Spring has sprung!!!

Next to summer's in the city, springtime in the city can't be beat!! While Nicole and Jefe were visiting, we went to Central Park for our "Nicole's-in-the-city-must-go-to-Central-Park-photoshoot.
"
Me and Giancarlo in Central Park


"Give me a kiss!"


Group shot!


Nicole and Jefe


Pretending that we're singing in the non-rain

Birthday suprises!

The best birthday weekend!!
12 a.m. on Friday, March 28th- GC blind folded me and took me over to Newark airport to get my "surprise." My surprise was my sister and Jefe (jeff) flew in for my birthday weekend! The BEST surprise EVER!!!! (pictures to be posted later!)

During the day- Chipotel (chipotle) with co-workers. Sadly, the don't allow margaritas off the premises.. why..oh why!

Friday night- Beers, bowling and Magnolia cupcakes!! Nicole and GC pulled one over on me and ordered Magnolia cupcakes as part of my little shin-dig at Gutter. Gutter is an amazing bar/bowling alley in Brooklyn. What a better way to spend turning 27 then with a few beers and a couple hours bowling. My little cruise ship director also had an escalade waiting for us to take us all back home. I felt like p-diddy with my pimped out rims and leather seats.

Saturday night there were more surprises as we all dressed up and went to one of my favorite NYC spots, Fig & Olive for a little post-bday dinner.
(credit: eater)

We then headed over to the W Hotel for a few drinks. If you get there early enough, and have GC flash his pearly whites, you apparently end up with a free bottle-service bungalow at the downstairs bar. We decided that we're going to throw our going away party there.. more on that later!

Sunday- Nicole and Jefe wanted to go through Central Park (those pictures to come)... so we did a great job of getting up early and heading into the city for a bit. Our quick trip to Starbucks really needs to be given credit here, but we saved room for our Italian feast! Gelsie, GC's mom, is the most amazing cook. Dinner's at the Pacheco's household are never quick and guests need to be forwarned about the amount of food that will be bistowed upon them. Either way, it's good.. and a good time!

So now I'm at home in California. GC and I head up to San Francisco on Friday for Jenn's wedding and then back down to Orange County and San Diego to spend time with the familia! 27- so far, so good!

Fig & Olive (Meatpacking district)
www.figandolive.com

Happy "something on a stick day!"

Or better known as, Emily's Birthday! Yes, March 28th is officially known (other than my birthday) as Something on a stick day! So, grab that fudgecicle or hot dog on-a-stick and let's celebrate today!

To find out what special day, your special day is, click:
http://library.thinkquest.org/2886/INDEX.HTM

I spy..

The Empire State Building


photo credit: me!

Happy Easter!

Happy (belated) Easter!! Good friends Erin & Andy are staying with me from the UK, and we decided to throw our own Easter celebration.

Erin and I are getting prepared for all our upcoming expat adventures in cooking for American holidays! Erin cooked this amazing Pork with carmalized pears and a cream
sauce and roasted potato, I got a last chance to make our family green bean casserole.

As you can see, I still have a lot to learn! But, Giancarlo doesn't mind being my guinea pig. Easter down... next up, Thanksgiving! HA.

Five star hotel.. $5 burger

Le Parker Meridien in NYC has a secret... and I just discovered what it is. This five star luxury hotel hides the most amazing, rock 'n roll, grundge burger joint.
Look out IN & OUT. I actually have to give the props to Giancarlo for showing us this hidden gem. It's a word-of-mouth place hidden behind these huge, long curtains.

A line wraps around the outside, and thats how you know you're in the right place. You walk from prim and proper into CBGB style burger joint.

The walls are lined with famous autographs and vintage movie and music posters. The space is tight, and you have to be a vulture in finding seating, but its WELL worth it... and I don't even eat red meat!


"Burger Joint" at Le Parker Meridien
118 W. 57th St. (btwn. 6th & 7th Aves.)
(212) 708-7414

Let's get LOST!

This is the great thing about New York, and one of the things I miss the most about living in the East Village... LOST at Professor Tom's. PT is right around the corner from my old apartment on 13th street, and they do a LOST nights on Thursdays (also Wii bowling on Wed. nights.. I mean could it get any better!?)

We scored the big comfy sofa in the corner with one plasma TV and one projector screen. New Yorkers file in to watch the show, and the place gets packed and surprisingly the bar gets dead silent when the show is on.


Everyone converses during the commericals to figure out what the heck just happened, and then back to dead silence once the show is back on. Now we have to wait till April 24th for our next LOST night...until then, Wii bowling anyone!?

The cat's out of the bag!

WE'RE MOVING TO ITALY!!! Yes folks, Emily's Adventures in New York will be coming to end on May 5th!

For more deets, check out: http://www.casadipacheco.blogspot.com

We've been secretly hiding.javascript:void(0)

He's a keeper!

These beauties arrived at my office yesterday. No reason, just because. And, I LOVE it! (and him!)

Holy dumpling date!

