40ish hours in new york

FRIDAY

remind me to never, EVER take megabus again. while i've taken bolt the past few years with success, the available times just didn't work for me this time around, and amtrak was like a zillion dollars. so, despite having multiple negative experiences--which included being stuck at a rest stop for more than 2 hours during one ride, and the bus driver shaking down passengers for money to pay for an oil change on another, i swallowed my pride and went with mega. we were an hour and a half late arriving in the city, the bus smelled, and i. just. couldn't.

my only source of amusement was this obviously insane girl who kept going "teehee!" every time her phone made noise as if she had no clue how to put it on vibrate, started writing on a roll of paper towels, and then proceeded to flat iron her (most likely fake) hair. i pretty much just rocked back and forth and listened to "legit tattoo gun" by the front bottoms on repeat for six hours.

once i finally got to brooklyn (at nearly 10pm), we wandered to this lovely little pizza place called wheated in ditmas park and i filled my face with whiskey, meatballs, and cheese. i would claim i was eating my feelings about the bus experience, but y'all know i would have done this anyway. there was also a very distinguished man at the bar who looked like a hipper kenny loggins and he just had such a PRESENCE. that's neither here nor there. just wanted to mention it.

then, it was beers on the back porch of this cozy, adorable, and low-key neighborhood joint called hinterlands bar down the street. kenny loggins was ALSO at the bar here! what a guy.

SATURDAY

after grabbing coffees at a hole-in-the-wall pakistani bakery near gleni's place, we strolled to brunch at the farm on adderley (which is neither a farm nor on adderley street, natch). the walk took us through this quaint, residential neighborhood that almost felt like the garden district in new orleans. big, well-kept, multi-family houses, including this one with some fake geese chillin' on the roof.

back to brunch, though. it was pretty good, but the highlight was seeing alia shawkat (of arrested development and search party...and the episode of broad city where she hooks up with ilana). i didn't even realize it was her at first, only noticing her male companion's absolutely terrible-looking bandana. celebs: they're not even as cool as us!

while it wasn't quite warm enough for the beach, we popped down to coney island for the afternoon.

 

  

first up were the art walls, and we spent aboooouut an hour posing in front of the RIOT one. i'm so bummed i didn't capture the moment when there were three girls in a row, just takin' selfies.

next up was the wonder wheel. we went for a swinging car and oh MAN did it swing. good old-fashioned fun.

after some hard orange cream ale and root beer at the freak bar, we decided to give into the gimmick and get tickets for the freak show. er, sorry, the circus sideshow if you wanna get real PC about it.

BEST $10 I'VE EVER SPENT. but for real, i had zero expectations for the show and it was so. much. fun. i figured that it would be all smoke and mirrors at a place like coney island, but y'aaaaall. we weren't allowed to take pictures or video, but it was a solid 45 minutes, and we saw:

-a little person shove an ice pick into his nasal cavity
-the same little person swallow an entire long balloon (like, it disappeared down his throat and we never saw it again)
-a guy who called himself "jelly boy the clown" swallow like 5 different swords, and later, pull a guy in a wheelchair across the stage with fish hooks hanging from the bottom of his eyes. the ONLY "clown" i've ever enjoyed, which is huge for me
- a contortionist pull his body through an empty tennis racket and do other insane things with his joints
-a tattooed hipster chick eat fire and set flame to her arms and tongue multiple times

i highly, highly encourage going if you find yourself at coney. it was like a live, more macabre version of a jackass episode. what i'm saying is that it was highly relevant to my interests and i loved every minute of it.

on the walk back home later that afternoon, we stopped into windsor coffee, which was a goddamn instagram dream and had half-priced pastries. hi, nutella scone!

the evening began with frose and tacos at el atoradero, a solid, intimate mexican joint in prospect heights.

then it was onto a cocktail bar called the bearded lady. i couldn't quite figure out the vibe here--it was a little retro, a little tiki--but it was totally fun and i dug it. the very strong "painkiller" cocktail didn't hurt, either.

we migrated to a party at gleni's friend's apartment around the corner, which was adorable. it should also be noted that this entire evening was supposed to be an all-female gathering called the "clam jam" and obviously there was a gorgeous poster designed for it, because it's brooklyn.

the night ended as all nights should: hanging out with a dog, drinking wine, doing the dougie, and listening to a playlist that included harry styles, natalie imbruglia, and the bodeans ("closer to free" is still such a jam).

