Thank You

Cupcakes from Butter & Scotch, perfect treats for day time drinking.

Hot damn. The older I get, the more I'm mellowing out or maybe because I'm doing my birthday month (thinking about doing birthday year) and that grumpy Don will be back next month.

35, I definitely did not think this far out. Also didn't really plan to be living in NYC for 10 years. 10 YEARS! How did I get here? Surprisingly I made it this far, mostly just living life day-by-day. Though now it's hard to imagine my life not in NY. Hard to imagine the me I would've turned out if I had stayed in LA.

Oh well, no point in thinking about that. I'm feeling pretty great right now and that's rare. Though a lot has to do with how super great my family and friends are. They made turning 35 pretty darn fun. I feel so loved.

Anyhoooooo...here are some snaps of the things I have eaten for my birthday. My friend Scott gave me a pound of brisket from Delaney Barbecue aka Briskettown. A POUND OF BRISKET! It was one of the best brisket I had and their pork ribs were just as good.

Had my birthday drinks at 61 Local on a snowy day. Thank you everyone for swinging by! So good to see many old faces and definitely good to hang out outside of Twitter/Facebook.

Then it was followed by cocktails and chicken pot pie at Van Horn.

My birthday also gave me the excuse to have lunch with Phae at Fiat Cafe. Fiat Cafe has been on my to-eat list for a long time. Glad I went. The spaghetti and meatballs really hit the spot. Also a glass of red wine for lunch does not suck.

Another place on my list is Maison Premiere. I walked in at 5:30p and it was way packed already. People were there to take advantage of the $1 oyster happy hour.

This year's birthday dinner, I went to Sweet Chick. A month old chicken and waffle place. The chicken and waffle, the shrimp and grits, the cocktails, the dessert (warm biscuit bread pudding, oh my!) and the service were all really really good. Thank you Sweet Chick.

After dinner we took a stroll up to Greenpoint to Torst. A brand spanking new Nordic influenced bar. Ah thank you again friends for a wonderful 35.

Wednesdays Are For Beers And Reading

Skylark in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Last night I found myself sitting at the bar at Skylark, drinking a beer and reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Something I should be doing a lot more. The bar was empty except for the owner and her friends and a couple sitting at a table near the door. The speakers were playing some upbeaty music but definitely fine for reading my digital book at the corner of the bar.

I had a dream. I had a dream that one day I'll open a bar, a quiet bar where people can have normal conversations (or even read) without having to yell.

Sundays Are For Being Outdoors

Holy....sh*t, it was a beautiful day yesterday. I'm usually not the one that get so thrilled about a good weather (with breeze and fluffy clouds) day but yesterday was just too damn nice to NOT be outside. Also my friends at Lonestar Taco had tweeted about their fish taco special. Who doesn't like fish tacos!? Fish tacos here I come!....also plus a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge for Smorgas/DUMBO.

Fluke a la plancha with salsa verde and mixed chili marmalade. Amazing! I also got a bean and cheese taco. Just beans and cheese, you ask? Yes. Lonestar Taco does great stuff to their beans so they're not just some ordinary beans.

While walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, a lot of us noticed a plane was doing skywriting. I had to snap this photo because the plane skywrote #occupywallst RIGHT OVER Wall St.

Made it. Besides on the waterfront in Williamsburg, Smorgasburg is now also in the Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO on Sundays. No more having to trek out to Williamsburg.

Grass, sitting by the water, view of the Manhattan skyline, waving to people on the party boats, eating fish and chips and drinking Arnold palmer with white peach mix-in slushies (from Kelvin Slush).

The view from where I was sitting. Happy days!

We then took a leisurely stroll down to Pier 6 for a beer up on their concession stand rooftop.

Drinking our beers and daydreaming about being future volleyball players.

Happy Hour At Allswell

Last week I went to get happy hour oysters ($1 each) plus a $4 pint of Kelso and it was a great way to spend few hours at Allswell. Then I ended up ordering a plate of fried artichokes with peppercress and ricotta salata and it was ah-mazing.