Another Manic NYC Trip

I said it last time, I really can’t get enough of NY and I continue to feel like anything can happen each time I’m there! It’s a recurring theme on this blog that I love my eats, dranks, and concerts, so this weekend was no different, but it also had a little metaphysical and body modification thrown into it too (I promise, not as scary as it sounds). I really think if you do some of the things in this post combined with some from my last post you are sure to have a pretty dank time.

It was a whirlwind trip (as my trips tend to be), so the fun didn’t start until Saturday morning. I was staying with my BFF in Greenwich Village (shout out to the NYU law dorms!)–which really is an ideal location. First up, we hit up the Glossier Showroom in the SoHo/Chinatown area. If you aren’t familiar, Glossier is a make-up/skincare line known for its “cool girl/minimalist” fan base and “millennial pink”  aesthetic. The showroom lives up to that hype. It’s located on the Penthouse level of a building and decked out with pink, unicorn-esque decorations. The workers all wear pale-pink, Ghostbusters style jumpsuits. You get the vibe. I recommend getting there right when it opens on the weekend because it fills up FAST. That being said we had no issue quickly buying our goods. I went with the cloud paint blush in haze, birthday balm dot calm (inspired by the cake at Milk by Momofuku!) and the moon mask. I’m still on the fence about the mask-I think it might have broken me out a little bit, but very much a huge two thumbs up to the other items.

glossier showroom, glossier new york

As for the next thing on the itinerary, I am admittedly VERY behind the times, but I’ve been wanting to try one since they first came out years ago so I figured “why not?” And that thing is the Cronut® by Dominque Ansel. The flavor changes each month and for this month it was Strawberry Lemon Verbena with Lemon Zest Sugar. Honestly, it was hella sweet. Don’t me get wrong, it was good, I’m glad I tried it, but that’ll probably be my last. But here is a hack! Pre-order your Cronut here two weeks ahead of time and avoid having to wake up early/wait in line if you are hellbent on trying one, like I was. Somehow all of these years later there is still a line and they sell out!cornut, dominque ansel cronut, best things to eat in new york 2017

Next up, we had a brunch at Palma, a downright adorable spot in the West Village. If you want to feel like you are dining in a British garden, go here and eat in the garden area in the back. Get a pretty cocktail with a rose petal in it while you’re at it and pretend you are sipping with Mr. Harry Styles himself. The best part about the garden area, is that it has a covered, transparent roof. So even if it is monsoon-ing (like it was when we were there) you can still feel like a wood nymph.  Afterwards, head nearby to Dante. They do a 3pm-6pm Happy Hour for their negronis. We ended up splitting 2 pitchers of a spritz drink and sat outside. Great people watching.

palma new york city

That night we had made reservations for 7 of us at Coarse NYC, also in the West Village. I stumbled across this place on Opentable, but it has pretty much unanimously good ratings on Yelp as well. They do a la carte, but their real specialty is the “chef’s spontaneous” tasting menu–$79 with wine pairing, $49 without.

And let me tell you, it’s a dAYUMM good deal. The vibe of the restaurant is small, casual and trendy [to paint a vivid picture, there is a sign in the bathroom that states “shit here, and you will die” welp, ok then.] , but the food is badass and they do not skimp on the wine. We started out with sake to accompany our light fish app, moved on to Albariño and Reisling, then to Rosé, then to Tempranillio and Rioja…you get the idea..and at one point they literally just left a bottle of red on our table for us to share. The chefs themselves serve the food. The owner/main chef has a sort of out-there personality, bordering on abrasive?? But we decided it was just schtick and his kindness with the food/wine spoke louder than words. So many good vibes were flowing, I didn’t even snap a pic.

Our last stop on Saturday was at the Bowery Ballroom. Fun Story: Last year I matched with the lead singer of Great Good Fine OK on Tinder. I major fangirled, because I’m obsessed with their music, which is always featured on Spotify’s Indie Pop playlists (lol, yes I frequent the indie pop playlist not gonna lie). Obviously nothing came from it, but fastforward to me booking my trip to NYC this past weekend and I saw they would be playing in NYC Saturday night. I entered a contest on DoNYC and I won?!? It felt like fate, so after a very wine-fueled day we headed to their concert. It was everything I could have hoped for—boppy, electric, emoji balloon filled– and there was even a special guest appearance by Before You Exit and honestly, Bowery Ballroom is just a great venue. Hit up a show there and I can pretty much guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Grab some drinks in the downstairs lounge between acts.

bowery ballroom, great good fine ok

where can i buy 100 emoji balloons?

Sunday, involved some hungover carb loading with NYC bagels/bomb donuts, and some leisurely celeb stalking around TriBeCa (sadly, none were spotted). In our hungover haze we decided to head to Chinatown to get our auras read at Magic Jewelry. Was kinda of sad my aura was red, and that the reader said I was stressed and tired, but I couldn’t really deny that she was right. We felt like we were in a Disney Channel Original Movie and loved every second of it. I am also a firm believer in the power of energies and really think there is legitimacy to the energy that surrounds our bodies and the effect it has on us. Check out this NYTimes article for an interesting write-up on the place.magic jewelry aura, new york aura, nyc aura reading

Feeling buoyed by the aura reading, we wanted to do something else spontaneous, so we got to Venus by Maria Tash right as it was opening to get third-holes pierced in our lobes. The process was fast/easy and the only painful part was forking over the money for the jewelry itself [side note though: check out their jewelry it’s so insanely pretty]. We had the honor of being pierced by Ben Tauber–I’ve seriously admired his work on instagram forever and Refinery29 loves to interview him. He’s also pierced Zoe Kravitz…uhm instant street cred? But he was also funny and comforting and a super skilled piercer.

ben tauber, maria tash, venus by maria tash

ben showing my bff earing placement

We couldn’t finish up our trip without hitting up an over the top soft serve place, which is how Soft Swerve came into play. I had Macapuno/Ube swirl and my bff got Black sesame/Macapuno (they also have Matcha). It was seriously so freakin’ good and who knew cereal marshmallows would make the best topping?

soft serve new york, ube soft serve, soft swerve

Honestly, and embarssingly, much more food and drinks were consumed over the course of the weekend but these were definitely the highlights 🙂

Curiously yours,

bailey evin