A Week in NYC

In July, I spent a week living in Brooklyn for work, volunteering at a non-profit.  This was cool for a number of reasons.  1) I got to pretend I lived in NYC for a bit, 2) I got per diem to EAT ALL THE THINGS, and 3) I met new friends but also got to visit family.

My project partners

We lived and worked near the MetroTech center, near the shopping on Fulton Street south of Dumbo and north of Boerum Hill.  Our first night, we walked to Bijan's for dinner, which had delicious Persian fusion food.  They offer a delicious stew special, which I had.  So much flavor!

We also had beautiful dinners (my coworkers enjoyed some great seafood!) at Atrium Dumbo (in Dumbo, obvi) and Midnights in Williamsburg.  We really enjoyed exploring some of the other neighborhoods in Brooklyn while we could.  I also frequented Dekalb Market Hall, an awesome new food court that had so many options from bagels to Hawaiian to Katz's Deli.  And Shake Shack, OF COURSE.  Two of my other favorites?  We hit up Yaso Tangbao for a delicious lunch, because SOUP DUMPLINGS and spicy noodles are amazing.  We also ate at Aunt Jake's in Little Italy for fresh pasta that was just... perfection!  So good my Italian mother-in-law would approve.

Takeout from Yaso Tangbao

My favorite sightseeing, other than the beautiful bridge views in Brooklyn, was our visit to Merchant's House Museum in lower Manhattan.  If you're a history buff, I really think a tour of this impeccably-preserved home is in order.  It is the only historic house museum in the Greenwich Village/Soho/NoHo neighborhoods, where every other building has made way to development.  It's also considered one of the best examples of architecture of its period (1832 late-Federal brick exterior with Greek revival interior rooms), because the same family owned/occupied it until 1906.  I loved that so much of the family's original belongings were part of it.

The garden at Merchant's House

After a full week of work, I extended my visit to include a weekend staying with my cousin on the Upper West Side.  Her little girl is getting so big!  I loved spending time with family.  Our baby cousin (okay, he's grown, but I still call him our baby) came in from college in Boston to spend time with us too.  We walked to Gotham West Market (another food court, because this is a hot thing, right?) and I had pizza from Corner Slice, Ivan Orkin's pizza joint.  Yum.

We walked through Central Park and indulged in fro-yo, baked goods, and bubble tea/boba.  We also had a yummy brunch at Spring Natural Kitchen, my last meal with family before heading home.  Because that is what you do when you're in NYC.  You get out, eat all the things, and walk your butt off so you can eat some more!

I must say, I don't think I've ever gotten to "live" in NYC for an entire week every, so it was kind of awesome to wake up every day, walk out the door, and find AMAZING BAGELS everywhere.  And everything else you could imagine.  It wasn't as glamorous as Carrie Bradshaw made it look, but it was certainly loud, colorful, delicious, and fun.  I will admit that being in the super early stages of pregnancy on the trip kept me from eating/drinking some things I wanted, and the smells could be a little overwhelming... but it was still worth every bite.