Snow and Puppies

So it snowed on Saturday, the day of the St. Patrick's Day Parade here in New York City, and then to add insult to injury, it snowed enough to cover the ground last night. In case you've been living without a calendar recently, we are in the middle of March. MARCH. In fact, we are officially in the second half of March. And it snowed three inches last night.

What. Is. Going. On!?

(Answer: Climate Change. This is really going to hurt people.)

In a related but new topic, the weather also meant that my family friend D was unable to relocate her dog to California with her. Apparently airlines won't take dogs in the cargo when the weather drops below a certain temperature. Honestly, a good policy. Just sucky for D who had to leave today but is now separated from her dog.

Why am I telling you this? Because this means I am currently dog-sitting an adorable yet sneaky little puppy. That's right people. A puppy. She's cute, keeps up on my jogs, and likes to play. She's also a little punk. She was annoyed that I was ignoring her during my breakfast this morning, so she sweetly peed at my feet and then went and lay down on the puppy pee pad.

She knows what the pee pad is for. She's also housebroken.

This was pure revenge.

Unfortunately for her, I've had four foster dogs, and one in particular - here's looking at you Lucille - was a monster. Her idea of revenge was pooping in a corner of your room, or barfing all over the sofa. We made it through three months of that, and we had carpets. I live in a wood-floor apartment now.

So bring it on, Monkey, bring it on.

Pep Talked

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's because I've been trying to get out there and be gooder. 

My Birthday Resolution (I resolved years ago to never make another New Years Resolution, so far so good), is to go to the gym twice a week and start my blogging again. So, until I come back, this punk Kid President for you:

Not cool Robert Frost!

Rockefeller Christmas

Rockefeller Plaza has put up the Christmas tree, a pretty and humongous business from New Jersey. SNL made a funny joke about the Rockefeller tree and the tiny Rockefeller menorah that fell between the fridge and counter in the kitchen...

I love Christmas spirit and lights and ice skating and prettiness, but seriously, why can't people always be nice and giving? And why does religion have to be the excuse? We're all people, people. We should be each others' saviors every day.

DAY 1

DAY 2

Lighting to come on November 28th.

Big Plate, Small Appetite?

You know how dieticians tell you to use smaller plates to curb how much you eat? That studies show, the smaller your plate is, the less you'll inadvertently eat, no matter how hungry you are? Yeah, I think my plate missed that memo...

And in other news: make yourself a bagel breakfast sandwich!
-Fry an egg or two, toast your bagel, add whatever toppings you want (lettuce, cucumber, and tomato in this case), add a little honey mustard, and voila! Deliciousness!

Brunch Review: Queen's Comfort

Delicious location, although tiny so be prepared to wait. Staff is nice, if a little spacey. I had the french toast and nearly passed out from trying to inhale the plate, which was far too much but too delicious to leave uneaten.

Our mistake was not realizing that the place is BYOB, so you can bring your own orange juice and champagne for mimosas, or bust out the bloody mary mix after a long night of partying. Note to self for next time.

Score: 9/10
My favorite brunch place on 30th Ave so far, but still not as awe-inspiring as Northern Spy Food Co.


http://queenscomfort.blogspot.com/
4009 30th Avenue
718 728 2350

Brunch Review: William Hallett

At this point you may have noticed the 30th Ave commonality in my last reviews. I've befriended a group of foodies who are set on exploring Astoria, and we've been working our way around 30th Ave. We'll move onto the Broadway area, once the options on 30th have been exhausted...

William Hallett

Nice joint with great staff, although completely booked on the weekends. They don't take reservations, so take a smaller group and make sure you're prepared to wait.

Their vegetarian options are limited, so I got a goat cheese omelet that was uninteresting, but then again, aren't most omelets that way? Some of my friends got the Crab Cake Benedict, which they said was amazing. William Hallett adds a fried layer of bread crumbs around their poached eggs, adding that extra zing and setting themselves apart. Definitely going to try to get myself some of that crispy poached egg action next time...

Score: 8/10
Minus points for lack of delicious vegetarian options and charging extra for every little thing, plus points for awesome staff, creative menu items and delicious meat options.


http://www.williamhallet.com/
36-10 30^thAve
Astoria, NY 11105
718 269 3443

Catch-Up: Elections

Spoiler Alert: Obama wins.

Rockefeller Plaza

The CNN Electoral College Tally on the Empire State Building. Yes, that's right. The blue and red lines on the bar indicated how many votes each candidate has (obviously this was early in the evening).

Review: Sugar Freak

Southern-inspired menu makes your mouth water, and the decorative style gives it a homey, southern town feel. However, the general emptiness of this restaurant at nearly all hours of the day hints at the possibility that the joint might not be living up to the image it's trying to project.

We ordered some house cocktails, along with hush puppies and draft beers. The cocktails were both good, as were the beers, but the hush puppies were extremely disappointing. Over-fried, the outer layer was hard and powdery and what little of the middle existed was flavorless. Complete waste of a dish.

Score: I don't want to judge the restaurant based on one appetizer, so I will be back again to try something more substantial off their menu, but I was not impressed.


http://sugarfreak.com/
36-18 30th Avenue
Astoria, NY
(718) 726 5850

Catch-up: Halloween

Check it: Halloween New York Style. I.e. Lots of bars and fancy roof-top parties. Sorry my pictures were not more awesome, I was distracted by the revelry.

He's a California Padre. Get it?! Get it?!

Views from the Roof-Top Party in Manhattan:

Brunch Review: Jane

Jane is one of those New York City Institutions everyone has heard of and everyone is dying to go to.

Don't bother.

Despite having reservations for 12pm, we weren't seated until almost 1pm, and had to deal with a staff that was rude. Understandable considering the unbelievable brunch rush they were facing, but still unpleasant. Our drinks and a plate of donuts were comped as a result that and a mistake they made on our orders, but ultimately the food wasn't worth the wait. I had a dull Eggs Florentine, and my friends had uninteresting omelets.

I could have made food that tasted exactly the same at home, minus the stress of waiting an hour and being jostled around by rushing servers, other restaurant patrons, and irritable hosts.

Rating: Don't bother.

But if you enjoy that sort of thing:
http://janerestaurant.com/
100 West Houston Street
NY, NY 10012
212 254 7000