The New York Post provides a list of places you can eat for under $2, including one of my personal favorites, Fried Dumpling on Mosco Street in Chinatown. Now get eating and let me know what you think!
Author: Laren
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Recovery
Yes, it’s Saturday night and I’m home. Alone. Blogging. Granted I had dinner with my brother, but I am happy to have some time to myself on the couch. Last night ended up much later than I had intended, and I have work to do before heading off to DC for work tomorrow afternoon, but I wanted to post some pictures before I left. First, the pictures from Maine. And below, some highlights from last night’s festivities:
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Blog-o-riffic!
Last night was one of those multi-event social evenings, but this one had a blog theme going. First a food blogger gathering at in Vino in the East Village (on a side note — if you haven’t been there yet, go. Friendly, helpful staff, and solid, classic antipasti), organized by the delightful Vittles Vamp. Also in attendance were Jeremy of Frost Street and GirlyNYC (all three are my partners in crime at Gothamist Food), Lockhart Steele, and Matt of Bourrez Votre Visage. It was such a pleasure to eat and drink with other foodie types and to meet the folks I hadn’t yet met in person. Thanks again to the Vamp for putting the evening together.
Next, GirlyNYC and I moved on to our second stop of the evening — the PlanetGordon party, where I got to hang with the famous groom (and bride) and a portion of my Tufts posse. After a brief bit of mixing and mingling, we moved on to the Magician, with Jake and Rion in tow. The bar was full of so many blog-type-folks that it would be futile even to make an attempt to mention them all. I also ran into a fellow AIDS-rider, who I hadn’t seen in a while, there for an unrelated event. I think there were three separate blog or web-related events going on there all at the same time. Not sure why the Magician has become such a blog-centric hangout, but the bartender (who wasn’t Lulu) was sure happy to have us packing the place.
And of course, all along the way, we kept checking in to Dodgeball, and I even got a personal thanks from the founder (who was at the Magician with everyone else) for being such a loyal user.
Tonight is Soundtracks Live: Sixteen Candles (being taped for VH1, apparently), and tomorrow are various and sundry parties, so the Maine pictures may not make it up till the weekend, when I have five minutes to breathe . . .
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And We’re Back
Made it back safely from Maine on a ridiculously early morning flight, and have a ton of work to dive into, but I just wanted to give a quick plug for Fresh Direct — how fantastic is it that I can place an order from anyplace with internet access, and time the delivery so that I can arrive home to a stocked fridge?! Love it. I am eagerly awaiting my boxes of goodies this evening. . . -
The Great Labor Day Chill
It’s my last hour at my folks’ house in Portland and I wanted to check in before I headed off to our cabin on the lake. Although I have missed being part of the action back home, I think I’m glad that I’m here rather than in the midst of the fray, but I can thank the photobloggers for making me feel like I had a taste of the more positive things going on back home.
When I leave NYC, and particularly when I come up here, I slow down dramatically, to the point where words like “sloth” and “lethargy” come to mind. In fact, I was talking to a friend on the phone last night who commented that I even sounded more relaxed. Could be. But this afternoon the word “relax” becomes the focus of my weekend, as I head out to Casco, where my only concrete goals are: 1) to eat lobster at the Naples Lobster Pound; 2) to fall asleep in the hammock, while reading Appetite for Life, Julia Childs’ biography, and listening to the sounds of the lake; 3) to finish the baby hat I’m knitting for a friend before I return home; and 4) to have a chocolate ice cream soda at Pears, the ice cream joint in “town,” which is little more than a gas station, a library, and a church.
A handful of friends were supposed to come up from NY, Boston, and elsewhere, but couldn’t quite pull together the travel arrangements. I’ll have some local visitors, and a friend of mine from DC is at his family’s house nearby, so I’ll get to see him too. Enjoy your long weekend, folks, and don’t forget to slow down and chill, wherever you may be.
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Postcards from the Big Apple
As I’ve mentioned, I am telecommuting this week — my office is right by the site of the RNC, and we didn’t want to be caught in the fray. I have been doing my best to keep up with all that’s going on, though, and a great source has been Gothamist, who has been posting excellent photoblogger roundups of all the protests and other activity: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.
It almost makes me wish I had stayed home . . .
