Travel

Lake Tyler Covid Getaway

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Well guys, it’s been 6 months of quarantine/social distancing. SIX. MONTHS. HALF A YEAR. How is it possible that I feel SO TIRED from doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?? I know I am coming in strong with the all-caps. I promise to calm down. I wanted a great way to express my frustration with 2020. Yelling via capital letters seemed fitting.

After 5 months of sitting in the house, my fiancé and I decided we needed a weekend away. Or rather, I decided I needed a weekend away, and he said he’d come with me. I promised to do all of the work as long as he split the cost. I know there are people out in Instagram-land who are now comfortable traveling by land or by plane, gathering with friends, renting houses together, going to the beach together etc., but the more I look at the science and facts about Covid, the less comfortable I am doing any of those things, which limited the scope of my “weekend away” plans. I had three goals in mind:

  1. Change of Pace/Change of Place
  2. Alone
  3. On the water.

For the past 6 months, we have been staying at my fiancé’s family’s house. Don’t get me wrong, we are thankful. It is beyond generous that they have allowed us to stay this long. But I have not lived with kids or parent-figures in 15 years. And I have lived ALONE with my boyfriend for more than 3 years. It is not the same to have kids running around asking if I’m working (yes, it’s Monday), or if I can play (no, I’m working). There are also (cough cough) certain parts of a relationship that are difficult when there are 6 other people constantly in the house.

And as for a change of place on the water… I really miss the beach. I am a Florida girl at heart, and despite not living by the beach for a decade in New York, I ALWAYS make at least 2 trips to the beach per year. Sometimes it’s the Jersey Shore, sometimes it’s Greece and Italy. Being land-locked in a state larger than most countries has felt a bit like being in jail. I missed the water. A lot.

I went on VRBO and started looking for waterfront properties within 5 hours driving distance of our house. I set a budget of $400/night. If there was a hammock, it got extra points. I whittled my list to 5 properties and sent it to Chris to pick. (This a strategic thing I always do, so that if the property ends up being bad I can blame him. But if it’s great then of course it’s because I put the list together!) On the list, I had a few lake-front properties in Texas and Louisiana, and one in Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico. We went with a place in Whitehouse, Texas, on Lake Tyler, which was only 2 hours from our home. It was $199/night and only slept 2 people – perfect! Our plans were almost ruined when the dueling hurricanes in the Gulf threatened to hit our place, and I felt very lucky that Chris picked a property in Texas, not Louisiana. Go Chris!

We drove to the house after work on Thursday, and thankfully Chris drove so I could snack. Sure, the drive was only 2 hours, but I packed enough road trip snacks for an approximately 24-hour drive. We hit a slight roadblock when Google Maps led us to a road where there was no house with the number on it. Thankfully, the property owner picked up his phone right away and explained there were TWO roads with the same name. After a 15-minute detour, we got the right place and unpacked our things.

If you are looking for a blog about all of the things we did on our vacation weekend, you won’t find one, because we did NOTHING and it was GLORIOUS. Most of the time was spent sitting outside on the covered deck. Eating meals. Reading books. Listening to music. Reading more. Listening to an audio book. Watching Love Island. Eating some more and lounging around. It was fabulous.

  • Every morning.
  • Coffee and fresh air, nothing like it.
  • But are we cute? DUH.
  • Thumbs up for lazy days.
  • You can find me with my Kindle and Pina Colada.

I am a HUGE Fitbit fan, and despite working from home, I have been trying to keep up with my 10,000/day step goal since social distancing began. The last day I had not met my 10K goal was April 6th. The first day at the lake I got 3.9K steps. And I was proud of that.

The second full day we were there, we did a few activities. We rented paddle boards from the owner of the house, I floated around in blow-up floats I bought from Amazon for the weekend while we listened to country music on our Sonos speaker, and then we played Corn Hole on the owner’s lawn. There were so many games in the house including mega-Jenga, Horseshoes, Poker, and cards. We played a few rounds of Phase 10 in between episodes of Love Island.

Not to be corny, but it felt like we were on our own love island! The house itself was AMAZING. We didn’t know at the time of booking, but it was set back behind the owner’s house, completely separate from his home, and surrounded on all four sides by water. It was fully renovated with a dishwasher and bathroom and water views from every room. Also, there was a covered and uncovered deck. The décor was adorable, with “Lake Life” and “Lake House” accents everywhere. Also, it was tricked out! They had a state-of-the-art dishwasher/fridge/ice machine/blender/convection stovetop, fully stocker Keurig, etc. They even had a wine cooler. There was an Apple TV (we brought our own, because duh), and a Bluetooth speaker we could bring onto the deck (we also brought our own because duh), and I wish I could have stayed there a whole week.

The only issue with Covid “vacationing” is the food. We had to BYO everything and we weren’t sure about the availability of delivery. Especially in Texas, we wanted to limit our time in grocery stores/anywhere in the sticks where people are less likely to wear masks. There were many trips back and forth from the car; 3 meals a day for two people is a lot of groceries! Not to mention a case of beer and pina colada mix. To make cooking easier than it is at home, I made Chris sit down and meal-plan with me before we left. We had options for each meal. Breakfast: eggs/cinnamon rolls/sausage. Lunch: Sandwiches/grilled cheese/tacos. Dinner: Burgers/Frozen Pizza/Chicken Parm. Cooking was easier with only 2 people’s dishes and a dishwasher. For some reason it felt WAY simpler than cooking at home.

  • Breakfast
  • More Breakfast
  • More Lunch
  • Dinner
  • More Dinner
Covid Vacation Home Cooking

The owner was available for any questions all the time, and we saw him a few times when he came down to take his boat out (not included in the house LOL), but he always texted first to warn us. Also, he gave us a better deal on the paddleboards than he advertised on his listing, and provided life jackets, which was nice of him. He was kind enough to mention to me that we just missed the Trump Boat Parade the weekend before. (Not the infamous one from last weekend. See pics below, there were still plenty of boats left with flags on them.). Chris lost his Goodr sunglasses in the lake and I left my flip flops on the grass (guess I had too many ciders playing corn hole) but besides those two losses, we had only wins and successes. My best friend had been telling me for months how important it was for mental health to get away and have a change of pace; I should have listened to her earlier.

We booked one more weekend trip for this upcoming weekend, our LAST weekend in Texas! This time, we got a BIG house, lakefront again, and we’re bringing the whole family as a last hoorah! I can’t wait to share more with you about it. And if you’re ever in the Lake Tyler area in Texas, I’ll send you the VRBO listing, I can’t recommend it enough!

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Travel

Pre-Travel Tips and Tricks

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It’s almost time for another vacation! Even though I didn’t blog about my recent adventures to Italy and France, you probably still know that I travel A LOT. When I turned 27, I realized I had barely traveled outside of the USA/Caribbean, and I starting budgeting and credit card churning to make sure it happened more often. I’ve been making up for lost time, and for this upcoming trip to Greece, I paid for my flights completely on credit card points!

When you travel as often as I do, you get it down to a science. I want to share a few tips with you that I use to make my packing and traveling seamless. Last year, I took 10 round-trip flights, and if you include train travel, I made even MORE trips. I’m a pro.

Tip #1: Have a Good Suitcase.

