My $80 Trip to NYC

I didn’t think that I would make it to New York this year, but then I caught wind of an $80 airfare and booked it!

IMG_8581.JPG IMG_8587.JPGIMG_8589.JPGIMG_8593.JPGI visited New York this exact same weekend last year for Jessica and Ted’s wedding. Since they were celebrating their first anniversary, I stayed in Long Island City with Jeannette, Yvan and Juliette. When I arrived, they were all finishing their vacation in Mexico (arriving later that day), so the doorman gave me the keys and I dropped my stuff off. The day was sunny and not too cold, so I took a walk by the beautiful waterfront in Long Island City, with a great view of Manhattan. Here’s some history on the cool Pepsi-Cola sign.IMG_8779.JPGI also passed by the Queens Library bus and then a few feet later saw that they’re building a public library right on the waterfront too. Juliette loves books, so I’m sure she will love walking to the library as much as Makai does!IMG_8600.JPGFor lunch I went to Blend on the Water, a Latin fusion restaurant with a fantastic view of the East River and Manhattan. I had a latte and a bellini (not a great combo) and sampled butternut squash soup, mazorca (kind of like elotes), and maduros (sweet plantains).

IMG_8615.JPGThe next morning I had plans to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular (featuring the Rockettes). Long Island City is directly across from Midtown Manhattan and is only one stop on the 7 train, so it’s really easy to get back and forth. Problem is that the train was not running on the weekend because of construction! So, I had to take a bus farther out into Queens (Court Square) and then take a different train into the city. It sounds harder than it actually was. It was pretty easy and went pretty quickly. While waiting for the train I spotted this guy with a half of a clown costume on. So many questions!IMG_8778.JPGI really enjoyed the Rockettes show. It was late morning, so there were a ton of kids, a lot of movement and talking, but it was still very enjoyable. I need to bring Makai to the show some day! I was impressed with the high production value. Lots of video, lights, lots of actors on the sides of the auditorium and on the floor, at times, kept the audience really involved. IMG_8687.JPGAfter the show I wandered around Midtown, mostly on 5th Avenue and mostly around St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center. It was nostalgic for me because I used to live not far away on 49th and 9th and used to often walk over to this area to browse around or do some shopping. I bought Makai an I HEART NY shirt from a street vendor, as one should. And then I visited the mind-blowing, three-story Uniqlo store. I hadn’t been to Uniqlo since we visited Japan and was happy to be back. I bought things for me and Dallas and Makai!IMG_8703.JPGFor dinner we went to Jackson Heights for Indian food at Samudra, a vegetarian Indian restaurant. We had samosa, masala dosa, malai kofta, gobi manchurian, gulab jamun, and kheer. I wasn’t sure about going to a vegetarian Indian spot, but the food was sooo good!IMG_8724.JPGJuliette tried a bunch of our food and was very good at dinner. So sweet.IMG_8722.JPGAfter dinner, we made a quick trip to the local Indian market and then we headed to Jeannette and Yvan’s favorite Bengali dessert shop, Rajbhog. The dessert in the middle is jalebi. The cashier gave me one for free and then tried unsuccessfully to sell me an entire box of them! They were good but SUPER sweet. The four of us split just one and the photo is only a quarter of a piece. 

IMG_8726.JPGNext morning: NYC bagel at Bricktown Bagel and Cafe in Long Island City. Delicious!IMG_8727.JPGI took the train (7 running again) into the city and got off at 34th Street / Hudson Yards, which had the steepest escalator ever. I tried not to look up because I was I was getting dizzy! At 34th I saw the movie Burnt with Bradley Cooper. It was just OK.IMG_8733.JPGAfter the movie I went down to my old neighborhood, the West Village. I used to go to Joe’s Pizza. Plain slice. When I was a 20-something broke New Yorker who lived around the corner, this was my main source of sustenance. Only $2.25. I haven’t had a plain slice for years. It was so good that I ordered a second! (For $2.75).IMG_8739.JPGCan’t go to New York and not see street writing. I was shopping on Broadway and saw a ton of promotion for Justin Bieber’s new album.IMG_8742.JPGI had plans to meet up with friends for dinner at Socarrat in Chelsea. I was getting tired from walking around, so I went about an hour early and just sat and enjoyed some sangria at the bar. IMG_8741.JPGSoon I Jeannette, Jessica, Tien and Shannan met up and we enjoyed tons of tapas, paella, pitchers of sangria and many belly laughs. Miss all of these guys so much!IMG_8746.JPGOn my last day in the city I had planned to meet with Jess and Shannan for lunch near South Street Seaport. I’d only been to this area a time or two, so it was interesting to walk around. There was a lot of construction going on. Shannan ended up not being able to make it and Jess and I ended up walking to Harry’s for lunch instead. After lunch, I hit one store and then it was off to the airport. Great trip to New York and great to see everyone!

Dinner @ Cafe 28

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Pistachio-Crusted Chicken, Cafe 28, North Center, Chicago

I’d only been to Cafe 28 for brunch so last night we tried it out for dinner. The brunch there is really great, but we kept hearing that the dinner was just as good. We weren’t disappointed. It was awesome. I had pistachio-crusted chicken with sauteed swiss char, asparagus and garlic mash. And a side of maduro (sweet plantains), always!