never again will I complain about counter space

I was lucky enough to be able to spend Tuesday into Wednesday down in Astoria with Generally Fabulous. I arrived via Amtrak train at 9am on Tuesday and departed 7pm Wednesday, and in that time managed to eat my consume my weight in delicious food and drink. I probably would have written this sooner if it were not for the fact that I have finally reached a point where I can discuss said trip and think about the food without wanting to hurl from being too full. (No, really.)

I have been to NYC quite a few times for various day trips, and an occasional overnight with a friend, but have not spent any real time in the boroughs. S lives in Astoria and while I was not sure what to expect, it was a great little neighborhood. A nice mix of residential and commercial, and tons and tons of restaurants. Their apartment is adorable - small, but adorable. I would hate to see anyone living in this apartment without such a great mastery of space because I feel like it could be claustrophobic and dirty, but S&E have negotiated their space to be an incredibly comfortable home. And I have to tell you that I slept GREAT on their couch (minus, of course, the Amtrak train that scared the crap out of me!).

As alluded to earlier, the trip consisted of eating and drinking; but we did do other things as well! We attempted David's Bridal (S is getting married!) and left after maybe 5 minutes, utterly terrified. (She recounts the experience here.) We went to H&M where S was offered a free blowout but turned it down (leaving me feeling responsible! ah!), wandered to Union Square, and also played two games of Mario Party 8. For the record it should be stated that both slightly intoxicated and utterly sober, S is a FIERCE MP player. You would not want to take this girl on.

So we did other things than eat and drink, but OH MAN eating and drinking was such a central part of the trip. We ate sushi, dinner at Sparrow (where I had a beet salad and we all split fries, plus beer & wine!), the biggest and tastiest bagel I have EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE, lunch at Mojave (crab dip, margarita, and a salmon salad), then more beer and FRIED PICKLES at Fat Annies Truck Stop (how could be pass THAT up?). I fully understood the term 'food baby' after those two days.

Overall it was an utterly fantastic trip. It was so easy to get there, much less expensive than I had envisioned, and awesome to see S! She lives so close, in the grand scheme of things.

Next time? Bridal shopping, WITH drinks.