Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up {I’m 30!}

by Emily

My parents came to visit last weekend and Adam had two full days off so we were able to have lots of family fun. My mom and dad technically didn’t come for my birthday, the dates just worked out, but we spent the weekend doing all of my favorite city things – walking, and eating, and eating while walking! – and hanging out with good childhood friends so it was pretty perfect. And I’m 30 now, whomp, whomp.

Here are some highlights of the best places we walked and things we ate from the weekend…

Thursday night we walked around Williamsburg and had dinner at Pies ‘n Thighs. I had hibiscus iced tea.

And a chicken biscuit with hot sauce and honey butter.

Instead of pie we did dessert at Milk Bar.

Cereal milk soft-serve with cornflakes and hot fudge.

Friday we drove up to Montauk to explore. We checked out the beachfront towns and hiked along this very cool stone pathway near the lighthouse.

We stopped at the Long Island Levain and fell in love with the giant walnut chocolate chip cookies.

And had lunch at Lunch.

The seafood bisque was good.

But lobster rolls were better. They give you a big pile of buttered hot lobster meat and let you assemble your sandwich yourself.

We stopped at a random restaurant late that night on our drive back and ended up having an amazing meal but I have no pictures because I wrongly assumed it would be terrible. Adam and I plan on going back very soon for the flourless chocolate cake (though next time it won’t come with a birthday candle!).

Saturday was spent in Park Slope and Midtown. We started with Doughnut Plant.

Everyone loved their doughnuts (minus the beignets which just aren’t up to Plant standards) but tres leches are clearly the best.

Then trained to Grand Central Station.

Cold brew from Café Grumpy.

We shopped a bit, then explored Chelsea Market and The Highline.

Watermelon juice from Num Pang was refreshing.

And so was the mint seltzer from Brooklyn Soda Works.

We headed back to Brooklyn for dinner. Drinks at Pork Slope, aka my favorite bar. And hibiscus vodka is definitely a favorite drink option.

We got tater tots and spicy chicken nuggets – meh and yum! respectively – for appetizers which was good because I actually hadn’t tried any of the food at PS prior to that.

Dinner was Luke’s for round 2 of lobster rolls.

Best in the city, I think. And they had cans of Downeats, the tasty cider I tried last weekend in Buffalo.

I didn’t take a photo of the maple soft-serve at Corner of Vermont but it was worth a mention.

Sunday was our SoHo/Lower East Side Day.

We started in DUMBO to park near the F train.

And had to get coffees at Brooklyn Roasting Co.

Then we had amazing brunch at Russ & Daughter’s.

My “Lower Sunny Side” came with sunny side up eggs, Nova lox, and latkes.

Ice cream at Morganstern’s.

Omg. Vietnamese coffee and raw milk ice creams topped with fudge sauce and double Luxardo cherries. I assumed everyone would share with me and they did not but I still managed to take this down.

We ended our weekend with dinner at The Smith. The drink menu was on point; my “East Village Passion” had rum, lime, passionfruit, and fresh mint.

We had ridiculously good fried green beans to start.

I saw photos of the mac and cheese on instagram and had no choice to order that for my meal.

With a watermelon and feta salad.

So good. We ordered the s’mores jar for dessert, obviously.

Sadly I didn’t love it, but Adam was more than happy to eat my share. Since he did not eat a giant ice cream after lunch that’s probably fair! We will definitely go back again.

I left some things out because this post is already a bit lengthy, but I seriously did almost everything I love. With the people I love. <– aww!

13Jul2015

I’d Have To Say April 25th

by Emily

This was the most boring week of the month (July includes my trip to Maryland, a trip to Buffalo, a visit from my parents, and my 30th birthday!) but Adam and I kept things fun with lots of little dates. Honestly, I have more fun going to the grocery store with my husband than I would have doing almost anything with someone else, so grabbing donuts before work with him is pretty thrilling.

breakfast

Breakfast note 1 – I stuck with a coffee combo that worked: Dark Roast Community Coffee with skim milk and fat-free half and half. The coffee bag says to use 2 Tbsp grounds to 6 oz water and I use 3 Tbsp and my crappy coffee machine and it comes out perfect for my tastes.

Breakfast note 2 – the GoMacro bars in this post are another former freebie. The flavors I had this week were my new favorites, they had a lot more texture than the previous ones I tried.

Coffee, cinnamon applesauce, and GoMacro apples + walnuts (morning harvest). They should have just called this flavor “apple pie” because that’s what it tasted like.

An aprium – apricot-plum hybrid like a pluot but more apricot than plum – and GoMacro sesame butter + dates (sweet revival). Sesame butter is a bit sweeter than other nut butters naturally; I’m having a hard time explaining the flavor of sesame butter but it is what this bar tastes like.

