Friday, February 1, 2013

The Big Apple

Happy Friday all!  SO glad the weekend is here.  This has been the longest week ever.  I somehow managed to finally get my NYC pics up, so sit back and get ready for picture overload.  Seriously.

And we're off!

First stop, P.J. Clarke's for brunch.
Hands down the best thing we ate the whole trip.
Parmesan tater tots with smoked ketchup.



Since it was cold and dreary out, and B had an appointment with a client, I decided to indulge.
LOVE Bliss.  The best part?  It was on the same floor as our room.  
Mila, my curvaceous, older {and wiser} Russian nail tech, was a hoot!
I told her I was expecting, and she is certain it is a girl.  We shall see...
The accent did provide some trouble when I mistakenly thought the shellac color I chose was "Dark Lover" instead of actually "Dark Lava."  Mila was amused.

To continue with the theme of relaxation, we went down to the hotel lobby for a cocktail {mocktail in my case}. We stayed at the W in Midtown, so yes this would be the same hotel bar where Graham and I somehow managed to whoop it up one night and charge it all to someone else's room. 
Don't judge.  We were young and wild and crazy.
As B and I sat there relishing our time away together we debated what to do that night.  The rest of the trip was somewhat planned out, but we intentionally left the first night open to play it by ear.
We spontaneously decided we had to see a Broadway show, and I was dying to see Once {also knowing that would be one of the few my songwriter husband could relate to and not spend the entire show rolling his eyes.}.  So we got tickets and with very little time to spare headed to the Theatre District.

Of course we had to eat, so...
I think we all remember how much I love this place.
Nothing like greasy food in your fancy finest getting ready for the theatre!


This show was amazing.  Seriously {as if the eight Tony's don't convince you}.
Such an inspiring story of love, talent and passion for both.
B loved it.
We decided to walk home and were oh so touristy and posed in Times Square.
Can you see us?  We are to the left of the bottom of the 2.
Good times!

Another highlight of the trip? 
The next morning we did not set the alarm and slept until 9:30am.  Truly glorious I tell you.
Woke up and had to get a bagel off the street.  I don't why, but it's my thing.  I always have to at least once.  I usually have to have the street coffee too but the whole preggers thing has me sans caffeine.

We spent the afternoon just lounging {took a nap even!}, shopping {B got some killer boots} and of course, eating {what else do you do when you're pregnant?}.


Had to go to Milk Bar.
Have you heard about their Compost Cookies? 
Seriously, pretzels, butterscotch, chocolate and potato chips.  What more could you want all wrapped up into one cookie of goodness.
I mean how good does that "Dark Lover" look? ;)

Freshened up and ready for a night out on the town.
Ventured over to the Upper East Side to check out my aunt's new digs.  Her place is fabulous and fingers crossed she's hosting this year's Thanksgiving {nudge, nudge Aunt Kim!}.

After our tour walked over for some delicious sushi and even better conversation at Haru.
Yes, I'm aware pregnant women are not supposed to eat sushi.  I was good and ordered a shrimp tempura roll.  No worries!
We shut the place down so went back to Aunt Kim's for more vino {the two of them}, cucumber seltzers and chocolate.  Oh and of course, great conversation.  I love that we were all talking and lost track of time.  We finally noticed it was 1:00 a.m. and decided we better call it a night. 
Love my aunt!

After sleeping in again {I needed it!  Cannot remember the last time I saw past 1:00 a.m.}, we met up with Haley and Andrew.
Where did we go?  Oh you know, back to P.J. Clarke's.  Seriously.
We were talking up the tots so much they were dying to try them.
I opted for something new as well, and the tomato basil bisque did not disappoint.

Walked off our lunch with some shopping in SoHo.
Went to this adorable baby store I read about here and found the cutest souvenirs for G.

The boys enjoyed some refreshments while we shopped...


For dinner that night we hit up Pampano for some tapas.
Check out this drink menu.
I was salivating, but was so happy to get a fun mocktail.

Best salsa and guac ever.





We bid farewell to the city and ventured over to Brooklyn. 
The boys were sea duck hunting the next morning in Long Island.
Think they were excited?
Haley and I decided to hit up the Brooklyn Flea Market.
Let's just say it was a good thing we were flying back otherwise I could have really done some damage.

Loved the W Records by Monkey booth.
Picked B up some cufflings made from old vinyls.




Don't get me wrong, there were some talented artists, but the highlight of the Flea?
The food.
Mac and cheese with homemade rosemary breadcrumbs from Milk Truck.

Forget the tater tots.
This was the best thing I ate the whole trip.  Really.
Soy hot dog with sweet and spicy ketchup, jalapeno mustard and crushed potato chips from Asian Dog.
I have got to figure out how to recreate this.

And we all know my weakness for donuts.
Picked up a few from Dough.
Cafe au lait, dulce de leche and chocolate with cocoa nibs.
Oh my!
The boys made it back in one piece {and picked up a lovely accent on the way}, and we all went out for our last night in New York.


We decided on Diner under the Williamsburg Bridge after reading these rave reviews.
We were beyond impressed.
The menu changes daily so they write out each special on the table and go over the scrumptiousness in detail.
 The girls decided to start with the kale salad with roasted butternut squash.
 And the boys went with rabbit liver pate. 
Off to a delicious start...

Love these two!
And love this guy!
Since the menu was a little meat-heavy, the chef created a special "green plate" just for me.
Sweet potato puree, mushroom medley and a new favorite, salsify.
As good as the food was, the laughter and conversation with this group truly made the night memorable.
So thankful for such amazing friends.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, dessert!
Following these reviews, we went next door to the sister restaurant Marlow & Sons to pick up the famous salted caramel chocolate tart.
Beyond worth the calories.
Headed home for more laughs and took in our last night together. 

Slept in again {aren't vacations wonderful?} and ventured out for some brunch at DuMont before heading to the airport.




Not quite sure how we managed to indulge in another morsel, but it was the perfect last meal.

With just a little time to kill before our flight, we walked off brunch taking in the quaint shops of Brooklyn.
 Love these vintage Valentines I snagged!

The trip was slightly dampened when American cancelled our flight, but thanks to the fine folks at Southwest, we were able to get home.
Just in time to see this love dumpling.

1 comment:

  1. The trip looks absolutely amazing and it seems that you packed a lot of cool things in! I also spotted Blog Inc. Good job. You'll be ready for Alt :)

    ReplyDelete