Let Them Eat Cake

Caitlin, Jackie, and Marie all happened to be in New York on Saturday, so we hit the town and brought a little of the Dirty R to the big city. We strolled through a glorious 20-block street fair on the Upper East Side, where I almost purchased an owl-shaped clock necklace before I remembered Tracy Morgan's words of wisdom:

The voice of a generation. After hanging out in Bryant Park for a little, we grabbed some lunch and brainstormed ways we could keep cool, the best and most obvious choice being an ice bar. Duh. The only one we could find in the city, though, was Mehanata, a Bulgarian Ice Bar that, upon entering the premises, made you take six shots in two minutes while wearing a Russian military uniform. Among the FAQS: "'Do I get a chaser?' 'No.' 'What happens if I get sick?' 'Don't.'" You also were not allowed to take pictures. I couldn't make this up if I tried. We decided against giving Mehanta a visit; instead we had a great night in the Village involving fake identities (not fake IDs, but actual fake identities for when guys tried to talk to us. "Hi, Jane Richardson, nice to meet you."), real talk, and getting chased out of bars.

I also accomplished my Mad Men fantasy of drinking a Manhattan in Manhattan, Don Draper style. Marie and I are throwing a Mad Men premiere shindig, which we've pretty much accepted will only be attended by us, but we're dressing up and making 60s-inspired hors d'ouevres so it's going to be a blast. Almost as good as the time we watched Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and made Strawberry Fields brownies. Almost.

It's also worth a mention that we had dessert before our Greenwich Street adventre at Crumbs Bake Shop (this was a girls' night out, after all), which has quickly cemented its place as one of my favorite eateries in New York. Their cupcakes are spectacular, not to mention almost inedibly large, "almost" being the key word here. I had already been to the Greenwich Village location, sampling a very delicious vanilla coconut cupcake (vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and coconut shredded on top); the Upper East Side location was equally tasty. I decided to go all out with the cookie dough cupcake (vanilla cake, chocolate buttercream filling, and vanilla buttercream frosting with cookie pieces mixed in), which was equally delightful. Usually I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but this cupcake made a solid case for the cocoa bean.

nom nom nom

If you couldn't tell, I'm really hungry right now, because a) there is no food in the apartment since I'm leaving in four days, so why would I buy groceries, and b) I'm detoxing from this weekend. So much cupcake. So much Delirium Tremens. Must. Eat. Spinach.