Awkward NYC Moments

• After seeing The Hunger Games, we got a little confused on which way to exit the theater. This led to some random guy latching onto our small foursome. He stopped when we stopped. Tried joining the conversation by asking where we were headed. Hovered around our group as we regrouped and tried to figure out where we were going. Followed us as we attempted to loose him in the crowd still exiting the theater, and later circled us (widely) as we waited for some of Jessie's friend who also saw the movie at the same theater. As we met her friends, the guy still hovered close to our group, not close enough to listen to our conversation, but close enough that we were aware he was keeping tabs on us. Creepy. (Is it important to mention he was a short, chubby-ing, balding, white, 30 something year old? Helps with your mental image? There you go.) Luckily Jessie's friends came, the guys basically told our stalker to scram, but we were still creeped out and walked Sarah all the way to the Subway.

Creepy McCreeperson is just outside this photo. Not kidding.  (Just picture him where that person in periwinkle is.)

• Friday night Lisa and I found ourselves at Max Brenner for dessert. We outdid ourselves (oh, maybe it's also worth mentioning Lent was put on hold for the weekend?) and got much more dessert than we needed. What we also got was a table in between two couples. A table like they have in that scene on Valentine's Day (terrible movie). And it was awkward. I tried to tune them out because that's what I do when I feel uncomfortable. 

• Saturday night we tried for the second, unsuccessful time, to get Newsies tickets in the lottery. As we got in line (with high hopes, though not as high as the previous night) for tickets some young, hip guys were in line before us and I made a joke. It should be noted that I almost always think my jokes are funny. I generally get laughs at my jokes. Well, at least I get courtesy laughs. Well, my joke to these guys consisted of me telling them they should get out of line because they probably wouldn't get tickets anyway and if they did, the odds for me would be better. If there were crickets in NYC you would have heard them. Well, crickets and my nervous awkward laughter. I was teasing, joking, didn't expect them to actually get out of line! They should just laughed and said something like, "tough luck! we're getting tickets!" It would have been fine and probably funny. Instead they just turned around and didn't do friendly we're-all-standing-in-line-for-the-same-thing-and-we'll-be-temporary-friends-but-secretly-we-hope-your-name-doesn't-get-chosen banter. On second, close, examination, I realized they were dressed too fashionably hipster and were probably gay and were probably afraid of my sad and pathetic semi-flirting. And yeah, I felt stupid.

who wouldn't want to see this?? no wonder everyone in town was in line.

Couldn't see Newsies so we settled for a JoBro instead.  Totally worth it.

I find myself feeling awkward frequently. 

Congratulations. You made it to the end of this long post.

The end.

Laduree

It's like I died and went to heaven deliciousness. I've heard stories about the tastiness of Laduree macarons but I've only had the imitations. So when I heard the famous French pastry shop opened a location on the Upper East Side I knew a trip across Central Park needed to be made.

And seriously, how can these little cute, delicious-ness of packed flavor chewy cookies not make any and everyone happy. It was hard not to devour them all post lunch. Totally worth it. I'm officially sold and now am going to learn to make mediocre imitations.

(Oh, and our favorite flavors? Vanilla, Coconut, and Caramel with Fleur de Sol.)

ps. I added a picture of us post Hunger Games to the last post. HERE.

NYC BOUND!

Last year two of my coworkers read The Hunger Games. I was thrilled because I had finished them all about six months prior. They devoured the books and we found ourselves emailing throughout the day about what we thought and how we felt about the books. Then next thing I knew, they were moving away to New York. Well, one of the girls sent out an invite for our work calendars to see The Hunger Games Midnight Showing March 23, 2012. I kind of laughed, accepted the invite and thought to my self, "Like that'll actually happen."

Well, people, it's here.

And Lisa and I are on a bus happily reading our HG inspired mags on our way to meet them in Manhattan where they will be saving us seats (or spots in line) for our theater. And I am so thrilled I might not be able to take a nap.

POST EDIT:

I figured I'd give the movie rating. We love love loved it. I thought the movie was fantastic. I loved the scenes that were provided to round out the story on the screen (ie the control room stuff) and was so thrilled with the movie. Totally worth it. Here we all are post movie all excited with our US Weekly magazine.

Banana Pudding

Every time I go to New York City I want to stop by Magnolia Bakery for banana pudding. It's the creamiest, lightest, best tasting pudding ever. Kind of like banana cream pie, and I love banana cream pie. After one of these trips I decided I wanted to recreate the recipe for my roommates. And I made it, and it was good, but the texture wasn't right. It was delicious and pudding-y but it wasn't as light as the Magnolia Bakery version. Since it was good, I made it a few more times but it just never fully compared to the "real" stuff.

