Bloody Thursday

I wanted to share some pictures from my first major NYC museum visit yesterday, The American Museum of Natural History. From it's huge, beautiful location on Central Park West to all that's inside, I would definately recommend it. The preservation of all the animals, some that had been taxidermied almost one hundred years ago, was really amazing and lifelike. My favorites were the blue whale room and the dinosour section (pics). The gems and minerals, and birds and owls are also worth a mention.

Leaving the gym this morning I passed a blood drive and decided to donate. They made me hydrate and rest for a bit because I had just exercised and then determined (by my awesomeness) that I met the requirements for the special red blood cell extraction. It's quite the process. A machine removes your "whole blood," seperates the platelets and rbc's with a centrifuge, then puts your blood combined with a saline solution back into your body so you leave with the same volume. Because the replacement is cooler that your naturally warm blood, I got really cold and a little light headed. They made me rest again and after some pretzels, apple juice, and Lorna Dunes (my favorite, ha) I felt back to normal and was good to go. Anyway, they can now take my rbc's straight to a hospital where they are in great need and hopefully save a life. Pretty cool.

San Gennaro

This Saturday morning I woke up to Jen telling me our neighbors had invited us to the San Gennaro Festival which I had forgotten I wanted to go to.  After late weekend nights at work it’s hard to get up and out the next morning but the Saturday was worth it. The streets of Little Italy were packed with everything awesomely Italian (like corndogs!).  We ate seafood, sausage and peppers, and of course, a cannoli. We parted ways with our friends after a few hours so we could pick up a few things for Pup before I had to head into work again.  Poor Puppers has been battling fleas.  We had to get her some flea medicine and some bones : )

I finally feel completely rested on Mondays after napping all Sunday afternoon and working out in the gym in the morning. Today I wanted to take advantage of one of the last few days of summer weather and went to a Bryant Park piano show.  It’s a free performance held a few afternoons a week by great city pianists. Yuka Aikawa was the artist performing today and played many classics that I could recognize. She had a book open in front of her but it was on the same page the whole time and she never even looked up. Pretty amazing that she played from sound or memory for about two hours. The whole thing is pretty casual so I took Pup along to get her out of the house. She had a great time staring down people eating their lunches and letting out a single yip at those that were clapping at the end of each set.

I’m trying to take advantage of all the free Summer in the City things while it’s still nice and warm out. I’m planning to make it back to Bryant Park in the morning for a free yoga class.

Sweetleaf



Main bar (including Jen's favorite, French Bulldogs)



Working nights in a midtown restaurant, I have my days to recuperate which can be really nice. While exploring neighborhoods in Manhattan or even just our own hood, Long Island City, i’ve noticed that places have a much more laid back, inviting vibe during the day before the masses of nine-to-fivers get off work.



The "vinyl lounge"



For this post I wanted to spotlight one of my favorite daytime hangouts, Sweetleaf, which is an espresso bar and café about eight blocks from our place in LIC. Sweetleaf is in the ground floor of a cool 19th century brick building and has been expanded to more than twice the size I remember it being when I moved here. Inside they have a main bar, living room, designated laptop/ work room, and a back "vinyl lounge" complete with lots of classic records and a player. They brew delicious Stumptown coffee (with varieties like “hair bender” and “rocket fuel”) in a serious espresso machine named Dorothy. More recently they have reorganized their café (now making everything in house!) and offer cookies, muffins, cakes, pies, scones, tartlets, fondue, and even soup and lunch items.

Especially on Wednesday’s when the new Village Voice hits stands, I can spend hours there getting some reading in while enjoying the great drinks and atmosphere. And it’s not even coffee weather yet!

Williamsburg Saturday

Almost overnight the weather has changed to Fall-like. Days are cool and crisp and nights get pretty chilly and windy. Jen loves the cool weather. I like all the fresh air in our apartment with the a/c off and the windows open. At night the bar patrons (drunks) and traffic can get loud so we’ve been using a sleeping noises app on Jen’s phone. The sound options are endless, some pretty funny, and you can even just shake the phone for a shuffled sound combo. Last night I came home to an interesting combo in the bedroom, light rain and chirping birds.

Saturday we spent a few hours in Williamsburg Brooklyn before I had to head to work. As far as shopping, food, and cool factor goes, Williamsburg is the best village in Brooklyn. Plenty of people obviously agree with me because the apartments there rent for about the same price as one in Manhattan. We had lunch at an all organic Café Ella (we swear it tastes better) and bought a few things in a shop called Pema on Bedford Ave. Jen bought a fancy work dress and I got a CD titled “French Café” that has been keeping me so relaxed on my commutes.

Sunday I woke up late feeling exhausted and just… off. I got up to eat which didn’t help so I threw on my eye mask and sleep sounds and slept until like2pm. Weird, random day. I feel great now and out and about enjoying the weather

The Addams Family

You may recall me mentioning a New York Health Association school grant I was applying for a few months ago. Well good news, I was approved and received my grant check in the mail a few days ago! It came much sooner and was for a little more than I expected. Close to 3 grand for a WASP who works… not bad. I won’t tell them that I’m having to retake a practical exam in January and will deposit that check today before they change their mind! Ha.

