In the Empire State of Mind

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.

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.

In the Empire State of mind

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My New Pet!

So most people know about this pet....

But I just got a new one off of Craigslist a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still really excited about it!

I've been on sort of a Craigslist spree ever since planning of Tiffany's bridal shower started. There are sooo many great things on there that people just don't use anymore, and then I came across this little guy:

Apparently his previous owners just never found him that useful, and they had only used him once! Mr. Vacuum only cost us $50, and he was basically new. He does a great job cleaning our carpets and tile. I also recently found a posting on Craigslist for a roomba home station, so that once he is worn out from vacuuming he can guide himself back there -- so now we have the upgraded setup! This particular model is selling for over 3x as much on Amazon.com! It's a really big help to no longer have to worry about a significant part of the house cleaning. We can turn him on before we leave for work and then have a freshly vacuumed house once we get back! I find him especially helpful since our whole condo is on one level and we don't have a huge place.

Rockhopper Penguins in Rehab

Have you ever wondered what is actually involved in cleaning up after an oil spill? I found this slide show on the BBC News website to be very interesting. I hadn't even heard about this recent oil spill!

According to Wikipedia:
On March 16, 2011, the Maltese-registered freighter MS Oliva ran aground on Nightingale Island, spilling tons of heavy crude into the ocean. The crew was rescued, but the ship broke up, leaving an oil slick that surrounded the island, threatening its population of rockhopper penguins.  Nightingale Island has no fresh water, so the penguins are being transported to Tristan da Cunha for cleaning.

Oh the Places We'll Go: Caribbean 2009

Oh the Places We'll Go! (Click me!)

Michael & I created this wonderful photobook from Pixable.com based on our trip to the Caribbean in 2009 -- We had a LivingSocial deal to create a hard cover 16-page photobook for only $10.

We traveled to Miami, St. Thomas, St. John, Tortolla, Jost Van Dyke, and St. Lucia -- all in one trip. As you can tell from the pictures, we had a wonderful time on our trip scuba diving, snorkeling, laying on the beach, hitchhiking, zip lining in a rain forest, and meeting the locals. Since it was a while ago, the dates on the Jauntlet app below are all just estimates.

Above all, I would highly recommend a trip to Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands for anyone who wants to see the Caribbean that you probably fantasize about. It's such a tiny island without much commercialization. There aren't more than a few places to even stay there. Our stay at Ivan's was completely remote and amazing -- our one room cabin was just what you'd image a beach lifestyle to be. No frills, but everything you need to be comfortable so that you can hear the waves at night and walk 10 steps to the beach in the morning. Ivan's even has an honor bar, where you can make yourself the local Painkiller drink and put it on your own tab.

Lunch Boxes

So what does it mean when I come across some adorable lunch boxes on luggage.com, and looking at them makes me want to have children so that I can send them off to preschool looking so cute with their little lunch boxes?

Don't worry, I'm not planning on having children any time soon. But if you are in the market for some adorable lunch boxes, or any luggage-related item at all, there is a great Eversave deal right now -- $25 for $50 worth of merchandise from luggage.com. By adding coupon code "LUCKY" at check out, you save an extra $3.They also sell fabric sandwich holders, which is a great alternative to packing with plastic.

Stevia in the Raw

I'll admit it... I'm a pretty picky eater. It doesn't matter that I've had rattle snake, raw beef and pork, beef tongue and brain, and sea cucumber. There are still some everyday foods that I avoid. One of those things happens to be sugar substitutes. Diet sodas just aren't worth the difference in taste for me. Splenda, Equal, Sweet N' Low? Not my thing. I'd rather not have a drink that tastes like chemicals and has a weird aftertaste, thanks.

Photo of Sugar Packets: Rama

Now my point is not to get into the debate over high-fructose corn syrup (I'll leave that for another post). But being from the south, I do like my drinks sweet, y'all. I don't really see the point of unsweetened iced tea. As much of a skeptic as I am about no-calorie sweeteners, I can definitely say I was pleasantly surprised by Stevia in the Raw. After trying it on a whim one day when Michael decided to buy a package, I've actually gotten to the point that I put it in my hot tea at work on a daily basis. Although I wasn't really looking for something to help reduce my caloric intake, I guess it doesn't hurt either.

Some of the things I like about Stevia in the Raw:

• It is sweeter than sugar, so I can substitute my 2-3 packets of sugar for ~½ to ¾ of a packet of Stevia in the Raw.
• With a smaller amount needed, I don't have the issue with it not dissolving in cold drinks as much as with sugar.
• 100% natural product -- made from the extract of the Stevia plant.
• It's good for diabetics, kosher, and gluten free.

Let's not get carried away, though. It's not perfect:

• Although it's been available in Japan since the 1950s without any detected issues, there are still some potential risks, but most seem to be related to consuming way too much of it.
• It's not expensive, but not particularly cheap, either.
• Because it's 300-400x sweeter than sugar, a corn derivative (dextrose) is added to dilute the sweetness of the Stevia packet -- and I'm not exactly convinced that I need any more corn-based products in my diet.

There is currently a coupon on Stevia in the Raw's website for anyone interesting it trying it out!

Musical Weekend

Although it involved very different types of music, two events of my weekend made it a very musical one.

Friday evening started out with a trip to the Library of Congress to see a performance by Antares -- a quartet with piano, cello, violin, and clarinet. The amazing part about concerts like the one Michael and I attended on Friday is that they are all free! All you have to pay is the Ticketmaster charge of $7.50 for two tickets. I really enjoyed the pieces that they chose for the concert -- all very different -- some ultra modern, and some more traditional pieces. The guest soprano who sang during one of the songs was also very talented. I definitely plan on attending more of these free concerts as interesting ones come available on the Library of Congress schedule.


The second musical event of the weekend was Shamrock Fest, a festival with everything Irish and a bunch of non-Irish stuff, too. They had a bunch of stages with Irish-esque bands and Irish dancing, a bunch of food/drink stands, carnival rides, a lady on a unicycle, and vendor pavilions.

Michael got a VIP ticket -- with unlimited "good" beer (Guinness, etc) -- and I got a regular ticket since I don't like beer. I had a really fun time listening to the music, laughing at all the debauchery and drunk people, and eating a tasty crab cake sandwich. Yes, I bought seafood from a food stand, and I did not get sick. That is a very good thing. It was also nice because I got to hang out with some friends I had not seen in quite a long time. One of my friends from high school, Josh, was also there for the concert with a friend, so I hung out with them for a while. Then my friend from college, Caitlin, came with her boyfriend, and we had a great time catching up. Events like Shamrock Fest are always much more fun when you get to share them with old friends.