partying like rock stars

the hub and i headed out to hollywood one evening for a date night somewhere new (to us): grandmaster recorders.

this building was constructed in the 1930s and started out as a silent movie theater that eventually became a recording studio where artists from stevie wonder to david bowie to ringo starr to the red hot chili peppers and even kanye west wrote and recorded their music.  now it features a restaurant, event venue and rooftop bar.

the hub and i were seated in a cozy booth and decided to try the chef’s tasting menu.  we kicked it off with this fun cigar-shaped appetizer filled with crème fraiche and caviar.  it was delicious.

i washed it down with the most delicious espresso martini:

the antipasti course included some delicious small dishes - buffalo burrito with burnt honey, crunchy chili and served with fresh-baked focaccia:

grass-fed beef tartare with parmigiano reggiano on a caraway cracker:

and grilled squid with meyer lemon purée and hot chili oil.  this was all for the hub because i don’t do squid.

i just sat there and enjoyed my martini while he happily plowed through it.

this was an amazing pasta dish with dungeness crab and some other stuff that i don’t remember, but fully enjoyed.

we opted to upgrade our entree to the wagyu ribeye, which was served with house made mustard sauces and pickles.  so good.

dessert was tiramisu, adorned with an edible record label and a hard chocolate topper that was fun to crack open before digging in to the deliciousness.

after we were all done, we went upstairs to check out the rooftop bar.  there were a couple of large parties celebrating birthdays, and while we were able to snag some comfy chairs we decided to head on outta there and go home.  

dinner was really good, and it had been a lot of fun trying a new spot with so much cool history.  definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a fun date night spot!

heading home on my own

it was super weird to wake up the next morning and remember that i was rolling solo.  i got all my stuff together and took note of the shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom because i really liked how it smelled:

i figured that since drybar is a pretty easily accessible brand, it wouldn’t be too hard to find at ulta or sephora or something.  of course, when i googled it i learned that it was exclusive to the aloft hotel chain - and even their online shop didn’t offer it.  of. course.

oh well.  i stopped for my hotel selfie and headed on outta there.

since i didn’t know if i’d ever be back in this area, i figured i’d take a quick walk around the corner to get a look at the world-famous apollo theater before calling for an uber to take me to the airport.  

it was already insanely warm and humid and i was more than happy to hop in the car and get outta there.  i was doing carry-on only, so i went straight to the AA lounge to find a seat and grab some snacks.

i peeked out the window at take-off and sent hugs and kisses to the bean, who was down there somewhere…

and we flew right over citi field, which was kinda cool.

before i knew it, we were landing in dallas. 

i had enough time to get myself to the admirals club for another snack and kill time before it was time to board the connecting flight that would get me home to ontario.

on the next plane, i sat back and watched more “selling sunset” while enjoying another hot meal.

we landed in ontario with some daylight to spare, which was great since i’d parked in the economy lot and had to walk pretty far to get to my car.

the hub was on his way home from his trip that evening too, but since i landed earlier i got to go to the pet resort to pick up the doggies.  although i only got teddy in this picture, i promise that they were both happy to see me.

i checked in with the bean, who was all settled in and had already completed the first day of their theater tech program.  the hub got home not too long after that, and it was really nice to be reunited again.  

as much as i love to travel, it’s always really good to come back home after all that time away.  back to normal life!

slime time

the window for check-in at columbia was from 11:00 till 4 in the afternoon.  i figured that meant we had a good chunk of the day to squeeze in some more NYC fun, and so after we got ready and the bean’s suitcase was reorganized and packed we summoned an uber to take us into the city.

i’d seen posts about pop up bagel online, so that’s where we stopped for breakfast.

their bagels are meant for the “rip and dip” method, so we picked a couple of flavored schmears and happily dug right in.  the bagels were fresh and warm and delicious, although i’m pretty sure that the bean still preferred their mr. nova lova from ess-a-bagel.

i’d seen something online that i knew the bean would love, so i’d booked us a couple of tickets timed so that we’d still have time to grab a late lunch before heading back to the hotel to grab the suitcase and head to columbia.  it was about a 10-minute walk from pop up bagels to sloomoo institute.

yup - that is, indeed, a slime museum.  the bean still loves the stuff and i knew that they’d love it.  as we walked in we grabbed name tags and read all about the history of slime as we made our way down the hall.

i’ll bet you didn’t know that there were so many different kinds of slime, did you?

there were giant tubs of slime that are remade every morning before they open for the day, and i have to admit that it was pretty fun testing them all out.

there was an interactive room that we didn’t really understand, but went in and giggled at anyway.

there were ASMR rooms too, and each one offered a different kind of noise to enjoy.  we liked the sounds of crackly plastic and keyboard tapping.

here you could pay an upcharge to don a poncho and get slimed from head to toe (we did not do this).

the next room was very obviously meant for little kids, but we stood in line and smirked at the shirt the security guard was wearing.

there was a huge glob of slime to walk through and a pile of squishies to step on.  i know we probably should have been grossed out by all of this, but we went in and played for a few minutes anyway.

the last activity was the make-your-own-slime station.  there was a display of all the different types of slime so you could choose your “slime starter.”

and then you could choose your scent after sniffing the samples mounted on the wall.

this one was a hard no.

and here’s our finished product.

of course, there was a gift shop at the exit.

just a couple of doors down from sloomoo institute was a poléne shop, which i’d been wanting to check out for awhile.  it’s a fairly new handbag brand out of france, and the one day i’d had to visit the tokyo shop was one of the days they were closed.  and since the bean was happily playing with their slime, i got to go inside and take a look at the goods.

this is my favorite style - the numero neuf mini.

and then we had just enough time to have lunch, and just across the street we found a favorite:  eataly.

we had a really lovely lunch, and then as i summoned the uber to take us back to the hotel i realized that i hadn’t factored in something really important:  rush hour traffic.  by the time we retrieved the luggage and called for another uber we had exactly zero minutes to spare before check-in ended.  yikes.

i breathed a huge sigh of relief when we finally approached the check-in desk.  i peeked over and saw that there were a decent number of student badges still left to be picked up, and the staffer assured me that we were good to go.  i got to stay long enough to walk the bean to their room, meet their roommate for the week and watch as they unpacked and got settled.

and then it was time for me to leave.  orientation was beginning and the bean was all set to start a week of theater tech, and all of a sudden i was on my own.

as i headed out of there, i spotted something fun across the street:

i browsed through the store for a few minutes before deciding that i didn’t need to spend any more money, nor did i have room in my luggage to cram anything in. and so i hopped into another uber and went back to the hotel to hunker down for the evening.

based on recommendations from my friends back hom, i hit up uber eats for some chicken and waffles from sylvia’s in harlem, which i enjoyed over another episode of “selling sunset.”

it was really weird to be all by myself for the first time in weeks, and i found myself struggling to fall asleep (and stay that way).  i typically don’t sleep well without the hub, which i know sounds kinda lame, and i knew i had a long day of travel ahead of me so i forced myself to just lie there and not pick up my phone or turn the tv on. 

i am such a wuss.