Yes, I am aware that the title of this post rhymes. That’s what’s up.

I’ve been a terrible blogger. Just haven’t been able to make time to update the dear old City Mitten but it’s about to be a new year and I have a feeling 2012 is going to be pretty damn good.

I just had my mom and older sister in town with me for Christmas and it was awesome. I would definitely do Christmas in New York again. I did it last year, but with family it is even more fun.

One of the things we did was venture to Dyker Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn known for their Christmas lights every year. I’ve been wanting to check them out ever since I learned they existed. It was my first time in Dyker Heights and I had no idea what to expect. But it was nice. And some of the houses were HUGE! We walked blocks and blocks and wondered to ourselves who were all these people who live here? I’d like to know.

Some craziness below:

Like I said, crazy. But cool. Can you imagine if you moved into this neighborhood in the summer, completely clueless, and then winter rolls around and BAM your neighborhood blows up with 10,000 light up Santas and reindeer? You’d pretty much have to participate or spend the winter in Florida, I think.

I’m very glad we went. Next time I’d consider renting a car so you can drive around and see more things, although it was cool to be able to see in creepy detail the faces of all the different Santas and all the different random dolls.

Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!

I have a Christmas tree in my apartment! It’s the first time I’ve had one so this is all very exciting. I actually got it the weekend *before* this past one because I wanted it for my ugly sweater Christmas party. Finally today I added the ornaments – although I am still in a need of a topper, and then I will post a picture of the tree in all of its glory.

Getting one was very exciting. I picked one out in Brooklyn Heights across from Colonie and a very nice guy named Sam helped me and answered all my silly and not so silly questions. Like I said, it’s my first time having a tree so I wanted to be prepared!

I was lucky enough to have Missy help me and here we are with the tree we picked out. It’s from Nova Scotia!

So we carried this babe to my apartment and up five billion flights of stairs and it is now very happily in my living room.

Releasing the Christmas tree was very fun and very exciting. And so was putting together the stand. If you are wondering, this baby cost $45 and the stand was $15. I actually didn’t think that was too bad. I’m pretty happy with it.

The only thing – since I got it over a week ago now, I fear it is already dying. I may just be oversensitive because my family never got trees that early (um, one year I came home the day before Christmas Eve and there was NO TREE so I went out with my sister’s boyfriend at the time and bargained with some guy and picked one out for $20) but everyday when I see pine needles on the floor (which I know is normal!) I’m like, “Oh no! Are you dying?” ALSO it stopped drinking water! Except that may not be true. The water *seemed* to be at a higher level yesterday than it was the day before so I’ve been meaning to ask my roommate if she’s been watering the tree the whole time… because THAT would explain things. If she hasn’t been, then I really don’t know.

Baby, baby, I love you, I love you. Stay alive til Christmas, please?

Oh and if you wonder what an Ugly Sweater party looks like, here’s a ladies-only shot from some point of the evening that weekend:

My friend Susan’s hat was the win of the evening. You can maybe sort of see it but it was there is a sequin Christmas tree on her baseball hat. Tis the season, my friends.

Hello, bloody Mary in Brooklyn with Missy!

Can I just say that I LOVED my apartment last year because I had a HUGE room that looked over Prospect Park, but I am loving my new apartment a little bit more because I have the option to walk to five billion different places for brunch? I mean, that’s not the only reason, but it’s huge. And my bedroom is still overlooking trees. Brooklyn! Love you. Ha.

So, Colonie on Atlantic Ave. I’ve been once before for dinner and it was very good, and I decided it was time to try for brunch. The menus are a little short, but there’s still enough options for me.

These are the pancakes. Not my favorite presentation, it looks like a quesadilla. But I did dig the raspberry preserve!

This is the leek and gruyere scramble which was a solid choice. Also I feel like I’ve had some very dry potatoes lately and these ones were perfecto.

Also perfecto:

Biscuits! A little butter and raspberry preserve, you’re good to go. Biscuits are just good, people.

So I do really like Colonie. It’s a cool space, too. And we went around 1 or so on Saturday and didn’t even have to wait. And I had a Bellini. The way brunch should be!

Life has been good. Monday I went to a Ranger’s game, Tuesday I had Zogsports, last night I had a crazy fun work dinner and here I am the other day at Mile End, a “deli” in Brooklyn if you can be a deli and serve poutine on the side. Or maybe that’s the way it is in Canada, where the owners get bagels shipped in from. It’s supposed to be the real deal. And the poutine… that’s the real deal, too I can say.

