After a low key (in a good way) Christmas, Hubby and I took a long weekend to go visit his sister in NYC. She lives right by Yankee Stadium in the charming apartment that I gave you a peak at here.
What was great about this little trip was that we had no real agenda (which is a bit out of character for my type A personality..). We did a lot of wandering the city both with our resident tour guide/hostess and without.
Aside from visiting his sister, Hubby decided that this mini-vacation's priority was food. The first night the 3 of us banned together to cook a delicious meal of NY strip steak, mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts in a red wine reduction sauce.
It was a great way to start the weekend, but paled in comparison to the following 2 evening's meals. If you're looking for good meals in NYC, you can't go wrong with Iron Chef restaurants. Y.U.M.
Iron Chef destination #1: Morimoto's. I don't think I can accurately describe the amazingness.
The design of the restaurant was dramatic, the food was dramatic, even the toilets were dramatic. Yup, the toilets. All I'll tell you is that they're Japanese toilets. I'll leave you to either visit the restaurant yourselves or google it.
We were "those people" who took pictures of every plate. Can you blame us??
The following night's dinner was spent taking in one of the newest Iron Chef's food: The restaurant, Butter, features Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli as executive chef.
Definitely a much more chill vibe than Morimoto's. Forget the drama, this place is warm and rustic and the food definitely followed suit. (Did I mention YUM?)
We did do things other than eat too! Hubby and I saw Peter and the Starcatcher on Broadway (AAAAAMAZING) and checked out the Picasso exhibit at the Guggenheim. As a designer's first trip to the Guggenheim, I think I was studying the museum itself as much as I was the artwork. Awe.
And there was much wandering.
Hubby and I visited Central Park for the first time and strolled through it as snow started to fall. Very ethereal.
Beautiful until it started to switch to rain... and we got wet.. and cranky... but that's when we used the wonders of Broadway to uplift our spirits.
If you know anything about me, you can probably guess that sprinkled amongst our wanderings and eatings was shopping- mostly thrift. We MAY have visited almost every Housing Works Thrift Store in Manhattan. Hubby got some vintage records to add to his collection (and play on his Christmas gift), but the one thing I REALLY wanted to buy, I couldn't. <pout>. This vintage cabinet needed a new paint job and a little bit of love, but I think it and my kitchen are soulmates. Sadly the first day we went to this store it wasn't yet priced and for sale... and naturally by the next day it was sold.
And now I'm on a mission. My kitchen NEEDS a fantastic statement piece (preferably one I can hide our recycling bins in). Craig and his list are now my new best friends and I'm scouring the site daily for something that makes me dance like this one did. Seriously even the picture of it makes me dance. Darn you Housing Works for not wanting to sell it to me! You think it's possible to find it's twin? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Did you do anything fun over your holiday break?