I Love New York.

I've always hoped that one day I'd live in New York City- even if just temporarily- and with Justin working in the city this summer I finally had my chance. So far, it's been fantastic... even though I spend my days studying for the bar exam (which is not as fun as exploring NYC). 

Our first week here, we rented an apartment in SoHo. Justin wasn't working yet so we had time to look for another apartment and eat/shop/etc. Our first night in town, we HAD to return to Shanghai Joe's for some crab soup dumplings... 

I would choose these for my last meal. YUM.

Istanbul Grill

The pic above is from Istanbul Grill, a Turkish restaurant where we ate a few nights later. Equally amazing- I've never had Turkish food, but I loved it. This could really quickly turn into a food blog if I keep writing about everywhere we've eaten though, so I'm only going to give the highlights. Istanbul Grill was definitely one of them. 

Men Kui Tei

Another favorite was Men Kui Tei, a noodle shop on 3rd Ave and 7th St. I had wonton men- noodle soup with dumplings... made even better by adding a bowl of rice and a little bit of sriracha. Aside from food, we also had a lot of fun trying new bars. One of our favorites was Shoolbred's, a Scottish pub that uses fresh-squeezed grapefruit in making their greyhound cocktails. 

An interesting tidbit about NYC restrooms: sometimes they're unisex. Sometimes, maybe you walk into a bathroom with a ton of stalls, and a guy walks out of one of them, so you think you're in the wrong place, but you're not... so that took some getting used to!

One thing I really like about this city is how you just stumble onto things. I was wandering around aimlessly one day and I noticed a lot of tourists pointing cameras in my direction. I was prettyyyyy sure they weren't taking pics of me, so I turned around and whoa! The flatiron building was right behind me! Neatoooo!

After a few days of hardcore searching (and checking out one really nasty, cockroach infested apartment), Justin and I found our dream come true- a 25th floor, 800 square foot apartment in Hell's Kitchen. It's glorious and I never want to leave!

Our home sweet home!

The view from our living room. Not too shabby.

The first week of living here was kind of a blur, as we spent a lot of time shopping for essentials at KMart, finding free furniture on Craigslist, and buying 30 cent silverware and $2 towels at a really random store in Times Square. But we made it feel like home! When we weren't busy running house errands, we were checking out some of the amazing restaurants Hell's Kitchen has to offer: Nizza (wonderful Italian), Mercury Bar (good cocktails and American cuisine), Pullino's (actually in NoLita- but delicious pizza!), Don Giovanni's (more wonderful Italian)... and quite possibly my favorite, Delta Grill- serving New Orleans style grub. Having been to New Orleans, I'm happy to report it was just as good (and honestly, maybe even a little bit better!) than the food I had in NOLA. We had jambalaya, sticky chicken, and fried green tomatoes (below). I will definitely go back! 

We found most of these restaurants just by walking around the neighborhood and picking places that looked busy- we figured if the place is packed, it can't be bad! There was one exception, though: we read online that Mee Noodle Shop was really good, but it wasn't. Bummer. Won't go back. Yuck.

Walking around at night is fun, and it amazes me how there are ALWAYS tons of people out EVERYWHERE. We've always felt pretty safe, because there are always other people wherever we are- including cops. We're not exactly touring Harlem though, I guess... 

Orange vanilla cupcake... the best one I've had yet!

We've also hit up our fair share of dessert spots. Magnolia Bakery has THE most delicious cupcakes... but Burgers & Cupcakes gave us 18 cupcakes for free... so right now it's a tie between those two places. FREE cupcakes? Seriously?!?! That's hard to beat. We've also had our fair share of Pinkberry frozen yogurt... our favorite is salted caramel, topped with crepe flakes, milk chocolate crunch, and caramel syrup. Holey Cream was another favorite- they're famous for making donut ice cream sandwiches. Tempting, but we decided to stick with regular ice cream, sans donuts. Thumbs up, red velvet ice cream!

