Bits of My Weekend (2)

By ellen on March 8, 2010

What started off as a really tame weekend (tame = falling asleep on the couch on Friday night while watching Real Housewives of New York), turned into something pretty crazy (Gay dance club in Chelsea + 3am karaoke). Nuff said. Here’s some pics.

Saturday night started with some pizza at Keste. The weather was sooo beautiful that I didn’t mind having to wait outside for a table. Still can’t believe what the city looked like last weekend!

Then it was off to the Comedy Cellar on MacDougal. I’ve only been to a few comedy shows, but this was the best venue AND the best show I’ve seen!

Quick stop and a beer at the Slaughtered Lamb (W4 and Jones). Seemed to be more of a college crowd, so we headed to Chelsea to meet some friends.

… And went to a gay dance club. Which was awesome. We then went to karaoke into the wee wee hours of the morning. I actually took some video there. But karaoke video is awful, really, and I won’t subject anyone to it. I will say, though, that at 2am I can sing “Push It” better than Salt-n-Pepa. Fo reals.

Sunday morning tea. Remarkably, considering the wild bender we went on last night, I woke up hangover free. Normally I get debilitating hangovers that last for days. The secret cure? Pop 2 vitamin B12 pills and chug 2 glasses of water before bed. When you wake up, chug more water and have an Excedrin. Works every single time (assuming you’re able to remember to take the B12).

Walk in the park because it was GORGEEEEEEE out.

Loved this weekend.

Speaking of hangovers, and just for good measure, the song that’s stuck in my head 3 out of 7 days a week:

How was YOUR weekend?

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Pizza NYC! Co.

By ellen on January 12, 2010

After work on a bitter cold Tuesday night, I met the husbo for the second stop on our pizza tour: Co. Located on the corner of 24th Street and 9th Avenue in Chelsea, it has huge windows across the front and down the side.  From the street I was able to see both the giant holiday yule log (love them) on the big screen in the back of the dining room, and my husbo sitting and waiting for my at the bar.

The space is fairly large and open. There are some tables around the side, but the husband and I were seating across from one another in the middle of a very long family-style table. While it was terrible for conversation (wide open space = loads of background noise), and I kept getting distracted by the ultra-loud conversation going on. Right next to me. Not so good for ambience, but hopefully good for pizza.

I ordered the margherita, of course, while husbo ordered the Stracciatella which had been recommended to him. My margherita came out first almost ten minutes before the stracciatela. It was… good. Just good. The cheese was sparse, the basil was burnt, and the dough was light, but had gummy crust. It was by no means bad, I think I was expecting stellar and I got average.

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When the Stracciatella came out, however, I was impressed. The menu lists it as having crushed tomato, black pepper, stracciatella (a cheese similar to mozz), and arugula. While I’m only judging the best pizza based on margherita, I would go back to Co. for the stracciatella.

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Overall? If your looking for the best pizza (as in margherita), skip Co. If you’re interested in delicious, inventive pizzas with non-traditional toppers, check it out. While we only tried the Stracciatella, I’d go back for it if I were in the neighborhood.

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Life as a List

By ellen on January 12, 2010

This last week and a half has been far busier than I’d anticipated – not in a bad way, though! I just haven’t been able to fit in as much bloggy time as I’d like. Luckily, I did fit in sit-down meals and trips to the gym :) So since I’ve been making lists to stay on top of my to-do’s… here’s what I’ve been up to the last week in list form. I’ll be back to regular posting this week.

  • Tuesday, Jan. 5: Work, hit the gym (yay 3 for 3!), and went out to pizza date #2 with husbo at Co. (check out the new Pizza NYC! page to see what we’re up to)
  • Wednesday, Jan. 6: Work, gym (again! wooohooo!), left-over lasagna again
  • Thursday, Jan. 7: Work, headed to a cafe to catch up on some reading and writing, listened to the Spark! Wellness January 2010 Cleanse Conference call recording from last night, and writer’s workshop til 9pm (loooong day)
  • Friday, Jan. 8: Work, corner cafe for loads of wine, in bed reeeeal early
  • Saturday, Sunday Jan. 9-10: Dinner out, brunch out, errands, shopping (but no gym :( )

In other news this week:

  • I’m pre-toxing to prepare for my cleanse that starts on Monday (very excited!).
  • I just started using coconut oil for my painfully dry, flaky skin and I swear that stuff is a miracle oil. I’ll post deets soon.
  • I’m still dry-brushing; like it, but am eager to see/feel changes after the full 30 days.
  • I had a conversation with a friend who also went off birth control pills a while ago (I stopped taking mine in July). She also gained a major chunk of weight, AND her face and scalp are super dry and flaky like mine. Coincidence? Methinks not. Her doctor told her it was common for some scientific reason I can’t remember. Imagine that, just asking a doctor… ha.

Happy Tuesday!

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Pizza NYC! Keste

By ellen on January 12, 2010

Keste was our first stop on the Manhattan pizza tour. I had heard that it can be pretty scene-y, so I expected to wait for a table. We visited the Wednesday before Christmas Eve (Dec. 23), and there were many people out and about in the West Village where Keste is (on Bleecker by Morton).

While my date (ahem) was late, we were ushered right to a little table in the front. I was happy to see that the restaurant just looked like a regular pizzeria. It was long and narrow – most of the space only allowed 2-person tables along the wall. In the back was a larger bar. That was it.

Our Italian waiter was fast and funny. We had Peroni and water within minutes of sitting. I ordered the margherita, natch, and the M ordered the funghi (basically the same as mine, but with mushrooms). The pizzas came out very quickly since they are cooked up in a super-hot wood-burning oven.

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The first thing I noticed upon biting in, was the noticeably high-quality of the ingredients. The cheese in particular. It toothsome, not too gooey, and really flavorful – not too salty. The dough was light and airy without being gummy, the crust was lightly crispy on the outside. The basil was fresh and not burnt and create a nice balance among all the ingredients.

Despite the fact that this was the first visit, I think it’s going to be pretty tough to beat. As if the pizza weren’t enough, I also just liked the familial ambience – like they weren’t trying to hard for anything. Keste tops the list, and I hope to head back soon. If you are in NYC – or come by for a visit – I highly recommend hitting up Keste.

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Mexi-licious and Oooo-Oudin

By ellen on September 9, 2009

First of all, I LOVE tennis. I played competitively through high school (not-so-competitively since then) and I adore watching pro tennis. I’ve been following the US Open, natch, and love the whole Oudin as American tennis sweetheart story. I also just love that someone’s considered “America’s tennis sweetheart.” I mean, I love watching, but I’m not sure it’s the most popular spectator sports around…

In other news, the first day of school was great. My feet are soooo tired though. Once I got home, I did my exercises (25 push-ups woohoo!, 40 squats, and 50 crunches), and put my feet up to get some school work done. The lovely husbo came before I expected him (my feet were still up), and he insisted I stay in my seat while he fixed dinner (and some delishy vino).

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I was so hungry I forgot to take a pic until I had nommed on most of it (sorry). Well, husbo “made” a dinner of the new Kashi “Mexicali” pizza, and some salad mix w/ his own red wine vinaigrette. It was wonderful – and more so since I didn’t have to do anything. We are still in moving limbo, so I’m not cooking nearly as much as usual. I think I’ll throw caution to the moving gods and cook/bake a bunch of things this weekend.

A few recent blog posts of interest:

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