No, We Didn't Bring One Home.........

But it was tough to walk away! Would you be able to leave one of these cuties behind??

The Beauty of Decoupage

I have always loved the look of decoupage, but could never decide which wonderfully retro design to go with. I figured I would pick something out when I had more of a permanent home to decorate. Then I found out that Kaas Glassworks, in the West Village, did custom work - and then I knew exactly what I wanted to do! They have really amazing pieces, I'll definitely be back when I have more wall space to decorate (and for gifts as well - any special requests?). Their window (below) was all done up for V-Day, but I'm partial to the special one I just gave Dirk.........

Design Sponge

I am going to add this to my favorite sites (to the left), but wanted to make sure it got a proper callout - Design*Sponge is a great site for pretty designed things. It is also a beautifully-designed site overall - inspires me to make more out of mine (someday, someday.........). 

Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen.........

I just want to say that, as much as I love talking about restaurants I love, I also get very frustrated when places seem to disappoint. I posted about our new favorite go-to place, The Smith, and I now have to sadly take it back. Now not only can I not get in as a walk-in (Friday night we were promised 40 minutes, then when that was up it was going to be ANOTHER 40 minutes, to which we went somewhere else), but this morning I waited 20 minutes for a brunch reservation while other people got seated ahead of us ("They have been waiting a long time" the hostess said. 80 minutes, I presume). I know these things happen, and I certainly have never run a restaurant to know how hard it is. And I will admit most of my frustrations stem more from the hostess' attitude (after I talked to the manager about the issues I felt better, but I am still unsure if and when we will return). Can anyone change my mind?

Graffiti

We had one of those only-in-New York dinners on Saturday, at Graffiti in the East Village. The restaurant is tiny (I estimated about 1/4 the size of our apartment, or maybe 8 feet wide - what you see here is about it). Dirk and I had dinner with Jeff, and we shared the back table with 6 other people, which is always good to see what they ordered and you didn't. Everything about it was special - the chef is also the host, the small menu is very thought out and easy to order from (everything is grouped by price, and all wine is $25 a bottle although we opted for the lychee prosecco martinis - yum!), and when the food is brought to the table it is carefully explained ingredient by ingredient. Everything tasted excellent - you can tell that this is a place that has had a lot of love put into it and it shows. Even though we tried most everything on the menu, I am looking forward to our next trip!

En Japanese

Nick and Natalie were nice enough to invite us along to one of their Restaurant Week reservations, to En. Whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant like this, I am reminded that I really like it - why don't I go more often? The food was great - we ordered off of the Restaurant Week menu but I got Miso Black Cod, which is exactly what I would have ordered anyway - and the service was nice. Definitely warrants a return trip!