The view out the plane when I landed in Philly, en route to La Guardia. Redeye flights going east always leave me feeling like days are too long, like we’re chasing the sun. It’s disconcerting to look at the window and see this at what feels like 2am.

We took a trip to Craftbar for some takeout and had a few drinks while waiting for it.

The first drink consumed on the trip, the purple pisco: pisco, a blue liqueur that I forget the name of and egg white. Egg whites are a classic cocktail ingredient, adding foaminess and body to a drink. They’re underutilized these days, probably because of a fear of salmonella and most people’s disgust at the thought of raw eggs. I really hope they make a comeback though.

This was the second drink of the trip, ordered after the purple pisco. Lavender and rosemary provided a refreshing contrast to the body of the earlier drink.

Dogs resting in the shade while a walker gets them organized. This is the sort of thing I love about New York.

The second night in New York was spent at a restaurant called Mumbles, classic bar food done really really well. This was the only picture of the night, a Hendricks martini with a twist. I soon gorged myself on French onion soup and penne alla vodka and drank myself silly on manhattans. All the while Alice Cooper and Uriah Heep were on the radio. You’d never hear them at a bar in California.

I’m pondering the salty pimp I bought from the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, vanilla soft serve, with dulce de leche, covered in chocolate and sea salt.

It didn’t last long.

The third night we had dinner at Blue Hill, an astounding farm to table restaurant. From bottom to top the dishes contain butter, whipped lardo (pig fat) and tomato salt. This was just what was served with the bread.

I had cherries for my dessert course, Atom had strawberries. Both were delicious. The portions look small when you get them, but after a full meal there you feel sated.

I had a manhattan with my dinner (As you can tell they’ve become something of my go-to drink). Everything was sourced locally, including the locally distilled rye whiskey and the orange bitters. This was perfect.

The desert amuse was marshmallows, chocolate covered raspberries and chocolate covered almonds. I have a soft spot for real marshmallow and these were right up my alley.

The following day I visited The High Line, a public park situated on old train tracks above the city. It’s a great concept and very well executed. I’d love to see more cities take projects like this as a cue on novel ways to turn abandoned infrastructure into public spaces.

Of the 5 days in New York, this was the nicest. The gloominess and humidity abated for the afternoon and it turned into a really nice summer day.

For dinner that night we returned to Craftbar. My appetizer was a coddled egg with grits and truffles. I’d always hated grits and polenta before, finding them to be flavorless with horrible texture no matter how they were doctored. I ordered these to give myself one last chance at liking them and they were amazing. It turns out that Waffle House really can’t make grits for crap.

Finally, my real reason for going to New York: apartment hunting. I’ve been eyeing a move there for a long time, since my first real visit as an adult actually, and finally decided to make a move on it. I’m fortunate enough to be keeping my old job and flying back to California as needed. After spending the week on the Upper East Side looking at apartments, the one my girlfriend and I wanted all along finally came through and I signed a lease on it last Friday. We move in September 1st. I was so happy that I didn’t mind getting rained on as I walked the 40 blocks down to the MOMA store for some celebratory shopping.

UP THERE

I think part of the reason that I hate today’s advertising is the thoughtlessness of it all. Hand painting well thought out artwork on the side of a building comes from an entirely different place and ethos than Verizon ruining the New York skyline with their logo.

It’s one of the best shorts I’ve seen in a long time.

Part 1:

Part 2

MIX STIX.

Want.

I first saw this photo a few years ago and thought I had saved it but it turned out I didn’t. Worse, I didn’t even remember which found photography site I saw it on. This afternoon I noticed Square America finally had a search so I looked through the pictures and finally came across it.

I don’t know what it is about this particular photo that does it for me, but it somehow makes me miss a moment I never experienced.