Monthly Archives: September 2012

September 28, 2012 · 12:42 am

Day At The Botanical Gardens

This past weekend, I went on a date that started off with brunch at Pershing Square, the bustling Midtown restaurant right across the street from Grand Central (and underneath the Park Avenue Viaduct). This lovely restaurant was roomy, with a wonderful energy and surprisingly comfortable. Also, loved that it was quiet enough to have an intimate conversation, while businessmen, tourists and locals all shared the same space.

I had the steak and eggs (any style you wish), which came with home fries and toast. The meal was delicious. I loved the peppery taste of the steak, which was quite juicy and well done. The crispy potatoes were well seasoned. The eggs, which I ordered fried and cooked completely were a bit flat and not as flavorful as it could’ve been. But overall a great meal to start the day.

We then headed to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx by way of Metro North. A truly vast, beautiful space with so much to see. Upon entering, we checked out the gorgeous and magnificent building (that housed Monet’s Paintings & Photographs), with an intricate fountain of mermaids and sea creatures in front. It was reminiscent of fountains in the piazzas of Italy… Okay, not quite, but close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued on to see interesting statues, grassy lawns, rock formations, different types of trees, colorful bushes and plants then came to the elegant Haupt Conservatory which was home to many beautiful and exotic plants, flowers and displays of bridges, water, fountains, trees, ivy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside of the conservatory was something of a Monet Garden with different colored flowers of pale pink, violet, lavender, yellow and huge green lily pads covered the surface, as well as some golden koi fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked through high ceiling-ed gardens, roses, the children’s garden filled with carved pumpkins and came across a bridge that led to a sort of gazebo near a larger body of water covered with green moss. Then a quiet tree-lined area and after that took a free trolley tour around the rest of the Botanical Gardens, which was quite fun and as an added bonus, learned some interesting facts about the Gardens. Overall, a wonderful afternoon and lovely experience.

Leave a comment

Filed under Culture, Food, Fun

Tagged as , , , ,

September 24, 2012 · 11:23 pm

Club Getaway Classic


A couple weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending Club Getaway. It was perfect, weather wise (and in almost every other way as well) – Not too hot and not too chilly. I managed to pack in tons of activities, while making great friends along the way.

I did the zip line; cooking class on making apple fritters (which were delicious, especially with the cinnamon & sugar mix); archery (I finally managed to get the hang of it after several initial tries); arts & crafts (we painted tumblers- I decorated mine with hearts in hot pink, silver, blue) ; swimming and playing in the lack (a bit cold at this time of year) ; slip n slide; outdoor karaoke (of course I sang “Summer Nights” with Ajax, which has become a tradition now); rocking out to live music by Occasional Sunday; dance party; campfire with s’mores and a guitarist/sing-a-long. And that was just Saturday!

We had quite a feast during meals, with sit down dinners and buffet lunches. The lunches were the best just because of the sheer number of options. There were sub sandwiches, ribs, chicken, turkey, sweet potato, stuffing, different types of pizza and bread, fajitas, and a plethora of delectable desserts- from fruit tarts, to cheesecakes, to ice cream, to Napoleons, to chocolate cakes, to cookies, to red velvet cake and strawberry shortcake. There is even a chocolate fountain with marshmallows, rice crispy treats, strawberries and other fruits to dip in it. As for dinner, Saturday night is the best, complete with salad, veggies and rice, chicken and beef in an amazing tasty sauce.

Sunday, we woke up super early to sign up for activities. The first one was spelunking (caving), which was off-site. We took a bus to the location, walked a bit in the woods then came to Tory’s Cave- a small cave with one main room and two smaller rooms that you have to shimmy through tunnels to get into. It was pretty awesome, and I loved seeing the marble covered interior and sparkling mica or fool’s gold all over the walls.

After spelunking, I went on a hike to Bulls Bridge- Also off-site. It was not a bad walk- along a stream with waterfalls, going uphill but just slightly. We got to the bridge and hung out along the water, taking in the beautiful woodsy view and relaxing, dipping our feet in the cool, clear water.

We got back to the camp grounds just before lunch and after eating, headed back into Manhattan on the Club Getaway bus. I would recommend Club Getaway to anyone… I always have such an amazing experience and cannot wait to see what next year entails!

1 Comment

Filed under Food, Fun

September 13, 2012 · 12:19 am

Nonna’s Italian Chef’s Tasting Menu

I had heard about the 5-course tasting menu at Nonna’s Italian Restaurant and wanted to try it out, so I jumped at the chance to help host a Rotating Dinner there, featuring Nonna’s Italian Chef’s 5-Course Tasting Menu, with Random Events and New York Social Network. It was a pleasant experience and I enjoyed getting to know different people throughout the meal.

