Hello luvs,
Whew! What can I say? I feel like I’ve been through a
whirlwind the past few weeks! But the good kind of whirlwind, ya know? Visitors
in town, work, school… So much to do and so little time! Thus, I am just
getting around to enlightening you about my recent adventures. I shall start from
the beginning…
The girls were in town last week… and it was CRAYZY (yes,
so much so that it merits a Y mid-word). The Haggar sisters spent almost 2
weeks in NY and were then joined by my sister, Rima, the CRAYZY you met in an
earlier post, and we had an ABSOLUTE blast! From trekking ALL around the city
and wearing out both shoes and feet, MEGABUSING it to DC, and seeking out nearly
every brunch place that offered mimosas, it was a trip that shall not soon be
forgotten. Great times with great friends! Here is a recap of our NY/DC
escapades…
To start, les Haggars arrived from LA, and their taxi driver decided to give
them a tour of the city before dropping them off at my place. Luckily Rita Pita
is hardcore and doesn’t take excessive taxi fare lightly :) $25 from uptown to Brooklyn? You better believe he accepted it!
Prospect Park. Thought we'd start with a leisurely stroll. A stroll that, when breaking in new shoes... AHEM... Rima Haggar... would prove to be anything but leisurely. This bench "break" was taken about 15 min into the walk. Poor thing! BUT, Prospect was redeemed by the purchase of "double cone" ice cream upon leaving the park.
The Staten Island Ferry! Beautiful views of Lady Liberty and the fact that it's FREE is a HUGE bonus. So much so that a certain Haggar couldn't believe it. Literally. The entire ride went something along the lines of... "I can't believe it's free!"... normal convo... 5 min later... "I still CAN'T believe this is free!" You crack me up Rima!
OK. So THIS was unexpected. I wanted to plan a dinner get together for some friends but didn't know where to host it... SO, last minute, my friend Sam said we should try this Indian restaurant. We showed up and THIS is what we found. Their slogan? "Where chilli pepper lights meet Christmas tree lights." WHAT??!! Oh my goodness... We had a blast at this family style Indian restaurant, faked a birthday so they would flash their lights, and left not knowing what half the food was that we ate! (We were particularly fond of whatever came in the "bucket" though.) Overall... this place is definitely a NY experience in itself. Or Indian experience. Whatevs.
Oh, hey there good lookins. This was our MEGABUS experience... For basically a penny you can go round trip from NYC to DC. (Not really a "penny," but pretty much!) A few things I'd like to mention... One, We barely made the bus BECAUSE... take a guess... yep... we were getting food, and two, once we actually made it to the bus, we were seated next to homeboy here. Not too shabby, eh? He was super sweet, nice, informative, oh, and did we mention his arms? Just a side note. (Take a moment to look at the picture and appreciate them. Do it.) But seriously... He was visiting his girlfriend, whom he travels weekly to see and has pictures of as his phone background! Sigh. Enough said.
We made it! Hello DC! It was our first time here and it was a great trip! The city is actually quite quaint and very serene. I kinda liked it! Everything IS much smaller in person though. The White House, the statues, etc... all seemed tiny compared to what I'd imagined in my head. Jeez, thanks Hollywood. Nevertheless, it was a great time! Futuristic subways, achy feet, making new friends, oh, AND, most importantly....
Kramer's!! This place is absolutely delicious! It was the perfect place for brunch and to people watch... Ahem... sketchy skype-ers abound here. Just fyi. BUT the food is delish, desserts are delish, and afterwards, you can peruse their bookstore and grab a new read. Rima, have you started yours? No? I didn't think so :)
Upon returning to NYC, and prior to my sister's arrival, we wanted to check out the Federal Reserve. And lemme tell you... It is so NOT like Gringotts Bank. NOT at all what we were expecting. The tour is supposed to include a trip to the gold vault, which in my head, included us descending into the depths of the bank in carts and elevators, passing secret vaults along the way... NO SUCH THING. We didn't even get to see the gold vault, FIRST of all, and the tour itself is useless to anyone over the age of FIVE. Seriously. They have cartoon flip books as part of the tour, and it can be done in ten minutes, MAX. Luckily for us, we chatted up the security guards outside the so-called "tour," and found out some interesting info from them...
-They do not print money at the Federal Reserve anymore... It has been outsourced to Jersey.
-The gold vault is painted turquoise. (Eww, why?)
-Each bar of gold weighs aprox 28 lbs.
-They have to wear thick boots when entering the vault in case a bar falls on their feet.
