NYC: Week 3!

It's FRIDAY!!!!! On the one hand, I am soooooo excited. This weekend is FILLED with amazing plans.  But on the other hand, I'm like, "Whooooa Nelly. Hold on a second!" 

Next week, I turn the big 3-0 and I can't help but think...

Time.
Has.
Flown.

Lucky for me, life is good right now.  Amazing, even.  Tonight, I will finally see my Remy for the first time in almost 30 days and I will also get to spend time with my family, my house, and my favorite food (helloo homemade gnocchi with marinara and buffalo mozz). Oh, and check on the progress of our basement reno...eek! Tomorrow will be my "birthday party" in the city and I can't wait to see who shows up.  I'm really looking forward to it!

So now...onto my most recently taken (& horribly photographed) pics...



If you are going to go...you should try Time Square at night.  It is actually NOT so bad.



16 Handles Fro-yo!

Garbage day in the city = mountains of trash bags. A city dogs dream.

LOVE Sunburst Cafe. 18th and 3rd Ave. They have really good hot beverages and a seriously extensive menu list. Love it.

Cheapie Manicure. Electric.

Peep Thai food. I had the chicken pad thai. YUM. Plus their bathrooms have those freaky see-through walls where you can see the diners, but they can't see you.

ANGELIKA THEATER NIGHT!  Saw Smashed...

And ironically snuck in with some Bud Leezies.

Poor poor bug.

Peace, y'all.

Birthday festivites are up next! Cheers!
L

NYC: Week 2! (and some change)

Do I still have a blog?

LIFE has been SO darn busy. I feel like everything is going by so fast that I'm actually buzzing...without caffeine. It's crazy.  Which I guess is why today I hit a breaking point.  Yes, I have anxiety, yes I can usually manage it, but not today...or yesterday. And maybe the day before that.  That is why, I went to my very first ACUPUNCTURE appointment tonight after work!!! It was awesome!  I totally thought I would feel trapped the second the door to the exam room shut, but I got through it and I'm sooo glad. I actually felt relaxed.  I didn't sleep on the table or anything, but I really did feel calm. It was nice. And much needed.

So that brings me to the past week and a half. Here are a few of the things that filled my days:

First stop: a relaxing night in our house to break up the week. It was JUST what we needed.

Coffee! Love the branding of this place. Well, and I loved that they had hot apple cider.

Birthday boozy brunch for the hubs! He turned the big 3-1. Eeek!

Remember that time I fell asleep during my work ID photo? Uh, yeah.

Grand Central is truly magnificient. Especially on a perfect Fall night like this one.

This young buck is only turning 29.  Sweet And Vicious in Soho!

Not only did I have the honor of going to one of the most gorgeous engagement parties EVER...I got to witness this!!! Puppy Love!!!

So...I fell in love.

Beauty Bar on East 14th!  Perfect place for a perfect bachelorette party.  You will need to make ressies for nails, but it's a super fun way to party. Even if your manicure comes out crazy like mine did.

There is a dance room in the back. It opens around 10:30 and plays super fun music. Not your average disco.

Hells Kitchen FLEA MARKET!!! Lonely TV's, top hats, jewelry and collectibles galore!  It's really fun to take a gander whilst enjoying a relaxing Sunday.

AMAZING price on leather kids made in the USA.

Top hats, all yours!

Enjoying our street side snacking at Five Napkin in Hells Kitchen when this lovely creature walked by.

Goodbye stilt man!!! I want some...

Monday night family dinner.  Our friends hosted us and it was the BEST ever. The food, the company, everything. A new Monday night tradition has been born.

Lemony-chicken risotto...YUM. I don't have a recipe, but if you can find one, make it. Filling and so SO flavorful.
 

Well, that wraps things up for now.  I will try to center myself more in the coming days and be a better writer. Til then...
L

Back to the beginning: Moving to NYC for 1 month.

So, as I've written before, Jeff and I met in NYC, lived in NYC, and then subsequently moved out of NYC a couple years ago.  We still live very close by as the train is a 10 minute walk or 3 minute bike ride from our home and the train itself only takes 35 minutes to get there.  Nonetheless, I still crave living there just a little bit. To not have to race for a train after happy hour or work is a beautiful thing.  This is why Jeff and I have decided to make the move back to NYC...for the month of October. 

In the past, living in Manhattan was AMAZING and TERRIBLE.  Period.  

It was amazing because of the vibe, the inspiration, the lower east side, the east village, the restaurants, the bars, the FOOD, the street noise, the people, the subway, and the never-ending list of things to do.  I loved just being there.  Walking down Orchard Street or sitting, perched on a bench on Avenue A with a bagel and cream cheese, people-watching.