OH and I should mention that I'm on a mission to find NYC's best macaron. So for, Bouchon Bakery is in the lead; their blueberry cheesecake macarons are a little slice of heaven- but they're not so little... more like the size of your palm. I'm salivating just thinking about them. Bisous Chao is also pretty great- they're the perfect texture... but the flavors I had weren't the best (rose kinda tasted like soap). I was really looking forward to going to Lily O'Brien's, because I had their macarons last summer and LOVED them... but I was really disappointed this time around. They were hard and not very tasty. So either they've gone downhill, or I've become a more discerning macaron lover. It's quite possible.

One Saturday we took advantage of our prime location on the Hudson River and went for a nice little stroll. It's beautiful... above, you see my boyfriend acting like a bird. Why? Not sure. Cute though!

After our Hudson River walk, we stopped at Whole Foods, picked up some goodies, and had a nice little picnic at Central Park. I really, really like Central Park. All kinds of people are there for all kinds of reasons- to relax, to exercise, to eat, to visit the zoo, or in the case of the two lovebirds in the gondola above... to get engaged. There's so much going on all the time, from concerts to sports contests to charity events... I love it!

Justin loves Central Park!

SO, that's it- the highlights of our first couple of weeks in New York... come visit! 

The Good Ol' Southwest

I didn't have much time to reflect on the wonders of Miami... we got home pretty late on Sunday night, and by Monday afternoon I had packed up my apartment, stuffed everything in the car (seriously, I spent half the day trying to figure out a way to cram it all in while maintaining enough room for myself AND my purse), and headed west. I spent the night in Kansas City, meeting up with Justin, his mom, and brother Nate, as they had just come back from a weekend in Santa Fe and made a KC pit-stop as well. It was short and sweet, and Tuesday morning I hit the road. 

Driving solo from Iowa to Arizona is probably not the most boring thing I've ever done, but it's close. More specifically, KANSAS IS TERRIBLE. I'm sure it has fine qualities, but Highway 54 is where fun goes to die. Flat, brown, and impossibly hick. I have never seen so many pro-Jesus billboards in my life. And that's cool, Jesus is super... but combined with the overdose of Christian talk radio (which is kind of interesting... for about 20 minutes)... I thought I might not make it to Phoenix. Luckily, Oklahoma and Texas were a little bit better (but not much). 

Then I crossed into New Mexico. It sounds boring, I know, but it's freakin' gorgeous. I guess after 10 hours of flat and colorless, anything would look good. Red rocks, mountains, bright blue sky... I mean, they call it The Land of Enchantment for a reason, I guess. I would've taken pics, but (of course) my camera was dead. On that note, my phone was almost dead as well... and my charger was being stubborn and only worked if I held it juuuust the right way. So here's me, driving through New Mexico, holding my charger with one hand and my phone in the other, using my knees to steer... but I made it! 

One thing I learned about New Mexico is that sometimes you can drive for hours without seeing a gas station, so it's best if you didn't stock up on water, diet mountain dew, and grape gatorade at that last gas station in Texas. Also, you're absolutely screwed if you run out of gas, because it's pitch-black dark out there and the last thing you wanna do is pull over and wait for someone to come along and help you because A) no one will, or B) they're a serial killer, or C) maybe somehow you wound up on some sort of prohibited Indian Reservation, and you're a trespasser, and since you're on their land they can do whatever they want to you? That last one is probably not true... but that's what they always told kids in AZ to try to scare us out of going to drink beer in the desert (we did it anyway). 

Somewhere along this magical journey I decided to go a little bit off my mapped-out route and spend the night in Santa Fe. I arrived without peeing my pants OR running out of gas! Bi-winning! I stayed at the Inn at Loretto thanks to a sweet deal on priceline.com (that I arranged on my phone's web browser during my drive through Oklahoma, where you can drive as irresponsibly as you want, because there are no cars/people/signs to worry about hitting). The Inn was gorgeous and comfy, and my room was stocked with delicious Godiva chocolate bars that, it turns out, aren't free. Darn. 

