My Hiatus

I know I've been (very) MIA the past couple of months, but I've been ridiculously busy trying (and sometimes succeeding!) to maintain balance in my life. [Listen, you try finishing up college, working, running a club, & keeping up a blog and tell me it's easy!]

BUT, I promise I'll have some good stuff for you in a few weeks.

I Went to Fashion's Night Out and All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt

...and a glass of champagne. So, I think it's absolutely just me, but I didn't really enjoy Fashion's Night Ot the way I thought I would. Okay, granted, I only went for the freebies, but there were too many people, too many lines for me to think it was worth it. Next year, I think I'll take advantage of the online FNO sales. FNO is 100% for die hard fashionistas and not 'well I like clothes'. Despite this, I took a picture of this crazy free t-shirt I got from Marc Jacobs.

Where does one even wear this? Bed? The gym? Right now, I'm wearing it to bed. But, damn. Who thought this was a good idea? Aside from that, check out a couple of other photos I took at FNO below:

Bike Rides & Cocktails

As predicted, I definitely started slacking with my posting, so this post is going to be 95% pictures that I took over the past two weeks (?) or so.

Me taking advantage of Free Bike Fridays on Governor's Island. I'd almost forgotten how to ride one, it's been YEARS!
Afterward we stopped by Water Taxi Beach at South Street Seaport. It was crowded because it was a Friday night, but if you go in the late afternoon during the week, it's not so bad.
We also went to Sequoia, but were really displeased with the service here. The bartenders spent most of their time chatting up the male clientele and took forever to notice us and take our order. The $5 strawberry daiquiris aren't worth the stress.
Enter 123 Burger Shot Beer. Super super cheap EVERYTHING and decent service on top of that. Take that, Sequoia!

During the really crappy weather earlier this week, my coworker and I stopped by Subtle Tea, which is this amazing tea shop on 30th and Madison. They have the biggest selection of tea I've ever seen. There was one really disgruntled employee who kept complaining about various things that should have been kept to herself. Other than that, the atmosphere is really great; they have wifi and lots of outlets in case you're the sort of person who carries their laptop with them everywhere. :)

Until next time...

Insert Witty Title Here!

I really don't know where the past two weeks went. I guess it's all the planning and whatnot going on with the start of a new semester approaching, especially with it being my last year! Anyhow, I've definitely been keeping busy.

Last Saturday, I went to Coney Island to explore Luna Park and ride the Wonder Wheel - which is a must-do every time I go to Coney (despite my shrieks of terror from the swinging car).

This is Rupert, the turtle I bought in one of the side streets where they have all the carnival games. She is too cute (yes, she).

Last Sunday, I went row boating in Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island. In true New York fashion, I must admit that Staten Island is my least favorite borough (This is why. Hey, if you don't want to be part of the greatest city in the world, see ya!). Nevertheless, I am a bargain hunter, and at $10/hr to rent a row boat, I'm down.

Afterward, I stopped by the Staten Island mall. Despite it being so deep in the island, it's not bad. I do prefer Queens Center mall, though. (Didn't get a picture of the mall, but this picture of the lake will do!)

Saturday, while perusing the street fair on 3rd Ave., I was able to score two free passes for a free game and shoe rental at Bowlmor Lanes. I was actually pretty excited, considering the millions of times I've passed by this place. However, imagine my shock when I saw how much everything actually cost! Granted, it's a nice alley and all and it's cool to see the celebrity pins and everything, but I can't realistically see myself returning without another free pass, particularly when I know places where I could go for cheaper (See Astoria Bowl post.)

The night was still young after Bowlmor, so my friend and I ventured over to U2 Karaoke over on St. Marks Pl. It's a bar or suite karaoke place, meaning, you can sing at the bar ($2/song) or in a suite ($8/per person per hour). We decided to make a spectacle of ourselves at the bar. The song selection is okay, could be better. And the drinks are kinda pricey, but we had a lot of fun and the staff was super nice and so were the other patrons. Could definitely see myself returning.

Classes start next week, so I'm hoping I can keep up the pace. But until next time...

Popped my Shake Shack Cherry

Working and going to school so close to Madison Square Park, I often see the long, winding line trailing from the ever-so-popular Shake Shack. I always walk by and say in my head, "Silly fools. It can't be that good." But, oh. Who is the fool now? *Points at self*. Yes. While wandering aimlessly by the Museum of Natural History, I decided to finally stop by the famous burger joint and ordered a Shack Burger. After all, the line wasn't nearly as bad as in Madison Sq. Park. I wasn't expecting it to be more than just a regular burger. But, I must admit, it was pretty bangin'. I don't know what they do to it, because it looks like a normal burger. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about the burger today. Yeah-I daydreamed about going and getting a Shackburger. Okay, consider me hooked.

Islands in the Sun

This weekend was my grandma's 90th birthday (it's weird to think that when she was born, the airplane-"aeroplane"- barely existed and iceboxes still existed). Anyhow, we traveled up to City Island to Lobster Box for her surprise birthday dinner. Now, as someone who always goes to either of the two restaurants at the very end (yes, the ones where the police cars hover around) for the ridiculously cheap food and drinks, I thought the menu items here would be way overpriced (I mean, they have a fireplace in the entry way!), and while we had a prix fixe menu already set up for us, it was unbelievably affordable. Service was great and the food was pretty good, too.

