Consider this a Public Service Announcement: Tomorrow is the last Saturday of Summer Streets, when Manhattan shuts down a HUGE BLOCK OF STREETS for bikers, runners, walkers alike to do as they please in them. It’s kind of awesome. And I wasn’t even on a bike. (Word to the wise, if you want a free bike rental, get there when it starts at 7 a.m.). There are a few “pit stops” set up along the way, the one at Broadway and Spring had a really cool set up from REI. Here you can see Sarah rock climbing in the middle of Soho. Because that happens. So that was awesome.

At Astor Place there was a Crunch Fitness pit stop and people were doing a dance/aerobics class on the pavement with an instructor from Dancing with The Stars. Further up at 25th st was a Whole Foods pit stops and there were tons of free samples. We got popsicles, as you do.

Summer Streets goes from the Brooklyn Bridge all the way up to 72nd st. So who knows what we didn’t even see. Take advantage before it’s over! And wake up early because it only goes til 1 p.m.

When Jessica and I walked back downtown, this man on a Segway was next to us and we started talking about it and he asked me, “Would you like to try?” Um… yeah? So I rode a Segway! And I almost ran over a baby in a stroller. It was fun! I mean, they are so incredibly dorky looking but they are FUN to be on. It’s so bizarre how they work. I really don’t get it.

Happy Summer Streets!

Say hello to some gnocchi. I love gnocchi.

Left Bank is on Perry Street in the West Village and it’s a new restaurant from old Mermaid friends Laurence Edelman and Micheline Gaulin. I loved working with them both back in the day and I am loving visiting them in their new restaurant now. I was there opening week and told Laurence how much I enjoyed everything and he said, “You know we’re just getting started.” EXCITING!

This is my homegirl Mara, whom you’ve met lots of times. I knew she’d be the one to take to Left Bank because she, like me, loves trying new restaurants and also she works at LeDu Wines just around the corner from Left Bank. It was perfect! That very large glass in front of you is an “International Stud” named after the gay bar that used to be in the space and also featured in this video of my friend Colby making it while wearing a Knot By Tiffa bowtie. Yes I am shelling for my friends’ companies right now (Knot by Tiffa included) but they are all pretty legit.

For our meal we also had a beefsteak tomato salad and the pork rillettes. Don’t think I’ve ever had pork rillettes before but they were fun to eat and delicious. And of course the beautiful salad was, too. Tomato salads are so perfect for summer.

We also had a pan-roasted pork chop with sauerkraut and mustard. Look at that sauerkraut! My mom would have died. A happy death, of course.

For dessert we had some really delicious cheese, and I never get cheese for dessert. I always think dessert = chocolate but I’m trying to branch out. And cheese is fancy. More cheese, please!

So that’s it! Head on over to Left Bank and tell ‘em I sent you. I know I’ll be there again soon. :)

If I had the time and energy, I would start a new blog consisting of pictures of my feet in different places. I think it could be awesome and amazing and perhaps possibly mysterious if I posted the photos without descriptions. It wouldn’t always be feet in front of a landscape, it might be feet stepping on things and feet with different shoes and for some reason I actually think this would be cool. And now that it’s on the internet, if you like your feet, I suggest you make a go for it. Who knows, there may even be a book deal in your future as they seem to be giving those away these days like they’re candy.

And now that I got that off my chest, I can talk about the weekend. This weekend was a many adventure. I got to see a lot of people I know who live in Michigan, people I didn’t know until I made friends with people in New York from Michigan too. And Michigan people are some good people. I also got to see one Michigan girl, Abby, whom I’ve known since we were babes. That is her feet in the above left with my feet above right as we both catch some rays at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Saturday. I love Brooklyn Bridge Park and I can walk there from my new apartment and I plan on taking well advantage of that this summer. By the way if you look reallllll hard and squint your eyes just right, you can almost see the Statue of Liberty. I don’t understand how cameras work because when I sit there I can see the Statue clear as day and then when I take a picture the only thing clear as day is my feet. But it’s there, I promise.

