MAGNOLIA BAKERY, NYC.

So, I was a bit lazy while living in DC; but, we won't get into that, now. Anyway, I have loads of photos and trips I never posted and/or edited. Perhaps, I will make these 'throwbacks' a weekly occurrence here on my little blog. So, for today, here is your 'Throwback Tuesday' post, complete with photos taken on J & my second trip to NYC, while living in DC. 

Magnolia Bakery was oft featured in 'Sex and the City,' and for good reason. Their baked goods are GOOOD. I wasn't a fan of everything I tried, but I did/do love the Hummingbird cupcake and I have been known to whip a batch of these babies up, from Magnolia's own recipe. Of course, I love the cream cheese frosting! Cream cheese is one of my favorite frostings, EVER! [I need to find a way to make it a bit better for me, but that's why I don't bake as much as I once did. And, when I do, I try to use things that are beneficial to my body...I digress.]

 If I were in NYC, I would definitely be partaking in one of these little mini-cakes. Germany just doesn't do up cupcakes like we in the States, but maybe that's a good thing. ;)

Oh, yes, please forgive the photos. They aren't the best quality or composition. I have learned a bit since these were taken and saved in JPEG form, multiple times. ;)

Momofuku, NYC.

I am always missing NYC, despite not being from there, nor ever living there. J & I were able to visit several times, while living in Washington, DC.

When we move back to the States, I would love to visit Momofuku. And, this is a fun little piece Refinery 29 did on chef/owner, Christina Tosi. 

Day 1, Transatlantic Voyage on Queen Mary 2.

NOTE: This is way overdue! I hopped on the QM2 Wednesday, July 27th and arrived in Hamburg, Germany on Friday, August 5th. 

When Jason & I got word that we were moving to Germany, my main priority was doing my best to avoid flying over here. It is an understatement to say I don't like flying. So, when I found out I could take a Transatlantic to Germany, I was ecstatic! When I first started looking into this as a means to get here, I wasn't sure it would work out. It did and I am so glad! J was unable to come with, as the kennel for Dublin was booked up, because we didn't have more than 3 months notice that we were coming here. So, he opted to fly. Luckily, my sister was more than willing to come with. 

It all worked out, as we were dropping our car to be shipped out of Baltimore and still have wonderful friends in DC and Jersey that we were able to stay with/stay on our trip to get all our last minute stuff done. We spent a couple of days in DC, saw friends, visited Murphy's, got my last shopping at Ross done in Old Town, & then we drove up to Jersey. We were able to see more of our favorite people and stay overnight on the base there. We got up super early the next day to drive into my FAVORITE city, NYC! J & I love that place! 

When we started getting closer to NYC, we could see our massive mode of transportation! It was insane how huge she was even from several miles away! We found the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and dropped our luggage off. Then, we hailed a cab to the original Junior's, to meet J's cousin Carole. She lives in NYC and acts. My last meal in the states was a great one! Cheese blinzes to eat, with an egg cream to drink. Yum! We had little time to digest, before we were off to the terminal again. I admit, I was super nervous we would be left behind and I might have to swim over! We had one of the last check-in times of the day. 

Obviously we made it..We were greeted by a whole group and walked under what resembled a saber line. So fun! And, the fun began. The ship was absolutely stunning and I felt extremely blessed to take the amazing journey that a Transatlantic is!

Stay tuned for Day 2-9. :)

Grand Lobby

In port.

Statue of Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn is to the right of photo.

Aft of the ship.

Sitting, waiting to leave NYC!

Passing under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Why couldn't this have been on the subway car we were riding in while in NYC? (Make sure to watch the video at the end of the post. :))

Oh wait, we had the pleasure of seeing a 20 something-Chinese-man who walked his plastic dinosaur up and down the pole, while making strange noises and laughing evil-ly.

Ah, makes me miss NYC even more.

xoxo,
Heather

New York State of Mind..

My love affair with New York began with two of my all time favorite movies, 'Serendipity' and my favorite Christmas movie, 'Home Alone 2, Lost in New York.'

I experienced all that New York City is for the first time, two winters ago. Amid the cold, windy weather, I was mesmerized. (It was snowing and well below freezing.) Husband and I did not let the weather slow us down.

We enjoyed dim sum in Chinatown.

We had cannoli and pasta in Little Italy.

We took the elevator (almost) to the top of the Empire State Building.

We learned about rent-controlled apartments, how Brooke Astor and Jackie Kennedy saved many historic New York City buildings, including Grand Central Terminal, and about the original Macy's and Gimbels's buildings.

We stared in awe at the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and it's Swarovski star tree topper.

We loved trying to take in every single detail in the Holiday windows of the department stores.

We took the Staten Island Ferry in and out of the city each day and still were amazed by the sight of the city skyline each morning and night.

We consumed two Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, EACH, for breakfast one morning.

We toured NBC studios and sat in the SNL studio.

We watched the New Year's Eve fireworks from Staten Island, in the car, instead of in Times Square with no restrooms, seats or warmth. We liked our plan better. :) Then, we went back to our room for New York pizza, antipasto salad, and our Chinese baked goodies we brought from Chinatown.

We visited Tiffany & Co and I got a lovely souvenir from the famous jeweler.

We watched the Yankees play in 'the house that Babe built,' one September before the Yankees moved into their new stadium.'

Then, this March, we experienced our first Broadway show, on Broadway, 'The Lion King.' Words cannot express how cool that was!

