Belated Birthday Trip to New York

I went to New York a couple times for work on pretty cheap airfare. While there, I had a hard time fitting in meeting up with Jeannette and Jess. Dallas was like, why don’t you just go and visit your friends!? So I did.

I stayed at Jeannette’s place in Long Island City. She and Yvan are divorced and she didn’t have the kids that week/end. The night I arrived, she was meeting with Eleanor for dinner at Tournesol so I joined them. This is my mousse.

Getting a bagel in New York was on my list of things I wanted to do this trip, so in the morning I met Jess at Leo’s Bagels in Lower Manhattan. We walked down the block to the The Queen Elizabeth II Garden and ate. The bagels were amazing!

Next we caught the ferry to Governors Island. When I lived in New York there was basically no reason to go to the island, but Jess told me there’s so much now. Our destination was……

QC NY Spa.

QC NY was AMAZING. We loved every minute of it! For just over $100 we booked the wellness experience. We got to spend 5 hours in the pool and wandering through 20 different wellness experiences like spas, saunas, relaxation rooms, steam baths, showers, foot baths, etc. The pool was so great and the views of the skyline were gorgeous. Jess was staring directly at her office building on a Friday, not working! We loved every minute of this experience.

We met back up with Jeannette for a jazzy dinner at The Flatiron Room in Nomad (never heard of this neighborhood before! North of Madison Square Park, apparently.)


I was not feeling well the next day – I actually threw up in the night, so we took it easy. I rested, took a nap. In the afternoon we took a walk by the river and Jess took some headshots for Jeannette.

I had a dinner reservation for Momofuku Ssam Bar and was not sure if I’d be up for it, but I started feeling a lot better and was glad we went. It’s located at South Street Seaport, which is a really cute area now. Lots of bars and restaurants and people everywhere.

The downstairs of Momofuku is downstairs and is a more casual bar and restaurant. The Ssam bar is on the second floor.
I thought Momofuku Ssam Bar was really good. There was woman who was basically assigned to us and grilled all of our food at the table. We also tried the rice cakes with black truffle and pecorino. So good.

Even though we were stuffed, there is always room for ice cream! We went to Big Gay Ice Cream. I got the Salty Pimp — Vanilla ice cream with dulce de leche and sea salt, dipped in chocolate.

In the morning we went to The Museum of the City of New York, which I’d never been to. It was the last day to see the exhibit New York, New Music 1980-1986.

Jess and I got brunch at Allison afterwards.

Then I stopped back in Long Island City to get my things and head to the airport! Short but fun trip. Very restorative to see old friends! Photo is of a dress Jeannette ordered that Jess was wearing on the trip!

The Halal Guys

Nine years ago Jeannette and Yvan took Dallas and I to get a halal platter from food cart on 53rd and 6th in New York. It was amazing. What started as a food cart is now a chain of restaurants called The Halal Guys, and the now have locations around the world. So, with our late night nostalgic visit to the food cart in mind, I went to check out lunch at the Chicago location…. but I was disappointed! I feel I’ve had much better Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food in Chicago, so I probably won’t go back. But I will hold on to that fond memory of that night in New York!

Makai’s First Trip to New York City

 I found really inexpensive ($100) airfare to New York so Makai and I were off! We stayed with Jessica and Ted and this was Makai’s first trip to New York City. Makai was great in the airport and on the flight. No issues at all. When we arrived at JFK we got a cab and this is where the trouble began! It took us longer to drive from JFK to Washington Heights (Manhattan) than it took for us to fly to NYC! More than 2 hours in a cab. UGH. When we arrived we were so happy just to be out of the car!

 In the morning Jessica made Makai homemade waffles. She asked if Makai wanted whipped cream (whup cream, as Makai says), and of course he said yes. I opened the fridge to find the can of whipped cream, but Jess being Jess, whipped it up homemade. Makai was not appreciative, though. He tasted it and said, “Aunty? I don’t really like to eat foods that don’t have flavor, so I’m not going to eat my whipped cream.” OMG. Get a filter, kid!