SUNDAY 

soooo, a kind of major life event happened on sunday. as many of you know, i'm adopted, and upon meeting my birth parents (separately) at age 21, discovered that i have not 1, not 2, but 9 half-siblings. i know! long story short, i connected with one of my sisters via social media last year, who is in her second year at FIT, and we decided to meet up!

we grabbed breakfast at the grey dog in nolita and got to know each other a little better, went to a vintage shop (because we obviously both love thrifting) and then ducked into another cafe, oficina 1m, when it started to downpour outside. she's wonderful and there's absolutely no question (physically and otherwise) that we're biologically related. case in point: i instinctively went to take a photo of my cute cappuccino, and she goes "let's give it some color," swiftly moving the little flower vase into the shot. i'm so, so glad we got to meet, and it was a great end to the trip.

just remind me to take amtrak next time, okay?

hidden gem: long island wine country (and mystic, ct)

about a month ago, after a furious googling session to find ideas for LDW, my friend brianna and i came across a site for "long island wine country." previously, my only associations with the area were terrible accents, a few terrible girls whom i shared a dormitory floor with my freshman year of college, and that terrible tv psychic. but i was intrigued, and we booked a tour (with vintage tours) for saturday afternoon. spoiler alert: it was great.

the ferry

first of all, i didn't think it was possible to make it to long island in two and a half hours, but we somehow did? turns out that there's a modern marvel called the cross-sound ferry that takes you from new london, CT to orient point, NY in just over an hour. easy drive down, easy ferry ride over. and our tour guide was waiting at the ferry to whisk us away with a well-air-conditioned van and promises of gratuitous pinot samples.

the wine (and the goats)

we only hit up four of the approximately 30+ wineries on the north and south forks (also new terminology to me), but hoo boy, that was more than enough.

first was sparkling pointe. we kicked things off with a bubbly toast, eavesdropped on the bachelorette party in matching hats sitting next to us, and took in the bizarre-but-fun rio de janeiro-inspired decor:

then, onto mattebella. we ate some bread with brie and a cute little boxed lunch of eggplant panini, orzo, and a chocolate chip cookie at a picnic table while the tastings kept coming. it was at this point that i really felt like i was living my best life (thanks, oprah). fun fact: the name of the winery is a hybrid of the names of the owners' children, matthew and isabella. ugh, so cute i might puke.

the third winery, lenz, was thoroughly "meh" in terms of the samples, but had a fantastic atmosphere with some chill bros covering ellie goulding and such (not pictured, sorry).

AND THEN, our tour guide surprised us with an impromptu stop at a dairy farm that was home to like a billion baby goats, some of which lived on a fake boat:

can you handle it? 'cause i couldn't handle it. it also reminded me that when i went to san francisco about a year ago, we stopped at a winery in sonoma that had a donkey farm. is this a thing? people just like to get blitzed and pet animals or something? anyways, i'm not a feta fan so the cheese tasting was kind of wasted on me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the final stop was one woman vineyards, where comments about our personal brands abounded. but seriously, we saw the owner/winemaker/grower during our visit, and what a BAMF. you go, one woman. i also posed in front of a tractor because it felt like the right thing to do after four generous pours of various wines:

 

the treehouse

since the accommodations on long island were insanely expensive, we opted to ferry back and spend the night in mystic, connecticut. before a reallyreally good dinner of blackfish at oyster club, we had cocktails at the restaurant's treehouse bar. i know! i ordered the "painkiller," which had orange and pineapple juice and rum and stuff. ambiance for daaaays:

 
the b&b

i'd never stayed in a true bed and breakfast before, so i was simultaneously excited and frightened for what awaited me at the mermaid inn in mystic. yo, it was adorable af (save for that creepy mermaid on the piano, but so what, who cares). less than a 10-minute walk into town, too.

 

our room was refreshingly tasteful and classy, and had bathrobes and a fancy glass pitcher of cognac and chocolates. if only i brought my brandy snifter...

the innkeeper, josephine, was an absolute sweetheart. not only did she put pie and cookies out for guests in the evening, but she made a bomb-ass breakfast the next morning with ~organic~ yogurt, quiche, french toast, and baconbaconbacon.

she also gave us a little goodie bag with apples, more cookies, and bottles of water when we checked out. seriously, this woman is a saint. more importantly, my dreams have now shifted from owning a bakery in santa barbara (a la meryl streep in it's complicated) to owning a b&b in a beach town. how do i own a b&b in a beach town?!

anyways, we rented bikes that morning from the town bookstore and went on a veeery short ride (i was too rusty to be trusted for an extended period of time in the downtown traffic). then i talked to the bookstore dude about how mystic is basically stars hollow from gilmore girls for a while.

