In New York you can forget...

Two weekends ago I was in NYC for a trip to see Katie and our other friends Megan, Jeff and Marty. We were getting together to celebrate her birthday (dirty-thirty!!!) but also just to chill since we all live in different states and don't see each other much (why doesnt ANYONE live in PA anymore???). We spent Friday night drinking beer, painting our nails, petting cats and watching Workaholics in KMart's apartment; it was amazing- I was in my pajamas by 7:30, loved it! Saturday we went shopping, indulged in some glutten-free baked goods, people watched in Central Park, went out to dinner and then finally ended up at a comedy club. It was exactly the kind of weekend I needed to knock me out of my bad week funk. I don't get to see these kids very much; wish they all lived closer but I like having fun places to visit :)

New Cat: Topher

POLISH!!!!!!

Beer Sampler courtesy of Marty

Pre-Sampler

Post-Sampler

I heart Blake.

Blurry cab ride of doom

Skillet of Mac n Cheese

You said it, Pumpkin

Central Park



"Zoey" and "Tina"



Carousel Ride

K.T. Boner

Coordinated Shirts

Free Beer

Marty IN YOUR FACE!

Sir Skates-a-Lot (aka Jeff)

Can we eat dessert for dinner?

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I got to go to NYC for a few days for a conference.  One night my husband asked me what I wanted to do that evening. Being an avid blog reader of various baking blogs (ahh, Picky Palate, Let's Dish, Bakerella and sooooooo many more!), I had several dessert shops that I desperately wanted to visit.  Three of the stores happened to be within about five blocks of our hotel...perfect!

Our first stop was Crumbs. We got the Dulce de Leche and the Raspberry Swirl cupcakes.  These were absolutely delicious. I have been slightly disappointed with the cupcake shops in Raleigh but this one gave me hope that there are amazing cupcake stores out there. I would go back in a heartbeat!

Dulce de Leche from Crumbs

Raspberry Swirl from Crumbs

Our next stop was the Macaron Cafe. I had heard that this was a great place. I hadn't had a French macaron before so we had to give it a shot.  We got a box of six flavors. Maybe we were being too adventurous for our first try but I was not a fan of these. I'm not sure why...if it was the texture or just the flavor.  My husband, who likes different things, wasn't a fan either.  Anyone else have this problem with macarons before? We got the rose flavor (tasted like perfume), white chocolate, mango, strawberry, caramel and passion fruit (the only one I somewhat liked).  They weren't awful (except for the Rose) but also didn't want another bite.

Passion Fruit  from Macaron Cafe

Rose from Macaron Cafe

 Our last stop was for Baked by Melissa. While the cupcakes from Crumbs were dee-licious, the cute little mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa were just adorable. I LOVE the concept of these bite size cupcakes. You truly get to have a guilt free experience. The price was right for trying a bunch without hurting your wallet. What a great gift idea! I wish there was one closer to me. I am now on the hunt for the pan (or method) of how she makes these. I need to figure it out.

Image from Baked by Melissa

This is just a piece of our little trip to NYC. More posts on what we did and saw coming soon!

~Kc

Country folk in the city

I am very excited. I recently got approved to go to a conference in NYC in a few weeks.  Even better, my husband will be joining me. 

I've been to NYC quite a bit but it's been so long that most of those visits are just faint memories. My husband has never been there so he's looking forward to it.

Since it's a quick trip and I'll be busy during the day, what should we do? What restaurants can't be missed? What sites must be seen?  Any advice for some southern country folks going to the Big Apple?

~kc

These streets will make you feel brand new...

I spent Wed-Thur in NYC this week visiting one of my besties, Katie. She lives in Manhattan and likes seeing live music almost as much as I do, so sometimes I train-it-up to the city to see a show with her and stay over for a quick visit. The train from Harrisburg got in to Penn Station around 3:30pm. Normally, having 3 hours to kill in New York until Katie’s done with work would be fabulous, but it was a cold, semi-rainy day PLUS my stupid broken foot has been acting up so I didn’t really plan on doing anything special. After some quick window shopping, I parked it in Herald Squre just outside of Macy’s and did a TON of people watching and reading. (Currently reading Jay-Z’s autobiography “Decoded”, very appropriate for NY). After meeting up with Katie we stopped back at her apartment, had a quick dinner at her favorite diner and then headed to The Bowery Ballroom to see We Are Augustines open for The Boxer Rebellion. The show was decent- a little under whelmed by Boxer Rebellion, but I had fun hanging out with a great friend. I stayed over, snuggling with her cat on the comfy couch all night. Overall it was a lovely little trip.

I forgot my camera (boooooo- major fail) so these are just a few photos from my phone. Sorry for the poor quality!

View on Train

Chillin' outside Macy's

People Watching



Starbucks Stop



Waiting outside Katie's apt



Mr. Kitten welcomes me to NY



Spare Sides at the Diner



Night Cat

"It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!" Breakfast Bagel

Philly Graffiti



If you haven't heard of them before, The Boxer Rebellion and We Are Augustines are both worth a listen.

~M

Post Title from "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z