We hopped onto the subway, which Makai was a pro at from riding the CTA, and went to the American Museum of Natural History. This is both a gigantic natural history museum and a planetarium. It’s a “mixed museum,” is what Makai said, since he’s used to the Field Museum and the Adler Planetarium being two different places in Chicago.

I had been to the show at the planetarium many times when I lived in New York and loved it so much. It’s so much more immersive than the shows I’ve seen at the Adler. Makai loved it. He said it felt like we were in a space ship and gasped and wowed and yelled out at all the right times.

 After the space show we went to look at the dinosaurs. There were so many. Makai loves space and loves dinosaurs, so this was a great outing for him. After a while we were getting hungry. Like. Really. Hungry. We didn’t realize how late in the day it was and we hadn’t had lunch yet.

 We wandered out to one of the closest restaurants, which was some variant of Ray’s Pizza. I thought this was great. Makai could have a New York slice! But all he wanted was french fries and spaghetti with no sauce! What the heck?

 After our super late lunch we went back to Jess’s apartment to chill. We ended up making the hot chocolate cookies that Makai and I had make a few weeks back and that Jess saw me post a photo of. She wanted them BAD! 😀 .

Jess and Makai were good baking helpers at first but then after a while I realized they were both sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching Toy Story 3 while I was in the kitchen making them cookies! Also, Makai’s popcorn buddy is a puppy named Laika that Jess got for him at the planetarium. Laika was a real dog that went into space with the Soviets. Don’t tell Makai, I don’t think the dog made it back! And with that, Jess had now claimed the spot as Makai’s favorite Aunty!

Jess and Makai crafted this crown over breakfast. Makai liked it so much that he declared it to be his Brunch Crown and he wanted to wear it to Brooklyn! He finally agreed to leave it home. We met Jeannette, Juliette (6 months older than Makai), and Gabriel (2 years old) in Cobble Hill at Ugly Duckling for brunch. This place had great food and service and was super kid friendly. It was VERY busy, though, so I’m glad we had a reservation.

Makai and Juliette met before when Jeannette and Yvan visited Chicago and stayed with us. In my mind Juliette was a lot older, but I think it’s just because when they were younger 6 months made quite a difference. I’d never met Gabriel before. In fact, the last time I saw Jeannette (in Miami), she was pregnant with him!

 After brunch we all went to the New York Transit Museum. Makai and Juliette were instant besties as they explored all of the buses and trains. They have a similar sense of humor and both love potty jokes. I guess it’s their age! Gabrial is so cute and handsome and such a happy boy.

 A lot of the old trains had period ads based on how old the train was. This ad from 1946 was really making us modern ladies mad!

We went over to Jeannette and Yvan’s house so the kids could play more. Yvan made us an amazing dinner of pressure cooker lemon chicken with homemade pesto and pasta. Jeannette, Juliette and Gabriel made some muffins for a treat.

The next morning we were to meet Jeanette, Yvan, Juliette and Gabriel at the Sea Glass Carousel in Battery Park. Through a series of misunderstood messages, Jeanette took the kids to a carousel in DUMBO! By the time we got things sorted out and tried to get a plan going, our actual meet up fell through.

Jess, Makai and I went on the Seaglass Carousel, which wes neat. It was all bright ocean animals, mostly fish. The ride was short, but inexpensive and I think Makai enjoyed it a lot.

 Next, Jess, Makai and I took the free Staten Island Ferry to get a better view of the Statue of Liberty. We have Liberty Bank in our neighborhood and Makai always points out the Statue of Liberty statue and mural when we go past. I thought he’d be more impressed with seeing the actual Statue of Liberty, but honestly, he seemed a bit bored. Maybe in a few more years it will be cooler!

Also, with this trip, that made 4 boroughs that Makai visited. Manhattan, of course, then Brooklyn for brunch and the transit museum, then Queens where Jeanette and Yvan live and now Staten Island. I think it took me months, if not a year of living in New York to visit this many boroughs. It took Makai 2 days!

