What's your quality of life like?

One of my biggest complaints about living in New York is my quality of life. (If you saw my 500-square foot apartment that I share with my sister, you'd understand). That's not to say that I don't have a great life here, but for the effort, work and money I put in, I don't get enough in return. We all know about my financial woes, but lately it's been my day-to-day life that's been getting me down. I live the life of a 23 year-old, not an almost 29 year-old. I want to cook nice meals on a regular basis and go on leisurely walks during the weekend without worrying about everything I need to get done that day--just normal stuff.

I know it's going to be a while before I'm not living paycheck to paycheck, but these simple life pleasures are definitely obtainable if I organize my time better and make them a priority. So, I started this morning by going on a walk with my boyfriend. We walked around a part of the Lower East Side that we rarely venture to and discovered lots of new cafes and restaurants.

We tried a new brunch place called Flowers Cafe. It had a cute hippie theme, and all the dishes on the menu had words like "groovy" and "go-go" attached to the names. I got the western egg-white omelette with wheat toast and a skim latte. Simple, but tasty. And cheap--my meal was about $7. My boyfriend got the steamed hot chocolate and it was so good. It was just steamed milk with Hershey's syrup, but it definitely beat the powdered stuff.

We walked by this cool little doughnut shop and even though I was full from brunch and (surprisingly) not really craving anything sweet, we decided to stop in. You know, for the experience.

I was tempted by this pumpkin doughnut, but went with the apple cinnamon one instead. It was really good--and even had little apple pieces on top--but I didn't end up finishing it because it was a little too sugary.

After our little adventure, I came back and hopped right on the computer to return emails and do a little blogging. It was hard to peel myself away from the computer to go to a yoga class, but I did, and I'm so glad. I really enjoyed it, and unlike this yoga class I recently told you about, I focused on my breathing and just relaxing. (I will say though, that my pigeon binds and balancing poses were on POINT, y'all). I even stayed until the very end of class to do some meditation. The teacher taught the class a new pose that's supposed to help with "balancing your emotions." So we sat indian style with our hands jammed up under our armpits and our shoulders scrunched up to our ears. (Think Molly Shannon in Superstar before she smells her fingers). I'm not sure if this move actually does anything to balance emotions, but it was funny.

Alright, well I'm off to check a couple more things off the ol' To-Do list before I get ready to go out. I'm being very ambitious (especially because it's so rainy out) and hitting up three parties tonight. Hopefully I'll have some good stories to share!

But tell me: What's your quality of life like? Is there anything you wish was different?