John Trammell Williams

My sister, Amanda has been pregnant for 9 months... naturally. This past Wednesday my first little nephew was born around 10:30 PM - after a 25 hour labor!

Trammell weighted 8lb 1oz and was 19" long! It was a hard day to be away from my whole family - I talked to Betsy on the phone as she listened, ear pressed to the door, as Trammell was born. Hearing his first chirps and squawks, Betsy and I fell in love - an unexpected love for this child I've never even met!

Trammell and Amanda are doing very well, though he seems to have his nights and days mixed up (as alot of babies initially do). I went to visit this weekend, it was the most fun trip! Friday marked my 1 month anniversary in the city, how appropriate to be leaving for a visit home. Alan, Amanda, and Trammell picked me up from the airport, and we spent the rest of the weekend mostly at home. I cooked and washed and stayed up with Trammell at night. Amanda and Alan are SUCH natural parents.

Saturday, Amanda and I went to "Tweed" for her first "outing". (Tweed is a newly opened, baby store in Nashville, it has the cutest baby stuff) Having Trammell just 9 days ago, I can already tell a difference in Amanda's personality and maturity, which makes me respect and love her even more!

We had such a fun weekend, but on Sunday I was exhausted! And I think Trammell was too...

Local, seasonal, organic

At school this week (our first full week), we have concentrated on how to determine basic quality ingredients. There 10 criteria that The Natural Gourmet Institute considers important to consider when choosing food - whole, natural, organic, unprocessed, non-irradiated, seasonal, local, and a few more. Chef Jay Weinstein, a well-known chef, author, and strong supporter of ethical, "green" cooking, has been our teacher this week. Chef Weinstein has an exceptional gift in choosing the perfect word to communicate exactly what he wants to say, and he is truly passionate about what he is teaching. I love the experience of hearing him lecture. He also has a quirky personality, a truly hard-nosed New Yorker with a side of creativity and finesse. I laughed to myself in class today as he spout off about religion saying, "it's Muslim, it's Jewish, it's whateva..." in a thick, Northern accent, shrugging his shoulders and pouching his lips with each word. It's amazing, though, to sit for 4 hours listening to someone so knowledgeable talk about something I am so interested in, surrounded by 16 other people that feel exactly the same way.

We are learning so many interesting facts about the benefits of eating seasonally, locally, organically, and so on. For example, the chemical sodium nitrate, used to make certain foods such as bacon appear red, is so potent that, by law, it must be diluted in water to a ratio of 2 parts chemical to 98 parts water. If a concentration higher than this is used, it will have a deadly power. A second random scenario - the legal approval of radiation in meat processing factories has actually caused the sanitation conditions of most of the factories to decrease. This is because workers no longer have to be careful about contaminating the meat as they process it because in the end it will all be subjected to a heavy dose of radiation, which kills any bacteria that may have been "mixed" in. The problem is that 1. the radiation only penetrates 2 inches and 2. though the bacteria is killed, the radiation does not extract the unthinkable things that were mixed into the meat (the things that carried the bacteria).

I must admit that I don't always adhere to all of these principles 100% of the time. I do occasionally enjoy a slice of pizza from the neighborhood pizza counter, and I love a chocolate cupcake from the sugar Sweet Sunshine bakery here in NYC, and I know that neither of these places are following the above principles, BUT I also know that I am learning, reforming, and refining my daily eating habits, my weekly grocery shopping, and my overall philosophy of food and nutrition. As I've discovered, these things are not hard, fast rules, but more guidelines and principles that it would be wise to do our best to follow.

Bon appetite!

Brooklyn Flea Market

New York is known for its markets, so my expectations for the Brooklyn Flea Market were extremely high. Riding the 4,5,6 south, I imagined all of the interesting jewelry, vintage coats, rustic furniture, and used books I was going to find. My friends Kristi, Lindsay, Kate, Claire and I wound our way through the streets of Brooklyn until we came upon the Brooklyn Masonic Temple and the Fort Greene Brooklyn Flea market. It was beyond expectation...

The crowd was a mixture of old plaid shirts, black rocker boots, whimsical tweed fedoras, boxy tortoise shell glasses, and on and on and on... artsy, should I say? The booths were full of treasures from vintage Dooney and Burke purses to handmade gold rings to watercolor-developed photographs. We spent hours flipping through old records, trying on vintage designer dresses, and soaking up the culture of Brooklyn.

