unique

What do you think about this picture?

Or maybe this one…

Why not stay here for a couple of days…

Or maybe you’d prefer this…

It’s a though choice, isn’t it? Fortunately I don’t have to choose. I’ll be going here in a week. In a week baby! Spring break will be spent in beautiful Aura Wyndham Resort & Spa in Cozumel, Mexico. And that’s not the best part; I’m being invited to go which means that I won’t be paying anything. How about that? I’m getting a pretty good deal wouldn’t you say? Not that I’m at all greedy but as a poor student it’s pretty nice to be pampered once in a while. And am I ever planning on getting pampered on this trip. This is my list of plans:

1) Eating everything in sight. And since it’s free and I’ll be on vacation, I won’t be counting any calories!

2) Tanning! For those who know me, my middle name is probably sun or tanning. I love to lay by the pool or onthe beach and see how my body is getting more and more tanned for everyday. And I could do it for hours.

3) Relaxing! And for me that means getting a few massages, not getting up at 6 every morning, and having time to work out and take care of myself.

How does that sound? Would you add or take away anything on my list? If then what?

In the heart of pumping, never sleeping, crowded East Village (2nd ave at 9th street) you find the Russian/Ukrainian Diner called Veselka. It’s a 24-hour open diner that has become THE stop for late-night diners. Veselka serves coffee, eggs, pancakes, burgers, pies, and Ukrainian specialties like borscht—hot and meaty, or cold, with buttermilk, cucumbers, and hard-boiled eggs. But you don’t come to Veselka for fine dining—you’re here to extend the evening with a coffee-fueled carb-fest among friends, and, happily, that’s exactly what you’ll get. What is there not to love?

We stopped by there today for a quick cup of coffee which was nice. Not a lot of people at that time but that was compensated by the funny staff, well some of them at least. Fairly cheap coffee and an interior that was wonderful. Not wonderful as fine dining, but it was your classic diner in all it’s glory. And the best thing (especially these days) is that it’s cheap, the food range between $10- $14 which, for this city, is pretty darn good! And just to back it up a little bit more, I will mentioned that it’s been on Gossip Girl… yep, that’s all I say, you do the math!

On a day when everybody writes about St Patrick’s Day and the mighty parad, I will not, for the simple reason that I didn’t see it. I didn’t take part of anything about today. Sadly I won’t be able to go out tonight and paint the town red (or should I say green?), but I’ll sure think about those who do. The rest of us just have to stay home and be responsible…

Oh, look at what I found yesterday. Read this and laugh! 

If you’re feeling down about the economy, maybe you’ll find some comfort in the latest story about cutbacks being made…at the members-only SoHo House. The House has put up a sign reading: “Anyone found in pairs in the toilet will be asked to leave the club immediately and their membership will be suspended.” The sign has caused quite a stir amongst the well-heeled on a Facebook page that’s since been taken down, and Guest of a Guest theorizes the bathrooms were not just being crowded with coke buddies, but fornicators, too, “Drug use has always been a common concern for bathroom attendants at our city’s hot spots…but apparently, sex is the new cocaine. It makes sense too…sex is a lot cheaper, and even the young, rich, and famous need to save up their pennies.” Members, don’t fear, there’s a loophole with this sign which makes threesomes totally acceptable.

That’s all folks! See you tomorrow! Sleep tight!

Okay, now I’m willing to say that spring is finally here. We have some steady 50+ degrees everyday and I’m starting to see tiny flowers growing in the park. I remember last year, by this time spring was up and about, and the city was starting to really blossom. I went to Florida for 10 days and when I came back, the change was amazing. The city had gone all spring. So that’s what I hoping for again this year. Although it’s not decided where I’m going yet but I know I’m going somewhere, and when I come back spring better be here for real, with flowers, warming sunshine, and happy people. I think my way of getting through the dark, depressing winter is knowing that spring is upon us and soon it won’t be long until you really feel the warm hugs from the sun. Oh, I just can’t wait any longer!

Also to let you know, as a celebration of spring finally being here, I’m staring my new life. I’ve always been a healthy person and excercise multiple times a week, so thiw new change is not like that. Mine is internal and mental. I need to start thinking more poivitvely about things and like myself for who I am. I’ll be nice to myself, I’ll take care of the inside me, and I’ll listen more to what my body has to say. And that is my promise to me! 

 Essex at 120 Essex street, NY

We went out for dinner last night, a birthday dinner at Essex, a very nice, laid- back restaurant with great food at low prices, especially if you compare it to the rest of Manhattan. The wone list was unexpected and very good but my favorite was the drink list which included a delicious white chocolate martini, a watermelon martini, and a raspberry- lemon daquiry which wil be my number one choice for this summer. The atmospere was nice although a bit loud due to a big party close to us but we didn’t mind. I would say, though, that the best thing about the place was the restaurant itself. Looking at it from the outside, you could never guess that it would look that way inside. There were people sitting on blaconies, at the bar, and by beautiful tables. I so loved that!

I didn’t, however, get to enjoy the food as much as I would have wanted (it really looked great) because I got sick. No, NOT from the food, from a headache attack so I had to leave, but before that I did get to enjoy the goatcheese salad which was wonderful. And when I talked to my friends today, they all said that the food was the best part (after the drinks of course), so why not go down to amazing Lower Est Side and stop by Essex. You’ll really enjoy it!

Waverly Inn

The new Waverly?

