I know I’ve had a good day when…

…I don’t get out of bed until after 10am.

…I have time to make Ashley’s french toast oats.  Yum!

…the first thing I do after breakfast is bake some amazing muffins.

…I head to the gym with a new workout in mind.

…I find the time to finalize my tax return!  You’re welcome Uncle Sam.

…I spend the afternoon sorting through dozens of bridal brochures and dream about my own big day.

…I have a hot dinner date at Cello Winebar.

…said hot dinner date is this guy.

…my dinner consists of gourmet, cheesy pizza

and a couple other small plates.

Yeah, I had a good day.

Tell me, when do you know you’ve had a good day?

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Wine & Dine

I love wine.

I enjoy the flavor that it adds to a great meal.

And I revel in the relaxation that stems from one glass.

I don’t know much about wine beyond the fact that I enjoy it.

I can’t detect specific aromas.  Nor grape regions.

But, I do not need to be an expert to truly enjoy wine.

Wine is a simple life pleasure.

One, to which, I’ll gladly raise my glass.

B Day

Saturday we celebrated Alex’s birthday.  He finally hit 27 like me.  It was about time!  Anyway, I was lucky enough to monopolize his day as we celebrated with his family on Sunday.  So, that means I planned a whole day of events!

Breakfast

For breakfast I served up chocolate chip waffles with all the fixin’s and a side of turkey bacon.  Waffle toppings included:

• Bananas
• More chocolate chips
• Whipped cream
• Maple Syrup
• Coconut Butter

I topped mine with bananas and drizzled coconut butter and maple syrup on top.  Alex ate his with whipped cream and chocolate chips.  It was decadent and so filling.  We were both pleasantly stuffed and ready for the day.

To finish off breakfast, I gave Alex his gift.  No birthday would be complete without gifts!  I got him some argyle socks.  It’s true love folks 🙂

Museum Time

Soon there after we headed to the Museum of Sex.

It was quite eye opening!  And very interesting.  They are currently showcasing an exhibit on sex in comics.  It was astonishing (in more way than one) what some artists can do with a simple comic strip.

Bakery

Next we stopped by the City Bakery for a quick snack.  For the month of February, the City Bakery is celebrating their annual hot chocolate celebration.  That means they’re featuring a different type of hot chocolate every day for a month!  The day we went they were offering caramel hot chocolate with a homemade marshmallow.

We were all set to order ourselves a cup each when they offered them to us for free!  Free chocolate?  Yes, pleaseandthankyou.  We also ordered a couple chocolate chip cookies to snack on.

The hot chocolate was so rich and thick.  It was definitely thicker than your average hot chocolate.  The consistency was closer to melted chocolate, than hot chocolate.  And the homemade marshmallow was to die for!  It was so sweet and balanced out the chocolate beautifully.  It also melted slightly so it had a great texture.  I’d go back for the marshmallows alone.

The cookie was so rich and buttery.  There was a good balance between the chocolate and dough but it wasn’t salty enough for my taste.  I do typically like very sweet foods, but it’s nice to have some salt to balance the sugar and enhance the flavors of the cookie.  Aside from that, the cookie was really good and definitely worth a try.  Just make sure to bring someone to share it with; between the cookie and the hot chocolates, we weren’t able to finish our order.

Beautiful scenery

After such a rich indulgence, we walked quite a ways to our next stop.  Since we had time to spare and it was a surprisingly nice night we took a stroll through Washington Square Park.  It was so pretty.  Despite the rat the scurried across our path.  You win some, you lose some.

Belly laughs

We were heading downtown because we had reservations at the Comedy Cellar.

The show was really funny.  The line up included Sherrod Small, Jim Norton and Tom Papa, among others.  For me, Tom Papa stole the show.  He had me cracking up the entire time he was on stage!

I’ve been to the Comedy Cellar a few times before and it’s my favorite comedy club in the city.  The comedians are funny, the show keeps moving without any lag time, and there’s been minimal heckling from the audience, in my experience.  Overall, it’s always a great time.

Burger & Barrel

Last, but certainly not least, on the agenda was dinner.  I had originally made reservations elsewhere but the restaurant flooded so they closed for the night.  It ended up being a blessing in disguise.  Dinner was phenomenal.

We dined at Burger and Barrel.  The decor was swanky and fun.  We were seated pretty close to the bar and had a good view of the restaurant overall.

In honor of the bday boy, we shared a bottle of wine.  The wine was a light red that wasn’t too dry.  It completemented our food really well.

For starters, we shared the bean and cheese empenadas served with a spicy, chipotle sauce.  The empenadas were good but they were probably my least favorite dish of the night.  I did really like the sauce though!

Our enterees were next.  I ordered the mushroom & grueye burger with sweet potato fries.  The burger was out of this world amazing.  And that’s really saying something coming from someone who doesn’t eat much red meat.  The burger was juicy, the bun buttery, and cheese gooey.  The flavors all came together so well to create the best burger I’ve had in recent memory, or maybe at all.

Alex had the chicken enchiladas, which he said were good but not great.  He was envious of my burger.  We’ve already planned to go back so he can try one for himself!

To cap off a wonderful evening, we shared the s’mores pie.  Wow.  As if the day wasn’t decadent enough, this really put us over the edge.  But it was so worth it.  The crust was crumbly and buttery, the chocolate thicky and creamy, and the marshmallow light and fluffy.

Overall we really enjoyed this meal.  And the day as a whole.  It certainly was a fun B day!

Katz Deli and Sweet Revenge

Any New Yorker worth their salt has heard of Katz Deli.  Katz is a kosher deli well known for it’s deli meats, hot dogs, knishes, and more.  According to their wikipedia page, “Each week, Katz’s serves 5,000 pounds of corned beef, 2,000 pounds of salami and 12,000 hot dogs!”  The deli was made famous in the 80’s movie, When Harry Met Sally.  Yep, this is the deli in which Sally had a very good time (wink, wink).

But let’s put that aside, and focus on what matters.  The food.  Specifically, the deli meat.

That sandwich above is meant for one.  And if you’ve ever eaten at Katz, you’ll know why.  After you’ve had your first bite, you don’t want to share.  The meat is so tender and juicy.  It’s perfectly seasoned that the meat stands on it’s own.  There’s really no need for any condiments although I do recommend small amounts of spicy mustard, as it enhances the meat’s flavor.  And the rye bread is the perfect compliment.  It’s sliced thin so that the favor doesn’t overpower the meat.  And it’s a fabulous vehicle for the succulent meat.

Each order comes with a side of pickles.  We went with the half sour pickles.  Very crunchy and perfectly salty.

We didn’t like our food very much…

Kidding of course.  But before we moved on, Alex left his signature, hehe.

Next up was Sweet Revenge.

Sweet Revenge is a local bakery that specializes in pairing wine and/or beer with artisan cupcakes.  Their menu always has four cupcakes to choose from, Sweet Revenge, Pure, Dirty, and Crimson and Cream.

They also have a variety of seasonal offerings that change often.  I’ve had the Sweet Revenge, the Pure, and the Pumpkin Spice.  It’s hard to say which is my favorite, but it’s probably the Sweet Revenge.  Peanut Butter always steals my heart.

However, last night, we’d just come from a large dinner.  I was still quite full, despite our BRISK walk across town, so I wanted something light.  The Pure cupcake, paired with Principato Pinot Noir, sounded perfect.  Alex went with his favorite, the classic Dirty.  Mmmmm.

We were two very satisfied customers.  And one very handsome one, if I do say so myself!