In other news, last night Jen and I and friends Jacob and Louis finally got to hang out after almost a year of talking about it. Like me, they also work in the hospitality industry so with all our crazy schedules we never could organize a date night. It also worked out perfectly that my favorite crazy coworker Caitlyn was able to get us and Bourbon St employees free tickets to The Addams Family on Broadway (she also works for the show). The whole production was kind of silly but we had great seats and I was excited that it's starring Brooke Shields. Although she looked great playing Morticia Addams, I don’t think theatrical singing and dancing is her thing. After the show we were all saying the same thing, that Shields was a little off in her singing and dancing, or just seemed bored (and not in the good Morticia kind of way). Not the best show we’ve seen so far, but for a free night out with our friends and my coworkers it couldn’t be beat!

Jen started her new job at “the FED” Monday and really likes it. She sent me a text from work saying “I want to work here forever,” as she feels like she’s working for a good, real company for the first time. The benefits are ridiculous too. I was literally reading through the information packet for like an hour, drooling. By the way, thanks to everyone who prayed and supported Jen as she was going through the almost two month long application process.

Nights Out

As I slowly continue to get over my school circumstances I’m enjoying my time away from the program more and more. An academic I will never claim to be!



Jen doing Karaoke!?



Matt and Chelsea are one of our favorite friend-couples. They’re always there to lend a hand (we helped them move too!), are very generous (gave us our big a/c unit), and know how to have a good time (Eataly!). To be closer to family, because of work, and so Chelsea can go to a specific beauty school they are leaving NYC. Although Matt was out of town for work, Wednesday night a group of us got together one more official time at Shi for drinks and karaoke. It was a chilly, rainy night but inside it was a great time! (pics with Chelsea)

Awkward...

Thursday night, like most weeks, I was at work. They’re usually good nights to work and this Thursday came with a nice surprise.  In addition to reimbursing us for our cab fares while the trains were down, my manager gave a gift certificate to the few people who would work the weekend Irene hit. It’s to Italian restaurant Becco on Restaurant Row and I’m pretty excited as it’s supposedly one of the best on the strip! I'll give you a full review of the place when we go.

I occasionally think about finding a job in a more fine dining restaurant but it’s for no other reason than money. I have it good at Bourbon St. I’m one of the “veterans”, get the schedule I need, have fun with my crazy coworkers, and the management is (obviously) really great. I should just count my blessings and stay put.

Last night Jen and I went on a date to the Upper West Side. We ate at Fred's which was named after a seeing eye dog and had floor to ceiling customer dog pictures inside. Me the dog freak wanted to walk around people's tables and look at all the pics, comments, and animal themed funnies. For a piece of Cinnamon bun cheesecake we went to Cafe Lola right around the corner. The dessert and ambiance make it clear why the cafe was featured in the movie You've Got Mail. 

Duck Duck Fanta

The end of summer seemed so abrupt today as it was kind of chilly and did not stop raining. Unfortunately I think the whole week may look like this. As much as I was tempted to spend my day off indoors, I didn’t let the weather stop me running our errands. On the good side our grocer in Chelsea, Trader Joes usually has a long line around the perimeter of the store but was pleasantly empty today. Laundry on rainy days is where I draw the line. I can’t bring myself to pay to have clothes washed and dried before I then take them out into the rain where they will only get wet again.

Last night at work I trained a new hire upstairs which means one good thing for the trainer, training meals! I usually order the steak and shrimp (most expensive entree) but this week we have a bacon wrapped duck special on the menu that I sampled and loved. The pig covered bird comes with almond green beans and red skin mashed potatoes, yum! It’s pretty dark in our restaurant at night so the pic is a little overexposed.

I also wanted to take a pic of the thirty bourbon brownies prepped in the kitchen. They just looked so cool in identical rows but our weird head chef was giving me looks so I didn’t. lol. The brownie’s were about to be taken to our party on the patio which were winners of a Brazilian Fanta trip to the U.S. They bought out the entire French Quarter Hotel for the week and had a Fanta film crew tagging along to document everything. For marketing I assume. They were all quite good looking but a little rude and didn’t like to eat much other than white bread, salad, and Fanta of course. Of the almost thirty brownies I would say five of them were eaten. They were prepaid but still, what a waste. I practiced great self control and didn’t have a single bite. I didn’t want to spoil my duck dinner.

From Chelsea to Flushing

Lately in our community there has been some buzz about two big bad corporations coming to our hood. No, one of them isn't Walmart. Dunkin Donuts and Subway will be opening in LIC soon and are getting people worried that they'll ruin things for small business. I say if your place is good enough, national or local, the people will come. To view the actual news clip which features alot of Vernon Blvd (our street) and many of our great small businesses click here. Shout out to Cranky's, I love that place. Also, a warning that the link might put you in the mood for donuts.

What's new? Well, I've been working, running, and taking yoga more often lately which is great. Jen's current employer/coworkers are sad that she's leaving soon but she's getting pretty excited for the change. Last night we went way downtown to the financial district to do some playing in Jen's soon to be work neighborhood. The Fed building just looks like big, scary money and the security is pretty impressive too. For dinner we took a cab down Fulton to the South Street Seaport, an area full of shopping, restaurants, and lots of action right on the water with amazing views of the Brooklyn Bridge. The pic doesn't do it justice. We had some mediocre seafood at a place that starts with an S... Sequoia maybe? We are beginning to accept the truth that NY has nothing on FL when it comes to seafood.

I'm on Setup, teardown, and ushering at church tomorrow morning and then working tomorrow afternoon. Jen's also helping in kids tomorrow at church. Blah... I mean woohoo! Maybe something fun like the beach on Labor Day, weather permitting!

Oh, one last random thing about why I love NYC. Our drugstore (Duane Reade) puts clever city themed slogans on their products. For example, I had a good laugh a few days ago when I noticed our toilet paper wrapping said, "From Chelsea to Flushing."