I, of course, had my eyes on the food tents. In Mississippi, the traditional "flea market" food is fair food - overcooked corn dogs, greasy hamburgers, sugary cotton candy... need I say more? Every now and then, one might find a fruit stand or baked goods stand, but that's rare... very rare. At the Brooklyn flea, however, these types of booths were nowhere to be found. In fact, I doubt they would even sell a dollar's worth of food even if they were at the flea. The booths in Brooklyn are gourmet... fresh... unique. The Milk Truck is a food truck that makes specialty grilled cheeses and milkshakes; Choncho's Tacos stirs up flavors of Mexico in their fish tacos; and Whimsy and Spice brings hearty cookies and savory pastries.


All of the booths incorporate organic, local ingredients into their menus and focus on exposing the market-goers to fabulous, high-quality food. After surveying all of the food stands, Kristi and I decided on hot dogs. Now this may seem like a crazy choice, but wait just one second... these were not just any hot dogs, these were "Asia Dogs".


The Asia Dog serves gourmet, exotic hotdogs with all sorts of yummy toppings. I ordered a vegetarian hotdog with mango, red onion, peanut, cilantro, and fish sauce slaw. It was amazing. The warm, toasty bun, the crisp, pungent bite of slaw, and the smoky, juicy "dog" all came together in an intricately-textured, bursting-with-flavor bite. I loved it!

The flea market is an iconic Brooklyn spot, but it's also one of New York's best kept secrets. Some New Yorkers have lived their whole life without venturing East of Manhattan... not me, though. I take the road less traveled...to the flea market.

My first day of school... #19

I've experienced 19 first days of school... but never one like today. By the time I started my second year of nursing school, I felt like a professional at starting school - I wasn't in the least bit stressed or worried, it was just like any other day (my mom might say differently, but that's how I remember it). Today I woke up, took the subway, and ended up in my seat in the kitchen of The Natural Gourmet Culinary Institute, nervously awaiting my first lecture on the first day of culinary school. This was unlike any first day of school I have ever experienced.

There are 16 people in my class, 15 girls and 1 boy. Most are from America - Michigan, California, Florida, New York, Kansas, and 2 women are from South America. Most everyone is around my age, though there are a few ladies in their 40-50's. We have lots of different teachers, some that work full-time at the school and some that are "free-lance" teachers. The school has a very intricate and structured system, organization, and curriculum. Right now, I am doing what I can to keep my head above water.

The first morning consisted of orientation - explanations of anything and everything one could think of. In the afternoon, we had our first lecture - sanitation. During our lunch break, I met a girl in my class, Kate. Having a housing crisis, she's now going to live with Lindsay and me for the next 2 weeks. I'm really excited about this, I hope to get to know her well!

After a long day at school, I met my friend Eden for detox and a cupcake... detox meaning dissect and analyze every aspect of my day! Sitting in the park, I was so thankful for her friendship and thoughts!

This seems like the never ending day, I know! (I kind of felt like that as well) AFTER coffee with Eden, I met up with Lindsay and friends from Redeemer to attend a "Happy Hour" for Chaka Marketbridge. Neil Paine is a guy I've met since coming to NYC. His girlfriend goes to Redeemer Presbyterian and is in Bible study with some girls I've met. Anyways, Neil has started a company/foundation helping Africans in Nicaragua sell artisan goods in America. They make pottery, jewelry, purses, etc. to help support their families. It's a really cool concept - if you are interested, check out

We ended the night with a big trip to 16 Handles - self-serve yogurt with tons and tons of toppings. I was worn out by the end of the day. Though a long day, my first day of school was a great day, filled with school, new people, friends, and typical NYC city life events.

First Taste of School

I've had my first "tasting" at school! This morning, the second day at school, we had equipment ID class. Walking through the kitchen, we discussed saute pans, sautoirs, spiders, hotel pans, blenders, the "salamander", and finally the juicer. Into the juicer went a raw carrot, and using the mesh attachment, out came a delicate and vibrant juice, perfectly full of energy and health. This, however, was not what captivated me. Our second juiced item was a banana... a frozen banana. Snapping in the "blank" attachment, Chef Perry then pushed the frozen banana through, and to my surprise, out came banana... I think I'll say frozen yogurt, but the best, most pure, most freshly sweet banana frozen yogurt you could ever imagine. The color was a beautiful pearly white, the texture was cool and creamy and slid smoothly down my throat; my "after lunch" sweet tooth had been satisfied, and yet the post "sugar rush" sleepy let-down feeling was non-existent. I would wager to say that even my dad, the biggest ice cream lover I've ever met, would be satisfied with this twist on traditional ice cream - with the addition of a sweet peanut sauce and a sprinkle of chocolate chips maybe.

