MUSIC, TriBeCa & SILVERI/BUSCH DINNER PARTY

I went to a concert!  It was just what I needed to round out my semi-hipster city-dwelling persona!  Dave, Pat and Tom were on a live music kick and bought tix to this band who P & T just saw at South by Southwest in Austin, Trampled by Turtles.  They're a blue-grassy band made up of strings and harmonicas and they pack a lot of punch!  I planned on buying a ticket at the door if I could get out of work at a reasonable hour.  Coincidentally, Bridget Kessler called me seeing if I'd like to go see the same concert!  So, I had the two groups meet before I even got there... and it was good times at the charming Webster Hall in the East Village.  It's an old school theater, standing only mid-size venue. It reminded me of a slightly more spacious Henry Fonda Theater (aka The Music Box), but not as big as The Wiltern Theater in LA.

Trampled by Turtles at Webster Hall

It's getting warmer and warmer, summer is almost here... This is a snap shot I took leaving work on Friday night.  Walking east to the subway, I turned back towards my office on 11th Ave and the brilliant sunset glow off the hudson almost made me forget I was constantly surrounded by tall buildings.  I even thought I saw a palm tree...

That Saturday, post downtown jog, I went down to Chambers St to meet Dave during his lunch break for a little TriBeCa exploration!!  I hadn't been down to the area yet and since he works right there, and had a Saturday work ethic, he was an excellent tour guide!  I saw some big old government buildings including the two mammoth courthouses off of Chambers.  

Rockefeller Park

 We walked west through the adorable family-oriented Tribeca neighborhoods, past farmers markets and playgrounds... this is where the rich yet hip new yorkers raise their families... ahh there they are!  Yuppies!  Dave led me through Rockefeller Park along the westside, which leads into Battery Park... past Jenn, Jacqui & Bridget's infamous Stuyvesant High School.  The sun was shining, the water was glistening and people were laying out in the park by the hundreds! 

He led me back into the heart of downtown, around the new Freedom Tower slowing rising up from ground zero and into the financial district.  We said our adieus and i did a lil Wall Street exploring.  I especially love this picture on the left of the old church against the new skyscrapers!

  On my way back home, I stopped in this little Pierogi Shop around the corner where an old polish guy hand makes about half a dozen types of pierogis and sells them uncooked.  He barely spoke english but when i cooked his potato, onion & cheese pierogis as well as his mushroom and saurkraut ones... I was a believer!!


That evening, Dave and I had a delicious dinner date at Kyle and Doug's adorable home in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.  They graciously greeted us, wine glasses in hand. 

susie homemaker, making dat home!

lady at work.

Kyle's pesto and little hats!  Manja!

 It felt so nice to be in a friends' home, chillaxing, eating a home cooked meal, it was so out of character for me!  And let me tell you, Kyle brought me back to suburbia in the most delicious way!  She made fresh pesto pasta and incredible cheesecake (i need me a mixmaster!!) with real gram cracker crust and diced strawberries.  Yummerz!!!  The rain came suddenly, pounding through her open bedroom windows, so we stuck around in the comfort of their second story apartment, swapping stories and playing with their little kitten Dagney.  She liked me, of course!  It was a lovely lovely evening in Brooklyn.

INCREDIBLE homemade cheesecake by KYLE!  sooo good!

Dagney the kitty