A Day of Brunch and Primping!

Winter Ball day is finally here and we’ve spent all day prepping, primping, and toasting in perfect fashion!

I enjoyed the sunshine for thirty minutes while walking to meet Theodora and some of her good friends for brunch.

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Today’s brunch spot was Park Avenue Tavern, compliments of Brunch Critic. IMG_0759Brunch Critic is a new website which is New York’s only brunch only resource. Here’s a quick description from their website:

“After being frustrated by the lack of information easily available on the web to find that perfect brunch venue, we decided to create BrunchCritic.com. There are plenty of food related websites, blogs and directories available to New Yorkers, but none that truly identify details about brunch. We realized that we were not alone in wanting quick, accessible and specific information on Brunching in New York, and there was a demand not being met.”

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While the menu we were offered today was quite small versus Park Avenue Tavern’s regular brunch menu, the food and cocktails left me wanting to try more. I was pleasantly surprised with their chef salad and their Bloody Mary. As I told Theodora and the rest of our group, if a restaurant can cook a plain chicken breast well that says a lot.

IMG_0763  IMG_0760 IMG_0761I definitely want to come back to Park Avenue Tavern for dinner or happy hour to check out their downstairs booths with private taps!

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After brunch we headed downtown for an afternoon of primping. I felt like we were back in college, getting ready for a sorority formal this afternoon. We were able to get our hair and makeup done on a budget by choosing a local NYC chain for the updos and blowouts and then going to Sephora for our makeup.

If you call ahead to make a reservation and then spend $50, Sephora’s beauty stylists will do your makeup for a special event. Each stylist took over an hour on each of us, while sharing us tricks and tips along the way. The best part about it is that you can spend $50 on a gift card versus having to buy product.

 IMG_0767 IMG_0768IMG_0769IMG_0772 I’m ready to dance the night away at the Winter Ball! Don’t stay up as I think it’s going to be a late one! 😉

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The Perfect Friday

 

Every now and then you have one of those days that are so wonderful, you just can’t stop pinching yourself. Yesterday was definitely one of them!

Earlier in the week I had decided that after weeks of long hours, I was in need of a Friday half day. This would give me the chance to enjoy a special event with some other bloggers (more to come later), finish my long run for the week, and enjoy some pampering at Bliss.

Theodora nor I knew what to eat for lunch that would be filling, gentle on our stomachs, while fueling us for our run a few hours later. I’m so accustomed to early morning runs that are fueled with peanut butter and banana. It is hard to find this option in Pax , Pret, or Toasties and I only had 5 minutes to grab lunch.

I settled on a ham Pressata from Pax minus the cheese. When I returned to my desk I realized that the sandwich wasn’t ham and tomato alone as I’d requested. Instead, there was a small piece of cheese that added some delicious melted goodness.

IMG_0729 Within an hour I regretted this decision. Even though the caloric information said it was only 515 calories, including the cheese, it was far richer than my stomach is accustomed to digesting. Luckily, by the time I arrived at Theodora’s apartment, 3 hours later, I was feeling better.

We hung out watching The Ellen DeGeneres show while catching up. It would have been easy to forget about our long run and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing. But, luckily, after this tweet we decided to continue catching up on foot during our run.

imageGetting out of the house was the best decision ever! We didn’t put any pressure on ourselves, instead promising that we’d run until we wanted to turn around even if it was only 3 miles.

Our only stop during the run was at our turn around point, approx 4 miles up the Hudson River.

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By the end of our run we had logged 9 miles at a decent pace while also finding redemption in a good run after a few less than stellar runs this week and last.

Our fun wasn’t done though! After the fastest stretching session ever, we hustled back to midtown for an evening of pampering and dinner with Bo. We redeemed our birthday gift cards at Bliss 49 while enjoying a manicure and pedicure. IMG_0750

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The spa lived up to it’s name but by the end Theodora and I were quickly becoming Hangry Pants.

Bo rescued us and quickly persuaded us to enjoy Dos Caminos for dinner. Actually, this didn’t take much persuaded especially since it was only a few blocks away.

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I enjoyed the ceviche trio for dinner which was the perfect size after enjoying a few chips and guacamole.

Can every Friday please be like yesterday?

Question: What is your favorite entree at a Mexican restaurant?

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