Only in NYC

Only in New York City do you walk by the Armani Exchange store in Soho on your way to meet your friend Danielle who is in town visiting from Atlanta and see nearly naked men standing in a window and dancing on a podium in store. Definitely took me by surprise and made me laugh at the women pushing each other out of the view point of the window so that their friend could photograph them standing with the hotties. Hotties is a relative term. Although these gentlemen did take very good care of their physique I was not so much interested and this I was fairly correct in assuming that they would not take much interest in my gender, I mean seriously they were standing in the window for the Armani store…its kind of a given. Hey I will admit a little eye candy didn’t hurt anyone.


Met up with Erin Nicole and Danielle and went to get a quick bite at Dukes, I guess even if you move down to Atl you miss the greasey NYC deli/ cafeteria. We headed to local 138 and realized that was a huge mistake with the huge amount of people that were there enjoying their Friday afternoon after work and end of week drink…or drinks. So we headed to fat baby further into the les and just hung out there for a bit, It was awesome to see Danielle and a lot of people I met through her that I never see much of until she is in town. Met a friend of hers from Cali and realized she works with a friend of mine from college at the Bliss offices. Small world. Had a quiet Friday, headed home at 9 ish to make birthday cupcakes for my brother’s birthday bbq being held in Prospect Park Saturday afternoon. I was in bed at 11:30 on a Friday night…getting wild in my old age!

[today is his actual birthday, happy birthday steve!]

Saturday I got up and met Danielle and a few people at Counter for vegan brunch. It was tasty, I enjoy going there but I don’t think I would classify it as my fav. I think they could do a lot better with what they put out. The Country basket and the spreads are delicious, but the frittata I had left me a little less than satisfied although I did feel heavy with grease after eating it. I don't think that is what you should feel after brunch. Then I headed out ASAP to get home and slap some cupcakes with some frosting, coconut and a raspberry topping then to dash off to Park Slope and meet up with Steve. The BBQ was a lot of fun. I was glad however that Kristen was my date since Eric was at work, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it much if someone on my own level wasn’t around.

[ Lemon with Vanilla Frosting, coconut and a raspberry...not to shabby if i do say so myself ]

We stopped by 2nd street and picked up Eric from work and them went home to paint ourselves pretty. When I first moved to NYC I used to go out all the time, probably too much of the time but I was young and bounced back a lot quicker than I do now. Caitlin and I used to head out Misshapes with her friend Alexis. It was always fun to go dancing but I think as I progressed in getting settled in NYC I went less and less and then eventually I realized I hadn’t gone in almost 2 years. I think I just took up different interests and also got less overwhelmed and intrigued by “new york nightlife”. Around the time I stopped going was when the press for the party sky rocked. It was very cool to see, so this past Saturday was the last party (also book release and fashion week). SO I dusted off whatever I could to blend in enough to look the part and Kristen and I met up with Alexis and Caitlin one more time to indulge in hipster-dom and hang out. I don’t know if it changed in the two year since I went or if I have change so much, but I was a little disappointed. Sure I had a great time but the amount of people was too much to deal with and the fact that you couldn’t dance without getting into a near fight was pretty depressing…who fights at a hipster dance party anyway. I am glad I went but absolutely get the feeling that it was time for the party to end. It used to be amazing so I’ll do my best to stick with the Luke and Leroy memories. “Well back in my day…”

Sunday was quiet; we had some eggs and cheesy bread for breakfast. It was really nice to just spend the day with Eric and doing little things here and there. We tried the new organic raw place on Court and got smoothies, we went to the farmers market, checked to see if I won the lottery (guess what, I didn’t) and then made some Potato Au Gratin with 2 cheeses, truffle butter, and parsley crème-fresh (after we made this I decided that if was going to eat that I would have to do something to balance it so I went running for a half and hour). We met up with bob and had a wonderful BBQ with Kirsten. Phil and Cate came home from their trips (cate was in Boston for a week and Phil in Germany), caught up and hear about the trips. Then went home and watched the tivo’ed Bret Michaels Rock of Love (sick sick dirty habit, but I promise you that if you can get through 2 episodes you’ll be hooked, its worse than hard drugs) and went to bed.

Eric keeps sending me pictures of the Maldives…its not fair! If I had the resources I would go home and pack tonight. Unfortunately the highlight of my night will be trying not to vomit during spinning class tonight. Maybe I should buy another lottery ticket tonight and try my chances. I mean someone has to win…why can’t it be me then I would be set to go anywhere and time. That would be the life.


And one last thing...cause he is too adorable. I love Murphy dogs!