My NYC Trip Food Edition

As I was going through my photos from my recent trip to New York City, I realized that with the exception of shots of my nephew throughout the city I took a LOT of photos of the foods we sampled.

Like this Zucchini Pizza...yum!

Pizza Roma on Bleecker

Before I share some more of my favorite bites, I want to say that my heart goes out to those affected by Superstorm Sandy in NYC and beyond. We were lucky to visit just before the storm hit (flying out late the Sunday before Sandy arrived) and we watched in horror as some of the places we visited took some hard hits. 

As life slowly returns to normal for those hit hardest by the storm, we need to remember that there are still many without power or worse without a home. Here's a link to an ABC News piece that has ways you can help Hurricane Sandy victims. 

Now back to the food of NYC...

Each afternoon, my nephew would get a little surly. Too many photos to pose for. Too much mom and aunt time. How did we improve his mood...Chocolate in any form. Pastries, hot chocolate, and, of course, cookies.

Last year when we had our girls weekend in NYC (during the infamous Snowtober storm), we had the best of intentions of going to cool restaurants at night. However, after walking miles in the cold, wet weather, we didn't keep any of our reservations.

This year we did better, including an early dinner at Schiller's Liquor Bar (it IS family friendly, I promise). The best part? Since we ate so early, my sister and I took advantage of the Happy Hour specials and sampled their sliders and fries...yum!

 Their selection of NY beer was most excellent.

While Starbucks is a daily stop when I'm at home, in NYC my sister has a rule of not eating anywhere we can at home so we sought out local bakeries and coffee shops for breakfast.

 Almond Brioche Toast...heavenly

I actually found the recipe online here and it's from the Amy's Bread cookbook, which is the bakery we stopped at. I may have to try this for Christmas breakfast.

Sticky bun!! 

We also hit up a couple of places tied to celebrity chefs, including Mario Batali's Otto Pizzeria, and Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft in Rockefellar Center.

Roasted Pumpkin grilled cheese...wow!

We had so much other great food but I was too busy eating to take photos. I highly recommend the cookies from Levain Bakery...they are huge and gooey and heavenly! And if you are on the Upper Westside and craving a quick bite, check out Gray's Papaya and their hot dogs (2 hot dogs and a juice for less than $5). They are a great on-the-go snack.

We have decided to make our NYC trip an annual outing so if you have other suggestions of good places to grab a bite, please share.

Side Note: Until I uploaded the last photo, I thought the name of the restaurant was Witchcraft...I am very smart, I swear.

Where in NYC is Gal in the Middle

My sister, oldest nephew and I visited New York City recently (more about our trip soon).

We took in Times Square our first night there...can you find us on the large screen that captures live video of visitors?

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Here's a hint...we may be circled below and I may or may not have a camera in front of my face!

As much as Times Square is so iconic to NYC, it's one of my sister's and my least favorite places there.

Way too many people in way too small of a space...if I wanted to be shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of strangers, I'd head to the subway!

Way too commercial...hopefully international visitors branch out from the Red Lobster, Applebee's and Olive Gardens located there to experience other unique NYC eateries. (Nothing wrong with those listed above but I can eat at those in Indy...I want something different when I'm in the big city!)

Way too easy to get turned around...my sister and I both had problems navigating within Times Square. I had trouble navigating the streets of NYC period but my sister was a wizard with the map and always got us to where we wanted to go, except in Times Square!

Way too everything!

Can't wait to share more about our trip...stay tuned!

Wednesday Loves

This is my second attempt at this blog post (let's just say that my iPad app is now in the doghouse) so I want to say that it will be better than the first attempt...but I'm pretty sure it won't be!

I have struggled of late to write posts with real content and just don't know what's wrong with me (don't worry "I'm not crazy...my mother had me tested." Name that show.).

So I am once again resorting to my iPhone photos and Instagram to create some content, instead of writing an inspiring, uplifting or motivational post...wait a minute, that doesn't happen even when I do a written post!

Oh well, enjoy some snippets of my life of late and if you find my inspiration, please tell it I miss it!

My cards for Blissdom arrived yesterday! So exciting. I can't believe it's a week away. Just found out Rascal Flatts is performing - wow.

I'm in LOVE with tights. My sisters and I actually spent 30 minutes in the hosiery section of Filene's Basement while we were in NYC this fall. (Quick fact...the store is NOT in an actual basement, see photo below.) I loved the above tights so much, I bought them in brown too.

This is the view from the Filene's Basement in NYC...as you can see NO ONE was out that day...maybe because it was cold and raining. Didn't have to fight crowds but made it hard to enjoy our walks through the city.

This is my adorable niece whose parents left her in my care for several days while they went on a cruise. I returned her to them with a double ear infection and hair that hadn't been washed in days. I told them the only guarantees I would make was that I would feed her and she'd be alive when they returned. Both happened.

