Full Swing

It's the end of July, we're on the other side of a brutal heat wave and I'm two days away from an entire week on the New Jersey Shore with my family. 

I haven't made any more progress on my list, but I did get to go out of town over 4th of July weekend.  

We drove 3 hours north of the city to the Catskills to stay with a friend and her husband on their land.

It's just far enough out of the city so that you feel removed from the hectic energy, but close enough that a city mouse like me isn't totally afraid.

I felt like Marie Antoinette, gathering wild strawberries, while right over the next hill you could just make out the sounds of the highway.  Our friends were the most gracious hosts, serving foie gras and champagne by the fire and Brittany salted butter and French press coffee for breakfast.

Last weekend I finally put my toes in the sand and, get this, we picked up our car!  That's right, a car.  Just think of all the adventures we'll be having now!

So, I'm off on vacation and much needed quality time with my family.  It's the first time since I was 16 that we've taken a vacation together and I cannot wait.  It's going to be so much fun!

I'll check in once in a while. Catch you on the flip side.

Not That Far From Home

Last week I got to cross something off my list!  That didn't take long, did it?

Just a 30 minute train ride puts us smack in the middle of the largest Chinatown in New York City.

It's amazing to me that I can be somewhere that feels so utterly foreign so close to home.

There produce I don't recognize and signs I can read, but there is for sure some food that I want to eat!

Biang! is the latest in the small empire created by Xi'an Famous Foods.  I first ate there in the food court at the Flushing Mall, but this the first retaurant with waiter service.  The food is just as good and the atmosphere very pleasant!  We had the famous Cumin Lamb Noodles and fiddlehead fern salad.  Both were amazing.

Then, just a little bit further down Main Street is the Queens Botanical Garden.  It's rather small, but very charming and if you pause a minute in the little grove of trees, it completely possible to forget you're in New York City at all.

It's free on Sundays from 4-6pm.  I'm thinking it's the perfect place to have a little picnic.  That is if this rain ever lets up!

What about you? Cross anything off your Summer To Do List? Go any place exotic this weekend?  Eat anything delicious?