For more than a year, I had a suitcase that only had two wheels and one of them was jacked up. I basically had to drag it through airports using sheer strength. Don’t be like me. I ordered a new suitcase from Amazon that was $60 and had a year-long warranty. It has 4 working wheels and it is a breath of fresh air. Especially when you live in New York and your pre-travel travel includes blocks of walking, subway turnstiles and many stairs, a good suitcase is essential. I won’t say “invest” in one because they’re NOT EVEN EXPENSIVE!

Tip #2: Use Packing Cubes.

Nowadays, you basically always need to use a carry-on bag because airlines charge you for everything from a seat to air. Suitcase space is limited and very important. The best way to cram as much stuff as your can into your suitcase, while still remaining organized, is packing cubes. First, I accidentally purchased a set of varying sizes and only the smallest two sizes worked for my purposes, so I found smaller ones that work much better. They were $21 and life-changing. You can basically view them as zip-able drawers for your suitcase. I usually separate underwear, swimsuits, socks, and sports bras in one, workout clothes in another, dresses in another, and jeans (rolled) in the 4th.

Tip #3: Keep Your Travel Toiletries Ready and Together.

This is probably my biggest time-saver. I keep a Ziploc bag pre-packed with travel body wash, travel/disposable loofah, shampoo, conditioner, razor, lotion, zit cream (I’m so refined), toothpaste etc. It’s all in one place so I can just throw it in my bag when I go on my next trip! The key here is that you need to refill everything when you come home and replace the loofah. This way everything is set to go next time!

Tip #4: Use & Keep a Pre-Made Packing List

THIS IS CLUTCH. Personally, I use an app called Wunderlist on my phone. I put EVERYTHING on this list. Every. Thing. My current list has 84 items. I even put toothbrush and toothpaste as separate items. This insures that I do not forget anything! I only check the item off when it is physically in my bag. If I am wearing my sneakers to travel in (more on that next), I do not check it off until they are on my feet that day. Also, if I forget anything, I add it to the list ASAP. This happened fatefully on a girls’ trip to Spain with LOTS of drinking when I had forgotten Advil. Never again.

Here’s a tip: you can have multiple lists for different kinds of trips (international, business, leisure beach, leisure in the winter), OR, you can just have one big list and include anything you’d want for any type of trip. I choose to do the latter and I check off the items first that I know I don’t need. For example, there’s no need to bring my Global Entry card or electricity converters for a domestic trip, but I just check those off first when I’m going within the country. Another tip: don’t check the item off if you want to triple check for it before you leave the house (I do this with “Passport”).

Tip #5: Plan to Travel in Your Largest/Heaviest Outfit.

This goes without saying, but clothes take up space, especially if you are 5’11” like me. Shoes also take up space. I try to wear my largest items like my jacket and my sneakers (or boots, depending on season). Like I said before, having a small/light suitcase is more important than ever, so try to remember that strategically!

Tip #6: Bring an Empty Reusable Water Bottle.

Once again, airlines have started to suck more and more. Some airlines refuse to offer water now. Even on international flights. This just happened to me on my way to France. Be aware of the airline you are traveling on because dehydration on planes is a huge thing! You are allowed to bring a water bottle through security as long as it is empty. Every airport I have been in recently has water fountains by the gates, so fill up your bottle before you board. You’ll thank me. You can also use it when you get to your destination. DRINK MORE WATER, PEOPLE!

Tip #7 & 8: Print Everything and Give Someone A Copy of Your Itinerary.

I know we LOVEEE our phones. Trust me I know, I have 3 Instagram accounts. But sometimes phones mess up, or get stolen, or there’s no wifi, etc. Print out your arrangements before you leave, whether it’s hotel reservations, train or museum tickets, or Groupons for Segway tours (duh). Also, write down your itinerary, bring a copy with you, and give a copy to someone else stateside for safety! If you are a crazy person (like me and my friends), you can just put it in a Google Sheet, print a copy, and share the document by email with your emergency contact. Safety First!

I have many more tips, but I should probably stop writing and start packing – I leave in 48 hours! Hopefully I will have time when I get back to tell you about my trip and share GORGEOUS photos. If you aren’t already, follow me on Instagram for daily updates!

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Travel

Free Walking Tours

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I love free walking tours. First of all, they’re free – my favorite price. My very first blog post was about finding free things in New York, and this is a great way! Second of all, they allow you time to walk around and explore new places while learning. And best of all, they require no tour books or preparation; you just show up and absorb knowledge.

It feels like there should be a catch, but in fact, there is not one. Here’s how it works: You google the place you want to explore + “free walking tour” and then you show up at the specified place at the specified time. Sometimes it requires a sign-up ahead of time, but they never require payment. Then at the end of the tour, you tip the guide whatever you think the tour was worth. This varies based on the tour (and the country… Americans always tip more!).

I discovered free tours last year in Spain, where I went on 5 tours in 4 cities in 10 days. You may think I got carried away, but why not? Tours last anywhere from 1-3 hours, and sometimes cover a lot of miles. I went on tours in Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada (x 2!) and Madrid. As I said above, the best part is learning about your surroundings, both contemporary and historical, without having to get a book from the library. Also, you can meet other tourists and locals. I love to walk close to the guide and pepper him/her with questions along the way. In my experience, they always know more than they let on, and rarely can’t answer a question. My favorite part of the tour is always the end when I ask local tips about the best happy hours, free tapas, best paella, etc. The local guides are the key!

Also, the guides know their way around if you need directions. Once, we were on a tour when the skies opened up and it started to pour. Our guide found us a covered place to wait it out, but when it became obvious that the rain was not going to stop, she told us how to navigate the back roads of Spain to get to our Air BNB as quickly as possible with the most overhead coverage. Also, if you are booked back to back (I often over-plan my trips), the walking tour guides can tell you which attractions are must-see, and which ones you can skip. And their advice and tips are all free!

Although I have taken free tours internationally, and I find them to be more popular in Europe, they also have them all around North America! I went on a tour in Chicago last year after my success in Spain, and I LOVED it! Our guide was a young woman who had a true love for the city, which came through in her tour. I learned about architecture, city history, and some of their landmarks. I was so inspired, that I decided to also go on a free tour in my own city! I had a random day off last summer (Jewish holidays FTW) so I went on a free tour of the Financial District, Little Italy and Chinatown in New York City. I learned a LOT about the original colonization of New York, the Native Americans who were displaced, and of course, the mob in Little Italy. Later last year, I went on another free tour from the same company, Free Tours by Foot, of Grand Central Terminal. I found that one incredibly interesting because it’s a place I have walked through MANY times, but never knew anything about! Did you know the famous clock in the middle is made of opal and is worth $10-$20 million?? Did you know that there are hidden acorns throughout the terminal architecture because it was a Vanderbilt family symbol? Try to find them, like hidden Mickeys!

Inside Grand Central Terminal, with the most valuable clock ever.

Although I said there is no catch for the FREE tours, the way most of these companies make money is that they offer tours for a cost, as well. Often at the end of the tour, they will plug their non-free tours, and offer discounts if you sign up then. In Cordoba, we happened to be in town during the infamous Patio Festival (Fiesta de los Patios). In fact, our Air BNB was even one of the Patio destinations! After our free walking tour, we found that the same tour company was offering a tour (for a cost) of the patios. Since these patios are hidden all around the city, we decided it was worth it. It was. Not only did we get to see hidden gems of beauty throughout the village, we also learned history of the festival, found out how winners are chosen, and learned about how the owners of these homes work all year to prepare their courtyards for the fiesta. Our guides were amazing. Best part: your guide is a built-in photographer! She took fantastic group pics of us, some of our only non-selfie group shots of the trip!

