stuff i DIDN'T' eat at places bc i couldn't walk...

let me just preface this post by saying, it's a good thing i got my 'party on' on monday because i've been OUT of commission since then. also, i didn't eat anything worth blogging about. in fact, this post is has absolutely nothing to do with food. sad, sad, sad.

THURSDAY, June 17th

first day of training! i woke up ready to WORK! but before that i headed over to my new coffee shop/hangout/whatever spot The Bean to get some iced beverage and a snack before my shift. (it's not the best coffee ever but its got AC and internet access and they don't bug me. score.) since i was just heading over 2 blocks for a few hours i thought, 'hey why don't i put on my tall tall shoes and practice being a big girl in the big city! its just three blocks, i'll be fine!'

4inch steve madden cork platforms. easy!

all was going well until i got a text from Rob seeing if i wanted to get some eats and walk on back to Freemans to talk to them about the hiring issue. sure! sounds good! i can walk over there! its like...6 blocks! no prob!

wrong. big probz.

in the middle of Freemans alley i ate it. (i mean, it's cobblestone so...ya know...its hard, ok!?) my right heel went one direction and my right toes and top of my foot went the other. Rob tried to catch me but it was too late. the damage had been done.

i totally tried to play it cool. "no, no im fine. totally fine. i got it. fine, totally, fine. never been better! sooo totally fine." i could barely breathe.

after the longest walk of my life back to Vanessa's Dumplings for a snack and then homeward (living 2 flights up never hurt so much) i got inside to check out the damage and get ready for my first day of work (!!!!)

it hurt. bad. but it looked...okkk...?

i shoved my foot into my favorite black booties and attempted to walk the 10-12ish blocks to work. (i got a cab 2 blocks in)

3 hours later i was dying and on my way home...

what i shoulda done was stayed home and iced it and taken care of business...

what i did was meet up with Jenny at the SubMercer. we had excellent, sexy drinks and an excellent, sexy time. the only way to describe this place is sexy. dark dark dark, dungeon-like, beautiful people, great music. totally worth the pain. (or so i thought)

i wish had some photos but even the Beamer couldn't capture anything in the darkness. here are some pics of me and Jenny in the bathroom instead! (it was a very cool bathroom...)

we had a blast until around 3:30 and Jenny walked (and i hobbled) me home. went to sleep hopeful that i would wake up and my foot would be magically healed.



FRIDAY, June 18th

shit. woke up in TROUBLE and not at all healed. swollen, black and blue and in excruciating pain. i was supposed to go back to work to train but that was just NOT happening. i had to write a very embarrassing email to my new boss explaining that after working only 3 hours, i was calling in sick. ugh. a terrible first impression but since i could barely walk to the bathroom let alone across the street to Duane Reed to get an ice pack and an ace bandage, cocktail-ing would have been IMPOSSIBLE.

i spent the whole day cooped up inside RICE-ing (rest, ice, compression & elevation- with no health insurance this was my only option), watching Sex and the City (if i couldn't be out in the city i figured i might as well watch other people enjoy it..although i blame that stupid show for making all girls think they can wear tall shoes- it's just not so), and eating weird stuff in the fridge. a sad sad day.

Nate came home and was an excellent roommate by getting me out of the house and suggesting we see a movie (and taking a cab to get there...) (note: Nate walks extremely fast. my legs are maybe 5 inches longer than his i have to run to keep up with him on a normal day, so he was forced to slow down to like 25% of his usual gait...such a good roommate.) we went to see Iron Man 2 and then we took my poor foot out for a drink at Blue and Gold and our new favorite place, St. Dymphna's (i couldn't find a decent link for this place but its great. good beer selection, not crowded and in the bathroom they have black walls and chalk for you to write stuff!)


my foot and i had a lovely time, but by the time we got home the swelling and pain had come back in full force and i knew i had pushed it and had another day of being cooped up to look forward to...

SATURDAY, June 19th

despite my pain, i was starving and wanted to watch the world cup so i popped an ibprofen800 and we walked the 6ish blocks back to St. Dymphna's to watch Denmark v Camaroon, and had a beer and some snacks. Chicken Fingers and a Cheese Plate. meh. (not even good enough to "bold") about halfway through the game i started falling asleep. i think those ib800's make me realllllly drowsy so we headed home and i propped my foot up for the rest of the day. (another sad sad day)

Nate and i watched Hot Tub Time Machine (which is hilarious!!) and then Nate turned 27 at midnight (HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!) and shockingly decided he'd rather be out celebrating his birth with beers and fast-moving friends instead of with ice packs and poor sad me. i mean, i didn't get it but to each his own...

i watched Doubt and went to sleep. sigh.

