23rd Anniversary

Our 23rd wedding anniversary was Monday :)

We spent the day at the beach with Jill, Judy & Isa and Lenny.  There was fishing, netting, kite flying, boogie boarding, shell collecting, swimming, sun and surf  (the surf was what I call salad water-it was full of seaweed).  But we spent most of the day on the bay side, where there was no seaweed. Isa is 11, she is Judy's daughter.  She is great! I don't know who had a better day, Isa or Michael?

After the beach Michael and I went home, showered, changed and drove into the city to El Quijote for dinner. We had our usual:  1/2 carafe of red sangria, garlic soup, salad with blue cheese and vinaigrette, arroz con pollo (white meat only) with garlic sauce on the side and a 1 1/4 pound lobster.  Cafe con leche, iced espresso and flan and we were happy and stuffed.  It was a great day!

Last night I met my friend Joy from camp and her husband Jay at a restaurant called Bianca at 5 Bleeker Street (http://biancanyc.com/).  It's a very cute place with wood floors and Grandma's kitchen decorations, along with wine bottles and dish towels for napkins.  The bathroom is WAY TOO HOT. And the restaurant is WAY TOO LOUD, however, it was all good.

We had:  Carciofini-thin artichoke slices with parmigiano in a lemon dressing; Pomodori-tomatoes with red onions and anchovies and a salad of endive, radicchio, frisee.  Dinner was: Lasagnette di Verdure-eggplant, tomato and zucchini tart with grated parmigiano; Spaghettini al Pomodoro-with tomato and basil and Tagliolini ai frutti di mare-clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp in garlic and light tomato sauce.  Two glasses of wine, a bottle of Pellegrino and the check was $75.  Wow.  They have great prices and good food and good service.  I will go back with Michael and friends!

Afterwards, and the reason we were in the city, was to go to Von Bar next door for a Towanda get-together.  It was great fun to see my camp friends again (away from camp). The bar, hoever, has huge prices.  A glass of cabernet and a gin and tonic was $24!  Holy crap.  The downstairs bartender was nice, the upstairs bartender not so much.  One review on Yelp called her a "c".  Other than that, it was another great night.

I seem to be having a bunch of those lately :)

I am waiting for the shoe to drop...or maybe not :)