LAST FRIDAY NIGHT

Last Friday night my husband and I did something we haven't done in a REALLY long time...we went out to dinner with friends!  I know some of you may be thinking, "wow, why don't you do that more often?"  Well, the simple answer is...we have two little ones.  Anyway, we went to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn for a fun traditional Russian dinner and show at Tatiana Restaurant.  The food was not great, but the show was a lot of fun!  The other great part was it gave me a reason to dress up...and it was even more of an excuse for me to head to the mall to find something new and fun to wear!  I ran into H&M, and with only ten minutes to shop...I picked out this entire outfit...everything from the top, to the skirt and tights.

Top: H&M

Skirt: H&M (similar here)

Tights: H&M

Clutch: Stella & Dot

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Bracelets: Stella & Dot 1, 2, 3

Shoes: Coach (similar here)

GOLDY + MAC

In honor of Cyber Monday, I wanted to let you know about a great store I came across when I was in the town of Greenport on the North Fork of Long Island- GOLDY + MAC.

Their story goes like this:  Two friends (Owners Ashley Gold and Susan MacInerney) who are very fashionable and love to shop realize that there isn't much out there unless they spend a lot of money or buy their clothes from stores teenagers shop in.  Those two friends are disappointed by this.  Those two friends turn that disappointment into a business GOLDY+MAC...a fashionable store for those in their 20's, 30's and 40's that won't break the bank! You can find tops, bottoms, coats and blazers, handbags, jewelry and other accessories too.

 GOLDY + MAC opened its first store in Park Slope, Brooklyn.   There are now two Brooklyn locations and one in Greenport, New York.  I got a chance to speak to Owner Susan MacInerney for a little bit while I was there. She's adorable!  She is a mom of three and lives in L.A., but is always on the East Coast picking out great things for her stores.  She helped me pick out a cute top for myself (see below) and a fabulous bracelet as a gift for hubby's goddaughter.  What I love most about GOLDY + MAC is that they are really affordable (most tops range from $50-$100 with a lot even less than that), they are trendy, and they always have new stuff.  I highly recommend checking out this store if you jet set to Brooklyn or to the North Fork of Long Island soon.  I know I will be back for sure!

BEST OF BROOKLYN

When you need a break from Manhattan, just cross the Brooklyn Bridge and check out some of the best Brooklyn has to offer. We decided to go for Sunday brunch to Egg in Williamsburg. We met up with Becca and Saleem's friends Bryan and Claire for a yummy breakfast complete with lots of eggs!This is what I would recommend you order off their menu when you go:
Biscuits & Gravy . . . $8
Homemade buttermilk biscuits in sawmill gravy made with pork sausage or pan-seared mushrooms
Grafton Cheddar Omelet with broiled tomatoes . . . $9
3-egg omelet served with broiled tomatoes and hashbrowns
Eggs Rothko . . . $8.50
Easy-cooked egg in a slice of Amy's brioche and topped with Grafton cheddar. Served with broiled tomatoes and a side of meat or seasonal vegetables
Country Ham Biscuit . . . $8
Country ham from Col. Bill Newsom's Hams in Princeton, KentuckyServed on a biscuit with homemade fig jam, Grafton cheddar, and a side of grits
French Toast . . . $8
2 slices of Amy's brioche with Vermont maple syrup
Meats:
Homemade pork sausage (or seasonal vegetables) . . . $3
Bacon . . . $3
Candied bacon . . . $3.50
High Hope Farms scrapple . . . $3
Col. Bill Newsom's country ham . . . $3.50
We then walked around Williamsburg and checked out a bunch of their cool boutiques. At this point, we were going to suggest doing a Brooklyn Pizza Tour, but since we were still stuffed from brunch, we opted to take pictures by the Brooklyn Bridge instead.
It was so cold, that we headed to Jacques Torres Chocolate to warm ourselves up with some hot cocoa.

We went back into the city and walked around the High Line Park in the Meatpacking District.The High Line was originally constructed in the 1930s, to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan's streets. Now, it's been redone as a public park with beautiful wildflowers. Since we were in this part of the city, for dinner that night we went to Scarpetta. What's better than a hearty pasta dinner on a Sunday night? This restaurant is beautiful and the food is really good. I would say it's a nice date place or a great restaurant to go to with friends. Their most popular dish is their Spaghetti with tomato and basil.

What a great day both in Brooklyn and the city!