What has really happened to this blog-world we are living in? I read somewhere that swedes do the most blogging in the world, and I sure believe that. Just look at me, I have two blogs for crying out loud! I don’t read many blogs simply because I don’t have the time. What I do like about blogging is that is connects people (just like the Nokia commercial)

You kind of know that it’s gotten too far when you read two different blogs one day and they are blogging about the exact same thing. Let me remind you that these are teo separate blogs by ladies who don’t know each other. I’m sure they read each others blogs but why write about the same thing? What they were writing about was that they think that Restaurant Charles (W4th street) is the new Waverly Inn. Apparently Waverly Inn has gotten all touristy and crowded now which has made it loose its touch. They both predict that Charles is the new “it place” for this summer. I, myself, have never been to either one (although I’d love to go) so I’m just going to have to take their word for it….. or maybeI should try myself and make my own judgement. What do you think?

 I’ve always found it a little bit strange when people say that they are addicted to their phone. I’ve never understood that entire obsession with a tecnical gadget. MAybe that’s just because I tend not to understand them, but that’s just me. I do have to say now, though, that I’ve become more and more attached to my iphone lately. I think that’s because I’ve started pimpin’ it more. What that really means is that I’ve added some more features and applications to make my life a little easier (as if it wasn’t easy enough).I’ve added two recepie applications, one for food and one for drinks. I haven’t used the drink application yet, but the food one is really good. I just choose food category/dish type (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert), then ingredients (fish, meat, fruit, veggies, grains, cheese, pasta), and then I can choose cooking time, and with this, my iphone will give me a whole bunch of recepies for me to choose from. Quick and easy!

Some other applications include Google Earth, a translator, USA Today, Sudoku, a workout program, public radio, a check helper (I never know how much to tip), and a mulitconverter for all those different units and measurments that are different where I come from.

To be honest, these tiny, somewhat insignificant details have really helped make my life a little easier, so I don’t see what’s wrong with adding a couple of more just for fun (maybe facebook and style.com). But don’t wory, I won’t get too attached to it. After all, it’s just a gadget!      

Woke up feeling weird. There was a strange feeling of not sleeping enough in my body even though my alarmclock was showing 8 hours of sleep. Usually, I always get by on 8 hours, that’s about the amout of time I need for a good night’s sleep. But today felt weird…. then I remember that today is DST= daylight savings time, which means that we set our clocks forward 1 hour to get lighter days, to catch the sun.

I see why we do this, it’s just that we, now, loose one hour. And for a person who already thinks that there should be more hours in a day, this is not ideal. But again, I see why we do this, and I do appreciate the days getting lighter and sunnier.

In Sweden we have very easy names for this: summertime and wintertime. Easy to remember, huh? And an easy way to remember to set your clock forward is to think about pattiofurniture; in the summertime you want to set them out (take them forward) and in the wintertime you want to take them in (take them back)… just lika our clocks!   

The world. The United States. NY. New York City. Manhattan. Gramercy. Irving Place. Beautiful, lovely Irving place. We were going to have dinner at the newly open Inoteca at 24th and 3rd Ave but it was packed. A waitlist for about 2 hours wasn’t what we wanted so we decided to take our hungry stomachs into the lovely area of Gramercy, and more specifically Irving Place. It’s located just below Gramercy Park, east of Union Square. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of the most expensive areas in Manhattan because it sure is nice. All the smaller, picturesque houses, restaurants, and lounges.

We didn’t know exactly where to go so I suggested this restaurant called The House (17th street). I’ve walked by it many times and always wanted to go in, and I’m glad we did bacause it was really nice. We were seated on the groundfloor just by the fireplace and were immediately struck by he cozyness of the place. It’s fairly small, which was nothing by just right. The wine was good, the food was great, and the dessert was excellent I had a lobster club on sourdough and a tripple chocolate mouse cake, which, both, were to die for. Simply a great place with great food.

What also struck me was the diversity of the gropus of people in there. There was a gropu of girlfriends clearly having an after-work drink, there was a couple who looked like they were on a romantic date, and then there was us; 2 young people with parents. A nice mix in a nice venture. I really don’t have anything bad to say about this place. We didn’t stay long enough for drinks, but from where I was sitting, with my view of the bar, the drinks also looked spectacular. I even saw the bartender make a drink with Toblerone chocolate. I’m so coming back for that! :) 

Now it seems like we can change the city. At least some of the street. All you have to do is release multiple cds, tour all over the world, and become one of the most famous rack bands in the world. Piece of cake if you ask me! And the you get your very own street in this greatest city in the world!

The city of New York gave apart of W53rd street to U2 yesterday in a ceremony with Major Bloomberg and the city Council Speaker. The members of U2 held make sure that the street was clear of snow and noted how they were honored with this temporary (it’ll last a week, as they’ll promote their music for NYC for about that long).

Bono said, “The Beatles had Penny Lane, Elvis lived on the end of Lonely Street. We’re here somewhere between 10th Avenue and funky, funky Broadway, somewhere south of Duke Ellington Way and north of Joey Ramone Place we find ourselves … where the streets have no name.” He added, “New York is a place that people come to [and] feel at home. And we truly do feel at home here in New York.”

Mayor Bloomberg also got in a U2 song-title-pun: “It’s a beautiful day, to quote a famous Irish rock band. Everyone in this city, including me, considers these four Dubliners honorary New Yorkers.” U2 Way is on West 53rd between Broadway and 8th Avenue—which is just east of… Jerry Orbach Way (the sign is on the southwest corner), named after the great Broadway and Law & Order actor!