Night Out in the Theater District

I love going to Broadway Shows.  It’s the reason I fell in love with New York City.  The first time I ever went to the city I was very young and my aunt brought me to see Beauty and the Beast... that was it, I was hooked and I have been a theater lover ever since!

On Saturday night Punit and I went to Book of Mormon.  We have been dying to see it, so I splurged and got the tickets as an anniversary present. The show was great!

The only issue with going to the theater district/times square/ hell's kitchen is finding a good place for dinner.  It’s tourist trap restaurants galore.  

There are tons of restaurants but a lot are overpriced and not that great, which sucks because the city has so much delicious food.  Please don't go anywhere with a banner outside with pictures of food and someone on the street enticing you in!

We ate at Nook.  We found this cute little place last year and now whenever we go to a show or have to meet someone from out of town in this area we always go to Nook.  It’s a very small restaurant with only a few tables and it’s BYOB!  Finding a byob restaurant in NYC is not easy, but it’s one of my favorite things to do because you can just grab a bottle of wine (or three) and have a delicious meal while keeping the check low.  Nook is no exception.  They have great "new american" style food.  They describe it as "the little melting pot of cuisine".  Everything is homemade including the delicious desserts, it's reasonably priced (I even dare say cheap relative to city prices), the service is friendly and quick if you need it to be, and the location can't be beat. Oh and did I mention it's BYOB!?

Nook is on 9th ave between 50th and 51st street.  Only a few blocks from most of the theaters.

The one thing you have to have: Mushroom Cigars

Rent the Runway Showroom Visit

On Friday I went to the Rent the Runway showroom in SOHO to try on some dresses to potentially rent for a wedding I am going to at the end of September.  Overall the experience was pretty successful.  I tried on a ton of beautiful designer dresses and actually ended up renting one that I didn’t pay much mind to on the site.  I also got a back up dress which wasn’t available to try on but they allow you to order two sizes and this is the one that I really had my heart set on.

How it works:

• I booked a 45 min appointment online. A personal stylist pulls dresses for you and will help you accessorize it if you want.  My stylist was super nice.  There are only 3 appointments at a time.
• I booked the rental right there on the spot once I was finished trying on dresses.
• I order a back up dress for an extra $25 in two sizes incase one didn’t fit.
• It was my first time ordering with RTR so I got a $25 discount.
• The dresses will show up in garment bags on the day I chose to the location I chose.  (Some girls were having their dresses sent to hotels if they were planning on going out of state for their event.)

This is my first time using it so excited to see how it goes!  Can’t wait to post pictures of the event.

This is the dress I rented...

Shoshanna dress from RTR, set via Polyvore

First Time using Rent the Runway

Loving this Nanette Lepore dress from RTR

I have a few fall weddings to go to in a couple of weeks, so I am going to try Rent the Runway for the first time.  Rent the Runway is a site where you can rent designer dresses (for 4 days or 8 days) at a fraction of the price.

I realized the other day that they have a showroom in SOHO since they are based out of Manhattan and you can book an appointment online to try the dresses on before you set up your rental.  I am going this afternoon and I am really excited.  Hopefully I find something that looks good and I am going post about my experience later :)

Happy Friday!

Isle of Skye (WILLIAMSBURG)

Well I think its pretty much official, we are “regulars” at a bar.  I say this because it meets all the requirements of being our regular bar... its around the corner from our apt and on the walk home from the subway, all the bartenders know our names (they even know our dog’s name), they know what we like to drink, and we usually sit in the same spot if the seats aren't taken.

It’s an awesome authentic Scottish bar called Isle of Skye on Driggs Ave. in Williamsburg Brooklyn (L line, Bedford stop).  All the bartenders are Scottish and they have over 150 whiskys, Scottish beers on tap, and meat pies!

We now go to trivia on Monday nights at 8:30pm (which we are miserable at) and last night we went with friends for live music which is every Wednesday. Oh and did I mention free whisky tastings on Tuesdays!

My favorite drinks: Islay Old Fashioned (Bowmore Legend gives its a smokey flavor) and the Thistly Cross Cider (with ice!)

