mani monday

Happy Monday Y'all!

We've been in New York this weekend and it's been a blast!
It's such a fun place to visit.

Last year when we came out to NY I painted a skyline on my nails, so this year I wanted to do something a little less predictable…

Ghostbusters Nails!!!!

I spent way too long on these bad boys, but it was a lot of fun to do, and totally worth it.

I've got the logo, the stay puft marshmallow man, slimer, the statue of liberty (with ghostbuster's in her hat playing some lovin' tunes), and a river of pink goo running down the subway tunnels.

I'm pretty proud of these ones, I think they might be some of the best yet!

We go back home tomorrow, and I am excited to sleep in my own bed, but I'll really miss our wonderful New York friends and their busy city.

a trip too short

Our trip to New York the other week was so fantastic.  As always we had the best time with our NY friends.

On Sunday we went into the city and Dana showed me her favorite kitchen supply shop.  Bowery Kitchen Supply is in the Chelsea market, which has an abundance of super cute boutiques and bakeries.

Bowery was awesome, they had everything you could ever want and it was all very reasonably priced. I wish there was a place like this in Chicago, where you can find the random little uncommon kitchen accessories that you rarely need and can never find (although, I bet there is and I'm just not looking hard enough). 

After convincing myself I didn't need sake bottles "just because they're so cute." we went up to the highline.

And I got to see Jean Nouvel's 100 Eleventh Avenue Building (the building in the back with all the different sized windows), which I've been coveting ever since I saw the penthouse featured on HGTV over a year ago. 

On Monday we went to the financial district via the East River Ferry, which was really fun (and windy) and a lot faster than riding the 3 trains it would normally take to get there from Brooklyn. We went underneath the Brooklyn bridge which was pretty cool and I somehow recognized another gorgeous building I know from HGTV.

The Clock Tower Apartment, which is behind the bridge in this photo, is so cool, the clocks actually serve as windows!

This post is making it sound like I follow New York real estate but I swear those are the only two buildings I would recognize!!

It was a short trip, just a weekend, but it was non-stop fun and, once again, I can't wait to go back and have more adventures with this crazy bunch of lovely people.

concrete bunghole

Last weekend we went to New York to surprise our friend for his 30th Birthday.  It was so much fun to see everyone and gallivant around the city  for a few days.  Although we stayed in Brooklyn I decided to paint a mini city on my nails in honor of our trip to NYC.

 We walked along the High Line and the Chelsea Market, ate at Katz (again), and took the East River ferry from Brooklyn down to Wall Street to walk around the Financial District.

 It was a blast.

P.S. Just in case you don't know what the title is referencing...

I love Liz Lemon.

brooklyn bonanza {part three}

Our last day was great great wonderfully great.  We started the day the only way a day should be started. . . With a pizza-off!

There are two pizza places right across the street from each other next to the train where our friends live.  Justin had always wanted to figure out who makes the best plain slice and there's no better time than the present, right?

First was Tony's Pizza. 

Oh man, it was crispy-cheese-greasy heaven! 

Second was Carmine's Pizzeria. Only judging from the plain slice Tony's beat Carmine's fair and square.  But Andrew decided to mix it up once we crossed the street, and got a Sicilian slice, holy crapola was it good. I don't normally like thick crust on pizza, but this was delicious.  In the end I think the final consensus was just about any pizza place in New York is better than just about any pizza place in Chicago. . . hands down.

Dana wasn't feelin' too well so she headed back home after pizza, and the rest of us journeyed into the city.

We spent almost all of our time in Manhattan in Central Park.  The Man was too young to remember the time he went to New York, and I only remember getting lost in Central Park when I came to the city with my parents in high school, so, in some way it was a shinny new experience for the both of us.

And it was a blast.

 (The Man thought this was just too funny to pass up)

I was shooting pictures left and right and I wanted to take more pictures of the carousel, but Andrew and Justin told me I was being too creepy, so I stuck to the iron work

We happened upon a great performance by this blues band, I can't remember their name, but I wish I could because they were wonderful.  We kept a tally of all the musical performances we saw along our walk, I think by the end of the day we were up to 4 or 5 (including a pan-flute band of course)

We exited the park so we could take a gander at the Guggenheim, but you had to buy a ticket to see the inside, so we stuck to the exterior.

