auburn, design parties, and hoboken

The NYC Auburn club is a bit fickle. We've switched bars the last two years. I hope we've found a winner with Tavern on Third. It's back in the neighborhood with all the other college bars, and the bar was so happy to have us on board that they threw the club a free happy hour. How nice is that?! I think we've found a winner :)

Kurt, Christian, and I enjoyed a few drinks and snacks while checking out the bar's setup. I think it will be great for gameday!

The next evening, Kurt and I went to a party at McGuire to celebrate the launch of New York Magazine's Design Hunting issue. My firm was featured in the resource section!

Kurt was impressed that the moss was real :)

We enjoyed some drinks and snacks while wandering around the showrooms, rubbing elbows with fancy pants designers. Plus, I had some celebrity sightings! I spotted Nate Berkus but he was too fast and I couldn't get a picture. Then I saw Cathy Hobbs from season six of Design Star (above in the green dress)! Hardly a celebrity, you say? We all have our things :) Too bad I was with Kurt and he had no idea who any of these people were. Sigh.

Kurt and I decided to meet up for lunch one day and check out Madison Square Eats. It was absolutely packed but really fun and we had some great food! (panoramic thanks to Kurt)

Aren't the Marimekko umbrellas awesome? 

Choosing something to eat was nearly impossible because the options all sounded so good. In the end we landed at Mexicue because the line was short and I was intrigued by the Alabama BBQ Chicken Slider. They also serve beer and wine! Bonus points for Friday lunches!

It was a gorgeous day to have lunch outside. The market is going on until June 4th, so Kurt and I can't wait to go back and try all the things we missed!

On Friday evening we went to a promotional event for Tsar Carpets. Kurt's boss' sister, Lucy, is the US rep for the company and the showroom is actually in her gorgeous and enormous apartment near Tribeca.

Kurt and I were able to chat with this lovely couple who do a lot of world traveling. We compared notes on Italy and they said we must go to Greece. I'm sold :)

Kurt, Erik, Andrea, and I had to leave our socializing a little early and hop on the train to Hoboken, NJ. The station is at the World Trade Center and here you can see one of the new buildings going up.

In Hoboken, we met up with Kurt and Erik's friends from Ohio State, Scot and Kelly, who now called the great state of New Jersey home. We had sushi outside at a nice spot on Washington Street. I'm hooked on their Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Rolls!

Next, we took a stroll to the waterfront to see the piers and the view of Manhattan.

Kurt and I shared a couple more beers with Scot and Kelly before taking the long trek back to Brooklyn.

I spent most of the day Saturday studying, fighting my allergies, and snacking on these chickpeas. 

I am so upset I forgot to watch the Preakness! I can't believe it totally slipped my mind. I hear my fave horse, I'll Have Another, won, so at least I can cheer his Triple Crown chances on at the Belmont Stakes in June! I've got my calendar marked this time.

While not watching the horse race, Kurt, Will, and I pedaled up to Williamsburg. We had some snacks at Lodge before heading to Public Assembly for the NYC Popfest.

One of Kurt's friends from Ohio State has a sister that was in one of the performing bands called Seapony. They were great but could use a little more projection in the microphones. Other than that, it was fun, happy music. (At this point I was falling asleep against a wall, so this photo is courtesy of Kurt.)

On Sunday, I realized that out of the $30+ of allergy medicine I had purchased the day before, nothing was non-drowsy. I spent most of the day like a zombie but built up the energy to play Kurt in our inaugural tennis outing of the year. It was great to get back on the court but it completely wiped me out. I was out of commission for the rest of the day, and I developed this sore throat that suspiciously seemed like more then allergies.

After a long nap, I hyped myself up to make the walk to Baskin Robbins for some soft serve to cool my sore throat. It was the best decision I had made in a while. That counts as dinner, right?

After waking up on Monday morning with an even worse sore throat and newly acquired ear ache, I called off from work and begged my doctor to squeeze me in for an appointment. Turns out I have an inner ear infection. Who over the age of ten gets one of those?! Me, apparently. Now I am on a regimen of antibiotics, Advil, and a periodic trip to Baskin Robbins to get me back on the mend. Let's hope it's a quick recovery!