Patio Festival with our tour guide photog.

If you haven’t realized yet, I am addicted to these free tours. I am now in the habit of googling “free tour + [some city]” whenever I have a free block of time! Most recently, I went on a free tour of the New York Public Library and learned a BUNCH. I also got to see the original Winnie the Pooh dolls they have on display in the children’s reading room. And that one didn’t even require a tip because the docent is an employee! I am leaving for Italy in 3 weeks and you can bet I have a few free tours on the itinerary. I can’t wait to report back! Do you guys have any free tour ideas for me to check out? Let me know in the comments!

  • Outside the infamous 5th Avenue Library (yes, it was in the Sex & The City Movie)
  • The Reading Room
  • The original Winnie the Pooh dolls!
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Travel

Mystery Weekend in Hudson, New York

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I love surprises. I don’t understand people who don’t. Why would anyone not like the suspense and excitement behind someone planning something for you!? It’s the best! Thankfully, my mystery (emoji) boyfriend knows this. I mean, he better, it’s been a while, ya know? In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s a blog about one of the best surprises he’s pulled off.

He has taken me on many mystery date nights before. From random restaurants he has found, to dinner at a restaurant I love but he doesn’t, and even to row 4 tickets of a Broadway show! You may remember that he even took me to a staycation once in a hotel room that overlooked the freedom tower. I know, I know, I bagged a good guy, here. Well, not to gloat, but he outdid himself. This time he planned a whole getaway!

I went to Washington DC for MLK weekend, and since I was going to be away all weekend, he asked me what I was doing the next weekend. I assumed he wanted to Netflix and chill, because we are old and that’s the usual date night for us. But then he asked me what my plans were for all weekend, and I knew he had something up his sleeve! I told him I’d reserve the weekend for him. The next Friday, I packed an overnight bag, and we walked 4 blocks to Avis. He had told me that Amtrak was too expensive (it generally is, if you only book a week in advance), so he rented a car instead. I had no clue which way we were going until we got on the west side highway toward the George Washington Bridge and realized we were going north.

I wish I could tell you I figured it out then, but I didn’t. Plus, with traffic, we were barely out of the Bronx an hour later. And then I had to pee. Word to the wise: don’t drink coffee before a road trip. We had to stop at McDonalds for a pit stop and a few Chicken Selects. Because duh. We finally arrived at our destination at 10:15 pm, thankful for the fast food sustenance along the way.

We were in Hudson, New York! Not Hudson Valley, Hudson Hudson. I knew we were driving for a while, but I didn’t realize how far it was until our Uber driver later told us he lived in Albany. I gasped and said “wow, you must have taken a long trip to get here!” And he told me it was 40 minutes. Woops.

Unfortunately, we arrived so late that only two restaurants in town were open, so we took an uber to one of them, and had drinks and appetizers. The food was good, but we were exhausted. We went back to The Wick, where we were staying, and fell asleep within minutes.

Thank goodness for these drinks after a long drive!

Hudson, New York is home to a very quaint strip of restaurants and stores, and is supposedly a food destination. This is why my emoji man chose it for our getaway. What he didn’t know, is that it is also home to Etsy headquarters. I happen to have a good friend from the gym who works for Etsy, and she spends a good amount of time in Hudson. As soon as she saw I was there (because if you don’t Instagram it, it didn’t happen), she started sending me recommendations. Funnily enough, when she goes to Hudson for work, she stays in the same hotel we were in! She told us the best food and drink spots around town, and we took one of her recommendations, Le Merche, for brunch. She did not lead us astray! This place was fab. I had an egg sandwich on SUPER fresh bread, and my bf had the Croque Madame, which was delicious, fresh, and HUGE. I tried it, of course. And the side of potatoes… let’s just say that the food was so good I barely had time to take a photo of it. And we all know how rare that is.

My delicious breakfast sandwich on freshly baked bread.

The rest of afternoon I spent doing nothing, while my  bf worked. I asked him before we left if he was sure he wanted to go away with so much work to do, and he assured me that he did, and a change of scenery would be nice. Meanwhile, I read a book and styled my hair 5 different ways. I need to keep creating content for Braid in Manhattan to keep my followers happy! Also, my bf is becoming quite the insta-husband. He is so great at taking hair photos! I told he better be careful or I’ll make him go full-time.

  • So many hairstyles.
  • And even more hair pics.
  • Spot my gray hairs?
  • Emoji man loves to take pics when I’m not ready.

After many hours of blissfully doing nothing, we went to dinner at W.M. Farmer & Co., which we heard was the SPOT. In fact, every online article about food in Hudson mentioned this as the best restaurant. We made a reservation. Unfortunately, we are underwhelmed. The food, although farm to table, and not bad, was not overwhelmingly good, and it was very expensive, even for people from Manhattan. The one remarkable part was the cocktails. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a GREAT drink. We each had two and were very impressed.

Since the only reservation available was at 6:30 pm, we had plenty of time after dinner to mill around. Unfortunately, it was 20 degrees outside, so we speed walked to a bar my friend had recommended. It seemed like a cool vibe, but the inside was very smoky (maybe because they are famous for a mezcal slushy?) and we decided it was too much for us. We went to a bar next door and had a beer. Then, surprisingly, after a day of doing absolutely nothing but eating, we were tired and went back to the hotel. We watched Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in bed and went to sleep. We really are an ancient couple. But that bed was so comfy!! I just love a king size bed. Someday when I move out a shoebox NYC apartment, I’m going to get one of my very own!

The next morning, we packed up and got ready to leave. The life of a man in finance means work on a Sunday, so we had to get back to the city. However, we needed sustenance first! Thankfully, my friend offered a final breakfast recommendation 10 minutes outside of Hudson, Gracie’s Luncheonette in the Catskills. We went from watching Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, to pretty much being in an episode of our own. We ate more delicious food and got a freshly-made donut for the road. We tried to leave quickly, because it started to snow as we ate. Not just flurry, but SNOW! I’m from Florida, and my bf is from Texas, so neither of us are too used to driving in a white-out. Thankfully, he took the wheel and I handled the donut. I’m pretty talented at feeding the driver, if I do say so myself.

We took toll roads back to the city, and got back within 2 hours! My bf dropped off the luggage and me, then returned the car, and I settled back into regular life and meal prep. Overall, it was a great 42-hour getaway with plenty of food and relaxation, and time with my better half. I have to keep reminding him of how much fun it was, so he knows to plan more surprises for the future! I promise to keep you guys posted. Do you have any fun mystery date ideas? Do you know my mystery man behind the emoji? Send him a text with an idea!

  • Morning Catskill Kisses in the Snow.
  • Evening FREEZING stroll. Doesn’t my bf look cold? 😉
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Travel

Travel Recap 2018

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PHEW what a year! People always comment about how much I travel, but I honestly didn’t realize until I saw it written out in black and white. If you weren’t one of the lucky 73 people to get a holiday card from me and my emoji bf, I recapped the travel we did this year, and spoiler alert… it’s a LOT. I would simply post a PDF of the card, but that would require a lot of emoji-placement on my sweet boyfriend’s face, so instead I’ll just recap my travel here. There is still going to be some emoji-placement.

