"still feel the butterflies"

my fast and furious trip to nyc was just that. time flew by. most moments were jam packed. most wonderfully i got to spend time with jb and get to know his joh.

after dropping off my bags we went to the cutest hipster burger joint (after a cold walk of course. constant car driver me had to get used to this notion). best burger EVAR. sunday promised more culinary delight with a trip in to manhattan for brunch at Essex. the wait was long (and rightly so) and required a pre-meal snack at the cupcake shop across the street. best pistachio cupcake, nay, simply best cupcake EVAR. a perfect precursor to one of my top 10 meals EVAR. a perfectly fried potato cake topped with smoked salmon, two perfectly poached eggs (SWOON) and salmon caviar all on greens. i stifled food induced moans with the seemingly endless free mimosas. cheers!

it was rainy and cold but didn't keep us from a rambling walk, and a bit of mimosa haze shopping (the kind where $30 plain t-shirts and circle scarves sound like a good idea).




johanna and i prepped boss oscar worthy eats including three dips (roasted eggplant and red pepper, olive tapenade, white bean). grocery place didn't deliver the bread she ordered, so crafty johanna deftly baked two loaves. No big whoop. we also made an improvised empanada filled with crab and creamy goodness inside puff pastry plus german chocolate cake balls.


their friends came over and unfortunately the oscars were not entertaining the group. drinks, food and my new scarf became a distraction. there were claims this one scarf could be worn 12 ways which demanded testing:
a few of our trials:

other trip highlights included a walk through central park, the jimmy eat world concert (performing their album Clarity in it's entirety. Hot.) and johanna's midnight treat of the best homemade hash browns probaly EVAR. It went by fast and of course work has been uber hectic this week distracting me from recent happy memories. but as pictures prove, it was good times. thanks jj and jb!