saturday (7/2) :: day 2
Waking up early was pretty much impossible after a late night, but we eventually met Leah in Soho for some shopping and exploring. By the way, the whole bars open until 4am thing is much appreciated, get it together Oregon! We grabbed some iced coffees at Dean & Deluca, which we ended up visiting a few times throughout the trip. (It is a really nice little market, and they are pretty much everywhere). The first and only store I really visited was TopShop. If only I had more money I could have really gotten to business in there with some sparkly items, bit I did walk away with a few pieces of jewelry and some sunglasses. Next we wandered through Little Italy, though briefly because there was some extremely loud opera singing going on for some reason. Leah assured us that no, that was not normal. Next stop, Chinatown, (which is much more expansive then that of Portland). My most exciting purchase of the day was a set of chopsticks from a small shop that sells only chopsticks. I have wanted some nice ones for a long time and have yet to test them out. Bonus, they came in a lovely little box. (I will catalogue all of my new items/post cards/photobooth shots on an end post).
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| [[ good morning nyc. view from our hotel room. waiting for the subway. little italy. china town. store displays: bumblebee. sewing machine. nike meets gladiator. my hair in the morning at topshop. ]] |
It was starting to get really hot outside and we were all tired and hungry so we stopped in to this little Cuban restaurant that Leah likes called Habana. They have the best corn on the cobb I have ever had! (and yes, I realize that sounds extremely odd). It was grilled and layered with cheese, paprika, and I don't even want to know what else. Quite simply, it was delicious. Even the rice and beans there were good, and to take the cake, blended mojitos! Have you ever heard of such a thing? By far the most refreshing beverage I have ever had. I need to do some home experimentation on both the corn and the mojitos. After lunch we went our opposite ways for some rest before the evenings festivities. For me and Pat, it was nap time.
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| [[ happy. brain freeze. blended mojito. corn on the cobb. ]] |
At night we all met up again on the rooftop bar of the Gramercy Hotel for Rose, one of Leah's best friends birthday party. Most... expensive... drinks... ever. Random event of the night: At one point after all of us had been there for a while, Leah turns to me and says "Wait... Isn't that the guy from N'Sync?" Yep, Joey Fatone was sitting with a group of people right next to us and no one even noticed. I have to say, I am a little bit bummed out that my first 'celebrity' sighting was a past boybander. I mean sure, Justin Timberlake fine, but other then that, no thanks. Sigh. Next time. Anyway, the drinks were overpriced, but the venue was pretty sweet. I wandered around for a little while and found a room completely lit up by a ceiling full of lightbulbs suspended at varying lengths. Love!
(((GWS just did a post about this venue, and they have some much better pictures of it)))
After two rounds, we took off for another spot in the city, a Russian bar that served only Vodka. Again, I cannot even begin to remember the name, but it was a really cool spot. It was very dark, underground, and seemed a bit like we shouldn't be there. Our server was very nice and recommended some things for us to try. Pat got a dirty martini for starters, and I had some home made infused vodka with dill and cucumber. It was amazing! Next our server suggested a special martini with said infused vodka and "false caviar" which was made out of veggies, that was also really good and very interesting. Unfortunately there was no way to take pictures down there, it was too dimly lit, and I was not trying to blind anyone with my flash.
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| [[ displays at the hotel bar. ]] |
At this point we were really hungry so we headed to a little hot dog "stand" that specialized in some interesting toppings. Mine had guacamole and sour cream, and I know that sounds weird, but it was pretty damn good, especially after some cocktails. From high to low brow in one night. Our tables were even made out of classic arcade games, so we played Donkey Kong while we ate our food. After closing the place down, we navigated towards the Subway with the help of one of Rose's friends and found ourselves back at the hotel.
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| [[ hotdogs. ]] |
sunday (7/3) :: day 3
We all met up in Brooklyn Sunday afternoon for some lunch. Adil's friend Ali and his girlfriend Christel were there as well. The place was called Five Leaves and according to the boys had amazing burgers. I ordered the mussels and was surprised to see an entire bucket full placed in front of me. Damn they were good! It started pouring outside before we were done, so once finished us girls decided to wander around through some of the little shops while the boys posted up in a nearby German Beer Garden. (more on that in a second). My favorite random little shop we visited is called CatBird, and I wanted everything inside! It was a total mix of girly victorian antique style, and just plain creepy and strange, my favorite! I bought a few goodies for myself and a silly little something for Pat as well. Umbrella in tow, we finally made it to the garden to meet the boys.
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| [[ lunch at five leaf in brooklyn. ]] |
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| [[ shopping around: "wakey wakey". little treasures from catbird. brothel coin. my purchases. cataloged state post cards. the sketchbook project. portland, or. ]] |
Pat was seriously in heaven. German beer heaven. There have been few times when I have seen him quite so happy, though that could have been from the amount of beer we were all consuming. This place was really fun, I would go back in a heartbeat. They even had the best pretzel I have ever had, and I realize that does not sound like much, but trust me, it was good. After most of the day and several pitchers/pints we wandered off to a taco place Adil was craving. We got some margaritas and later the boys ordered us girls shots of tequila and more margaritas! We closed this place down as well and went off with Ali and his lady back to the city to wrap up the night. We had one last drink at a place called Whiskey Tavern and then called it a night.
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| [[ dellirium is everywhere there. beer garden wall. happy pat. pints. pretzel. leah/adil. maiden. my glass. ]] |
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| [[ me/pat/adil/leah/christel. me/pat. brandon/leah/rose. ]] |
OH I almost forgot! On the way back home I almost got eaten by a subway rat! Ok, maybe that is a slight exaggeration... but it ran right for my exposed toes. I jumped, and screamed. A woman sitting on a nearby bench laughed at me. Rude. This was the first and only time I noticed how many rats there are down on the tracks late at night. Kinda nasty. They are loud too!
