around town with the martigs

In addition to my window shopping spree, Kurt's parents were in town this past weekend which meant I got to do some running around with them a bit.

We had a dinner date set with the Martigs on Friday after work and decided to grab a quick drink at Eataly first. Luckily, I was able to convince the group to pop into Marimekko next door for a moment.

Kurt recently met the guy who did the sound (really interesting, I promise) for the shop, so he told his parents about the science of it all while I speed-browsed all the gorgeous patterns and fabrics. I never knew Marimekko made clothing but now I have added a few new dress pattern ideas to my sewing aspirations.

Once the rest of the group was finished browsing (I could have stayed in there all day!) we popped over to Eataly for a quick glass of wine. The bar area we wanted to occupy was packed (must be the après work watering hole for the upwardly mobile) but luckily they offer glasses of wine that you can wander around the store with. Genius. I would most definitely be inclined to spend a tad more money if tipsy while grocery shopping. You're a clever one, Mario.

Next, we headed towards the dreaded Times Square for dinner. A friend of Erik's had recommended this pizza place in midtown called Don Antonio. They offer a wide variety of pies and even had gluten free versions for Erik. After sharing some super fresh mozzarella cheese, we all dove in to our own pizzas and they were delicious! I'm generally a pizza purist and love red sauce on mine, but I couldn't pass up the Pizza del Papa (the Pope's Pizza) which was topped with butternut squash, zucchini, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil. Mmmmm. I might have to try and recreate this at home. However, that springy wood-fired crust will be impossible to copy. If you can bear the trek to midtown, I would highly recommend Don Antonio!

On Sunday, we all traveled to the Upper East Side to visit Kurt's new favorite museum, the Museum of the City of New York.

The Manhattan Grid celebrated 200 years last year and the museum had an excellent exhibit on the highly ambitious master plan that set the framework for NYC to be the metropolis it is today.

The exhibit was great. I'm normally an awful person to go to museums with because I get bored quickly. This time I tried really hard to read all the descriptions and really study all the pieces. Luckily, I'm a big fan of this lovely city, so it wasn't too hard the focus. It's amazing to see all the images of the transformation from rolling farmland to flat , regularized plots. The Greatest Grid will be up until July 15th. Check it out!

After the museum, we rushed back to Brooklyn and took a long walk through Park Slope to get lunch at Cafe Steinhof.

The weather was pretty chilly and rainy, so warm Austrian food was perfect to warm us up. I went with the Chicken Paprika topped with spaetzle. Delish.

Next we headed to Commonwealth Bar in Park Slope (the Martigs are such troopers to let us drag them around all day!) for the announcement of the results of some participatory budget voting for the district. Sounds complicated but its actually simple. The local council member is letting the public decide how they would like to see a portion of the budget spent.

Many groups formulated ideas and the public voted. Kurt's brother, Erik, and several compost enthusiasts wrote a proposal for a chunk of the budget to go to a high tech compost container and other items to facilitate their compost program in Gowanus.

We were sitting on pins and needles as Brad Lander, the local council member, gave a little speech before revealing the results. Erik's project got the second most amount of votes and was granted funding! Woo hoo! Congratulations, Erik! I'm so happy to see your hard work pay off.  It was great that the Martigs were there to join in the celebration and was the perfect way to top off a busy weekend!

merry merry

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays and recovering from a present/food overload! These are the gifts I wrapped for my family. I don't think I will ever get tired of craft paper :) I also found some awesome free, printable gift tags here and here and tied them on with white raffia. Simple,simple!

Instead of writing a real post for you, I am fiddling with my new camera (!) and breaking in my new sneakers. I hope you got everything you asked Santa for as well!

take me home, country roads

Well, not exactly home but some country roads are currently carrying Kurt, Erik, and I to Snowshoe, West Virginia to have Thanksgiving with the Martigs. They recently bought a condo at one of their favorite ski resorts, and we are helping them break it in for a few days. I'm looking forward to some time away from the city and work. Good food, company, and time with the Martig's dogs won't hurt either! I hope to have some "on location" blog updates for you soon. Have a great Thanksgiving! 

motorino

For my mom and sister's visit, I told them to compile a list of things they wanted to do or see. One of my mom's requests was pizza at Motorino in Williamsburg. She had seen it in a magazine hailing it as one of the best pies in the city. I'm a big fan of pizza and was more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn't super close to the Brooklyn Flea or the Renegade Craft Fair which we were browsing before lunchtime. Instead of taking the train one stop, I decided we would just walk. It wasn't that far but I think this was the beginning of the end of my allergy undoing and brought about some grumbling from the troops.

Anyway, we finally made it to Motorino and found a table inside. The decor was clean and simple. I was loving the Marais chairs and marble top tables. A huge wood burning oven took up a large chunk of the dining area--always a good sign when pizza is involved.

