Michele Visits NYC 2016

Michele visited New York last weekend! Happiness! I met her in Karen in Chinatown where they were already 2/3rds way through a dumpling crawl. We went to Joe's Shanghai for a few soup dumplings.

Karen, Michele, me inside

Karen and Michele outside Joe's Shanghai

Then we decided to get foot massages, but there was a little bit of a wait so we went for a hot chocolate and coffee. There's not a lot of coffee shops in Chinatown so write down the location of this one!

Cheers at Little Canal cafe, 26 Canal Street

Finally, it was foot massage time! It was my first massage and Karen's foot massage. Why have we been waiting? Amazing. I didn't take photos inside but this is what it felt like:

Renew Day Spa, 42 Bowery

Seriously, they'd rub something on my feet and then it would start to feel like a pleasant burning. And then all the sudden I'd feel it on my ear lobe or something. Crazy.

Then it was time to head to Williamsburg to celebrate Karen's birthday! Michele and I got there a little early and had drinks at Sugarburg. Then we were risking being late so we ran to the restaurant. Everything at Mesa Coyocan was delicious and the drinks were amazing. Karen's friends from grad school and home were awesome and fun, and the whole evening was well worth it. 

David, Nate, Hannah, Nada, Sarah, Karen, Michele


We mixed and matched (the hard way)

Birthday desserts!

Happy birthday, Karen! 

Apple shooters!

Sunday, Michele and I met Ash for brunch at The Breslin in Midtown. Brunch was delicious, it was great to all be together, and I forced everyone to take many many photobooth photos which I haven't scanned yet but will update this post to include later. Perfect visit!

 

I saw these pretty pumpkins on the way- so selfie!

Ash and Michele at The Breslin

Michele + lamb burger + amazing fries + tea = happiness

Midtown selfie: me, Ash, Michele

Kevin's 32nd Birthday 2012

Today is Kevin's birthday! Happy birthday!  Sadly, he had a cold and he has to work all day, but we were able to celebrate his birthday this weekend.

Kevin and I were super excited to go out for his birthday.  This is because we have a baby and it's extremely difficult to go out together.  We're not comfortable leaving James with someone we don't know. We basically only go out together when one of our moms comes to visit and watch James.  Last month, Kevin's mom kindly let us go out for New Years Eve. My mom came later in the month, so we were able to collect on our Christmas present to each other- a couples massage (thank you Groupon deal).

Kevin and Briggs enjoying the bourbon at Fette Sau in Williamsburg

Kevin wanted to go to Williamsburg to try barbecue and bourbon at Fette Sau and to return to one of his favorite bars Barcade to play his favorite game, Ms. Pac-man. Briggs, Lukas, and Sarah met us at Fette Sau. The men got in line for the food and bourbon samplers, while Sarah and I unsuccessfully saved bench seats and sipped our half pints of cider. Pounds of delicious brisket, pork shoulder, and mac and cheese later, Sarah and I decided we also needed cookies from Momofuku's Milk Bar. (If I never lose the baby weight, you'll know why.)

Me, Sarah, and Lukas enjoying  the barbecue

All the food and drink didn't keep us from dominating at the arcade games at Barcade. And by dominating, I mean getting fired as the neighborhood Paperboy again and again.

The High score board at Barcade

Kevin playing his favorite game- Ms. Pac-man

On Kevin's 31st birthday, a few of us went to BXL Cafe in Manhattan for Belgian food and Belgian beer on draft. I didn't have any beer of course, because I was super pregnant, but I seriously enjoyed the food. For his 30th birthday, we had a multi-day extravaganza that we kicked off with steaks at Peter Lugers and then to the Brooklyn Inn for beers. Do you see a theme in his birthdays?

Brooklyn Brewery 2012

On Saturday, a group of us went to the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg.  It was Ash's idea of how to spend an afternoon and it was a really good idea.  I'm not usually much of a beer person, but the beer here was really good, and at $20 for 5 beer chips (1 chip per beer, except the reserves which are 2 chips) you can't beat the prices in New York.

Outside the brewery together

We decided to do the free tour of the brewery as well. I heard from a few people not to do it because it's just one room and mainly someone just lectures to you, but I thought it was decent.  You can get a beer before the "tour" and drink it during, so it in no way wastes your time.  The guy who gives the talk about the brewery is funny.  Part of the talk is  about the owner of the brewery Steve Hindy, who turns out to be a super interesting person. Hindy started brewing his own beer while he was a war correspondent in the Middle East. The New York Times just wrote an article about Hindy.

This is what the tour looks like

Mainly, it was a really fun group of people.  Jaime came all the way from Virginia to hang out and watch the Super Bowl the next day.  Ash and Kate came down from upstate New York. Michele, Kate's brother Matt, and their cousin Brian live in the city.

Inside the brewery tour: Matt, Kate, Ash, Michele, Jaime, me, Brian (l-r)

And did I mention the beer was really good? These are the beers we tried: Brooklyn BLAST! (9.0% abv and my favorite), AMA Bionda (6.0% abv, my second favorite, brewed by Amarcord Brewery in the small medieval town of Apecchio, Italy), Mary’s Maple Porter (7.5% abv), Brooklyn Lager (5.2% abv), Brooklyn Brown Ale (5.6% abv), Brooklyn East India Pale Ale (6.9% abv), Brooklyn Radius (4.8% abv), and Brooklyner Weisse (5.1% abv).

Oh yeah, and thanks to my beer love I broke my autofocus on my Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens, so now I'm buying my first non-kit lens. Sometimes something bad turns into something good.