NYC Food Vendors

Food vendors are very popular in NYC. In certain areas, there’s not really a time of day or night when you can’t find some kind of food vendor on the street. Most of them seem to have a consistent flow of people stopping to pick something up, but rarely do they have a line of people waiting. Except for the Halal food cart at 53rd & 6th. I first noticed this cart last August when my parent’s best friends were staying at the Hilton across the street from it. The three of us wondered in awe what was drawing all these people to this specific vendor. Mr. Perry asked one night what it was that everyone was getting. Chicken & Rice! I have passed by this area many nights since then and starting around 8pm each night when the guys set their cart up every night, there is a long line of people streaming down the block. I’ve known for a while I needed to try it out myself, but didn’t get around to it until last night. I got the chicken & rice…it comes w/ lettuce on the side and pita bread and a tub of some sort of sour cream dressing. It tasted like tex-mex to me. It was good, but not as phenomenal as I would have expected with all those people waiting in line every night.

In general, I rarely eat from food vendors…usually just when I have company in town and they want to get a hot-dog just for the novelty of it. This summer, however, I have taken advantage of the Mr. Softie trucks. They seem to be everywhere! There are certain corners in the city where you are guaranteed to find a Mr. Softie truck parked for most of the day every day throughout the summer. I’m a fan of the vanilla ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles!

Tonight I leave for Chicago to spend the weekend with 4 of my high school friends. Yea!

FIRSTS

I accomplished some "firsts" this week and knocked some things off my list of things to do in NYC. I met Joy, Ebonee, and a new girl, Crystal, in Central Park Sunday afternoon to go row-boating! I was so excited to do it as I feel it's such a "New York" thing to do. It was really fun and a nice day and so pretty!

There were SO many rowers out on Sunday.
This picture doesn't do it justice- the lake
was CROWDED!














Joy was our tour guide/rower for the day



















With Ebonee















Ducks!! We also saw a big turtle!















I think this is one of the prettiest spots in the park













The pretty bridge we rowed under















Rowing past the famous fountain













Afterwards, we ate at the Boathouse cafe right there on the water. We just ate at the cheap cafe where they have burgers and such. I'd like to try out the restaurant sometime, too.

The Boathouse Restaurant















On our walk out of the park, we happened to pass the Alice in Wonderland statue...which was also on my list of things to do!!















After leaving the park, we headed to the Upper East side to meet Kristin, Evan, and Regina for Pinkberry...another place I've been wanting to try. It's frozen yogurt, but not like TCBY...it actually tastes like yogurt, just colder! They only have 2 flavors- plain or green tea. And then they have different toppings to choose from...some crunchy things and all kinds of fruit. I had raspberries, blueberries, and kiwi. Next time, I'd like to try granola with some fruit! It was delicious!

Monday brought another "first". I went and got my hair-cut at Ouidad. Ouidad is a lady who has her own curly-girl techniques...different from those at Devachan, which I've been a faithful follower of for the past few years. I tried to make an appointment at Devachan first, but they were all booked up and I'd been thinking I'd like to try something else anyway. So, I went to Ouidad....well, not Ouidad the person (too expensive), but to her salon and had another stylist (cheaper one) do my hair. This girl does the hair of 2 actresses on Law & Order, but I can't remember which ones. Anyway, I loved how my hair looked when I left...the curls look completely different than I've ever seen them before. After I got home however, I was a bit disappointed. You see, my hair underneath is all pretty straight and I had purposely pointed that out to her because it needs to be cut shorter so that I don't have these weird straight hairs sticking out below the curly hair on top. She did a terrible job of this and my hair looked plain weird. I started tackling it on my own...cutting the straight hairs shorter so they're hidden underneath the curly hair on top. But, I could only manage the sides and it needs help in the back as well. So, now I look kind of funny. I will have to enlist some friends to tackle the back of my hair!

