As a lover of good eats and great company, I am always looking forward to when NYC Restaurant Week rolls around. Often I joke that the universe really messed up by giving this foodie, a chronic autoimmune disease because I've always enjoyed a good meal! I'm the furthest from a food critic but I surely love to stuff my face and make recommendations on the best places to dine that will allow you to catch up with your tribe and belly laugh over drinks while you wait for dessert. Whether it's a girls day out in Williamsburg or a meet up with family at the Queens Night Market we're always keeping an eye out for places with cool vibes and a great menu.
Folks message me all the time asking for suggestions on where to eat with a group of friends, for a family celebration or on a cute triple date-night. With dinner offerings at $42 per person and lunch options at $26, I figured I'd round up my recommendations for restaurants to celebrate a winter birthday while saving a coin during NYC Restaurant Week ! If you don't get to check these eateries out between January 21st and February 9th it's ok bookmark these suggestions because they're honestly great choices all year round.
Unless one of us is out of town and traveling, birthdays are usually the ultimate reason for my three high school besties and I to get together to celebrate another spin around the sun! Of course, crazy schedules can sometimes make getting a date on the calendar difficult, whether it's an annual park picnic, a pop-up shop experience or good eats and cocktails, we love having a few hours together to catch up on the ups and downs of life as we age gracefully. Our tribe encompasses a family doctor, an architect and two work from home mama's so as you can imagine we don't need any excuse at all to want to get together for a night out but celebrating our girl Venesa's belated twirl around the sun was a perfect reason. My girls, Natacha, Venesa, Marta and I met in the hallways of our high school Brooklyn Tech, so hanging out in BK is always a good time for us to reminisce on the good ole days while creating new memories. We can't ever seem to get over how much the neighborhoods have changed in the last two decades and although we're not a fan of all the gentrified changes we did enjoy spending a summer night in our favorite borough. If you're ever in the neighborhood, here are a few fun ways to get out and celebrate while chilling in Williamsburg:
We suck when it comes to attending birthday parties! Well I guess in actuality I suck or the universe just doesn't work in our favor every now and again. and we end up late or needing to cancel. The hubby will take no ownership in this because it's usually me who has to schlepp the boys somewhere that feels like it's across the country to get to. And of course I feel horrible, because yeah it's some cute kids celebration of life but if you know me and our crazy world we have the most random shit happen to us, so much so you'd think we were lying. And honestly I'd almost prefer I'd been lying then to have to actually physically or mentally go through whatever the heck it was that prevented us from having cake and Ice cream and singing the Stevie wonder rendition of Happy Birthday as your awesome kids opened our dope gifts! To our credit we always give a gift whether we make it to the shindig or not and I usually hope that counts for something but I know it's important to just be there.
"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.”
While searching the web I found the two most adorable kids parties on Hostessblog.com that celebrated a few of this fantastic author's colorful, whimsical characters and wackiest phrases. The families attention to details in incorporating some of his works were pretty dang Awesome.
With the Premiere of The Lorax Movie coming out this weekend, this dessert table seemed like an adorably sweet treat to enjoy.
It only seems fitting that Dr. Seuss's birthday be celebrated across the country along with Read Across America Day, for his positive influence on the development of young readers and his insightful, creative stories. My favorite Dr. Seuss book was "There's a Wocket in My Pocket"because it taught me the names of all the common household items. Unfortunately I spent a great deal of time as a child looking for the creatures mentioned around our apartment, actually believing they did reside behind my curtain and in the waste basket.
Growing up what was your favorite Dr. Seuss book ? & when was the last time you read it?
Maybe it's time for a walk down memory lane, grab a copy of your favorite Dr. Seuss book or one you may have never read at your local bookstore/ library or download a copy to your E-reader of choice and start the weekend of with a little bit of relaxing nonsense!
