Big Trip Recap #1

I’m back! I missed you puppies lots but my trip to the East Coast was fabulous. I am sad to be home!

I was gone for a long time - more than a week! So I think I’ll split this little recap up in two parts if that’s okay with you :)

The wedding that Rami and I went to in New Hampshire was beautiful, and it was so fun finally meeting all of his college friends. Everyone was so nice and we had a great time at the wedding, which was held in a fancy old barn - so rustic and chic, I loved it!

Super cute, right? I was wearing my pretty new dress and my hair was done all nice and he looked so handsome in his fancy tie. Within about fourteen seconds of stepping outside, I was a hot mess - LITERALLY, as it was a jillion degrees. But once we started dancing it didn’t matter - everyone was sweaty messes too :) and the best part? I got to see some of Ram’s sweet moves. The boy can dance!

We flew to New York after the wedding and got to work having a great time.Full disclosure: I love my boyfriend and think he hung the moon and the stars, but even he is not without flaw... namely, his sense of direction. How can I put this delicately? The boy does not know his way out of a paper bag.... that is, in Los Angeles. But Rami was AMAZING while we were in New York! Though I have conquered the LA Metropolitan area, New York City is a mystery to me, not to mention the fear that I feel even upon hearing the word “subway” mentioned! Not to worry - R took charge the entire time - he knew exactly where we were going, how to get there, the fastest route, which subway to take, when to get off it... I was SO impressed! (I guess that’s what living in NYC for seven years will do to you. Lucky me got to reap the benefits!)

So what did we do? A million things! After a late dinner Sunday night at Pipa (home of the million gorgeous crystal chandeliers!) with my sister, her boyfriend JM, and my mom (who had arrived in the city a couple days before), we woke up bright and early and got moving!

Here is me making my “I PREFER TAXI CABS THANK YOU VERY MUCH” face before he made me get on the subway (please note the Starbucks stains on my shirt. Classy.)

Our first stop was to the Natural History Museum, where we got to see dinosaur skeletons and fossils and a sweet video about the history of the sun and stars. We could have wandered all day, but there was an important thing to do next on our agenda...

SHAKE SHACK! Here I am eating my first Shack Burger. MRM, this is for you!

We then spent the afternoon at Bloomingdales, where I did some damage at the Friends & Family presale (got those leopard Tory Burch Eddie flats and the Diane von Furstenberg dress, as promised), and then met up with the fam again for a delicious meal at Parea. Ram met my grandma and aunt and they LOVED him! (What’s not to love?)

Tuesday morning we ate dumplings for brunch and then spent a few glorious hours perusing through the Strand Bookstore. 18 miles of books! We were in book-dork heaven. I cut Ram off at six books and I came home with three. Happy sigh. I also picked up this awesome Kate Spade/Strand totebag!

AND THEN. It was time. After years of anticipation, I FINALLY got to experience Eataly!

It was foodie heaven. I could have wandered inside for hours - and in fact, we did! While waiting for our table at the pizza/pasta restaurant inside Mario Batali’s enormous Italian food heaven, we shared wine, mozzarella, and proscuitto at a little bar. After we ate we walked around, read cookbooks, looked through all the gorgeous foods - I came home with black salt and a caper puree which I can’t wait to try. You bet if I lived in NY I would be at Eataly EVERY SINGLE DAY!

And then it was time for Ram to go home :( he left Tuesday night and I stayed for family time. But more on that tomorrow!