Sweet Blog O'Mine

Category: Fun

  • Fame

    Brunch_carnage
    A recent conversation made it to Overheard in New York.  Ah, good times.

    Between brunch, mint juleps, margaritas, falafel from Taim, a bike ride up to the Cloisters, frisbee for the first time since 1992, a trip to Morimoto for the great noodle challenge, a few great bottles of wine, Sicilian chocolate, some tasty cheese and good company all around, it was a great weekend.  Here’s the carnage from brunch in the park (I made a frittata with asparagus and ramps, all fresh from the farmers’ market, including the eggs).

  • Ahh . . . Sleep

    After a lovely dinner last night with Bill, Katie, and John B. at al di la (the asparagus salad and the lamb special were my two personal favorites of the evening) and drinks at the Ear Inn afterwards, I slept a little late this morning, which I feel like I haven’t done in a while.  I’m off to the Union Square Greenmarket to buy eggs and onions and whatever else strikes my fancy to put into a frittata for my beach house ladies’ brunch, which is going to be a picnic this time around.  After that, it’s a Kentucky Derby party and then a "Seis de Mayo" party.  All in all, should be a fun day!

  • Time for a Post

    I know, I know.  Haven’t posted in ages.  Mea culpa.  I’ve just been
    knocking myself out at Gothamist, so all of my posting energy is being
    sapped.  It’s sad.

    So what can I tell you about the weekend (I’m not even going to try to
    catch up on last week.  It’s so . . . last week)?  Friday night was a
    Yankees game, then Saturday was an early Mother’s Day brunch with my
    mom at Cookshop.  We walked to the Union Square Greenmarket to buy some
    ramps, then headed to Otto for a little sorbet (we were being somewhat
    virtuous).  After spin class, I went to Rob’s pub crawl for a short stint (yes, I Dodgeballed from Hogs & Heifers), then saw United 93.  Afterwards, we were in no mood to be social (let alone rejoin the pub crawl), so we had a nibble at Bar Veloce and headed home. 

    Sunday I had brunch at Alizinha’s, and got the chance not only to see some of my long-lost blogger chicks, but to meet some new ones, and to eat the most delicious banana pecan muffins ever.  Luckily, I worked it all off by joining Mark for an 18 mile bike ride.  It was the first ride of the season, but it felt pretty damn good.  I finished up the day at Tia Pol, where I joined Andrea for her Dining for Darfur fundraiser. 

    That’s the weekend wrap-up — I’m sorry to make it so quick, but I’m pooped.  Off to bed.

     

  • Back from the Jaunt Across the Pond

    150_5072

    Still a little jetlagged/tired, but at least now the pictures are up.

    Highlights, in a nutshell: Guys & Dolls, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?, Fino, dim sum, Christopher, Westminster Abbey, Borough Hall Market, strolling along the banks of the Thames, Cambridge, the Great Eastern Hotel, those awesome biscuits which would be the death of me if I were in our London office, tea at the Landmark Hotel, and the Pro Bono Tour of London.  Whew.  Somehow managed to miss Hugh while we were in town, but we tried.  And of course, I had great company.  Pictures are up on Flickr. 

  • It’s All About the Benjamins


    Or at least one.  More on Vegas to come shortly.

    UPDATE: Pictures on flickr.

  • Sunday Evening Respite

    WCOU

    Made it back in one piece from Philly and proceeded directly to brunch with the lovely ladies from the beach house at AOC, then headed to the Duplex for some cocktails and celebrity-spotting (Sarah Jessica Parker and Philip Seymour Hoffman — must have been the day for three-name celebs).  After that, the 7th annual East Village Idiot Dive Bar Crawl (didn’t take as many pictures as I did last year, unfortunately), and an appearance at the third annual Rob’s Friends Suck night. 

    This morning I had a farm-fresh brunch right from the comfort of New York City with Augie, Lauren, and their friend John — complete with bacon from Flying Pigs Farm.  Afterwards, I thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous weather by walking around Union Square (passed the line at Trader Joe’s, which I chose to skip), reading the paper in the park, and then finally joining Katie for a pedicure for Spring-ready feet.  Tonight, I finished up my taxes, saving a wad of cash thanks to some handy tips from my mom (thanks, Mom!), and am getting geared up for yet another whirlwind week before my next trip — Vegas, baby.

    ADDENDUM:  I just realized that I would be remiss if I didn’t mention all the fine people who joined me in my food-based exploration of the Terminal Market and some of Philly’s food – the Pro Bono Net team at White Dog, Saralyn, who shared the DiNic’s sandwich, the soft pretzel, and Bassett’s ice cream, Doug, who joined me for breakfast (yes, I was alive and somewhat functional at 8 am thanks to a visit to the gym), and Alison, Saralyn (again), Marlene, and Tiela, who joined me on my cheesesteak pilgrimage.  And a special shout-out to Jeff, who I didn’t even realize I was going to get to see!

  • Whirlwind

    Sorry for the dead air around here — I’ve just been very busy.  Will fill in the details later, but highlights include:

    And now, a few days of vegetarian detox are in order.

  • Catching Up Yet Again

    Things I have not yet written about that I did last week (among other things that I did but may likely not write about because they are too boring) with extremely brief commentary:

    • ate at Little Giant (scrumptious, get the brussels sprouts, as they’re merely an excuse to eat spoonsful of butter and maple syrup disguised as vegetables) with Rob, Lauren, and Elisabeth, a co-worker who is set on eating at 52 new restaurants in 6 months.  I am hoping to tag along.
    • saw Barefoot in the Park with Mark (eh — cute, but not great)
    • took a kickboxing class (loved it — excellent for stress relief and cardio)
    • ate at Del Posto with Elisabeth (two new ones in a week!) and Maura (Mario at an ultra-luxurious level; excellent pasta and a space so big you can hardly believe it’s in New York)
    • got a haircut to cure the mid-winter blahs
    • saw The Pajama Game with Mom (go see it — it’s a classic, old-school style musical.  I will now have "Hernando’s Hideaway" stuck in my head for a week. Ole!)

