Category Archives: food

the insanity that is nyc – in the best sense of the word!

Posted on by
1

Yesterday, I was heading out for my *cough* weekly *cough* *cough* mani/pedi. As I walked to the new nail place I wanted to try (favorite so far), I had to pass the IFC Theater that is right by the W 4th Street subway stop. There was an event going on…it looked like a movie premiere. So of course, I stopped and gawked for a while (so sad I didn’t have my camera with me).
Here’s a link with pics of the red carpet at the screening with all of the famous people I saw (not the after party pics, just the obviously red carpet celebs). New York City is seriously magical; like Disneyland for grown-ups (who don’t like Disneyland…and probably those who do, too).
And then today, KP and I were at Pommes Frites (a super favorite) and who should walk by. None other than Rachel Dratch. And yeah, she pretty much looks like she does on t.v. or in movies. After that, we went to Joe’s Pub to see Katie Herzig (another super fave, but this one of the musical variety). And we had just enough time after the concert to jet up to the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble to pick up the new book by Jennifer Weiner (of In Her Shoes fame) and have them signed by none other than the author herself!

*All photos stolen from KP.

my own personal theater week

Posted on by
2

Last week was seriously amazing. First, as I already posted about here and here, I got to see Twelfth Night in Central Park. Then, Friday night, Sarah, Kelly, Mark (Candice’s husband…Candice didn’t want to see it, so she was home with her kiddies), and I saw August: Osage County starring, none other than, Phylicia Rashad (aka Claire Huxtable). It was incredible. Seriously. I loved it. And meeting Phylicia Rashad was amazing, too.



Pre-theater, I met up with Sarah and Kelly for yummy sushi at Haru. My second time there…still loved it. Post-theater, we got to meet the cast, including Brian Kerwin (the dad in 27 Dresses). 

And a quick digression…what the crap were this kid’s parents thinking when they took him to see this very R-rated play? Not to mention that the guy played a total perv which makes this pic and the one below of him riding away on a bike kind of creepy.

And then, after the play, Emily (my MBA friend from Boston) met up with us. On Saturday, Emily and I went to see both Our Town and Mary Poppins. Our Town was fantastic (and just around the corner from my apartment). I’d never seen it before and I loved it. Such a different experience and one that really made me think. Kind of heavy for a Saturday afternoon, but I’m a fan of deep thought as a general rule

We followed it up with Mary Poppins, which I would have thought to be the opposite of heavy, but the Broadway production really puts an emphasis on just what a difficult marriage George and Winifred Banks had. However, in the end, it all worked out, just like it did in the movie version, so a much happier ending than that of Our Town. Overall, the musical was good, but I will say that it didn’t live up to my expectations. Some of those dancers would have never made it through Vegas on SYTYCD. And the actress playing Winifred Banks would have been cut from American Idol. Other than that, it was delightful.
Oh, and on Thursday, while not the theater, as in live theater, Kelly, Sarah, Candice, and I did go see The Proposal…again. It was in a movie theater, but a theater nonetheless. And can I just say Ryan Reynolds is dreamy!!! Part of it is that he is just good looking…the other part is that he is hilarious!!!
nm0005351.jpg
We did do some other stuff over the weekend, but those are the theater highlights from the week. I may not be paying down my school debt, but I sure am enjoying myself!!!

dinner at luz in the bk

Posted on by
1

Tuesday night I headed to Brooklyn to meet my friend, Emilie (an alumna from my MBA program who works for the company where I’m interning…and yes, I’m cryptic on purpose) and her husband for dinner at Luz. 

I have to say that I really enjoyed it. While it wasn’t necessarily the best food I’ve ever had, it was good, and the company was fantastic. 

This is a tuna ceviche (raw tuna) with a really yummy vinaigrette, grilled pineapple, jalapenos, and corn (I have no idea how to explain how the corn was cooked, but it was kind of puffed and crunchy, but not fried). This was by far my favorite dish of the evening. 

Empanadas: the one on the left was filled with this delicious goat cheese melange. The one on the right was a spinach concoction that I can’t say I fully appreciated.

This was not actually my dish, but it was really good. Emilie ordered it and it was really good steak and yucca (right?) with a mayonnaise based sauce.
I decided to get semi-adventurous with dessert (some of you may find raw fish adventurous – I do not). It was a warm guava tart (I LOVE all things guava – not the adventurous part) with CHEESE ice cream. Guess what. Cheese ice cream is about as good as it sounds. It was kind of…GROSS!!!) 
And after our fabulous dinner, we stopped by their apartment so I could see just how much more one can afford by going one train stop into Brooklyn. Drool was coming down my chin. A gorgeous one bedroom on the 19th floor of a high-rise, with a view of the Manhattan Bridge and some of the Brooklyn Bridge and the downtown skyline, a washer and dryer in the unit, beautiful kitchen, lots of storage, and more space than I knew existed in a New York apartment. Unbelievable! It was enough to make me consider moving to Brooklyn, assuming I come back next year.

where does the time go?

