The Weekend + Monday

This past weekend was a pretty quiet one. After our trip to Philly last weekend and a really busy work week all we wanted to do was relax!

After work on Friday I decided to do all those necessary but ohsoboring household chores. I headed to our local grocery store and stocked up for the week. After that fun adventure I came home and did laundry and cleaned. I know... what a eventful Friday night! The rest of the night Nick and I watched some TV and movies.

Saturday I met up with Amber and Jennifer on the UWS to see The Help. It really was quite good. The movie followed the book pretty well... which I always like. I also have to say there were a couple scenes that really had me teary-eyed. Definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it!



After the movie I headed to the dentist to fix a whole in my tooth. So much fun... not! I treated myself afterwords to a little shopping for some fall/winter clothes. According to Nick I had success! I only came home with three bags... that's not bad. It could have been a lot worse! Later that night we went to Luke's Lobster for dinner and had some yummy yogurt for desert!

Sunday was not just any other Sunday. It was the ten year anniversary of September 11th. I still remember what I was doing 10 years ago when I heard the first plane had hit. I had just walked into my high school - a few weeks into my senior year. It was all anyone could talk about... "did you hear?" I went to my first class and my teacher had the television on. Everyone's eyes were glued to what was unfolding before us. It was devastating and heart wrenching to watch.

We weren't able to watch for too long because the high school had received a bomb threat. All the students were escorted outside to the stadium while the bomb squad went over every inch of the school. I guess they weren't going to take any chances on a day like that. I don't even think we ended up going back into the school... we were out there for hours and by the time the all clear was given it was time to go home.

Being in the city 10 years after it happened is a unique feeling. I didn't live through that horrendous day but it is still with me like it is with everyone. The city had some terror threats for that weekend and you start to wonder... could they really attack us again? And on this date? You can only imagine the kind of security we had... increased officers, check points, etc. Nick and I watched some of the 9/11 Anniversary coverage and I found the hardest part was watching the families. To see the loss that they have suffered was heartbreaking. It's not a day that anyone will ever forget.



Sunday was also the opening of NFL football so we watched some games. The Cowboy's were the night game... good ole' Cowboys. It was looking so good and then they blew it! I really hope it's not a repeat of last season!

Yesterday was a CRAZY at work. And I mean crazy! It was just constant... I don't think I sat down at all. Luckliy I had plans later in the evening. Jenienne had been given personal cooking lessons from her husband, Mike. She invited myself and her two other friends Annie and Jamie.


Jenienne and Chef Rob

Chef Rob taught us how to make ribs, chicken wings, steak, salmon, pasta sauce, stuffed bell peppers and all sorts of yummy stuff! We drank some wine and learned the basics of cooking. It was fairly easy... I think I might be able to even re-create it.


Chicken Wings and Ribs! Yummy!

Chef Rob was.... well, he was an interesting guy. Highly passionate! He was a little "preachy" in regards to why our food is "killing" us. All the chemicals and antibodies and so forth. Which I definitely believe in learning about that but it came across too strong. It made it sound like his way of thinking was the only right way to think. And I'm not a fan of that.

Overall though... great night! And now Nick is expecting me to make everything I learned to cook! Hah!

The City of Brotherly Love

Nick and I took an overnight trip to Philadelphia for the long Labor Day weekend. We wanted to get out of the city for a little bit. Philadelphia is only an hour and a half train ride from the city so it made for a great overnight trip.

We arrived Saturday morning at 10:30. We went straight to our hotel... luckily they had a room ready. So we dropped our bags off and headed out into the city. We had booked a walking tour that showed us the majority of the historical sites in just over an hour. Since we were only there for such a short period of time we figured it was the best way to see the sites.

Our tour guide was really great and super knowledgeable about everything. I learned quite a bit or I re-learned what I was taught in school! For example, I didn't know or forgot Philadelphia was the capitol of the U.S. before Washington, D.C., I learned that the Liberty Bell is not the original bell - it's actually the third bell made, I learned about where the concept of "I'm American" came from, and all sorts of other interesting facts.

The tour was really fascinating... we thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll show some of the pictures we took and include some information about what our tour guide told us:


In front of the Declaration house.. where the Constitution was signed! The house was a replica. The original house was destroyed.


