big apple bbq in mad.sq.park

nothin' says summer quite like bbq food. mmm! greasy meat, loads of bbq sauce and sweet, vinegary coleslaw.

queens cohort N came along with me for the lunch time feast at the annual big apple bbq festival at madison square park.

i must say the actual festival was very mild, strange sponsors, odd crowd of fellow bbq'ers, everything was very spread out and the food was on the outskirts of the park.

the food was tasty, although every stand was dishing out small portions for $8 plates and we somehow managed to miss out on a staple pulled pork sandwich smothered in bbq sauce. we tried 3 different plates...

ny's very own wildwood barbeque pork strip steak sandwich w. bourbon onions and housemade pickles (v. tangy) and hill country beef brisket with yummy, not quite pickled cucumbers

Raleigh's the pit whole hog sandwich w. classic coleslaw. *sweet vinegar sauce was crucial to this sandwich

and chowed down in the park waiting for the sun to make a debut. 

  

museum mile minus the museums

when S and i first moved here we were on a serious budget. well...we were unemployed and our measly savings were dwindling, so we took advantage of every free event in nyc possible. in early june we decided to check out musuem mile; all musuems along 5th avenue between 82nd street & 105th street are free for the evening.

what a fabulous idea. we packed a pb&j lunch and headed out to absorb the art & history. walking from columbus circle because we couldn't even afford the subway. once we arrived at the metropolitan museum of art we were told the free event didn't start for another 6 hours. devastated.

it took us years to attempt again. this year we made a date to go with one of our favorite nyc couples, becca + mike. we soaked up the atmosphere and bustle, walked more than the mile up along 5th avenue and ditched the museums and chaotic lines in favor of a nyc pretzel and drawing on the sidewalk. we made some masterpieces with our 3 shade challenge of colors.

   

perhaps next year we will be prepared for the lines, swarm of children and upper east side parents and lack of food vendors.

vintage bliss

this post is solely for showing off probably one of the vintage best finds of my vintage hunting life to date and more importantly passing along the message that every woman should always make room in your closet and wallet for a multitasking, fabulous, pair-with-anything dress.

i found this dress at what i like to dub 'vintage mecca' (i can't tell you the real name for fear you will go and find something must-have before i do. selfish, i know!)

this dress was too expensive, but you know that feeling of being painfully aware of future devastation that you never bought it and imagining it in your closet, so i had to have it.

since then i have worn it to a v.posh brunch dressed up with chandelier earrings and heels, birthday party, horse racing event, out and about running errands on weekends, to work paired with a blazer, and it even made it to fashion week as a primary layer in some crazy layering texture idea i had. it's the perfect dress.

and to only add to my love for my dress, kate hudson was recently spotted in nyc in the same one.

  

goodness, gracious, great meatballs of fire

a few girlfriends and i recently scored some pretty sweet and hard-to-come-by seats at the new and raved about meatball shop on stanton street (we would like to thank Lauren T for seriously playing the martha card) for a night of wine, amazing side dishes and a plethora of delicious meatballs. 

a great and impressive thing about the meatball shop is how they've managed to create such a wide clientele (there were babies, middle aged couples, brooklyn hipsters, west side poshies and everyone in between present...and may i add, anxiously waiting for a table, while we slid in) and surprisingly diverse menu while still keeping the focus solely on balls of meat. the possibilities and combinations of meal options seemed endless. 

we each got a different variety of meatball and sauce combo - we voted the best to be between the classic beef and the spicy pork in the classic tomato sauce. mmm!  - and a side dish to share. of sides, the simple salad of arugula & apples was perfection as was the market salad of the day, which was also an arugula based salad, but a good polenta always gets my vote for best. 

and although there wasn't much room left, we glutenously decided to get 3 ice cream sandwich creations of our own design. these went pretty fast so no telling which was a favorite combo. 

for our next visit we plan on expanding our horizons and trying the sliders, more meatball and sauce combos and remembering to savor dessert a bit more. 

* photo is straight from the meatball shops website. we were too busy eating to take our own photos of the deliciousness

hideous or a must-have?

it's one of those things...it is either really hideous and terrible and that's why i can't stop looking at it or it is so different i dub it unique and therefor it is totally fabulous and i can absolutely justify buying it. thoughts?

but really, regardless of your thoughts, i already know what wall i want to hang it on and which bags, coats and scarves are the lucky few allowed to adorn it.

next challenge...convincing my favorite welsh import it suits our apt.