after a drive to dubois beach in nearby stonington, it was 11:30am, aka time to start drinking again. enter saltwater farm vineyard, a converted airplane hangar.

and what's a day in mystic without a slice from its most famous pizzeria? somehow, despite having visited the town a handful of times, i'd yet to make a visit to mystic pizza, which inspired the 1988 movie with julia roberts. the wait for a table was insane, so we snagged some seats in the bar area and took it all in. surprisingly, the pizza was delicious, and i devoured it in like 30 seconds, prompting brianna to laugh at my unbridled enthusiasm. i was hungry, man.

even if you aren't a wine aficionado, i highly recommend LI wine country -- and mystic -- for a day or weekend trip. for northeasterners like myself, it's a helluva lot closer than napa and sonoma, but i had just as much fun as i did at the wineries there. cheers!

new york weekend: 4knots 2016

this past weekend, i made my annual sojourn to new york city for the 4knots music festival in order to see one of my favorite bands, guided by voices, live. i have to admit, last year's festival was better for various reasons, but it was still a great time.

random prince mural in brooklyn, because ... prince.

FOOD

- upon my arrival to the big apple, you best believe i made a b-line for the white castle on 8th ave -- duffel bag on one arm, ten-pound purse on the other -- and stuffed my sweaty little face with sliders. for those blissful 5 minutes, life was perfect.

- that night, we grabbed dinner at little dokebi, a cozy korean spot in greenpoint, where i had my first bibimbap experience (ahi tuna ftw). though i barely made a dent in my huge hot stone pot, the spicy/sweet sauce and the rice and the vegetables were the best. oh, and they brought us all pickled everything before the meal. yaaaasss.

- finally, my sunday brunch plans fell through, so i found this tiny gourmet oatmeal shop in greenwich village, cleverly called oatmeals. i snickered to myself as i ordered the "hot date" (dates, pecans, granola, peanut butter, and honey) from a cute-ass ponytailed dude who was probably way too young for me. oatmeal and iced coffee in hand, i strolled through washington square park and had myself a nice little manhattan sunday morning.

DRINK

- after dinner on friday, our first stop was a williamsburg speakeasy-style cocktail bar called the richardson. i ordered a "no rocking chair," which had bourbon, honey liqueur, lime juice, aaaand some other stuff i can't remember, including a cinnamon stick garnish. i sipped and gawked at a bar back with the most glorious, intentional mullet i've ever laid eyes on.

- we couldn't maintain that highbrow vibe for too long, so we strolled over to a dirty dive known as the callbox lounge. this place had everything: a broken jukebox, a broken arcade game, chips on sale at the bar for $1/bag, and a ghetto disco ball/accompanying mirrored ceiling that provided the perfect illumination for the disco dance party that ensued. we rocked down to electric avenue, indeed.

- on saturday night, we hit up one of my new york spirit bars, high dive. unfortunately, the jukebox here was ALSO broken, but i dug up an old photo to show you what we're dealing with here.

ya dig? anyways, high dive also offers free popcorn that's smothered in old bay seasoning, and it's the perfect place to have long, drunken conversations with your best friends. plus, it's unpretentious and dark and kind of dirty, but not TOO dirty, and man, i just love it.

MUSIC

since last year's 4knots had twin peaks and mikal cronin and stephen malkmus, it was a hard bill to beat. however, guided by voices has been at the top of my "bands to see live" list forever, so it was a no-brainer that i'd be attending before they broke up for the 20th time.

earlier in the afternoon, diane coffee blew me away with his self-described "psychedelic motown" sounds, incredible stage presence, and adorable costumes. i didn't know much about him going into the set, except that he was the drummer for foxygen, but i came away a fan for sure. just pure fun.

after refueling for the evening with some rose and seafood mac 'n cheese at vbar, it was time for GBV. yeah, we were incredibly far away, and most of us only knew about 3 or 4 songs of their 50ish-song set, but they sounded great! and the other audience members more than made up for our inability to see the actual band.

uncle bob from way far away

there was the solo dude who went nuts for every single song: jumping, clapping, singing, air-guitaring-and-drumming, bonding with the random guys next to him. there were the middle-aged hipster couples (one of which included a bearded ginger man in a loud, floral-print adidas jacket) smoking weed. there was the small child on his dad's shoulders who kept plugging his ears, only to have pops remove his hands every time. "you will learn to love guided by voices, dammit!" we imagined the father whispering. DAD OF THE YEAR.