Leaving on a jet plane

Off to Sri Lanka til Jan. 9. Will have plenty of pictures and posts when I get back. Hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

Pigs are flying

A colleague has launched an online store with interesting, well-designed products. You probably won't find this stuff in GA. I'm loving the "reality" piggy banks, which are molded from an actual pig.

Big reunion

Jan, Karen & Nora flew in for a visit this past weekend. We haven’t all been in the same place since Karen’s Sept. 2002 wedding in Laguna Beach.

Friday we kicked things off with dinner at Satsko, went to party at Summers, and stayed out past 4 am dancing at Baraza.

Saturday we had brunch at Mercadito, did some shopping, stopped for the requisite holiday eggnog at Pete’s Tavern, had dinner at Paprika, and cocktails at Rue B.

They carried on to Midtown Sunday and the West Village on Monday, but sadly I was stricken with a stomach bug and stayed on the chaise for the last leg of their trip. If our livers can take it, we'd like to make this an annual event.


Us then.

Us now.

2006 holiday social whirl, week 3 recap

Tues. - Met TP at Tapeo 29 for some wine & tapas. Nice, cozy place. Then our adventurous spirits took over. Trying to find Rick, we went to The Back Room, a totally hidden bar. It was pretty cool. Then went to 151, another unmarked, underground Lower East Side bar.

Wed. – Celebrated Charles’ birthday with dinner at Lil Frankie’s and then went to Jadis for a nightcap.

Me and the birthday boy.

Thurs. - Jim hosted a holiday gathering at Temple Bar in Noho. Had a lot of laughs. Was my 1st time there, but felt at home because the bartender used to work at Luxia.

Foodie in training

Because of business-related entertaining I do get to eat in a lot of nice restaurants, but I don’t consider myself a food and wine connoisseur. Since my favorite foods are still the stuff I was raised on (fried chicken and shrimp and Vandy’s BBQ), I doubt I'll be asked to become a food critic anytime soon.

However since so much of the NYC social scene is based around eating and drinking, I am in DOG (Dining Out Group); once a month we try restaurants we’ve never been to. I was also recently invited to participate in the inaugural outing of Gastro Snobs, another group of folks wanting to try higher-end places.

Gastro Snobs went to WD-50 last Sunday, not too far from my apt. Was a really lovely meal. The servers knew their stuff, and the space was very downtown but without any attitude.

Had the pinenut cassoulet with rabbit sausage & smoked octopus to start, and then the duck breast with soy spaetzle, jicama and pickled ramp for main course. We also ordered the 5-course dessert tasting menu, which started with an amuse. There were some interesting tastings like black currant cake with black sesame, shiso and meringue as well as soft chocolate with umeboshi and beet.

After dinner we hit the new Lower East Side rocker bar, Revolver, and stopped by Rue B on the way home for some jazz.

What it takes to make agency folk & crews look like idyllic guests

Yesterday I received a promotional email from the Opus Hotel in Vancouver, which was my home away from home for 3 weeks in September. The email contained a link to the general manager's blog, which has a dishy post about some recent guest shenanigans.

O Christmas Tree

Gramercy Park Christmas tree, with the Chrysler Building in the background.


Because former colleagues have been asking: the teddy bear Christmas tree in the lobby of my office building. I think the bling is new this year. 

Ladies' night

Michael’s bachelor party was Sat night. Unlike Shani’s bachelorette party, it wasn't co-ed (probably a good thing). So Shani & I went to the East Village outpost of Max Brenner, which is much more low-key than the Union Square spot. Had normal sandwiches & salads for dinner but split the Melting Chocolate Heart Cake for dessert:

Then we went to see The Holiday. Between the chocolate and the chick flick, it was a very girly evening. 

Good cab karma

Had drinks with my old creative team at Luxia Friday after work. This is most likely directly related to me leaving my cell phone in the cab that drove me to my apt. When I got home I wanted to order food, but couldn’t find my phone. Work has loaned me an international cell phone for my trip to Sri Lanka, so I used that to call my phone. Eventually the cab driver answered and agreed to bring my phone back to me. Thanks, friendly neighborhood cabbie!

Ad humor

With several work-related cocktail parties looming, I suspect I may be using one or two of these lines in the coming weeks.

Another day, another river

Jen is frequently schlepping in from Hoboken to hang out with me; not only coming to Manhattan, but usually coming all the way over to the Alphabets. So last night after work I took a bus to Hoboken from Port Authority. Met her for dinner at Elysian Cafe (nice French brasserie). Then we grabbed a drink at Teak on the Hudson, a new restaurant across from the PATH station. This place is huge, and rather opulent. Essentially the decor is Asian-influenced, but there are a lot of design elements happening at once (smoking vases, lighting changes, gurgling fountains and gigantic sculptures). Interesting, but a bit of sensory overload. Or maybe I just have a little ADD.

Disturbingly large fish in the tank at Teak.

Brooklyn, 2 days in a row

Met Grace for Sunday brunch at Coffee Shop, and then we headed to the Brooklyn Museum to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit, which was a mix of her commercial work and her personal photos. I've seen two other exhibitions of her photographs, and I liked those better. However, her travel photos in this collection were stunning, particularly the ones from Jordan. Made me want to visit.

We were strangely fascinated by the Ron Mueck exhibit of intense, lifelike, oversize sculptures:

A work called In Bed. For a sense of scale, see the girl seated in the chair to the left.

Went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden next. Granted, December is not the best time to visit, since most of the flora is dead. But I wanted to check out a Moth Mainstage storytelling event happening there. Oddly enough, the founder of the Moth started the events because he missed stories told on the porch of his friend's beach house on (my beloved) St. Simons. There are usually 5 storytellers + a host. Stories are all on a single theme, but because the storytellers have diverse backgrounds, the stories are quite varied. One guy happened to be the head writer for the Onion. My fave was Adam Wade, very funny and endearing. Each story lasts for 10 minutes or less, so the time goes by quickly. Was a really entertaining way to spend an afternoon.

Barefoot Contessa of Brooklyn

Clara hosted a dinner party Sat. night at her apt. in Park Slope. When she called to invite me, she told me the main course would be vegetarian. Being an avid carnivore, I seriously considered eating before showing up. However, she cooked a butternut squash and mushroom lasagna, and it was a truly amazing dish. I enjoyed a 2nd helping, some people had 3.


Tree & lights at the Arch in Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn.


Wave lights around the statue of Neputune in Bailey Fountain.

Mad Dog goes upscale

When shopping on lower 5th Ave., I usually stop by Bottlerocket, a fun wine store. Last time I was in there, the elegant display behind the register caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a rainbow assortment of MD 20/20... yes, what everyone drank in high school/college. In the center, there's a holiday gift pack wrapped up with some Skittles. Apparently the display previously included 2 bottles of Thunderbird, but perhaps someone made the bold move of buying them.

2006 holiday social whirl, week 1 recap

Wed. - Caught up with Jessica over a little vino and a cheese plate at Riposo46. As I've mentioned before, the owner is quite partial to 70s hits. He didn't disappoint on this occasion; we heard him singing along to Barry Manilow's "Mandy."

Thurs. - Had dinner & some drinks at Le Souk, a Middle Eastern place on B. Didn't smoke hookah, but did stick around for the belly dancer.

Friday - Joined Gail in seeing the last installment of The Picture's month-long residency at Pianos. They played a handful of new songs from their forthcoming album. After the show, we had a very late dinner at Katz's. Mmm...pastrami!