Lucy helped me eat my poutine, which was nice. She’s basically the best roommate ever. She also got a sandwich to go. At night, you only have one choice of sandwich.

And here’s a shot of the interior:

It’s kind of real small, but it’s kind of real good. And it’s also a part of Zagat’s 140 chefs, restaurants, and bloggers to follow on Twitter. Now you know.

Oh, I have been to Buttermilk Channel. But I had not been there from brunch.

UNTIL NOW.

I always have to impress my momma when she comes and sometimes it’s hard to do. If I pick one bad restaurant out of fifty meals with her, I hear about the bad restaurant two years later still. True. BUT this last go around was perfecto. I had been dying to get to Buttermilk but I never got up in time for there to not be a four-hour wait (not really four hours, but you know) and my momma and Em Bem don’t sleep late so we got to Buttermilk and walked straight in for a table. At the communal table, which is always fun. We ordered bacon after seeing how nice it looked for the person next to us. And we got sticky buns, which you see above.

Eggs benedict for Emmy Boo. She loved them.

French toast for my momma…

And a short stack of panacakes for me. I LOVE PANCAKES.

Also – they couldn’t serve alcohol til noon on Sunday so we couldn’t have mimosas (I told you we went early) – is that actually a thing in New York? Have I really been here four years and never gone to brunch early enough to notice this before? Crazy! I like my sleep, people.

It’s been awhile since I posted about the Brooklyn Flea, right? And this time I got (mostly) all new things. So here goes. Above is beets, tomatoes, cucumbers and feta. Probably one of my top five combinations in life. You also could have gotten watermelon and feta which my mom thought was weird but I bet it would have been delicious.

NEXT UP: Porchetta

I mean, it’s not much to look at maybe but I think it’s delicious. I’m a big fan of Porchetta. Those people know what’s up.

Followed by, DOUGH:

These doughnuts are from DOUGH in Bed-Stuy and I’ve got to say they were practically sold out by the time we got there. So if you go to the Brooklyn Flea and that’s what you want, you better make a beeline to their stand. Dulce de leche with almonds next to blood orange. Oh yeah. We went with the dulce de leche which was good. And the doughnut was so doughy and fluffy. I need to get me to their store front in Bed-Stuy immediately.

Here’s the doughnut we shared:

Oh, that was yummy. Doughnuts… Brooklyn Flea.

Here I am with my mom and older sister at Jane’s Carousel in downtown/Dumbo Brooklyn. If you know anything about me you might know that I have a slight thing for carousels. They’re magical and the horses are so pretty. I love the colors and the gold and the lights. And it’s fun to play pretend.

So Jane’s Carousel finally opened this past weekend after being in a studio since the 80′s getting restored. I had walked by it in its studio two years or so ago so it was really exciting to see it finally in action. Since my mom and Emily were here, I had some partners in crime that I knew would check it out with me.

Here’s my mom and I getting ready for the ride to begin. My mom is holding the $2 card that you buy and they scan to let you in. Each one has apicture of a horse in it and it’s kind of cool. Also, $2 is not bad, actually. Also, I basically have this exact picture except with Kayti on a carousel in Chicago. Nice.

Emmy Boo is making a kissy face.

Since it’s official opening on Friday (and leading up to it) I had probably read every article about it on blogs and looked at every picture and everywhere I looked made me actually confused about exactly where it was – I knew it was between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge but I had a hard time visualizing the space it was in so this picture should hopefully give you the right effect:

There you can see Brooklyn Bridge behind it and the glass case it’s in. Ah, I’m so happy it’s finally out and working! See you again very soon, I’m sure, Jane’s Carousel.

Well, unless you live under a rock in the middle of Timbuktu, you probably are aware there was this thing called “Hurricane Irene” everyone in New York City was preparing for this past weekend. It ended up slowing down to just a tropical storm, but when we thought it was going to destroy the city, Mayor Bloomberg shut down the subway system and instructed people to prepare for the worst. And people did. Stocked up on flashlights, batteries, candles and nonperishable food items, filled bathtubs with water, etc. I went to Trader Joes Saturday morning before they closed early and picked up some things myself – just in case.

The subway being shut down was the worst part of it. Restaurants and stores had to close simply because their staff couldn’t get in or they wouldn’t be able to get home. You couldn’t travel anywhere because you weren’t sure if you could get back. You were grounded to your neighborhood. But luckily, there were a few places still open for brunch –like Bar Tabac in Cobble Hill. I’ve been there before for the hamburger, but this time I got myself some french toast when I met up with my friend Donny. Life was all good.

