What a Weekend...

It seems that it's been a while since my last post...that can only mean one thing...I've been INSANELY BUSY. More or less, just work and trying to catch up on zzzzz's (and my latest book!), but I did have a pretty great weekend. Here goes!


I had plans on Friday to hang out with my long lost friend (not really long lost, she lives 10 blocks away but has been MIA lately, not cool) and a quiet evening in one of our apartments quickly turned into a pretty awesome night. Another friend invited me to her family friend's restaurant that recently opened in the East Village called Heartbreak. If you're in NYC you should really check it out, it's pretty awesome. I've now been there twice (once before it opened for a tasting) and I haven't been disappointed yet! This was a feast (I was still full on Saturday morning). We started off with a few different different kinds of appetizers (2 of each for our table of 10):

• House Cured & Smoked Wild Salmon w/ Honey Mustard Dressing
• Roast Baby Beet & Goat Cheese Bacon Dressing, Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
• Mache Lettuce, Bacon, Butter Croutons Salad
• Schupfnueln, Bacon & Sauerkraut
• I'm pretty sure we had some home fries in there but I can't find them on the menu.

As if that wasn't enough, for dinner, I had strips of veal with mushroom-cream sauce on top of a potato pancake (I have never had one before and am amazed and in love!!!). The real treat was our dessert (again, 2 of each):

• Linzer Tart
• Black Forest Tart
• Warm Apple Strudel
• Black Viennese Pancake (amazing!)
• Chocolate fondue (my FAV of the night!)

The best part was that the NY Times was doing an article about the restaurant while we were there and it was free!!! On a side note, I may have stolen the other side of the table's fondue, BUT they weren't eating it! Can't let melted chocolate go to waste people!!!

http://www.heartbreakrestaurant.com/

Now we're on to Saturday. I slept in, made eggs, was super lazy...then went to a bar steps from my apartment for dinner and the Jets game. It ended up being a pretty exciting night considering the Jets won (although I did get yelled at for wearing Colts colors but, I'm sorry, I don't own anything green and I happen to look good in blue!). Anyway, I'm very happy to report that I found a place with really good wings and personalized sized kegs within walking distance to my apartment. 

To continue the 'if it's free it's for me' trend of my weekend, our next stop was to a bar where my roommates coworker happens to bar-tend. I finally got to meet her which was nice, and I got free drinks! Yay for me! I also got my ass kicked in beer pong, but, whatevs, I beat many-a-frat boy in college and am totally fine with that record. Plus, I didn't have my glasses on and couldn't see anything!

Sunday, on the other hand, was NOT a free day. We went to the Uptown Lounge for brunch which was actually a pretty good deal for good food ($15 for brunch and 2 drinks), I'll definitely go back there sometime. Then, I bought my new phone!!! Droid 2, so happy with it. I got a lot of grief going into work with it on Monday (a place full of Mac's) because Verizon was making a 'big announcement' on Tuesday. I am very happy with my decision. My phone can do pretty much everything the iPhone does AND it has a keyboard :-).

In other news...Katie found a pretty looking boy who lives 'directly' across the street from us while she happened to be checking out the police activity going on outside our apartment last night (don't ask, not sure what happened) I call her a stalker, she says she just happened to see him..then stare for 5 minutes! I think she's been watching too many Friends episodes before bed.....

wish I had a picture to insert here...

That's all to report for now! Oh, and we got some snow, they were fully prepared this time and it was about 5in. Salted and plows at the ready but I still have garbage from before Christmas lining my streets!!! 

NYE in NYC

Hey y'all! Hope you're enjoying the first few days of 2011! To celebrate my first year in the City for New Years Eve, I had to go out, even though I knew to expect crazy crowds and overpriced bar parties, it's all part of the experience. 


On December 31 I did everything in my power to avoid midtown, getting home from work on the 30 was bad enough, thank GOD my work was closed on the 31. Katie works in midtown as well and she said it was crazy! Even though it's usually a mess in midtown during the holidays, we kind of miss the crowds uptown...not on NYE! It was packed up here too! We decided that Gossip Girl is to blame, making the Upper East Side a tourist destination. 


Anyways, I got to see a few friends from college thanks to the holiday! On Thursday, I offered my couch up to my friend Brad who is finishing up a cross country road trip in NYC. After he left Thursday morning, I met up with 2 of my best friends from college (+ 1 boyfriend) for lunch. Katie got out of work early so she got to join as well. It was great to catch up! Jess was staying with us for the night to go out partying!


That night, we got all dolled up, ordered 2 pizzas (Katie thought ahead for leftovers) and played Apples to Apples while pregaming....catching 2 cabs was a little difficult, the trick is to catch them on the Streets, not the Avenues (where everyone else is). After I caught us a cab we had the most terrifying cab ride I've ever been on, we got from 83 St. to 10 St. in about 15-20 min, ON NEW YEARS EVE! Terrifying. 


We made it out alive and went to get into the bar...all of us are 23 or 24 year old college graduates, the bouncer did NOT believe that Jess was 21! He asked for 2 credit cards because the first one's signature didn't match the signature on her license. Redic. The bar, however, was great. We went to 13th Step in the East Village and it was actually not crowded because it was huge inside! That was a nice surprise. The drinks were kind of weak (expected that because we all paid ahead of time) but it's fairly hard to water down beer without people noticing so eventually we were all drinking beer. 


All in all it was a good party with great people. Made it home safe and no hangover on Saturday! It was a successful first (of many) New Years Eve's in New York City!