My favorite Eats: Steak and Mushroom Meat Pie and the Scottish Egg

Mad Men Style Bar Cart

Punit and I are big fans of Mad Men. Last year for his birthday I gave him a bar cart and some bar accessories. I used Don Draper as my inspiration...

But I did want it to be a little bit more modern and go with our apartment. This is how it turned out...

 

  

• Bar Cart was from CB2.
• Whisky glasses are vintage Dorothy Thorpe Mini Roly Poly Glasses purchased via Etsy.
• Tray is a vintage Formica Serving Tray also purchased from etsy.
• Bar spoon and double jigger I picked up at Fish Eddy’s.
• The shaker we already had.

Here is another cool cart from CB2, looks even more like Don’s!

Some more Mad Men Inspiration via Polyvore

Thomas the Train Cake

Punit’s birthday is coming pretty soon in October. We are planning on going to dinner at wd-50 in Manhattan because he has always wanted to go there, but I am also trying to think of what to get him.  Any ideas?

 

The first birthday of his that we celebrated together was two years ago. He had told me that when he was young he was obsessed with Thomas the Train and he had only one Thomas VHS that he would play over and over again, so as a joke I made him a Thomas the Train Cake. YES I made my 26 year old boyfriend a Thomas the Tank Engine Cake! No JUDGING!

 

It came out pretty sloppy but I was proud of it (since I am definitely no cake decorator), Punit liked it, and it tasted pretty good (cause I used boxed cake mix :P).

Here's a pic...

 

 

 

The Baking

I used...

train cake pan

chocolate boxed cake mix (like my mama taught me, haha)

store bought chocolate icing

toothpicks

baking spray (to make sure it didn’t stick in the train pan)
 

I got a box of regular chocolate cake mix. I didn’t get the extra moist or anything like that because I was afraid the cake would collapse. I followed the instructions for the cake mix and the cake pan to bake it. Once it was cooled and standing up right I did a base coat of chocolate icing all over. I stuck toothpicks into the bottom at an angle to secure it when standing up. I placed the cake on a tray in which I had no plans to ever try and remove it from.

 

The Decorating

I used....

red, blue, black, and yellow pouch icing and tips

blue sugar paper

white fondant

black edible icing color

paintbrush (new and clean!)

 

1. Body: Once it was covered in a coat of chocolate icing I printed out a picture of Thomas the Tank Engine and then used red, blue, and yellow pouch icing to try and match the designs the best I could. It obviously didn’t come out exactly the same as the real Thomas.

 

2. Wheels: I cut circles out from the blue sugar sheets. I stuck them to the sides with icing and used black pouch icing to make the spokes and connect them. 

 

3. Face: The face was the tricky part! Luckily when I went to Michael’s to get the supplies they were having a cake decorating class and even though I wasn’t in the class the lady was super nice and gave me some advice on how to make the face.

 

a.) I broke off a piece of white fondant (a little more than I figured I needed for the face)

b.) I added one drop of black icing color. I was warned not to add too much! I added one dab and worked it into the fondant until it was completely blended. I added only a little at time and blended until it was the right shade of grey.

c.) I molded the face carefully while studying a picture. I used the end of paintbrush to help make the cheeks, and the indentations for the eyes and mouth.

d.) I made white fondant eyes and a mouth. Then with the paintbrush and the black icing color I painted on the pupils and the eyebrows.

e.) I used icing and toothpicks to stick the face onto the front of the cake.

The face was a lot of trial and error and it took some time to get it looking like Thomas’ face. Also the reason I chose not to pipe the whole cake in icing is because I hate eating black icing, it makes your mouth all black. So I opted for chocolate icing instead.

Last year for Punit’s birthday I made him his own Don Draper/Mad Men bar cart, I will post about that next time!

 

I still need to do lots of brainstorming for a good present this year! Anyone else have ideas to share?!

New Sweater

I just got this sweater from Target, OBSESSED. It’s cheesy I know but for some reason I just had to have it!

 

Fall is coming...

 

 

Happy Friday!