SUNDAY, June 20th

woke up sweaty and hot and HEALED!!!!!!!!!!! well, mostly healed. Andrew stayed the night on our couch/futon bed (you hear that visitors! we have a bed for you!) and Garret came home at like 6am so it was a full/fun house this morning!
we went to get (iced) coffee at 88 Orchard (again, no good link) and it was fucking HOT (sorry mom). like real real hot. the iced coffee was very welcomed. here is me being a trooper and walking around despite my stupid foot.

Andrew headed back over the bridge and G, Nate & i went to Belcourt and had birthday brunch with Nate. i got the Croque Madame with house-cured lamb ham, gruyère,mornay sauce and fried eggs that was kinda meh, Garret got Grilled Cheese and Sage Sandwich with organic tomato soup and mixed green salad that was pretty awesome and Nate got Vanilla and bourbon French toast with house made ricotta and New York State maple syrup that looked amazing.

the fun/funny thing about our brunch was that Liz Kelly ala UCSB (BFA-er, the witch in DLM's first musical Tomorrowland and all around good gal) was our waitress! small world!

back home to rest my foot, for Nate to nap and for Garret to go on a run and then we were off to Brooklyn (L train, Jefferson stop) for Rob & Andrew's BBQ Rooftop Party.
it was a blast. and the air up there on the roof was like no other air i've ever felt. a warm, fresh breeze with the smells of cooking lamb and pork and hawt dawgs. (after a few beers and a some other stuff i started doing this crazy Stanton Island/Long Island/Jersey accent that was cracking me and Garret up and most likely bugging the shit out of everyone else...)

since i didn't have any good food pics or food stories, here are some photos from the rooftop party. enjoy!

Hipstamatic/Quirky Beamer/mugshot pics
Andrew & Lindsey
Nate & Garret
Rob & Wray

xo L

Rob & Andrew, aka stuff i DRINK at places

Meet Rob and Andrew...

sheeeeeeeesh. what a way to start a week...this post is going to be about stuff i drink because well, it's worth blogging about. benders are fun to read about, right?? (jk mom/dad/jill/grandma/&co. i did not go on a bender)

MONDAY, June 14th
(i'm gonna stop doing the 'DAY # and just go with the date. is that ok with everyone? great.)

i was plannnnnnnning on being a good girl and not spending any money today (or very little) and spending the whole day looking for a job and/or putting my room together. well, that didn't happen. it all started with the World Cup...

Italy vs. Paraguay. sorry, had to watch it. that's my team. (i know, i know it's a totally unpopular team choice but i dont care. remember the D&G ads from the World Cup 2006???!!! Stephanie, remember the size of that billboard in the Milan Airport!? huge.)

so first i met up with another SF friend Andrew Pettit who is a chef and who i can totally nerd out with about things like produce and cooking utensils...
first things first, food. we went back to Vanessa's Dumpling House and THIS time i got a picture...

Pork and Chive FRIED dumplings this time and the same AMAZING Sesame Pancake with Peking Duck. (you just have to get that every time i think.) also i got a Jasmine Green Iced Tea. $5. alll of that. Andrew accidentally got two orders of dumplings that he didn't even order but didn't realize he had overpaid because they are $1!! score!

GAME TIME!

(those of you who are surprised that i would be so excited about watching the World Cup, please refer to the first paragraph of this post. also turns out soccer is fun to watch!)

we went to a bar called Lorely on Rivington and had some big ol beers and watched the game....
(number 19 is Gianluca Zambrotta and the babest babe of the team of babes. in my opinion)

it was really fun. Italy played like pussies, (sorry family, but they did and there is no other way to describe it) and Paraguay played incredible defense. thank GOD they tied...

after our rousing game of soccer watching and big ol beers drinkin we met up with Rob at Yuca Bar & Restaurant so he could eat and Andrew and i could have a mojito...(i told you this was the stuff i drink edition. don't judge me). it was delish.
and it had a sugar cane stick in it! fun! i had one, Andrew had two, so go ahead and judge him. (jk AP)

onward...

