With the blink of an eye, summer is fading, drawing itself to an end. I'm headed to Philadelphia for an nontraditional Labor Day Weekend. It's been 2 years since I've been together with my college roommates and our favorite sublet. Filled with excitement to see everyone and to celebrate at Stella's engagement party, a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony followed by a Hawaiian luau with a pig roast and fire show. Lucky Brian snagged the former Miss Vietnam USA. Yes, the first girl to get beer and wings at the Skellar managed to be the first to win a beauty pageant and soon she'll be married. Times have changed. The seasons are changing. Getting together with old friends will never get old.
Don't let Earl get in your way. Enjoy the long weekend, soak up the rest of summer, eat lobster, take in the US Open, dig your feet in the sand, bbq with friends and as always, stay bitten ;)
A lot has changed since childhood. From sporting speedos and scrunchies, we all grew up a bit and ditched passing notes in class for texting and bbming. One thing that hasn't changed - Lee, one of my favorite boys from my elementary school playground, still knows how to throw the best pool parties.
Behold, Billy Madison Day, the fifth year, somehow better than the previous.
BMD is arguably the best day of the year and arguably the best fundraiser I've ever attended. Once a summer, Lee throws a fundraiser in the form of an adult pool party. Two school buses depart from the city and head to the suburbs for a day of fun in the sun.
While we may have gotten older, we've managed to hold onto our childish enthusiasm. Franks and me headed down the over-sized slide. No, this is not your average pool party.
With the party planners, enjoying BMD V.
Standard pool attire.
Ice luge anyone?
There's a reason why we can only do this once a year.
Crocodile Mile sure has changed since the 1980's. You run, you slide...
Play: Beer popsicles at Diable Royale Este. I prefer the West Village spot but head east to get an end-of-summer treat. Pick Your Nose cups.
Wear: breeze by kd tshirts. From Ke$ha to Beyonce, Dave's little sister, Kate, is making us proud with her cool tees.
Watch: Take a break from watching Nassau County State of Mind to watch Natalie's brother's youtube hits. He caught the attention of sports fans with the Tiger Woods Jesus Shot, now he caught mine (and thousands of other's) with this video.
Scotty from my design team deserves a high five. Somewhere between his day job and life, he managed to put together a solo exhibition across the country.
This one made me smile.
And this one too.
If you're in San Fran or are headed there, flowers in hair, be sure to check it out. For more info and to check out the rest of his work, click here. Stay bitten ;)
After a fun-filled weekend in Ocean Beach, Fire Island, we ferry hopped to our next destination. It was a lot of traveling for a Sunday but when you're with 3 of your girlfriends, you lose track of all of that. Somewhere between the laughter, the weekend recaps and the singalongs, we found our way to the country music concert. I'm a Yankee, born and raised, so how I ended up getting tickets to a Zac Brown Band concert is questionable. ZBB won the Grammy for Best New Artist. They recently opened up for DMB. And now they're on TBB. If you ask me, I think I've got the answer. They got whatever it is.
We stood out in the parking lot. From hippie to hipster, one thing we weren't dressed up as were cowgirls. I foolishly left my Frye boots at home- they would have helped us blend in with the below the Mason-Dixon crowd. Yes, one concert goer was actually wearing the Confederate flag. Another concert goer was wearing a Coors Light cowboy hat.
You know I like my chicken fried, cold beer on a Friday night, a pair of jeans that fit just right and the radio up...
Alisa did her homework and found us a place to try out stand up paddle surfing, also known as SUP. We headed to Long Beach eager for a lesson and an intense workout. Erica, Alisa and I woke up early and took an express train straight to the beach, a quick an easy summer escape. Unfortunately, the current and the waves were more conducive for surfing, not paddle surfing. There's always next time...
We managed to keep ourselves occupied on the beach, thanks to Alisa's toys and Erica's jokes.
Lucky for us, my dad was on the beach - watching a volleyball tournament- he's the best. We joined him for lunch (thanks Abba) and caught the final round.
The Texans (below) beat the guys from New Jersey (above).
Later in the afternoon, we got a volleyball lesson or two from my dad and his friends. Stay bitten ;)
For the first weekend in a while, I was in the city on a Saturday morning. Take to the highway, I dusted off my neglected bike and headed west. From Trump Town to Tribeca, there's plenty to stop and see along the way. We picked up lunch at Chelsea Market, stopped by the Highline and had a picnic along the Hudson. There are a few places along the WSH where you can rent free kayaks. Man, I love this city. Laugh all you want but this handy fanny pack held my bike lock, iphone, cash/id, keys and chapstick.
There are a bunch of group deal websites that popped up overnight but I'm not one to purchase frozen yogurt in bulk. A deal is a deal but you want to feel like it's money well spent, not something that's an impulsive regret. But with Gilt City, it feels different, a little more personal. It's as if someone ran around the city cultivating something just a bit cooler, curating a sale that's one step ahead of the groups online. After reading the review, this was one deal I couldn't pass up on. A pop-up restaurant in a surprise outdoor space in Soho. Former Top Chef contestant. Argentinian BBQ. I signed Matt and myself up before i knew if either of us were free, worried it would sell out.
I received an email the following week revealing the location of our pop-up dinner plans. The element of surprise always works, well, when the surprise is at The Yard at the Soho Grand Hotel. We found ourselves at one of two long communal tables decorated with wild flowers on top. With jars of chimichurri sauce and peach chipotle, we enjoyed the Churrasco Mixto (skirt steak, pork loin and house-made chorizo). A larger than life pitcher of sangria, some Gypsy Kings background music and a artsy graffiti wall backdrop provided a different setting from my typical Wednesday nights.
If you haven't checked out Gilt City yet, click here. Boston and New York are up and running. Stay bitten ;)
From the book to the big screen to reality, don't starve yourself, feed your appetite for life. Jon makes fun of me for this - he says "Lauren, you're so eat pray love." Go ahead, make fun. I'm more than ok with that.
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