Maybe after you see how I spent half of 2018 in airports, you’ll forgive me for posting infrequently here. I left the state every single month of the year with the exception of July, when my best Australian buddy was here in the USA so I had to stay and eat Tim Tams with her.

January – Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia

I wrote a blog post about this trip, which you can back-reference here, but the main highlights were a lot of amazing food, gorgeous views of Granville Market and Deception Pass, having an all-night dance party, finding $100 on the floor of a pub, Segway-ing up the crazy hills of Seattle, and of course spending QT with my bestie! Lowlight (is that the opposite of highlight?) was leaving my phone, which was on airplane mode, in a cab. Somehow it was miraculously recovered! Not a lowlight after all.

February – Los Angeles, California

I didn’t blog about this trip per se, but I did go to a lot of ice cream places and blogged about that! I had to continue my #30Years30IceCreams with a travel edition. Also, I’m 31 now, but ice cream is still just as good. This trip was mostly for work, but every time I am in LA I try to tack on a few extra days to hang out with my college roommate! I also got to see another friend from college and watch the Olympics with him. Side note: LA is SO FAR! I always hate that long transcontinental flight, only to land in the SAME COUNTRY! I’d rather go to Europe.

March/April – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I went to the first Passover Seder at my sister’s house in NYC, then the 2nd at my parents in Philly! I dragged my emoji bf with me as well. He is a Seder pro now. It also happened to be my mom’s birthday that weekend. My family surprised my mom by chipping in for a YMCA membership for her birthday, the one thing she wanted. She was so happy, she cried, and the video warms my heart! Thankfully, Philly does not require an airplane ride, and for this trip, I took my sister’s car. Much more convenient!

April – Chicago, Illinois

I wrote a post about this trip! (Maybe I wasn’t as bad at blogging this year as I thought!?) My work’s annual conference changes place every year, and this year I was super excited to go to Chicago because I’d never been! Technically the conference was in Skokie, but I extended my trip with my work bestie to explore the city! Highlights included: A Segway Ride, gorgeous weather, deep dish pizza, a GORGEOUS view from out penthouse Air Bnb, which had the electricity turned off for non-payment while we were staying there. Oops.

  • Vancouver Exploring
  • Gorgeous Walk to Granville Market
  • FOUND: $100!!
  • Road trip with purple bear back through the Canadian border to Seattle.
  • Quick stop at the GORGEOUS Deception Pass.
  • Deception Pass Pics
  • Hike in the mountains outside Seattle with her adorable pup, Charlie.
  • Segway with the Space Needle!
  • California Nitrogen Ice Cream
  • Quick Stop to pose with famous art at the Getty
  • Why so prickly? (#cactusgarden)
  • My happy place.
  • Road trip up to Malibu to a secret beach.
  • Can you tell she’d been crying?
  • CHICAGO!! Beautiful view from our penthouse AirBNB before the electricity was turned off.
  • Always gotta pose with Long Legs where I find them.
  • CHI-TOWN & SEGWAYS!
  • How gorgeous is this??
  • Also gorgeous: deep dish pizza.
  • Chicago Bronze Cow.
  • THE BEAN.

May – Cordoba, Seville, Granada, Madrid, Spain

Yeahhhh… this must have been when my blogging fell off because HOW DID I NOT TELL YOU GUYS ABOUT THIS TRIP!? It’s also when my Braid in Manhattan Instagram began, and I’m pretty sure there’s a correlation/causation there. Anyway, SPAIN. GO THERE. I fell in love with all the places we went, but my favorite was Granada. They have free food! Literally! Buy a drink, get amazing food for free. How can any place like that be bad? Also, we planned this trip during the famous Patio Festival in Cordoba, which was breathtaking. Cordoba now has the most UNESCO heritage sites as of this year! Jump on it before everyone else does. Trust me.

I loved traveling abroad with a group of girls. We all packed in backpacks and took trains around the country. I can’t wait for the next excursion.

June – Charleston, South Carolina

My best friend and I went to visit another friend in Charleston, SC and it was my first time there. It was fun to travel with a friend, especially since I usually fly solo (plus purple bear). We had lots of girly time, and I discovered the amazingness of Truly, a sparking water that is alcoholic. What? Amazing. We hung out at the pool, and the beach, and we rode around her neighborhood in her new golf cart. The next time we see each other will be at her wedding in ITALY! I’ll definitely have to tell you guys about that.

July – Beacon, New York

I said I didn’t travel in July but that is sort of a lie, I went upstate to Beacon, NY for my friend’s bachelorette! There was no airport involved (thank goodness) but it was still fun to get out of town for a bit. If you missed my blog about it, you can find it here!

  • Backpacking for the first time ever!
  • First train of MANY.
  • Our adorable Air bnb in Cordoba, actually one of the famous patios!
  • 1st day Cordoba exploring.
  • First of a LOT of ham and sangria.
  • Free walking tour! We did one of these in every city.
  • The famous
    Calleja de las Flores (Street of Flowers)
  • GORGEOUS patios.
  • Inside the Mezquita ( The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, aka the Great Mosque of Córdoba)
  • City #2: Sevilla!

  • Spanish Square (Plaza de Espana)
  • Alcazar
  • Blogger Photo at the Alcazar
  • Secret Flamenco show in Seville
  • More Trains Busses and Automobiles!
  • On the way to Granada
  • ALHAMBRA!
  • SO. MUCH. HAM.
  • posing on a hike up into the gypsy cave territory.

  • Flamenco show in cave of the Sacromonte of Granada
  • Final city of Spain: Madrid!
  • Mojitos on the top floor od a department store with an amazing outdoor patio
  • Charleston with my ladies!
  • Golf Cart Chillin.
  • Truly Sparkling and a FAB pool.
  • Bachelorette Party to Beacon!
  • Wine Tour commence!
  • How many vineyards can we hit in one day?
  • Hiking off the wine from the previous day!
  • More Vineyards
  • Out of Order Charleston Cycling
  • Any Airport with an insta-frame in a friend of mine.

August – WEDDING SZN! New Jersey, Philadelphia, Brooklyn

Within 5 weeks’ time, my emoji bf and I went to 3 weddings in 3 states. Gratefully, they were all accessible by train, and we even hitched a ride home from the New Jersey one in my cousin’s car.

September – Dublin, Ireland

What. A. Whirlwind. Thanks to my job and the many many Jewish holidays in the Fall, I was able to take a trip with my mom without taking any vacation days. We based ourselves in Dublin and took a few day trips out of the city to Cliffs of Moher, Cork, Galway, Blarney Castle, Rock of Cashel, and many other sites. We went to the Guinness Storehouse, Kilmainham Gaol (a historic jail), The Whiskey Museum, and a National Camogie Championship game. Then, as if sightseeing all day wasn’t enough, it happened that my friend from Florida was in Dublin at the same time with friends, so I went out and partied with them every night! I think I slept a maximum of 4 hours/night. It was SO fun, and I can’t wait to travel again with my mom.

October – Cancun, Mexico

This trip was for one sole purpose: relaxation. I definitely needed it after Ireland. Also, this trip came at the perfect time because it was in the middle of The Great Bed Bug Scare of 2018! It was Emoji-bf’s birthday, and all we wanted to do was sleep in and lay by the pool and read. Sure enough, that’s what we did! We also drank a lot, went to a glow party, and made new friends. But mostly, we relaxed.