we couldn't think of anything we just HAD to do in Manhattan so we ventured on to Brooklyn- to Williamsburg so that Andrew and Rob could shop for records (if that is not the most hippster sentence to write, i just don't know what is...) so i got bored. i almost bought a Madonna album for $4 but i figured Nate would kill me if i brought that home and tried to play it on his awesome record player...so i went outside and fiddled around on my iphone and then i hear "Bramell? what are you doing here?!" and there is Jenny! the 5th person i know in NY just happens to wander by. this is not as big of a city as i thought...
here is a picture of Rob being super Rob next to an innocent children's clothing store sign...(for shock value) Rob's number is saved in my phone as 'Rob aka the Jerk' but for the record HE put that in there like that. he's not nearly as big of a jerk as he likes to think he is...

so after Rob bought some metal albums and Andrew bought a reggae album we moved on to Radegast Hall & Biergarten which was realllllllly cool. they had a very impressive list and again, BIG OL' BEERS. i decided to chill out so i got half liters but the boys kept going with the liters...

this picture is of the "outside" area that wasn't actually outside because there was no smoking. the inside is just as cool.


so we stayed there for quite awhile and drank more beers. and talked about SF and working in food service (Andrew the chef, Rob the bartender/bar-back and me the server)

then Nate came and somehow i ended up with another liter of beer and i started looking like a ghoulie:




btw, this picture was taken using the Quirky device called Beamer and the Hipstamatic iPhone app so thats why it looks so crazy. that being said, it was totally dark when we took this picture so the Beamer works really well!!

since we had exhausted our fun at the Biergarten and we were starving we headed over to....

The Charleston?? this is where things get confusing...because they were calling this bar The Charleston BUT i think they were also calling it Alligator Lounge??? and we got free pizza..soo... PLUS on the outside of this mystery bar there were signs that said honeysomething...i dont know. but we went there and had free pizza and MORE beer. at this point we were just doing it to do it. in it to win it:

it was a good time. Brett came to meet us with some friends as well but we were sorta toast at that point so we left soon after...

productive day? no sir. FUN? yes yes.

TUESDAY, June 15th

i literally did not leave the house today. i was punishing myself for my indiscretions and irresponsibility of the day before. i stayed in and recovered and heated up left overs and looked for jobs and watched things on my laptop. oh, wait, i did leave the house once. i left the house to have a chat with my parents. i walked around the block because i was feeling pretty gross about being inside all day. also i ordered Indian food which was fun but nothing to blog about.


WEDNESDAY, June 16th

GOOD DAY TODAY!!!

first things first i went to the gym! whoo! i went to the 24 hour fitness in Soho and IT WAS SO FREAKIN' SWANKY. tvs in front of each machine, lockers with digital locks, soooo nice, and so unlike the two janky 24 hour gyms in SF. (nikki won't step foot in the Potrero anymore because she swears it smells like actual shit)
so i was thrilled!! and i worked out and watched the Spain v Switzerland game (which was way more exciting to watch than Italy v Paraguay because both teams were playing HARD)
sadly i learned that my $29.99/mo membership only applies to the janky versions of 24 Hour. this was an "Ultra Sport" and $64.99/mo. and all the gyms in NY are Ultra Sports. sigh. so sad. i was so excited...i put my account on hold until i get a great paying job so i can go back...

i took some pictures of our front stoop and street for you to all see:

i keep trying to get a pic of the whole building but there is ALWAYS big white van parked right in front..i'll get one eventually.

i wandered around the hardware store and got some screws for my shelves and then went home and fiddled around/cleaned/organized and got ready for my interview at 5:30.

I GOT A JOB. I GOT A JOB. I GOT A JOB. I GOT A JOB.
(btw this is 5 for 5 of being hired on the spot after an interview. jus sayin)

its not my DREAM job but its gonna be fun and pay pretty well i think. i'll be cocktail waitress-ing and serving at Oneials. the funny thing about this bar is that it is on the Sex and The City Tour because it is the bar that Aiden and Steve open called Scout...pretty funny. when i was interviewing there were like 20 women all drinking cosmos and the manager, George told me part of the job will be making cosmos for HOURS for this tour..should be verrrrrry interesting...