Doughnut Plant date before work. The fresh lavender flower flavor was tasty but the yeasted doughnut was too big for me for breakfast, I’ll have to stick to the cake varieties unless another really fun flavor pops up. Adam had the chocolate chip cookie special and was basically swooning.

Freeze-dried Fuji apple slices and GoMaco granola and coconut (balanced goodness). The oats gave this a great consistency.

That pop of pink is a new notebook from Target. I’m obsessed. I also bought a new day planner.

lunch

I was all about the sandwiches this week. Caprese sandwich from the cafeteria. Tomato, basil, mozzarella, and spinach.

The plainest sandwich ever, also from the cafeteria. Turkey, cheese, and mayo on a white roll. I didn’t even have a fruit, vegetable, or whole grain on the side. I badly sunburned my knees last weekend, long story, and I was feeling a little under the weather that day.

Starbuck’s Thai-style peanut chicken wrap. I was impressed with this, all of the fancy new foods looks pretty good.

Lunch date at La Bagel Delight. We spit a poppy seed bagel with lox and dill cream cheese.

On Friday I did get back to my yogurt bowl roots. 2% Lingonberry & Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped aprium and pluot and KIND peanut butter granola.

Kids, that granola is ridiculous – somehow it tastes like cookie dough?!

snack

Saturday – July 11th or 7/11 – was 7-11 Day so I got a free small slurpee. Sour Patch watermelon and Coke were amazing together. Also, I eat my fair share of sugar but half of a small slurpee kind of makes me want to die so I’m horrified by the existence of that extra-large cup.

Guava cheese empanada. I will be so sad if this food truck moves away from my LIRR station.

Ice cream date. We got raw egg topped with salted caramel, sesame honeycomb, and Luxardo cherries.

Morganstern’s ice cream is indescribably chewy, it is truly some of the best I’ve ever tasted. And I cannot get over those cherries.

Have you seen this cute iced drink promotion at Starbucks yet? Those ice cube stickers kill me.

Maple latte. With a sky-blue straw that made me so happy!

I took a girlfriend to Nunu so I could try that spicy beer again. And I forgot to write down the name for a 2nd time. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did when it was paired with chocolate; a full pint by itself was a bit much to get through.

A chocolate chip cookie and a GoMacro cherries + berries (sunny uplift). I was expecting to hate that flavor but it was actually yummy, the cherries were nice and tart and it had some oat texture.

That cookie was totally not homemade.

dinner

My family sent me home from Solomon’s with some of my uncle’s amazing crab cakes.

Best meal of the week.

We sautéed the crab in a mix of melted butter and evoo.

Served with a caprese-style salad on the side.

Red and green lettuce mix dressed with truffle salt, evoo, and balsamic vinegar and topped with Kumato tomato and mozzarella.

Date night in the Lower East Side. We got bowls at Korilla and they were so freaking good! Sticky rice, gojuchang chicken, red kimchi, cucumber kimchi, monterey jack cheese, and a fried egg. Plus Korean bbq and hot sauces. My mouth was on fire and I was in heaven.

We cooled down at Snowdays. Black sesame shaved ice with sweetened condense milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles.

We had parked in DUMBO so we got to walk home over the bridge. It was so hot and sticky but still super fun.

Another day, another bowl, this time a Chipotle date on our couch.

I got salad with peppers and onions, chicken, mild salsa, green salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Plus chips and a giant diet coke on the side. We go to Chipotle so often that the counter staff recognizes us, which is the most embarrassing thing on earth, but we can’t stop!

The opposite of date night, I made this dinner by myself while Adam worked a 30 hour shift.

My Cheesy Eggplant Bake with diced yellow onion and light Havarti added in so I could use up some leftovers.

Plus a great salad.

Red and green lettuce // dressed with lavender salt, evoo, honey, and balsamic vinegar // topped with sweet and spicy pecans, dried bing cherries, and chia seeds.

Any other drink freebie deals I should know about for this summer?

3Jul2015

Start Of A Three-Day Weekend

by Emily

My clinic is closed on Friday in celebration of Independence Day tomorrow so today is the start of a three-day weekend for me. Woo-hoo! Adam has to work, unfortunately, but I am hitting the road and heading to Solomons, Maryland to spend the weekend with my aunt and uncle at their cabin. It’s been way too long since I last saw my cousins and I am very excited. My aunt tipped me off that the “drink special” for the weekend is bourbon slushies so I’m pretty thrilled about that too.

Snacks and cafeteria lunches didn’t make it into this post so I’m skipping a good 45% of what I ate this week…