Lunch Break Staycation



oo la la


Ugh I could definitely do with one of these right now. A few weeks ago, my lovely hubby met me for Lunch! Actually it was the monthaversary of us being married for Jesus ;) (we had 2 weddings, a civil ceremony last year and a big ol' Irish Catholic wedding this June, of which I kept saying..."This ones for Jesus!") He was so sweet and surprised me with a bouquet of hydrangea to remind me of Nantucket (where we met) and took me to Le Pain Quotidien for yummy sandwiches. Right next to the bakery on 53rd street is a little alcove with a waterfall and tables and chairs for outdoor lunching. We grabbed our baguettes and snatched up a table. As we were chatting and sampling the sandwiches we had selected, I realize that I felt so relaxed and so out of NYC! It was like a little mini Parisian vacation or I suppose a Parisian style staycation. I went back to work and had a really nice afternoon. I felt so refreshed. Anyone have any ideas where we should try next? What is your favorite place to escape and feel like you are somewhere else. To just put life on hold for 30 mins or a few hours?

mmm sangwig

Weekend Update

This weekend was the best of both worlds. For me. For poor Daryll it meant working all Saturday evening and missing a fantastic friend reunion, only to be free Sunday for all the "Suzie homemaker" business. Sigh, thems the breaks of being a grown up in the restaurant business I guess... But yes this weekend was very nice.. For me.

Friday night consisted of girly dinner and drinks at one of our old standbys Arriba, Arriba in Sunnyside. 5$ Margaritas and pretty decent Mexican food. Yes and yes. My bff Lowra and I had a lovely chat per usual, and my carne asada taco's definitely hit the spot. Daryll = working, but then a surprise! The restaurant was dead (this being August in NYC and all the restaurant's regulars, i.e. finance people were either in the Hampton's or in their various other summer houses. Seriously, August in NYC is void of most of the high falutins. Especially on the weekends. Yay for plebs!) so D got to come home early and meet us at Molly Blooms, a beautifully redone Irish pub also on Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside. They have a rad back garden for drinks and food during the summer. Definitely check it out if you are in the area. We were just enjoying our Woo woos, (i.e. the vodka, cran, and peach schnapps ridiculous drink special for the night) and a chat when the "best bar owner ever" stopped on by. This guy was everything I love about Ireland. Irish of course, extremely friendly, witty, and deliciously irreverent. Seriously the jokes that he was coming up with were hilarious and shocking. Wonderful! He totally sold us on a trip back to the pub
which goes to show, if you are friendly with your guests and make them feel at home, they will not only have a great time but want to return to keep the good times rollin'. Plus, he reminded us all of D's dad so much it made my heart smile. We are so homesick for our families! I definitely have the sweetest most fun in-laws ever so anyone that reminds us of them has to be good people.

Saturday was a busy one. We got up early at 11am. tee hee. and headed over to our friends, Smashryn and Job's house on the upper west side for their house warming party. I got to see the place a few weeks back when it was infested with Smashryn boxes, but now the place looks super swank! They both put in long and hard hours to make their home look great (note Job's pseudonym is..well..Job.. like the bible man. That should give you a clue as to the trials of the S and J apt) and it all paid off. It was a lovely party with homemade fancy cake, and sangria, and gifts of bacon. D did get to partake in a few hours of the party, and then he went to work, and I went off to BEER GARDEN! Beer Gardening is an important agricultural activity here in New York. One cannot have summer without it. There were many people that were ...um... watered, and card games that were...um...sowed ...Our good friend, hmm lets call her Jan, came over from Philly to visit, and we all had a good catch up. We took a break from drinking for some life changing Greek food over at Taverna Kyclades in Astoria, and more drinking. Really a perfect evening with Drinks, Friends and Fried Cheese! mmm.



very serious business, this beer gardening..

 Sunday= Cleaning, Trader Joe's food shopping, and Irish Stew making... All of which Daryll got to participate in. Lucky boy! Definitely the best part of the weekend to piggy back on, don't you agree..Not! Cue sad trumpets....:(

Notice for a post this long winded there should most definitely be more photos. Greek and Mexican tastiness- MIA, Apartment Party and Fancy Cake-Absent. Say it with me ala JFK. "We can do bettah!"

Imperial Woodpecker Snoballs



They also sell ZAPP'S chips! Best chips ever. Like Cape Cod's dirty older sibling. Much more interesting and exciting but probably really bad for you.

Upon returning from our honeymoon, I was super excited to start blogging again about all things wedding. Then I decided that I would rather wait until we received our professional photo disk in the mail so I could feature some really fancy images of the day and look all professional blogy like......then another month slipped through my fingers..... poop.

It seriously seems like summer months speed by at twice the rate of, say, sleepy ol' January or February. Those definitely feel like the longest ones in my book and before you know it, it's winter again and I have to blog about snowmageddons and boots and shovels and the inside of my apartment...NOOOOO....So before all the hot, sticky, jacket free, sundress wearing deliciousness of summer disappears let's just get to it, and worry about the wedding recap at a later date. Oh the suspense! I know. Any who,  here is a bit about my new summer '11 food favorite, Imperial Woodpecker Snoballs. Yay!

As a New Orleans girl, I was delighted to hear that a fellow NOLA chick, Neesa Peterson, had decided to put her fashion career on hold indefinitely to bring a little summer joy to the Manhattan masses. After a few great write ups like the one linked above, and some guerrilla social media tactics, the little snowball shop got off the ground. With New Orleans people, good food news travels fast. Just a few short day's after their opening, my hometown NOLA loves and I had already visited the shop 2 times, however many more trips are in order to sample all the deliciousness on the MASSIVE menu..

Just a snippet of the massive menu

For those of you who aren't familiar with Snoballs. They are a billion times better than snow cones. They don't even compare to snow cones. Snow cones will break your teeth if you allow them to fuse together. Eating them is a highly unenjoyable experience, save for the 10 seconds it takes for you to suck all the flavor out of them. Snoball are a highly evolved ice creatures in comparison. The special machine used to flake the ice comes straight from New Orleans and makes the fluffiest, snowflake like ice ever. Then you add the flavor. There is a precise process for adding the flavor as well. Each flavor is in a clear glass bottle with masking tape labels (the only way its done in the south!) and is added to the snow in 2 layers. Big scoop of snow...tons of syrup.....big scoop of snow....boat load more syrup and you're done. There is no way to suck out the syrup. It just fuses with the ice, in perfect fluffy sno syrup ice love harmony. My favorite flavors so far and, well, always have been, Almond Cream or Wedding Cake for you southerners, and Ice Cream. The best part is most of these snowballs will only set you back a few calories and one diabetic coma! If you are looking to get a little wild, try the stuffed Snoballs. They are Snowballs with vanilla ice cream on top. Scandalous! Best with the Birthday Cake flavor. Or get condensed milk. Also very good with the Birthday cake. Can you tell I enjoy the Birthday Cake. The flavors we sampled our first visit were, half and half wedding and birthday cake and Cotton Candy. I love sampling new flavors with friends. It always turns into a pleasant version of a Berti Bott's Every Flavor Bean experience I had one Halloween with my family... "what does the grass one taste like?...." ....."grass!" "What does the "pepper one taste like?" ...."oh! pepper!" "what does the vomit one taste like?"............."Ahhhh vomit!!!!!!" cut to my cousin running to the bathroom and vigorously spiting it out. The cotton candy really did taste like cotton candy! It's always so surprising to me. I would love to get through all the flavors by summers end. That would be a very enjoyable month indeed!


The End