when I actually gave someone the finger bc I was 7 months pregnant and they stole the cab from me! Who does that to a pregnant chick? I'm so classy. I was MAD. And the crying on the subway? ha! I practically invented that. The great thing about NYers is that no one seemed to notice or if they did, they had the courtesy to ignore me.
As for the produce stalls...I love buying ours on the street. And i tend to eat a lot of bananas on the go bc they are a healthy and cheap and clean (no need to wash!) snack that you can find on every other corner. I laugh when they try to sell them for almost 2 bucks in starbucks! wth do they think we are dumb?!
Great pictures! I'm giggling to myself about "street bananas", the expression just caught my fancy! :)
ReplyDeleteuh... this blows walmart out of the water! there's nothing like a fruit stand. highlight of life in the city:)
ReplyDeleteps- that hey girl blog? made me about pee my pants in laughter.
I've never been to NYC (but am going for 6 days this summer with my best friend! oh my gosh can I not wait) but I've always always always wanted to be a New Yorker. Just about every life goal of mine ends with 'and I will live in NYC. the end'.
ReplyDeleteNow, just to get past the whole not being American thing. (which is okay because I DO like being Canadian. I just wish I could also have NYC. You know.)
PS. I HAVE FINALLY CAUGHT UP ON YOUR BLOG FROM THE BEGINNING.
ReplyDeletewell you sure pull it off quite nicely. lookin' all natural buying that fruit...I'd say you are almost there!!
ReplyDeletehaha i loove this. about the lady & 25 cent banana and huck being a real new yorker. good stuff, good stuff. :) have a wonderful day! xoxo
ReplyDeleteps: i'm dreaming of the day that i will be a true new yorker....someday.
My husband and I will be visiting NYC for the first time this summer, and I will most definitely be 'that' tourist you are trying to maneuver around :)
ReplyDelete(Discovered your blog this week and am in love)
-Ashley
Jorgensen Better Together
you are too cute. i would definitely agree that you are a real new yorker since you bought produce off the street. i don't know if i would have the guts. go you ;)
ReplyDeletexo TJ
i love that episode of himym.
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie, my husband is a real New Yorker (born and raised), and he said that buying street produce is definitely a good start, but he thinks you should also try street meat--specifically Halal food, and much more specifically, lamb over rice. He warns that you should only buy it from a stand with a long line in front of it during lunch hour. Also, I think raising a New Yorker should score you some points towards becoming an actual New Yorker, don't you?
ReplyDeletePlease tell me about those fabulous boots: what/where?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI could read those "Hey Girls" all day long. Cracks me up. And way to go on buying your produce on the street...from what I could tell, it looks super cheap!
ReplyDelete-Kristen
The Mrs. and The Momma
Geeeez, Mormons are weird.
ReplyDeleteOh, this makes me miss my baby-on-my-back days so much! I still have my Ergo though it hasn't been used for years. I keep holding on to it for maybe someday ... :)
ReplyDeleteha! so funny because i was JUST thinking about the street produce situation yesterday. was wandering by one on columbus and it was totally PACKED - i mean packed - people just swarming all over it. and i was thinking "huh....maybe i should step it up and do this instead of battling the Fairway lines...."
ReplyDeleteCharming, adorable post. But:
ReplyDeletewow. really? produce in a supermarket is somehow "safer"?
And, really? Those cucumbers have been around, like, forever. Yes, even outside of the tri-state area, like in Utah
Love your blog
Ok I love that How I Met Your Mother episode - truly hilarious.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I wish we had that more around here (in Sydney). The small number of stores that sell fruit have it way more expensive than in a market. You are making me more devastated that I'm flying in and out of NY this month (and next) and don't get to leave the airport (twice!!).
HIMYM is one of my most favorites! That episode is def. one of the best!
ReplyDeleteHaha huck in the photos trying to poke his head around to see what's going on made me giggle!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this! Those produce stands look so great. I'm glad you finally got the guts to buy something from them. How I Met Your Mother is the show my hubby and I are watching right now. Isn't it hilarious? I LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteI so miss the fresh fruit markets in Europe...you are lucky to have them in NYC..Chicago is just not there yet! Love your pics.
ReplyDeletexo
E
P.S. Just added your blog as one of my favorite reads!
http://www.urbanchiqueness.com
Great and funny post!
ReplyDeleteI love that episode of HIMYM!
ReplyDeleteIn Boston there is a weekly market on Friday's and Saturday's between Gov Center and The North End. It's seconds so it is crazy cheap- like avocados for $1 and kiwis 6 for 1. We got there all the time. It can be hit or miss with stuff but totally makes our budget.
The fruit stand looks amazing but what really made me smile was Huck in every photo trying to see what was going on. What's up there mom? What do you have that I don't? I can't seeeeeeeeeee!
ReplyDeleteWhy did you cry on the subway? Were you scared? I grew up in the Bronx and then lived in Brooklyn and worked in Manhattan for years. I never cried on the subway, I got life scared out of me a few times but never cried. Just curious.
ReplyDelete