NYC part 3

some dog posing for his Christmas pic

we did so much in new york. so much. and i'm so glad we did. now i want to go back and chill. or be more "picky" about which neighborhood we'd hang out in. like chelsea with the high line and art galleries or central park. or maybe just take a shopping trip. just kidding, that would never happen. so i have a couple more things to tell about our trip. and i'm sure i'll still leave something out. because like i said, we did so much.

the food
i have to admit that i was a little sad or disappointed that we didn't go to new york with more ideas or recs for restaurants. we love food. i like to think we are foodies. we enjoy different kinds of foods. except i don't like mushrooms. and adam will really eat anything. anyway. i had a couple suggestions but it'd be in a part of the city we weren't near at a time we were hungry. so most of our meals were just a gamble. i thought it'd be like new orleans where you can eat anywhere and it's going to be pretty good. it's not like that. a hole in the wall in new york is just that, a hole in the wall. don't get me wrong we had some good food. i think i just expected more from new york in the food area. our first stop was the tourist trap of little italy. we stopped in for a lunch special of pizza and glass of wine for $10. the pizza was really good. the tomato sauce was legit. and i know because i'm half italian. and it was a deal. we shared the pizza and got another glass of wine, which cost $8.75. so technically the pizza was only $1.25. crazy. some friends made us a reservation at a bobby flay restaurant which was a really great meal with good wine too. they had a side of brussel sprouts made with pomegranate seeds. so delicious. on saturday morning we stumbled upon this cute organic bakery in the "cool" part of town. the server was a bit pretentious. the menu had organic fruit, cheddar and chive scone with fresh ricotta cheese and soft boiled eggs. the coffee was good and came in your own little ceramic pot. it was so cute and we figured we found a local gem. then as we walked around the rest of the city the next 2 days we started seeing more of them. it was like their panera. i felt a little fooled but it was still quaint even if it was a chain. on sunday we were crunched for time because we were trying to see the Met before the Tenament. and it was around lunch time and we needed to get something to eat so we walked and walked. we came upon this great italian bistro. and we almost went to dean & deluca instead. gasp. i'm so glad we didn't. this meal was amazing. i had a tomato rustica pasta that was so yummy and flavorful. adam had a sort of spinach gnocchi with mushrooms. our caesar salad was freshly made table side. this was probably our favorite meal all weekend. it was so good. after the Tenament they gave us a map with food recs in the lower east side. we wanted to try dumplings so we went to this hip joint that was full of hipsters and locals. we tried both fried and boiled dumplings which were both very good. we also tried a noodle dish that i wasn't crazy about. i think they are known for the dumplings so it's always safe to stick with what they are known for. note to self. i talked about the food tour in brooklyn. the last stop on the tour was a gastropub where we had cajun boiled peanuts and rosemary garlic fries. both were so good. since we ended up staying there so long we ate dinner and i had a lamb burger that was divine. so when it comes down to it we did have some yummy food. but at the same time i expected more from a city like new york. what a snob!

the $1.25 pizza

my individual coffee

scone with fresh ricotta

food truck in harlem with yummy falafal wrap

a very yummy tuna tartar

a vodka flight at a russian place we won't probably go back to

the show
when you are going to new york every tells you that you MUST go to a show. you must. i started looking at shows online before we left. they have so many. and they are pretty pricey. but we had to see a show. my first choice was the book of mormon, but for the cheapest ticket at $300 i didn't see that as a possibility. we knew we could get tickets to shows the day of at discounted prices. there were so many options...did we want a play or musical or a catchy entertainment piece like blue man group? we decided we wanted something that told a story. and so when we went to the TKTS booth we opted for Rent. i'd always wanted to see it. and i always wanted to see and hear their signature song. it was really good. i'm always amazed at the giftedness of the people that do this. they sing act and dance. and some of them are really really good. plus i did like the story of the community of friends.

a crochet buggy outside the art galleris

a banana seat bike!!

this may wrap up our PATWA NYC EXTRAVAGANZA. i cannot say enough how humbled we are that so many people love us enough to send us on this little (big) adventure. it was a blast and perfectly timed. we had a super great time. i'm thinking we'll continue to need some "get-a-ways" but i don't think we'll get to do something like this again. so thank you to all of you that sent us on this trip. adam and i are going to go through all our pics and video soon and update our travel journal so we can remember the fun time we had together. thanks again!!!