During the second part of our day, we tackled knife skills. I was presented with my first knife set - a monumental day moment a culinary student. After learning all the parts of a knife, we began to practice Japanese cutting techniques. We learned thirteen different cuts for the most basic of vegetables - carrots, onions, radishes, mushrooms, potatoes, cabbage, celery, leeks, and garlic - a half-moon, diagonal half-moon, large dice, small dice, etc. etc. After an extensive demo from the chef, we all began to practice.

Labor Day

Labor Day in the city... Lindsay and I decided that we had labored enough since Wednesday, we deserved a low key day. At the end of our street, there is a park that overlooks a river. This is the same park from which I hear the shrills of children's voices as I leave my apartment everyday. 3 girls that live across the street, Lindsay, and me packed our bags and spent the afternoon lazing in the grass. Looking out over the river, I saw the blue water on one side and the New York skyline on the other, I felt the cool breeze of an approaching season, and I heard the laughter of new friends and a new life all around me.

After a restful day in the park, we ventured into our neighborhood to find a dinner. Ending up at a panini and wine bar, we enjoyed "free panini Monday" over a glass of Sangria filled with fresh blueberries and strawberries - a refreshing end to a restful Labor Day.

The Meatball Shop

My good friend Eden has lived in Brooklyn for a year, attending the Pratt Institute for art therapy. I envy her sense of style, her eclectic personality, and her knowledge of the city. I will take advantage of learning all that she knows. And so, our first adventure together occurred in the Lower East Side at a restaurant called the Meatball Shop.

I was a little disappointed in Eden when she first told me that we were going here. I thought she knew that I liked healthy, fresh, gourmet restaurants... what I envisioned as "the Meatball shop" was definitely not this. But I trusted her... and of course, she was right.

The Lower East Side is a pretty hip, artsy part of NYC. Tons of yummy restaurants, small dives off the beaten path, lots of yoga studios, music venues, and hipster apartments. The Meatball Shop totally fit in.

Our dinner was perfect, it was a cool night, all the windows and walls of the restaurant were open, candles on the table, the restaurant was bulging with people. Sitting squishes between two other "2-person" tables, we both ordered vegetarian meatballs with traditional marinara sauce, and split a side of the special veggie of the day - a mixture of carrots, chopped prunes and roasted walnuts, all glazed with a mildy sweet local honey. We also got a side of sauteed kale topped with feta cheese. As if the meatballs were not enough, I cannot forget dessert (Eden and I are of the same kind... we always want dessert.) The Meatball Shop is famous for its specialty ice cream sandwiches - pick your cookies and pick your ice cream. I chose homemade espresso ice cream sandwiched between a gooey chocolate chip cookie and a texturally perfect peanut butter cookie.

As I rode the subway home that night, the expression on my face told the story of utmost enjoyment of exactly where I am in life.

Hard Days

Saturday we slept in and came back to the apartment around 11:00. My dad, of course, was up at 8:00 and already working by the time my mom and I arrived. Saturday was a day full of assembling... bed frames, tables, lamps, shelves, curtains, it NEVER ends!

Around 3:00, my parents and I took a break to eat lunch at a neighborhood diner - The Mansion. After a long night the night before and a hard day of working, I was completely exhausted - my foot hurt, my lips hurt, and I was emotionally drained. After years of experience, I know that I am a S-L-O-W adjuster, I don't like the beginning of change, and I don't function well when I am tired. So all three of these things combined were a little bit too much for me to handle. After lunch, I had a bit of a breakdown, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. My mom and I took a stroll to the end of my street and sat near our neighborhood park. If you are ever upset, the best therapy I can think of is a time-out in a park, the warmth of the sun on your face, a cool breeze through your hair, and the sound of laughing little children swinging and playing. I also suggest a good, long cry. Thankfully, I had both, and felt MUCH better afterward.