Posted on by
2

Okay, I know where it goes. It disappears with work, commuting, eating out, the gym (which at this point is only ensuring that I don’t balloon from all of the delicious food here), Broadway shows, movies, starting and finishing a 350+ page book, and sightseeing. The two activities not getting much of my time? Internet communications (emailing, reading blogs, writing blogs, etc) and sleeping. 
It has been a seriously packed week…in fact, “sleeping in” on Saturday gave me my best night of sleep the whole week; a whopping 5 hours. And it’s not that I don’t have a lot to share. That’s the problem. I’m doing so much that I have too much to share so I don’t share any. In the meantime, here is a list of all that I did this week:
  • Sunday – Got back from my quick trip to Arizona, headed to the Harrison’s for dinner, wandered Riverside Park (of You’ve Got Mail fame), saw the apartment building from Enchanted, home to unpack.
  • Monday – Work, trainer, out to dinner with my new friend, Alisa (currently getting her MBA at NYU and interning at L’Oreal) which consisted of dinner, wandering the Lower East Side, dessert at Cups and Cones, a stop for Alisa at the Dessert Truck (yes, it’s a truck…with dessert), and then back home. Began the book.
  • Tuesday – Work, and then I can’t even remember what else I did on Tuesday because that’s how full my week has been. Maybe it will come to me? And it just did (pre-posting). I’m not sure how I forgot this. Pete Yorn came to play at the Apple store in SoHo…for FREE!!! So I took myself down there (sad the girls weren’t in town to join me) and listened to him play a bunch of songs from his new album, some old favorites and a few amazing covers. When the live recording comes out on iTunes (which I’m sure it will) you’ll know I was there. After which I got myself dinner at The Creperie on McDougal (thank you Oliver!). 
  • Wednesday – Work, then hung out with Kelly and Sarah who were finally back in town. We had dinner at Toast (a favorite) and then ice-cream at Ben & Jerry’s. Yummy!
  • Thursday – Work, delicious sushi at Haru, and then I went to see 9 to 5, with Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, and Megan Hilton…and yes, I totally met Allison Janney after the show. AMAZING!!!
  • Friday – Work, trainer, and then met up with the girls at Shake Shack, followed by The Proposal. (P.S. That movie is hilarious!!! I am in love with Ryan Reynolds!)
  • Saturday – Woke up at 8:30 (that’s an extra 2.5 hours of sleep over the norm…except that I’d gone to bed about 3:30) to talk to Emily in Boston. Met up with Sarah, Kelly, and Candice for lunch at Freeman’s (amazing!!!), spent a couple of hours reading in Barnes & Noble (we had some time to kill), then up to try for the lottery for In the Heights. Sarah won two tickets (and by “won”, I mean won the right to purchase two tickets at $26.50 a piece), so she went with her friend, Keila, and Kelly and I went to another movie. 
All in all it was  busy week. There’s just soooo much to do here…and see…and eat. And this week is already shaping up to be just as busy…if not busier.
So, I’m going to throw a couple of pictures up and call it a night. 

girls’ night out #2

Posted on by
1

Sharla Lovell, me, Monica Harrison, and Erin Davis  
(They all have blogs that you can link to on my sidebar…no patience for html right now)

So, the second week I was here, Sarah and I met up with a couple of the MBA spouses for a girls’ night out (can’t remember if I blogged about it or not). Anyway, this last week, we did it again. We were going to maybe do dinner and a show, but due to my unexpected trip to AZ this weekend, I needed to get home so I could pack up. In any case, this week we went to this darling little restaurant (of which there are four in Manhattan) called Petite Abeille (translated, it means “little bee”). It’s Belgian and I am always looking for good Belgian fare. 

Unfortunately, because I came straight from work (notice the outfit) I didn’t have my camera with me, so I don’t have any food pics. But not to worry. I’m sure I’ll go back. The muscles were delicious…as was the huge waffle with ice cream we all shared for dessert. I was very pleased with the food and the ambiance. 
Oh, and as an aside, I have started two entries on my sidebar. One with shows I’ve seen, and the other with places I’ve eaten in New York, in case you want to check any of them out (especially if you should make it out to New York any time in the near future.