Katie's bachelorette party was on Saturday and pardon my french but it was the TITS. Mike, Sarah and I took the train into New York to meet up with everyone else for Scott's Pizza Tour, which was a 3 hour jaunt around the city to 3 different pizza spots with a lot of pizza knowledge dropped along the way. This dude knew his stuff and was so infectiously enthusiastic about it! And I didn't realize it was possible for me to get much more enthusiastic about pizza.
I learned how to tell coal fired pizza from electric oven cooked pizza, fresh mozzarella vs. low moisture mozzarella on sight, what makes a margherita pizza a margherita pizza, and why the idea of New York water making the pizza better is a myth!
We also detected the safest pizza temperature to avoid top-of-the-mouth burnage with the aid of a lazer gun, and Scott offered up a pocket-sized fresh pepper grinder to garnish our slices...very profesh. Scott is so into pizza that the tour has become his full-time job, he's appeared as a pizza expert on a couple of tv shows and I think he should be handed his own- he's super charismatic, I'd watch the hell out of it. Seriously can't say enough good things, if you're in the area and so inclined definitely give Scott's Pizza Tours an afternoon of your time.
While we were at one of the stops my friend Kitty took a jokey picture that was supposed to be of me being blah and disinterested in the middle of a bunch of people, and it came out very fashion-y. Just want you to see my big debut, look for it in an issue of Bust coming soon.
After the tour we headed to The Blind Tiger for a beer, and it might have turned into a couple of beers if it wasn't crowded as hell. In some small ways I get spoiled by working on Saturdays- I forgot how crowded places get! Especially places in the city. After that we went to our room at the Carlton Hotel to hang out for a bit, which was way swanky. I wish I had taken better pictures but Katie's sister basically laid out a full bar on the dresser and put bachelorette paraphenalia all over the place, my favorite being the "Caution: Wild Girls!" tape criss-crossed over the windows. We hung out, had drinks and girlied up for our next destination. This was one of my favorite parts of the day, just jammed onto hotel beds with my friends, bullshitting and semi-dancing and using each other's hairspray. I spent so much of the day giddy, I already feel nostalgic for it.
The next destination was a speakeasy-style bar called Bathtub Gin that you enter through a backdoor in a coffee shop- Katie didn't know where we were going and her sisters and friend Holly gave everyone 20's style headbands as a clue. Seriously, bridal party nailed it. It was great! I got a Sloe Gin Ginger Sling, which was strong and tasty, and Sarah and I split a cheese plate. There was a big copper bathtub in the middle of the room that you could take pictures in, so duh, we did.
After Bathtub Gin we had our eye on McSorley's, which is an Irish pub that only serves beer and only 2 kinds, light and dark. It ended up being packed though- Saturdays, am I right?- so we improvised and went somewhere else. This is around the time my light started to dim- I was still having a good time, but starting to feel the effects of that bitch who hovers over my shoulder and tortures my uterus monthly, my period. I was trying to hang but I felt like I was starting to give off a weird half-assed vibe amongst my party mode friends, and I decided to take the train back that night with my friend Susan rather than tough it out for a couple more bars and stay at the hotel as I originally planned. It definitely gave me a little of a "womp womp" feeling- I was not thrilled about leaving unexpectedly and felt vaguely guilty, even though I know Katie didn't want me toughing out something that's supposed to be fun. I'm still a little regretful, truth be told. But seriously, before that I had the best fucking day I've had in a long time, so I plan to keep those 12 or so hours strong in my memory and try let the last couple take a hike.
Ryan and I had the last couple of days off together and spent them the way I like them- with a cheese plate, wine, and a lot of reading.
You tell I'm not used to composing blog-y, pretty pictures yet- keys and wallet in the picture? Tighten it up, Rog. But seriously, that was our jam this weekend- we spent a lot of time separate but together, reading outside on the deck of his house or comfy inside, usually accompanied by something delicious. Right now I'm reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn because this summer I ripped through her book Gone Girl (along with most of the Princeton population judging by my clients' book clubs' selections) and wanted something similar. Ryan's been blowing through a lot of chefs' autobiographies. We went to Wegman's for the above cheese and accessories, and passed my brother and his girlfriend Allie pulling in while we were pulling out- my mind was as blown as it can be by something so small because I didn't even know there was a Wegman's by us! Oh god, that was the most boring anecdote ever. Moving on.
The first hints of fall have gotten me entirely too excited and I find myself dressing too warmly almost every day. It's seriously stupid. About 10 seconds after I left the house in this yesterday I ditched the scarf and wished I'd opted for a t-shirt or something instead of the Canadian Tuxedo, stylin' as it was. The Ry Guy and I went to the Spanish farmer's market downtown because they've got great deals, did more reading on the couch and then decided to walk to a bar nearby that has a really great rotating selection of beers for a cold one. I got something yummy, then a pumpkin beer after that? Even though I've grown to love beer, I still don't know a ton about it, but there are now keywords here and there that I've picked up on so I generally know what to order or not. I hope the vocab grows on me a little more in the sneaky way that food stuff has- before I met Ryan I already really liked food (duh, who's like "Yeah no thanks I hate food"?) and knew a good amount about it but I've definitely learned more about the fancier side of it since we've been dating. Recently I said something that prompted Ryan to go "aww, you know about foi gras!" or whatever it was in a voice like a proud preschool teacher and I think I punched him in the arm and told him to shove it but I have to admit, dude has taught me some things. Like how to love again. RALPH, kidding.
That's pretty much it! As I said, I'm feeling a little like a cold is oncoming so I've been trying to hold it off with what seriously must have amounted to gallons of Gypsy Cold Care and Echinacea tea all day while I cleaned my apartment and started to put out some fall decorations. In about 2 weeks I'm going to roll out the Halloween goodies...can't wait! For now I better get back to uh, Masterpiece Theatre, definitely not Pretty Little Liars season 3...
I have been compiling a list of things to do for my (so far imaginary) trip to New York, and Scott's Pizza Tours is definitely going on it!
ReplyDeleteAHH you have to go! It'll be an imaginary blast!
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