Tonight I got dinner from Island Burgers. This place is just 1/2 a block away from me and is ranked as one of the best burger joints in the city and I still had never managed to get one! They have TONS of varieties of burgers w/ different toppings and such. I got a pretty plain one, though. It was good, but nothing I'm dying to have again.

B&B visit for the B-days!

Beth and Brian came in town on Friday. Saturday was my 31st birthday and Brian's 41st! (It is also his twin brother's and my uncle's girlfriend's birthdays...a busy day)! So, Friday night we had a birthday celebration. We went to dinner at Hell's Kitchen...a neuvo Mexican restaurant down the street from me. Then, we went to see the Color Purple on Broadway. This is the only musical I've seen twice since moving here. I was disappointed...I loved it the first time- would rank it in the very top tier of favorite shows. But, Fantasia Barrino (American Idol) is in it now and while she did great on her songs, we couldn't understand a word she was saying when she spoke. Unfortunately, she does a lot of talking in the first few scenes and after not understanding her through that, it was hard to get in to it. After the show, we went back to DIP (same place I went last week) because Beth wanted to try the peanut butter/chocolate fondue...yum!

Saturday morning, we went to brunch at Chat-n-Chew. They have really good food. Beth and I split a spinach/Gruyere omelet and challah french toast that was amazing! We walked through the Hell's Kitchen Flea market, which I hadn't been to all summer long.

Then, we packed up for a road-trip to Greenwich, CT. Beth and Brian were staying Saturday night there as they had a wedding nearby. I drove up with them, enjoyed the afternoon touring Greenwich, then took the train back to Grand Central. Greenwich is the wealthiest town in the U.S. It was very quaint and had a really fancy shopping district we enjoyed walking through. While they got ready for the wedding back at the hotel, I took the car and explored all around the area. There are some really nice neighborhoods and lots of water. Very quaint area!

Saturday night, I went to see "The Nanny Diaries". I've been looking forward to this movie as I read the book several years ago. I thought it was cute and liked hearing how they stereotyped all the different people in Manhattan...too bad they didn't say what they thought of Hell's Kitchenites!

Beth & I at DIP
















The harbor in Greenwich
















Behind B&B's Hotel

Kristin's Birthday

Saturday was Kristin's birthday and one of her co-workers from The Journey had planned a full day of activities for her. I joined in for afternoon manicures & pedicures for the girls. It was lots of fun and a really nice place and I really needed the pedicure!

Saturday night, we all got back together, along with some others, for dinner at DIP. Dip has lots of dips and fondue. We got a couple of cheese fondues and then a couple of dessert fondues. The chocolate/peanut butter fondue was amazing!

After Dip, a few of us all went to a Hookah restaurant. I think hookah is something you have to experience at least once while living in NYC. The restaurant was very cool. We sat in the window seat at a table low to the ground with cushions and pillows. I tried the hookah, but I don't think I liked it much. It was supposed to be grape flavored, but I couldn't taste the grape at all...it tasted like cigarettes to me. My friends said it wasn't the best, so who knows.

Tomorrow is my good-bye lunch with Kristin. She is moving back home to Ohio next week. I am terribly sad to see her go as she is the person I have best connected with here. She is one of those people I will always wish I had had more time with! But, I am very happy that she is getting away from The Journey. That place is crazy...three other people quit the same day she did. I think they've had about 200% turnover since I moved here. Anyway, I love the girl dearly and can't wait to see what amazing things she does from here.

Me with the birthday girl...isn't she a cutie!



















Joy and I celebrating Kristin!

JT

I got free tickets in the company box for Justin Timberlake last night. I was super excited to go to this concert! I'm not a huge JT fan, but I knew it would be an entertaining show, and it was. We also caught the very end of the opening act, Good Charlotte, and they were pretty good as well. It was a fun evening concert!














Tonight I went to dinner at Little Thai Kitchen with Kristin and Hillary and then we went for dessert at Dylan's Candy Bar. It was so fun and good food! We also went to see "Becoming Jane", which I didn't think was too great- I almost fell asleep!