There was a sidewalk called "The Signers" It had plaques of all the men who signed the Decleration of Independence. Apparently a few years ago someone stole John Hancock's face. They haven't replaced it yet.


Nick in front of Washington's statue


Original brick - 200+ years old. The black checkered pattern is known as the colonial style.


Benjamin Franklin's grave. You throw a penny on the grave and it's supposed to bring you luck. Franklin famously said "a penny saved is a penny earned".


Nick and I at Elfreth's Alley.. this area dates back to the 18th century and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited residential street.

After our tour we decided we had to try a Philly cheesesteak. It's a must in Philly. We went to a placed called Jim's Steak on South Street. By the time we walked there it was about 2pm and we were starving. We were not prepared for the line that greeted us. It was around the block! But, Nick said we had to do it. I was seriously considering the nice Mexican restaurant across the street. But secretly I wanted to try a cheesesteak too! So we waited. It's like a well oiled machine... sandwich after sandwich. About the time we ordered we had waited for 50 minutes. I kept thinking this better be worth it! And it was! We ordered one with provolone cheese and one with cheese whiz. They were both good but I think we both decided the cheese whiz was the best! Another thing to mark off the bucket list.


The very long line!


Yum!

After lunch we grabbed a cab and headed to Eastern State Penitentiary. When I initially told Nick about this he wasn't too thrilled. I knew about it because of all the haunted places TV shows I've seen. A lot of shows have visited because it's apparently haunted. But that's not the only reason I wanted to go... it has a lot of history. It opened in 1829 and was the worlds first "true" penitentiary.

We were given self guided headsets and the guy who spoke on the audio was Steve Buscemi. Pretty fitting. It really was fascinating. Years and years of history in the place. It had a eerie sort of feeling in certain places. It was pretty dilapidated. Here are some of the pictures we took with some interesting facts:


Inside the grounds


Typical cell


Hospital Wing


On the second level


I joked with Nick that we had a "spirit" enter this picture - see the black shadow at the bottom left corner.... you never know!


Al Capone's Cell

Once we finished we headed to Rittenhouse square and relaxed while eating gelato! Much deserved after a lot of walking. We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night. We headed to a bar to have some drinks before our dinner reservations at Amada. Amada is a tapas bar and apparently is pretty popular.

We had reservations at 8:45... now, I believe when you have dinner reservations you should be seated shortly to that time. 5-10 minutes after the reservation time is acceptable but after that I start to get a little frustrated. Nick, however, believes with such a popular restaurant it's expected to be like that. I did not agree... I wanted him to go check but he didn't want to "annoy" the hostess. We were seated about 20 minutes after our reservation. We were sat in a really cool area but the only negative was we were right by a vent and it was actually pretty cold. We asked for another table but they didn't have anything and we didn't want to wait for one to open up. We were pretty hungry. We got off to a rough start but the food was amazing!

We had garlic shrimp, a cheese-cherry dish, ham croquettes, shrimp flat-bread, steak flat-bread, and this chichen-broiled egg dish that was literally to die for. I mean amazing... I absolutely love the idea of tapas. Small portions of all different kinds of food! It was so good I forgot to get the camera out!

Needless to say once we returned to the hotel we passed out! It was a long and fantastic day!

The next day we saw the Liberty Bell up close and walked a long the water and saw some really cool ships. We had a nice brunch and then headed to the train station to make our way back home.


Liberty Bell (which is actually the 3rd bell - the first and second were melted down after they broke to create this one)


Nick in front of a torpedo!

Such a great trip! We loved the City of Brotherly Love!

Last Weekend

I've been a little busy so I haven't been able to post about our prior weekend!

Thursday night was the annual Partner's Club wine event. It's an event held for the incoming students and their significant others. Nick and I went last year and had a really good time. It was interesting going back as "second years." I can remember exactly what it felt like to be in their position one year ago. We mainly stayed towards the back with a couple of our friends and talked.

After the event a group of us went to dinner at Keste - a new pizza place in the West Village. It was packed! We were told the wait time would be 30 minutes but it ended up being closer to 50 minutes. We finally sat down and the manager/hostess sent over some free appetizer. We were very thankful for that. It was 9pm and we were starving. Luckily pizza doesn't take too long to cook. I ordered the Margherita pizza... so good! Reminds me of being back in Italy!

