Wendy & City Crab with Winnie

The celebration continues...(how much do I LOVE this!!!).  Winnie got tickets for a Wendy taping.  And then we took advantage or rather Winnie helped me take advantage of my birthday "freebie" from City Crab. They offer the birthday person a free entree valued up to $40!

The show was fun even though it was only a tape of the featured guest - Naomi Campbell.  During commercial break, Wendy acknowledged me & Winnie and "welcomed' us back. :)  And we started it all off with VIP treatment. We sat in the VIP room and were the first 2 in line.  Super good!

After the show, we walked over from 26th & 7th Ave to 19th & Park Ave South.  We got to City Crab and were their first patrons.

Looking over the menu, I opted for the sea scallops.  One of my favorite in the seafood category.  And Winnie went with the "Louie" salad consisting of jumbo lump crab and shrimp with hard boiled egg, tomatoes , cucumbers and carrots on a bed of romaine lettuce and thousand island dressing.  It was all fabulously scrumptious!  My meal was $27 - Winnie's - $21.  They took $27 off the bill - what a deal!

Nikki's 29!

Huge hugs for the birthday girl!! ♥♥♥

A Nikki Day

A pretty Saturday to get together with Nikki & Tom for brunch in their Brooklyn neighborhood.  I wanted to celebrate Nikki's upcoming birthday and owed Tom a birthday meal.  I also had deliveries for Nikki so I was killing many birds with this visit.

I made her the requisite corned beef and cabbage.  Delivered several boxes of cereal courtesy of Winnie who had gotten a giveaway from The Chew of a year's supply!  I also received a package for Nikki so this was perfect timing to get it all to her.

Nikki wanted to try Sunshine Co. located a couple of blocks from their apartment.  Decor was typical of the trendy eateries popping up all over the neighborhood...counter bar for eating also, a row of small tables and chairs and an outdoor eating area.  We waited about 30 minutes for a table.  Clientele was hipster and young professionals.  It was comfortable and laid-back.  The brunch menu was minimal but with enough variety to please palates across the board.

Nikki and I ordered appetizers to share: Cheese Toast: riccota, sliced Bartlett pears, & honey on a bed of arugula and Chicken Liver Terrine served with grained mustard, house made preserves and grilled toast. Totally delicious.  The pears with the ricotta was refreshing with the light sweetness of clover honey.  The chicken liver terrine was done wonderfully with the right amount of seasoning.  All gobbled up.

Tom & I opted for the Citrus French Toast while Nikki had the Grilled Skirt Steak.  All of it was delectable and quite tasty!  Always fun to catch up.

Happy Birthday to my girl!!

The Appetizers

Citrus French Toast

Grilled Skirt Steak with eggs and potatoes

IKEA BYOF 2014

This year, Nikki, Winnie & Liz accompanied me to IKEA's BYOF event today.  We received our free breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey sausage and home fries plus being part of IKEA Family, we got free coffee and tea.  Nikki couldn't resist and also ordered the Swedish pancakes.  We all shared in it. :)

We got our free IKEA totes.  We also did a "photo-shoot" with photo-bubbles:  Great way to commemorate the day!

We all purchased a little something-something and took advantage of the Swedish Meatball sale.

Afterwards, back to Queens where had a delicious lunch at Sake Sushi, shopped at Aldi's before I drove everyone to their respective homes.  What an awesome day!

I just discovered that it was also International Women's Day so how apropos that I spent it with some very special women!

Year of the Horse 2014

This year, our family celebratory Chinese New Year dinner was very different.  We were missing Kathy & Tony. We didn't go to Chinatown or to my mother's.  And we didn't have Chinese food!  Instead, we met up on the Upper West Side in the 90's at a Japanese restaurant named Kouzan.  Almost felt sacrilegious!  But it was quite wonderful.  Food was scrumptious, atmosphere - elegant and bottom line...we were all together.  Happy Chinese New Year!

My roll combo...eel & avocado, salmon & tuna

Bento Box

Chocolate Pyramid dessert

Calling #34!!

Have you ever entered a raffle?  Or have your name or number picked out of a hat?  I'm sure you have...at least once in your life if not dozens of times.  And usually...typically...it's not your name, not your number that is chosen. Someone else across the room is all excited and smiling ear to ear.  Yeah...that has happened countless times to me.  Too many to even count.

I was at a Kelly & Michael taping a couple of weeks ago and I got #44 for their trivial game.  In Chinese culture, 4 is an unlucky number...so can you imagine getting 44!  Well...the number picked was #34...seemingly so close to my number but not close enough!  Par for the course...the guy who had #34, seated a couple of seats away from me, was cheering with happiness...

This past Monday, I attended a taping of Wendy Williams even though it was crazy, icy snow and rain.  The weather was miserable at best and the roads and streets were horrible to walk on...ankle-deep slushy puddles.  Yuck. And even though Winnie said I didn't have to, I got up early and went into the city.  At least they didn't make us stand outside in the cold and the staff was truly grateful that any audience members showed up.  As a "thank you" they had a raffle for several items.  Over-stock items from other giveaways and all those things are pretty good!  As you entered the studio, they give out tickets with a number on it. This is their procedure and is always done.  I am sure it's a way to keep track of how many people they have filling the studio.

I got...unbelievably...#34!  The first number called was....#33!!  I couldn't believe it!  Now...that IS REALLY CLOSE!  Only a digit away.  Sheesh!  But again not close enough!  Oh well...c'est la vie!

I was thrilled when they called Winnie's number, though!  And she got Nescafe's Dolce Gusto single cup coffee maker.  Which I already got when I attended one of their holiday giveaway shows in December.
That seemed to seal the deal...right?  No way would I get called when a member of my party won something already.  So it was with utmost amazement and of course, delight when #34 was called out!!  WOW!  I also got the coffee maker but the staff is so good that when I explained I already had one, they switched it out for something I really wanted...and have been wanting.  The Rowenta Automatic "Curl Active" Curling Iron...valued at $149!  The show is always fun and I don't go expecting anything but a good time.  So getting a freebie certainly made it worth my while but really...it's more the overall good feeling you get when you just..."win"...:-)

AG Kitchen

My sister, Evelyn, admonished, scolded, wondered sweetly of me because she hasn't seen any posting of the photos of the meal we shared when we met up for lunch on Feb 1st.  We dined at an eatery on the UWS called AG Kitchen.  Seemingly a neighborhood kind of place with a warm welcoming decor, it was a perfect place for us to sit back and catch up. :-)

So here they are, lil' sis...and it was a lovely time, as it always is, to spend some quality time together! xoxo

Evelyn's AG Breakfast Burrito
SCRAMBLED EGGS / BACON / VERMONT CHEDDAR / BLACK BEANS
GUACAMOLE / SALSA VERDE / SOUR CREAM

My AG Classic Burger with Garlic Fries