Goodbye NY (for a short while)

Before leaving for break I decided to do a few super touristy "Christmas in NY" things. My friend Ben was in town so I took him to Caracas Arepa Bar for arepas and PBR and then to Yaffa Cafe which is a fun and eccentrically decorated 24 hour restaurant/cafe. Ben ordered something that was basically almond syrup and steamed milk and was really excited about it. The next day we went to the Chelsea Market for brunch, where we had an amazing meal at Friedman's Lunch, and incredibly decadent hot chocolate from the famed Jacques Torres which we drank as we walked along the High Line.  Then I went home, finished my paper, and spent the evening making crafts and eating treats with some lovely ladies in my building.

Ben in Chelsea Market (and so excited to be there!)

Vegan treat study break

As you can probably tell, I've been updating a heck of a lot less than usual, as I've been busy working on final papers, looking into classes for the summer, and preparing for next semester. I am SO looking forward to my pretty much 1 month vacation. During that time, I probably won't be updating, but you can definitely expect to hear from me in February.

Last night, I took a break from work and went with my friend Caroline to Babycakes, with is an dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, processed sugar-free bakery! I'm a little skeptical about vegan deserts but I had many people rave about it to me so I knew I had to try it.

babycakes is located on the LES and is super adorable

Yes, I did speak to Jon Stewart about Bruce Springsteen

I've been pretty awful at updating recently, as I've been doing stupid things like writing my final papers and research projects. Damn school, always getting in the way of important things like blogging. I've pretty much moved into the grad lounge at Bobst, to the point where I now recognize the other "regulars". But I'm almost done!

I felt I needed to return to my dear friend the blog as yesterday was one pretty amazing day. It was the day I went to a filming of the Daily Show! I started the day off with a field trip of sorts with my research group member and friend Drew to the New York Historical Society Library. The building is under construction, so after taking us through some crazy back route, up a freight elevator, and cleansing us of all our possessions (well our bags and coats), we were in an absolutely gorgeous reading room, with access to an incredibly amount of rare, old and interesting documents and books. We dorked out looking at Goodyear Dirigible pamphlets from the 1930s (yes, this is what we do in graduate school), and grabbed a tea nearby.

I then met up with my friends Caroline and Rachel at Norma's a very chic restaurant at the Le Parker Meridien for one of the best brunches I've ever had. Rachel and Caroline had chocolate peanut butter waffles, and I had Norma's Eggs Benedict which is Canadian bacon, roast asparagus and poached eggs on top of pancakes, smothered in a truly amazing hollandaise with bottomless glasses of fresh OJ. Definitely not a cheap brunch but a treat nonetheless. On the way out, we posed with the various entries in the Gingerbread House competition, this year theme revolves around movies set in NYC. All pics below are care of Rachel, as I didn't bring my camera (no cameras allowed at Daily Show).

Me with the "Big" entry, complete with FAO Schwartz piano!