It isn't often that GC and I get a chance to get out and enjoy the New York night life (lately) mainly because it is expensive and we've got a lot of expenses in the next two months- which we are definitely not complaining about! Last night we went out to New York hot spot Chinatown Brasserie. We've been trying to go for ages (GC went once and fell in love, now it's my turn!) and finally made it there last night.
This place is known for their dumplings. I've never had them, but we ordered two kinds of dumplings. This was all in the "let's get Emily to try new foods" events which, I have to admit.. I've been getting a lot better at. I sorta eat red meat now, so it's a step in the right direction. The first set of dumplings were pork dumplings that were what I think baked into this sorta puff-pasty style. I tried it... that was good for me. I let Giancarlo polish those off. The other set of dumplings that we ordered were a pork/shrimp mix that were wrapped in the won ton paper with a broth inside. There is a traditional way of eating these (which I learned last night) They give you soup spoons in which you put the dumpling on, and then with your chopsticks, you poke a hole and let the steam come out and sip the broth.. then eat the dumpling. Quite the activity!

We also decided if we're going to go out, we're going all out... therefore DESSERT! Again, in the spirt of "trying new things" we picked the only thing that we didn't understand on the menu.. Cinnamon bao. What the heck is a "Bao" well ... we found out. Here is a picture of these tasty little nuggets. Inside there was a frosting-custard cream. It was like little miniture Cinnabons with frosting inside. Little perfect pastry puffs of heaven.. really, need I say more?!

(my apologies for busting out stock photos. Sadly, it was too dark inside for me to take good pictures)

My fortune cookie read: EXCUSE ME
lucky numbers: 4. 22. 32 12

www.chinatownbrasserie.com
380 Lafayette St. New York, NY 212.533.7000

California dreamin'

It's days like today when I truly miss California. It's cold. With no hope of warming up, and me slowly counting down the time where I have to head back out into the miserable New York cold...that I miss California. I miss the sun hitting my face and warming me up. I miss those pesky Santa Ana winds. I miss driving down PCH with my windows rolled down and the sea breeze. I miss that break from whatever cold weather there is in California, breaking and heading down to the beach (in March!) I miss sitting out doors to enjoy my starbucks, and walking on the beach.

California, I miss you! But, we'll have to wait till April to see each other.

My first gig!

Well...sorta. My first photo gig. One of Giancarlo's bands, Be Your Own Pet, played a show here and I was fortunate enough to get some shots. Pushing through a mass of 17 year-olds, ducking two stage dives, and three bruses later.. these are some of the shots that I got. I think I'll stick to travel photography in the future.

Hey Jude

Annyong ha shimnikka (Hello!)

Snow day!

The view from my window this morning:

Check it!

If you need a good laugh... check this out:

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

I guarantee it will keep you entertained for hours.

Grey Dog's

If you find yourself in New York City, in the winter (or what is sorta winter-like) and you want to have that "neighborhood" coffeehouse feel, then I recommend this little gem down from Union Square, Grey Dog Coffee. GC and I like to go around the city in the afternoon and find little places to nosh. We can't spend money so we'll split something and usually get a coffee.. our little "going out" without dealing with the expensive nature of the city.

Last night we split the Quiche of the Day which was more like a slice of pie than a quiche, and I can't tell you what was in it other than it just melted in your mouth. Another thing that I need to learn how to cook!! (still working on the whole no-shake with the camera ha.)

We sat inside, with the rain starting to come down outside, taking pictures, eating Quiche and drinking coffee... getting ready for May (hint, hint) It's moments like these that I think I will miss the most.

________________________________________________________
Grey Dog Coffee- 90 University Place (at 12th street)
http://thegreydog.com/

V-day!

This year was my year to plan Valentine's day... and since GC and I have a lot of expenses coming up in May (full announcement to come in April!) we decided to hang low this year... which means I get to practice cooking! I made a picnic in my empty living room and attempted to make it something fun for us.

I'm not a good cook. I don't claim to be a good cook. I know a few staples here and there, but I've found that in my downtime, I love to watch the Food Network. Not that I can ever cook half the stuff that they make, but I love the idea that it's all right there. So this year, I thought I'd try something new, and I cooked Paella. If I believed in former lives (and I don't) I would believe that I was once a product of Spanish family. I love tapas, paella... anything and everything from Spain. Paella is a spanish rice dish that incorporates peppers, chorizo, shrip, chicken, any kind of meat that you want, with any kind of vegtables that you want.

The recipe was simple enough and I made a few little hor d'oeuvres to hold us over until the paella was done (spanish olives with crostini and sundried tomato goat cheese, and shrimp cocktail) However, in the rush to get everything set up, I forgot to get pictures of the creations...although I included a sample paella photo haha. All-in-all it was a great evening. I had more fun setting everything up than anything else!


Now, what to cook next....

Say what!?

The best work out EVER!!! Now let me add in my disclaimer.. I'm NOT promoting a career choice of "stripping," but I have to admit, it is a great workout (all in good fun, of course)

The past weekend I was in good 'ol San Fran with the pouring rain. I attempted to be the trourist because I got in a few hours early on Friday and I wondered around the city, but the weather had a different plan for me. With the rain pouring down, and my pants soaked (and me unprepared with my fancy footware) I ended up at 3 different Starbucks (fully loaded on my non-fat, sugar-free mocha's, extra caffeine- please) and got my culture on at the San Francisco MOMA. FYI.. The MOMA has a great photography exhibit that I got lost in for 2 hours! Sadly, no cameras were allowed. I've been to the city so many times, but not once I have been able to be a tourist. Go figure! But that wasn't the reason I was out there.. it was for Jenn's bridal shower and Bachelorette party. It was a whirlwind weekend, filled with everything from the crate and barrel spring '08 catalog, stripper poles and drag queens. Now I'm officially counting down the days till the wedding!!! (April 5th, T-65 days!)

Here are some fun shots.. more on flickr & kodakgallery