Mid-weekend Hoegaardens

This is my favorite beer:


I have been drinking it all summer it seems. I have always been a fan of belgian beers, and especially sweet hefeweizens. I'm kind of a Blue Moon person, but I don't like that it's owned by a big brewery (coors). Hoegaarden is the real deal. I just had three in Central Park, courtesy of a $14 deli 6-pack. We went to this free 200 guitars show, but it was so crowded we couldn't even get close enough to see the 200 guitars so we decided to go drink in Central Park on a giant rock. After three beers, I really had to pee, so I also did my first au naturel pee in Central Park. Considering I chased a rat away from that park last week, I didn't feel so bad about peeing underneath a pine tree, especially given Joanna's go-ahead.

Yesterday we went out for happy hour on Smith Street in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. The first bar we went to, in particular, was great. I had an excellent $3 hefeweizen and a $5 moscow mule, which was ginger beer and vodka. We went to a tiki bar afterwards and split a scorpion, which I love because the center lights on fire. Then we went to Gowanus Yacht Club (the name is ironic...) for a final hefeweizen. I hadn't eaten dinner and I got home and ate homemade hummus and leftover microwaved thai food and felt too full (much the way I do tonight, after finishing the rest of the hummus).

I slept almost 11 hours--I think I was a bit sleep-deprived--and hung out, trying to get rid of my headache, for a couple hours. I ate some yogurt and honey and had a fake-bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on wheat bread, along with some iced tea. That started to do the trick.

When I went for a run it was kind of a fail. Turns out that my normal run route was covered with fire trucks, police vehicles, and the like, because a plane collided with a helicopter in the Hudson. Before I left my roommate told me about it, since they had been on the High Line some time after it happened, but I decided to go anyway. I'll admit I was curious about what the rescue operation would look like, and the press, etc. It made for an interesting walk, but my run was cut slightly short.

I also went to the light choice (TLC) for the first time today, and their soft serve is sooo good. I definitely will go back there, especially now that I have subscribed to their twitter feed to get additional discounts. I am such a nerd.

Also, today I bought antlers. I was walking back from my run and one of the brownstones on my block was having a stoop sale (think that's what they call them here). I had just seen an interior design piece that featured antlers, and there was a pair. They were A DOLLAR. I had her save them for me and went back to the apartment to get my wallet. They are now sitting on my shelf, and look so cool!!! She called them "quirky" and they definitely add an unusual feel to my bedroom. Since it's so girly, I think it looks cool to have a slightly masculine accent. And I feel okay about the animal thing since I certainly didn't kill the animal, it doesn't look endangered, and if you do kill an animal you might as well make use of all of it.

Tomorrow I don't have much planned--but still enjoying this fabulous, rather mild August weather.

What would the Central Park rat say?

I just finished one of those fabulous, New York City weekends, the kind where you look at yourself from afar and think how you could be a character in one of those chick lit books or, of course, SATC. I think this was mainly because I managed to maintain a pretty upbeat mood throughout the weekend, and get drunk three times, including twice in one day. Friday I went to my friend Max's birthday party at 675 Hudson, which is in the Meatpacking District, an area I normally avoid due to the preponderance of Jersey girls in stilettos tottering through the streets and a general aura of tooliness. However, this place (the basement of Vento), was trying to be a Lower East Side dive bar. Styled in the same manner as a 1970's rec room, with little alcoves where you could play connect four or board games, it was a fun, chill place. I liked that the alcoves were quieter so you could talk, and then the main area was louder and allowed for some dancing. Despite only know a couple of people, I managed to talk and chat until Julia and her boyfriend and roommate showed up drunk and two and a half hours after I got there. They bought me a drink and I rallied. I made friends with this hipster DJ who lives in Bushwick and had to fend off his advances and let him know I had a boyfriend (He still asked if I wanted "to have some fun.") Silly boy. We ended up the night at around 3 or 3:30 am at Park, another place by me that proved much nicer than expected. It was just the sort of night I would have if I were single, and it was nice to know I could still do that and enjoy it even as part of a couple.

Saturday Jess, Evelyn, and later Julia and I went to Central Park. I brought some hummus and cucumber and a bottle of prosecco, Jess brought wine, and Evelyn brought ciabatta and brie. The hummus was really spicy (Sabra supremely spicy--highly recommend) and it was hot out so I kept on having to drink more wine to get rid of the spiciness. All in all, I ended up quite tipsy. I also successfully chased off a rat--it literally jumped and scampered back into the bushes. Take that, rat. I had never picnicked in Central Park before and I definitely plan to do it again.

After rehydrating, we ended up going out later to Rusty Knot (fake, nautical-themed dive bar--by me :) ) and Tortilla Flats. Fun.

Today Rita came over and we played cards, got bagels at Murray's, and walked on the High Line (LOVE). I went for a run this evening along the Hudson River that left me feeling tired in that really good, refreshed way. I am so happy that this weekend I spent a lot of time with my friends (I love you all!). I've come to realize that I'm a more social person than I thought, and I start to get depressed if I have too much time to myself. Friday night I was not in the mood to go out, but it ended up being so great--I think I need to push myself more to meet up with friends. I'm so lucky to have a manageable work schedule, to the point where I can have more alone time than I want--or time with television/movies/books. I'm seriously getting so bored and sick of all these STORIES. Maybe because it's my job, but I find that I have NO attention span for television or movies (books, more so). I can read newspaper articles still just fine. All the stories can depress me--make me feel like I'm living and experiencing all these other lives when I want to be experiencing MINE.

Eric is coming home tomorrow, so I get to see him after my screening of Julie & Julia (a movie I am quite excited about!)