Monday, and we were off for another very New York experience. Brunch! We headed down to Low Country (a place I went earlier this year) for some southern grub, a Bell-ini, and a spicy Bloody Maria! Once we were full of energy and ready to go we headed downtown to ground zero. The Freedom tower has made a lot of progress since my mom’s last visit. Although it is still expected to open in 2013.

From there, we poked our heads into Century 21, which is kind of like a really big Marshalls, to see if we could find any fabulous purses. Let me tell you something about Century 21.. It’s huge! It’s also a huge tourist trap.. so I try and avoid it unless I am on a search for a good deal and know exactly where to go. In this matter, I knew where to go :). We didn’t find anything that was fabulous, or that had a fabulous enough price to buy.. but it was still a fun time. 

For the evening, we were headed back uptown for some home-cooking. Yeah, home-cooking Anna style! I have gotten a little better at cooking since moving here.. really I have! My go-to meal, that I personally think is rocking, is sloppy joes and strawberry shortcake for dessert. I’m telling you, if I can cook one thing, this meal is it :) So after a trip to the grocery store I was onto cooking for Mama Duck with a little assistance (whipped cream and chopping) from Chris. I like to think Mama Duck was impressed with my promotion from only cooking mac and cheese too! 

Daily dose of my “Subway Mixing” playlist

Today’s preview, Jimmy Needham - “A Breath or Two”

By Sunday we were ready for a little more of a relaxing day. The beach seemed like the perfect place to do that! So we were off to Long Beach for the Quicksilver Pro New York Surfing Competition! The competition was in jeopardy of being cancelled because of the hurricane, but they managed to clean the beach up! My mom had never seen the Atlantic Ocean either, so we decided it was a good idea to head out there, especially because it would probably be the last beach trip of the summer.

The beach was crowded, but not as bad as I expected for the last real weekend of summer! We got some sun rays on and checked out the pop-up shops on the beach. We didn’t end up actually seeing anyone really surf, except for some kids taking surfing lessons but it was still a fun time. Beaches over here are a little different from back home too, so it was nice to show my mom the ropes. 

After the beach we headed back to the city, stopped by Crumbs on the way home for a cupcake, and back to my apartment to change for the evening! Sunday night’s agenda? A rooftop bar, New York style. I found one in Chelsea that I’ve been wanting to check out, Press Lounge. It was a little bit of a walk from the subway, but we made our way through Times Square at night and westward to the ink 48 hotel. I really liked the view because you could see the Hudson river, New Jersey and then a good view of Midtown. Nothing really compares to rooftop bars here.. as cities go. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Space Needle, and I love the City Grill in Portland, but there is something to be said about New York at night. A couple of over-priced cocktails, people watching, and time enjoying the view later and we were ready to call it a night.