This is my favorite photo of late...my two youngest nephews dumped a gallon bag of "army men" on the rug (which hasn't been swept in weeks) at my front door. It looks to be a scene out of Home Alone when Kevin set the traps for the pair of bungling burglars. Luckily, I remembered they were there as I came down the steps or I may have taught them some new words after stepping on them in bare feet!

Revisiting My Bucket List

I try not to make New Year's resolutions because I never follow through and then I just feel bad when I don't follow through so it's better to just not make them!

I don't vow to lose weight, get more organized, or quit smoking. In my defense, I don't smoke so that's moot.

However, the start of 2012 did make me think about my Bucket List and working towards marking at least one more thing off the list this year. 

Last year, I was excited to be able to cross off "Go to NYC and see at least one Broadway show." 

We saw Brooke Shields in The Addams Family. Can you define normal?

Technically, I could cross off  "Wear a two-piece swimsuit at a tropical resort (not Hawaii)," but I really meant wear a bikini. I wore a tankini (is that a real word?) and swim shorts in Cancun so I think that's cheating. I was more covered than most women in the 1950s on the beach!

 As I was looking through my NYC photos, I did realize that I am getting close to crossing off "Grow my hair longer than shoulder length just to see how it looks."

Don't my sisters and I look very chic in our sunglasses and black rain jackets. (Believe me, we needed the rain jackets much more than the sunglasses during that trip!)

Do you make resolutions? If so, how successful are you?

Weekend in NYC

Remember my Dreams of NYC post?

The one where I was going to experience the city so well-portrayed by my favorite television shows?

I NEVER FOUND Central Perk, though I did find a bakery and had these for breakfast one morning.

Crumbs

Don't worry about the calories consumed. We split the two cupcakes between four girls...and we walked 6 miles that day! The White Hot Chocolate cupcake on the left was DELICIOUS. 

I NEVER FOUND McLaren's Bar but we did have some wonderful cocktails at Stecchino in Hell's Kitchen .

I may have had one or two French 75's!

I NEVER DID karaoke in a bar with my posse but we did catch a Broadway Show!

One thing I DID do that was on my list was visit Mood - the fabric store from Project Runway!

Don't you just love just love what they did with some orange tulle?

Despite an early cold spell and rain and SNOW, we had a great time in the city and I'm even more determined to go back. This time I'm planning a late spring/early summer trip though!

Hooking up with Kelly's Korner - Show Us Your Life Non-Mommy Bloggers!

Dreams of NYC

The Big Apple better watch out...my posse and I are heading your way soon.

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Well...at least two of my sisters, a friend and I are taking our first trip to NYC. I'm going to consider them my posse because the trip was my idea!

I am probably more excited about this trip than I have been about a vacation since my first (and second) trip to Kauai...or paradise as I call it.

I'm not sure if my excitement is because I've never been to NYC and there's so much to do and see...

OR if it's because so many of the shows I watch on TV are set in the city.

Here's how I'm envisioning our visit going...

Cue dream sequence music...


We'll be picked up at the airport in a taxicab by Ranjit from How I Met Your Mother...

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and he'll drop us off at MacLaren's where we'll suit up and be AWESOME!

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The next morning we'll get up and grab a coffee at Central Perk.

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Before heading out for a day of sight-seeing and shopping.

We might even end our evening at a fabulous bar doing some karaoke like this Fab Four...

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What? You don't think ANY of that will happen. Really?

OK, I admit that my dreams of hanging out on the couch at Central Perk with Monica and the Gang probably won't come true.

But what about all the cool places I see in the reality shows that revolve around NYC.

We could stop by Mood and pick up some fabrics...

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and run into Tim Gunn who will tell us to "make it work!" I think this would totally be the way he'd look at us if we were to try and design an outfit for him!

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Or we could just go into Second Time Around - the cool upscale resale shop featured on Bravo's Fashion Hunters.

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I'm pretty sure I still can't afford anything in the store even if it's priced 75 percent off the original price but wouldn't it be fun to browse?

Then we could grab a bite at one of the city's many food trucks...

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Maybe we could even find the Korilla truck from the Great Food Truck Race show. I'd love to find out if they really did add money to the till.

No matter what we end up doing, where we end up visiting and who we end up seeing, I know the trip will be great.

Any suggestions on must dos while we are in town? Send them my way!

Dreams of Travels

This summer is super busy for me at work so I have NO vacation plans in the near future.

So, as much as I'd like to go here...

Source: google.ca via Megan on Pinterest

or here...

Source: nationalgeographicexpeditions.com via Megan on Pinterest

or back here...

Source: airninja.com via Megan on Pinterest

I don't think I'll be going ANYWHERE for a while.

But I've promised myself some vacation time in September and/or late October, possibly a long weekend in New York City with my sisters.

Source: google.com via Megan on Pinterest

I've never been to NYC but have always wanted to go there and see a Broadway musical.

Source: None via Chandra on Pinterest

So, I'm looking for suggestions, travel tips and recommendations.


What show(s) should we see?
Where should we stay?
Where should we eat?

Don't be shy, any help is greatly appreciated!