Sunday, I was in Queens at Astoria Bowl. It's this small, out of the way (basically on Rikers' Island :-X) alley with an...interesting retro (or just old?) vibe going for it. I can't complain because the prices were very reasonable and we got vouchers for a free game the next time we stop by. So, while I will be waving to Lil Wayne on my way there, I do think I will be back at Astoria Bowl at some point in the future. For dinner, we went to my favorite Thai restaurant in the city - Benjama's Taste of Thai. Things I love about this place: 1. the food is amazing (Usually I try to order new things every time I return to a restaurant, but their pad prikh king is so delicious and pungent [sidenote: pungent is my least favorite word EVER, so that I used it means a lot] that I order it every time.) 2. the decor. I love the way it's decorated with soothing water fountains and plants, very relaxing. 3. service is always really friendly and helpful.

Restaurant Week Extended!

Clearly, someone must have heard that I wasn't able to make it out for Restaurant Week, because I learned today that it has been extended! It's basically restaurant month! So, if like me, you weren't able to take advantage of any of the awesome deals, get on it. For more info ,visit here.

I'm on a Boat!

I may not have a nautical themed pashmina afghan, BUT in the past couple of days I have been spending a good amount of time on various boats. On Thursday, I went to The Frying Pan, this bar that is located on an actual boat. It was way bigger than I expected, and definitely very crowded. I think the best time to go would be after 9 since that seems to be when the crowd thinned out. The drinks aren't particularly cheap, but you're paying for the ambiance, too, so I guess it's okay (....eh...) It does have awesome views, though, and it's near the helicopter launching place so if you're into that, you'll love it. (I am particularly terrified of helicopters, so every time one flew past, I paused and got all bug-eyed, but that's just my neurosis).

Today, I went to a picnic on Governor's Island. It was my first time going to the famed island and I was very impressed. There's so much space for picnicking, running around and really has something for everyone. There was a manhunt game going on throughout the island and a 1920's jazz show going on, so you had people dressed in yellow and red caution tape for manhunt teams and others looking like they stepped right out of 1923. On the ferry ride back, a band began to play spontaneously and a few couples began to dance (check out the pics in the slide show above!). It's things like this that make me really love NYC.

Salvation in the form of Karaoke

There are very few things that will lure me over to the heinous tourist trap that is Herald Square. One of them is Duet 35 Karaoke (the others happen to be Jack's 99 Cent World and Girls Write Now HQ). Duet is my all-time favorite karaoke spot in the city. They feature private room karaoke, so for the shier ones out there, you don't have to suffer public humiliation to belt out your favorite Lady Gaga song (mine happens to be Telephone). They keep their catalog up to date, so you can take your pick at your desired Top 40 fare. Besides the super affordable price of $4/hr per person Mon.-Thurs (and just $5/hr per person Fri.-Sun) during daytime hours, I always get a kick out of the terribly mismatched music videos that accompany many of the songs. So, say I'm rapping "I Get Money" by 50 Cent, the video might be of a neatly dressed Korean man who is a banker. It's absolutely hysterical. But, overall, it's a really great place to chill with friends; they have a bar and serve appetizers as well. You can also order out if you want, the menus are up in the front :) So if you happen to need somewhere to relieve stress after dodging tourists all day, definitely stop by Duet 35 Karaoke.

Lemurs and Hookah Bars!

I spent my 4th of July at the Bronx Zoo (courtesy of Bank of America's Museums on Us program-which basically lets you into select museums/attractions for free with presentation of a Bank of America debit or credit card. If you haven't heard of it and bank with BofA- get on it!) I haven't been to the zoo in YEARS, despite living so close to it, so I was excited to see it. Since I've last been there, they added the Madagascar exhibit, which was very cool. If you check out the slide show, there's this one uber chill lemur relaxing on a branch like he's a boss. I really wanted to go for a camel ride, but it seems that only people 10 and under do these sorts of things. I didn't want to hear "Mommy, why is that old lady on the camel? When is it my turn?" So, I settled on a picture and opted for the monorail instead. All in all it was really great. I'd forgotten how much I used to love going to the zoo as a small child. Plus, it being 4th of July, it wasn't crowded at all. Surely, a true rarity.

Yesterday, to celebrate my coworker's birthday, we headed to Astoria to go to Firdo's Grill. It's a quaint little hookah spot on Steinway. It's definitely a hike from the R train at Steinway, but the staff was really friendly and helpful, plus the music wasn't bad either. I'm not a hookah person (I think it would be inappropriate of me to hack up my lung onto the table) , but from everyone else seemed to really enjoy it. Shout out to our waiter Danny who obliged our multiple requests for pictures!

2nd & 3rd of July

Hello world! Friday, a few of my coworkers and I went to Brighton Beach. We're a very diverse staff, so our cultural expedition actually began on Thursday at Dhaba,which is this cute Indian restaurant that opened not too long ago. They have a $10 unlimited lunch buffet, which was actually pretty decent. But, back to Friday, we headed to Brighton Beach, now in search of Russian food. We ended up at Tatiana.It was right on the boardwalk (which I think was reflected in those prices).

What I really liked about Tatiana was that they have that European dining mentality of 'Stay as long as you want, we'll give you the check when you're ready'. I hate getting the check when I'm not even done eating yet. But, what we were really exited about were the fireworks.

Today, my friend Edithe had a spare ticket for this play called Family Dinner at Theatre Row. Without completely giving away the plot, it's about this family who tries to keep up their image despite all of the internal conflicts and strife that actually happens inside their home. Afterward we went for linner (lunch-dinner)at Bon Chon Chicken, which had this amazing Korean fried chicken. My life has been made that much better because of the introduction of Korean fried chicken. Plus, it was "World Cup weekend" so orders were half off. I think I just officially became a fan of the World Cup.

Well, until next time!