Karyl & Katie take NYC 2011

The weekend before Christmas, Mom came down for the long weekend to experience Christmas in New York City.  There is nothing like Christmas in the city- just like everything New York, it's over the top and over-decorated, but thankfully, seeing as Christmas is my favorite time of the year, it really gets you in the mood.  We went a different route this year trying out new things and seeing New York in a non-touristy sense.  I mean you can only take crowds of people for so long- I think we actually only spent about 10 minutes total in Rockefeller Center, we just had bigger and better things to do!  Here is a recap in pictures of our weekend!

On Friday, Mom arrived early afternoon and we decided to get all of the really touristy things over that day seeing as it wasn't the weekend.  We started off at Columbus Circle and checked out the Christmas Market, trekked over to the Plaza Hotel and down 5th Avenue to get a glimpse of all the decorated stores.  After that we went to go see the tree and then headed down to Bryant Park and the NY Public Library.  From there we went through Times Square, got dinner in Hell's Kitchen at Southern Hospitality and then on a whim we ended up going to see Mamma Mia! It was an action packed and fun day!

The hanging stars in the Shops at Columbus Circle.  They are actually really big and change colors- at night they do a light show.  They are really pretty!

Tiffany's giant wreath on 5th Avenue!  This year the Tiffany windows had  a carousel theme to them! It was gorgeous!

Us with our giant shopping bags at Rockefeller Center!

In front of the Tree!

Gigantic Lights on 6th Ave

Us with the lights!!!

Hanging out at Bryant Park.  They have the Christmas shops here and the skating rink and the tree, but this year, there was an outdoor lounge with fireplace and heat lamps.  I pretended like I was far from the city in an exotic location like Aspen.  If you tried really hard you could almost not hear the sirens and the honking of horns!

Enjoying a brew at the lounge in Bryant Park!

Had to take a break from the walking and the shopping and sitting under the heat lamps gave us a chance to warm up! Cheers!

The tree in Bryant Park- in my opinion, this one is way prettier than the Rockefeller Center tree.  The blue lights are really pretty, in my opinion.

Time Square at night!

On Saturday, we woke up early and headed down to Union Square.  Before that we walked down 5th Ave and got some Christmas Shopping done.  We ate a quick lunch and then went to check out the Farmer's Market, Christmas shops outdoors and The Strand (a huge bookstore known for it's "miles and miles" of books!"  After that, we hopped on the L train, rode a few stops and "POOF," we were in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  We went to check out the Brooklyn Brewery- went on a quick tour of their new huge facility and had a beer!  After that we went back to Manhattan, trekked down to the West Village and I took Mom for dessert at Rocco's.  We had chocolate peppermint lattes- Mom had a fruit tart and I had a sfogliatella (a traditional Italian pastry stuffed with ricotta cheese.) On the way home we picked up a bottle of wine, ordered a pizza, changed into our pajamas and watched Christmas Movies all night!

Fresh Cranberries in Union Square

Brand New Mural outside of the new Brooklyn Brewery space

Enjoying my Winter Ale! Brooklyn Brewery is my absolute favorite!

Inside the Brewery

Outside of Rocco's Bakery!

Mom left on Sunday afternoon after we relaxed all morning and had lunch.  We had a great weekend- it's always a ton of fun when Mom comes to visit!

discovering brooklyn...

What better way to pass the time than by searching for the best pizza in Brooklyn?  On Saturday, we decided to try a place by the name of Grimaldi's.  Located right under the Brooklyn bridge, Grimaldi's is known for its coal-fired brick oven pizza.

Grimaldi's!

Grimaldi's under the bridge

me in front of the pizza place!

Grimaldi's pizza is an institution, and very well known-  literally stood in line for an hour with about a hundred other people waiting to get a table in the tiny pizzeria.  Since it was close to 65 degrees outside, and we were right by the Brooklyn Bridge park, we decided to order it as takeout, and go sit and eat pizza in the park, overlooking Manhattan.

As most of you know, I am infatuated with the Bridge, so this was the perfect day.  Not only was the pizza fantastic, but our view was amazing! And I might as well tell you that we simply ordered a cheese pizza with pepperoni, size large- 8 slices.   I ate 4 slices of pizza... it was that good.

enjoying my pizza

the best slice of pizza i have ever tasted...

me with the view

i love this bridge... such a better view from the brooklyn side

After our pizza, we around for a while in Manhattan and then decided to go home for dinner.  We did make a pit stop at another Brooklyn institution- Junior's.  Junior's is known for their NY style cheesecake- I have one word for you... Phenomenal.

Junior's restaurant on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn

the cheesecake

 It was a huge piece of cheesecake, covered in strawberries, and really just delicious.  I would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Brooklyn, but you have to go there after Grimaldi's- you can't have dessert before dinner!

I honestly love Brooklyn- yes, more than I like the city.  There just seems to be so much more in Brooklyn in terms of finding hidden treasures.  And while of course, everyone knows these two places, it's that much more fun when you discover them for yourself on your own time.

Wash it all down with some Brooklyn lager, and you have a full day's worth of Brooklyn- great pizza, decadent cheesecake, and tasty locally brewed beer.  What more could you ask for?

Brooklyn Brewery's Local #2 Ale

Halloween Weekend

This past weekend, Halloween weekend, was eventful to say the least.  It's incredible how many people dress up and go all out in costume just to celebrate this holiday.  To kick off the weekend, on Saturday I went to the Brooklyn Brewery!  It is easily one of my favorite places in Brooklyn, not only because they have great tasting beer, but because it's such a fun, social atmosphere.  Going for the 3rd time since I have moved here, I was finally able to see the start of the expansion that they are undergoing.  Instead of the one tiny room they had us tour the last time, they took us to the space next door to see just how huge the brewery is going to be when the construction is all finished!

 The Logo hidden behind the new construction- the logo was actually created by the same guy who designed the I <3 NY design that you see on t-shirts and bags and sweatshirts all over the city.  Instead of charging the Brewery for it, he simply stated that he wanted a part of their company and free beer for life.  Not a bad deal at all!

All the new tanks and kegs!  Still in phase one of construction!

The Brooklyn Brewery logo with some of the old tanks in the main building.

Next time you're either in Brooklyn or at your local liquor store- definitely pick up a six pack and try some of their beer! It's easily one of my favorites and they have a ton to choose from!

Saturday night I went out to celebrate Halloween with some friends!  I chose to dress up as Holly Golightly- Audrey Hepburn's character from Breakfast at Tiffany's!  

I didn't get any pictures this weekend because my camera died when we went out Saturday night- but I was the same thing as I was last year and this is pretty much what I looked like!! This picture was taken last Halloween with my best friend from IU!

On Sunday, the annual Halloween parade occurred in the city, starting in the West Village.  I went out to try and see it with some friends, however, with thousands of people in the streets all dressed up in costumes it was nearly impossible to even catch a glimpse of the parade.  I did manage to find some pictures online to give you all an idea of what the parade was like!  

As you can see, there is a lot going on in these pictures!  People get all dressed up in costumes of literally every kind and even participate in the parade.  They have everything from marching bands to floats to huge marionette skeletons!  Some people are extremely creative and others are not, but they all have one thing in common- going out to celebrate a great holiday!