What Happens In Vegas...

...stays in Vegas, except for this group pic!

Vegas, May 2010

**this was a month ago...i'm a little behind**

night out, new york

Since we live in a room together, Stephen & I have a lot of nights out in New York.  We really enjoy trying new restaurants (we could live here the rest of our lives and never try them all!), but we also have the ones we frequent over & over again.  Our favorite neighborhood - the one you will find us most often in - is the East Village...it's funky, vibrant and has a ton of great restaurant choices!

Last night we headed down that way for a quick bite & tried a few new spots that had been on our list!    First stop was Yuca Bar.  We thought we were going to eat here, but only ended up having some chips with super yummy guacamole (and of course a couple of cocktails!).  From there we let the neighborhood lead us around.

We headed over to The Bourgeois Pig, but they weren't quite open yet, so we went across the street to a jewelry store and bought a couple of pieces...Stephen got a "Leo" pendant to put on his necklace (as I am the Leo in the relationship it represents me & it is such a cool piece it may find it's way on to my neck some day...shhh, don't tell!).  

I got this amazing necklace made by Tirana Jewelry, who uses post consumer recycled precious metals to make their pieces.

Obviously we side tracked ourselves, but we got some great jewelry that we'll treasure forever, so no big deal!  By this time, the Pig was open - we sat at a table near the open windows and enjoyed Baked Brie in Phyllo along with the Rarebit Fondue...both were super delicious!!

After those yummy snacks we walked around a bit looking for the perfect place to end the evening.  When Stephen saw Scarab Hookah Lounge it was decided!  We order the Egyptian Fachfachina Mix and finished the night up in smoke!

Sorry for all the text this time ;) - here are a few more pics from our night out:

grocery shopping NY-style

no parking

War Hippie

building reflection

trashy

church bells were ringing

couldn't finish without a picture of yours truly!

One day, I'm definitely going to miss THIS!  While there is a lot to do in New York, my favorite will always be a simple night out!

Draft Day

Every once in a while I go to 1iota tickets to check for free tickets to shows in New York.  Last week I was excited to see the NFL Draft was one of the events available.  We were confirmed for Friday night tickets & I added this great event to our list!

Here are some pics from Radio City for Round Two of the NFL Draft:

75th Annual NFL Draft

stage is set

our tickets (right in front of ESPN crew)

Mel getting serious (lots of make-up for this guy)

Berman mic'd up (also got to see him air guitar China Rose)

standard Moreland pic

The Podium

Let Round 2 Begin

We cheered loudly (among a lot of boos) when the Cowboys drafted Sean Lee - linebacker from Penn State!  But unfortunately we left before Colt or Shipley were drafted in the third round, which also means we missed Mack Brown announcing Colt's pick.  

It was exciting to see Sergio Kindle & Lamarr Houston go back to back!  So glad we went to cheer and boo right alongside all the other crazy fans! 

You Know Jack

Last night we met up with the brother-in-law Scott & partook in another Texas style evening of fun!  We started at Wildwood Barbeque then headed over to City Winery to catch Jack Ingram play the last stop of his Acoustic Motel tour.  

waiting for the show to start

jack doing his thing

city winery is a great venue for acoustic sets

the group with George & Jack

A special thanks goes to Sarah, a friend that organized our backstage meeting in New York all the way from Austin!  It was an great night & Jack put on an awesome show!  

Brooklyn Adventure Part 1

We marked 3 things off The List today!  It was quite enjoyable once we got past the stress of navigating the weekend train schedule.

The day began with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by a sweet treat & coffee @ Baked, then Grimaldi's Pizza & ended with a walk back over the bridge.

Here are some of the photos we snapped along the way:

This way to the Brooklyn Bridge

Stephen's ready to start the walk

half way to Brooklyn

Liberty

cars go by

One of the things on our list was to have a sweet & salty brownie from Baked.  It made its way on our list after seeing it featured on Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate" program.  Unfortunately (especially unfortunate since it took us FOREVER to get there), they were out of the sweet & salty brownies & we had to "settle" for this sweet & salty cupcake.  It was delicious & the bits of salt really were enjoyable with the richness of the chocolate!  

sweet & salty cupcake

waiting on the train (again)

Grimaldi's Pizzeria was on the list, because it is often heralded as the best pizza in NYC.  We originally went as we came off the Brooklyn Bridge, but there were tour buses full of people waiting for the restaurant to open!!  When we came back a few hours later the line was still incredibly long, BUT after just over an hour wait, we were seated & thank goodness, the pizza did not disappoint!   

the line @ Grimaldi's

19 old fulton street

the pizza

We thought about taking the train back to Manhattan, but thought it best to walk back over the bridge after all the goodness that went in our bellies!

on the way back to Manhattan

end of a great day

Saturday Night Later

Well - we came, we waited, we will conquer some other time.  Guess Zach Galifianakis is more popular than we thought...either that or we jinxed ourselves by talking about going so much!

Here's a photo timeline of our day trying to get SNL crossed off our list:

no make-up shot in back of cab @ 5:30 a.m.

we got #96 & #97 stand-by tickets for the dress rehearsal

it's a no go for our tickets (i'm apparently a little sadder than stephen)

Unable to cross this one off our bucket list we will try again in a couple of weeks...you know the saying "if at first you don't get live, go back & wait some more".

Texas Independence Day

On March 2nd in 1836 the great state of Texas became its own republic for 9 years.  While most folks probably think it is just another excuse to party down, the day is actually a legal holiday.

Stephen & I celebrated by heading to Hill Country Bar-b-que to feel those Texas roots.  We even wore our boots...

It was a great night with fabulous food & country music on the radio!  

A Behanding In Spokane

 Man, when I get back on the blogging wagon, I really let it loose!  This will be my last post for today *tears* - but don't fret, I will (hopefully) continue to document my list.

So, Friday night (Feb 27th) we went to see A Behanding in Spokane, a play by Martin McDonagh.  

I was driving to an appointment in Times Square the other day, when I saw Christopher Walken's name on a marquee.  Well let me tell you, I LOVE me some Christopher Walken.  I immediately called Stephen, well, maybe I texted him - any way, doesn't matter.  I got a hold of Stephen, who googled the play.

Turns out the play is only a 16-week limited engagement!  We hopped right on those tickets (translation: bought in a hurry) in the new found spirit of getting things done in this city.

Because I'm a little wordy, I have taken the summary off the official website:

Martin McDonagh's first American-set play—the outrageously funny A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE—has arrived on Broadway in a star-studded, 90-minute world premiere production.

Carmichael (Christopher Walken) has been searching for his missing left hand for almost half a century. Enter two bickering lovebirds (Anthony Mackie and Zoe Kazan) with a hand to sell, and a hotel clerk (Sam Rockwell) with an aversion to gunfire, and we're set for a hilarious rollercoaster of love, hate, desperation and hope.

                                    

Besides Christopher Walken, we got to enjoy the immense talent of Sam Rockwell, Anthony Mackie, and Zoe Kazan.  True fabulousness.