City feet picture number two:

Miss Tan Feet on the left, Kelly Purkey, and I hung out in Central Park Sunday for some more rays (although, cloudy) and some good old-fashioned girl talk. And maybe a nap. I’m not sure what I’m lacking in my life, really. Maybe just another pair of feet.

Who has Easter brunch at Katz’s Deli? The Spurlock family, apparently. Last year we had a great meal at Frank and this year my uncle D wanted to change things up and go for gigantic sandwiches from Katz’s. I think I’ve been to Katz’s maybe once, when I visited NYC in high school. So I had no idea what I was doing when I went this time around. But I had my family to guide me! Above is a Reuben with corned beef. The correct choice. Mmm. Also, pickles. So many pickles. Mmm.

This is a pastrami sandwich. These babies are huge. I ate half of my Reuben and saved the rest for dinner. Of course I also had five thousand pickles and eight hundred french fries, so that only made sense.

This is Steve Buscemi, my cousin Steph and my uncle D. A very happy trio.

And we’ve got Colin, myself, and lots of friends behind us as well.

And this is my favorite picture: Pam and Stephanie talking outside. Candid photos are my favorite.

Things you should know about Katz’s

1) It was packed inside. Even on Easter Sunday.

2) Don’t lose the ticket they give you when you walk in the door or it’s $50 when you leave.

3) They have a legit intimidating doorman who stands there with his arms crossed.

4) Know what you want before you step up to order or they will yell at you.

Final note: I might have bumped someone’s glass of their table with my bag and it might have shattered everywhere and I might have kept walking and pretended I didn’t notice. But I’m not sure.

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

I don’t care how many times I’ve posted pictures of this damn salad, it is still the best salad in the entire city. All Chopped Up. At Cowgirl Seahorse. Or Cowgirl Hall of Fame. I just love those two spots, and I like to share them with other people too. They’ve got a fabulous brunch menu, but for some reason I can never get myself to stray from this salad!

Yeah… these pictures are cute. :)

Everybody loves brunch at Cowgirl Seahorse. Who’s coming next time? Also – I can’t wait to sit outside for spring time!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Yeah, Valentine’s Day is a holiday I can take or leave but I’m wishing you a good one anyway. Actually I had pretty neutral feelings about this Valentine’s Day until about five minutes ago but that’s neither here nor there.

This past week has been crazy. Huge event for work on Monday and then played catch up pretty much the rest of the week until my Social Media Week panel – which was awesome. Then I worked Friday AND Saturday nights and finally had a play day Sunday. Part of my play day was spent with Kelly at The Ace Hotel, sipping on Stumptown and spying on strangers.

That’s me and my mocha, which was a bit on the bitter side. But it was beautiful! Stumptown is famous for being from Portland and for being responsible and for being one of the best coffees ever. If I actually drank coffee straight up, I may have a better opinion, but I will say it was impressive just watching the dude in the beard, vest, tie, and hat make it for me. Next time I may get a hot chocolate.

And here is KP and her vanilla latte. Another good thing about Stumptown, at least the one in NYC, is that it’s inside the Ace Hotel. And I really like the Ace Hotel. We were lucky enough to grab two seats once we got our warm bevvies and it was prime seating for some great people-watching and eaves dropping. We were seriously there for hours and hours trying to figure out if the people next to us were on a first date and checking out people’s clothes. It’s just an interesting crowd! There’s also a photobooth and we took some super cute photos I’ll have to put up here as well.

So that’s it, Happy Valentine’s Day!

I need to stop going out to eat during Restaurant Week. I went to Orsay and decided to order off the regular menu instead of the prix fixe for Restaurant Week. $$$$! But I was having a weird day and I wasn’t in the mood for the items on their restaurant week menu. So… yeah. $$$$.

First picture: butter covers. Love that extra touch! Also love the orange because the whole restaurant is drably colored and then POP orange butter cover. I liked it. I also liked this:

For some reason I thought I deserved a $14 cocktail: Strawberry Fizz. Strawberry puree, vodka, champagne… something else? Something good. It did NOT go with the rest of my meal whatsoever but it’s what I wanted! I tell ya – this week has been weird so I was being weird myself.

This is Lisa, making another cameo on City Mitten, and this is also the healthiest-looking plate I have ever seen come out in a restaurant. And I have never seen salmon in such a perfectly round shape.

