I <3 new york

One night while some of my coworkers and I were in New Jersey, we ventured into the city for dinner and drinks. JR recently moved from New York, so she was our driver and tour guide. On our way in, as we entered the Lincoln Tunnel, we saw a shuttle van driver speed through a bunch of cones to cut off a transit bus. The two drivers got into a grade-A shouting match. It was honestly a little scary, and I called the “how’s my driving?” number to report the overly aggressive van driver. Hopefully he got a good talking to.

Once we got into the city and parked, we walked around a bit. We went to Union Square, where we observed a bit of the Farmers Market.

We also hit a neat outdoor bar with some very attractive patrons. I asked JR if the people who were that good-looking in New York were models and actors. She said they were probably normal people. Normal people just are not that attractive where I live (sorry, folks!).

We continued our jaunt around town, basically taking the long way around to the restaurant where we had dinner reservations. We stopped into a cute little boutique, where I tried on a strapless dress that was way cuter on the hanger than it was on my body. Oh well. JR ended up buying a beautiful, interesting dress that looked great on her.

As we neared the restaurant, we passed a storefront that made me stop in my tracks. When I first bought my new camera, I was researching bags when I learned about Crumpler bags. I read so many great things about their stuff and was introduced to the cult-like following the brand has. I was, however, unable to find any of their photo bags locally, and I didn’t want to order a bag online without having seen it in person first. But as we walked to dinner, lo and behold, we passed right by the Crumpler shop in the West Village. I froze and shrieked something to the effect of “I have to go in here!”, and my coworkers reminded me that we only had five minutes until our reservations. I rushed into the store while JR kindly called to get us a few extra minutes at the restaurant. Within ten or so minutes, I had picked out my new Six Million Dollar Home bag and was on a Crumpler bag high the rest of the night.

Dinner was at Paradou, a super-cute little French restaurant in the Meatpacking district.

We were seated in the outdoor garden area in the back, which was just too adorable. Dinner was divine. Seriously, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I started with a chilled asparagus soup with truffle oil which was very refreshing and delicious, with a lot of unexpected flavor. My entrée was monkfish with polenta and baby carrots. It was so flavorful and all the textures were just right. It really was to die for.

Dinner was topped off with some tasty Gewurztraminer, a Kir Royale (compliments of our waiter), and a heavenly banana and nutella crêpe.

Oh, and some tipsy photos.

After dinner, we went to a few bars. We went nextdoor to catch a glimpse of the hot bartenders before heading somewhere else. We went to the top of the Hotel Gansevoort where I got a $14 shot. $14!! We made our way to APT at the end of the evening, and we sampled some fancy bottled waters before calling it a night.

It was a lot of fun hanging out with my coworkers. It made me appreciate the group I work with even more…I truly do enjoy working with everyone at my office. That’s pretty special!

I was back in town for the weekend. Yesterday I ran errands with my mom in the morning. We had a delicious Korean lunch with my aunt and uncle, and then we went shopping at the international farmers market. Later, I met up with LS and JR for a bierfest. It was interesting. I guess it would have been really cool if I liked beer. I was a good sport, though, and I did try a few before deciding I still don’t like it. I also went to a party at my friend BSJ’s place, which is kind of an annual tradition. It’s always good to see him…we’ve been friends since high school.

Today I went shopping with Mom and did some work around the house. I cleaned the pool and encountered the biggest frog I think I’ve ever seen in real life. He was red and just HUGE. It was a comedy of errors trying to get him out of the pool. Poor frog.

I’m going to try to get some work done to get a head start on the week. It’s going to get interesting, as the other project manager in our office starts her maternity leave on Monday, so I will be taking on her work along with mine. Let the games begin!