For the last week and a half, Ryan and I have been on a long overdue vacation. The original plan was to visit our old stomping grounds, NYC, and at the same time attend Ryan's family's annual picnic in NJ. However, since we couldn't get a direct flight back to SD using our frequent flier miles, Ryan had the brilliant idea of extending our trip to Las Vegas for a few days. Here's how it all went down...
On Thurs, my friend Jon drove me to the airport at the crack of dawn for my 8am flight. Unfortunately for me, I was sitting next to a very heavy older man who slept (and snored) the entire time. That would have been fine except he smelled slightly strange and had a tendency to lean towards me in his sleep. Maybe I'm no longer used to flying but by the end of the five and a half hour flight, I was incredibly nauseous and claustrophoic - to the point of losing my sanity. The cab ride did nothing for my nausea but at least I could use my credit card to pay (apparently most cabs accept cc now, yay!). Finally, I arrived at the hotel Ryan had been staying at for work. The Fitzpatrick, located in midtown east, was a smidge dumpy and seemed to cater to an Irish clientele (not that there was anything wrong with that) but it was convenient to Ryan's appointments and had a good rate so he tried it out. I got settled and we headed off to Katsuhama for dinner.
Many thanks to Hongjoo who originally introduced me to this delicious Japanese restaurant. I had my usual pork katsu with cabbage salad (dressing is to die for) which came with a prawn fried thing, a crab croquette, and a pickled cucumber and seaweed side. In my haste to eat, I forgot to bring my camera to document the meal :(. To end the night, we hit the movie theaters and watched Ironman, which was very entertaining and pretty well done in my opinion.
On Friday morning, Ryan wrapped up the last of his appointments and then we checked out of the Fitzpatrick and into the Empire Hotel over on the west side by Lincoln Center. Neither of us had stayed there before but the pics online seemed great and the price was shockingly good (we were warned that the room was small but hello, it's NYC who cares?). The hotel actually turned out to be a real gem. It was quite hip with it's contemporary decor and rooftop bar. Our room was indeed small but totally acceptable for two people and our bathroom was very chic with wood tiling/paneling? and uber modern fixtures. Loved it.
After dropping off our things, we rushed downtown so Ryan could meet his friend Dave at the east village Y to play bball. Naturally, I meandered down to Soho and immediately engaged in some intensive shopping. It's amazing how quickly time flies when you're digging through racks of clothing. Several hours and purchases later, I had to stop myself and hussle over to my hair appointment on Lafayette. There I had my hair dyed back to its natural color and got it trimmed and layered. Ryan met me at the salon and got his hair cut as well. The total bill was a bit pricey but we were ok with splurging. Hey, we're on vacation right?? Afterwards, we somehow managed to do more shopping - this time at Bloomie's for Ryan - but the purchases were wedding related and therefore justifiable hehe. That night, we revisited Crema, where we had our first date, and enjoyed a romantic dinner for two. The food and micheladas were as delicious as ever. For appetizer, we had ceviche; for entrees, I had a duck dish with fried plantains and Ryan had skirt steak tacos; and for dessert, I had a chocolate creme brulee and Ryan had a trio of sorbets. With full bellies and bags of clothing, we returned to the hotel and called it a night.
On Saturday, we woke up and got ready to drive out to Clifton, New Jersey for Grandma Bea's annual family picnic. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side as every car in the city was rented out except for a lone white cargo van. Yes, the type of cargo van you would expect to drive 20 immigrants across the border in. Apparently, it was also the type of cargo van that made crazy noises when you went over 65mph. Once there, we enjoyed a day of eating and chatting with relatives. This being my second appearance, it was nice to see familiar faces, though I still had a hard time remembering how X was related to Y. Next time, Ryan's mom will have to sketch out a family tree for me to keep in my pocket for reference. The highlights of the picnic were Sophie the dog, cherry picking, and Renee's amazingly decadent chocolate cake with meringue topping which she made to celebrate our engagement.
Later that night, we met up with our friends at Mezzogiorno in the West Village for dinner. It was great catching up with everyone, while at the same time consuming large quantities of food and wine. The appetizers were very tasty while the entrees and dessert were good but not amazing. After dinner, we headed to Von, an old time favorite bar we used to frequent. There we passed the night away.
On Sunday, we met up with Dave at Sarvannas for some Indian dosas (sooo good). Lucky for us, it only rained while we were in the restaurant eating and let up by the time we were ready to leave. The three of us then headed down to the East Village to met up with Brian and Parisa at Brian's apt to watch the European Cup finals.
By the way, Brian's apartment is so cutely decorated. I think Brian has found his calling as an interior designer - and no he's not gay. Afterwards, we played wii for a few hours at which time I beat Parisa at boxing while possibly pulling a muscle. It was fun just to relax and hang out, wasting time like we used to in the good old days when we all lived in the e. village. Anyway I'm running out of steam here with this long post so I'll try to speed things up. Ryan and I meant to go to Brooklyn to visit his friend Mason but plans fell through and we just ate dinner at Rosa Mexicana instead. We had table side guacamole, tacos, and micheladas. The corn side dish that came with our tacos was my favorite. I could eat that every day!
After dinner, we went down to the Village Vanguard, a jazz venue where Dave works, and caught a late night show. The music was great and the vibe was very laid back. It was funny watching the crochety old owner yell at Dave and the other employees about random things.
On Monday, we packed up our things and milled around at the Time Warner center to kill time before our flight. Here's a picture of me in front of Per Se, one of the few restaurants with three Michelin stars. One day...one day when we've got 500 bucks to spend on a meal...
Then finally, we went to the airpot and hopped on a plane to Vegas! Stay tuned for part II...
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