The last week has been FABULOUS. Why you ask? Well, because the 16th was my birthday. It all started on Thursday night...
First stop - dinner with my parents at Duo Mari in New Brunswick, NJ. I had only been there once before and I will definitely return again and again. The food and service are amazing! Now all the gorging I did there really should have been enough, but really it was just the beginning.
When I got home from dinner I had a package waiting for me from an amazing woman who has been part of my life since I was just 4 years old. Her and my mom were class mothers of our Pre-K class. Jennie Ng Lopresto is an incredibly talented designer who has this beautiful ray of light that shines from her (ALWAYS). She designs amazing jewelery using her inspiration from life, antiques, pop culture and everything else around her. Her following is huge, but she personally works with each and every client - thus the reason why you haven't yet seen her in the Bs (Bergdorf's and Bendel's). The bracelet she sent me is so very me and just 3-of-a-kind. I even created a whole outfit around it for the following day.
I woke up Friday morning and put on my new metallic and natural linen shorts from The Loft, white tank, Jennie Ng Lopresto bracelet and white and rhinestone sandals.
I took the day off of work. I'm lucky enough that I am in a position where I can do this every year. I feel like your birthday is the one day a year that you shouldn't feel guilty being selfish. First I got my presents from Mr E.
Not the cupcake, the pan. I really wanted a jumbo cupcake pan to make my friends and fam yummy treats. While I know I can just walk into Sprinkles and buy one, these will be made with love.
Ipad - He knows me better than I know myself. I didn't even know I wanted one, but he said I NEEDED it. He was right. Love it. Send your app reccs my way!
Then we went to Mesa Grill for lunch. If you've never been - go! What I love about it is the fact that it's different than so many of the restaurants in NYC. Southwest cooking is not very common. What I didn't like was that it was restaurant week and majorly crowded for a summer Friday at 1PM. Can't win them all!
Next it was time for me to do some birthday damage at the accessory capital of NY: Bendel's. As soon as I saw this bag by Magnes Sisters, I knew it was coming home with me. I love the taupe gray color for fall (though I'm carrying it today) and I think the unique shape is great. It fits the Ipad perfectly, along with everything else I need to carry.
All that shopping in 90 degree weather made me in desperate need of a refreshing snack. So we hopped, skipped, jumped and drove on over to one of my favorite place - Popbar. If you aren't familiar with it, the entire place is for popsicles, but not the regular kind. They're kind of like gourmet Froze Fruits, surely you remember those. This time I got a plain grapefruit one, but Mr E scored a coconut gelato bar half dipped in dark chocolate. Both delish.
If you're headed there, make sure to stop at the pickle stand. Well, that is if you're a pickle aficionado like me. It's only a few steps away and they have flavors like Cajun pickle! Unfortunately it was too hot to tote around that day and too strange to eat with my grapefruit, but next time.
From there, we did some more shipping. I'm sure my husband was just thrilled - oh what he does for me! I got a pair of blue Native shoes to wear for my Saturday Birthday excursion (more to come on that). I'm totally obsessed. They're lightweight, water proof and pretty darn cute. So different than the Aqua Socks I once wore (come on, you know you did too).
After wearing myself out, I was actually hungry again. You'd think I'd need a break from food, but that actually didn't come until about Sunday night, so I was still good to go. We had reservations at Morimoto. At first I felt like I was cheating. I had never been there before because we are regulars at Nobu (Tribeca). So much so that our favorite waiter knows our entire order by heart. Stepping into Morimoto was like a totally different world. Completely different than the simple and understated decor of Nobu. At first this scared me because very often the snazzier the restaurant, the more mediocre the food. Initially I wanted to run through the Meatpacking district and all the way to Tribeca...but I stuck it out and I am so happy I did. The food was AMAZING. We got a bunch of dishes as appetizers and then some sushi. The standouts were the Miso Soup for 2, the Fried Calamari salad and the King Crab Leg in creamy spicy sauce. When we go back, I would actually skip the sushi. I thought it was ok, but nothing to rave about. The dishes there are what is top notch.
I slept like a birthday Princess and awoke on Saturday morning for a day of fun with my friends. More to come!
I took the day off of work. I'm lucky enough that I am in a position where I can do this every year. I feel like your birthday is the one day a year that you shouldn't feel guilty being selfish. First I got my presents from Mr E.
Not the cupcake, the pan. I really wanted a jumbo cupcake pan to make my friends and fam yummy treats. While I know I can just walk into Sprinkles and buy one, these will be made with love.
Then we went to Mesa Grill for lunch. If you've never been - go! What I love about it is the fact that it's different than so many of the restaurants in NYC. Southwest cooking is not very common. What I didn't like was that it was restaurant week and majorly crowded for a summer Friday at 1PM. Can't win them all!
Next it was time for me to do some birthday damage at the accessory capital of NY: Bendel's. As soon as I saw this bag by Magnes Sisters, I knew it was coming home with me. I love the taupe gray color for fall (though I'm carrying it today) and I think the unique shape is great. It fits the Ipad perfectly, along with everything else I need to carry.
All that shopping in 90 degree weather made me in desperate need of a refreshing snack. So we hopped, skipped, jumped and drove on over to one of my favorite place - Popbar. If you aren't familiar with it, the entire place is for popsicles, but not the regular kind. They're kind of like gourmet Froze Fruits, surely you remember those. This time I got a plain grapefruit one, but Mr E scored a coconut gelato bar half dipped in dark chocolate. Both delish.
If you're headed there, make sure to stop at the pickle stand. Well, that is if you're a pickle aficionado like me. It's only a few steps away and they have flavors like Cajun pickle! Unfortunately it was too hot to tote around that day and too strange to eat with my grapefruit, but next time.
From there, we did some more shipping. I'm sure my husband was just thrilled - oh what he does for me! I got a pair of blue Native shoes to wear for my Saturday Birthday excursion (more to come on that). I'm totally obsessed. They're lightweight, water proof and pretty darn cute. So different than the Aqua Socks I once wore (come on, you know you did too).
After wearing myself out, I was actually hungry again. You'd think I'd need a break from food, but that actually didn't come until about Sunday night, so I was still good to go. We had reservations at Morimoto. At first I felt like I was cheating. I had never been there before because we are regulars at Nobu (Tribeca). So much so that our favorite waiter knows our entire order by heart. Stepping into Morimoto was like a totally different world. Completely different than the simple and understated decor of Nobu. At first this scared me because very often the snazzier the restaurant, the more mediocre the food. Initially I wanted to run through the Meatpacking district and all the way to Tribeca...but I stuck it out and I am so happy I did. The food was AMAZING. We got a bunch of dishes as appetizers and then some sushi. The standouts were the Miso Soup for 2, the Fried Calamari salad and the King Crab Leg in creamy spicy sauce. When we go back, I would actually skip the sushi. I thought it was ok, but nothing to rave about. The dishes there are what is top notch.
I slept like a birthday Princess and awoke on Saturday morning for a day of fun with my friends. More to come!
