valentine's in billyburg

today was 20-30F and it was supposed to be the warmest day over the three-day holiday weekend so we bundled up in our icebreaker baselayers (these saved my butt for the last two winters) and hard shells and walked around the city all afternoon. 

from 24th street down to broome street, we were on a mission to find a bench for the master bedroom, and two nightstands and a desk for the guestroom. and i think we found a couple options we liked at bludot and cb2. going to let the ideas marinate for a while and make a decision next week.

i had been planning on stopping by the apartment to change out of my multi-wool layered outfit before dinner, but lost track of time in the afternoon so we headed directly to williamsburg. it was really nice to walk around in our old neighborhood again - so much has changed already!

at six, we arrived at fiore, one of our fave italian spots. it was as we'd remembered it: quiet, aromatic, and with a very homey feeling. since we arrived at the geriatric seating time, there were only one or two other tables taken at the time and we chose a table near the back of the restaurant by their outdoor space. 

we shared the arugula burrata salad and the grilled radicchio and proscuitto as appetizers, and ordered the tagliatelle alla bolognese and spaghetinni al pomodoro for our entrees. who knew radicchio could be the star of its own dish! the fresh pastas were delightful, and reminded us of why we love this place - the food, service, and ambiance are all so understated.

it was a relaxing, tasty evening, and by the time we were leaving around 8pm, the restaurant was completely full ~ the perks of eating early :) 

happy valentine's day!

snowpocalypse of 2015

we awoke to a very quiet city on tuesday morning. the streets and sidewalks were void of cars and pedestrians. all we heard was the low rumble of snow plows going down seventh ave and the comforting crackle from kevin's burr coffee bean grinder. our new houseplant was settling in nicely by the southwest window, basking in the morning light.

deblasio had implemented a car-train-bus-subway ban starting at 11pm last night, so we decided to walk to work. there was about 6-8 inches of snow on parts of the sidewalk, but for the most part, the streets and most major sidewalks had been cleaned overnight. the temperature was in the mid-30s, not too cold for a 25 minute walk, so i put on my ice breaker base layers, a fleece pullover, and a hard shell jacket and pants! armed with kevin's nikon and freshly brewed coffee in our top pot double-walled stainless steel mugs, we were ready to go!

the walk to work and back home were really nice! with so many people taking the day off or working from home, the streets were quiet and cars and public transportat did not re-enter the streets until 7:30am. maybe we should do the walk a bit more often, well, maybe just on workday holidays or days with terrible weather when it's less crowded out.

during the day, one of my close friends, monica, asked if it was okay to put me down as her older son's emergency contact at his high school. she'd asked us last year to be his emergency contact as well. it feels nice, like we are family. i am almost always at my desk or in the city reachable by my mobile, so of course i accepted.

we made a quick and easy dinner tonight. spicy sesame noodles with chicken, cucumbers, and pea shoots on the side. we've been working on a pot of chicken-pork soup with daikon and seaweed this week as well, good comfort food during these cold days and just like my mama makes it :)