A Long Weekend in NYC

After all the bitching and whining about the extra cold winter and the super soggy spring, it finally felt like summer in New York City this weekend. And just in time too; all those people at Coney Island and the Hamptons woulda looked mad foolish spread out on their beach towels wearing ponchos and rain boots. Nope, Memorial Day weekend in the city didn't disappoint. I was glad I didn't travel anywhere for the holiday cause New York is one helluva town!

On Saturday morning, Vin and I met up with our buddies Kerri and Nick at the newly opened Smorgasburg food market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There were about 100 vendors there selling everything from Sunday gravy to ostrich jerky.

The market is on a lot right by the water, which was pretty awesome. In case you're not familiar with Williamsburg, allow me to sum up. The hippest parents in the history of the world live there and half of the dads look like Zach Galifinakis.

Kerri brought this fork all the way from Queens to sample the wares. She topped it off with many good things.

Because it was hot as blue blazes, the first thing we all did was grab a tasty homemade soda from Brooklyn Soda Works. The boys both got root beer (bor-ing!), while Kerri and I each ordered the more exotic apple-rosemary. Holy deliciousness.

There was plenty of sweet snackin' to be found, from teeny-tiny cupcakes...

to enormous ostrich eggs. 

And pretty little jars of homemade jellies and jams. Kerri bought a beer jelly! I bet that would be killer on a big soft pretzel.

Her husband Nick got himself a loaded veggie dog.

While Vin and I split an order of pupusas--his was chicken, mine was pork--topped with sour cream, pickled cabbage, hot sauce and jalapenos. What's a pupusa, you ask?

I answer. 

And then...you know what time it was. It was doughnut time. These were from a Brooklyn bakery called "Dough" but as far as I was concerned, that store should be named "Dope" cause that's what these doughnuts were. Vin got a coconut glazed and I went for lemon poppy simply because I'd never been offered that flavor in a doughnut before.

I make hungry look sexy, but man, I really can't pull off words like "dope". Forgive me...they were swell!!

After we parted with our friends, we drove back to Queens so I could get a new pair of sneakers in Jackson Heights. I got the green ones. They're a little snug.

Jackson Heights, Queens has sincerely kick-ass food too. 

But significantly fewer Zach Galifinakis sightings.

After that, we committed ourselves to a few hours of yard work. 

The weeds were simply out of control. I was afraid they were going to eat my ankles.

Ah, that's better! Now the neighbors will stop calling us Dan and Roseanne Conner. 

Vin put together some patio furniture we got at Ikea last weekend. I LOVE it and plan on logging a lot of time on that hard little bench. In fact, my butt is parked on it right now.

After some much needed showers, we hit a popular spot in Astoria called Mojave for dinner. That's the other great thing about Memorial Day...everyone else was out of town and the usually hoppin' place was nearly empty!

It's a terrible picture but I had an awesome dinner--an ahi tuna salad with avocado, radish and sliced oranges. This made me feel better about sticking my face in a doughnut hours earlier.

On Sunday, I had a quiet walk in Astoria Park in the morning, then Vin and I hit the crazy streets of Times Square. Not a fan of the area, but it's the closest movie theater to us.

We saw Bridesmaids, and I think my gut is still sore from laughing so hard. I knew it was going to be funny, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite as uproarious as it was. Go see it!!

After the flick, we headed down to the West Village to have dinner. We went to John's Pizzeria, a place I've wanted to try for years but always avoided due to the long lines. Luckily we got there before the hordes did...

This is Vin posing with our pizza. Vin takes his pie very seriously. He is a native New Yorker, after all. Survey says: This was a good one. Really good. PS: Real men wear pink.

 Then we surfed the racks at a small little bookstore with a nice selection and a very heavy name. 

And indulged in some of the best freakin' gelato I've ever had at L'Arte del Gelato. Vin had chocolate chip and tiramisu, while I tried a combination of amaretto and Nutella. If a genie popped by my living room right now and told me he would grant me three wishes, one of them would be to be able to eat gelato everyday without going up a pant size. Perchance to dream!

We spent the rest of the evening on a bench in Washington Square Park, listening to live music and watching kids skateboard. Nothing beats a summer night in New York City.

Of course, if you ask me, nothing beats any night in New York City.

Happy Memorial Day, and thank you to all the soldiers who've worked so selflessly to defend this great country...and my favorite city.