(im going to keep looking for that 'dream job')

so i wanted to celebrate! Nate and i went to dinner at Freemans Restaurant and had AMAZING cocktails. (check out the menu..) we each started the the French 75 Gin, lemon juice, Champagne in a tall glass with a twist and then had the Freemans Cocktail Rye, lemon juice and pemegranate moasses with bitters. the bartender there incredible to watch and the bar was soooooooooooo cool. this picture doesn't do it justice but you can kind of see...
there was all kinds of taxidermy and there are antlers all over the walls. it had really low lighting (nikki, you woulda been SUPER WEIRD in here). great decor. we were loving it. we sat at the bar for about an hour (but gladly) and then were seated. Nate got Seared Filet Mignon w/roasted onion, mashed potatoes and horseradish cream (which were some of the best mashed potatoes i've ever had...) and i had Goffle Road Farm Oven-Roasted Chicken with grilled romaine and house-made ranch dressing which was meh. i mean, it was really good but it wasn't INCREDIBLE. i loved the grilled romaine and the thigh was perfect but they overcooked the breast. and breasts are usually dry but i expected more...
no matter, it was a great meal and we had fun in there. i applied to work at the new place they are opening and so i tried to schmooze with the manager a bit...

the upcoming days have lots to offer including: my first day of training at the job, a cocktail party with Jenny at a subterranean whiskey cellar in Soho, hopefully a visit with Kate de Ayora (nikki's sister), a rooftop BBQ at Rob and Andrews house in Brooklyn and more eats!

xo, L

frito pie, swedish furnishings & cereal milk

ahoy! welcome back. let's just jump right on in, shall we?

DAY 6: Friday, June 11th

8:20am.
woke up to a RUDE RUDE awakening. long story short the wall guys came way way earlier than we expected and i was hurting: (recall previous post: "then Rob Medkeff came over and we went out to do some drankin'. and we did!") clumsily and absolutely smelling like whiskey i moved my shit out of the way, showed them where to put the door to my "bedroom" (henceforth, when i refer to my room it will be in quotations because the normal idea of a bedroom does not apply in this situation because it is literally a room for my bed. and that is all.) and passed the f out in Garrets bed to sounds of hammering.

up at noon (whatever, ok!) to get ready for my first NYC job interview. whooo! a cafe in the east village. for a position i am grossly overqualified for. (i got it, duh, but im holding out for something better) at this point it was 3:30 and i hadn't had coffee or food and i was hung over! found Two Boots
two blocks from home and got a slice they call The Newman Soppressata & Sweet Italian Sausage on a White pie. i barely remember eating it, i was so hungry. (jk of COURSE i remember it- it's pizza people! it was delicious and exactly what i wanted)

the next few hours were spent furnishing. including a hilarious struggle of trying to get my bed into my "bedroom". it was like trying to figure out a rubik's cube and i swear to god at one point i had both my mattress and my box spring shoved in the doorway. i started sweating and panting because i thought for sure i was going to be stuck in there forever. (ladies, it was similar to the 'ring stuck sweats' but scarier but it was my whole bod.) but i did it. also, ridiculous space. --->

Garret left for the west coast so Nate and i were flying solo for dinner. i met him at his Quirky office and we headed over to the West Village for eats. we went to Cowgirl (Hall of Fame) which was kitschy and fun. we started out with Frito Pie a bag of Fritos® topped with your choice of beef brisket or veggie chili, cheddar, onions, sour cream and jalapeños. i mean, c'mon. what do i really have to say about this? was it sophisticated? no. was it awesome paired with a margarita? yes. easily the highlight. i got mac and cheese and Nate got pork chops. we walked around the West Village which is preeeeettyy nice, you guys. not too shabby at all.....ahem. then we ended up at this secret basement bar (lounge?) called Baddies. the description on the link describes it pretty well. it was so dark and loud and the decor was so. weird/cool/a little bit like HIM...Bam Margera woulda loved it. (so would nikki)

onward to go say hi to Rob at The Standard Biergarten which was packed so we waved hello to Rob and moved on. btw, the Meat Packing District is INSANE. i looked decent that evening- not my most glamorous get up, but certainly not frump-town and good GOD did i feel like a 7th grader in crowd of ubber hip college students (excluding UCSB class of 2007. turns out we looked kinda bunk for 4 years...who knew!?) i was eager to get back to our neighborhood. i needed to shake that 'grandma at a Daft Punk concert' feeling off of me (excluding my grandma, of course. she'd love DP). we went to some other bar (i dont know you guys there are so many places. this one wasn't all that memorable...) next was Niagra where we danced to Uptown Girl, Got My Mind Set on You and other 80s hits. it was cheesy in the exact right way after the MPI (meat packing intimidation) aka, accidentally wandering into the back room at a party you weren't really invited to but came anyway where all the cool/rich kids are being like, hella rich and cool.

good night.