Me, I wanted some mashed potatoes. Yes, chicken and mashed potatoes is not an original dish but you know… There was a chicken on the Restaurant Week menu with mushroom sauce and noodles and I didn’t want that. Also I didn’t want either of the desserts on that menu – a lemon tart or ice cream. So this is what I got. I also had clam chowder which was good and came with a little puff pastry in the center. I love clam chowder. Aaand I took half of this chicken and mashed potatoes home to make up for it.

So yeah. I gotta stop doing Restaurant Week. Except not really because I have reservations next week for Colicchio and Sons Tap Room as well as Gotham Bar and Grill – because that is my favorite nice restaurant ever and they have the best chocolate cake!

This week I also went to Frank restaurant and had my camera but no memory card for the 15 millionth time.

OH – One final thing about my Orsay experience. The Upper East Side… is cray cray. I have been spoiled with my B and Q trains and sometimes the C/E because I forgot how INSANE the 4/5/6 is. That Second Ave subway line needs to get here fast because I was being trampled and trampling others at the same time and I thought WHERE IS THE ALLURE to living on the Upper East Side? Seriously. Unless you have a driver. But I still wouldn’t want to live there.

You know when you see a face and it just makes you smile? Well this is my love letter to you, Kelly Purkey, because when I was just going through my pictures and came to this one that is what happened to me. Love this girl.

Saturday we had a date day that started with brunch at Freemans, followed by some scrapbook action, followed by nap time, followed by Shake Shack in Times Square and then Blue Valentine. As you can imagine, we ended on a high note with that movie. A high, depressing note that makes us reevaluate what kind of relationships we want to be in (if any). Outside of each other, I mean. ;)

This is the fall vegetable hash. I love hash for brunch. Some veggies, some potato, and some egg. Mmm mmm mm. And did I know that I was into brussels sprouts? No, but now I do. So that was fab. And it was only $10 making it officially the cheapest brunch I’ve ever had with Kelly Purkey, except for the one time it was free (we got the hookup sometimes, we do).

And here is KP again. You may think she’s thinking, “What the what?” but she actually knows exactly what’s going on here.

Another fun fact: I love Freemans and the only other time I’ve been was for dinner on a then-very-promising first date. Oh, how we (re: me) get excited about things and they crumble so fast. Ah well. Thought that would be an interesting fun fact for you. So Freemans is good for any date, but they’re especially good for dates with Kelly Purkey.

Happy New Year! And one of the greatest New Year’s Eve nights. Started with dinner at The Smile which I may or may not blog in more detail tomorrow. That place is cute though!

Then we went to the Hudson Hotel and danced the night away. I stole this picture from Kim:

The Hudson Hotel ended up being a really great idea. I was worried it would be packed out of control but I think they did a good job with the capacity because there was a good crowd and still enough room to dance.

And this is my new favorite cheersing picture.

Look at those faces! I hope you had a good New Year and were safe and am looking forward to 2011! See you soon. :)

This is Tim Revell. I believe you’ve met him before. Usually we don’t get to meet up often- he’s always in Manhattan, I’m always in Brooklyn, he’s uptown, I’m downtown and vice versa but this past weekend we happened to be within three blocks of each other three separate times. What in the world. So I saw a lot of Tim Revell.

And this is somehow the only picture of me and Robert, my lovely houseguest for the weekend, that was taken on my camera. Tim claims he has great photography skills and I actually really like this shot, bluriness and all.

Another thing I really like is the current art exhibit at Madison Square Garden. It’s “Scattered Light” by Jim Campbell and it will be up through February and if you have the chance to check it out, it’s pretty cool. It’s huge strings of lights that flicker beautifully against the night and they also make it look like you’re viewing people’s shadows walking behind it. It’s just cool.

And finally, more adventures with Tim Revell. This is Tim Revell playing in Central Park, carrying his brand new hat from J.J. Hat Center, which leads to conversations about automobiles versus mass transit and how that affects shopping in the city. Oh, shopping in the city. I want to go shopping. Anyone want to pay my AmEx?

And those are your beautiful pictures for the day in this beautiful city. More weekend, please?