Twins in Philly

It is not unusual for Jennifer and I to be mistaken for sisters. This weekend was no exception and we even had one old man amazed that we aren't twins. Todd thought it should be the name of my blog, and so it is.

Todd & Jennifer flew into New York late last Tuesday night. They had fun bumming around the city on Wednesday and Thursday while I was at work and I had fun playing with them in the evenings. One thing we did that I hadn't done in a very, very long time was go to Milk & Cookies, a cute little bakery in Greenwich Village. Todd enjoyed an ice cream sandwich while Jenn and I got cookies and milk. I had the best mint chocolate cookie I've ever had. Definitely worth going back for!

Friday morning, we headed for Philadelphia. We took the Chinatown Bus-- only $20 round-trip for me! I was excited to see a new city and spend time in the state of Pennsylvania (I've only driven through before and that doesn't really count)! Plus, it added a bit more time to spend with Jenn & Todd! I was surprised at how much I absolutely loved Philadelphia. Our hotel was located downtown and there were definitely some sketchy areas nearby, but there were also really nice neighborhoods in walking distance. I loved how peaceful these areas became. Tree-lined streets with adorable brownstones, cute shops and bakeries. I had a lot of fun exploring on my own when Todd & Jenn were in meetings or meals for her convention and with them when they had time to spare! Here's the run-down:

*Friday involved some road-tripping to northern Philly where we toured a Bounce U. Todd and Jenn have recently bought into this company and will be opening their very own Bounce U in the north-Dallas area in the coming months. It was fun to see one myself and learn what Jenn & Todd are getting into. Very cool place and I can't wait to bounce at the store in Texas soon!

*We drove to Delaware, making our 4th state of the day on Friday (had to drive thru New Jersey to get to Philly). Todd has some family friends who live in Delaware, so we had dinner at their house. It was a very pretty area with lush green trees. We had a delicious apple pie with apples straight from a tree in their backyard!

*Saturday, we started out with breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market. This is a market full of vendors selling every kind of food imaginable. I had heard that the Amish have booths there and have great breakfast. I had the best blueberry pancakes I've ever had.

*I went on a self-guided walking tour around Old City. I went in the church where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Betsy Ross used to attend. I saw the oldest residential street in the U.S., Elfreth's Alley- soooo cute! I also toured Betsy Ross' house.

*I went to Rittenhouse Square- a super cute neighborhood with a park in the middle. I grabbed a light lunch near there and ate in the park! Also did a little shopping in the cute stores in that area. I could have explored this neighborhood for hours.

*Went on a tour of Independence Hall and stood where the likes of George Washington have been.

*Saw the Liberty Bell, of course!

*Took numerous pictures of City Hall, which we had hoped to go to the top of for the excellent view it has, but it was closed for the weekend. Very pretty building, though!

*Went to the most amazing dinner at a place called Rae. Jenn was in Philly for a Personal Chef convention. The head of the Dallas club had made reservations for everyone in their group and I got to tag-along. We had all decided what we wanted to order when the chef came in and asked if we'd like to do a Chef's Sampler. We all agreed to try it. I really had no idea what we were about to enjoy! We got to try almost everything on the menu. They would have 14 small portions of each item - one for each of us at the table. We tried fancy pizzas, delicious salads, shrimp, pasta, lobster, tenderloin, veal, asparagus, etc.... I can't even remember what all we had it was so much. And then came dessert! Todd & Jenn arranged for a special little cheesecake just for me and my upcoming birthday. The sommelier paired a wine with each course of the meal- 4 different wines total that were each amazing. It was a meal that lasted over 3 hours. It was very fun and very delicious...and very expensive. I decided it was my promotion celebration dinner!