It's funny that I find myself so unnerved at the beginning of an adventure. One would think that after living in Edinburgh, Martha's Vineyard, and Malawi, and traveling all over the world, I would be a little bit better with change. For some reason, though, I am always blind-sided by the feeling of discomfort at the beginning of being anywhere new. Slowly but surely, I shall improve! Closing the door to my parent's airport cab Sunday afternoon, I was surprisingly calm, slightly anxious, but very excited!

Lindsay and I spent our first night in the apartment Sunday night. Our first adventure was to Greenwich village. We decided to find somewhere fun to eat dinner! Walking around the streets, we soaked in the cool breeze, the city lights, and the atmosphere of activity. We found a cute restaurant, Philip Marie, and sat at a corner nook table outside on the street. We ordered a delicious chicken breast stuffed with artichokes and raisins with a sweet honey drizzle, all served over parmesian mashed potatoes. It was the perfect meal. To satisfy our sweet tooth, we enjoyed 2 cupcakes, sweetly delivered to us as "welcome home" gifts by our across the street neighbors.

Lindsay and I slept very soundly on our new, plush mattresses. The next morning we were extremely proud of our mattress choices.

Parents Night Out

After a long day at Ikea, we tackled Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond the next day. Learning our lesson, we took our dads with us to Target (we decided to call them our "mules"). Busing up to east Harlem, our morning went a lot more smoothly with our dads.

Furnishing an apartment seems like a fun thing to do - except when it's your own money that you are spending. I think this has been one of the hardest parts of moving up here and "growing up" for me. I like to save money, not for anything special, just save to save. It's stressful to me to ever spend the money I've saved. One could call this hoarding, I like to think of it as saving for a rainy day - though I hardly have enough responsibility in my life to create a rainy day. My dad has gracefully imparted his financial wisdom of smart spending to me, and now he is slowly weaning me off onto my own - for me a painful, but necessary and good process. My first big purchase was an air conditioning unit for our apartment - only $300.00, but of course, I cried. It was an overwhelming feeling to purchase something so necessary, yet so not "fun", for myself without the help of my dad.

The girls tackled BB&B on our own, while our dads took charge of buying a TV and waiting for deliveries back at the apartment. The nice thing about NYC is that EVERY store delivers... for a fee, of course, but sometimes you just have to do what you've got to do. Collectively, we decided that no price was too high to not to have to drag buggies full of purchases up and down the subways and buses and then up 4 flights of stairs to our 5th floor apartment.

After 2 days of hard work, our parents decided that they deserved a "date night" - without us. Equipped with pizza and coke, our parents left Lindsay and me at the apartment to wait for our Ikea delivery while they went out for a romantic evening in the Upper East Side - as you can tell, Lindsay and I were a little bit bitter. However, we enjoyed our first night in, relishing in the typical "first night of a new apartment" experience.



By the time our parents got back, the Ikea furniture had still not been delivered. Scheduled for delivery between 6:00 and 10:00 PM, we were a little bit worried at 10:30 PM. 2 hours later... 12:30 PM, we were still worried...and exhausted.



Our furniture finally came at 1:00 AM, we felt extremely sympathetic for the 2 men who had to carry EVERYTHING up to our 5th floor apartment.

Ikea... first trip

Day 2: Lindsay, Cindy (Lindsay's mom), Helen (my mom), and I set off to furnish our apartment...we had no idea what we was about to happen.

After our morning caffeine at Starbucks at, we felt ready to shop. Eventually making it to Ikea after 12:00, we felt we needed sustenance before tackling the furniture. Munching on Ikea food court food, we felt very "New York" as we looked out over the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty! Around 1:00 we entered the showroom, I in my wheel chair (we ditched the crutches) and my mother pushing me. After a bit of perusing, Lindsay and I realized that our mothers were taking great joy in stepping back to let us "fend for ourselves". Naturally, and not surprisingly, we agreed on most every piece of furniture we saw. Couches, side tables, rugs, TV stands, kitchen shelves, bedroom pieces, dressers, lamps, wardrobes, chairs... the list goes on and on and on. Ikea has EVERYTHING... and more. In the showroom, we wrote down the item number and a couple of other key pieces of information for each thing we wanted. Little did we know what awaited us further down the road...

After the show room, we picked up baskets full of small things from the Ikea "market place". Pots, pans, spoons, lamps, pillows, can openers, etc. all the odd essentials in your home that you NEVER think of until you don't have them. Filling two buggies, we then moved on to the showroom.

