It has been a few weeks now since Michael and I returned from our weekend getaway over Presidents Day weekend in New York. Being one of those great trips that is jam packed with lots of events, the time went by extremely fast.
We took the Vamoose bus from Rosslyn
extremely early on Friday morning. It was very convenient that the bus had internet, so I was able to work for a few hours on the bus to save some of my time off. After arriving at Penn Station, of course Michael
had to make a stop into B&H -- which has every photography-related item you could ever want to purchase. Of course this can be very dangerous, because it's like taking a kid to a very expensive candy store. B&H even has this cool conveyor belt system that carries all the merchandise to the cash register for purchase. It is also run by a group of Hasidic Jews, so most of them have the really identifiable and neat hairstyle. After dropping off our bags at the Doubletree, we stopped for lunch at Turkish Kitchen. I had my eyelash curling appointment at Lavilash, and afterward met Michael at the flatiron building and had a delicious nutella and banana crepe from one of those food trucks. We strolled over to Vada Spa for my eyelash and eyebrow tinting appointment, and spent a long time after that enjoying the wonderful street performers in Washington Square Park. It was a lovely day and very comfortable weather, maybe around 60 degrees.
On Saturday morning, we grabbed a bagel at Bagel Bob's and went over to Michael's favorite coffee place in the city. I think that a total of maybe 6 people can fit into the coffee shop -- it is so tiny that we were all packed in there. I actually didn't mind though, because it stays nice and warm in there! Saturday was quite a change from Friday, as it was actually quite chilly. After a few hours at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), we met up with my coworker, Shez, and her husband for dinner at a really cool tea house. We all cabbed it over to a comedy show and had a great time laughing at some seriously funny comedians.
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| Michael trying on the latest NY fashion... |
Sunday was
the day for me -- I went to have my hair Japanese straightened! I arrived in Brooklyn around 8:30, grabbed a quick croissant to eat from a little bakery on the way, and finished up the process around 1PM. It was definitely a long morning, but completely worth it. My hair is now wash & go -- I absolutely love it. It's straight, but also very silky and not damaged. I won't bore you with the intimate details, but my yelp review is very thorough. I took the subway over to Williamsburg to meet Michael for lunch at the Rabbithole Restaurant and also so that he could show me what he loves about Williamsburg so much -- if and when we move to New York, that's where he would want to live. After heading back to Manhattan, we did some shopping and bought some tea from this amazing little tea shop -- I bought a chrysanthemum tea and a tea that tastes like Christmas. They are wonderful. Craving seafood, we ended up eating at the Mermaid Oyster Bar and enjoyed some tasty oysters and mussels. It was a very romantic dinner, and I had a great time.
It snowed on Monday morning... so much for that beautiful warm weather from Friday! Packing up our suitcase, we headed out to an appointment for teeth whitening at Park South Dentistry. I did not realize this, but apparently my teeth were already pretty white -- before the procedure, they were already whiter than the teeth-whitening scale even went. After lunch at a little bistro (French Roast), Michael and I ran over to DLK skin care for the photofacial -- unfortunately, by far the worst experience of the trip. They were running so late that even though I warned them when I had to leave, I was totally ignored and ended up getting back to the Vamoose bus only 10 minutes before it was leaving to go back to DC! That was a
very close call.
Some of my appointments were wonderful (actually, most of them), but then some were less than desirable. Even though some things I would never do again, I think that the amount of money I saved on the other ones makes me feel at least a little bit better about it. You can check out detailed reviews from my experiences through my NYC list of Yelp reviews.
Since there are rules against bringing dogs to Virginia Beach during the busier times of the year, we decided to make the short 15-20 minute drive over to Sandbridge. Although technically dogs are apparently not allowed there either, the rules are much more relaxed, and there were other dogs on the beach too. It was so exciting to see Sonja on the beach, because she absolutely loved it! Seeing her so excited and running up and down the beach with Michael made me really wish we could have had her off of the leash. She wasn't even scared of the water! I am definitely looking forward to taking her back to the beach again.
I had heard good things about Sandbridge before, I was so glad to be able to see it myself; it reminded me of a much smaller Outer Banks. It doesn't have all of those highrise hotels, and there are streets of cute beach houses lining the shore. The best part for me, though, is that you get a large area of the beach to yourself! No fighting other beach-goers for the best spots. No annoying lifeguards blowing a whistle ever 10 minutes. And free parking on the neighborhood streets! If you are in Virginia Beach and want a more secluded feel, I would definitely recommend hopping down to Sandbridge. Michael even found me a great birthday treat - we bought some blue crabs and had them for dinner -- one of my favorite memories from going to the beach when I was growing up!