The "real" stuff. Photo from Flickr

Until this weekend when I basically hit the jackpot. And I think it was because I made the pudding and didn't use Jell-O. So, I'm going to share the happiness with you:

Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding
Adapted from Crepes of Wrath

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 egg, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature
2 cups whole milk
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large bananas, sliced
1 box nilla wafers (I didn't use them all but you'll want enough)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine the sugar, cornstarch, egg, egg yolk, whole milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk together until combined, then continue whisking for 8-10 minutes, until the pudding begins to bubble like hot lava (thick pudding with bubbles that sound like a ‘plopping’ noise). Add in the unsalted butter, reduce heat to the lowest setting, and whisk until completely melted. Pour the pudding into a separate bowl, then allow to sit in the fridge until cool. (It's a couple hours.)

2. Whip the cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until very stiff.

3. When the pudding is cool and the whipped cream is finished, fold the cream and pudding together until there is no more visible yellow. Don't stir because you will loose some of the air in the cream.

4. When the pudding is ready, begin to layer your pudding. Alternate layers of pudding, Nilla wafers, and bananas until you have used all the pudding. Then let the whole thing sit for a few hours (overnight is best) until the Nilla Wafers are soft. 

Serves 8 but you might want to double it because it's so good.

Seriously, you should try it. I promise you won't be disappointed. And if you do try and you've had the real stuff, let me know how it compares. I'm really interested to know if it needs something else or if it's as close as I think it is.

Christmas in New York

Things are slow at work this week. And that translates to another blog post for you! So, here's the NYC recap.

I have only gone to New York with friends once, and that was last October. Yeah, October 2009. So it was definitely a different trip than I've done in the past, and a good different. Lisa, Debbie, Laney and I caught the bus up to New York after work on Friday. Most things on the itinerary were not accomplished. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a success.

Highlights include: brunch at Community Food and Juice (maybe a new favorite); taking pictures on the subway ride out to Brooklyn; Anthropologie shopping at Rockefeller Square; dinner with Liz and Mark at Lombardi's; Debbie experiencing "Banana Heaven"* for the first time; Carly; playing a late night game of "What If"; Sunday lunch at Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem; and making the bus when I didn't think we were going to. (I'm sure I'm forgetting something else.)

Lombardi's with the Weinbergs. Why is my face so red?! We were laughing loud, and hard. That's it. I think...

Dinosaur BBQ

Before food.

After food.

Rockefeller Square. Man, I'm such a picture poser.

Anthropologie. We all walked away with something. Great sale!

*Banana Heaven would be Magnolia's Banana Pudding. And it really is Banana Heaven.

And, all pictures by the lovely and wonderful hostess, Carly. (I WAS going to link to her blog here but she NEVER updates so it's really pointless.)

NYC Firsts

Firsts from this past weekend:

• Eating sushi with chopsticks the entire meal and not being embarrassed or even frustrated. (This may not seem that big of a feat to you if you are a chopstick user, but for someone not totally familiar with it and who usually gives up when it's too hard, it was pretty big. And, I think I was ok good at it. At least the food only fell off once. And I picked up a single grain of rice too. I was pretty impressed with myself even if you aren't!)
• Enjoying church, really enjoying church for the first time in a while. (Perhaps it helped that it was Stake Conference. I don't know why I haven't been enjoying church lately. Perhaps I get frustrated with stupid things said from the pulpit. Perhaps it's because I'm always sitting next to someone who will indulge in my boredom and chit chat with me. But yesterday was good.)
• Getting from the West Village to Upper West Side and to a restaurant by myself. In the dark. (I'm afraid of the dark. I really am. And perhaps that's naive of me and overly cautious, but I am. I don't even walk home through my safe suburban neighborhood by myself in the dark. So I definitely wouldn't be doing that in a place I'm not familiar with!)
• Brunch at Penelope (My friend Andrea is obsessed with this place. I think it's because all the male waiters are attractive.)
• Driving (I hitched a ride from The District to The City. It was definitely more convenient than taking the bus. And cheaper. And I got door to door service!)
• No pictures taken. (That's right. I didn't take a single picture the entire weekend! That's never happened before. I almost got it out multiple times, but never actually opened my purse to do it. Sorry no real documentation!)

And lastly, it's not a first because I always have fun when I go, but it was good to see old and new NYC friends I've met since going there. And a special thanks for a wonderful weekend with Carly and Liz, for Liz playing hostess and Carly keeping me entertained! Love!

Again!

I'm off to New York again this weekend and I have no concrete plans. Maybe I'll actually hit up the Met this time.

At last

Since my family is currently on the train, on their way back to DC from NYC (where they ditched me to hang out with Carly and see shows while I went to work), I realized I never posted pictures from the last trip I took to NYC which was in January over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day three day weekend. Here are a few highlights of the trip:

On our way to brunch. Carly, me, Andrea and Erin, Liz took the picture. (If you recall, last time I was in NYC we stayed at Andrea and Erin's place.) We had a sleep over at the night I got in.