We had just finished paying our bill and were getting ready to leave when this rather old, Italian guy came out to our table and said,"Excuse me, my friends have been waiting a long time for you to leave this table." To say that we all were surprised by this is an understatement! I mean, really! Who does that? The waiter overheard and stepped in (in Italian). I'm guessing he was telling him to back off. It was crazy! Needless to say we left right after that.

Friday night I surprised Nick with dinner reservations. We have been trying to get into this place called La Esquina forever! It's one of the top restaurants in NYC and it's so difficult to get into. You pretty much have to know someone to get in... it's one of those hip NYC places. Well I just wasn't able to do it on my own. Krystle, co-worker and friend, got me in! So shout out to Krystle!

It's a Mexican restaurant (now you see why Nick and I wanted to go so bad!) that sits on the corner down in the SoHo area. The restuarant is below ground but above it is their more casual restaurant called The Corner. You would never know La Esquina sits below it! We walked up to a guy holding a sheet of paper. We gave our name and he checked his list. Once we were verified he spoke into his ear piece and opened this unmarked door behind him. Yeah... crazy!

We walked downstairs and were just blown away! It had a very Mexican/Gothic feel to it. I loved it! Bars and skulls and candlelight. It was amazing! We ordered a margarita at the bar and waited for our table to be ready. They are known for their margaritas and let me just say it was so good. Probably one of the best I have ever had! The food was amazing too. We started with the tinga de polla - chicken tostados with avacado and chipotle and bistec - grilled streak taquitos. Amazing! Our main courses were carne asada for Nick and I had the camarones a la plancha. So good... unbelievably good. We didn't order desert and I have to say that it was my fault. The margarita hit me pretty hard and I didn't think I could take any more food. Nick loved it! We had a great evening... I would definitely recommend the restaurant. That is if you can get in!

The next two days were pretty quiet. We were suppose to get hit with Hurricane Irene but that turned out to be a bust! Well, at least for Manhattan. We really didn't see the rain or wind that they were expecting. There was a small amount of flooding down in Battery Park but that was about it. Nick and I just basically hung out at the apartment... read, watched TV/movies, etc. It ended up being pretty nice to just stay home and relax though!

Earthquake in NYC

I have to admit I never thought I would be in the city when a earthquake struck. Maybe the west coast but certainly not here.

Guess you can never be too sure of anything... because the city experienced an earthquake yesterday. Or more accurately tremors. The main epicenter was in Virgina.

Most of the quake was felt downtime and up to midtown. I work in the Upper East Side and didn't feel a thing. I didn't realize what happened until later when a patient called in and said she wouldn't be able to make the appointment due to the earthquake. I literally had to go online to CNN to make sure she was telling the truth!

Sure enough she was. You can imagine the social media sites ignited. I heard a lot of people say their initial reaction was the city was under attack. Which I guess is expected if you lived through 9/11. You just don't expect an earthquake... it's not the first thing that comes to mind.

I have heard and read stories about buildings shaking, being in the elevator alone and feeling it shake (which if that would have happened to me I probably would have blacked out), being on the streets with hundreds of people wondering what the hell just happened.

Definitely makes for an unexpected and interesting Tuesday. There's always something going on in the city!

10 Year Anniversary Weekend

What a great weekend! So many good things happened....

The weekend started on Thursday night. I met up with Jen, Amber, and Ariane at the Hurricane Club for Jenn's Birthday! I had suggested the Hurricane Club because it's a great get together spot and has some delicious food! We had crab & avocado corn cakes, Peking duck sandwiches, ahi tuna spring rolls with toasted sesame seeds, and coconut shrimp for apetiziers. For the main course we shared a island jungle salad and dover sole fish. Perfect.



We had some amazing food! I don't think there is anything on the menu that wouldn't be good. It was a great evening with the girls celebrating Jenn's birthday!



After work on Friday I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Nick and I had decided to have a quiet night in. I had planned to make salad, rolls, and spaghetti. I was finishing laundry when he came home and handed me some papers. What did those papers say?