And while you’re at Gothamist, be sure to check out Gothamist Food, for what the real New Yorkers are eating while the delegates are at Applebee’s and Red Lobster.
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A Bicycle Built for Two
I just returned from a weekend in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, at the wedding of my dear friends Doug and Leora. Doug I have known for about a decade at this point, and it was several years ago while training for our second AIDS Ride that we both had the pleasure of meeting Leora. It has always been clear that they were a good fit for each other, particularly when he brought her to OJ for the first time to meet our group of college friends. We’re a little hard to bust into from the outside, and I’ve always known that the right guy for me will be one who would fit in at OJ, our annual fall getaway weekend — if he didn’t like the weekend, or my friends, or if my friends didn’t like him, he would be out. I know Doug felt the same way, so when Leora blended in seamlessly, it was like a seal of approval. Training for another ride the following year, I got to know Leora even better as we chatted away the miles (she and I ride about the same pace; Doug’s somewhat faster), and to develop a friendship with her beyond just as “Doug’s girlfriend.”
Joining them to celebrate their wedding was a reaffirmation of my initial impressions of their relationship — they fit perfectly together, and it was such a treat to take part in a wedding that truly celebrated this fit, filled with love, laughter, joy, friends, family and tears. Congratulations to both of you — enjoy the next leg of the ride.
You can see the rest of the pictures here, and read PlanetGordon for the backstory on the wedding.
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Scheduling a Date in NYC
I am convinced that dating in New York is different from dating in other parts of the world. Let’s do a case study, shall we?
Girl meets boy at her local neighborhood joint, chatting amiably over dinner at the bar, each having brought, but then ignored, their respective reading materials (she, the New Yorker; he, the Economist or some such). Girl’s friends show up, strategically tricking boy to stay for about twenty minutes longer than he initially intended, and to drink more wine (girl’s friends are fantastic wingpeople). Boy invites girl to go see a band on the LES (she has convinced him to go see this particular band rather than the one he initially chose because they rock, and her neighbor’s in it). Girl expresses interest, but politely declines, since it is already 11:45 on a school night. “Some other time, perhaps?” says girl, coyly. Boy and girl exchange business cards and go their separate ways, each going away for the weekend.
Boy emails girl the following week, scoring major points with girl. After polite back and forth email banter about how good the band was, boy and girl agree to go out for a drink, dinner, or possibly even to see another band. Then, the scheduling negotiations begin. The negotiations are frustrated by a) girl’s busy social life; b) boy’s demanding work schedule; c) the impending Republican invasion, during which the girl is getting the hell out of Dodge; d) girl’s trip to the wedding in Wisconsin; e) boy’s business school alumni event on the one night she has free this week and work-related dinner on the one night she’ll be in town between the wedding and the aforementioned escape; f) boy’s current affliction with poison ivy, which he contracted during last weekend’s out of town jaunt; g) all of the above.
Boy and girl plan to go out for a drink in early 2005.
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The Non-Welcome Mat
As I walked to and from work yesterday, I noticed more and more signs which indicated that New Yorkers are gearing up for the convention. None quite as obvious as the one I saw last week, but effective nonetheless.
And also, for your downloading pleasure, even more: RNCNotWelcome.org
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Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures
Tonight, it’s all about the pictures. I just returned from a relaxing, food and fun-filled beach weekend on Fire Island, thanks to my friend Carrie. Now, I’ve always shied away from share houses — images of frat-partyesque Hamptons houses come to mind. And although there were bunk beds, and not everyone did their fair share of the dishes, the house in Kismet was mellow, the people were friendly, fun, interesting, and best of all, they loved to cook and eat. Dinner upon our arrival was spicy sausages and cajun catfish on the grill, cocktail hour on Saturday included fresh peach margaritas, and Saturday’s dinner was a pork loin, roasted on the rotisserie, rubbed with fresh herbs, garlic, and olive oil, accompanied by stuffed portabello mushrooms with pesto and roasted potatoes. Mmm. I had a very relaxing weekend, and enjoyed being out at the beach, despite the torrential downpours on Saturday. You can see the pictures here. If you’re from the house and have stopped by to see the pictures, leave a comment or send me an email. Thanks again to everyone!
And also for your enjoyment, pictures from the Party in my Panties. You can see them here.
