My Latest Obsessions

Nighttime in the City that NEVER sleeps

Snagged a pic w/ the lovely Vince Chase (aka Adrian Grenier).

D2 + Carrie 

Loved walking the High Line in Manhattan. Amazing space + views + a great reprieve for the
hustle and bustle of NYC. Amazing plants. Loved this Ace of Hearts redbud.

Gorgeous little flower shop next door to my sister Carrie's place in Brooklyn.

Gus strutting his stuff (= yummy food) to those waiting in line at Tom's Restaurant

The Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene

Chilling w/ some coffee at the Greene Grape in Fort Greene

Happy Friday! It has been quite a week weather wise. Earlier in the week we were pulling out the flip flops and shorts and then last night at both C + M's baseball games we were shivering and wishing we had brought our winter hats. I guess that is spring for you in Chicago. And wow, we are officially in MAY!

I had a blast last weekend visiting my youngest sister in Brooklyn and my dear friend in Chelsea. I left on a 6 am Thursday morning (trying to maximize my time) flight and got home this past Sunday. PFC held down the fort w/ the kiddos! We were blessed with gorgeous sunny and warm temps both in NYC and Chicago. I think everyone was quite delighted to see the sun and walk around without so many layers.

I had not been to NYC in quite some time and it was super fun to explore Brooklyn (a place I had not explored before during past visits). This interesting look at the brain of a designer made me laugh - and think about my sister (her being an architect) and my mom JuJu. I loved hanging w/ my sister Carrie because she was able to give me some perspective about NYC/Brooklyn's architecture. We took a stroll around the perimeter of the new Barclays Center and she gave me some background about the history of its making. Her architecture firm, SHoP Architects, designed the Center.

Some of my FAVE highlights from my past long weekend in NYC + Brooklyn included:

• Lunching and catching up w/ my dear friend at The Grey Dog in Chelsea. I had the Roasted Turkey, Brie, Plum Tomato & Raspberry Mustard sandwich on cranberry walnut bread. OMG, it was AH-MAZING. Our conversation included the latest debate about work-life balance and the positions of Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer of Yahoo. And here's an interesting one out there = Is There Life After Work? And then there is Anne-Marie Slaughter's Why Women Still Can't Have It All. 
• Walking the High Line on Manhattan's West Side. Super relaxing. So LOVED reading the history of the High Line. Someone mentioned that Chicago will soon have access to The Bloomingdale Trail = 3 mile long elevated linear park and trail (very similar to the High Line as it is built from a former rail line). Very COOL! 
• YUMMY pizza at Co. in Chelsea. Martha Stewart LOVES Co. too. She featured Co.'s chef Jim Lahey's Popeye Pizza. I want to give this one a TRY! The dough of the two pizzas we tried was DIVINE. Here's Lahey's formula for the perfect bread! And even my girl crush Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo LOVES Co. too! 
• My sister and I caught a glimpse (okay, front row seats!) of Adrian Grenier. He and Matt Cooke were at the Apple store in SoHo talking about their latest film that was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. Seeing him made me miss Entourage. He is quite a doll! 
• LOVED the food at Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria in NoHo. While the pasta and the sides (OMG, the brussels sprout petals = AMAZING) were delicious the gelato was out of this world. Some thoughts from The New Yorker. 
• We strolled through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and checked out the Cherry Blossoms. We walked there after having a YUMMY breakfast at Tom's Restaurant. Tom's Restaurant is all about the experience and the food was pretty good too! The adorable Gus Vlahadas, son of the restaurant's original owner, treated those of us waiting in line to yummy bites of pancakes and coffee. We saw the framed picture of the lyrics to "Tom's Diner" signed by Suzanne Vega. She signed it, "I Came. I Saw. I Wrote." 
• Stopped by Area Kids in Brooklyn to find some little gifts for the kiddos. I picked up these little brooklyn totes (designed by a local brooklyn artist) for the girls. I thought all 3 of them would find it fun to color in their Doodle New York book and check out some of the sights. 
• TOTALLY fell in love w/ The Greene Grape in Fort Greene = yummy cheese, fabulous coffee bar, a great butcher, AMAZING homemade scones and muffins, you name it! My sister makes a pit stop there daily and I can see why. I even stumbled upon some Chicago made La-Dee-Dahs that a good friend had turned me on to awhile back - oh la la! 
• Enjoyed reading Refinery 29's Bad*ss guide to Brooklyn. We did indeed spend our Saturday late afternoon at the Brooklyn Flea. LOVED it. There were a lot of great local vendors. I picked up a pretty pair of earrings and a necklace from local jeweler Jessica DeCarlo. She was lovely. I cannot find the other gal we bought necklaces from but she was selling these unique crystal mesh necklaces filled with Swarovski crystals (similar to this one here - but WAY cheaper!). 
• And we ended the weekend w/ an early and relaxed dinner at No. 7 (right around the corner from Carrie's place). It is her go to spot. I LOVED it there. Relaxed and comfortable vibe and the most delicious double decker broccoli tacos I've ever had. Okay, the ONLY broccoli tacos I've ever had! However, I think I might need to try and make them myself - check out this gal's take on them. 

Have a FABULOUS weekend! XO - D2