Tristan's 1st birthday I'd say was a great success, even with a few imperfections and totally random snowy weather in NYC for October. There were some fine details I did leave out: I forgot to put the circus animal cake toppers on the cake. I shouldn't have used my IPhone as my only source to play the customized carnival playlist I made on Rhapsody {Click here, if you'd like to listen to my mix of circus/birthday/kidz bop party tunes}, due to the storm I had a bunch of apologetic texts and calls. I planned to have a room full of balloons, we should have ordered the balloons much earlier seeing as mother nature had a very different agenda and the roads were crazy to drive on. Nonetheless I think we all had a great time clowning around, and dressing up. I think the same number of people who didn't show would have been the same amount even if the sun had been out. Here are a few pics...
Celebrating a 1st birthday is one of those special one of a kind moments to never be forgotten. I automatically knew that we'd be doing a Carnival/Circus themed birthday party for our Tristan Riley. He's our very silly monkey who likes to climb on people, do somersaults and burst into uncontrollable laughter when nothing is even going on. Yet he's also very rough and tough like a lion and thinks he's king of the house. I often feel that our lives are like a circus, always so much going on so the theme fits just right. With Tristan's birthday being 3 days before Halloween we are hoping to add a lil spooky-fun flare to the festivities and adorn costumes too!! I've been looking for inspiration on my two favorite sites Etsy.com and Pinterest.com. Let the Countdown begin till party time: 3 weeks!!
Come One, Come All to Tristan's Big Top Circus!!
These photo clips are perfect for displaying all your favorite snapshots of your child over the last 12 months. How do you decide which ones to pick? I have some hard decision making ahead of me.
How adorable is this party decor? I love the cookies and I was planning on giving that same board book in the background "ABC is for Circus" as favors for Tristan's baby friends.
I know it's wishful thinking but I wonder if I could convince my hubby that this $300 Ferris Wheel for displaying cupcakes i found on Etsy is essential for our party. I can see him raising his eyebrow to say "yeah right, keep dreaming!" This would be cute for a bridal shower or a wedding.
The Ferris Wheel is probably out of the question for my budget so this extra cute Circus Tent inspired cupcake stand is definitely a great next choice and the hubby agrees! It's only $8 on Oriental Trading.
This Circus train centerpiece is so simple yet perfect. It reminds me of two scenes from the Disney classic movie "Dumbo". I love the song "Casey Junior " that's played when all of the animals are packed onto the circus train off to their next destination. As a kid i was always excited when the circus came to town...well to Madison Square Garden.
I also love the scene where we peak inside each train car and see all the circus animals sleeping with their mothers and Dumbo being rocked on his mothers trunk while "Baby of Mine" is sung... Oh the love between a mom & her child.
I know, I know, very cheesy... Back to the Party Planning!!
Say Cheese!! In celebration of Halloween I'm hoping our guest will join us in costume. Just in case not everyone comes prepared we will have a bin of costume accessories: wigs, feather boa's clown noses, funny glasses etc.. I can't wait to see all the pics and I'll be sure to post and share with you. My hubby is going to be the Ringmaster, Tristan a lion/tiger, Chris either the strong man and I a girlie clown, simply because i want to wear a tutu!!
I found this collage of photos on pinterest and these were just a few images that Aria put up of her daughters 3rd birthday. Click the link above to see more from this party. I loved the prize table that she had and the duckie pond looked like fun!! These are just the kind of memories I'm hoping to create.
Happy Weekend All!! Our saturday is bursting with celebration parties.. Happy 1st Birthday to Emily & Kali and a shower filled with love for soon to arrive baby Truth..
Who doesn't love a Birthday? I've started creating boards on pinterest and browsing through blogs to get ideas for our baby Tristans 1st Birthday. It will be a Carnival themed costume bash since his b-day is right around halloween.. I'll be sharing my brainstorming ideas this week!!
Kate Spade said it right!! with all these parties and planning i realized my BIG 3-0 is less than 5 months away. All I know is there will be nothing but purple and gold, sequins and my fave people! I'm going to Embrace it!
