THIS is empty??

My long weekend in NYC was packed with fun fun and more fun. We shopped, we ate, we shopped, we ate, we went to the movies, we ate.

My friend got me an Amtrak ticket using his rewards miles, and I arrived in NYC on Thursday at 3pm. I cabbed it to their apartment and watched some US Open until she came home. We had drinks at Dip, then met her husband for dinner at Dos Caminos. Though the food was excellent (I had the swordfish), I can't say it's the best mexican food I've ever had... when you've lived in Denver, you've been spoiled by authentic Mexican.

On Friday, Anna and I went shoe shopping at Anbar, where they've just gotten in their fall shoes. We found many many pretty, cute, and out of our price range shoes. I was looking for some new ankle boots in black leather. I found some. I walked out without, b/c unfortunately for me, I had fallen in love with a pair of Miu Miu ankle boots. They retail for over $500, so even on sale, they were over $300. Ouch. Then we met Scott for dinner at Don Bogam, which was excellent Korean food. Have I shared with you that for authentic asian food, you should seek out restaurants that a) aren't too pricey and b) where the patrons are mostly asian? We shared the bi bim bop, an order of fried man doo, and one of their combo bbq platters. We were quite full, so we opted to rent a few movies and head home. After being under enthralled with the very under thrilled thriller Silent Hill, we called it a night.

On Saturday, all of us met up with Jeni, who was in town for the US Open Tennis tournament. We started out the day right, by splurging on a decadent breakfast at Clinton St. Baking Company where I enjoyed the most excellent brioche french toast, topped with carmelized bananas, pecans, and maple butter. The girls split from Scott, since he didn't want to partake of the massive search for the perfect handbag. First, we went to School Products, a yarn store my friend Anna found for me. Jeni picked up some beautiful lace, while I got some Koigu. We took Jeni to the same stores that I went to in February, and she got a very cute, very distint handbag (do I get visitation rights Jeni?) I hope she takes care of that beautiful choc. suede!!! We finished off the day with some of the best sushi at Haru. Jeni had to meet back up with her mom and sister, so we shipped her off in a cab, then headed to the movies to see Half Nelson. Has anyone else seen it? I was very impressed with Ryan Gosling, whom i had last seen in Remember the Titans.

Seeing as we had din-din so early, we walked up to Max Brenner for dessert. If you're a chocolaholic, you NEED to go here. Described as a real life Willy Wonka factory, it serves up some of the most decadent desserts I've ever seen. The best part? That your dessert is served with a mini beaker of chocolate syrup, so that you can pour it over your own dessert.

And what's a trip to NYC w/o a tour of Barney's? Though there were some very beautiful shoes, dresses, sweaters, etc etc, there were also many FUGLY items, which usually cost more than the items that I actually wanted. My friend fell in love with a thick and thin polar knit flip brim hat, which had the price tag of $180! There were asymmetrical cardigans, wide collared cardigans and sweaters, and some sweaters in stockinette with fancy shoulders.

All in all, I feel as if I shouldn't need to eat for about 2 months. School starts tomorrow, so I'm glad I've got plenty of nourishment. How was YOUR labor day weekend?

**The city was supposedly empty, though Anna and I ended up waiting for over an hour for some excellent tapas at Tia Pol in Chelsea. I think the entire city was at dinner at this hole in the wall (only about 8 tables in the entire joint!)