*Sunday for lunch, I went to hunt for a good Cheesesteak. I wasn't terribly hungry after Saturday night's dinner, but you can't go to Philly and not get a Cheesesteak! Before going to Philly, I had heard of the war between Pat's and Geno's- 2 Cheesesteak places located across the street from each other. Once there, I was told by 2 local people that Jim's was the place to go. So, I decided to try Jim's rather than put myself in the middle of the war. It was located on South Street- a more eclectic, funky area of town. The Cheesesteak was good, but for those of you in Texas, I really think Texadelphia is doing a pretty good job!

*Todd and I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and pretended we were Rocky running up the stairs. We also saw a little bit of art...it's a nice museum, but I don't think either of us were in much of an art mood.

*We went to the super old, super cool Macy's. Mannequin, the movie from the '80's was supposedly filmed here. It was the fanciest department store I've ever been in!

All in all, an excellent weekend away. I have traveled near and far with Todd & Jenn, but not since they got married a few years ago! They are just as fun now as they were back when we were all single!

See pictures from the weekend here!

Work

So, today was a pretty exciting day at work. Very unexpectedly, I found out that I am being promoted to manager, retroactive to August 1! I knew promotions were going on right now, but I thought I wasn't eligible this year. Apparently I am! I didn't even go through the review process. I did have a 3-month review in March, so I guess they just used that. So, I'm finally a manager. It's funny, because just last night I was thinking that if I had stayed with E&Y, I would just now be wrapping up my 4th year as a manager. But, since I decided to leave the world of public accounting where promotions are commonplace, I reverted backwards as far as titles go. Now I'm back where I was and it sounds really weird to call myself a manager. I have to admit, it does make me feel more excited about my job and motivated to do well....companies should all be better about things like this! It also means a bit of a pay increase and I've been dying to move out into my own place without leaving Manhattan- now it may seem more feasible!

Speaking of moving out reminds me of my crazy roommates. These girls a supposed to be the cream-of-the-crop....one a UCLA grad, the other a Yale undergrad/Columbia grad school grad. But, they seem to lack quite a bit of common sense when it come to day-to-day household things. Many of you have heard my story of when Sharon cleaned the refrigerator and chose to dispose of the food scraps in our bathtub. Yeah, you can imagine how that ended. Our tub was filled with water and food scraps for 2 days and I didn't get to shower. Poor Cathy lacks common sense but is also completely paranoid and a huge worrier. Last night, I came home with groceries and was working to put them away in the fridge. I was moving some stuff around and picked up a bag of carrots that was hard as a rock. Cathy happened to be in there and I said, "These carrots aren't mine, but they're completely frozen." She said she'd read an article about food poisoning and had turned both the refrigerator and freezer temperatures all the way up! Our fridge has always been just as cold as any other fridge and we've been using it for over a year with no problems, so I'm not sure why she thought we were going to get food poisoning. Anyway, I'm probably overly sensitive at this point, but come on!

Hot & Sunny Weekend

Finally - a hot and sunny weekend with no rain. I've been dying to work on my tan this summer and the opportunities have been few and far between. It was a sunny weekend and after a very busy July, it was a weekend where I had absolutely nothing to do. I decided to take advantage of it and head for the beach on Saturday. I chose to go to the Far Rockaways in Queens. I had not been there, but had heard it was a good beach and knew I could get there on the subway, rather than the train, which means it's only a $2 trip. It took longer to get there than I'd hoped and the beach wasn't quite as nice as the ones further up Long Island, but it served its purpose for me. I still can't believe the ocean and all this exists just a $2 subway ride from my apartment.





























On Saturday night, I went to see a FREE live performance at Lincoln Center. They have them outside the entire month of August and this was one I really wanted to see. It was the Paul Taylor Dance Company (no, Columbians, not THAT Paul Taylor). I've heard about this dance company since before I got here and had always been interested. It was amazing and the perfect night for an outdoor show. The dancing was beautiful and I couldn't believe I was seeing it all for free!

I saw Hairspray, the movie. It was a bit disappointing. I loved the musical when I saw it in Dallas and even more when I saw it here. I had high hopes for the movie, which is maybe why it let me down.

