# 17 eat a papaya...

DONE!

I had a lovely brunch Sunday with my friend Raul.  He is a vegetarian & I love trying new places with him.  While I'm not a vegetarian, I do like some of the foods from time to time.  And we both love this place in Rockville Center called Three Brothers.  If you're ever in the area, I highly suggest you check the place out.  And while they have a vegan friendly menu, they also have a menu for us carnivores!

So we hit Three Brothers for brunch & finish our chat about my tea party obsession.  Oh yes folks, I am still excited about having a tea party.  While discussing my obsession for the perfect tea set, I ask Raul if we can hit Home Goods before going to the mall.  I know Home Goods is a few minutes away from Three Brothers & Raul agrees we can make the stop.

Home Goods, for those that don't have this store near them, is a great place for all the little things you didn't realize you need, want or just plainly MUST have.  If you are in the area of one, you know they have great deals on everything for your home.  So I figured we'd stop in & check out this weeks stock.  Plus I was looking for a tea strainer...which I didn't find.

I immediately find a St. Patrick's Day themed teapot which I MUST have.  (I will later find a crack in the handle, which of course means this is going back to the store for a replacement.)  And of course there is a matching teacup & saucer set that I MUST have.  I will be convinced by Raul that I need these agave nectars.  I will find out later that they are a MUST have being so yummy!  Plus the price is right...$4 a bottle versus $6 in other stores.

Next we head to the mall so Raul can pick up some tea in Teavana.  This place is wild!  Great scents.  Amazing tea!  Decent pricing...but you can run your bill up pretty quickly without blinking.  Avoid the teapots & accessories as I find them to be really expensive.  Raul will secretly buy me the two chai teas that when blended together create this delightful taste.  I was hooked after trying the free sample last weekend...but didn't want to spend the money for it at that time.  Luckily this time, my friend will do it for me. (Thanks Raul!)

After the trip to the mall, we hit Whole Foods.  I've been wanting to pick up some flax seeds to help my diet.  I've been told by my trainer that flax seeds help with belly fat. I definitely need some work in that area.

So there we are in Whole Foods.  Having picked up the flax seeds & ready to hit the checkout, Raul realizes he needs bananas.  So we go to the produce aisle.  As he is picking up bananas, I suddenly realize I am in the mood for a papaya...

...and here we are back to my blog...

#17 eat a papaya...I've never had one

I love fruit. My favorite is a luscious juicey mango.  I love a plump mango on a hot summer day.  Nothing beats it...well, maybe if you freeze it...but even fresh out the cool fridge is really refreshing.  I also love cold freshly washed strawberries.  And yes, I even love them dipped in chocolate at times.  And I can eat a pound of grapes while cleaning them without realizing that I've eaten that many.

So getting fruit into my diet is not a problem.
But never having tried a papaya is just not natural in my world.

The papaya is sitting in the fridge chilling as I head over to visit Raul.  He's offered to grind the flax seeds in his coffee grinder for me & I bring him a sample of this yummy black tea that is ginger peach apricot flavored.  Plus I take him the rest of the coconut sample bag from Adagio Teas.  Yummy stuff!!

Fast forward to tonight.  I come home from work & realize that papaya isn't getting any younger & neither am I!  Time to cut into it.  So I take the papaya out of the fridge.  It was already cut & the seeds removed.  There was a lime slice & some kiwi slices on it.  I read on-line that squeezing some lime juice over it makes the papaya taste better.  So here I go...ready for my first papaya.

I slice off the rind & cut some slices.  I taste one piece & it's pretty good.  Juicey.  Delicious. Nice.  I can't believe I've never had papaya before.  So then I start laying a few slices on a plate, grab the lime slice & squeeze some lime juice over the sliced papaya.  Not bad.  Very tropical. Very sweet & tart & yummy.  Not bad.  I should have tried this sooner.

So #17 eat a papaya is now done.  I've had one!  And I have to say, I'll be picking up more the next time I'm in Whole Foods.

Okay, so for those of you that haven't heard...Punxsutawney Phil, the Groundhog, predicts an early spring.  I hope so!  I am so over this snow.  This winter has been really brutal.  Very draining on me.  I'm ready for spring.  For warm sunny days.

