Wednesday, October 30, 2013

New York City Eats - Cha Chan Tang

For our Saturday breakfast, we went to Cha Chan Tang in Chinatown for Hong Kong tea, pineapple buns, and stir eggs.

IMG_1444


IMG_1446
So thrilled to finally see this smile in person!  Skype is fabulous, but it's no substitute for the real thing!

IMG_0517
Hong Kong Milk Tea - be warned, it's not sweetened like conventional milk tea.

IMG_1447
The most beautiful pineapple bun.  Ever.
(pineapple buns don't actually have pineapple in them, the name comes from the egg yolk/sugar/butter crumbly topping)

IMG_1449

IMG_1452

Monday, October 28, 2013

The Bloggers Take Manhattan!

This August, I was finally able to meet the lovely Kyla.  We've known each other since 2009---we're blogfriends from way back.  I emailed her out of the blue early in the summer, with the subject line "brilliant idea.  no, seriously."

"You know how I went to the jazz age party last year?  It's happening again this year, and the June date won't work for me or my friend Sara, but the August date won't work for her (she'll be Australia still).  Soo----how would you feel about meeting in NYC for the jazz age party?  I think it could be so much fun"

And to my utter amazement, the universe was on our side and it all went so swimmingly!  We stayed in a lovely little bedroom in the Chinatown/Lower East Side in Manhattan, and had a glorious time.  I can't wait until we do it again.  For Kyla's recap of the weekend, check out her blog!

IMG_0512
Meeting up, at midnight (thanks late Megabus; photo credit Kyla)

IMG_1427

IMG_1433
Our Saturday started with breakfast in Chinatown.

IMG_1438

IMG_1439

IMG_1442

IMG_1453

IMG_1458
And walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

IMG_1462

IMG_1467

IMG_1472

IMG_1550
After Brooklyn (pictures here) - we came back to Manhattan and the Lower East Side for the afternoon. 

IMG_1561
We found a rice pudding store.  No joke.

IMG_1566

IMG_1568

IMG_1575

IMG_1577
And watched a bit of soccer in the park.

IMG_0555
photo credit: Kyla

IMG_1579

IMG_1583

IMG_1597

IMG_1598

IMG_1603

IMG_1604
The street art was incredible, as always.

IMG_1611

IMG_1614

IMG_1615

IMG_1616

IMG_1617
After a long day of wandering, we had dinner out and then went to the roof to enjoy our wine and macaroons....cause nothing says magical like sugar, a bit of bubbly, and the New York City skyline. 

IMG_0565
photo credit: Kyla
(it was nearly impossible to get a good picture of how amazing this view was!  It looks like only boring buildings, but I promise it was wonderful)

IMG_1625

IMG_1627
My camera was getting a little tired of the low light business.

IMG_1653
View of the Brooklyn Bridge the next morning.

IMG_1659

IMG_1669

Saturday, October 26, 2013

1963 Flashback Party!

1963 Flashback Party Invitation
2013 is the 50th anniversary of the dorm that I live in, and some of my fellow GRTs and I got really excited about the idea of having a 60s themed party...between Mad Men, jello, 60s dresses, whoa.  So many good things, all in one place!  

And of course, I came up with the somewhat sadistic idea that hey, I should make a cake in the shape of McCormick. 

Seriously, self?  Like I don't have enough to do already?

We definitely wanted to do some sort of celebration with the girls when they got back to school in September, but with the summer comes penthouse cocktail parties... and it would be the perfect time to do a test cake.  Essentially, we couldn't not do it.  It was simply the right thing to do.

IMG_1396
So!  Friends took the reins on appetizers (and fancy jello shots!), while I focused on the bar and the cake.  I realize the white block-y thing on the table isn't much to look at, but it was critical to do some tests on defrost time, dowel size, stability...all important things.

IMG_1403
The bar!  My new-to-me vintage ice buckets, and lots of very stiff-upper-lip liquors...whiskey, vermouth, that sort of thing.  And a range of fruity sodas for Tom Collins variations, because hey, everyone needs a bit of blood orange and gin in their life.

And I know some people have asked me how things have gone asking for party donations, and I have always felt very lucky in that my friends understand that $10-15 can go a long way towards me funding such events, and hey, a night out in Boston costs far more than that, anyhow.  I have people over because I want to and I can afford it, but I can continue to do it because I have help purchasing the food and alcohol.  This particular party cost about $600 total, but there was both alcohol, food, and some capital investments like jello molds leftover, so it didn't make cost quite so much post-tips.

IMG_1406
The cake structure specialist and I.

IMG_1408
The hosts!  I'm in a dress found at Great Eastern Trading Company - and it was perfect for this sort of event!  I gave up on my hair, though.  One of these days I'll finally learn how to not be scared of teasing. 

IMG_1410
Two more 60s beauties!

IMG_1414
Everyone looked so great! It makes me so nostalgic for the summertime!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

The search for a souvenir

Despite being a kid who hoarded everything, had zillions of collections, and couldn't get rid of anything (sorry mom) - I've become an adult with a much more jaded view of stuff.  Maybe it's the fact that once I started college, in the next five years, I had moved all my belongings 12 times.  Probably.  This also means while I have enough dinnerware to host 45 people for dinner, I just don't have all that much room in my life to acquire things that don't have a purpose.

And before you ask, yes, I did try to find a giant cowbell, but I didn't have any luck.  They had some miniature ones in little shops, but not actual real cowbells, sadly.  

So, I think the best option is to find jewelry.  And the characteristic that really stood out in Switzerland that is hard to capture was the opaque green-teal-blue of the glacial rivers and lakes.  It's simply stunning. 

IMG_0745

And I was hoping I could find a good match to remind me of the trip, sitting next to Lac Leman, dipping my feet in the River Aare in Berne.  However - it proved to be far more difficult than I thought it would!  After searching Etsy, Ebay, all over, I still haven't quite found the right color!  I won't give up, though!  Some contenders:

Aquamarine

Blue quartz

Amazonite

Green fluorite

Green fluorite

Aqua quartz

Green fluorite

Green fluorite