Barnes & Noble/Starbucks, Rainy Day in NYC

Written by Carol Cain on 09 March 2009

NYCity Mama loves rainy Mondays. She dreads Mondays at times like any other person having to go to work dreads the end of their weekends. For her it means no more time with her husband, and no more help with the kids. And though she loves going out and enjoying the city with the boys, on Mondays the “get going” energy takes awhile to kick start.

But rainy Mondays. Ahhhh. Those are the best. A reason to look out the window and choose to not have to do anything, and not be guilt ridden by it either, all just because it’s raining. As she looked around her apartment however, going outside seemed a bit more attractive, even in the rain, as it seemed the list of things to do inside was long and tedious.

She managed to do some things, before deciding on the perfect, rainy day activity. She envisioned herself reading books to her boys in the kid’s section of Barnes & Noble, while she sipped on a warm Starbucks coffee. She’s been craving a Starbucks for about two weeks, but because she refuses to drink one in a hurry, she hadn’t found a good time to slow down and indulge in one. But she felt today would be perfect.

She also recently read a blog that inspired her to add to her cookbook collection, and had been wanting to indulge in that as well.

So off to 86th and Broadway they went. Turns out that aside from wet, the weather was wonderful. It wasn’t raining too heavily either, which made it possible for her to stroll without having to figure out how to push the stroller and hold an umbrella at the same time.

They arrive to Barnes & Noble without incident. They enter the store, and as always the wonderful smell of new books is in the air. Mama isn’t an avid reader, partly due to the fact that she just doesn’t have the time these days, but she loves books. She loves the smell, the texture, the look. She senses her 3.5 year old also appreciates them like she those because as they enter and pause for a second to take it all in, he looks around and said, “Wow Mama! This is beeeeeautiful!”

They head straight to the Cafe where Mama orders her Caramel Machiatto, and a cookie and some milk for the boys. They quietly sat and enjoyed their snack, while Mama felt the sense of heaven overcome her with every sip of the wonderfulness in a “Tall” cup.

Next they ventured up to the second floor to the kid’s section, with the cookbook section conveniently located right next to it. Mama appreciated that those Barnes & Noble people know exactly what they are doing when it comes to product placement!!

The Jr. section was full of nannies with their assigned little one, and maybe 1 or 2 moms, with their little one, with everyone reading out loud, while their toddler or baby listened. Mama’s boys grabbed a couple of books and sat and looked through. And for a little while it all was perfection, with her boys sharing space and entertaining themselves with their books as Mama looked on. She was even able to sit with them both and read to them.

Such peace and quiet is rare for Mama, and it was in this case as well. Not too long after, the boys where fighting for Mama’s exclusive attention, with one wanting her to read him a book different than what the other wanted. And as the only other two moms, with their one perfect child next to them, gave her “the glare“, she managed to calm her boys down enough for a few more minutes of reading, and silence, before packing them up again to head out.

Luckily, the boys had both found books that intrigued them long enough to sit down in the cookbook’s section while Mama grabbed a cookbook she had been craving for forever. She browsed awhile before rediscovering Nigella Larson’s cookbook. She grabbed it, paid, and they left.

After a short train ride browsing through the delicious recipes, Mama arrived home a bit hungry and feeling creative. She whipped up a ham and cheese panini for her and the boys, allowed them to look through their cardboard books as they ate their lunch with the same quiet and peacefulness she enjoyed just a few hours earlier. It was during this time Mama decided she would try the “Italian Sausages with Lentil” recipe from her new book. Yum!