DAY 7: Saturday, June 12th

OMGYG! ONE WEEK IN! (omgyg = oh my god, you guys. that's for you grandma :) )

so the thing about living in New York, (look at me, already with the "the thing about New York"s...) but seriously, time is totally different. you are up really really late and so you wake up really really late and there are so many things to do and see (and stuff to unpack) and hours and hours of shopping at Ikea to do that you forget to eat until its 3. or 5. and you end up eating something super weird because you're starving. like at some weird Irish Pub in Wall St because you took the water taxi back from Ikea and this is where it dropped you off. so you eat at some place like Kilarney Rose because you want to catch the last 3 seconds of the USA v England game and its the closest Irish pub around and you get something like this:
look, this was not a meal to blog about. but i'm trying to prove a point. i'm trying to finish up a 'the thing about living in New York' statement.
it was janx. but we found a couch today. so. A+ for furnishing, C- for eating.

i met up with my old high school chum Jenny Gottstein (who seriously does EVERYTHING in this city in terms of cool jobs and cool living. good grief. she's also really fun and funny and exactly how i remember her- but cooler. we were drama nerds in high school. and fucking proud of it. D, i found me a new MDLFer to talk about it with ad nauseum) annnnnyway. we went to dinner at An Choi and had Vermicelli Bowls mine was Grilled Pork Basil Meatball & Crispy Spring Roll and it was perfect for the warm and muggy weather. i didn't get a picture because we were busy trying to catch up on the last 5 years...

when i got home the couch was built (way to go Nate!) and i started on the coffee table. all of a sudden it was midnight and we were supposed to be going to a party that Jenny invited us to at 12:30! we made it around 1am but it was cool because according to Jenny, "the dancing doesn't even really start until 1..." this place is nuts. parties starting at 1?! but! but the bars close at 2! no. no they do not. so this party. it was at a dim sum restaurant in this shopping mall under the Manhattan Bridge. a totally unassuming building and then a fucking AWESOME party inside. babes everywhere. we stayed for a few hours and then left semi early (ya know, like 3:45am...!??!) so that we could get a slice of THE PIZZA. (remember? life changing??) just as epic as i remembered...


DAY 8: Sunday, June 13th

again with the waking-up-late-and-forgetting-to-eat. this behavior is not conducive for someone who is writing about the stuff that she eats. at places.

today i:

- went to hardware store to get stuff for nesting
- tried to go to Katz but quickly realized that Sundays are the worst day to do that...(see, i TRIED to eat early!)
- put up a mirror, complete with "shit!"'s and "what the!? why isn't this working!!!???"'s and "are you SERIOUS?! i used the level! how is it still crooked?!"'s. sigh. im worried about putting up the shelves.
- ate Two Boots pizza again
- bought groceries and dinner for Nate and me: Orcchiette with Spicy Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
- watched True Blood

i did do one blog-worthy thing. after dinner Nate and i went to Milk Bar which is the dessert place of Momofuku. i got Cereal Milk Soft Serve with fudge sauce and cornflake crunch. it was so weird. it was good, but so weird. because seriously the soft serve tasted just like the milk at the end of a bowl of cereal. sweet and kinda salty and a little bit like corn? i dont know how they did it, but they nailed it. i plan on scouring the internet to find out what exactly they do to make it taste like that.there were all kinds of other treats i can't wait to try because of how weird this first one was! also, the place just look so cool. this is the neon sign in the window that says "milk" so cool! (nikki, you should get this sign and put it in your window...)

welp. thats it. i realized that i dont necessarily have to post about EVERYTHING i eat EVERY day. but i kind of want to see if i can. plus, this is like having a diary. and i really want to have a diary of my first year in NYC

(if i make it that long!! i'm still joblessssssssssssss!!!))

xox
L

ive been in nyc for 6 days...and here is why it's been great...

ok here we go!

so first of all, i totally forgot that i can take pictures on my iphone of these stuffs so that you can all see aforementioned stuffs. i have a few. but i'll try to have more in the future. ok LETS GO!