-The Reserve houses only foreign gold. (Upon our asking where US gold is housed, the guards chuckled and said IF we have any, it's in Virginia at Fort Knox. IF.)
Overall the Federal Reserve was kind of a letdown... But how about them sexy doors, eh? The architecture was quite amazing. (Nothing like Gringotts though, OBVI.)
Still passing the time till my sister arrives, we went to Stone Street for lunch. The cobbled street is overrated but Adrienne's Pizzabar is SUPERB. Almost rivals Grimaldi's. ALMOST. BUT, their gelato concoction is to die for. Seriously, SO good!
She's HEREEE! FINALLY, we're complete! My Rima (yes, there were two Rimas in this group... what are the odds) had summer school so she could only come out for a few days. But we sure were glad she did! She reunited with her Haggar soul sister (as well as her REAL sister, ahem) and all was well in the world! AND she was rockin' her new bangs! (Maybe now people will stop asking if we're twins?)
First things first... A night in to recoup before ALL the craziness sets in. In typical Haggar/Ghamrawi fashion.. that means doing our nails. Nails it is.
Now... Let the games begin!
Shake Shack. A MUST. If you remember how much my sister liked it the first time around, you KNOW we went at least twice during this trip. Nom nom nom.
Empire State Building was next! Wahoo. For someone who has a fear of heights, you did SUPERB, Rita! The views were REALLY amazing, actually. You can see the whole city from up there!
SERENDIPITY. FINALLY. When Rima came in the spring, we couldn't go to this place because the wait was forever and a half, but THIS time we waited ONLY 45 min, (yeah, I know), and finally got to try the Frozen Hot Chocolate that everyone RAVES about. AND.... SUCCESS! It really was fantastic! You walk into the restaurant, which is a mix between your southern grandma's attic and an episode of hoarders, and you have your doubts, not gonna lie. But just WAIT. Once you taste their famous dessert, you will gladly wait two hours in line to experience it all over again!
PARKS! One of our FAV pastimes on this trip was parking it up. After trekking around for hours, we would find the nearest park and lay like logs. No joke. Central was our favorite, but Williamsburg came in a close second with its live music and food carts.
Almondine Bakery! The BEST croissants in the city, and you can hold me to that. Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of our flaky pieces of heaven before we scarfed them down, BUT their dessert bar, I DID happen to capture! And after eating 4 croissants, croque-monsieur, and quiche lorraine, we were DEFN feeling the love! Nothing like good food and good friends! (Food before friends, CLEARLY I have my priorities straight.)
When people think NYC, they think SEPHORA! No? No. BUT, and I have no idea how this happened, we seemed to stumble into EVERY Sephora in the city! Finished lunch, let's hit up Sephora. Post Federal Reserve fail? Sephora. Exhausted from the Staten Island Ferry Ride? SEPHORA! So random, yet so much fun. Fresh faces and samples to last us a lifetime!
Lovely times at The Plaza! Eloise anyone?? My inner six year old was having a BLAST! And CLEARLY Rima's inner six year old was making an appearance!
Blackmail photos?! I kid, I kid. But no, seriously, these girls were a hoot. Walking down any street was an event with these luvs and I can't wait to do it again soon!
What a GREAT summer spent in NY! Sisters and soul mates for life!
To conclude, here are a few soundbites from our trip:
#Ouf, #WhatIsLife, #NoWayNoWay, #TheStruggleIsReal, #Blake,
#Spot, #LymeDisease?, #Pride2013, #Poles, #SuitsSuitsSuitsSuitsSuits, #Adam, #WahYahGhasele,
#Maya, #Yalla, #Logging, #TheRimas, #Mandam3leik, #YaBintLSultan, #HungryEyes,
#GentleTouches, #Adam, #Dinges, #ShakeShack, #Almondine, #IWantYouINeedYouICan’tLiveWthoutYou
AND IT’S TRUEEE. I can’t live without these beauties! To shenanigans, road trips, meeting strange folks such as "Adam" (a character we met outside a Starbucks bathroom and yet whose ACTUAL existence, to this day, is in question), and to eating dessert (Wafels and Dinges... SO GOOD. Everyone should try them) ON OUR WAY to more dessert (Little Bakeshop in SOHO)! Memories like this should be cherished and relived as often as possible! Am I right? SO.... twas SUCH a
good time ladies! Here's to planning our next annual Haggar/Ghamrawi
vacay! Hawaii anyone? See you lovers there!
Till next time,
<3
A southern, west-coaster, in the northeast
Song of the week:
Song of the week:
Blurred Lines
Robin Thicke
...
We can strut for weeks ;)
