chow time... Day 3- Blog Trip

Brooklyn has fast become a hip dining spot in NYC! You can find quality restaurants that are up to par with the ones in Manhattan. This became evident in 2002 when Zagat published the first guide for Brooklyn! I used to work for Zagat Survey and it was an exciting time when the Brooklyn Guide came out! With more and more young people and families moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn, certain areas in Brooklyn have become the "IT" areas to live in. When that happens hip shopping and restaurants start popping up!

This doesn't mean that Brooklyn didn't have famous dining spots before! Since 1887 Peter Luger has been the #1 steakhouse in NYC and it is located in Brooklyn!

Another famous place to eat in Brooklyn is Junior's. This restaurant has the best cheesecake!!! It is actually known as the "world's most famous cheesecake". People line up for blocks to get this cheesecake on the holidays. It's just that good! 

Recently I had a chance to go to an eco-friendly eatery in Brooklyn called Habana Outpost. They were hosting a back to school party. The line for the food was so long so I didn't get to eat there but it smelled incredible! Everything is recycled in this restaurant and they have a composting bin and a bike that powers their blender to make shakes! Customers can go on the bike to make their own shakes if they like. I thought that was pretty cool. The food is a nice blend of Cuban and Mexican food. They also have this awesome looking seasoned corn on the cob that they are famous for! I am definetly going to check out the food there soon!

We also have restaurant week (something that has also been a tradition in Manhattan). In March, for one week, a list of restaurants in Brooklyn have a 3 course special for only $23! 

Of course there is plenty of great ethnic food to eat in Brooklyn: Puerto Rican, Mexican, Chinese, Thai and the list goes on of great places you can go to eat in Brooklyn!

Have fun exploring!

Back to School Party

Yesterday I was supposed to have some "me" time and go to this great spa in Queens I have been wanting to check out called "The NY Spa Castle" This place is multi level with all different types of saunas, pools and whirlpools. This is the description from their website:

"Your escape from the ordinary begins at SPA CASTLE, five stories high and 100,000 square feet of luxurious serenity.

SPA CASTLE is the perfect combination of traditional Asian saunas and luxurious European spas.
In consultation with overseas experts, we created numerous innovative spa and sauna systems never seen before in the United States. From invigorating massages to savory cuisine, our high-quality facilities and services are designed to promote the health and well-being of our clients."

Due to financial circumstances I had to cancel. It turned out I would have had to cancel anyway because Joey got called for training for a job! So when he got back from training I took Julia to this Back to School party I found out about on Urbanbaby.com. The party was a free event hosted by Habana Outpost and the Brooklyn Public Library. Habana Outpost is this cool eatery that is boasted as the first ecoeatery in NYC. It is located in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn.

The party was great! Julia learned a little about recycling! They made recycled notebooks at the kid's craft table. She also got to see some honey bees in action. Of course she got her face painted too! They also had tables to sign up for your library card and to learn about recycling and composting in NYC. This was all outdoors. Inside they had a dance party set up for the kids. They had a DJ playing some cool music in the downstairs area of the eatery. The place was really cool. The downstairs was decorated like a a NYC subway car! Julia danced for awhile and I danced a few songs with her :)

I told Joey we have to go back because I want to eat there. Also on Saturday's and Sunday's until October they have an outdoor market but I will post more about that later this week in the blog trip post about shopping Brooklyn.

Julia had a blast and it was a great ending to summer vacation. Tomorrow is her first day as a 2nd grader!

Unfortunately I have no pictures from this great event because my digital camera stopped working on Sunday  :(

Taking it Off Together Tuesday #12

Still maintaining... I thought I had gained due to two cakes we had to celebrate my brother and dad's birthdays! We Mom also made a pot roast and some yummy rice with chorizo! But thankfully no gain. Wish I could finally report a loss but not this week :( 

 Below is the official Taking it off Together post...

This week we are adding a contest! It seems we all need motivation after all. So, for everyone who reports a LOSS (maintaining doesn't count, sorry!) on the next weigh in will have their name put in a drawing for 100 assorted Mary Kay samples! So drink your water and count your calories. We can all do this!

 

And check it out! We had an over all loss! Congrats to http://www.myspoileddogs.blogspot.com/">Christy> for being this week's biggest loser of 5 pounds!!

 

http://www.loneblackspider.com/">Chris> - 3.2 LOSS
http://crazymomw4boys.blogspot.com/">Tammy> - 1 LOSS
http://life-w-hashi.blogspot.com/">Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0.4 GAIN
http://andthisismypart.blogspot.com/">Grace> - no report
http://eternal-flux.com/">Leigh> - 0.5 GAIN
http://quiltscatsandotherthings.blogspot.com/">Clara> - no report
http://muthahoodcrib.com/">Dette> - no report
http://duvallschafer.blogspot.com/">Julie> - 0.2 LOSS
http://cheryl-journey-of-life.blogspot.com/">Cheryl</a> - 0 CHANGE
http://makethisthelastone.blogspot.com/">Audrey> - 2 GAIN
http://www.myspoileddogs.blogspot.com/">Christy> - 5 LOSS
http://mom2boys2008.blogspot.com/">Tina> - 1 LOSS (from last week)
http://alberts-family.blogspot.com/">Danielle - 2 LOSS
http://jjjjspot.blogspot.com">Jessie - 0 CHANGE

 

This week's total - 9.1 LOSS!!