November – Los Angeles, California

I went to LA again for work and hit up my favorite spots: Santa Monica beach path for a few runs, Philz for coffee, and Sidecar Doughnuts because DUH. Also, I got to have dinner with my college friend, and extended my visit to stay with my college roommate! We saw the BEST burlesque show EVER, Cherry Boom Boom, and now I follow them on Instagram and fall in love with every post. Also, we took a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park which was AWESOME. When we got back to Santa Monica, the smoke in the air from the wildfires was very intense. It’s been a rough year for the LA region.

  • Wedding #1! I was a bridesmaid in this one.
  • Wedding #2. How snazzy is my date?
  • Wedding #3! Same emoji, different dress.
  • Sister-Sister!
  • IRELAND! Whiskey barrels.
  • And lots of kegs.
  • Visiting one of the oldest jails.
  • GUINNESS!
  • Inside the Four Courts.
  • Up early… out late!
  • Cahir Castle and a few cannons
  • Inside the Cahir Castle.
  • Blarney Stone!
  • Climbing in and around the Blarney castle (my mom skipped this one).
  • Rock of Cashel!
  • Croke Park and CAMOGIE.
  • Outside the stadium
  • Cliffs of Moher
  • Selfie at the Cliffs
  • More Cliffs of Moher.
  • Largest glass of whiskey out there.
  • Galway City.
  • Trinity College
  • Selfies in Dublin.
  • RELAXIN in Mexico!
  • Beach and Bf = happy Emily
  • Glow par-tay.
  • I must be back in LA… SIDECAR!
  • My happy place.
  • First time at Joshua Tree. So gorgeous!
  • Explorin.
  • Joshua Tree Handstand.
  • How gorgeous is this??
  • KING OF THE WORLD!

November – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

After we spent real Thanksgiving in NYC because I was in the Macy’s Parade (did you guys really think I wouldn’t bring that up again??), we went to Philly for the weekend to see my parents and celebrate a belated Thanksgiving. This meant two feasts, which I will never say no to. My brother came, too! We ran a 5K together as a family and I did surprisingly well, considering how I swore off running for 6 months to heal my ankle. Most of our time in Philly was spent relaxing, but we capped off the weekend with a DELCIOUS third feast at a dim sum restaurant in Chinatown called Ocean Harbor.

December – Delray Beach/Boca Raton, Florida

At the beginning of the year, I was determined to travel more internationally, which meant forsaking a trip to Florida for the first year since I moved to New York! But by September, I really missed all my friends and I found a $207 roundtrip ticket on JetBlue and packed my bags. It’s so fun to visit my friends and soak in the warm temperatures.

December – Dallas, Texas

Every year we visit my emoji-bf’s non-emoji family in Texas for Christmas. It’s fun to get together and hang out, watch movies, wrap presents and eat way too much! I even snuck in a workout class and a run with his sisters. Even my brother drove from San Antonio to spend a few days with us. We went out for dinner and yummy cocktails with a college friend in Deep Ellum one night but other than that, we stayed pretty close to home. Also, Santa got me a new phone! Better resolution braiding pics coming soon!

Are you guys exhausted reading this? Because I am!! I love traveling, and I hope to do more of it in 2019. What are your plans for the new year? Any exciting destinations?

  • Our first 5K together!
  • Always on so many modes of transportation.
  • It’s a family affair.
  • FRIENDS!! I love these ladies.
  • How cute are we??
  • Aqua Aerobics and tanning. #FloridaLife
  • Besties!
  • Tree pics. Necessary.
  • Bro-Sis time in the Lone Star State.
  • Cutest Elf Family you ever did see.
  • End of the year is for family!
  • Cutest emoji couple out there.
  • Here’s to more travel in 2019!
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Travel

Chicago

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I’m finally back from España! I already know what you’re thinking: this is not what I signed up for. This blog was entitled “Chicago.” That’s right, 3 weeks ago I was in Chicago, and then I went to Spain. My poor Long Legs are dying from sitting in these small airplane seats. My immune system doesn’t love me either. Planes are not comfortable or sanitary places. But enough about air travel, let’s talk about my new favorite American city: the Windy One.

For some reason, I’ve always had a feeling I would want to live in Chicago. Some part of my #sweatzilla self really gravitates to a place that is frigid 75% of the year. Also, it’s still a large metropolitan area with public transportation, but the cost of living is drastically lower than New York. Considering the amount of weddings I attend in a year, I always figured I would end up in Chicago for a ceremony, or a bachelorette party, or engagement party, or other extraneous wedding-related event that has left me in debt. But somehow I was 30 years old and I had never been to Chicago! I was excited when my work decided to have their annual conference in the Chicago suburbs because it meant my flight would be comped. However, Skokie, IL is not exactly Chicago, so I twisted my coworker’s arm and convinced her to stay downtown a few days after the convention to hang out with me and explore the city. Full story: she has two kids and I think she thanked me for requiring  her to have a kid-less 2-day vaycay.

I won’t bore you with the specific details of my day-to-day activities, but I’ll give you the highlights. Starting with food, because duh.

FOOD

People say New York has amazing food, but Chicago is not far behind. We didn’t have much time (2 full days), but we tried to have one of everything. Obviously deep dish pizza came first. Everyone we asked had their own preference for their favorite deep dish place, but after 4 12-hour work days, we settled for the most famous place in Chicago that also happened to be across the street from our Air BNB: Giordano’s. #CheesePull photo on fleek. We all know Chicago is about hotdogs, too, so we couldn’t let our pizza be outshined by the classic Portillo’s hot dogs. And we were told by multiple people that a visit to Portillo’s would not be complete without a “cake shake.” Yes, this is what it sounds like: a chocolate shake with a legit piece of chocolate cake blended into it. It was so decadent that we weren’t able to finish it even sharing between two people. But do not fret, we walked a couple thousand more steps along Lake Michigan and the Magnificent Mile to make room in our stomachs for more food. The next stop was recommended to me by a friend from elementary school who happened to go to college in Chicago and is a huge foodie. I knew her recommendations could be trusted. She said, “go to XOCO, a Rick Bayless restaurant where they fry churros to order.” Say no more. O. M. G. these were so good. Plus, a little cup of chocolate to dip them in?! No words.

Dinner was also fantastic, and recommended to me by a local friend of mine. We went to La Sirena Clandestina, a Brazilian/latin place in a different, up-and-coming neighborhood of Chicago, Fulton Market. Google moved into the neighborhood a few years ago and brought a very Williamsburg-y market along with it. Along with the trendy techies come trendy chefs. And the food was FABULOUS. It helped that my friend knew the manager and they brought us PLATTERS of free steak and chorizo. I’m a sucker for anything free. But free and delicious? I was sold. Of course no dinner is complete without a post-dinner drink, so we went across the street to Swift & Sons and met up with another friend of mine who actually lives in New Jersey, but for some reason I hadn’t seen him in years. Nothing like a business trip hundreds of miles away to bring friends together!

HISTORY & INNOVATION

The coolest part of our business trip was a visit to 1871, a startup incubator and center for technology and entrepreneurship in Chicago. As part of our work convention, we took a field trip to their headquarters for a panel discussion on innovation and technology, and then a presentation from their CEO about the future. The company is named after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and about what happened afterward, when engineers, architects and inventors came together to build a new city. It was founded in 2012 to support Chicago’s digital startup community and it has become the hub for the city’s technology and entrepreneurial ecosystem. The actual office space is a huge, open-office 150,000 square foot facility. The technology of the office, even the water machines, are unparalleled. The talk from the CEO was enthralling, interesting, and a bit scary. He talked about how everything we know now is changing, and it’s changing quickly. I don’t really think of Chicago as a place of innovation or technology start-ups, but simply being in this space changed my mind.

