Dreaming of a White Wednesday

Snowy day spent in Chelsea today. I half loved it and half hated it. Something about being out rushing about in that cold wet stuff wipes you out (and may or may not explain my extremely unhealthy dinner.

My poor suede booties took a swim in Saturday's torrential rain, and now are getting a good dose of snow, but I love them so much I can't help but wear them most days. 

I stopped in at Chelsea Market for a quick gift and can never help but stop and gawk at these lighted arches. They're seriously the stuff of my dreams. Lol 

I was also joined by what appeared to be a preschool caroling field trip. It was so cute they'd walk a few yards then burst into song again. Mostly their teacher (striped hat) would sing and they'd mumble along until they got to jingle bells which appeared to be their favorite. Ah, the city steals my heart again...

And then, on an unrelated note, as I was weaving my way underground at Time Square I saw this...it's not so much the woman holding the sign that caught my attention but the complete indifference of the other New Yorkers...it made me chuckle 

I <3 NY (Weekend Edition)

I love NY, but some days I REALLY <3 NY! Saturday I spent an incredibly rainy day trying to accomplish some Christmas shopping with a friend. Of course we started with brunch...as is customary for all New Yorkers. We were talking about how brunch exists in other parts of the country but in New York it's an institution.

I tried to remember to snap some pics in between the rain drops...

One of my favorite things about New York is the art that you encounter when you take a minute and look. The entire city is like a gigantic canvas. This was from the sidewalk in front of Clinton Street Baking Co. I was craving their pancakes like crazy (maybe the best, ever) but they had a 2hr wait so we were standing in the rain googling brunch locations. Luckily in New York you're rarely more than a couple blocks max from a great brunch. 

I had this amazing Texas Toast French toast in orange blossom honey, covered in fresh fruit and whipped cream. I of course, also added a little pure maple syrup...when in Rome...

(Above) Outside the Duane Reade where I broke down and bought a new umbrella because I felt like a drowned rat. 

Finally we hit our breaking point and went to a movie, which conveniently was next to a Mexican restaurant where we indulged in Margaritas and a zillion calories. They look Christmassy though!

Then I headed over to Grand Central where a protest was taking place. Even with the mob of people, the police all hanging out, the holiday spirit was still in full force (below). 

I hit the magazine stand for some train reading

And then when I got home I took Humphrey for a walk, turned my new umbrella inside out, got soaking wet (again), then unsuccessfully tried to stay awake until J got home. 

Even though I spent most of the day in between drenched and just pruned, it was definitely an "I <3 NY" kind of day.

Sunday I headed out to brave the city shoppers, busy shoppers, dressed in holiday style...in the air there's a feeling of Christmas...but really there was, everyone was in a great mood. The only problem was there were lines everywhere. I think we were all just glad it stopped raining! It was gorgeous but oh so cold. 

After shopping I grabbed a quick bite in Chelsea then headed over to hang out with the Chelsea boys. 

We played on the roof for a while until one of the littles accidentally kicked a pipe and caused water to spurt out everywhere.  Once the panicked crying stopped (surprisingly not from me) we went in side to warm up and make gingerbread houses. I was really impressed by how long and hard they worked on them. They aren't known to have the longest attention spans in the world. 

After gingerbread mania, J picked me up from the train and I did a quick change in the car while he drove to some friends house so that I wouldn't be covered in icing when we got there.
("Don't get pulled over, I don't have pants on.") We had a nice quiet evening with some pizza, a Seahawks win, and I got to snuggle with their adorable little baby.  I may not have wanted to give him back when it was time to leave.

All and all a pretty great weekend. 

I'm linking up here, here for some more weekending!

Highly recommend this class for kids birthday parties, and with drinks involved a fun adult bday activity, too! 

 Hmm...what to do for that first Birthday spent together?  Build robots of course!

I tend to be an over-thinker about just about every detail of daily life and decision maker.  I wish I wasn't, but I just can't help it.  So when it came down to planning something for J's birthday I had no idea what to do.  I toyed with the idea of a surprise party, but I only have contact information for 2 friends and his brother.  So I asked him, and got the "don't do anything extravagant," and "I don't know who I'd invite" responses that meant he didn't want to be a burden, but I couldn't do nothing.  I scoured the internet, and then went on howaboutwe and discovered this robot building class from Brooklyn Robot Foundry in TriBeCa.  Neither of us have a particular love of robotics, but you're encouraged to bring your own beverages, and it's something we've never done before so I booked it.

I think he enjoyed it.  I didn't tell him what we were doing leading up to it because I didn't want him to have a chance to start thinking about how boring it could be...I was already doing enough of that for both of us.  The experience was definitely helped by the mason jar of Wild Turkey we brought, and I think he really got into it towards the end.  We both enjoyed using the Glue Gun way more than we probably should have.

Afterwards we packed up our robots and had an amazing dinner at Jeanne & Gaston with a couple of his friends.  While not an every day affair, the Prix Fixe is incredible.  For $43 each you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert.  Everyone at the table got the Escargots for appetizers they were perfect in an herbed garlic butter sauce.  Next for the entree I ordered the Lamb Croustillant, Natural Jus.  Lamb isn't typically my go to, but I could eat this dish every day.  The flavor was spot on, and with the hint of buttery flaky croissant crust on it, mmmm.  Other dishes that received exclamations of perfection from the table were the Pork Belly, Steak Tartare, and Le Bourguignon.  Last but not least Dessert -- I got the Grand Marnier Souffle which was a touch too eggy for me.  I know that is essentially what a souffle is, but I guess I've never had a non-chocolate souffle before.  I can't remember what everyone else had but once again, all full of praise for the meal.

After dinner we parted ways with our friends and groggily made our way back to Brooklyn.  It was one of those great days so full of activity that you fall into bed and wake up in the morning not really remembering the process of falling asleep.

*By the way - this post would greatly be improved by pictures.  Will try to be better about that in future.