DAY 1: Saturday, June 5th.

If i'm being fair, (and i am) i should mention the stuff i ate on the plane to NY because it was not too shabby! im never flying on anything other than Virgin America again. the luxury! so i bought a sandwich. for like $9. which is crazy but was pretty good for an airplane. it was turkey and mozzarella and basil and tomatoes and some kind of olive tapenade spread and it was on a cheesy ciabatta roll. oh, i also bought some pringles. deeelish. (i also bought It's Complicated to watch...)

boring.

on to the good stuff!

so i get there and Nate meets me outside on the corner where the cab drops me off and we go upstairs to our RIDICULOUSLY SMALL apt and i literally dropped my stuff, grabbed my purse and said, 'lets go get a beer. pronto' and so we did!

we went to Back Forty
i started with a Captain Lawrence Pale Ale (for no reason in particular. i don't even like pale ales...but it was COLD and refreshing and delish) garret met up with us and we sat at the bar for a bit and then we were seated in the back garden. lovely! (don't you wish you had a picture of this garden?! i'll go back to all these places at some point and re-post...) so we started with a special Pork Belly with cherry coulis and Tokyo turnips. it was decadent! i couldn't decide on what i wanted so went with the Chicken Liver Mousse with cracklins and crostini and the Baked Swiss Chard Gratin with Von Trapp Oma Cheese and Crispy Phyllo.
Both were great but i ate too much chicken liver mousse. no one should eat that much pate in one sitting. i felt like i was gonna ralph. Nate had Ancho Pepper Lamb Sausage with Chickpea Ragout and Spiced Yogurt Sauce. Garret had The Grass Fed Burger with Homemade Spicy Ketchup. we were all SO FULL but the waiter told us about the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and that was enough to convince Nate...

all in all, great first meal. (despite the barfy liver mousse feeling but that was totally a user error)

then we went out and out and out (to places i can't remember) and i saw more tall guys in one place then i have ever seen ever. and it was awesome. and we met a friend named Sharq (with a Q) who said he was going to show us the real NY and knew about all our favorite places in SF. i have his number. i might still call him. why not?


DAY 2: Sunday, June 6th

when you stay up until 4am, you accidentally sleep until noon. it's really easy. so thats what happened. (btw, we were sleeping on aero beds- sleepover style and we STILL slept till noon)

our destination was to go to a free Camera Obscura show in Brooklyn. what we found was an AWESOME flea market. ohhh! i have a picture of this!

hmm. its not a great picture but it was AWESOME. it was in this great old train station? bank? sdfjofjwf? whatever it was, it was dope. and there was TONS of stuff to look at. but i think it was like 1:30 or 2pm by the time we got there and we were STARVING. so we found food! Garret got a fish taco that looked awesome and Nate and i both got grilled cheese sandwiches from

Milk Truck . We both goth the Classic with a Twist which- aged gruyere, grilled onions, whole grain mustard on rye. Deeeeeelish!

After realizing that it was way way too crowded to see Camera Obscura we moved on. since i had been wearing the same clothes for 3 weeeeeeekss i was feeling desperate for some new duds so we went to Beacons Closet which the boys quickly peaced from and i stayed and got a dress and a white mesh shirt (?!). but we were still hungry!! so we met with G & N's work friend Matt at

Smoke Joint. We all had Abita beers and Garret and i split some Brooklyn Wings sweet and spicy crispy wings.

Oh and by the way it was a full tornado warning for 6 counties in NY. nutz. we saw trees fallen over. annnnnnyway. when the storm had passed and the sun came out again we moved on. next stop was

Habana Outpost. so cool! we had super cheap beers from SixPoints ($2.75!) and we shared two Cuban Sandwiches roast pork, ham, swiss cheese, and pickles with chipotle mayo. (they boasted it was the best cuban sandwich in ny...preeeettty damn good.) I didn't get a picture of it. BUT i got a picture of the place! so cool!

i shoulda taken a picture of the truck where you order the food but ya know. i'm still learning...
onward! next stop was Hot Bird which was a new bar. cool. whatever. at that point i had done a lot of day drinking in the hot hot muggy heat. soooo.

we finished the day with a movie. Get Him to the Greek. very funny. and we ate popcorn and sour patch kids. the end.


