Monday July 12, 2010

Nikki Benz did great in yoga this am! Her boobs got in the way of several of the poses, but she did not leave the room and she tried to do everything…I think she only sat out on one of the postures. When the instructor asked her name she hesistated and told her “Nikki” instead of her real name. Then at the end of class the person at the front desk brought an envelope down with her real first and last name and the instructor was like “Nikki, what is your last name?” She was confused, I was dying laughing and Nikki was like “Well, yes that on the envelope is my legal name but I go by Nikki.” I wonder if anyone in the class recognized her. Or her boobs. At one point in the middle of class I looked at her inquisitively and did a thumbs up thing…asking if she was ok. She looked at me with a disheveled crazy look of exhaustion and sweat and pain all at once and whispered: “I love yoga.” She, like me, had never done any kind of yoga before but came with the intention of knocking out an intense amount of cardio in 90 minutes. We both HATE doing the machines at the gym. I get super bored and want to get off the elliptical after 15 minutes. Anyways, she said she was hooked and I hope that she does it back in LA or wherever she’s on the road.

I started to take a photo of this cute kitty and of course the owner flew out of nowhere screaming at me to leave money. He actually made me put the $ in the jar before I snapped the pic. Another man walking by got all in his face about how he can’t stop me from taking the photo and blah blah blah. The thing is, I don’t even mind giving the guy a buck. The cat looks pretty content.

St Patrick’s Cathedral (You gotta check out the inside if you have the chance… I didn’t go in today because I have already seen it and I didn’t want Nikki and I to burst into flames today. It was already too hot outside.)

For lunch we attempted to eat Japanese food at Cafe Zaiya but were sadly disappointed that it was not like a real Japanese place. I heard about it online from Midtown Lunch and it was one of their recommendations for a “fun” lunch. It was prepackaged like at the grocery store…ewww…but at this point we were hungry and it was the in-between time of sushi restaurants. The bakery and dessert selection was impressive so we decided to check it out. The green tea cake was too dry for me.

The lychee gelee was decent, but the texture was a little bit too slick for me. And I am not a huge fan of the lychee fruit. Only in my fruity martinis really.

The black sesame ice cream on the other hand! FTW! (For the win) It was nutty and yummy…it had an almost peanut butter flavor. It was gray with black flecks. I am in love and hope that I see this again very soon. Or I will be looking for it in Japan.

After lunch we were in a bit of a food coma and Nikki was in her state of deep relaxation and yoga retardedness so we just started walking …heading towards Bryant Park tp see if we could find some coffee and a grassy area to chill out. But, we miraculously found a bar with some yummy cocktails. Try saying “watermelonade.” Just try. Isn’t that a difficult word to get out? It’s just weird.

Meet Sophie, a 7 month old Portugese Podengo!

I had several drinks, Nikki could barely finish one. What a lightweight. We went back to our respective hotels and chilled out to get ready for our big night out on the town…. We went to Stanton Social to see Chris Santos the owner and executive chef and his wife, Taryn. Again this is one of those special situations where somehow through the magic of the universe I was supposed to meet these people. Chris is a culinary wizard and renowned chef and she is a talented erotic fine art photographer. (Do you recognize him from the show Chopped??) And on the left is Marc, a guy that we met last year when we were out with Chris and Taryn.

Nice tan lines, Laura. Sheesh don’t you have a mirror in the hotel? Wear something that doesn’t look so dumb next time.

Just like last time, Chris had us do the tasting menu of his favorite things. Ceasar salad bites…

Amazing potato and goat cheese pierogies with caramelized onions and truffle creme fraiche (I could have eaten an entire bowl of the creme fraiche!) and also his version of a Nori spiced tuna tartare roll.

FOR THE WIN: hand pulled chicken arepas with manchego and jalapeno salsa verde.