Oh, just that he received his full time offer from UBS after graduate school! I was so excited! We weren't expecting the offer to come so soon. He had originally thought it would come a week or two after he finished. I am not complaining though...the earlier the better! I was just so proud of him. All of his hard work paid off. The craziness of first year grad school, late nights, endless recruiting, long hours during the internship. It all paid off in that moment. That's what every MBA student is working towards... an offer. The path that we set off on when we decided to move to NYC is definitely paying off. Who knows what comes next. Obviously, a home cooked meal was not quite the celebration we needed. So we headed out to Maya... our go to Mexican restaurant. We had delicious margaritas and chicken enchiladas and chipotle shrimp .

Saturday was a BIG day. August 13th, 2011.... this date marked Nick and I being together for 10 years. A decade. It's crazy to think that we have been together so long... it doesn't feel like 10 years.



He brought home these beautiful flowers for me. Aren't they gorgeous?! Nick had his bike fitting in the morning and I had some errands to do. We decided we would have lunch at Ocean Grill on UWS. It was a beautiful day so we walked through Central Park. Ocean Grill was fabulous! We sat on the sidewalk and watched all the people go by. The Museum of Natural History was right across the street... so great view! I had a crunchy and spicy shrimp sandwhich that reminded me a lot of a shrimp Po-boy. I.loved.it! Nick had the soft shell crab wrap that was delicious too!

We stopped by Shake Shack on the way back to Central Park. We got some ice cream we could share while relaxing in the park. We ended up at this hill where a lot of people were relaxing listening to this guy sing and play his guitar. It was the perfect spot to lay our blanket and just relax. The guy singing was actually really good. He had a huge crowd listening to him. Apparently he is there every Saturday. I would recommend checking him out. If it's a nice day... bring a blanket, snacks, and just sit back and listen.



As we were walking back to the apartment we came across this rollerblading area. There was some pretty loud music and cheers. As we got closer it was this big roller blade dance party. People of all ages were out there. There was this particular older lady who was cracking us up. Nick thought she had taken some serious drugs. She was in her own world... I snapped a picture of her. Doesn't she look high!



We came back home and had to get ready for Dendy and Devin's engagement party. I use to work for Dendy at my prior job. She's a dermatologist and from South Carolina... we bonded over being from the South. She's getting married in October and her friend threw her a party that night. The apartment was on the UWS and it was just so cute. There were tons of people there. The apartment was on the top floor so there was access to the rooftop area with some great views. We were able to chat with some wonderful people and drink some amazing cocktails!


Jenienne and I at the party!

We had to leave around 8:15 because we had dinner reservations at One If By Land Two If By Sea. This is apparently the most romantic restaurant in the city. I was a little nervous when I booked the reservation because the menu is somewhat adventurous. But, it's a top rated restaurant...

The food was simply amazing. One of the best meals we have had since coming to the city. It's now in the top 3. The restaurant is in West Village and housed in this old carriage house. They have beautiful candle chandeliers. I felt like I had been transported back to 1775. It was just beautiful inside. We had a some drinks at the bar while we waited for our table. We sat in the upstairs portion of the restaurant. I liked being up there... you had a great view of the restaurant.

Nick and I decided on the 4 course tasting menu. Phenomenal. I started with the tomato gazpacho (which when you think gazpacho you think soup... it was more like a salad), then had the pan seared scallops, followed by the wild striped bass, and for desert the strawberry basil ice cream sandwiches. To.Die.For. All of it was amazing... the food was so fresh and everything just went perfectly together. Nick had the Maine scallop sashimi to start, then the Seared Hudson Valley foie gras, followed by the beef wellington, and desert was the milk and cookies. We tasted each others but we both preferred everything we ordered.

He wouldn't let me take any pictures because the restaurant was so fancy. He was like, "We need to look like we belong here." Haha! It was a wonderful evening. We reflected on what 10 years meant. It just amazing that we have been together longer than some people have been married. I couldn't imagine spending my life without Nick. The past 10 years has been filled with happiness, excitement, surprises, stress, hardships, and everything else. I couldn't imagine going through all of that without him. It makes me excited for what the next 10 years has to bring!

Sunday was simply a day of relaxation. It was pretty gross outside so we lounged on the couch and watched movies. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

I love you babe! Happy 10 Years!

