Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

Last week, one of the designers on our team suggested we take a team field trip to the Met to view the Alexander McQueen exhibit. Ken and I have been talking about going to the upper east side to see the exhibit but we haven’t had a chance, so I was eager to take the afternoon off and view McQueen’s works. Since it was a team field trip, we didn’t have to wait in line (we had a scheduled viewing time). Here are some of my favorites from the awe-inspiring exhibit:

Philip Treacy’s peacock hat:

Alexander McQueen was very intrigued by birds, hence the use of feathers in many of his designs, including this one:

A collection most people would recognize because of Lady Gaga:

One of the more romantic pieces in his collections:

It was a full day at the Met – we went on a Monday and they are typically closed on Mondays but opened the museum up for McQueen – but it was one of the most interesting exhibits I’ve seen recently. On the way out, we also ran into Kim Cattrall, who was there to view the exhibit as well!

New Apartment!

Ken and I officially moved into our new apartment on Saturday! It was a really long move out process because they didn’t give us move out times, only days, and the movers ended up spending lots of time waiting for the elevator (the elevator conductor serviced the lower floors and rarely went up to the 30th!) We left our building, Windsor Court, around 4pm and arrived at our new place and unloaded the moving truck by 6pm.

Somehow we completely unpacked over the weekend..an impressive feat considering I had this to unpack:

This was just the living room area…I also had the bedroom! I also unpacked all of my summer shoes (my winter shoes are still in storage) and I have come to the realization that I have too much stuff and way too many shoes! I threw away a bunch that I haven’t worn in the past season but I’m still at capacity, even though we have a ton of built-in closets in our new place. Luckily, Ken is nice enough to let me have the entire closet, a behind the closet shoe holder, and a shoe rack to hold my extra shoes (I’ve given him a shoe rack in the entryway closet, don’t worry!)

We picked out bar stools on Sunday (in Chinatown on Bowery) and we picked out a couch the previous weekend at Crate and Barrel – both are coming today! I also ordered a bunch of cutlery, cups, and pillows for the apartment that are all coming later this week.

Now that we’ve tackled moving in together, the next big steps are: getting engaged, getting married and having kids (which I casually mentioned to him multiple times as we were unpacking). We are excited to spend time together in our apartment, go to Gramercy Park when the weather is nice, and finding a neighborhood restaurant (I’m rooting for Maialino or Bar Jamon!) We can’t wait to have people over!

Top Five Restaurants in Murray Hill

Ken and I have been trying to eat out in our neighborhood before we leave at the end of the month – I never realized there were so many great restaurants in the area until we started on our little tour of the area! We’re leaving on August 1st so this list might change by then, but here are my favorites so far. Let me know if there are other restaurant you like in the area!

1. Baby Bo’s Cantina

Amazing chips and salsa, guacamole, nachos and drink specials throughout the week. They have great margarita mixes and they have a lot of different fresh fruit mixes. My favorite things to order: guacamole, nachos with steak and lots of cheese and enchiladas. I’ve been a handful of times and this is one of my favorite Tex-Mex restaurants in New York!

2. Second Avenue Deli

My roommate from college, John, recently came to visit and we stopped by Second Avenue Deli for pastrami sandwiches and matzo ball soup. The matzo ball soup with challah bread, noodles and carrots is nurturing and I order multiple pints when I’m sick. The pastrami sandwiches are also delicious – they have a soup and sandwich special that is the perfect amount of food. Their delivery is really quick but definitely stop in the restaurant so you can enjoy the pickles and chocolate sodas.

3. Nomado 33

One of our favorite take out places in the area but also really fun to visit. We used to just get take out/delivery but after visiting the restaurant last week, I want to go and eat at the restaurant more often. Don’t miss out on their specialty rolls and their fried ice cream:

4. Don’s Bogam BBQ

One of my favorite places in Korea town but close enough to our apartment that I consider it to be in Murray Hill. Their seats are a little annoying because you have to climb into them but their marinated barbeque is the best along 32nd Street.

5. Gemini Diner

This is my all time favorite diner in Murray Hill; their western omelettes and pancakes are awesome and the best thing on their menu is the turkey sausage (I usually order regular sausage but there’s something different and amazing about Gemini’s turkey sausage).

Nomado 33

On Saturday night, Ken and I met up with our friends Hughie and Hana for dinner at Nomado 33. Ken and I like ordering take out from the restaurant and didn’t realize it was right around the corner from our apartment (I guess that’s what happens when we are too dependent on SeamlessWeb!) Hana said they’ve been to the restaurant a few times for a casual dinner so we decided to meet there and catch up (they just returned from a trip to Korea!)

The restaurant is surprisingly nice inside and we were able to try out more items from their menu. We started with the yellowtail sashimi with ponzu sauce, tuna dumplings and rock shrimp:

Tuna dumplings:

The tuna dumplings used tuna as the wrapper and diced up crab and cucumber as the dumpling filling – creative and a little too big but really delicious and crunchy! The yellowtail was also really fresh and tasted great with the addition of the ponzu sauce. The only appetizer I didn’t like was the rock shrimp – the flavor was a tad off and there was too much breading on the shrimp, not enough sauce.

For our entree, Hana and I ordered a bunch of different types of rolls:

Nomado 33’s rolls are all really quite delicious – some use soy wrappers, most of them have multiple types of fish, and they’re all around $12. My favorites: the New York roll (lower left hand corner) and the Snow White roll (top right hand corner). They’re all delicious but this time, the tempura shrimp roll was too heavy and didn’t have much flavor.

For dessert, we ordered the fried ice cream:

And mango and green tea mochi:

The fried ice cream was pretty sinful but very delicious; vanilla ice cream was coated in tempura batter, flash fried and topped with a ton of whipped cream and chocolate sauce. I don’t think I’ve had that since Chi Chi’s (back when I was a kid!)

We’re going on a Murray Hill tour because we’re leaving the area at the end of the month and Nomado 33 is one of the restaurants I’ll miss – they’ll still be available on SeamlessWeb at our new apartment, but now that I’ve discovered the actual restaurant, I’m sad to leave the area!

Coffee Shop

On Saturday, Ken and I walked to union square to have brunch at the Coffee Shop before watching Transformers 3. We’ve been there before (separately) for drinks and fries but I’ve never actually eaten brunch at the diner. We sat inside since Ken was recovering from his recent trip to the ER and has been instructed to stay out of the sun for a year!

The service is a tad spotty at the restaurant; the waitress took about 20 minutes to actually come take our order or give us water and the orange juice we ordered never arrived. We ordered pretty standard items – Ken went with the cheeseburger with fries:

And I ordered the tuna salad:

The cheeseburger was surprisingly good – a nice potato bun with fresh tomatoes, red onion and one large piece of lettuce. The fries weren’t as good as they usually are (although the other times I’ve had the fries, they’ve always been after a few drinks). The tuna salad was fresh but the dressing was different for the tuna and the salad (miso vs. soy sauce).

For dessert, we ordered the banana cream pie:

Ken was a fan of the crust but I thought it wasn’t flaky enough. The banana pudding was a bit on the flavorless side but the fresh pieces of banana helped the taste.

Overall, it was a nice brunch that could have been better if the service were a little more attentive (and faster). If you’re in a rush but still want something from the Coffee Shop, you can always try the juice bar that’s connected to the restaurant (much faster but also much more expensive).