This weekend was packed with music, food, and running around. Friday was a long day to say the least. I was extremely swamped at work and only functioning on four hours of sleep after the debacle of which was our holiday party Thursday night (that will be a separate post later this week). Having a lapse in judgment a few months ago, I decided to get tickets to a concert, not taking into account the 8 hours of straight dancing I was going to do the night before. I begrudgingly dragged myself to the Upper West Side, but I am BEYOND glad that I did. We went to see
Ghostland Observatory at Terminal 5, which was an electro funk dance party extravaganza. Lauren's friend Dan had gone to see the band in DC and so we decided to tag along and check it out. The. concert. was. amazing. The Austin, Texas based band is comprised of two guys, a guitar, a synthesizer, and a trippy light show. The intimate venue was perfect for the crowd, with two levels of standing/dancing room. If I were you I would try and find the closest Ghostland Observatory concert, as well as checking out
Terminal 5 - I'll be there in February for Girl Talk!!
Saturday morning I started the day out with a group brunch at
Jane in the West Village. Jane is owned by the same group as one of my favorites,
The Smith, so I've been wanting to try it for a while. Over the last couple of years my food buds have changed a good bit, and one of the things I have learned to love are mushrooms. Thus, I got the mushroom omelet and it was everything that I had hoped for. This, coupled with the good company and bloody mary's, was a perfect start to a beautiful winter day. After brunch we headed into SoHo. One of my favorite places to get jewelry is at the
Young Designers Market on Mulberry Street. It is an old gym that is filled with 20-30 vendors who are contemporary designers throughout the city selling their items at wholesale prices. For the past six months I've been looking for a designer who I love,
Elma Blint, and she was finally there! Unlike me, she comes out of hibernation for the winter and cut me a deal on some goodies since I had been so anxiously awaiting her return.
Saturday night I headed uptown for dinner at
Sojourn in the UES with Weiss, Mel, Shay and Katie Kitchen who was visiting from DC. The restaurant has on old wine cellar feel with current hits playing in the background, its the place to be on Saturday night above 60th street. The tapas style menu makes it perfect for a group. We shared a bunch of appetizers and I partook in the artichokes and baby bok choy, which were both great. For dinner I got the roasted butternut squash salad which was perfect for a cold winter night. After dinner we went to
Loreley to celebrate Kara's boyfriend Brett's birthday and then headed over to the West Village
Gallaway Hooker, which has less of an offensive odor than its sister bar in Midtown. All in all, a perfect day!!
Today I went to brunch with Hillya at
Balaboosta in Soho. It had a homey decor with tile flooring, black and white family portraits, and dark wood bookcases filled with cookbooks. Surprisingly, there was no wait when we got there, most likely due to many people's fear of the cold that has swept the East Coast. We were torn by two dishes on the menu so we opted to share both, the poached egg on grilled challah and green eggs scramble. The poached eggs were perfectly paired with mushrooms and butternut squash (you can tell I don't veer far when I find something I like). The scramble were equally delicious, though I was a little hesitant to eat green eggs, despite Dr. Seuss. The best part of the meal was the quinoa hash that accompanied the green eggs. I absolutely love quinoa because its healthy, filling, and easy to cook up with any ingredients. Balaboosta took it to another level with the way they prepared this healthy grain, think of a McDonald's hashbrown and then take away the cup of grease.
After lunch we walked around Soho and I again fed my shopping addiction, but it was worth it. We stumbled upon a store called
Brandy & Melville on Spring between Broadway and Mulberry. It got its start across the pond in Europe with over 50 stores, and has since had a strong hold in the LA market. The style of the clothing is extremely west coast-esque with cropped sweaters and cinched sleeves. Thankfully the prices were also west coast-esque, they were giving away clothes by New York shopping standards. Following this great find, we went to check out the Kardashian's new venture DASH NYC, which was less than thrilling and more than tacky.
I winded down the day with attempting to make some holiday treats for the office. My co-worker brought me peppermint Hershey kisses last week, and I got to thinking that it would taste great melted over rice krispie treats. And it would, had I not burned the chocolate. Lessons learned: a) don't turn away from the stove, and b) don't mess with a classic. Luckily I hadn't used the entire bag when I first prepared my topping, so I was able to scrounge enough for half the batch.
That was my weekend in a nutshell. I hope you all had a great one as well!! And I will leave you with this image of the adorable Sophia who I watched last week while Lanie was out of town.
Saturday night I headed uptown for dinner at Sojourn in the UES with Weiss, Mel, Shay and Katie Kitchen who was visiting from DC. The restaurant has on old wine cellar feel with current hits playing in the background, its the place to be on Saturday night above 60th street. The tapas style menu makes it perfect for a group. We shared a bunch of appetizers and I partook in the artichokes and baby bok choy, which were both great. For dinner I got the roasted butternut squash salad which was perfect for a cold winter night. After dinner we went to Loreley to celebrate Kara's boyfriend Brett's birthday and then headed over to the West Village Gallaway Hooker, which has less of an offensive odor than its sister bar in Midtown. All in all, a perfect day!!
I winded down the day with attempting to make some holiday treats for the office. My co-worker brought me peppermint Hershey kisses last week, and I got to thinking that it would taste great melted over rice krispie treats. And it would, had I not burned the chocolate. Lessons learned: a) don't turn away from the stove, and b) don't mess with a classic. Luckily I hadn't used the entire bag when I first prepared my topping, so I was able to scrounge enough for half the batch.
Well the holiday spirit is full force here in NYC!! The peppermint mocha has hit Starbucks, the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree is up, and the tourists are EVERYWHERE. It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks with work but I've had plenty of time to squeeze in some fun as well. For all of your sakes, and sanity, I'll try and make this post as short as possible.
On Thursday my friend took me to see Wintuk for Hanukkah. This was our second Cirque Du Soleil show we've seen and neither deserve rave reviews. The first one, Banana Shpeel was horrendous, enough said. Wintuk was better in comparison with creative music and imaginative sets and character, but I still felt the acts lacked a certain wow factor that I imagine should come from a Cirque Du Soleil performance. The most exciting aspect of both Banana Shpeel and Wintuk was the confetti at the end, which I get to enjoy days after as I still continue to find remnants of it in my purse. 
Be it living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, making smalls steps to curb a shopping habit, or attempting to save for my trip around the world, I'm always looking for a way to save some money. Deal websites have graced our intrawebs, and I'm loving what I'm seeing. Consumers can get a discounts on anything from dance lessons to manicures to restaurants to trips to Aruba. At this point its silly to pay full price on even toilet paper, Groupon may have a deal for it the next day. Here is an overview of some of the great ones if you feel overwhelmed by all your options:
**Some guys on our kickball team just launched Do Greater last week. This website is different than your average dealmaker because a portion of all of the proceeds also goes to a charity. Check it out and get some good deals while also helping give back!!
