Important Life Happenings

That title is kind of a joke, except - I really did get my nails done at the fanciest nail salon I've ever been to (or will most likely ever visit again).

Let me explain. My friend and coworker Natalie gets her nails done once a month, and she always gets really cool, fancy stuff done, like cute pink Valentine's Day owls done in February, or little American flags for the 4th of July.

For my birthday present to myself, I wanted to go with her and get some fancy nails done too. But in February, I had bitten my nails down too far for it to be worth it. So I postponed for a month and used my best willpower to not bite my nails.

March 22 was the big day. I met Natalie on Grand Street in Chinatown to go to Vanity Projects nail salon, which doesn't even have an official sign. It just has this awesome sign next to the stairwell entrance: 

When we went in, we were offered a choice of still water, Perrier, or espresso while we waited. Did I mention this place was fancy?

Then, I met my manicurist, Mimi, who hails from Japan and has lived in NYC for about two years. She painted on the awesome cat nail design I've been admiring on my Pinterest board for a while now. 

Painting the cat's eyes

Meanwhile, Natalie (who I never actually got a picture of!) was getting the super fancy nails of her dreams done. She decided to go with an Alice in Wonderland theme for March, and almost every nail had a different picture on it. 

Also, as you can see, her manicurist's nails are RIDICULOUS. This girl (Yumi, I think, also from Japan) has fake nails that are like...5 inches long? Maybe longer? And she's had them for at least a month! Natalie and I have no idea how she does it. 

CRAZY

Anyway, my nails were done in about 80 minutes. And I love them. I wish I could stop them from growing out. 

I had to leave before Natalie's nails were completely finished (hers took 3 hours!!) but this is what they ended up looking like: 

Pretty cool, right? 

And I'm not even going to tell you how much my nails cost because it is embarrassingly expensive. Once in a lifetime, I tell ya! 

In the meantime, I have to make sure as many people as possible "oooh" and "aaah" over them. 

Spring at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden

One cherry tree in bloom = everyone lined up with their cell phones out. 

Spring Break: Brattleboro, VT!

This year, I didn't actually get a spring break, because Columbia and Pace University's breaks didn't line up for the first time in three years (boo). Even so, I got a couple of three-day weekends, and Ari happened to get a random gig in Vermont playing a private ski club, so we decided to make a mini vacation out of it, continuing our tradition of spending spring break in a colder place than New York City.

We booked a hotel (Holiday Inn Express, baby!) in Brattleboro, and spent most of our free time exploring the cute main street area. Our first night we had dinner at a restaurant called Duo, which was pretty good.

My cocktail was called "The Cloud" and Ari's was called "The Mountaineer." 

The next morning, we went hiking in Madame Sherri Forest, which has a pretty cool namesake. Our bartender from the night before had actually recommended it, when we asked about what we should do in the area. 

Madame Sherri was actually French, and she was a costumer for the Ziegfeld Follies who retired up in the woods of New Hampshire and reportedly threw wild parties. The remnants of her house are still there.

Ari and I just saw the movie The Witch, and this reminded us of that setting. Creepy. 

Indian Pond

Remnants of Madame Sherri's "castle." 

We only had the early part of the afternoon free, and then we had to drive to The Hermitage Club for Ari to do rehearsal for the show that evening. The club was so swanky! Hardly anyone was there because it was such a warm winter, so there was barely any snow to ski in. 

View out the window while waiting for the band to finish rehearsing. 

The highlight of the night was definitely the free dinner that we got before the show (I got to eat it too, even though I wasn't part of the band). It was a full menu with appetizers, mains, side dishes, and dessert. I got lobster mac n cheese (I couldn't resist). Ari had salmon with roasted mushrooms and onion rings. 

I got a s'mores sundae which was AMAZING. 

 

Then they did the gig! It was a cabaret act with four musicians and a singer. A good show, but sadly not so many people in attendance, again because it just wasn't great skiing weather to begin with. 

I was amused by the cliched antler chandeliers. 

The next morning, we went for another quicker hike in Fort Dummer State Park. It had a nice view of the Connecticut River.

Our last activity in Brattleboro was a visit to Hermit Thrush Brewery, which makes mostly sour IPAs. Ari and I are not really fans of that type of beer, but these were actually REALLY good. 

Before we drove back to New York, we stopped in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts to visit Ari's cousin Rosa, her husband Dominic, and their baby, Rocco. 

Rocco was adorable and let me read him a couple books. 

And then we drove back to the city! A good three-day spring break!