However, things were not 100 percent rosy 100 percent of the time.  The apartment aspect was tough.  Whether you spend 1000 or 3000 a month, it's always pretty trying.  My first apartment was only 950/monthly and a dream come true for a recent college grad. I could live in Hells Kitchen, close to my work for under 1k a month? I'll take it! So I did...BUT, it was also an illegal sublet which basically meant that I had to hide from the landlady who lived in the building housing only 10 apartments for 4 months. Not fun. Also, I'm pretty sure the place was haunted. Oh, and it was above the subway, with my only windows positioned at a bus stop.  Buses run 24 hours a day. I did not sleep for 4 months.  

My second apartment was the best one.  It was a 3 bedroom in a hi-rise with a doorman and a roof deck.  I had 2 roommates and Jeff was actually one of them for a few months.  The only downside at all was the sharing a TV/living room/kitchen/fridge/bathroom/everything fairly between 3 people.  Not stepping on anyone's toes was like an olympic event in that place.  Also, I apparently did not take any pictures of this place in the 1.5 years that I lived here. Annoying!

Whoa. Bad hair day.

What a slob! But please note: this was a huge bedroom for me at the time.

My third apartment (just over 2k) should have been great since it was mine and Jeff's first home together.  And it was in the lower east side, an awesome neighborhood.  It really would have been great other than our drug-addicted, abusive next door neighbors who screamed and made up ALL day, every day.  I seriously don't think they even worked.  They also chain smoked cigarettes which would have been fine, if it didn't billow through our intercom into our apartment. Nasty. Ultimately, that did not even break us.  What did, was the no dog policy.  We wanted a dog!

Also considered "big" in NYC.

Our mini office. With a window looking onto a brick wall.

A very New York Christmas

Couch was replaced by bar stools shortly after this photo was taken.

The hallway that separated us from our wacky neighbors.

That brings me to our 4th (dog-friendly!) apartment.  This place was so darn spacious.  Something we had never dreamed we'd have. Right in the east village, with a view.  Not an easy thing to acquire in that part of town since there aren't many tall buildings.  But of course, it wasn't all peachy.  There was a problem. A HUGE one.  The apartment. was infested. with mice.  Nothing could stop them from coming in and honestly, it drove me mad.  It was awful, petrifying and disgusting.  They drove Remy insane, as well, and they made me want to throw up on the regular.  We didn't even make it to the end of that lease.  We needed to get OUT.  

Our last place was supposed to solve all of our problems. It had a HUGE outdoor deck, so that we could feel free and not boxed up.  It had an upstairs office, separated from our downstairs mini kitchen, mini living room, mini bedroom and bath.  It was also on the 5th floor of a walk-up building.  Hellooo exercise!  This place was clean, renovated and actually pretty awesome.  The only real setback was that we were too darn big for it.  Remy had no place to run or play and the freedom deck was not as amazing as we'd hoped.  It faced inwards and kinda felt like a jail.  Oh, and I could hear my neighbors burp. Thanks, paper-thin-walls. 

I do think that if we'd never gotten Remy (our lives would be awful) we would probably still be in the city.  There are TONS of normal not-pet -friendly apartments that would have worked for us.  But I'm glad we didn't live that life.  Remy is our everything and our house and town that we live in now is unreal, amazing. Ultimately, I'm thankful that things went the way they did but I still can't wait for our month back in time.  Back to when we lived in a tiny space. In a walk-up building. Surrounded by restaurants and a bajillion people.  This one month trip is going to be so amazing and I can't wait!

xoxo
L

FREE NYC: Madison Square Street Food

Madison Square Park (the home of Shake Shack) is having a super fun extravaganza for hungry folk and foodies alike! (you: YAAAAY!)

Food trucks from ALL OVER park and set up shop to offer you their very best.  The only downside and reason why the title of this post isn't totally true is that the food costs money, but it's free to walk around and pull up a chair should you want to be in the presence of massive meat sandwiches, organic pizzettes, and tasty smelling wine.

OPEN TIL JUNE 1ST, 11am - 9pm.

xoxo
L

FREE NYC: 'wichcraft ice cream

I'm sorry (not really), but how purple-y weird and good does this look?!  JOG, nay RUN to 'wichcraft in Bryant Park and grab your free tasty treat!

A good gig.

When I lived in the East Village, I had a short stint as a very happy, very drunk happy hour reviewer.  It was a pretty awesome gig, I can't lie.  I went to happy hour and then I wrote about it.  Lucky me!  Here's an old article from April 2009 that I wrote about Kate's Joint 3 years before the news of their sad upcoming closure:

http://www.examiner.com/happy-hour-in-new-york/your-joint-kate-s-joint

It's terribly written, but goes to show something very important:  Anyone can be a writer!  Even happy hour enthusiasts who choose to write directly after being bar-side.

Fun times.

ALSO, here are some fun pics from our all-day, all-out, Kate's camp-out:

Slow dancing....to an extremely un-slow song.

A cause my best friends will happily support:)

The Mike's sharing a moment

Getting dark out!

Metallica face

Mike's fiancee is an old sorority sista

Free (massive) "shots" from our awesome bartender!

Doesn't this look like fun?  Make sure to go check it out before April 11th!