Shrimp (for some reason I am looking at the menu right now and I don’t see this…) it was delicious whatever was on there… I don’t remember. I see corn. lol

Red snapper tacos with creamy avocado and spicy mango (second place winner )

I was utterly stuffed at this point but I did try the meatball slider (if I was hungry I would have eaten a half dozen of them) and the beef carpaccio was deelish too… and would you believe that I didn’t even touch the lobster roll? Am I lobstered out from my trip? No, just full.

They were having a semi-private party upstairs so we rolled our fat asses (well mine, not Nikki’s) up to the tables/lounge. Marc is obviously enamored by Nikki in all of her beauty.

Definitely my favorite picture of the night. lol

We went to another club called Avenue. I love that they are sooo cool they don’t even need a website. Unless I am straight up dumb, I do not see anything to click on that site. On this site it says “Tough Door”…well not if you are with celebrity chef Chris Santos! ahhahahaha! Seriously, thank you Chris for such an amazing night of fine food and drinks…Thank you so much for your hospitality. I had a blast and if you come to San Diego, it’s on me!

I am such a 2 beer queer.

At about 3am I was a little bit cross eyed as you can see in this picture so Nikki and I said our goodbyes and we went home. Yoga tomorrow? oooooh I dunno… I have to check out of my hotel by 11:00. This might be rough.

 

Sunday July 11, 2010

For some reason the Bikram studio was extra extra hot today. I wasn’t hungover and got plenty of sleep, but I must not have drank enough water because this class was extra difficult for me today. Lauren warned me that some days were just harder than others and I have to tell you how miserable I was in there. I felt dizzy and lightheaded and could not catch my breath. When class was finally over I couldn’t quench my thirst and I drank too much water…causing me to feel really sick to my stomach. The whole way back to the hotel was a struggle…walking 10 blocks feeling like I wanted to puke…every trash can was calling my name but I was just desperately trying to make it back to the hotel to vomit in the privacy of my own bathroom. And that is exactly what I did! I felt better after about an hour so I went out to attempt Carnegie Deli again this time for some real food… a corned beef sandwich! (which I ended up bring back to my hotel and stuck in the fridge and snacked on for another 24 hours. It was really delicious)

I brought my lunch to a nice sunny grassy knoll to eat it but then I heard some rave-y kind of house music thumping so I had to follow my ears. The Central Park Dance Skaters set up an area on the weekends and let loose! I literally sat here for over 3 hours grooving to their awesome music and just watching the eclectic group of people have a blast. You can also check out their blog.

Are you kidding me with those abs? I am not going to lie, I developed a little crush.

She was by far the most interesting to watch and listen to…

Every once in a while they would drag a random person from the sidelines and have them come in and boogie away.

What are these?? They look dangerous, fun and ridiculous.

This guy was fascinating to me…he was a very talented dancer/skater but every time he saw me filming him he would stop. I mean these people are no spring chickens, so my wheels were turning making up stories in my head about who they are, their pasts, their lives, do they have families, what do they do for work? I was very curious about this guy for sure. He’s sexy for an old dude!

Enjoy these videos… I had a blast here all day.

Alicia, this is just for you

 

OK, I think I might have a little crush on this guy, too. He’s got some sick moves for a guy with gray hair. And a hot body!

I was getting annoyed at the people on the rock ruining my shot but finally gave up and …

…framed it a different way.

I just sat in the park for hours…the beauty of it often goes unnoticed in the hustle bustle of being in the city. It really is a cool place that you need to take the time to visit if you are in Manhattan. Grab a blanket, bring a book or just people watch. Grab a popsicle on a sunny day. It’s cheap, entertaining and a great way to unwind.

Nikki Benz was in town and we met up at a little Italian place by her hotel for some appetizers. She wouldn’t let me take any photos of her because she wasn’t done up, so no pics of the goddess tonight. lol Tuna carpaccio and bruschetta. We went over to the W in midtown for a drink before calling it a night. I think I might have convinced her to do yoga in the am, if she answers her phone when I call at 9:30 am, it’s on!

