Just another day in the park.

I wouldn't be very truthful if I said that every day has been like a day in the park since the pregnancy began….if i said amusement park…well, that might be closer to the truth

But Sunday WAS actually a day in the park, from at least 3PM onward. At 38 weeks pregnant, I decided to finally take a day off from work and my never-ending "things -to-do" list-- and forget about life for awhile.

It looked something like this:

benched at 38 weeks

….and a doting husband

a 9th Street Espresso treat!

and sweet little gifts for baby

And the day ended with a nice dinner at 

Northern Spy with these lovely ladies

Life is good

 

Hello Rocco!

Well we are just one day back from vacation and already paying the price. Both me and Yahtzee worked tonight till 9ish in the name of "catching up".  On the bright side, Yahtzee works just a 10 min walk away from me so i got a personal escort home from husband.  As a treat we made a stop at Rocco for a baked good of my choice and a coffee with frothed cream.  I chose a "double chocolate" cookie but i can tell you, its not an easy choice. No sooner did we pay did i wish i got the cannoli, no, the pignolis, no wait…the cake, the CAKE!!!

I should say that even with this passion and enthusiasm for my double chocolate, Rocco is actually my 2nd favorite bakery, DeRobertis Pasticceria is my first love for the biscotti alone, forget about anything else. But the coffee not as tasty as Rocco's, thats a sure thing.  

The other sure thing…this guy!  He put together my new jewelry box for me and even followed the instructions (proof, they are on the floor!) which explains why this is a first without bickering AND record time. just realized as I write that this little success and how easy it is to come by took 3 years of marriage to grasp.  Hmmm,  I hope this isn't the rate at which men begin to realize the value of a women's good advice and conventional wisdom.  

Still, Ill take it!  Dasha doesn't do tools.

I hope your night was double sweet like mine.

Lox of love

I have been watching and waiting for Tompkins Square Bagels to open since this summer.  I got especially excited when the store sign went up, being a long time fan of mosaics.

They finally opened in December and so this morning, we decided to have a look.

I ate a Lox Deluxe  - which is wasabi cream cheese, capers, onions and lox on an everything bagel.  I made it through half and will have the rest later. Deliciouso x

And Bonus! They sell Stumptown coffee.

I hate to tell my good friends in Astoria, but i think TSB gives ol' Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee and run for their money.

 

The best part of waking up.

seedlings

Its early again, & this seems to be a theme several days running. Except I am back home, no more lying in bed listening to the sounds of the rain forest, just those of the concrete jungle.

I am thinking about my vacation and actually one of my favorite parts – visiting a coffee plantation Don Juan.

Here, we learned what a labor of love it is to get the perfect beans from seed to cup – so that we wake up every morning with a hug in a mug at our Urban Disco.

Yahtzee was fast bean picker

separating skin from bean

part of drying process

all roasted and ready to ship

I have even MUCHOIER muchos grande appreciation for my morning Joe. AND I may just be encouraged enough to splurge on my ninth street espresso beans again, despite my little picketing efforts after the prices of beans rose 15%!

we met the man himself -
Don Juan is 76 amos with 9 bambinos (& just 1 seniorita!)

Until next time Costa Rica!

 

Porn in a Cup Challenge 2011

Well, its not that Dasha needs extra energy, and she definitely does not need to be challenged - but there was no resisting a trip to Pulp and Bean in Crown Heights, Brooklyn to have a go at the 10 shot espresso, officially called Dieci (Italian for 10) and lovingly referred to as Porn in a Cup.

Of course, there needs to be a party around such an event, or ????

So after making tee-shirts and "game rules", Me, Yahtzee and our coffee loving Manhattan friends headed over to Brooklyn for this outer borough excursion.

Tony Fisher is the owner of Pulp and Bean and was an excellent host, making sure our Dieci's were made to perfection and we enjoyed the experience. We needed to be in good hands, because collectively we had 60 shots of espresso!

This guy was the most impressive fo sho, sucking up his porn in 15 minutes.

So what does it feel like to have 10 shots of espresso? Well I can tell you, its a real buzz  - light headedness, shakiness, ones speech is a little faster! - and it wasn't without moments of nauseousness.

In the end, we had about 55 of the 60 shots between the six of us. And the subway ride back to Manhattan was, well - very energetic.  Metro Charlie captured it all on video, so stay tuned (and thanks Metro Charlie!)

Best of all, I think some of this energy spilled over to the Pittsburgh Steelers tonight.

Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl!

Ode to Stumptown.

My real love for coffee began when I had my first 9th Street Expresso...when 9th Street Expresso was still serving Stumptown Coffee.  The original Strumptown is on Division Street in Portland and this is also the location they roast the beans.  Yours Truly made it in for a smooth cup of joe (the smoothiest!) and some beans, but was a little disappointed that I did not witness the roasting first hand.  I was pleased that they did not make a mecca out of the joint, but kept it real.  I on the other hand had a hard time keeping it real, in fact my excitement level was so high that our coffee was given to us on the house.

PS to my friends in NYC - if you ever want to keep Dasha happy and our friendship real, Ace hotel serves Stumptown.

An old neighborhood favorite - May 20th 2010

Me and Silvestro managed to find 30 minutes at lunch for a trip to an old neighborhood fav, 11th Street Cafe.  I had the normal brew which I already know I like (small cheat) and we had two cookies, a peanut butter and chocolate chip.  Mmmm, peanut butter...

Bakeri Coffee Excursion

Two lattes, please.  Loved the ambience of Bakeri in Williamsburg, an old world feel. The pastries were made on the premises and smelled gorgeous. Tasted even more so....but we were there for the coffee of course.  Latte's were very smooth and the leaf top design was a special touch.

Cafe Angelique

May 14 - Silvestro and Claudio were fans of Cafe Angelique. 

Dasha too...but a bigger fan of the Almond Chocolate Croissant.