Em’s Birthday + Manhattan Getaway

We had a big weekend over here!  My parents were in town, we celebrated Emerson’s birthday on Friday, and then Matt and I went on an overnight date in the city!

We kicked off the long weekend with my mom and dad’s arrival on Thursday. Emerson hadn’t seen them in a few months and was so excited, but then was super shy when they got here. We headed straight for the Gap Outlet and my mom treated Emerson to some new fall clothes for her birthday.  They were having an amazing sale and we didn’t pay more than $12 for anything! We ordered tacos for lunch and then played at home before I cooked dinner on Thursday night.

The birthday celebration started bright and early on Friday morning when Matt and I woke Emerson up with balloons and singing.  She’s been playing with the balloons ever since!

Matt headed off to work and my parents and I took Emerson to the transit museum so she could play on the buses and trains. She had a blast!

For lunch, my dad and I walked down to Court Street grocers for epic sandwiches.  I couldn’t wait to try them after I heard they had some of the best gluten free bread in the city!  The focaccia did not disappoint! We also picked up Emerson’s gluten free funfetti cake from Milk Bar.

After nap and opening gifts from Matt’s parents + my sister, we headed to a celebratory dinner at French Louie. Em was in a bit of a mood, so we ate kinda quickly, but enjoyed the food nonetheless. The mussel frites in mustard sauce were incredible. French Louie has been one of our favorites for brunch, and it was just as good for dinner.

When it was time for cake, Emerson ran to her high chair yelling ‘birthday, birthday.’

The cake was moist and pretty much everything I dream of.

Em loved the cake too, and after two pieces, she continued to ask for ‘more birthday.’

It was such an incredible day! We put Em down around 8:30 and then called it a night soon after. I was glad to get lots of sleep in preparation for Saturday! We planned a staycation of sorts in Manhattan partly to celebrate my birthday (on Thursday) and partly because we only have about 8 more weeks in NYC.

We took the subway into the city around lunch time and headed straight to Pondicheri for bloody marys and Indian fusion food.  Oh my gosh it was amazing! There were so many gluten free options too! We settled on ‘the Texan’ fried chicken and a dosa with avocado and greens. Oh, and a spiced cookie. I think we will definitely have to go back before we leave.

We dropped our stuff at the hotel (just a random Element hotel that had a good rate in Times Square), and headed to the Hudson River Waterfront Greenway to ride bikes.  The ride was awesome, and I loved being by the water, but it was cold!!  My body isn’t used to the cooler temps yet and 55 felt freezing!  We then made our way to Central Park and ended at the MET for a quick visit.

Cocktails and dinner were definitely the highlight of the date!  We wanted to go somewhere off the beaten path, and settled on Thursday Kitchen after reading glowing reviews – we realized we’d probably never go there when paying a babysitter, since there’s typically a 1-2 hour wait. We only had to wait an hour, and enjoyed the hour around the corner at an incredible hole-in-the-wall cocktail bar, Amor y Amargo.

Back at Thursday Kitchen, we ordered the famous Capri suns (remember those?) made with Korean soju.

We ordered five small plates and everything was enjoyable. The pork shoulder and steak with grits were the stand-outs.  And the salted caramel popcorn ice cream was pretty damn good too. We couldn’t eat or drink any more after dinner, but didn’t want our date to end, so we strolled three miles back to our hotel before retiring. The Times Square crowd was just getting started. Ha.

Sunday, we had a lovely sidewalk brunch at the Bluestone Collective Cafe in Greenwich Village before heading home.  Go there for the baked goods by Husk! The avocado toast was perfection and the gf banana bread with ricotta was heavenly.

Our weekend ended with a trip to Brooklyn Bridge Park and thai takeout with my parents, and then Emerson’s two-year-old check-up Monday morning. It was a whirlwind weekend, and I’m excited for a quiet week [well, until we celebrate again on Thursday!]