Saturday July 10, 2010

I forgot to mention that last night while 631 was manhandling me I did notice a remarkable difference in my flexibility and strength in certain positions! yay! sooo many benefits to yoga! I went back to the midtown location this morning for another 90 minutes of hell and then met up with my friend Caroline for lunch. I met Caroline through a mutual friend last year and stayed in touch with her. (Last year we went to an oyster festival and afterwards went to a show where I fell in love with The McLovins!) Today we met at a French placed called L’Express on Park and 20th. I started with the tomato and cucumber salad which had a delicious basil dressing. I know this is so “California” of me to say, but it would have been great with some avocado in there, too.

Caroline ordered the spinach and ham omelette (which I forgot to take a photo of duh) and I had the steak tartare.  They had an appetizer size portion and a full size portion and even though we were sharing everything we still didn’t finish it. It had a little kick to it, but it was definitely not the best steak tartare I have had. Her omelette was great though. Fail no pics

It was great to catch up with her over wine and French food and since neither of us had a damn thing to do today, we turned it into a pub crawl! lol She is a makeup artist who has worked fashion, TV, film etc…and she gave me some good inspirational advice about pursuing a career in mainstream film/TV. I mean I know I could do it, but kind of lost sight of that fact that learning all that I did at NA really is the beginning of a potential career in filmmaking for me. Whether it be directing or producing or both. While talking to her it kind of re-inspired me and put the faith back in me about making an independent film. I gotta ton of ideas, now do something with them!

We went over to the Old Town Bar for some refreshing homemade lemonade and vodka drinks. Not too sweet, just tart enough.  The best part about this place is the functioning dumbwaiter! How cool is that? It is supposedly the oldest functioning dumbwaiter in NYC. I remember growing up as a kid visiting my aunt and uncles huge farmhouse in Maine and they had a laundry chute. I know that’s totally unrelated and is nothing like a dumbwaiter but it just reminded me of ways to transport things from one level of the house to another without using the stairs. We used to threaten to throw the cat down the laundry chute …but I don’t think we ever did. I hope I didn’t. Jeez that would be terrible.

We walked downtown to meet up with Liz. Caroline said this is a clock but the last 4 numbers never moved so I don’t know what those could mean? Anyone?

Liz asked us to meet her down here because she was busted, beat up and hungover and when she tricked us into meeting her at a Thai restaurant I hung up the phone saying “I am going to kill you, Liz.”
Let me tell you, I ate those words. Boyd Thai is no joke.

Thai nachos (puffed rice thingys) with a very tasty peanut sauce.

The mussels were only $5.95 and were great. I generally prefer mussels to be served in a white broth but this was deelish.

But the real winner was the salad dressing. This looks like a boring old tofu salad but the dressing that they use was unbelievably tasty… simply the Boyd House Salad. You have to try it.

Liz had to stop in and check out a rental that she manages and she took us down the cutest little street. NYC surprises me a lot with it’s hidden beauty.

Look at these two movie stars!

Ummm I am pretty sure that this is one way to definitely get people to piss on your stuff.

Liz’s dog Chester is a little grumpy with new people but eventually comes around. I love that he’s trained to go wild when she says “Tranny Hooker” to him.

Caroline and I headed off to another pub called Puck Fair…a place that she says always has cute boys We were so enthralled with our own conversation that we did not, in fact, speak to anyone other than the bartenders. I did try to talk Caroline into going to yoga with me in the morning no less than 15 times. Oh well. I took a cab home and then my night got real interesting when I pulled the “Reverse Taxi Cab Confessions” on my cabbie. I have tried a few times to upload the videos but it keeps crashing on me. I can tell you that I am quite drunk and slurring my words and giggling a lot. When he pulled up to my hotel, I finished filming and I stuck my head into the front seat and made out with the guy. HEY! He was young (under 30) and cute! As soon as I can get the videos to upload I will post them. Good gawd they are so ridiculous.