 For lunch we went to Max Brenner’s Chocolate Bar. This is a totally decadent restaurant filled with chocolate of every form. We all ate a big of “real” food and then dove into the chocolate drinks and desserts and candies. SO SO good. Makai loved it, and so did we!

Our last stop of the day was to the Lego Store. We had so much fun looking at all the different kinds of Lego kits. The part I liked best was when we each made a lego “person” from all of the parts they had available. Jess and I each made ourselves, while Makai made some kind of bad guy villain with an evil cat accessory.

Our last day in New York was Monday and Jess and Ted were back to work. Makai and I hung around Washington Heights and went to Bennett Park, which is the highest natural park on Manhattan. We had lunch at a local spot before heading for the airport.

At JFK, Makai wanted his photo taken next to this sculpture of a plane flying over an NYC skyline. When we entered the plane, the captain pulled Makai aside to shake hands and introduce himself. Then he let Makai sit in the cockpit and encouraged him to take the wheel! Makai was SO excited! Good ending to a great trip!

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!

Jessica + Ted’s Wedding

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The Pose. Taking selfies before selfies were a thing!
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Jess and Ted got married in Manhattan at The Yale Club. The ceremony was in the awesome library and the reception was in the grand ballroom (the views! omg.). Jess looked so beautiful. I loved her dress (BHLDN) and her vintage and hand made accessories that went with it. And Ted was handsome, as always. The ceremony was short and sweet. At the reception, it was so much fun to reconnect with many old friends from New York and to meet some new ones too! After the ceremony we headed to a bar around the corner. I can’t even remember the name of it. I guess that’s how much fun we had! I got to catch up more with Jess there, in the quieter setting, and also when I met up with her the following night, though by then I’d lost my voice! So so so so happy for Jess and Ted!!!!

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I stayed the weekend with Jeannette, Yvan and Juliette in Long Island City. I pretty much ate my way through the neighborhood! Cafe Henri, 51st Street Bakery, Cannelle Patisserie. I also treated myself to a mani/pedi, slept in a lot, took a lot of naps, and listened to a lot of the Serial podcast. I met up with Tien. .. to eat! (Casa Enrique). Always so much fun to hang out with Jeannette and Yvan and interesting to get a preview of what’s coming, since Juliette is several months older than Makai. Also, I hadn’t seen Tien in like…. forever? 2012? So it was great to catch up with him too. Big thanks to Jeannette and Yvan for always leaving the door open for me!

Dallas and Makai stayed in Chicago for the weekend. When I got home I walked in the door and Dallas said “walk to mommy” and Makai did it. Like… across the room! I’d seen him take a step or two before, but never so many in a row, so consistently! He also learned over the weekend how to get off the couch. What a relief. He used to try to face dive off and now he knows to turn around and go feet first. Maybe I should go out of town more often! Makai first crawled when I was in Milwaukee for the day for Stephanie’s graduation and I left him home with Dallas!

New York Visitors

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Jeannette and Yvan and Juliette came to visit and we had so much fun. I first met Juliette when she was only a month old, and have been lucky enough to hang out with her a few times since then, but this was the first time they all got to meet Makai. It was so much fun to hang out. Jeannette and Yvan and Juliette did a lot on their own while we were at work, but at night we got to spend time together and catch up. Some highlights were going to the Midnight Circus, multiple days of deep dish pizza and eating our way through Logan Square!

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It was kind of crazy to have another little person running around the condo, but so interesting to see Juliette and Makai together. Where Juliette is physically petite and has a more reserved personality, Makai was big and boisterous and all up in her face. I don’t think she appreciated it much, especially when he was standing on his tippy toes to try to swipe her food off the tray of the high chair! And even though Juliette is 17 months old and Makai only 10, they are both almost the same size! I wonder if Makai is missing his new friend Juliette. Or if he’s happy to have the place back to himself! Can’t wait til they can hang out again!!!

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