One Improvtastic Day

My friend Erin flew into town for the day yesterday. It was a short trip because she had to attend a wedding in Connecticut today, but let me tell you, we packed as much fun as we could into 24 short hours. We started first after Erin arrived, with brunch at Miriam. I've heard nothing but great things about the place, and who knew it was literally only a block from my apartment? It absolutely did not disappoint. I was told to get the Mediterranean crispy bread w/ eggs, tomato puree and harissa by a friend. I happily obliged, and it was fantastic!! I requested poached eggs and they were perfectly done. Erin went with the challah french toast and said it was divine. Yahoo for cafe au lait as well.

Miriam's breakfast

After breakfast, as a special treat I just knew my Belgian friend would appreciate, we hunted down the wafels & dinges truck in Park Slope for elevensies. Clearly, another winner. Erin said it was possibly the only liege wafel she's ever finished, and my belgian with speculoos spread was just as awesome.

Wafels & dinges

After a quick pit-stop back at the apartment, we headed into Manhattan for a day of fun. We wandered around the Union Square area checking out art and drinking fresh juice, wandered into the Strand to browse, and then headed to the East Village for drinks at McSorley's Old Ale House. We managed to even squeeze into a table with some random strangers, where we proceeded to be the officiants of their chugging contests to determine who bought the next round. McSorley's is fun, and always a great experience. It doesn't hurt that it's in close proximity to Pomme Frites (don't worry, we partook) AND my first cupcake in the city! Chickalicious dessert bar again came well recommended, and anyone that has a key lime cupcake on the menu gets my vote. Erin said her lemon cupcake had particularly awesome frosting, and I can't tell you enough how full of fresh lime juice my cupcake tasted. Winner!

McSorley's Fun

Cupcakealicious

After we were full of food and fun (again), we headed over to the Times Square area to check out something that Erin was skeptical about, but that I've wanted to do FOREVER. We were going to partake in Improv Everywhere's 7th annual mp3 experiment. I've been reading about IE for just about all of their nine years now, and secretly, it's one of the reasons I've always wanted to live in New York. These guys are awesome! Their skits and antics are so creative, and I feel so inspired to be around people that are being respectful of their surroundings and just having some fun. You can head over to the IE site to get full details on how the experiment went, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I only snapped one quick picture near the end (the idea is not to take pictures at these events, but enjoy being in the moment) of the mummy dance, and it was a sight to behold for sure. So much more fun that words can describe.

IE Mummyness

P.S. There's a big smile from yours truly at about 1:20 remaining here as well.

We closed out the evening with tapa's at Bar Carrerra, which were also pretty tasty. At this point I was basically full from all the other stuff I'd eaten all day, but notable on the tapa's menu were the patatas brava's, the chorizo bocadillo, and the pan con tomate. I don't know how they made the powdered olive oil that was on top of the pan con tomate, but it was really cool. It looked like feta, but crumbled into nothing but air on the fork and in your mouth. Crazy. After tapas it was fairly late, and since Erin had been up since four am, we decided to head back to Brooklyn and get some rest. Overall it was a fantastic day with a good friend and I can't wait until she visits again! Until then, you'll have to visit yourself and have a stay in our Erin K. Fleck memorial guest room.