DAY 3: Monday, June 7th

this is when things started getting really good you guys....

so i wake up at noon again (whatever, i was adjusting...)
and i did some resume stuff sorta kinda from the internet i was stealing from the building. thanks Haley! and then i left the house to meet G to get dumplings. lemme tell you, if i didn't have my iphone i would be so fucking lost. and yet, i still got lost... no matter, i found the place called

Vanessa's Dumpling House.
(i guess it was in the lower east side?) ok so we ordered 6 Chive and Pork Steamed Dumplings and we each got a Sesame Pancake with Duck. total cost??? $5. the dumplings where ONE DOLLAR. for six!!! and the pancake deal was $4. sooooo so so good. one of the best things ive ever had. the pancake thing was like a sandwich with sesame seeds and on the inside it had a sweet plum sauce, duck, green onions. ughh. and the dumplings! shut the door!

so Garret and i are on a quest to eat cheap cheap stuff all the time. $10 a day! cheap eats! yeeeoww! so when he got home we went to get dinner at

Mamouns (thanks Jen Phannguyen!!) and got Falafel Sandwiches Falafel in a pita bread stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes and tahini sauce. for $4. awesome. oh, plus a drink.

a $10 day people!

i hung out with Brett Helms that night at the wine shop where he works Tino Fino and we drank some Rose and some Albarino. refreshing!

end of day. ANOTHER night sleeping on the aero beds. baaah! the worst.


DAY 4: Tuesday, June 8th

so productive! (but still slept til 11:30-12...) first things first, to find a place with free wifi and decent coffee. hey wow, i found one! its like i'm living in nyc or something! ask you shall receive! Hello Arlo & Esme! (from the website it seems to be some kind of club/lounge! knew to me...when i was there it was a very small quiet cafe with free wifi and mediocre coffee...) anywho, got some work done there on the ol job hung and then met Garret for our next try at $10 a day at a Vietnamese Sandwich place called

Banh Mi Saigon. it was in the back of a jewelry store. so weird. so you can get your Banh mi with a side of necklace. or ring.? weird. BUT the sandwiches were awesome! we both got the #1 Classic Bahn Mi, Pork spicy! $3.50. and dopppppppeee. super crunchy bread, warm, and the pork was awesome. sweet and crunchy. i headed over to Think Coffee and had a green tea and did resume stuff.

i met up with my friend Tyler Parker and we walked around and sat in Thompson Square Park for a bit and chatted. about Barbizon among other things. funny. and lovely. but while i was chatting the TP, i TOTALLY forgot about going to the fucking Coach party with all my fav fashion bloggers!!! (although maybe i probably, definitely, absolutely forgot on purpose because i didn't have any of my clothes yet and how can you go to a party with fashion bloggers in duds that you've been wearing for 3 weeks?) oh well...next time.

but i got a treat for dinner! Garret and Nate's boss Mitch and his lovely wife April took us all out to dinner at Double Crown. the first thing they said was, "just to warn you, we always over order". it was like music to my ears...here is what we got (we shared it all family style)

FOREVER CRISP CHICKEN WINGS Szechuan style

DUCK STEAMED BUNS with hoisin sauce

CRISPY PORK BELLY with chili caramel and cucumber

DOUBLE CROWN FRIES with Chinese sausage, sriracha mayonnaise

YELLOWTAIL SASHIMI with cucumber, hijiki, citrus-truffle dressing

SEARED TUNA with wasabi tobiko, bonito custard, and sweet sake sauce

PRAWN DUMPLINGS in a hot and sour broth

SWEET & SOUR EGGPLANT with tofu and pickled bean sprouts

STEAMED SNAPPER with prawn gyoza, sesame broth, bok choy

BIG BRAISED SHORT RIB Guinness and five spice sauce, brussels sprouts

JASMINE RICE

CHINESE BROCCOLI with ginger dressing

dear god. we ate like kings. amazing. wonderful! my favorite thing were the Prawn Dumplings. they were served in this amazingly fragrant broth with lemon grass and ginger. mmm!

the company was just as good as the food. Mitch and April were delightful and so so generous to take us all out (including me!) after dinner we headed over the secret gin bar in the back of the restaurant called Madamn Geneva and we had some delicious gin cocktails.

and with alllllllll that food, we still only spent $3.50 on Bahn Mi for lunch! success!!