 I've only ever seen a dog walker with this many dogs on a cartoon.  It was hilarious to see how the dogs interact with each other, how all the little guys stick to the back and try not to trip over each other, while the big pups lead the way.

I just had to get a picture of this statue.  I'm going to have to get Briana's help with this but I'm pretty positive that it's on one of the segues on Friends (you know when they're changing scenes and it's just video of a random New York building). I'm I right?

Well, after all that walking we were pretty famished.  We had already gone to three pizza places since we got to New York, so it was time for a different well known NYC food . . .

The Jewish Deli.

We did a little phone research on our way past the Met, I was hoping to go in but there was a red carpet in the way for, you know, the Met Ball, no big deal.  When it came down to it we decided to go with a well known classic, and boy were we glad we did.

We walked in and were instantly confused.  They give you a ticket and then you shmush into any space available at the counter to give your order.  We saw the prices for the sandwiches and almost turned right back around, but then thought we'd at least get one sandwich and share it.  The man behind the counter started making it and gave us a slice of pastrami to try and

oh.

my.

god.

Yeah, this sandwich is completely worth $16.00 

Deep in Pastrami Bliss

And to top of any New York experience we saw a celebrity. 

Alia Shawkat from Arrested Development.

 Oh Katz's, I think I love you, and I'm so sad I had to leave you.

(cutest pup!)

We had the best time in New York, and I can't wait to go back!!

Thanks Dana, Justin, and Nick!!!!

brooklyn bonanza {part two}

So, as I was saying, the Brooklyn Flea!

It was really fun, although it would definitely be more fun if you actually live in New York, and don't have to think about getting the things you want on a plane.

like this wood pig I wanted for some reason . . . and still do!!

There were tons of booths to look through and there was a good range of kitchen stuff, furniture, clothing, jewelry, toys, art, books, and other sweet antiques. And on the other side of the Flea was a bunch of food vendors, everything looked great, I really wish I had been hungry enough to try something.

And look at this completely awesome miniature Singer sewing machine.  You use the hand crank on the side to make the needle go up and down.  The guy selling it said people would use them to mend clothing on ships. I'm not sure if he made that up, but it's a fun story. We asked him how much it was and he told us he sold the other one he had for $200 . . . sooooo, I didn't buy it.

Sweet Star Wars Glasses!!!!

We had a blast and I even bought a few things

Some Earrings

And some Deeeeeelicious Pickles

 On our way home from the Brooklyn Flea we stopped at an ice cream truck with a beautiful menu.

And then The Man made Chicken Fried Steak for dinner! And Sausage Gravy from scratch! And Dana made Garlic Mashed Potatoes! It was SoOoOoOo Good!

It was an awesome day and I still have the sunburns to prove it.

And somehow the next day was even more awesome.

Right now you might be thinking "Wha? How can you top antiques and sausage gravy?"

Well, it's possible, but guess what. . .

yeah, you guessed it:

I'll tell you about that tomorrow!!!

brooklyn birthday bonanza

Guess what The Man and I did last weekend?
We went to New York!

Back in January I found some amazingly cheep tickets to New York, so I decided to buy The Morning Man's birthday present early.  One of Andrew's bestest friends lives in Brooklyn, and we haven't seen him in 2 years, so it was time.

So last Saturday we hopped on a plane and flew over to JKF.  The fun started right away when we took the Airtrain that takes you from your terminal to the subway and saw the Space Shuttle in it's little bunker still attached to the 747!

(it was hard to get a good picture!)

There wasn't much time for any sightseeing or big events once we got in, so we kept the first day mellow with a walk around the neighborhood and a birthday party that our friends had planned for Andrew.  Which actually wasn't mellow at all . . . yeah, I take back that mellow comment, there was a piñata and 3 cakes.

(Deep Dish Pizza cake, Donut cake, and Perspective cake - doesn't it look flat!!)

(Some delicious pizza for a light snack before dinner)

(A walk to the river)

(Some Dumb&Sons homebrew)

 The next day we ate some breakfast at Jimmy's Dinner . . .

(pancakes, eggs, home fries, and home-made sausage)

(chicken and waffles)

(pulled-pork, cheddar, and sausage omelette)

(cheddar and grits)

And then we headed to the Brooklyn Flea!!

I have heard so much about it and I really wanted to go. . .  but I'll tell you about that tomorrow!