I had already purchased bus tickets, but I ended up chucking them and going on an impromptu road trip with my friend Pete and some new friends (who are opening a beer bar in the West Village where I'm already planning on being a regular!). Even though with the crazy summer weekend traffic, it took us SEVEN hours from NYC to Boston, the drive wasn't bad at all with such fun companions. A couple hours in, we passed a town called Mianus, which provided fodder for great jokes the entire remainder of the ride. "Getta load o' this: It's backed up in Mianus, too!" "Hey, why is there a rake with no handle in the middle of the highway?" "Uhh, the handle was left in Mianus."
Rich and Tiff went out of their way to do fun things and go to nice restaurants with me. I didn't arrive until after 10 p.m. on Friday, and we headed straight out to the Island Creek Oyster Bar. The restaurant started out as an oyster farm whose beds provide many area restaurants with plump, briny bivalves. The owner of the oyster farm decided to open his own restaurant to showcase Island Creek's finest. The décor was utterly luxurious: they used seaside-inspired materials such as oyster shells, wooden crate planks and wire lobster cages to create a modern and trendy-as-hell space. Rich treated us to delicious fresh oysters and oyster, lobster and crab cake sliders.
Here is a closeup of the detail of the card. I cut out the tree/leaves/blossoms with a paper punch.
The three of us drove out to a high-end mall on Saturday. We had so much fun talking and browsing that we were almost late to meet up with Peggy and her husband for dinner. (I went to their wedding in Chicago last year; click here to see the card I made for them.) Peggy and her brother, and me and my brother, were the best of friends when we were little. We all subsequently moved to different cities/countries and lost touch. It was very cool seeing everyone together for the first time in 22 years! On Sunday, I tagged along with Rich and Tiff to open houses, and thoroughly enjoyed myself daydreaming about affordable brownstones. We then went for hotpot at their favorite hotpot restaurant in Chinatown where you can pick from numerous broths. We got the spicy "ma-la" broth and the black-bone chicken broth.
Of course, my signature stamp - now that I have one - goes on the back of all my cards now! It's gorgeous and looks so professional!
P crosses my mind occasionally, but all is well. Life moves on... quickly! The weekend before last, I organized and led a big group of friends on a taco crawl in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. But first, in the morning, I volunteered to practice English with Chinese immigrants who are up for their U.S. citizenship test. (That was the reason I was in Sunset Park in the first place. I figured since I was going to be there anyway, I might as well Schadenfreude it and spread the misery of the long subway ride and get people to join me there.)
Afterwards, my friend Pete took me and a subset of our group to Café Grumpy in Park Slope for a really interesting and tasty Ethiopian pour-over (my first!), and we hung out. Then, I went with an even smaller subset to a secluded rooftop bar on Delancy. Pete texted me while I was there and invited me to join yet another group of people for dinner. So, mere hours after the Great Taco Crawl of 2012 ended, I headed to Little India in Jackson Heights for a gargantuan Indian dinner… which was where I met the new friends with whom I went on the Boston road trip!
It occurred to me this morning: I live a rich and varied life.
I'm so happy summer has arrived. It's going to be another fun and busy one!
The three of us drove out to a high-end mall on Saturday. We had so much fun talking and browsing that we were almost late to meet up with Peggy and her husband for dinner. (I went to their wedding in Chicago last year; click here to see the card I made for them.) Peggy and her brother, and me and my brother, were the best of friends when we were little. We all subsequently moved to different cities/countries and lost touch. It was very cool seeing everyone together for the first time in 22 years! On Sunday, I tagged along with Rich and Tiff to open houses, and thoroughly enjoyed myself daydreaming about affordable brownstones. We then went for hotpot at their favorite hotpot restaurant in Chinatown where you can pick from numerous broths. We got the spicy "ma-la" broth and the black-bone chicken broth.
Of course, my signature stamp - now that I have one - goes on the back of all my cards now! It's gorgeous and looks so professional!
P crosses my mind occasionally, but all is well. Life moves on... quickly! The weekend before last, I organized and led a big group of friends on a taco crawl in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. But first, in the morning, I volunteered to practice English with Chinese immigrants who are up for their U.S. citizenship test. (That was the reason I was in Sunset Park in the first place. I figured since I was going to be there anyway, I might as well Schadenfreude it and spread the misery of the long subway ride and get people to join me there.)
One of my "students" was a grimy man in his sixties who gifted me with a set of four CDs of his saxophone recordings. He told me how his heart wasn't in studying for the test because he was recently arrested for playing his sax in a subway station. He shared stories of how hard life is here (he was a musician in China and now irons shirts in a clothing factory) and how he wasn't even sure he wanted the U.S. passport. He missed home and hasn't seen his only son in 15 years and wanted to die at home. These heartbreaking glimpses into worlds that are so different from mine are why I devote precious spare time volunteering.
After I did my good deed for the day, I proceeded to the Mexican part of Sunset Park and downed six tacos (and three huge horchatas and one jamaica), including veal's head, al pastor, pork skin, beef tongue, tripe, lamb with sweet chili, etc. Surprisingly, the places that were most hyped up in food blogs were the ones that had the least tasty stuff. I don't know if it's good or bad that I've gotten to a point where I'm really discerning about food. I'll still eat anything, but I do know when it's good or bad now, no matter what the blogs or articles say.
Here's a gratuitous picture of the pork skin taco. The pork skin wasn't fried like I half-expected, so the texture was sticky and chewy. Despite the pretty colors, it doesn't look that great, but trust me, that thing was tasty!
After I did my good deed for the day, I proceeded to the Mexican part of Sunset Park and downed six tacos (and three huge horchatas and one jamaica), including veal's head, al pastor, pork skin, beef tongue, tripe, lamb with sweet chili, etc. Surprisingly, the places that were most hyped up in food blogs were the ones that had the least tasty stuff. I don't know if it's good or bad that I've gotten to a point where I'm really discerning about food. I'll still eat anything, but I do know when it's good or bad now, no matter what the blogs or articles say.
Here's a gratuitous picture of the pork skin taco. The pork skin wasn't fried like I half-expected, so the texture was sticky and chewy. Despite the pretty colors, it doesn't look that great, but trust me, that thing was tasty!
Afterwards, my friend Pete took me and a subset of our group to Café Grumpy in Park Slope for a really interesting and tasty Ethiopian pour-over (my first!), and we hung out. Then, I went with an even smaller subset to a secluded rooftop bar on Delancy. Pete texted me while I was there and invited me to join yet another group of people for dinner. So, mere hours after the Great Taco Crawl of 2012 ended, I headed to Little India in Jackson Heights for a gargantuan Indian dinner… which was where I met the new friends with whom I went on the Boston road trip!
It occurred to me this morning: I live a rich and varied life.
I'm so happy summer has arrived. It's going to be another fun and busy one!
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