FOOD COMA SATURDAY

When it's raining outside and you have friends visiting New York City from Texas, the only thing to do is to spend your day at a movie, in a mall, or inside restaurants all day. We skipped the movie and mall part and instead spent our day eating!
For breakfast we headed to Permanent Brunch. This place is teeny, tiny inside, and doesn't take reservations- so be prepared to wait, but know that it's definitely worth it. We ordered the Baked Eggs with Braised Short Rib Ragu and fries for $14, the Pan-roasted Chicken & Waffles for $14, and French Toast for $13. They are also known for having different kinds of bacon on their menu, so we tried an order of the Smokehouse Peppered bacon from Texas (how appropriate!).< Afterwards, the guys went to watch football, while the ladies met up with some old friends at Via Quadronno on the Upper East Side for some cappuccinos. This is where we saw Alec Baldwin having lunch (see Sunday's post for more)...that was pretty cool! Becca & I headed down to Soho afterwards to shop at one of my all-time favorite stores- TOPSHOP. When our feet got tired, we ducked into Keith McNally's (great name!) Balthazar- a brasserie that is reminiscent of Paris inside.We ordered their Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with walnuts, sage, and brown butter for $13...so good, I'm drooling just talking about it.For a little dessert, Becca and I went to Rice to Riches- the best place in the world if you are into rice pudding.This place has your standard old fashioned, traditional pudding, but it also has every interesting flavor you could imagine from pumpkin to chocolate, to the one we had which was mascarpone cheese with cherries...yummy! After that it was time to meet up with the boys for dinner. We went to The National- a gastro chic restaurant downtown. This place is casual, fairly inexpensive, and the food is great.I highly recommend their Lobster Roll served with french fries.We also got to meet the the head Chef, Zoe Feigenbaum, who is currently on Bravo's Chef Academy! She was so cute...and quite a good cook I might add! :-)As you can imagine, we were stuffed by the end of the day! It was a Food Coma Saturday for sure! We burned it off walking around Brooklyn and Manhattan the next couple of days...I'll have more on that tomorrow!

THE VANDERBILT OPENS TODAY!

The same couple that owns Saul restaurant in Brooklyn now opens their new place today...The Vanderbilt. Saul (also in Brooklyn) serves sophisticated, French-influenced contemporary American food, and The Vanderbilt is meant to be its more casual and less expensive version.

There is a meat smoker at The Vanderbilt, and they offer a variety of meat dishes from steak, to sausage, to pork and house-made jerky...along with berry-filled doughnuts for dessert which sound amazing! Dishes are served tapas style- on small plates- and run between $4-$16.

The Vanderbilt
570 Vanderbilt Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-623-0570

YOU WILL LOVE WILLIAMSBURG

Yes Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia is historic and amazing, but I'm talking about a Williamsburg that's much closer for my New York readers...Williamsburg, Brooklyn!
For a change of pace from walking around the city, my family and I decided to head over to Williamsburg, Brooklyn for the day over the weekend and I was impressed by what a hip and trendy little spot this area is becoming. Yes, it's a far cry from your Soho or West Village shops and restaurants, but let me tell you Jet Setters...this place is worth checking out.

Right over the Williamsburg Bridge from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Williamsburg is next to Greenpoint, Bed-Stuy and Bushwick. You can get there by car or by either the L, J, M, Z, or G train. Along Driggs & Bedford Avenues and Grand Street you will find a lot of cute trendy boutiques and some great restaurants. Now, don't expect to head over there and the place will look like a mini Park Slope...far from it; there are many blocks that have just one boutique, or one hip eatery, and some blocks that just have some small walk-ups and some run-down buildings.

My sisters and I found a great store on Grand Street called Charlie and Sam.

It's an awesome boutique that has women's clothing, jewelry, scarves, accessories, shoes (even clothing for the men too!) from Italy, England, France and Austrailia...plus it's dog friendly! After all the store is named after the owner's dogs (Charlie & Sam) who hang out there all day! How cute is that? I picked up a great pair of black suede sandals and a funky pink scarf.

From there we re-fueled with a great lunch at Fratelli Brick Oven Pizza. Also, located on Grand Street, this unassuming pizza shop has incredible pies (we had a Margherita and a Sausage & Pepperoni), a terrific house salad with one of the best balsamic vinagrette dressings I've ever had and Rigatoni Bolognese- so good that you'll want second helpings! :-) It's BYOB so we grabbed a couple of bottles of wine from a store on the corner and had a great meal.

There are so many other wonderful and well established restaurants like Peter Luger's Steakhouse and the Brooklyn Brewery. For shopping, Buffalo Exchange is a thrift store where you can find some great stuff, Jumelle and Noisette are some other great boutiques, and so much more that I haven't mentioned here. All I can say is that I will definitely be back to this great up and coming neighborhood, and that if you head over too you will quickly find out why I say You Will Love Williamsburg.

{photos: wikipedia, Charlie & Sam}