DAY 5: Wednesday, June 9th.

not a great day for seeing and eating folks. i was up at 10:30 (before noon!) and i walked out to get a cup of coffee and a somethin somethin somewhere close before the movers came. found Coyi Cafe. cute. got a bagel and cream cheese and and iced coffee ($4) i'll be back because they have Bahn Mi there too. (but for $6.75...s'no jewelry shop Bahn Mi...)

and then the mayhem began...

we had movers coming in and out with our boxes and then the internet guy showed up and was installing the thing and at one point he had his ladder IN THE DOORWAY while the moving guys were trying to move our boxes in. nutty.

i spent most of the day putting together our kitchen which was crazy because we have just way too many appliances. i get it why new yorkers don't cook that much. there is just no fucking room. but i will MAKE ROOM. its really not that bad.

after alllllllllllllllll day of moving the boys came home and we moved and unpacked and then realized we were STARVING so we headed over to

Black Iron Burger where i had one of the best meals of my life. it had a lot to do with the timing of it all. sweaty and tired from moving stuff the perfect meal was a Black & Blue Burger with blue cheese and cajun seasoning and a cold beer (can't remember what kind) Nate got Onion Rings and Garret got Veggie Fries (which were green beans breaded and fried like french fries) the Veggie fries were pretty good but come on. Onion rings?! gimme a break. Garret also got a Strawberry Shake that was kinda so so but maybe it was because the burgers were so awesome that we didn't give two shits about a freakin' shake.

looong day. and dear lord it was good to have BEDS!!

DAY 6: Thursday, June 10th

Did some unpacking and some resume-ing and then met G & N for lunch at

Porchetta. If you have ever been to Italy and specifically to Florence and even more specifically to the indoor market in Florence you may know how DOPE it was to discover this copy cat in my neighborhood. Obviously we got the Porchetta Sandwich which was literally just the crispy, seasoned, juicy pork on a ciabatta type roll. no condiments, just PORK. so. fucking. good.

we ate in silence.

and then i immediately called my parents to brag. they LOVE the aforementioned Porchetta in Florence and are always trying to find a substitute or re-create it. well guys, i found it. and i promise to take you there first thing.

the rest of my day was laundry and more unpacking. in the move our box with all the stuff from our pantry (which i INSISTED on packing because by God i have built up that pantry for the last year and we are taking every single spice and sauce in it!) had some mayjah spilliage. onto other boxes. mainly my sheets...so my sheets smelled like vanilla, sesame oil and soy sauce. super weird. luckily there is a laundromat like 4 doors down. nbd.

the boys got home and nate and i wandered off to get food. this was the first meal that was kinda unmemorable. we went to a place called

Mamas Food Shop which serves homestyle, southern food like Mama's Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes and Mama's Fried Chicken with Mac and Cheese which is exactly what Nate and I got, respectively . HUGE portions for a good price (but more than either of us could eat) pretty good. didn't blow me away.

then Rob Medkeff came over and we went out to do some drankin'. and we did! went to bars 151, (dark and underground- this is where i saw all the tall doods the first night) Blue and Gold (which is so so cheap and reminded us of 500 Club which was comforting) and The International.

AND THEN I HAD A LIFE CHANGING PIZZA MOMENT.

we're standing outside The International and Garret pulls me aside and says, "i need to show you something". the something was South Brooklyn Pizza. They don't even have a website up because they just moved to Manhattan from duh, Brooklyn. we walked by and saw a hot, fresh Pizza Margherita coming out of the oven and i. had. to. have. some. GOD DAMN YOU GUYS! get a load of this beauty....i couldn't even wait to take the picture before i had a bite!!!

this one gets the center pictures spot because of its glory. there was just enough basil on it to permeate the flavor throughout the whole piece, the sauce was light and spicy, the cheese was evenly distributed for it being fresh mozzarella and the crust was crunchy and tender and crispy and thin and ughgoasfiwajef;ijwaefj;aowejfow.

ridick. im in love.

(and since i was kinda buzzed i left the place saying "thank you! thank you so much! thank for existing!!" hahaha)

phew.

thats all i have. and its a lot. thats 6 days of stuff i ate at places and other things like that. i'd like to make this a daily or bi-daily kind of thing so that it doesn't take hours and hours to write and 10 min to read...

xo, L