We perused the menu for a little while and had a little bit of a rough time ordering. (I love you, Mom, but there is no redeeming yourself for this one.) None of the pizzas seemed "American" enough to my mom. I tried to explain that pizza is an Italian invention and this particular restaurant was known for their Napoletana-style pizza (ie Naples). Despite my bratty, know-it-all commentary, she was still not convinced that Soppressata Piccante would be very similar to Pepperoni. 

While they had some interesting options on their menu, but we stuck with a basic Margherita D.O.C. I feel like this a good way to really test a new pizza place. If the restaurant can deliver a good basic, you can assume they know what they are doing.

Turns out my sister isn't too fond of pizza sauce though, so we also tried the Pugliese. It had broccoli and a teeny bit of mild sausage. It wasn't my favorite. The broccoli was kind of bitter. However, I thought the Margherita was delicious. The sauce was slightly sweet. The cheese was excellent. The pizza was thin but the crust was soft and fluffy and slightly charred. My mom and sister weren't floored, but I would definitely go back. I think it would be an excellent biking destination. Who's in?

mom and jen

A couple weekends ago my mom and sister came to visit me here in New York. It was my sister's first trip to the city and I was excited to show her around. While flight delays, lousy weather, and allergy attacks put a damper on the weekend, we still fit a lot in. 

Like any good New Yorker, I walked my guests around to all the things they wanted to see. I even walked them places they didn't want to see. I walked them places I didn't want to see. Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted by the end of it.

We had lots of good food, browsed several flea markets, and toured a lot of Brooklyn and Manhattan. We tested the limits of my teeny, tv-less, furniture-less, air conditioning-less studio apartment and surprisingly didn't trip over each other (and Aubie) too much. Kurt was a trooper and had a couple dinners with the Graveline women and was able to temper the estrogen for at least a couple hours. 

In the end, I don't think Jen was too blown away by her visit to the city. I may be a bit partial, but I think it is an experience everyone should have though. I totally understand that urban living isn't for everyone. I'm glad they were able to visit though. I see my family far too infrequently. I will be brushing up on my hostessing skills and hopefully my new home will be more homey next time they are in town. (However, be warned that I have reached my lifetime quota for Times Square and will not be returning anytime soon. Chinatown too.)

Oh! And I added another member to my celebrity sighting list! While walking around Brooklyn Heights, I spotted Alexis Bledel! It's funny because when I first moved to the city, one of the first famous people I spotted was Lauran Graham, her TV mom from Gilmore Girls. Apparently I like to work my way through television shows. Sookie is next on my GG list. She was hilarious in Bridesmaids :)

Hyperventilating (with glass of wine in hand)

I was just subscribing to a new online magazine (I'll let you know how it is when I get my first issue) and realized that come January 1st, I will be exiting the 18-24 age bracket. Eeeek! In reasonable moments I know 25 is young, but it feels like a whole new ball game. I don't foresee a quarter life crisis stemming from my upcoming birthday, but it may inspire some reflection on the past few years and newfound excitement about the next few. In the spirit of monumental birthdays and New Year's resolutions, I was inspired by this poster found here. Some good tips for now and always!

A poster of Ghandi's "Top 10 Fundamentals" offered for free here!

Speaking of inspiration, I recently came across a blog called Project 29 to 30, where Stephanie has vowed to do something she has never done before everyday during her 29th year. That seems a little ambitious for me. Once a week (or maybe even less frequently) seems more my speed. I am now accepting suggestions for new experiences :)

I'm currently sitting at home, enjoying my last few hours in Alabama, praying that my flight to NYC will take off tomorrow (all flights from Nashville to Newark were cancelled today). I had a last supper with my parents, my sister, and her new boyfriend (who unfortunately is not the best photographer) tonight at a local Mexican restaurant in Huntsville. I've thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the South, but keep your fingers crossed I make it back to Brooklyn tomorrow!!

Opryland Hotel

My mom and I recently took a short day trip up to Nashville, Tennessee and visited the Opryland Hotel. It's always fun to go there around Christmastime to see the decorations. 

Nashville had experienced some pretty bad floods in May, but the hotel was able to repair all their damages and reopen in time for the holidays. Unfortunately, Opry Mills, the outlet mall down the road, was not so lucky and is still closed for renovations. We had to search out some post-Christmas deals elsewhere!

Happy Holidays!

It snowed in Alabama!! It hardly ever snows in Alabama!!! This was the scene we woke up to Christmas morning:

Of course this means the state is at a standstill today. After a blizzard and extended power outage many years ago, my family has adopted the tradition of going to a movie on Christmas day, but I'm not sure we'll even be able to make it to town! I was hoping to see the Black Swan too :(

We enjoyed some delicious waffles this morning (my mom's strawberry specialty), my expertly mixed mimosas (I'm hoping they will become a new Christmas family tradition), and opened some presents with the family. We'll be digging out (from under about 2") the rest of the day and enjoying this rare white Christmas. I hope you enjoy yours too!