A Weekend Outing

This past weekend I received the most welcome text from my friend Michael saying, "Hey! Let's go on an adventure!" When I moved to NYC, the first advice someone told me was: "In order to live in New York City, you have to leave New York City." For this specific person I think that entailed more of a weekend-trip to-a-house-in-the-hamptons kind of deal, but until I sign the lease on my beach house, I'm content with a slightly less glamorous approach. After living here for 8 months now (!!!) I completely understand the sentiment; as wonderful as this concrete jungle is, human beings need nature. 

So Ariella, Michael and I voluntarily woke up at 7 a.m. on a rainy Saturday morning, hopped on over to Grand Central Station and, with coffee cups and pretzel packs in hand, boarded the Metro North. What an incredibly pleasant experience! We spent the train ride catching up, listening to Michael's dramatic reading of the mind-blowing NYTimes article on Mole People, and re-introducing ourselves to the concept of scenic views. 

We got off at the beautiful little town of Cold Spring and made our way up Main Street, which was, in fact, their main street. Not a ton going on at Cold Spring, which made a day trip more manageable. Every storefront on Main St. was jam-packed with antique stores ("depression-era glass and Bakelite nicknacks" according to our Hudson River Valley pamphlet) and everyone was SO NICE. I forgot that there are people in this world who will give you the time of day without expecting something in return.

 We had the most scrumptious brunch of bacon-basted poached eggs, raspberry cornmeal pancakes and babka french toast at Hudson Hil's Cafe & Market (HIGHLY recommended if you're ever in the 'hood) and perused Old Souls, the local hiking shop (a super hip transplant from Brooklyn). We then set upon our trail, getting directions and advice from locals and finding ourselves down a wooded path that led to a beautiful waterfall, all set in the historic site of the West Point Foundry Preserve. Along our hike we:

gawked at the beautiful babbling brook,

 risked our lives while channeling our inner Troop Beverly Hills,

drank from the fountain of youth (not me, though. I played enough Oregon Trail to know this is exactly how you get dysentery),

and contemplated the meaning of life.

Once we were thoroughly soaked to the bone, we wanted one thing: soup. Thankfully, we found just the spot and downed bowls of butternut squash and chili. As soon as we were nice and cozy on the inside (though still very damp on the outside),  we grabbed a few muffins from a local bakery for the road and jumped back on the ole steel horse.

All in all, I would do it again in a heartbeat (but maybe wear a real raincoat and two more layers.) The round trip cost $25, and for a ticket out of town, it's not a bad deal. Heck, if I had a lot of work to do or a good book to read, I would head out and spend the day in a cute coffee shop along the way, just for the change of scenery. But of course as the weather gets nicer, there will be a million and one things to do in the city every weekend and it will get harder and harder to get out. I guess I just found the upside to bad weather.

Let me know if you ever want to adventure!

 xx C

BYOB(runch)

This post is about brunch. "Brunching" is a thing I did not do enough in college (the amount of mornings I wasn't eating at Half and Half or Winslow's is my biggest regret in life) and I still don't do enough of today. The concept of sleeping in on a lazy Sunday and then rolling up with friends to New York's hottest restaurant to discuss the previous night's cacophony over mimosas and pancakes for hours sounds like all I've ever wanted in life. But when it comes down to it, it takes quite a bit of organization and, more importantly, MONEY. Adding brunch to your list of hobbies and activities can set you back a significant amount each week. So it's something I'm going to aspire to.

 In conclusion, I am job-searching so that I can brunch.

As a solution, I found a temporary substitute: The BYOB.

My good friends Jacob and Sarah were visiting NYC last weekend and obviously wanted to max out their socializing, but trying to meet up with 10 people for brunch in Williamsburg is like trying to get a reservation at the Dorsia in American Psycho. So Ariella and I had the genius decision to host the brunch at our apartment! However, we decide this the night before and didn't have enough time to shop for a full-out brunch. So to make it as easy as possible, we ended up doing a Bring Your Own Brunch. Instead of worrying about cooking for everyone or even bringing a dish large enough for everyone, you just worry about yourself! This is especially convenient when you have gluten-free (and fabulous) or vegetarian friends. Our BYOB still ended up being a little pot-luckish though because I have generous friends who are willing to pick up a dozen donuts and bagels and (my favorite, thanks Hillary!) macarons. It was a lovely get together and I would fully recommend the concept when you're feeling lazy or poor or selfish and don't want to share your food.

I promise Jacob and Steven are having more fun then they're letting on.