Entries tagged as ‘birthdays’
I went home last weekend for about four seconds. Had a flight going out Friday night and sat on the plane for three hours before it was canceled. The earliest flight I could get on the next day departed at 2:40 p.m. So I ended up spending only a good 36 hours in Michigan. But I think it was worth it. It has been my little sister’s 21st birthday basically all month now and I think this was the cumulation: a dinosaur bounce. And my momma even jumped in it:
Then we deflated it and my cousin Danielle tried to ride it and failed:
And we jumped on the trampoline and laughed so hard we almost died. Me, my two sisters, and my mom. Hilarious.
And last but not least, Alexandra’s Alice in Wonderland cake:
If I knew how to spell the bakery it’s from enough to even find it on Google, there would be a link. Maybe somebody will post the name in the comments. :)
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: parties, birthdays, detroit, cake, michigan, dinosaurs, alice in wonderland, birthday cake, moonbounce, trampolines
Have you ever had Ethopian food? Do you like it? Does it make you want to visit Ethiopia? Does it make you feel one with the earth? I think I’d rather use a fork.
We went to Bati this week for my friend Laura’s birthday. She loves Ethiopian food so 11 of us went to her fave spot in Fort Greene. We chose meat and vegetarian combination platters. I was kind of stuck in my spot so I had Laura take this picture of the veggie combo for me:
The meat combo looked sort of the same. Different piles of sloppy stuff in all kinds of colors and consistencies. Underneath everything is a strange sort of rubbery bread that you tear off and use to scoop up the veggies or meat. Some things were really spicy. We all drank a lot of water.
I love group dining. We had some hilarious conversation which I will spare you of here. But I don’t know, I don’t really get the food. Everyone was talking about how great it was and how “satisfying” it was but at the end of the meal, all I wanted was a hamburger! I’m glad I tried it and it is fun and I’d happily go again… but only if it’s Laura’s birthday. :)
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: food, brooklyn, restaurants, birthdays, fort greene, ethiopian, eat with your hands, international food
Do you know what this is? It’s one of those Indian restaurants on First Ave between 5th and 6th street. First of all, sixth street is nothing but Indian restaurants, but the few jam-packed next to each other on the small space on First Ave between 5th and 6th definitely take the cake. A man stands outside each restaurant and tries to convince you to come inside. “How many? How many?” What you can’t see in the picture above is that to the left of this man is another man, standing in front of another Indian restaurant that looks exactly the same and they are both asking the same thing. It’s hysterical.
I’m sure someone has a developed opinion to which of the Indian restaurants in this clump of Indian restaurants is better, but I’m a newbie here. And like many places in NYC, I’ve walked by it a million times. And I’ve often wondered who exactly eats there. I see all the gimmicky lights and think it can’t possibly be any good. In fact, when I agreed to go to Panna II for dinner last Saturday night, I had no idea that that was the place I had agreed to.
But guess what! I LOVED it! I didn’t even know I liked Indian food! But it is soooo goood:
I seriously have no idea what we ordered. Some chicken somethings. Some vegetable somethings. I know we ordered some cheese bread and some coconut bread which was Amazing. It was all amazing. And Panna II is BYOB, which is fun. We also did BYOD (bring your own dessert) cause my friends brought in a chocolate cake for me!
And when the Panna II people found out it was my birthday, they took the cake and five minutes later, this crazy “Happy Birthday” song came over the entire restaurant and the lights were flashing on and off and they brought out my cake with candles on it. It was insane. I cannot explain the birthday song to you, but if you know someone with a birthday coming up, you should take them to Panna II just for that experience. It was hilarious.
Do you see all these lights? It’s a whole other world inside Panna II. And I kind of love it.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: birthdays, coconut bread, east village, first avenue, food, indian cuisine, more birthday posts, nyc, panna 2, restaurants
I could not have asked for a better birthday. This year went without a hitch. Above is the chocolate mousse we all had at The Mermaid Inn, where I chose to have my fabulous birthday dinner. Of course, mine was the only one with a candle. :)
First the day began with a snow day:
Then I came out of the shower to this on my chalkboard heart:
So from now on, whoever comes and visits me gets the privilege (and duty) of drawing on my chalkboard heart. During the day Kayti and I went to my favorite restaurant in the West Village for lunch and if you don’t know what that is by now, you’ll have to stay tuned for another post. Then we walked all around town, ending up in Soho to do some “shopping” (bought nothing). Then was nap time and preparation for the most fabulous dinner.
