32 isn't so bad...

When you have a husband like mine :)

He seriously made me feel special this year.  He always goes above and beyond but this year was especially nice.

My birthday was Monday so we started the celebration the Saturday before.

Husband made reservations at an adorably upscale bed and breakfast in a little town in Pennsylvania about 2 1/2 hours south of us.

Introducing Hotel Fauchere.  This place was seriously incredible.  Upon checkin, we were greeted with a glass of wine (for Nick, anyway) and surprised to have our room upgraded to the best room in the house.

We spent a lot of time relaxing on our private balcony.  Nick was in love with the marble covered bathroom.  The hotel dates back to 1852 and the room had some of the original charm intact but was tastefully updated and very comfortable.

Milford, PA, where the hotel was located felt like a town forgotten by time... it was one little main street with quaint shops and restaurants.  We went out for a quick walk before dinner and being 6 months pregnant, I naturally made Nick take me to the old-fashioned candy shoppe for fudge and penny candy.  Had we not had dinner reservations shortly thereafter I'm sure I would've stuffed my face with ice cream as well ;)

That night, we enjoyed a fantastically creative 7 course dinner.

Yes, that is a potted "plant" salad, a rock (with sliced bear) and a log (with foie gras) used as plates and on the bottom left is puffed clay.  Who knew you could eat clay?  It was surprisingly not bad.  For as odd as it looks, this dinner was delicious.

After dinner, we retired to our room to find a placard on the bed stating that if we chose, we could call the front desk for cookies, cold milk and a bed time story delivered to our room.  We were a little leery of the bed time story so we passed.  But cute thought, right?

As if being pampered with an overnight get-away wasn't enough, husband surprised me with the most amazing birthday gift... the DSLR camera I've been lusting after for a year.  I can't wait to learn how to use this thing.  Taking pictures of Bakmi with this will be so much better than with our little point and shoot.  The dogs will probably get tired of being my test subjects over the next few months.

Then on Monday (my actual birthday), I was presented with this gorgeous arrangement at my office.  I love surprise flower deliveries!  They were so fragrant that my office smelled incredible all week.  Now they're sitting on my kitchen table, still as fresh as they were 6 days ago.

The finale of birthday weekend was a dinner at one of our favorite places in Albany, Cafe Capriccio.

So.  No complaints about turning 32.  I had an amazing weekend with my favorite person and still feel like a 25 year old :)

Because I don't want to forget...

So.  I'm super late with this post.

We already know this, but my husband is seriously the best ever.  For our second anniversary (way back on November 8th), he planned the most amazing getaway to the city.  The only details he gave were what to pack.  I love surprise trips!

Now let's see how well I do at recalling the details of something that happened over 4 months ago.

Day 1:  lunch at my favorite NYC lunch spot, Jean-Georges. After a delicious lunch (that I apparently failed to document), husband surprised me with a visit to the Guggenheim.  He knows how obsessed I am with Frank Lloyd Wright (he designed the building) and that I've always wanted to go, so we went!  The exhibits change throughout the year and the one there that day was created by Maurizio Cattelan.  It was a crazy display of suspended, um, stuff.  (I'm totally not up on my art terminology.) Photos below.  The Guggenheim is such a neat building... it's literally a spiral that takes you all the way up (or down as we did it) in a circle so you're able to view the exhibit from all possible angles.  There was also a pretty bad-ass Kandinsky exhibit that I wasn't allowed to photograph.

Later that night we went to dinner with Sis, Nunz and Scooter.  How terrible is it that I don't recall the name of the restaurant?  Oh well.  It was fun.  And I got to wear one of my favorite outfits :)

Day 2: I awoke to more surprises.  Husband told me, however, to make sure I shaved my legs.  Pretty much a dead give-away.  Um, hello massage!  He whisked me off to Bliss Spa for a glorious 60 minute massage followed by a Shellac manicure.  Heaven.  After that, we walked to one of my new favorite places in the city, Eataly!  This place is seriously amazing.  It's a giant Italian grocery store with several different cafe areas to sit and grab a bite and a glass (bottle!) of wine.  And on the roof is a beautiful open bar where we had more wine and cheese :)  Sis joined us for this, too.  

