City Life

There's just something about New York - and now I sound like a broken record.  But it's so darn true.  The energy of the city is enough to make anyone love it.  And this weekend was no different.  One day trips are fine, but 2 day trips are just so much better!

This month's 2 day trip was sort of planned and sort of not, so we had a chance to try some new things.  For the most part, all of the food was planned.  First up was Carnegie Deli, since they'll be closing at the end of the year.  It was as good as usual, but bittersweet seeing as it would probably be the last time we ate there.  I have no idea why they're closing - the food was still the same and the lines were still out the door.  I'm still hoping they change their mind at the last minute, but I'm glad we had the chance to go just in case.

For dinner on Saturday it was a German place in Midtown.  All of the Yelp reviews were lovely yet none of the food actually was.  We should have known when we entered and the entire restaurant was cheering on a sausage eating contest.  Definitely not a great dinner.  Sunday was so much better.

Breakfast was at Sullivan Street Bakery - once again, so darn delicious!  I only wish I could figure out how to make their eggs because I'd make them every week!  And then dinner was at Carmines on 44th.  In my opinion, they are by far the best Italian restaurant in New York. All of the food is served family style so the portions are enormous.  And the food is all homemade and to die for.  We had the penne ala vodka and the chicken parmesan.  And if I hadn't have eaten so much already, I would have eaten every last bite.  Let's just say, I'm a big fan!

When we weren't eating, we were discovering.  Thankfully, this past weekend was the very first day of the Bryant Park shops being open.  These little glass shops in the park selling all sorts of homemade wares are a favorite of mine every year.  Add the shopping to an ice rink, a cafe, some awesome snack shops and a Christmas tree (not yet, but it'll be there) and you have the perfect place to spend a few hours - in our case it was a few hours on Saturday and a few hours on Sunday.  Also, this year there's a Strand pop-up shop so you know I couldn't resist that.

On Sunday, we tried a new area of town, which never really works out well.  I desperately need to research things ahead of time to save me from getting incredibly lost.  But this was spur of the moment, and I definitely got lost - big surprise.  However, SoHo really is lovely.  The 85 degree weather made getting lost a little more bearable than had it been 20 degrees, but not really my cup of tea either way.  Some of the reasoning behind going down there was to see Dominique Ansel, Blick Art Supplies, Jack's Wife Frieda, and Magnolia Bakery - none of which we ever actually found. I did find La Duree though and had a yummy cannel so I suppose there's that.  

As you can see, it was once again a fabulous time. Even after 10 trips this year, I'm still not tired of it.  In fact I can't wait to start my once a month track record again next year thanks to awesome trips like this past weekend.  New York just keeps fueling my fire. And I'm super happy about it!