First: Look at all the drinks above. They gave us complimentary glasses of Prosecco for the table and then we also had two bottles of wine. And Missy had that beer. Ha!
Second: I love my friends. I had six of my favorite people with me and our time together was just hilarious. How I got to know such awesome people is beyond me. Lucky, lucky.
Third: I absolutely LOVE The Mermaid Inn. It was my first time there and it was beautiful and the food was delicious and the service was flawless. If I were to recommend a nice dinner in the city, Mermaid is now at the top of my list.
And they have their logo on the butter:
And here’s a really awesomely bad photo of all the food on the table (Mike, I’m still working on the white balance!):
Let’s see. We had two lobster sandwiches (one was mine!), one cod, two trouts, one salmon, and one shrimp avocado sandwich. Oh, and for appetizers there was some lobster bisque and New England clam chowder, and I have major love for the latter. I love everything. I love the Mermaid Inn. A lot.
There’s always so much pressure to plan a birthday party and everyone was really pleased with Mermaid and said they wanted to come back and that made me really happy. It was especially important for my birthday to be spot on, being the restaurant girl, and it was. Holler.
Missy and I really impressed with the butter.
Group shot!
Me ladies.
Miss lovely Stephanie.
Chocolate mousse cheers.
P.
And an awkward family photo… Happy Birthday to me!
The rest of the night was spent traipsing around the city: The Bourgeois Pig, CV at The Hotel on Rivington and finally, an endless dance party at Pianos with just the girls. Oh boy, did we have too much fun. :)
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: birthday parties, birthdays, chalkboard heart, chocolate mousse, clam chowder, dinner, east village, food, friends, happy birthday to me, lobster, restaurants, seafood, snow, the mermaid inn
Where do you go to lunch when one of your friends from Michigan comes to the city? The Adore of course. It’s one of my favorite little places in the city. It’s a Japanese French bakery of sorts which means it’s French but the chef and everyone who works there is Japanese. They close early (around 4 or so everyday) but if you’re lucky enough to get a banana cupcake (read: the best muffin of your life) or a sandwich before they sell out, it’s really a treat. And it’s my favorite hot chocolate in the city.
It’s a tiny space and you might never know it, but there’s seating space upstairs if you’re staying for lunch. So we did. We each got baguettes (hers grilled eggplant, mine a croque monsieur) and spinach puree soup.
It was very green and very delicious:
It looks a little intimidating, but I assure you it was good.
Besides that, last night Kayti and I had the best night of our lives. We went to a speakeasy of sorts and got the number for another speakeasy of sorts that I thought I probably was never going to be able to go to. So we’ll be going there tonight. I’m having the best birthday ever. :)
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: baguettes, best hot chocolate, birthdays, food, hot chocolate, lunch, manhattan, new york, new york city, sandwiches, soup, spinach
Meet Kayti and Amanda circa Dec. 2006 in East Lansing, Michigan. Go Green! We were blondes back then.
Miss Kayti D is coming to New York today for my birthday and I am SO excited. I think in the past six years, there’s only been one birthday I’ve spent without her. Last year, she was here in NYC with me too. So I am pumped. So pumped that last night I looked at a bajillion pictures of us from college, pictures that I cannot BELIEVE we used to post on Facebook for everyone to see.
We have lots of plans for this week/end so stay tuned, y’all. :)
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: birthdays, flashback, friends, michigan state university
Did you know one of my goals in life is to have a chandelier? It is. Perhaps one from ABC Home, the fabulous (and expensive) store. Today a woman asked me what I wanted out of life and I should have said “a chandelier.” They’re pretty.
Another thing I love is birthdays. Birthdays are so much fun. I get excited thinking about mine and it’s not until February. Yes, I am already thinking about February. What can I say? I’m a planner. It kills me that I don’t yet know exactly what I’m doing on New Years (besides the fact that I’m spending it in New York for the first time ever).
Anyway, this weekend was my friend MB’s birthday. Part of Saturday night was spent at 3 Steps, a bar on Second Ave I used to walk by all the time when I lived in Stuyvesant Town (yes, I lived there… look at all the things you are learning about me). MB doesn’t mind if I take pictures of her. So I do. :)
I think the last one is hilarious because it looks like she’s putting on a good pout. Now, just tell me what the Birthday Girl has to pout about. :)
Happy Birthday, MB!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 3 steps, bars, birthday parties, birthdays, chandeliers, friends, new york city, nyc, parties