We walked the Brooklyn Bridge.

Our cabbie took us into Harlem, instead of to Kate Spade. All's well that ends well, I still got a new bag, when we finally made it there.

We had cupcakes for breakfast again, this time from Crumbs.

We had frrrozen hot chocolate at Serendipity3. Ah-mazing.

And, best of all, we shared our last trip with our friend, Chris.

New York, I love you! You inspire me. You make me want to remember that everyday is a day to dress up and face the day.

New York City Map poster.
(This poster is also going to be front and center in my new living room, pulling my blacks, whites, pinks and greens together. Photos to follow, when I get settled in, of course.)

xoxo,
Heather

NYC, Day 2

We started out our day with a bang, or rather, a dang good breakfast! We had Belgian waffles from the Wafels and Dinges truck.


[wafels and dinges truck]


[wafel]


[wafel with maple syrup and walnuts]

After breakfast, we made a little gift shop pit stop at the NBC store and a photo op in Rockefeller Plaza.


[myself in rockefeller plaza]


[rockefeller plaza]

We walked down 5th Avenue, making stops in Tiffany's, Henri Bendel and Juicy Couture.


[tiffany's]

We had lunch at a little hole in the wall on the back side of the Plaza Hotel. And I had a Brie sandwich featuring bacon. :)


[brie and bacon sandwich]

Since we were so close to the Plaza, we decided we would stop in and be mesmerized by the splendor that is the Plaza.


[the plaza's rolls royce]

Next stop? FAO Schwarz, only the best toy store, EVER! We spent a considerable amount of time just taking it all in.


[fao toy soldier]


[myself and chris with a giant puppy!]


[jason and clifford, the big red dog]

And now, for the excitement of the day. You know, with me, there is always something. Since we were already on 5th Ave, I wanted to visit the flagship Kate Spade store. We tried hailing a cab in front of FAO, but the cabbies would not (or could not) take us to Kate Spade, because of the direction we needed to go on 5th Ave. So..we walked over one street, and found a taker! We told him both the address and place. IE: 135 5th Ave, Kate Spade. So, we get in, after he nods and speaks something barely understandable, that yes, he knows where it is and he will in fact take us there. We start driving. A few blocks up, everything is still looking good. Several more, it's getting a little sketchy, and I start thinking that the general area did not look like a place that an upscale store like Kate Spade would be. A few more blocks, and it was downright scary. Then, I notice, he is taking us to where 135th CROSSES 5th Ave. AFTER we specified that we were not going to where the streets cross, but to the address. So, I lean over to Jason and tell him that is what the cabbie is doing. So, Jason tells him that he is not taking us to the right place. He drives a couple MORE blocks until he comprehends what Jason just said. He gets himself in a tizzy because we are way far away from where we wanted to be.

OH--by the way, we were in the middle of HARLEM.

So, then, to remedy the situation, he drives us up to the 6 Subway Station, and tells us we can take it back up. To which I replied, 'we are NOT getting out of this car here, you can take us right back to where you picked us up.' So, we start going in the ACTUAL direction of Kate Spade, and he finds another empty cab to take us to Kate Spade instead. All this AFTER he argues with Jason about not telling him the right place and so on, which we did. Anyway, we made it to Kate Spade and to make EVERYTHING right and our troubles worthwhile, I just had to buy myself a new purse. :)


[kate spade]


[kate spade]


[kate spade's fun pinwheels]


[kate spade's pinwheels]


[kate spade]
[my new kate spade belvedere mini mcguire, via katespade.com]

After our first, and only, might I add, cab ride in NYC, we WALKED back up toward the Empire State Building and took the subway to Chinatown. We strolled through Chinatown into Little Italy, searching for a place to have dinner. We decided on Il Palazzo. I think it was a fantastic choice! I had ravioli that were to die for! Dessert? Even better! I ordered zabaglione, which is an Italian dessert made with eggs yolks, sugar and sweet wine. We got to watch my dessert being prepared.



[zabaglione being prepared]


[zabaglione with fresh strawberries]

xoxo,
Heather

NYC, Day 1

Today we arrived in the city!

It was, as any other trip Jason and I take together, an adventure. :)

We left our house at about 5 AM, to still get a full day in. When we arrived in New York, the plan was to go check-in at the hotel and leave all our luggage, park the car (somewhere NOT outrageously expensive) and then have lunch at Katz' Delicatessen, 'Where Harry Met Sally.' We knew the general area that the hotel was in and the GPS was not taking us where we needed to be. Long story short, Jason plugged in the address for Katz' and not the hotel. :) So, we turned around and made it to the hotel, left the luggage and were on our way to Katz' for the second time.

Katz' sandwiches were amazing, but even better than that, they had some amazing homemade pickles. They had all sour, 3 quarter sour pickles and 1 quarter sour pickles. I think the pickles were my favorite, though, the Reuben was wonderful too.






Next stop, Times Square! We took Chris to the monster Toys R Us. And, the best place for New York memorabilia, Grand Slam.



We also stumbled upon the Naked Cowboy!

Dinner was recommended by some of New York's finest. Ultimate Pizza in E 57th and First. Yum!



We got cupcakes from Bruce's Bakery to go and took them to eat in front of Macy's, so we could people watch, before seeing the city from the most beautiful view, atop the Empire State Building.









We had a little late night snack of nachos and Frrrozen Hot Chocolate.





xoxo,
Heather