The entire city’s history is based around the fire of 1871, but there is also a lot more. Coming off a trip to Spain, of course I realize America’s history is incredibly brief relative to any country in Europe, but it is still interesting to see history of my own country’s cities. After the work convention, my coworker and I went on a free walking tour in Chicago, where our guide was a spunky, awesome girl in her late 20’s with a passion for Chicago. She showed us sites all around “The Loop” including theaters, old department stores, street art and sculptures created specifically by artists for Chicago. She also showed us the beginning (and end!) of Historic Route 66. We ended our tour at The Bean, aka Cloud Gate, because of course, and she taught us how it was supposed to look like a drop of mercury. Makes sense!

SEGWAYS

Segway everywhere!! There’s only one thing I love more than Segways: introducing other people to my love of Segways. I forced my coworker to take a Segway tour because I found an awesome deal on Groupon. She loved it! Who wouldn’t?! We went on a 2-hour tour of downtown Chicago, where we rode past Soldier Field and learned about its history as a National Historic landmark, we went by the Shedd Aquarium and learned about the oldest captive fish, 90-Something-Year-Old Granddad, who died last year, and we went by the Field Museum. Our tour guide was awesome, and he told us about the more than 8,000 acres of public parks (more than 8% of the city!). But the best part of a Segway tour is always the Segways. I love those things. I obviously did not follow our guide’s instructions and took plenty of selfies/selfie videos while in motion (big no-no). I also gave at least 10 high fives to pedestrians as I rolled by. I can’t wait for my next Segway opportunity! And our guide was fab at photo-taking. Check it out below, #NoFilter!

Chicago was a slamming success, but I had to go home to do laundry and prepare for Spain. #FirstWorldProblems. More about that trip later!

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Food, Travel

30 Years, 30 Ice Creams – West Coast Edition

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Hey guys! I know I’ve been sparse on the blog. It’s been hard to keep up between moving apartments, crazy work season, and starting a bullet journal (more on that later). Also, I’ve been trying to keep up with all of my resolutions, which includes planning free nights for myself! I’ve been watching a lot of Olympics.

Anyway, fear not, I have still left myself plenty of time to stuff my face with ice cream. Even while traveling! I have had three new kinds of ice cream in my travels in the past 6 weeks. Thankfully, I’ve also stuck to my new year’s resolution of swimming to even it out. Does anyone have suggestions for a waterproof, affordable, fitbit-like device?

Quick Ice Cream Recap aka #30Years30IceCreams on the road:

As with my many weeks of recaps last May/June, I will review each mission on a scale of 1-10 in 4 categories: (1) Aesthetic (2) Flavor (3) Texture (4) Overall.

Kurt Farm Shop, Seattle, Washington, Local, CHEESE Ice Cream!

Aesthetic (4) Flavor (9) Texture (4) Overall (5)

I didn’t PLAN to go get ice cream, per se, but after a car ride back to Washington from Vancouver, and 3 hours of car ride snacks, we weren’t in the mood for a full-size dinner, and we were in the mood for a walk. I found this place on Foursquare and figured, DUH, ice cream is the answer. This is a little shop that sells ice cream, but also sells cheese from local farms and creameries. The custard base is made with organic cane sugar and it’s flavored at the store.

According to Foursquare it’s the #3 ranked ice cream place in Seattle, but I was drawn by the promise of unique flavors. I saw reviews about Szechuan Peppercorn, and Rose flavors, and most importantly, FLORA’S CHEESE. What’s better than cheese? Ice cream. What’s better than Ice Cream? CHEESE FLAVORED ICE CREAM. Obvi. They were very generous with their samples, so of course I tried every single weird flavor on the menu. I opted for half cheese, half pumpkin. It was delicious, plus it was served with a real spoon, always preferred. Only drawback: there was a strange coating left on the top of my mouth from the cheese flavor, probably due to the way they pasteurize the milk. Still worth it.

Creams & Dreams, Santa Monica, CA, Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

Aesthetic (if you count the nitrogen show) (9) Flavor (6) Texture (10) Overall (8)

Love the name of this place. Love even more that I found this place on a business trip and insisted on bringing my boss here. This place makes liquid nitrogen ice cream, and if you have never had any, go out right now and find a place for it. The fact that this ice cream begins as a liquid, and is then frozen in small batches, just for you, makes it the creamiest ice cream I have ever tasted. I tried a similar place, NiceCream in Arlington, VA a few years ago, and I never forgot about it. The only bad part about having a hand-made batch of your own ice cream is, it’s impossible to get samples.

Going here is like dinner and a show. If you consider ice cream as dinner. (It is.) They hand-pour your flavor (I love the Nutella and Cookies and Cream), and then they pour liquid nitrogen on it to create a smoke show. Last time I was there, the guy even threw some toward us to make us laugh. It feels like cold water, but it doesn’t get you wet. So bizarre.

They have some strange flavors as well, like Maiz Con Queso, and Fresh Avocado, but I stuck with the classics here. Cannot recommend enough. It is a staple for all of my SoCal trips now.

Salt & Straw, Venice, CA, Weird, Delicious Flavors and Samples

Aesthetic (4) Flavor (10) Texture (8) Overall (7)

After a 4-day whirlwind work trip, I had a day to myself to spend on the beach. I threw an apple and a beach towel in my backpack, picked up an iced coffee, then hit the sand.

(Side note about the coffee: GO TO PHILZ!! They even have two shops on the East Coast in DC. I got the famed mint mojito iced coffee and it was TO-DIE-FOR. Not only is the coffee amazing, but they buy only the highest quality green beans AND they have a generous donation program to Food4Farmers and World Coffee Research, to incorporate conscientious care for everyone in the supply chain from farm to cup. Caffeine + fair trade = win-win. Read all about their values for their workers and farmers, and environmental protections here.)

Anyway, as great as my coffee and apple were, by 3 pm I was starving. I walked along the beach from Santa Monica to Venice, and I was doing some window shopping when I realized a line of people across the street. Like any good New Yorker, I gravitated to the line. If people want it, it MUST be good, right?? Well my New York instincts did not steer me wrong – it was ice cream!! And boy was it amazing.

I read the tips online as I waited in line, and saw that I could ask for as many samples as I wanted, and that I could order a “split scoop” so I could have multiple flavors, but without overloading on ice cream. Samples are super necessary because the flavors here are exotic and ever-changing. I tried everything from 24 Blackbirds’ Lavender Truffle, to Roasted Strawberry Coconut, and about 4 others. I basically told the guy I love weird flavors, and he let me try every single one. I was already full by the time I got my cup! I decided on a split scoop of Avocado & Oaxacan Chocolate Fudge (SO creamy and refreshing), and Black Olive Brittle & Goat Cheese (best flavor ever, with bits of crunch). This was the perfect afternoon post-beach snack.

Guys, this place is a must-go-to. Also, if you really love ice cream, join their Pints Club and get five brand new flavors delivered to your door every month!

That’s it guys. #30Years30IceCreams lives on for the whole year! I’ll keep you posted as I hit up some new places. I have 3 months left of my 30th year! How many flavors can I fit in that time?