Weekend Fun

I sure do love weekends. There is just something so fabulous about a Friday night... knowing you don't have to go to work the next day or the next!

I met Nick at his office after work for some dinner... it has become our Friday night tradition. I don't get to see him too much during the week due to the internship so Friday night is date night.

Nick had purchased a Groupon deal for a cocktails and sushi for 2! We headed over to the UWS to a place called Fusha West. Now, we aren't big sushi people. I really have only eaten shrimp tempura (which most people don't consider sushi). So, this dinner was definitely going to be an adventure!

Our cocktails were pretty amazing. I had a yummy pomegranate margarita and Nick order some unusual drink. We had a pretty big laugh when the drinks arrived. Nick's drink was this girly pink liquid. Not manly at all! He said it tasted just like pink lemonade. It was just as good as my marg!


Look at that girly pink drink! Haha!

We ordered some calamari to start (not part of the deal but we wanted an appetizer) and then came our sushi for 2! It was a crazy amount of sushi! It was sushi and sashimi... Nick pretty much warned me that I probably wouldn't be eating the sashimi. Raw fish on rice.... might have to work up to that. The sushi was pretty standard. The plate had a California roll, lobster roll, and a tuna roll. The sashimi included tuna, white fish, salmon, and eel (really? eel?).


Look at that plate! I mean for beginner sushi eaters that's a pretty impressive plate!

I will admit that the California roll and lobster roll were my favorite. I know... not adventurous but I guess I am just not crazy into sushi. I did try a salmon sashimi and it was alright. Not the best thing I have ever eaten but I didn't spit it out so that's progress! I guess Nick and I just like the traditional sushi - I don't foresee any eel anytime soon!

Afterwards we stopped for some gelato before heading back home.

Nick took a train to Connecticut Saturday morning to purchase a new bike. To say that he loves his new bike is an understatement. I have a feeling I will never see him now. It will be constant riding now!


His new love... I have been replaced!

While Nick was getting his new bike, I met up with Julie and Kyle and some other friends for beach volleyball on the pier. It was a beautiful day and not too hot. We had a nice breeze off the Hudson. I was super excited about beach volleyball... I hadn't played since high school (i.e. 10 years!) but I figured I could still remember a few things. We had a great time! I forgot how much of a full body workout it is and I can't believe how slow the sand makes you! It was a great morning and hopefully there will be many more beach volleyball days in the future!


Emily, Julie, and me


Kyle and Greg

Nick and I pretty much relaxed on Saturday night. I had a pretty bad migraine in the afternoon so we took it easy.

Sunday morning I met up with Amber for brunch at Tipsy Parson. Good ole' Southern food. Eggs, grits, sausage, and toast. Yes, please! It was great meeting up with Amber and having some girl time! The food was fantastic... I absolutely love breakfast food. It's my favorite meal of the day!

After brunch I ran a few errands while Nick was at work putting final touches on his project. I bought my dads birthday presents and went for a manicure and pedicure - I was in desperate need after beach volleyball.

Nick came home and we grabbed some dinner at Luke's Lobster and had a relaxing night watching TV. I love the weekends!

Work, Work, Work

I figured it was time to write about my new job. The end of this week will be one month and counting!

I.love.it.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it. It is so much better than where I was. Refreshing... that is the best way I can describe it.

I work for Dr. Lisa Airan who is great! She is a wonderful physician and her patients are fantastic. She really has a strong following... it says something when your patients are constantly returning for more procedures and are extremely happy. The small practice environment is amazing! It allows me time to really talk with the patients and get to know them. Working with one physician allows me to develop a relationship with them... There is a comfortable rhythm that develops between the doctor and nurse because of that. That is hard to obtain when you are working for six doctors.

There are two other girls I work with in the office. They are fabulous and we have a great time. Lots of laughing! We have bonded over Twilight. Greatness!

The set-up reminds me a lot of working with Adean back in Dallas. I had the perfect job with her. I don't think anyone will ever quite compare to her... she's just one of a kind. I miss her terribly! But, working here comes pretty close.

I really feel good where I am right now. I struggled at times where I use to work for a variety of reasons I won't go into (I'm sure you don't want to hear it and I don't know who is reading this, hah). But this feels right... a place where I can hopefully grow into.

So, new job = success!