  • Catching Up Again

    Time to catch up, but first of all, if you haven’t said hello yet, please do — I’m truly enjoying everyone’s comments!

    Let’s see.  Last week I went to a press party at Xing and it was like food blogger central — Augie came with me and I met Ben from Eater, the guys from NYC Nosh, and schmoozed with two of the guys from Thrillist (not exactly a food blog, and not exactly a blog, but fun guys regardless).  My pictures didn’t come out that well, unfortunately — I put a few on flickr but the rest kind of suck.

    Thursday was a night in and Friday I went to dinner at Lavagna, a cozy Italian restaurant in the East Village, with my stepmom, aunt, cousin, sister and brother.  I think my favorite dishes that evening were the seared scallops agrodolce with pancetta over parsnip puree and the papardelle with rabbit ragu.  Afterwards, I met up with Jen, Carolyn, and ultimately Emilia — we started at Perbacco, but it was so crowded that we ended up at Otto (big shock there).  Of course Jon and David were there, but I exercised a bit of restraint in not joining them as they went to Reservoir for their next stop of the evening.

    Saturday morning I met up with Hallie for spin class and then headed home to receive my Fresh Direct order (love, love, love the convenience) and pack for my "trip."  My V-Day present was a Brooklyn day — a night at B&B on the Park and reservations for dinner at The Grocery (we had the chef’s tasting menu — more on that later).  Although it seems somewhat laughable for two Manhattanites to vacation for a night in Brooklyn, it was really the perfect getaway.

    Sunday I met up with Kim, John B., Matty Z., Chip, April, Monique, Jenn & Scott for ice skating in Prospect Park.  Sadly, I remember being much better at ice skating that I am now — at first I chalked it up to my rental skates, which seemed to have blades duller than a plastic butter knife, but even after swapping skates, I was pretty lame.  Someday I’d like to try on some freshly sharpened skates and see how I do because I swear I used to be able to skate backwards and whatnot without fear of mortal peril.  It seems the ground is much farther away these days.  We ended up back at Kim’s for hot mulled cider and watched the olympics — I think I got my fill of ice dancing for the next decade, thank you very much.  Finally, I headed home to watch last week’s Grey’s Anatomy that Mark had ever-so-kindly taped for me.  I am such a sap that it actually made me cry.  Oy.

    Today’s excitement includes paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning up, and heading in to the office for a few hours just to catch up.  Sounds fun, right?

  • Cheesy Poofs and Billy Joel

    Sometimes I take a moment in the middle of what I’m doing to realize how incredibly lucky I am.  I had several moments like this over the past few days.  First, what was going to be an ordinary night (gym, home, bed) ended up with a lovely dinner with Rob at Bar Carrera (If you haven’t yet made it there, it’s worth a trip).  Comfortable and inviting despite its awkward space with a great 80’s centric soundtrack, Bar Carerra serves up tapas in style — my favorites that night were the shrimp & chorizo followed by the pate with truffled mushrooms.  Yum.  After a bit of Dodgeballing with Kim and some dessert negotiations with Rob, we headed to Otto for gelato where we met up with Nic, David, and ulimately Kim.  We ended up making a pit stop at ‘ino for nutella panini and dessert wine before landing squarely at Mas (farmhouse) for late-night carousing.  Now Mas has a legendary late-night menu, offering everything from oysters & steak tartare to short ribs.  We weren’t particularly hungry, but still made room for their gougeres, a.k.a. cheesy poofs.  Despite being a tad tired the next day, it was well worth it to spend time with good friends over food and wine.  At some point at Mas, I looked around the laughing, smiling faces at the table and took a moment to cherish it all.

    Saturday, after helping my sister buy some interview clothes, we met up with our brother, his girlfriend Sarah, our cousin Sara, and Bill’s friend Sebastian for dim sum at Golden Bridge.  Although we got there on the late side, we still managed to taste all kinds of steamed dumplings, some short ribs, and some Chinese broccoli with a drizzle of oyster sauce.  I’m looking forward to going back a little earlier at some point.  After paying the bill ($11 per person — woo hoo!), I realized again how lucky I am to have both my siblings and my cousin living in the same city for the first time in ages, even if we don’t see each other as often as we should.

    Finally, Mark and I went to see Billy Joel last night at Madison Square Garden — a belated and very thoughtful birthday present.  I don’t even recall mentioning to him the fact that I like Billy Joel except for one fairly brief conversation a while back .  Some may scoff at him, but as we sat there last night, I realized how rare it is to sit through a 2+ hour concert and literally know every song.  Sure, some I knew more than others, and some I liked more than others, but to be able to sing All for Leyna at the top of my lungs because the words are seared into my brain from childhood (Glass Houses was one of the first albums I owned) I realized anew what a great gift it was for me.  Thanks again, Mark.

    After the concert we went to ‘inoteca for dinner — a perfect cap to the evening.  We sat in the cozy warmth of the restaurant watching the snow swirl all around outside while we enjoyed our gamberetti with pancetta and truffled egg toast (someone was kind enough to let me dominate the ordering, it being a birthday celebration and all).  As we bundled back up and headed out for a cab, the city was covered in a tranquil blanket of white, (which I find so beautiful and peaceful every time it snows) and as we headed home, I soaked in the beauty of it all and took another moment.