Valentine's Day 2013

Kevin and I celebrated Valentine's Day this weekend. My mom came over to spend some time with James and babysit him so we took the opportunity to go for dinner and drinks in our old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cobble Hill.

Valentine's picture- oh my I need some sun!

Despite his "Awesome 24/7" shirt, James is unhappy when you grab his pacifier

Reading his favorite book, Curious George, with Nana

James and Nana both like bling

We had sushi and sake at Ki restaurant. It was yummy, though it's one of those places where it makes a difference what you order. Some of the rolls are way better than others. (I'm pretty tough on sushi, but if you want a recommendation, my two favorite places in New York right now are Iroha in Manhattan and Ozu in Brooklyn.) We had sidecars at Clover Club cocktail bar and whiskey drinks at Char No. 4. The Four Roses small batch bourbon was really good. We also stopped at Brooklyn Inn on the way home-- but mainly to warm up.

Yummy passion roll and fantastic roll at Ki sushi

Kevin with a sidecar at Clover Club

Cheers from Char No. 4!

Possibly the culinary highlight of the evening though was our double dessert at The Chocolate Room. We had chocolate cake and washed it down with dark hot chocolate. Oh. my. gosh. DARK HOT CHOCOLATE. I think they just straight-up melted a high-quality chocolate bar into my cup. Chocolate is the new wine.

Telepathically professing my love to the dark hot chocolate

Thanks again, for babysitting, Nana! We had a very happy Valentine's Day celebration.

James's Valentine this year: Nana

PS. Valentine's Day last year and a Valentine's Day retrospective.

Two dozen roses from Kevin- I'm a lucky woman!

Brooklyn Night- October 2012

A night out! Have you ever had a medium-rare burger at Prime Meats? If not, you have not lived. Drop everything and go now. Also their mixed drinks will not disappoint at all.

Sarah and Lukas at Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens

Michele, Ericka, and Kevin

Cheers to our new buddy Amanda and Mike

The captions below have no relationship to what was happening but sort of fit with the pictures?

"When life hand hand you lemonade... make lemons..."

"... life will be all like 'Whaaa?'" - Modern Family

I haven't been to the Brooklyn Inn for ages. It really brought back memories from the last time I went for Kevin's 30th birthday. With a lot of these same friends actually.

Everyone at Brooklyn Inn

Kevin's 30th Birthday 2010, Part 1

Kevin's birthday was really fabulous, if I'm allowed to say that as the organizer. First his buddy Jim from LA surprised him, then his brother Andrew flew in from Florida, and for his third surprise his friend Briggs showed up from Austin. It was a national party.

A few of us went to eat the most delicious steak and cheesecake at Luger's. We ate everything family style, and even though wee were there at lunchtimeJon gave him a fourth surprise. Jon got Kevin's childhood Dee Brown jersey signed by Dee Brown, the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest winner.

Outside Luger's

Kevin loved Dee Brown's signature. Best present ever, Jon!

Self-portrait of us on the subway by Jon (bottom right).  I learned this trick from Ash.

Then we had a lot of time to kill in the afternoon so we went back to our apartment, drank, and watched the Vancouver Winter Olympics opening ceremony. We particularly enjoyed the difficulty the torch bearers had lighting the torch. Finally, a larger group went out to his favorite bar in near home, the Brooklyn Inn, where we spent a shocking number of hours. I encouraged people to "dress like a professor" as the theme.  Here are some of the best dressed.

Rocking the professor theme

With the pipe that Ash lent him for the occasion

The guys at Brooklyn Inn

The ladies, "bringing it"

  What a great all-day celebration!  I had a fabulous time and it looked like other people were loving it too.  But this was just Saturday... the fun continued through Monday!

Kevin's 29th Birthday 2009

We had a fun weekend celebrating Kevin's birthday. Brady was visiting for the weekend from Philly so Saturday we showed him around our part of Brooklyn and had a delicious lunch at F. Martinella Deli.

 

Brooklyn Heights Promenade

Brooklyn Heights Promenade- We are both 29

 

James meets us at our apartment

Saturday evening, James W met up with us, and the four of us had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant in our Cobble Hill neighborhood and then had drinks at Kevin's favorite Brooklyn bar, the Brooklyn Inn. 

James and Brady at Coco Loco a Peruvian restaurant in our hood

Brady, James W., and Kevin at the Brooklyn Inn

Sunday was Kevin's real birthday, so we went for a walk around Park Slope and Prospect Park. I also made him Cuban ropa vieja for dinner. A favorite!

Park Slope


Failed self-portrait in Prospect Park


Prospect Park


Cuban ropa vieja- shredded flank steak with veggies