Borough Bouncing to Brooklyn

I've never really gone out and explored many of the fabulous boroughs outside of Manhattan, and decided to go for it on Saturday.  A hop, skip to the 4 train, and sixteen minutes later I was in Brooklyn (a.k.a. "The B.K.") to meet Jeannine ("JB").  The moment we stepped out of the train it was shop, shop, shop.  There were so many adorable boutiques containing the designs of local BK designers.  It was refreshing to see cheaper prices, one-of-a-kind jewelry, and non-mainstream talent.  

We walked down Court St. for a few hours until we finally reached our brunch spot, Le Petit Cafe.  JB's co-worker had recommended the restaurant, warning that there is always a line out the door.  Lucky for us that we stopped at every store from Brooklyn Heights to Carroll Gardens, because we got there so late that there was no wait!  I can see why there would be though, the place was adorable.  The restaurant has a cafe and sweets bar in the front, exposed kitchen, and covered garden for diners in the back.  The food was fair, the service wasn't great, but the decor of the restaurant compensated for any negativity.  Fun fact of the day, Al Capone was married at the church across the street from the restaurant. 

After brunch, we walked back through Cobble Hill on Smith Street.  This was even better than Court St, my wallet can attest to this.  JB and I made a pit stop at a nut store that had economy size packs of any nut/dried fruit combo you can imagine, I was obviously in heaven.  There was some fantastic bead, pottery, perfume shops, and countless adorable restaurants.  We even scored a personal invite to the soft opening of a new restaurant from a former chef at Dos Caminos.  JB and I made another date to come back and go exploring again!  I am officially a BK-lover.  Here are some of my favorite finds for the day:

Shopping

Andie Woo

Bird

DNA

Lucia

Refinery

Restaurants

Calpurnia Wine Bar

Chestnut

Lobo

The Nut Box

Sample

Seersucker

Watty & Meg

Activities

Bejeweled

Painted Pot Inc.

Weekend Update

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.

Turkey Tales

Last week it was back to HOT-lanta for family, fun, friends, football and food.  I won't bore you with every detail of the five days but here are some highlights.

It's always hard to find a restaurant that offers a lot of healthy vegetarian variety, especially in a city that is known for its fried chicken and Waffle House greasy goodness, but I found TWO! When I got in on Wednesday I met Meryl and Joel at R. Thomas, which describes itself as "funky burger joint with a little healthy California flair", and funky and full of flair it is.  Greeted at the entrance with cages of tropical parrots, the twenty-four hour restaurant itself is a covered patio with lush gardens and bright colors.  I only had time for coffee at my first stop of the trip, yes I went twice, and opted for the Blue Moon latte, no it did not contain the beer.  They had ordered the quinoa bowl and flax seed chips, both of which looked delicious.  The second time around I got the omelet as well as the privilege of seeing the real R. Thomas and dining with some flying birds.  My only complaint is that I didn't know about this restaurant during high school as I chowed down late night on beignets next door at Huey's.  The second treasure I found was Top Flr in Midtown, located on the quaint Myrtle street a few blocks from Piedmont Park.  The restaurant offers a chique and romantic interior, a delectable tofu entree, and tasty sides (burnt mac n' cheese and shaved brussel sprouts were my favorites). 

Another highlight of the trip was taking a class at Pure Barre Buckhead with my sister.  The pure barre technique is a recent phenomenon in the exercise community, combining weights and ballet bar with quick isometric movements, its popularity has risen because its low-impact, tones and creates a lean look.  Though the company has yet to open a studio in Manhattan, there are several studios that provide a similar work out like Physique 57 and Bar Method. I felt awesome after one class, it flew by and was a great workout.  My friend Jess has been taking Physique 57 classes for a while and I think I might have to join in from now on!

Beyond a doubt the best part was spending time with family and friends.  It's always great to catch up with old friends, and this time around we got to spend quality time with ones we hadn't seen in years.  We took a trip up to the our family friend's lake house in Gainsville, which is a nice escape when my idea of nature is limited to a twenty block radius known as Central Park.  To sum up my trip, I am thankful for: my mom's cooking and loving heart, my dad's cheesy jokes and Cosby sweaters, passing sobriety tests, my siblings (everything about them), CatchPhrase, slipping on leaves, having a sister equally as klutzy as me and having matching scars, Jake Gyllenhall but not his new dirty movie, trivia at TJ's, SEC football, HUE leggings, Target, cognac and fireplaces, SoundHound and satellite radio, Jenny, deers and having an amazing place to call home.  Things I'm not thankful for:  6 a.m. flights.  I. am. beat.

Before:                                                                  After:

Hope ya'll had an equally wonderful Thanksgiving!!