Since it was such a beautiful November day, husband had one more surprise for me.  We walked back to our hotel on the High Line!  The High Line is a fairly new park.  It was originally built above the city as a freight line in the 1930s.  It sat neglected for decades until being transformed into a beautiful park.  It runs from Chelsea to mid-town (ish... I'm not terribly up on my NYC geography) and we walked the entire thing.  It was quite unique to see the city from such a different vantage point.  Can't wait to walk it again!

                

Day 2 ended with a fabulous dinner at  "our" table at our most favorite restaurant, Daniel.  Again, no pictures, but it was the perfect end to a perfect anniversary trip. 

Happy 2 year (and 4 month) anniversary, Babe!

   

Caro(lyn)line in the City.

Ever see that show?  During it's mid-90s run, I acquired the show title as an unfortunate nickname.  What is with kids and their obsession with nicknames?  Anyway...

We spent this past weekend in one of my favorite places... NYC!

We left bright and early Saturday morning and headed straight into Manhattan for brunch at Ai Fiori in the brand new Setai hotel.  One word.  AMAZING.

Clockwise from top left:

Oysters for the husband.  I don't do oysters, aphrodisiac or not ;)

Olive oil cake

Sweet polenta with marcona almonds and currants.  Delicious.

Ricotta and marscapone tortelli with a red wine glaze.  Again, delish.

View of the contemporary dining room overlooking 5th Ave.
Veal angolotti.  Incredible.

Unpictured:  A bottle of  rose champagne

And because I'm a giant dork (and I had 2 glasses of bubbles and a glass of Riesling in my system) I took a picture in the bathroom.  ha.  It had mirrors on opposite walls, so you know, when you look in one, you see a thousand.  It amused me ;)

After brunch, we did a little shopping and met up with friends for a drink at a funky little hole-in-the-wall Irish pub, complete with stereotypical Irish-New Yorker bartender.

Three vodka and sodas later we headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner.  Our 8:00 reservations at Aureole turned into an 8:15 since someone just had to curl her hair.  Ahem.

This dinner with husband's two best friends and their girlfriends was one of the more memorable I've had.  The food was truly amazing.  It was all so delicate and flavorful. 

Sorry for the shitty pictures... it was dark and we didn't want to use the flash.

Clockwise from top left:

Hamachi with mint, cilantro, red onion and guava.  So light and yummy.

Ruby Red Shrimp w/ curry meringue, kaffir lime and coconut jus.

Husband's entree:  Dry aged rib eye with ricotta cannelloni and red wine jus.

Cannoli Sundae

Dark Chocolate Torte

My entree:  Alaskan black cod w/ creamed spinach and brown butter.  Melt in your mouth, creamy good.

Unpictured:  Two bottles each of champagne, gruner and syrah.  We don't like to drink at all.

The waitstaff took such great care of us... three courses, dessert and the first bottle of bubbles were sent out on the house.  Helps that husband is friends with the GM :)

Before leaving, we got a tour of the kitchen and got to meet the very talented chef.

After dinner we headed to the bar at the Gansevoort.  Not my scene.  Way too crowded and loud... I can't hang like I used to.  So sad.

After one pathetic drink at the Gansevoort, we headed across the street to someplace a little more my speed.  A place where we could actually sit at the bar and have a conversation:  Primehouse.  I don't think I had a single drink there though... it was after midnight at this point and if you've been following this post, you'll recall that I've been drinking basically all day. 

 

Couldn't leave without a cute picture!

After stopping our taxi a block and a half away from our hotel to grab a late night slice of cheese pizza (4th meal!), we ended the night in our shoebox-sized room around 1:30.

Sunday was a wine and restaurant trade show at the Javits Center.  Too bad we were far too hungover to really enjoy it.  We ended up cutting the day short and heading back to Albany early.  The ride home wasn't complete without a pit-stop at Woodbury Commons though!  Saks and Kenneth Cole missed me :)

So.  Long weekend full of good food, drink, friends and fun.  Now it's Monday evening and I'm still recovering.  I can go to bed at 7:30 tonight, right? ;)