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Travel

Seattle and Vancouver

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I have been neglecting you guys!! My loyal blog-readers. Well I am back, hopefully with a vengeance. Things in my life have been crazy recently, between realizing we couldn’t afford the crazy rent increase for our apartment, trying to find an apartment within 2 weeks’ time, applying for an apartment… ok, this whole apartment business deserves its own blog post, which is coming soon.

Anyway, I’ve been busy. And one of the reasons is because I’ve been gallivanting around the west coast of the US and Canada with my best friend. I know, I know, play the world’s smallest violin for me. Too bad, so sad.

I had a blast. I can’t share all of the details from my trip on here because, quite frankly, you don’t want to read them. But I will give a highlights reel in bullet-point form, because lists are easier to read, and hopefully this way you don’t skim through all of my hard, carpal-tunnel-inducing work on LongLegsBigCity.

  • Flight actually left on time. WHAT? Crazy. Yes, this requires its own bullet point. I highly recommend JetBlue to absolutely anyone. Also, their points NEVER EXPIRE. And they have free wifi! And legroom! This trip was off to a great start.
  • Late night happy hour at Toulouse Petit. Their menu touts that it was rated 5th Greatest Restaurant in the USA by TripAdvisor. It was good but that is very aggressive.
  • First Day: Food tour of Pike’s Place Market. Highly recommend, yet again. I’d been to Pike’s Place before, but I learned so much history from the tour guide! Also, we got to eat at 6 different places (Daily Dozen Doughnut Co., Elleno’s Greek Yogurt, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Pike Place Chowder, Chukar Cherries, Piroshky Piroshky AND Etta’s Seafood). How could that be bad??
  • Drove to Vancouver. Holy hell that took a long time. Who knew that border-crossing lines took long than Disneyworld pre-fast-pass? We arrived 2 hours later than planned. Thank goodness we bought $30 in gas station snacks for the 3-hour (turned 5-hour) drive.
  • Our air BnB was awesome!! It was an adventure trying to get the keys though. There was a fire exit involved. Also, the way the host gave us the keys… he just left the door propped open? For how long, no one knows. I made my friend come with me and check every closet and shower (there were 2.5 bathrooms!) for a hiding serial killer. Spoiler Alert: there were no serial killers.
  • The Parking pass our Air Bnb guy gave us for the parking garage (one of the reasons we picked this air bnb) clearly stated 6-hour-parking all over it. Also, the spots in the garage said that. We were worried all weekend that we would be towed. Air bnb man did not speak English very well in his messages and his response “Sure! 😊” to our question “The parking pass says 6 hours. Can we park there overnight? Will we get towed?” did not help. Spoiler Alert #2: we were not towed. PHEW!
  • Discovered 2 liquor stores within 3 blocks walking distance. Purchased booze at said liquor stores. This also came in handy later.
  • Hooked up to the wifi, googled best dinner places. Found a place called Gringo. The reviews for the food were FAMAZING, and they had drinks called “White Girl W@$sted” and “Poor Man’s Sangria.” We knew we had to go. The wait was 45 minutes AND it was raining. But after 20 minutes, we were tipped off that we could go inside and take tequila shots while we waited. Game changed. Food was AMAZING (especially after the tequila shots).

  • Day 2: Hit the free gym in the condo complex first to sweat out some tequila. Works every time. Pro Tip: Running on a treadmill with a hangover is bad in every country. Even with the lights dimmed.
  • It stopped raining! Tried to go on a walking tour of Vancouver. Couldn’t find the fountain meeting place. Asked inside a museum. Was informed that the plaza was “re-landscaped” aka paved over, and there was no fountain anymore. Still couldn’t find the walking tour. Did come across a man cleaning a public restroom. He found a Livestrong Bracelet in the toilet. Remember those? We gave up on the walking tour.
  • We decided to instead give ourselves a walking tour on our way to brunch. Great compromise. We walked around downtown and then ended up at Lamplighter Pub for a Bluegrass Brunch. It was amazing because they served poutine and did a bluegrass version of Hit Me Baby One More Time. It was already a great day.
  • We walked alllll the way to Granville Market mostly because we had time, and it had stopped raining. Also, because I had just eaten poutine. Granville was adorable. Lots of food booths, but after our 80-minute walk we were tired.

  • We took a cab back to our condo. I LEFT MY CELL PHONE IN THE CAB. Uber doesn’t exist in Vancouver, so we had no way to track it. Of course my cellular data was off because I was in Canada so I couldn’t call it. I tried to track down the cab from my credit card charge, but it wasn’t even pending yet. I found a Parking Police Person. I asked her what to do. She told me to try and remember what color the cab was, and find the company to call based on that color. Unfortunately, I thought it was blue and my best friend thought it was yellow. Also, I didn’t have a phone to call a company. My best friend google-image-searched Vancouver cabs, and was CONVINCED it was from a company called Black Top Cabs based on the photos. I scheduled a cab by using their website. Two minutes later, a cab pulled up, and it looked just like the one we were in… but it wasn’t. I asked the driver to call dispatch and ask about a cab coming from Granville where the customer left a phone. Sure enough I hear someone over the radio say “Yep, I’ve got it.” (WTF!?). The dispatch said “Either you can go get it or he can bring it to you but he may charge a $15 delivery charge” (aka like $12 American). I am not an idiot so I said PLEASE PLEASE BRING IT. I prepared to wait on the street for a while. Less than 3 minutes later, the guy pulled up with my phone. I handed him $20 American, and he seemed thrilled. It worked out for both of us. Cue the 3-minute walk to the liquor store because I REALLY needed it at that point.
  • Pre-drinking at the condo. Planning out Spain girls’ trip for May. (SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!) Googled “Best Indian Food in Vancouver.” Discovered Salam Bombay. So. Delicious.
  • We wanted to go dancing and failed miserably the night before, so we tried harder the second night. We even waited in a non-moving line at a club. We eventually gave up and started wandering looking for a bar. We came across Relish The Pub. We saw a woman dancing like crazy inside. Just one woman. She was a bodybuilder. She did bodybuilding poses every 2 minutes within her dance marathon. We knew it was up to us to join the party. They had an amazing DJ who played all of our requests. We danced for 3 hours straight. We got 14,000 steps after midnight. My Fitbit registered more than 2 hours of “aerobic activity.”
  • At one point in the night, my friend pointed to the floor and said “look.” I looked. It was $100!!! In American money, nonetheless. She told me later she thought it was $1! This paid for our next night.

  • Late night shawarma.
  • Meaning well, we set the alarm to go to the gym. It didn’t happen. I checked my fitbit. Remembered the 14,000 steps after midnight. Decided it was ok.
  • Drove back toward Seattle. Both of us had Global Entry so we got to drive in the fastpass Nexus Lane. It saved us at least an hour at the border!
  • We stopped for a stretch break and walk at Deception Pass. Photos do not do it justice. SO. BEAUTIFUL.

