Esthetic/Aesthetic

Dine In Brooklyn Week - doing much much better

On Saturday after a long day of boutiquing along 5th Avenue with my shopping (and peer pressuring) friend Halina we stopped in at Blue Ribbon with hope in our hearts that we wouldn't have to wait 4 hours for a table.  Luck would have it we were seated within 20 minutes and it was amazing!  First of all the service was impeccable.  Our waiter was adorably helpful when I asked him if there was an alternative vegetarian option to the Dine In prix fixe menu, which there was, thankfully, although there were lots of good things to choose from on the real menu I would have been happy to pay extra for.  For the appetizer I had asparagus soup, something I'd never had before, but it was delicious.  My main entree was steamed vegetables, which sounds bland I realize, but I had two dipping oils on the side.  One was a little bit garlicky and one was spicy jalapeno-y.  I, of course, preferred the spicy.  I'd never had spicy jalapeno flavored broccoli and cauliflower.  The dessert was the best part.  It was a bread pudding with ice cream and chocolate sauce on top.  I'm not sure I can perfectly describe how the ice cream was perfectly vanilla and the chocolate was perfectly chocolate (not too milky, just dark enough).  It reminded me of how excited I would get as a kid when my mom let us buy Magic Shell for our ice cream.   Halina put it perfectly, "it makes it unnecessary to have a man."

Brooklyn Restaurant Week so far is so so.

Whats the point of having a blog if you can't use it to bitch about things?  Tonight me and the boys went to Apt. 138 for restaurant week, we were quite surprised to get a reservation on the same day.  Things started out well enough with being sat right away in a half full restaurant.  Then we got our drink ordered, drinks delivered, dinner ordered (it was requested that we don't give our dessert order until after the meal despite it being a prix fixe menu), appetizers served.....then we waited....and waited...then told our dinners were on the way.....then we waited.....then one meal was brought out by a blond haired surfer dude who barely spoke English clearly enough to tell us which meal it was....then we waited....then finally we got our dinners.  Apparently the boys' meals were delicious but mine, the only vegetarian option, was just 'eh'.   In all fairness it was listed on the menu as whole wheat linguine with vegetables, I just assumed there'd be some extra taste thrown in to it.  I also must say that my appetizer, a salad with apples and candied walnuts, was very good.  So, we ate dinner and our waiter came back out to find out our dessert order.  I remembered what I wanted but Neil could only remember it was the last thing on the menu so when he said, "um, number 3?" the waiter was clearly not amused, despite the fact it was his suggestion we order after eating without a menu to refer to.  And then when we finally got our desserts, mine was wrong. 

Okay, I'm done complaining, I was just really disappointed to finally go to Apt. 138, a place I'd heard was so good, to be so disappointed.  When I go back it'll be for the late night bar food and the game room downstairs, maybe.

Okay, now I'm very happy with the gift of sight as a christmas present, I am!  But wouldn't it be amazing to look at this, right after the operation????  Where IS that sugar daddy when you need him?

2007, Lesson 1

I know its been awhile, I've had a lot to think about.

My latest (and nicest thought) is that the longest relationship I've had with a man is with Andrew at Bumble and Bumble and I'm ashamed to admit I've cheated on him twice in the past 3 years and regretted it both times.  My first mistake was in trying out Salon De Quartier on Smith St and had my hair hacked to pieces by some recent German immigrant who picked up scissors in between smoke breaks.  Then this Saturday I tried another salon in Park Slope called Medusa, a place that seemed to have a good reputation.  The girl cutting my hair seemed lovely enough, but quite "hipster" something I am not, so now I have "cute" bangs, and I'm just not the girl to pull off "cute".  They'll grow out soon enough, but I feel foolish at the moment.  You should always stay with a man who after you leave you feel more beautiful and evolved than when you arrived.  Lesson learned.   

I did have the lovely experience of getting custom made foundation mixed for me just up the street at MYR, the best $40 I've spent this year.  Seriously, I put it on and you can't tell - its the perfect shade, an experience this pale, freckled girl has never had, no matter how many products I've tried.   Mallory, the owner, told me thats why she started her business.  She is pale, also, and after years working as a makeup artist saw a huge niche needing to be filled.  I also bought the most delicious smelling candle from her.  It smells like cake frosting...yummy. 

The things I keep alive

My first week off has been pretty uneventful, except I did see another Project Runway castoff (Allison) at the Union Square farmers market.  I rode a bus with an older gentleman with a wedding ring reading a little Chelsea flyer book, full of hot boys kissing, and he kept touching himself, ew.  But, the most exciting thing is I got myself a little toy that I've wanted for a long long time, and just in time for my next couple of trips.  Oh, and I also rounded up a job that'll start as soon as I get back from Belgium.  I have a record this time, it took me only an hour to put the word out I needed a job before I got 3 people calling!  Crazy. 

And for your viewing pleasure the first images from the previously mentioned toy.

I'd like you to meet Ronald.  This is what he looks like when he's just floating in his bowl.

And this is what he looks like when he sees me.  How do I inspire so much anger in such a little fish?

And when I was in Yellowstone last year I bought a little bag of wildflower seeds that I planted and put on my fire escape.  I like them, they sort of look like weeds, but there's just enough flowers to make it pretty. 

My favorites are the little weed like things that aren't technically flowers but somehow here they are.  I used to like to scrunch them up when I was little so the little flaky parts came off.  I'm tempted to do it now, but since there's only one of each I'm waiting.

   

Flowers On the Gowanus

Is there anything more decadent than going to a restaurant and ordering the tasting menu with wine to accompany each course?  Last night I went to Crave to celebrate my friend Keiths birthday and we were treated to 4 delicious courses, each suited to our dietary restrictions (no meat for me, no dairy for Keith and anything for Neil) and we also got an amuse bouche to start the meal.  Why do you care?  Because I tasted a little bit of pure genius at the end of the meal.  Keith got an assortment of sorbets as his dessert and one of them was a wasabi apple.  Yes, WASABI APPLE!  And it was amazing.  So amazing I woke up in the middle of the night and it was the first thing I thought about.  Can a girl fall in love with a sorbet?  Apparently, yes she can.

 

New Shoes!

You know when somebody tells you about some cool store that'll actually pay attention to you and help you?  And you think, "that must be a myth, because I'm always let down?"  I was told to go to Jack Rabbit to get some new running shoes by my trainer and that they would look at my feet and have me run on a treadmill to see if the shoes I picked were appropriate.  I went thinking that I'd be ignored or wouldn't get the chance to do the crazy running thing where they video you and assess your style.  But I was dead wrong.  It was so cool to actually see the difference between one shoe and another and how each shoe changed where my foot landed and how it landed.  I don't really know why I'm telling you all this, I was just so happy to find a little store that hires people who know what they're doing and that they take the time to make sure you get what you want and need without being jerks.  Clearly, I was a beginner and there were people in there who were definitely not, yet I got lots of info and help.  In fact, I even got 10% off of my new shoes.  Apparently I "pronate" when I run and these fix that right up!  By the way, I was also happy to learn a new word...Oh, I also had brunch at Stone Park Cafe with some friends.  It was perhaps one of the best eggs florentine I've ever had.  I'm usually a little wary of hollandaise sauce, but this was amazing.