Summer in the City

The last three weeks have been filled with plans and I've enjoyed every minute of it! It was a lot of time spent in the city with friends and I wanted to share what I've been up to.

Smorgasburg

I've been wanting to go to Smorgasburg for the last few summers and it finally happened! Carina and I drove into the city, took the ferry (another first!) to North Williamsburg and spent a couple hours eating and walking around. Beforehand we looked up what the must-eats are and while we didn't get to everything on our list, we got to the major ones. Here's what we tried and would highly recommend: 

Duck Season • Brooklyn Duck Poutine (with duck fat fries, duck bacon and aged cheddar). Greasy, fried and oh so good. 

Outerborough • Taiwanese style scallion pancakes filled with crispy popcorn chicken, scallions and cilantro. It was tasty but in the end, we liked the scallion pancake itself more than anything else in it. 

Ube Kitchen • Halo-halo bowl with salted ube ice cream served in a hollow dragon fruit gourd. This is like a super fancy version of a traditional Filipino dish. 

We shared everything (except the halo-halo 'cause we each got our own) and we still got full so quickly! When we go again, we want to bring a blanket so we can sit around in between dishes and then get back up for more. 

Solo Adventures

Alexa and I had been planning to check out Bryant Park's Summer Film Festival and since I read that it's best to get there early, I decided to just take the day off and hang out in the city. Specifically, do things I keep saying I'll do but never seem to find the time to. When I reminded a couple coworkers that I'd be out on Monday, the immediate response was, "where are you going?" And when I responded with nowhere, I just felt like taking a personal day – I got confused looks. This shouldn't be weird! Taking time for yourself in the middle of the week just because you can feels so good. As much as I love hopping on a plane to travel, I absolutely appreciate what's here too. I visited the Guggenheim, which I've never seen before. Then I walked through Central Park, had lunch at La Bergamote, went to 192 Books, got a pedicure and shopped along 5th Ave. It was a beautiful day spent enjoying a city I love. 

Bryant Park Summer Film Festival

If you've never watched a movie at a park, I have to say I consider it an absolute must now. Maybe we lucked out because the movie was Dirty Dancing which was perfect for summer and a crowd pleaser but it was such a fun experience. Again, you know me – I made sure I was prepared by looking up tips beforehand. I got there 10 minutes before the lawn opened to get a good spot, brought our food with me and a book to read while I waited for Alexa and she brought the blanket. (If you go, trust me you'll want to do the same.) Everyone in the audience was so into the movie. Cheering at certain parts, woo-hooing at others (like when Baby grabs Johnny's butt, haha!) and laughing at Neil and Lisa. But my favorite was the final dance. I can't begin to explain the experience of seeing an entire park of people suddenly get up to dance and sing along to "I've Had the Time of my Life." (You know we joined too.) As corny as it sounds, it felt a little like being a part of something special. 

Dinners and ice cream

And lastly, I had to mention the lovely outings with friends! Between dinners at Tacombi or ice cream for dinner at Bing Box Snow cream, it felt good to schedule some long-overdue catch-ups. 

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What have you been up to this summer?