Sunday, September 13

This will be an end of the week and weekend wrap-up post. I'm realizing one of the flaws of writing these little daily reports to Patrick is that all of the fun things we do together on the weekend gets left out!

Some highlights from the last few days:

The Greenwich House Pottery Centennial celebration and opening of the Ayumi Horie and Andy Brayman installation Who Lives in Greenwich Village?

Low-key Friday night dinner at Fish n Sip cafe on our block and starting the first season of Mad Men which is already winning me over.

Saturday morning walk to the farmer's market where I procured grape tomatoes, peaches, a cantaloupe, red bell peppers, and 4 little loafs of bread - all for about $12. I could have saved a few bucks on the bread by bartering Winnie the Bread Hound (she walked under the counter and the bread guy said "Yes, we do accept dogs as a form of currency!") but I figured I should hold out til the winter so I could keep fattening her up and fetch a better price. She does have a lot of meat on her bones.

Another Saturday highlight was dessert with Heidi at The Chocolate Room, which is a very dangerous place to live two blocks from. I had the scoop, nibs, and port combo which was a scoop of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with niblets of cocoa beans covered in semi-sweet chocolate, paired with a rich chocolate port. Heidi had the blackbottom cake which I think had something to do with butterscotch that gets burnt on the bottom a bit - amazing. Patrick got a root beer float - gotta love him.

Today was a Ladies Day of Leisure with Heidi, Catherine (for part of the day), and Nina (my newest friend and girl crush). We started with the Yinka Shonibare show at the Brooklyn Museum, which knocked my socks off, followed by prix-fixe brunch and mimosas on the patio at Cheryl's. Seriously none of our food could have been any better, including my Eggs Benedict over Salmon Hash (!). Brunch was followed perhaps a bit too hastily by ice cream at Blue Marble which is unfortunately (fortunately) only a block away from Cheryl's. We went and walked Winnie en masse and browsed a few of the boutiques on 5th avenue, then took the subway up to Long Island City for the opening at Socrates Sculpture Park of the '09 Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition. Patrick's old co-worker Wyatt was one of the artists and Nina's friend Mads was also in the show. What a BEAUTIFUL day to be out at the sculpture park - it was well documented with lots of self-portraits on Heidi's iPhone.

The last stop of the evening was Greenpoint where we stopped in to pay our respects to Heidi's godcat Moku at her brother Michael's apartment and then headed out to eat Polish food. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the restaurant where Michael took us (long L word) but he's lived in Greenpoint for years and obviously figured out the sweet spot because this place was amazing. It was decorated like a Polish grandmother's den from the 70s. There was an abundance of comically fake flowers including a choice garland crowning (engulfing, really) a taxidermy deer on the wall. Each table had it's own little reading lamp. The menu featured all the typical Polish fare, none of which - not even the entrees - topped out over $7. We ordered big bowls of mushroom barley soup and hot borscht for $2.75 each. It kind of made me feel giggly like we were getting away with something. Everything - from the kielbasa to the perogies to the goulash - was delicious. I (obviously) love my neighborhood but I'm also envious of those existing ethnic enclaves like Greenpoint, Jackson Heights, even Sunset Park, where you can still get meals like this - neighborhood food at neighborhood prices.