The Ikea warehouse is unlike anything I've ever seen. Seriously, until you have been to one, you cannot imagine what this place is like. Any and every piece of furniture on display in the showroom is packaged and stored in this massive warehouse, waiting for innocent shoppers (like us) to buy them. And so, I in my wheel chair (wheeling myself), my mom and Lindsay pushing a pallet cart, and Cindy manning our buggies full of marketplace finds, we started locating all of the pieces of furniture that we had decided upon.


It's official, I have decided I NEVER want to work for a moving company, I think I would rather starve. I never imagined that a bedside table, a chair, a bookshelf, even a COUCH could ever fit in a box, much less that we could lift them off a warehouse shelf and push them around a store! But this is true... we did exactly that. In the end, we had 3 pallet carts stacked with furniture, 2 buggies packed with goodies, and 4 girls who were plum exhausted.


After being shuffled through the checkout, inspection, and delivery lines, we secured all of our purchases, scheduled their delivery, and made a new friend, Dean (aka Sunny Bello). As you will see throughout this blog, Lindsay and I somehow always meet and experience extremely funny characters and situations throughout our adventures in the city... we've decided it's because we look slightly young and endearing.

We entered Ikea around 12:00 PM and exited the store 7 hours later, 7:00 PM. Walking out of the store felt strangely similar to my life last year, leaving the hospital after working a long 12-hour night shift in the neonatal ICU. Needless to say, when we met our dads for dinner (don't ask why they weren't at Ikea with us, helping us lift hundreds of pounds of furniture), we were exhausted, delirious, and desperately needing a glass of wine. Finding a quiet Italian pizzeria on 2nd Ave, we settled down to a long, relaxing dinner with new friends, bonded forever by the experience of Ikea.

First week in NYC

I've been in New York City for 11 days officially. The first few days of my life in the city were a whirlwind of things that I almost can't remember, probably because I have not had time to sit down and process this past week and a half. I'm going to take a few posts to write about this past week because the adjustment phase of moving somewhere new is A PROCESS for me. There have been ALOT of funny stories, tragic moments, and memorable experiences that I want to make sure I remember.

My mom and I flew to New York last Wednesday, September 1 - my mom carrying 2 heavy bags, me on crutches, both of us with alot of excitement (and nerves). Checking in to our quaint bed and breakfast, The Gracie Inn, the Upper East Side welcomed me into a life of strolling residents, calming streets, and distant sounds of city life. It was (and is) the perfect balance between a small, familiar neighborhood and a booming, fast-paced metropolis.

We met Lindsay and her parents at the local creperie - Yorkville Creperie. The creperie is a small, slightly romantic cafe on the corner of York and 84th. The creperie hosts a quiet atmosphere with bright splashes of mustard yellow on the walls and a delicious menu of crisp paninis and warm crepes. (Side note - our current favorite is "The Bonjour" - rosemary panini bread with turkey, mozzarella cheese, and fried egg. We always split this and get an extra side of balsamic for dipping!) Immediately, I knew I would love this place (referring to the creperie, Lindsay, New York, etc.). Lindsay Lamberth is my roommate and now a new, very close friend. Connected through Redeemer Presbyterian Church, we quickly discovered many common connections between our lives in Oxford/Brookhaven, Mississippi and Dallas, Texas. Graduating from Oklahoma City University, Lindsay is now braving the fierce world of auditions, following her dream to be an actress on Broadway... something I could NEVER do. I have loved learning about the business side and world of Broadway/auditioning/acting. Her mom and dad also immediately connected with my parents and became fast, inseparable friends.

After a delicious lunch, we embarked on our first task for the apartment - purchasing a mattress and bed from Sleepy's mattress store. Having never bought these things before, Lindsay and I were quite the inquisitive and indecisive customers. Taking full advantage of our status, we "sleep-tested" many mattresses to determine our personal preference. In the end, we both decided on the same mattress - the "plush" Serta set, a Labor-day special. Arranging to have our beds delivered later during the week, we felt very accomplished - little did we know 1 necessity down, a thousand more to go.



Separating for the night, Lindsay was off to an audition, and my mom and I were off to bed. Taking the city by storm on crutches was not as glamorous as I'd hoped it would be. I was completely exhausted, my arms were hurting and my foot was throbbing. An omelet from Zagat-rated Viand Diner and an episode of Top Chef were the perfect ending to my first day in New York.