After brunch--which we ate at a delicious place somewhere and the title of the restaurant had the word "Good" in it (and it lived up to that) but I can only really remember the good part-- we went to see Next to Normal. A musical about a dysfunctional family. We enjoyed it. But we may have cried too.


Ah, Levain Bakery. The bane of my existence. If I live near it I'd be two things, 1.) fat as a whale, and 2.) broke because those puppies are expensive. But I love them. Best cookies ever. I dream about the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip one. Perhaps I should never move to the Upper West Side...


And lastly we hit up Shake Shack before going to a movie. Yep, we went to a musical and a movie in one night. We saw The Lovely Bones and I think we were all a little scarred. Another highlight of the trip, was meeting the fella in the picture who I knew I'd meet someday...


I really do love New York. When I go visit I think, "Man I could definitely live here." But then I come home to DC and it feels like home too. And who wouldn't want to come home when they have what was in that box in their room? (Post coming soon. Promise!)

Not a weather related post

Or maybe not totally weather free.
What is going on with the weather right now? It's snowing.
Again.
And tomorrow is going to be snow day number three.
Three!
Three snow days in a row!

Wow.

Ok, enough weather talk.

Here is a quick rundown of my last NYC trip I took in January (Martin Luther King Jr. Day).

Highlights include, but are not limited to:

Slumber party at Erin and Andrea's
Meeting a significant other
Brunch at Good


Next to Normal


Levain's


Shake Shack


Brunch at Isabella's
Erin's birthday party
Fitting three people into Liz's double bed
Shopping at Anthropologie with Carly
Shake Shack again
Magnolia Bakery and Levain's again (to go obviously)

Hm... I seem to eat a lot when I go to New York.
But, it's always fantastic to get out of town and go visit somewhere. Every time I go visit it's like a mini getaway vacation (minus the beach that usually goes along with a vacation).
Thank you for the fantastic weekend Carly, Liz, Erin and Andrea!
Thank you for letting me stay at your apartments Liz and Erin and Andrea!
Thank you for hanging out with me all weekend Carly and most of the weekend Liz (too bad you had to work on Monday)!

Love you all and can't wait to come again!

(And, pssst! Carly! Can't wait to see you this weekend! Hope the weather doesn't keep you away!)

Ugly Naked Men

Have you seen Friends? Watch this video if you want a refresher and a laugh:

Well, we're in NYC this weekend staying with two dear girls, Erin and Andrea, who have kindly let us stay in their apartment despite being out of town. Last night while looking out the window I found myself looking at the bare-naked butt of a random stranger. And I felt like I was on Friends and staring at Ugly Naked Guy. I ran away from the window saying, "He's naked! He's naked!"

Then we all had a good laugh and were awkward for feeling like Peeping Tammys.

Heeeellllloooo New York City!

I had a great time in New York! It was a great amount of time there; my friends who live there miraculously were able to play and didn't have to work; and it was the right mix of fun and relaxation. Just perfect.

Had I had one extra day I would have gone to the Met, but I live close! I can do it next time I go, or the one after that!

Here are a few of the pictures I took from the trip. I forgot my camera so these are the ones from my phone. I still have to get pictures from the US Open on Saturday.

Unfortunately you can't see the balloons very well. (I couldn't get out my phone fast enough) But this lady was carrying a huge bundle of balloons and it looked so great next to the New York buildings.

We ate Saturday brunch at this cute little place. I was so full (as evidenced by my less than flattering tummy pooch) and it was so good. This is me with Carly.

Although we don't have photographic evidence of the bikes, this is Liz and me standing over the reservoir at Central Park. We rented bikes Saturday afternoon and it was wonderful. The weather was warm (maybe a little too warm as evidenced by the amount of sweating I did later in the day), but it was nice in the shade.I've decided that a trip to NYC is not complete without a Shake Shack experience. It was so delicious! Carly and I went twice. Yum! This is right before we went to the US Open to see James Blake get beat. But it was maybe more fun sitting outside watching John Isner beat Andy Roddick on the big screens.On Sunday before church, my new friend Andrea and I went to brunch at Isabella's. It was so delicious. I would go back in a heart beat. It's only open for brunch on Sundays, so it's a good thing I'm a tourist when I go visit, so I can justify the eating out.

The rest of the trip has no evidence, but it was leisurely spent. We went to brunch again on Monday and then to see Julie and Julia. (Loved it.) I packed my suitcase while Liz got ready to go into work (the life of an accountant) and then met up with Carly for our 2nd Shake Shack experience. Mmm.

I can't wait to go back and visit again, but I also couldn't wait to get back to DC to my own bed. To my decent sized closet. To my full sized kitchen. To my living room, sun room and pantry. And to my front yard with trees and flowers and grass. I loved New York, but I love DC just a little more. And that's the way it should be when you're living somewhere right?

I'm coming!

For my lovely NYC dwellers,

I bought bus tickets this afternoon after lunch. Lets play!