May 1st will be here soon enough.  And pretty soon I'm going to have to finish planning my 20 weeks & you'll have to vote on the 20 you suggest I do.  So there is still time to make a suggestion.  I'm open for some fun ideas on things to do!

Here is the list as of tonight...

1 - full body massage
2 - take a hike
3 - frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity in NYC
4 - Gravity Hill in Bedford, Pa
5 - learn to speak Spanish
6 - read 'War & Peace'
7 - get a tattoo
8 - take Salsa lessons
9 - take a cooking class
10 - get set up on a blind date
11 - hostess a tea party
12 - ride a Harley
13 - buy 40 different pairs of socks
14 - get a make over
15 - get 40 people to join me for a picnic in a park
16 - go whale watching
18 - cook a Thanksgiving dinner
19 - sing karaoke w/some friends
20 - visit the gravesite of Billie Burke, Glenda from 'The Wizard of Oz' in Vallhalla, NY
21 - learn sign language
22 - paint my bedroom
23 - clean out the living room closet
24 - go to Niagara Falls
25 - Spend the day in Philadelphia
26 - go on a "spiritual Retreat"
27 - rodeo riding
28 - bungy jumping
29 - walk across the Brooklyn bridge
30 - go to the Statue of Liberty
31 - start a book club
32 - go skinny dipping
33 - go on a photo taking tour of Queens
35 - get a group of people to walk in the Breast Cancer walk at Jones Beach
36 - write the next great American novel
37 - go to a movie every day for one week
38 - learn to knit
39 - go to a Zumba class
40 - go to a hot yoga session
41 - try the belly dancing class at the gym
42 - visit a state/city that you've always wanted to visit
43 - try pole-dancing
44 - chop down your own Christmas tree
45 - donate to a charity you never thought you would give money to
46 - volunteer at a soup kitchen
47 - volunteer at an animal shelter
48 - go Christmas Caroling
49 - horse drawn carriage ride in Central Park
50 - ice skating at Rockefeller Center
51 - make holiday cards & gifts for 2011
52 - trip to Smithsonian Museums in Washington, DC
53 - go to Junior's for a slice of cheesecake
54 - volunteer at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary
55 - go to Sylvia's in Harlem for chicken & waffles
56 - take a trip to the Long Island vineyards
57 - check out the Montauk lighthouse
58 - visit a cranberry bog
59 - go see a Broadway play
60 - visit Mark Twain's house in CT
61 - go to Atlantic City & lay down a $50 bet
62 - hot air balloon ride
63 - stock car racing
64 - white water rafting at the Delaware gap
65 - take a picture w/the Naked Cowboy in NYC
66 - go to Medievil Times
67 - go to a Murder Mystery Dinner
68 - go for dinner at Havana in NYC
69 - go to the circus
70 - go to a football game
71 - go cayaking
72 - Fleet Week in NYC
73 - Circle Line cruise around NYC
74 - Hayden Planetarium laser show
75 - Hershey Park, PA
76 - visit a dude ranch
77 - take a photography class
78 - bike riding with Hippie Dave
79 - go on a vacation alone
80 - go to the beach looking for seashells with Hippie Dave
81 - Howe Caverns
82 - go see the Mets at Citifield
83 - rock wall climbing
84 - fly a kite
85 - archery w/Anthony
86 - go to the Halloween parade in the village
87 - go to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria
88 - go line dancing
89 - Governor's Island
90 - ride the Staten Island Ferry
91 - ride the Roosevelt Island tram
92 - go to a midnight movie show w/Tracy wearing your jammies
93 - go to the Noguchi Museum in LIC
94 - go to the King Manor Museum in Jamaica
95 - go to the Fisher Landau Center for Art in LIC
96 - go to the Sculpture Center in LIC
97 - go horseback riding
98 - ride a mechanical bull (Johnny Utah's in NYC)
99 - Mystic Aquarium, CT
100 - stop to see the sun rise and sun set on the same day
101 - go trick-or-treating with Mikayla & Connor
102 - plan a surprise party for someone
103 - ride the Cyclone & see the Freak Show in Coney Island
104 - midnight bowling