  • Lunch in La Conner, WA at Santo Coyote. We had amazing (and inexpensive) food this whole trip.
  • Relaxed at my bff’s house for a quick bit, while her psycho-energetic-puppy jumped all over us. Then we googled “Best Ice Cream in Seattle.” I can’t help myself! #30Years30IceCreams will stay with me forever. We met up with one of her friends at Kurt Farm Shop, where we had cheese ice cream, and many other unique and delicious flavors. It left a weird film on the roof of my mouth, but besides that, it was pretty darn good.
  • Even with this bullet list, is this blog getting long? I think it is. I’ll try to wrap up. We did so many things!!
  • Day 4: MLK Day. Hike up Little Si with Charlie (the girl puppy with a boy name). She was happy we brought her. The views were amazing! A totally clear day in January in Seattle. Complete miracle.
  • I met my best friend’s boyfriend at dinner. We went to Tai Tung, which is famous for being Bruce Lee’s favorite restaurant. He even has a table dedicated to him. But more importantly, I got to meet my BFF’s bf. This is important because I have a history of hating her boyfriends. I know hate is a strong word, but it’s entirely appropriate here. Anyway, I actually liked this one! MIRACLE. Also, he picked up the tab. Doesn’t hurt. We made him take home the leftovers.
  • Went to VERY divey dive bar called Joe’s. VERY. Divey. Cash only. They don’t even have a website for me to link. I was introduced to pull-tabs. We won $4!! We spent $20… but still. All drinks paid for by our found Benjamin.
  • Late night 2nd Dinner at Ba Bar. Vietnamese. Pho. Moscow Mules at Late Night Happy Hour price. Who could ask for more?

  • Day 5: SEGWAY TOUR OF SEATTLE!! Y’all know I love to Segway. The tour guide kind of sucked, but Segway-ing is so fun it didn’t even matter. Plus, we got a Groupon! Plus, it wasn’t raining! PLUS, it was called Magic Carpet Glide. It couldn’t be bad.
  • Lunch at Ivar’s. Fish and Chips. So. Good. Plus the view was amazing. It still wasn’t raining!
  • Stopped at Tiffany’s. Had to make sure my BFF knows the kind of ring I want. You never know, right? 😉 LOL
  • Spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch watching Sex & the City DVD’s to round out a perfect trip.
  • My flight back to NYC left EARLY! JETBLUE FTW. 21 days ‘til my next flight. Also JetBlue because I am now a loyal customer.

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Big City Living

Thanksgiving Day 2017

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Happy Black Friday! Take a break from shopping to read an update from your friendly, neighborhood Macy’s Parade expert.

TL;DR: NEVER going back to Balloon Inflation again; Parade was FANTASTIC as always, even though I feel old; I ate so much food; traveling back to NYC on Thanksgiving night when I woke up at 5 am for the parade is something I will never do again.

Wednesday night, I joined my friend and sister to attend the great balloon inflation. Turned out to be not-so-great. Ok, it was f*cking horrifically terrible. Good parts, standing in crowds of 10,000 people surrounded by bomb-sniffing dogs and full-riot-gear snipers. Ok jk, those were not good parts. There were no good parts. It was disorganized, and when we finally got through the security checkpoint and bag check (after 30 minutes of waiting), we found out that the line snaked from 74th street to 76th street, then back to 74th, then back to 76th. 6 total blocks, and even then, you were only at 76th street and the actual balloons didn’t start for another block after that. Once we got through one part of the snaking line, and after I was hit in the legs by approximately 16 strollers and kicked by approximately 4 children, we knew we had to escape. We asked a police officer how to GTFO. She told us we had to snake back down to 75th then ask an officer to open the gates for us. We jumped over a barricade and through the other snaking line, and walked as fast as we could away from that sh*tshow.

After that horrific experience, we walked back uptown along Columbus Avenue, in the street on the east side, and GUESS WHAT? We could see all the freaking balloons anyway. They are hundreds of feet long, after all. We even did a good deed, delivering a girl’s keys across Columbus Avenue to her friend on the west side of the street, because the girl was actually stuck inside the balloon inflation line, just as we had been, minutes prior!

The night got a lot better, though. We ate homemade pizza at my sister’s house, thanks to my brother-in-law, and then we went to part ways. As I left my sister’s house, I realized the police were blocking Amsterdam Avenue. Then I realized why: ALL OF THE FLOATS FOR THE PARADE WERE ARRIVING!! It was amazing. I called my sister immediately and told her to come outside. The floats all need to be able to fold up, or disassemble into 12.5 by 13-foot boxes to fit through the Lincoln Tunnel. We got to see the floats all tied down and folded up. Most terrifyingly, we saw the Jolly Green Giant in all of his creepy reverie, head unattached, large hands unattached and filled with even larger ears of corn. This was, by far, the coolest part of the night. And there was no line at all!

I went home and slept for very few hours, then woke up at 5:45 am feeling like it was Christmas morning. I’m Jewish so, this is sort of as good as it gets: PARADE DAY! I followed most of my tips for parade-viewing, bundling up in layers, and stopping at the bodega for an egg sandwich and snacks, and definitely not coffee. I picked up my sister along the way, and we settled in to watch just south of 75th street on Central Park West at 6:40 am.

It’s not easy to pick, but here are some highlights of parade-watching:

  • We were standing right at the beginning of the parade, so we were in front of the opening marching band. We got to dance along with them and hear their awesome songs.
  • We were close enough so that the clowns threw confetti on us.
  • Unfortunately, I barely knew any of the performers. I think that’s how I know I’m old.
  • Performers I knew and got to see: Patti Labell, Common, Flo-Rida, Jimmy Fallon, Bebe Rexha, and ALSO, 98° actually came back from retirement! Love me some Nick Lachey. 

  • I’m tall so I could see all of the floats and balloons before everyone else. (Long legs, big city. Duh.)
  • Spirit of America dance team came by. And when they stopped their cheering, (“MACYS. THANKSGIVING DAY. PARADE!”), my sister and I started a back and forth “We’ve got spirit, yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how ‘bout YOU!?” And we did that a few times with about 40 cheerleaders joining in.
  • SANTA!!! How does one get that job? Does he just have to have his own padding and not be drunk? (Miracle on 34th Street reference.)

  • After the parade was over, we got to see City workers immediately swiveling the traffic lights back into place. Always a sight to see.
  • While the streets were still closed, my sister took an amazing photo of me. New profile pic!

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Oh, and selfies with balloons. Which needs its own gallery of photos. 

Not to mention that my sister and I LOVE Macy’s and have a special appreciation for most people’s least favorite balloons: The Macy’s Stars! We took selfies (ussies?) with all of them!

After the parade, I went home, still on a high, and watched the parade’s broadcast on NBC. I caught the last 45 minutes and got to see Santa AGAIN! Then I took a shower, FINALLY had coffee, and headed to Penn Station, aka Dante’s 10th circle of hell on Thanksgiving Day, and headed to South Orange, New Jersey.

I had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister’s husband’s brother’s house. There were twenty people there! The food was DELISH and the bar was #STOCKED. I think I had 3 gin and tonics before dinner, then a few glasses of wine at dinner. The only thing I will complain about… No mac and cheese! Unfortunately, since they keep kosher, there was delicious turkey, but it meant we couldn’t have cheese. That’s ok, I know there will definitely be some at Christmas in Texas.

Lastly, remind me to never take the NJ Transit back into New York on the night of Thanksgiving. It was standing-room-only, filled with New Yorkers escaping the suburbs, and there were drunk people everywhere. Also, at that point I had been awake and in constant motion for 16 hours. It was not pleasant.

Maybe next year the plan will be Parade, then movie marathon in bed. But ALWAYS Parade. Until next year!

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