Afterward, I made sure to stock up on wine and chocolate chip cookies on my way home. I mean, I had to be prepared.

Well, hello chocolate layer cake from The Chocolate Room. Also called “The Biggest Piece of Chocolate Cake in My Life.” Sorry (or not sorry) to say I could not eat the entire thing. Miss Jordan introduced me to The Chocolate Room a while back. There are two locations in Brooklyn, one is quite close to me. The one we went to was in Park Slope. Apparently there was a time Jordan went so often she knew every server who worked there. No one was surprised. The dessert menu is pretty good, they have specials every night so there are a thousand options if you like chocolate. If you don’t like chocolate, who are you?

And this is called “Jordan Loves When I Take Pictures of Her.” Actually, she does. I like going places with her because she doesn’t mind playing model for me. And because she’s a good time. Tonight we’re going old-fashioned bowling for our friend Shar’s birthday.

The cake Jordan has here is a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry something or other. For the life of me I cannot figure out why I don’t like raspberry with my chocolate cake. I like chocolate cake and I like raspberry but I do not like them together. But the flourless cake itself was delicious. So take note, head to The Chocolate Room, and tell me what you get.

Hello. I am obsessed with this glassware. Sadly, these glasses not available for purchase on the interwebs. And I need them in my kitchen. Sheep Station, if I were you, I’d keep a close eye on those pint glasses of yours…

And now, it is story time.

I went to Sheep Station last week with my homegirl Jordan (basically the only person I’m talking about lately, I promise you I do have other friends) and her friend Kelly who was in town. One of the first things we noticed when we went inside was a giant stroller just hanging out. No biggie. I’ve seen strollers before. We sat down at a table and next to us was a group of about 4-5 adults with three kids, all age 2 or under. No biggie. We talk to our server, order our food, everything comes out. Normal dinner. We’re in the middle of an interesting conversation and all of a sudden we hear an “AHHHHHHHHHH!” coming from the 2-year old’s mouth about four feet away from us. I look over and jokingly send a dirty look in that direction (I mean, you can’t really give a 2-year-old a dirty look) and then us girls laugh to ourselves and think, “Wow, that baby is crazy.”

60 seconds later. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!” This kid is screaming at the top of his/her lungs. Again our conversation comes to a halt. The baby does not stop. The mom and dad keep saying to it things along the lines of, “You can’t do that Name of Baby. You’re distracting those around you Name of Baby.” Name of Baby does not care. Keeps yelling and yelling. By this point us three are bewildered that one of the parents has not taken the child outside to calm him/her down. They’re just sitting there ignoring its screams. I mean, I’m all down for ignoring kids when they’re acting up, but when you’re out in public, such as in a restaurant, you’ve got to do something. I’m sure it’s embarrassing for you, but take the dang kid outside. So the kid is still yelling. Also, mind you – the family has paid their bill. WHAT are they doing there? Anyway, staff comes over to talk to them two times and finally the OWNER comes out and tells them that they understand the baby is a baby but they have a full dining room right now and it’s distracting for everyone trying to enjoy their meals and would you please do something? Mom’s response is as follows: “She’s two, what do you want me to do?” OH REALLY? The owner then asks them to leave.

SNAP!

I mean it’s the same thing if you’re in a crowded movie theatre or church, you take the kid outside and calm him/her down and then you bring the baby back in. Hello!

So once they finally left (while taking their sweet time and passive-aggressively telling Name of Baby quite loudly that she really needs to calm down because they’re getting kicked out of the restaurant now) the owner came over and apologized to us (we were the table closest to the baby, FYI) and we all commiserated together about what just went down and laughed it all off as we were all on Team No More Baby Yelling. I jappreciated that they did something, ya know?

So that’s my story about Sheep Station and why I love it. Besides the food. Also I don’t mean to sound anti-baby or anything because the fact is I actually do like kids! They are cute! I make faces to them all the time on the train. It’s just that I just like to be able to have a conversation with my friends at a restaurant, too. So please do not be offended if you are a parent of a child, I have more respect for you then you will ever know and I hope to one day join the ranks and get kicked out of a restaurant myself when the kid is acting up.

And, for good measure, a photo of the seafood pasta special they had that evening, which was fantastic:

The end!