We started off with something called rice balls, which look like spaghetti meatballs but are much better. The rice balls are deep fried in a red sauce with mozzerella cheese sprinkled on top, with risotto (rice with peas and melted cheese) inside. These were soo good: Full of flavor, crispy and melt in your mouth delicious.


Next came Cesar salad and a plate of meat and vegetables. The salad was just okay, nothing to write home about, though the accompanying little cheese balls on the side were quite good. The plate of assorted meats and vegetables was lovely- Bright, colorful, fresh and came with carrots, olives, peppers, artichoke, tomato, cauliflower, a whole head of garlic, cheese and prosciutto.

After that was the pasta dish. I had the pappardalle with mushroom sauce and truffle butter. Although the description made my mouth water, the actual dish wasn’t delectable as anticipated. Though the pasta was well made, the sauce wasn’t flavorful enough.

For the main course, I had gotten the cod with some sort of white bean underneath. The cod was light and flaky, with just a the right amount of crispiness and complementary seasoning. The white beans came with a delightful sauce.


I had my dessert with coffee (included). To our utter delights, we were given 2 desserts: Zeppoli and Tiramisu. The zeppoli is fried dough balls with a honey sauce, with powdered sugar on top. They were just okay next to the Tiramisu, which was simply divine. Perfectly melded tastes of coffee, expresso, marsepone cheese, whipped cream and a sweet egg yolk mixture. The tiramisu was both light and creamy, sweet but not overly so and just melted in your mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, quite an Italian feast with good service and great company!

 

Address: 520 Columbus Avenue

Leave a comment

Filed under Food

Tagged as , , ,

September 11, 2012 · 4:22 pm

Never Forget 9/11

We will never forget…  We remember all the families and friends that lost love ones. We remember  all the first responders that made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty


“Through blurred eyes we find the strength and courage to soar beyond the moment. We look to the future knowing we can never forget the past.  God Bless America.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Culture

September 5, 2012 · 11:03 pm

LivingSocial Adventures Camp

I enjoyed a whirlwind of activities this past weekend at Island Lake Camp in Starrucca, PA, with LivingSocial folks. I was a little bit unsure about the camp at first, and upset that I had to bring my own bedding and towel, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience. And happy to get some LivingSocial swag, such as an orange tin water bottle, a big blue towel, lip balm, sunglasses, etc.

I met so many new friends, both male and female, and found it incredibly easy to start conversations and loved the college-like friendly & wild feeling that permeated the whole weekend…

There were shirtless men; stripping; raucous games of Jenga (& late night Jenga on the tennis courts) and Apples to Apples; self defense class; hiking in the beautiful wilderness; arts and crafts (where I made a pink Strawberry Shortcake inspired oven mitt); bonfire and delicious s’mores; crazy dance parties; pool and water slide; slip ‘n’ slide on the grassy quad between our cabins; movie night of Dodgeball and much more.

The food was mediocre, but bearable, with lunches being probably the best meal out of all of them. French toast, eggs, bacon, chocolate pancakes were served at breakfasts. For lunches, we had grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken tenders, mac and cheese, more pasta. Dinner time, we had chicken fajita, chicken parmigiana, pastas, and outdoor grill on the last night of hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages. I did enjoy desserts though: Oreo cheesecake, soft chocolate chip cookies and cannolis.

And the Sunday night fireworks show was the most amazing display I have ever seen. We all sprawled out on the lawn in front of the swimming pool and one second we’re all gabbing away, and the next second a frighteningly loud booming sound interrupts us… The fireworks were so, so close, bursts of bright color and explosions of light, dissolving into glitter in the night sky. It was truly beautiful. We kept thinking it was over, then more would come, to end in a spectacular finale.

After the fireworks, we proceeded into the dining hall to enjoy the best karaoke concert/dance extravaganza ever! I started off singing “Summer Nights” with one of the very cute LivingSocial staff, which was great fun and such a sweet song to sing. Others continued with awesome performances of songs like “Wannabe,” “Bye Bye Bye,” “No Scrubs” and so much more. My group of friends and I did “What’s Love Got to Do With It” – We called ourselves Kathy and the Dreamers… Pretty awesome to have my own band!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my favorite boy band of the night, showing massive amounts of bro-love…

After karaoke, we spent the next few hours on the dance floor where I danced it up like crazy with a bunch of different guys, including one of the hot strippers from earlier on.

Leaving on Monday morning was such sweet sorrow, but at least I got to see almost everyone I wanted to at breakfast. My friends and I picked a bus that wasn’t completely full, so that we could all have window seats and I stayed up to watch “Parent Trap” (the version with Lindsay Lohan, when she was actually good), which is a great camp movie — and it made me cry at the end.

So maybe there weren’t as many activities or as much great food (compared to Club Getaway), but the people, fun and craziness (so crazy that I lost my voice!) made it well worth it. These memories and friendships (well, hopefully) will last a lifetime!

Leave a comment

Filed under Fun