Anniversary Dinner at Osteria Morini (SOHO)

My boyfriend, Punit, and I recently celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We are making a tradition of always going to the same restaurant where we had our first date.

 

We had met and hung out several times with friends before we went on a date, but when he asked me out we had dinner at Osteria Morini in SOHO. It's right outside the Spring St stop on the 6 subway line on Lafayette St.

 

The restaurant is Italian but not typical Italian fare. It cuisine from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its delicious, we've never had something we didn't like. The restaurant and chef are well known of course in the NYC foodie scene.

 

I love the atmosphere. It feel like a old tuscan kitchen, which is probably because they actually brought pieces of a 1700s-era farmhouse over from Italy.

 

Dinner is approx. $50-100pp (depends on how many cocktails you have). We went for the prefix which was totally worth it and we had several cocktails ;)

 

If you are in SOHO and looking for an amazing meal in a warm and classy atmosphere I highly recommend it.  And if you like meat and cheese plates this is the place for you!

Tower O' Jello Shots

My amazing friend Kirsten is coming this weekend to visit from Boston.  I am so excited!  We always have a ton of fun together.  Some of our favorite activities include drinking coffee, getting our nails done, and just hanging around.  Basically what I am trying to say is that she is one of those friends that it doesn’t matter what you are doing.  We could be doing the most boring activity in the world and we would still be having a great time.  She is always easy going, fun, and she can get along with anyone.  She’s just cool like that.

The last time we hung out was 4th of July and she came down with me to Jersey for a family bbq.  We decided we were going to make a Tower of Jello Shots for the party.  We went all out!  We even drew (or I should say Kirsten drew) a logo on the bakery box we used to transport them to my aunts house because we are corny like that.  Below is how they came out.

Kirsten when we were setting up the jello shot tower

The recipes for the cosmo, margherita, and cupcake are from an awesome blog, Jelly Shot Test Kitchen (on my blog list to the right). The sweet tea recipe we just made up ourselves using Firefly Sweat Tea vodka.

Sweet Tea

1/2 cup water

1 cup lemonade (I used Simple brand)

1/4 cup lemon juice (squeezed fresh)

2 packs Knox Gelatin

3/4 cup Firefly Sweet Tea vodka

Combine water, lemonade, lemon juice and gelatin in saucepan and mix.  Heat over low for about 5 min until gelatin is dissolved.  Turn off heat.  Add liquor and Mix.  Pour into cups and Chill.

I ordered the dessert tower from Amazon.  The mini martini glasses, mini margherita glasses,  

dessert cups, and flag tooth picks we picked up at Party City.

When Kirsten comes this weekend we will definitely be making more jello shots.  I am thinking lemon drop jello shots?!

Jameson, looking dapper old sport

Jameson is my 14 month old Norwich Terrier.  We got him this past November when he was 5 months.  He is very sweet and is obsessed with tennis balls like most dogs.  He resides in Brooklyn with my me and my boyfriend and we call him Jame-O for short.

He just got a new blue gingham bowtie.  I ordered it on Etsy from theKozieCanine which I have to say might be my most positive experience with an Etsy store to date.  They messaged me to check that I ordered the right size, they shipped it out right away, and the quality is great.  Jameson is showing off how great it looks!

First Post :)

 

Recently I have been getting down on myself.  I think it’s that summer time sadness (love that new song by Lana Del Rey) setting in now that August is here...  

Sooo coming to the realization that it’s ridiculous to be feeling down I decided to start this blog to focus on the positive, inspire me to be more creative, and to document all the things I do because I really do have a beautiful life!  I have an amazing boyfriend, the best friends, a crazy and loving family, the cutest dog on the planet and a beautiful apartment in a pretty cool neighborhood.

The title of this blog Belles and Bliss came to be because one day my awesome friend Kirsten and I decided we were going to open a Bridal Boutique. This idea fizzled out quickly as most of our schemes do, but we came up with a lot of cool ideas and a dedicated pinterest board of course. I ended up creating this domain as a result too, so I figured why not put it to good use.

So here we go!

Here is proof that I really do have the cutest dog on the planet.  He is a Norwich Terrier and his name is Jameson.