My great friends, Jenn & Todd hit the NYC on Tuesday night....cannot wait to see them! They'll spend 3 nights here, then I'll head to Philly with them where Jenn has a convention - she's a personal chef (how cool is that??).

NYC Food Tour, etc...

I’ve had a lot of fun with Amber in town the past few days. The fun started on Saturday with a Food Walking Tour that started in Greenwich Village and ended in SoHo. I loved it and would rank it in the top tier of things I’ve done thus far in NYC. Our guide was great- energetic, interesting, and fun. We basically walked through the neighborhoods and he pointed out anything of interest- certain buildings with neat history or architecture, homes where famous people used to live, and any restaurants/bars/bakeries/food shops he felt were worthy of mentioning. We also stopped at 8 different restaurants or food shops and got to sample one of their menu items. It was an ethnically diverse tour, so we tried Indian food, Jamaican food, Italian cheese and meat, Israeli food, a Turkish dessert, Greek yogurt, and potato pizza (not sure where that was from). It was all very good. He also took us in a couple of other restaurants that had neat interiors and we enjoyed seeing those and noting them as places to go to in the future. It was very enjoyable and I have a whole new list of restaurants I need to try!

We went to Chinatown and ended up being slightly more adventurous than I have been in the past. We followed a man several blocks who handed us off to a woman who took us a couple of more blocks, who handed us off to another woman, who took us in a store and walked us to a room way in the back of the building where we found a little girl selling very high-quality purses. They were the best quality I’ve seen yet…just like real (or maybe real and stolen)?? I wasn’t really in the market for a purse, but Amber got 2 really great ones at this store and another cheaper one at one of the usual Canal street stores. We had a lot of fun discovering this new shop, though!

We had brunch at the Popover Café, another popular brunch spot I’ve been wanting to try. It’s been around for a long time and the food was excellent. The atmosphere wasn’t as cute or cool as some of the other places, but the food was some of the best. And, the popovers were amazing, of course.

We went to see the costume exhibit at The Met. The costume exhibits are one of my favorite things at the museum. This was Poiret’s collection. I can’t say I’d ever heard of this designer before, but he was Asian so a lot of his clothing had Asian influence. He had a lot of very classic stuff as well. These clothes were made around the 1920’s and I swear there were some evening dresses and long coats that someone could get away with wearing today and would look gorgeous. He was friends with Coco Chanel, so one of her dresses was included in the exhibit. I saw an entire exhibit of her clothes 2 years ago and continue to be amazed at how timeless her collection is.

We ate dinner at Kashkaval…haven’t been in a very long time! It’s the Mediterranean place up the street from me. We had a plate full of Mediterranean dips…hummus, artichoke, taboule, etc…. We also had Kashkaval (it’s a cheese) fondue that was absolutely delicious.

Monday night, we ate Ethiopian food, which I’ve been wanting to try for a while. There are 2 Ethiopian restaurants in my neighborhood. One of them has multiple locations, including one in Greenwich that had been recommended by our tour guide on Saturday, so we decided to try that one. It was really good and interesting. You don’t eat Ethiopian food with utensils. Most of it is stew-like and is brought on top of bread. You tear off pieces of bread to scoop the food up. It was fun.

We also saw Avenue Q…the controversial Broadway musical with puppets. Although I have been skeptical of this show, I still had wanted to see it since it has been so popular. I have known people who won’t see this one because they’ve heard it’s Rated R, basically. I didn’t think it was too terrible, though. Nothing you’d want to take a kid to, but I wasn’t offended. I was also worried about the puppets- I’m just not a fan. But, those actually didn’t bother me either. Really, I liked the show! I wouldn’t rank it at the top, but I also wouldn’t rank it at the bottom. It was a very funny show, with an easy to follow story-line and it was about a bunch of young people who have recently moved to the city, so I could relate in some ways.
All, in all, another good weekend visit!