At a time when a lot of my day-to-day is routine and limited (for good reason), these monthly ventures into the city to hang out with Alexa are literally a breath of fresh air. I get to be outdoors and walking around for hours in New York with one of my best friends and it's just such a welcome break!
On Saturday, we met up at Claudette for brunch, which was my second experience with outdoor dining. I felt good about it because I saw pictures of their set-up online and I had to make a reservation beforehand which clearly laid out the rules. But it was even better than I expected! There are outdoor, enclosed but ventilated booths with heaters per table (each fit either 1-2 people or larger ones for 3-4 guests). You have to get your temperature taken and based on your party, your time is limited. Since there were two of us, we could only have the table for an hour and the service was so great and efficient. We definitely felt safe, warm, and cozy in our little booth and the food was delicious! If you're wary of outdoor dining like we are, I highly recommend trying this place out and going right when it opens so you're the first guests to use the booth that day, which is what we did.
From brunch, we walked to three different bookstores. We laughed afterward because it was such a typical thing for us to do pre-pandemic and it felt great to be able to do it now, albeit with masks. We went to The Strand, Barnes & Noble Union Square, and Books of Wonder and walked out with books from each spot.
After buying books, we talked towards the Flatiron Building. It's one of my favorite sights in NYC so I was bummed to find that it had all this scaffolding on it. From there, we stopped by Cha Cha Matcha to buy matcha lattes and a matcha bundt cake to share (so good; just the right amount of sweetness!) and brought our afternoon snack back to Madison Square Park. We pretty much sat there talking until it got too cold for us to handle and went our separate ways from there.
I seriously couldn't believe how quickly 5.5 hours passed by but I guess that's what happens when you're having fun! We've already picked out the date for our next hang out and I can't wait.
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What have you been up to lately?
This looks like an amazing day out! I can't wait to join when the world is in a better place!
ReplyDeleteOur January hangout was a lot of fun! I'm happy that we squeezed in all the things we enjoy - brunch, tea, and bookstore hopping.
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