I decided to go exploring and figured I could find some good Southwestern grub, even though it was 11 pm. I found some nice free-spirited hippie ladies selling weird aluminum candleholders on the street, so I chatted with them for a little bit and got a few restaurant recommendations. They'd also been talking to a guy with a ponytail who looked kinda sketchy, but I didn't think much of it as he left right when I got there. So a few minutes later I walked into Del Charro Saloon, and it was poppin'. Not an empty table in the place, but a huuuge bar where a lot of people were eating. Only one seat open though... right next to the sketchy ponytail guy! 

Ok, this is the part in a movie where it either turns into a creepy serial killer horror movie, or a romantic love story where the guy ends up being from Italy and sweeps me off my feet. ALMOST TRUE! Minus the romance part. Creepy ponytail guy was Paolo, from Torino, Italy. He was a quantum physicist (!) in Santa Fe for the summer, doing research with a professor from MIT. He tried to explain bio-physics, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I'm going to blame it on his accent and the 2 margaritas I drank, but I'm pretty sure if he was English and I was sober, it wouldn't have made any difference. Anyway, he was really nice and gave me tons of great tips on what to do/see/eat when I go to Italy this fall. So, thanks Paolo! No, I didn't give him my contact info or anything because I figured, ya know, just in case he IS a serial killer...

The next morning I was ready to see Santa Fe by daylight. And she didn't disappoint... what a cute little town! It has a very artsy, chill vibe. Kind of like a Southwestern version of Montmartre, France (or Galena, Illinois... for my American readers (hahaha)). I walked around for awhile and decided to grab a quick tamale lunch from a street vendor. Turns out, Justin had been to the same vendor just a few days before! Weird, right? We're soulmates. 

Los tamales son deliciosos!

On another exciting (?) note, one of the streets on the main square was closed because 50 Cent was filming a movie that day... neato, gang! Or not. After my delish tamale, I headed to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. 

Next, I hit up a few shops. This one was my favorite. If it had a name, I don't remember it, but I wanted to buy pretty much everything inside. Mexican ceramic tile mirrors, weird painted sun faces, strands of dried chili peppers, skulls.... who doesn't love skulls?  

 

And last, I stopped at the famous Loretto Chapel. The story on this place is...

When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.

The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.

Over the years many have flocked to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase. The staircase has been the subject of many articles, TV specials, and movies including "Unsolved Mysteries" and the television movie titled "The Staircase."

As I headed out of Santa Fe, I figured I might as well drive past the church that Justin had told me about: the San Miguel Mission. It was built in 1610 and is claimed to be the oldest church structure in the United States. 

I was only in Santa Fe long enough to get a little taste of it, but I loved the city and would definitely like to go back. I could've stayed longer, but I could not WAIT to get to Phoenix. So with a full tank of gas and a heavy foot, I cruised through New Mexico and finally got to the Grand Canyon State!

Let me just say that driving through Arizona is incredible. I know everyone pictures cacti and desert, but northern Arizona is SO green! It's so beautiful that it is seriously distracting to drive through it, and I can't even count how many times I was tempted to pull over on the side of the road and snap some pics... and I would have, if my camera wasn't dead (again). My favorite was the stretch from Payson to Phoenix, the Tonto National Forest. I didn't take the pic below, but this is what it looks like when you're driving down the side of a mountain with nothing to your left but miles and miles of pine-tree-covered mountains. 

Ahhh... so pretty. I rolled into Phoenix feeling good about life, relieved to be done with my trip, and ready to grill out with Jeff, Kelli, and Billy. My phone was almost dead (again), but it didn't matter, because I was only ten minutes from home! And then... my car started acting funky. The warning light for overheating came on, so I pulled over and called my bro to come follow me home just in case the car died. And then... it did! Crap! A few minutes later, my lovely siblings showed up and came to my rescue. We waited for the car to cool off, added a little bit of coolant, and made it home, where I had the cutest garage-door banner waiting for me: