MSG

13 03 2010

Madison Square Garden in New York City.  One of the biggest concert events of the year.  A lane shut down on 7th & 32nd.  An Event Marketing first.  And a line winding down the block.

Guess who gets to walk past that long line up and hop up those steps? 

Our RocPopShop event at Madison Square Garden was an amazing success. 

After months of hard work, and a day of limited sleep with only mango smoothies as sustenance, the event that we’ve been working on for so long has come and passed.  But the “Awe” factor still lasts…Madison Square Garden…..CRAZY!


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Closing Down the Place

10 02 2010

Another night at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse and another morning cursing Ralph’s name.  

Why oh why can we never resist the never-ending glass of wine?

We invited some good friends to join us for dinner this time around and it added a whole new dynamic to our evening.  First off, there’s nothing better than bringing friends together (and having it work out, instead of sitting through awkward silences).  

Nathan and I got to spread the delicious taste of the Canadian bacon appetizer, which they loved.  However, I shared a piece with a “Happy Hour Goer” and he was not a fan, so he didn’t last long in our group.  But it could have also been because Ralph scared him off.  After I offered this “Happy Hour Goer” a piece of bacon he started chatting me up and then turned around and said, “and that, my friends, is how you do it”.  What??!  Do people actually say that?  I thought that only happened in the movies.

Tonight we had a special treat – Wolfgang of Wolfgang’s came to the restaurant for dinner and he came by and said hello and shook all of our hands.  At the front of the restaurant he sat with all of his friends and family.  It was a big deal – the “Owners” table.   So it was quite a surprise when we ended up sitting at that table later on in the night (more like the early hours of the morning).   It all started when Patron shots were shared between one of their group and one of our group.   It progressed when I overheard a conversation that went a little bit like… “dare me!  OK – I dare you!…..excuse me, is this seat taken….”  What I didn’t hear was, “There’s an empty chair over there, you should go sit there…..No I can’t…..Do it”.  So with one foot in the door, or rather, one bum on the seat, we ended up sitting at ‘The Owners’ table and sharing a delicious glass of wine. 

Let’s just say that by the time we left, the restaurant was empty, the bartenders had long since changed into their street clothes and the steak and desserts that we’d had for dinner were a distant memory.


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Dressed for the Holidays

10 12 2009

Dressed up for the holiday season, New York City was decked out in all of its glittery refinement during my visit last week.   The annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting took place on Wednesday, December 2nd, and although I didn’t watch the lighting itself (because it was pouring down rain) I did catch a glimpse of it as I drove past at 11pm that same evening.  Surprise, surprise – the streets were still bustling with people.  

It was a treat to experience New York during the holiday season and as I should have expected; the city definitely dressed to impress.  I couldn’t help but notice that not only does the city string lights on the trees that line the streets, but every single branch and twig of these trees is lighted up so it does in fact look like a tree made of lights, rather than a tree with lights on it. 

Even though I’ve been to New York more times than I can count during the past year, it seems like every time I go the city renews itself in my eyes.  There are so many different neighbourhoods to explore with such different vibes.  This trip was all about Chelsea (The Meatpacking District) and Tribeca.  We made our ritual jaunt back to Wolfgang’s Steakhouse in Tribeca to visit our favourite bartender, Ralph.   We couldn’t stay away from the wine, or the thick slabs of Canadian Bacon, and ended up back there for lunch a few days later.   As we explored The Meatpacking District, and watched the drunken revelry that ensues each weekend, we found a tiny little restaurant (just steps away from our friend’s apt) called Pad Thai (www.padthaibox.com).  In this little restaurant on 8th ave & W 16th street we found a tasty little treat of homemade coconut ice cream with sticky rice.  This treat was so tasty with its blend of flavours and textures that we ordered a second one as soon as we finished the first.  Talk about gluttony.


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Taking a Bite out of the Big Apple

8 11 2009

On our most recent trip to New York City Nathan and I decided to be real tourists.  We felt like it was time to take that Grey Line tourbus, sit on the upper deck and listen to the rehearsed stories of the tourbus operator, take photos of all of the New York sights, bond with other tourists and talk about how much trash there is in the city! 

This was the plan, that is until we realized that it would cost us $90 a person to see many of the same sights that we had already seen and listen to the tour operator tell us stories of the city that may or may not be true (we know that Jay Z doesn’t really live in that building….)

So, instead we decided to take an “EATING TOUR OF NYC”.  And if you think about it, is there any better tour to be taking?? 

We unofficially started our tour at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse (www.wolfgangssteakhouse.com) in Tribeca having dinner with friends.  The best appetizer that I’ve ever had is their specialty of thick-sliced Canadian Bacon.  It’s like a bacon steak!  After this savoury appetizer we also indulged in a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad (Caprese Salad), Rib Eye steaks to share with German Potatoes and Creamed Spinach as sides.  And, to make this an authentic New York local dinner, in the city that never sleeps, this ‘dinner’ took place at about 9:00 at night and was accompanied with glass after glass of complimentary red wine.

The next day we decided to get really serious about our eating tour.  After listening to a live version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, we knew we had found our first stop – Patsy’s Pizzeria (www.patsyspizzeriany.com).  Frank Sinatra mentioned this pizzeria in his song, and after some research we found out that this place was the founder of the New York Style thin crust pizza.  After walking from the Port Authority to 60th St & 3rd Ave, our stomachs were growling and we were not disappointed when we walked into the rustic, family-style pizzeria with the coal-burning oven.  One large original Margherita pizza coming up!  When it arrived, the crust was thin and crispy, but chewy at the same time; the sauce was hot and the fresh mozzarella was melting off of the pie.  The flavours were infused with a few basil leaves.  Possibly THE best pizza I’ve ever had. 

After taking a walk through Central Park to walk off the pizza and prepare for our next eating destination, we went back to 60th street to try out the famous Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity (www.serendipity3.com), a restaurant that was featured in the movie Serendipity with Kate Beckinsale and John Kusack, and a beverage that has been featured on Oprah Winfrey’s Favourite Things list.   As New York City’s first coffee house boutique, with Tiffany lamps,  pink walls, old fashioned chandeliers, cake top decorations, etc, the interior of this place is the definition of “kitsch”.  The infamous Frozen Hot Chocolate is created with a mixture of 7 different chocolates and blended with ice, cream and topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. 

frozen hot chocolate

As we made our way back through the city streets, we took a detour to Crumbs (www.crumbs.com), a bakery specializing in designer cupcakes.  Of course we had to pick up a couple of cupcakes to go.  You just can’t leave red velvet cupcakes behind!

Our final stop for the day was our local sushi restaurant in Times Square, Aoki (www.aokinyc.com) that, despite the constant traffic of tourists and locals, knows us when we stop by. 

sushi dinner

The next few days of our visit we were in Brooklyn, but this didn’t stop us from continuing on our eating tour.  Lenny’s Clam Bar (www.lennysclambar.com).  A small, family-owned restaurant, specializing in all things shellfish and pasta, among other things.  We loved it so much that we went there 2 days in a row and enjoyed the house specialty of Baked Littleneck Clams, Seafood Salad, which was chock-full of scungilli (conch), calamari, and shrimp and traditional pastas.  

We also had the opportunity to explore downtown Brooklyn with an old friend and went to a quaint French Bistro called Le Petit March (www.bkbistro.com) where we met the owner and enjoyed fresh mussles and crunchy oysters.   And for dessert, we were taken to Cake Man Raven (www.cakemanraven.com), a place famous for its Red Velvet Cake. 

For our last day in the city we had an opportunity to meet up with a friend for brunch and a broadway musical, In the Heights.  For brunch we continued our eating tour and enjoyed pumpkin bread and lobster eggs benedict at Blue Fin (www.brguestrestaurants.com), a restaurant located at the W Hotel in Times Square.  After brunch and the musical, we decided to bookend our eating tour by returning to Patsy’s Pizzeria and Crumbs Bakery to repeat our initial visits.

Finally, after 6 days and 9 restaurants, our eating tour is DONE!

 

 

 


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New York Natives

20 08 2009

Who would have thought that a year ago, I had never been to “The Big Apple”, the ‘city that never sleeps’, New York City.  Who would have thought that I would be able to walk into a store and see a picture on the wall and know exactly where in NYC that picture was taken.  Who would have thought that I could watch an episode of Sex in the City and remember strolling by that very restaurant.

The time has come that I truly feel like a New York Native.

And, like true New York Natives, we avoid Times Square at all costs, and while walking down the streets find ourselves saying ‘keep walking, ugh get these tourists out of here!’

In the cumulative 3+ months that we’ve spent in the city, we’ve been store keepers in Brooklyn, wandered around churches in the Bronx, sipped martinis and eaten at the Spice Market in Manhatten, and rubbed shoulders with Mayor Bloomberg in Harlem.  There is only one more boro left to conquer – QUEENS.

Our latest adventure:  Vacationing at the Jersey Shores on Long Beach Island (or LBI as the locals call it)

We spent a 24 hour period at our good friends’ beach house in Beach Haven, New Jersey.  It was a jam packed day of beach combing, wave jumping, celebrity sighting (only a Real NJ Housewife), crabbing, and drinking with good friends.

the beach - before

the beach - after

surfer

nathan

boogie boarding

And, I’m not sure if you’ve ever crabbed before, but let me tell you that the ghetto way of crabbing works just as well as the real way.  The ‘real way’ being with fish as bait.  The ‘ghetto way’ being with a raw chicken leg and a can of tuna with holes poked in it.

Overall, a wonderful way to spend a Saturday in August…

Seashells


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Goodbye Brooklyn…

8 05 2009

Okay, let’s get serious now and talk about the real Brooklyn experiences. 

It’s a whole different culture over there, where the most popular male clothing size is a 38 pant and 2XL shirt, where everything is  “hey mama, how you doin“, and the girls talk about how their “booty’s kickin and their boobs are poppin’. ” It always amazed me how many things the women could hold in their bras.  I would be ringing up sales, and all of a sudden out pops a cell phone, and then out pops a whole envelope of money.  I had to take a second glance, and in my head I was thinking ‘how did that fit in there?’.  I honestly don’t get it! 

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Another thing about our Brooklyn experience – EVERYONE knows Jay.  We had a constant flow of traffic coming through of people who used to go to school with him, who babysat in the same building that he lived in, that used to work with him way back when, even his ‘third cousin Monica’ said “waz up?”. 

Let me tell you about the day of all days.  It shall forever be known as “The Day We Couldn’t Leave Brooklyn“.  Everything starts out very normal that day.  We were going to head into the city via NJ transit and catch a cab into Brooklyn to get the truck all wrapped up and drive it back out to Jersey.  The bus ride went smoothly.  As soon as we got into a cab at the Port Authority the cab driver said, “It’s my first day“. Not a good sign.

First we got stuck in some crazy traffic on 34th street. The cab driver was fiddling with his GPS unit, in the end, we ended up programming it for him.  But you really can’t rely on a GPS in the city – no satellite reception.  So, just when I think we’re heading in the right direction, our cab driver gets yelled at by a pedestrian who tells him to get out of the bus lane so they can get on their bus.  So flustered was the cab driver, that he ends up almost squishing another cab driver in between his cab and the other.  The GPS finally starts working, but the driver doesn’t listen to it, and we miss our turn onto the Brooklyn bridge.  Once we get over to Brooklyn we point out the big black truck on the left corner.  That is our destination.  Turn left here.  He turns RIGHT.  OK, this isn’t going well. Finally Nathan says, ‘just stop the car.  pull over right here!”  The cab driver was surprised when he didn’t get a tip. 

We take care of the truck easily, and we’re off.  Only to get stopped 5 minutes into our journey because the Interstate is blocked off due to a Tri-Boro Bike Race.  So we get redirected in the other direction, take the first exit, and end up in the middle of CRAZY traffic.  People were actually trying to put their cars in reverse and back down the on-ramp. 

Just when we thought we were on the right track – the Interstate was blocked off in this direction as well and we were getting dumped right back where we started.  But this time we couldn’t take the turn as easily, and there might have been some strong words with the police and illegal cone touching.  Anyway, we ended up lost in the tiny streets of Brooklyn until we get into this narrow construction zone on our way to the Interstate (for the third time).  I look up and there’s an underpass…. 12′ ~ .  Twelve foot squiggle??  We’re 13’ 6″, this isn’t going to work.  For whatever reason the underpass wasn’t marked right, just as we go under I hear a ‘crunch, crunch, crunch’. 

Turns out a little Toyota turned her wheels to get into our lane and our tires bumped.  She knocked off 3 decorative caps off our tires, and she gets to be the lucky person that gets hit by an 18 wheel tractor trailer with no damage! 

After 4 1/2 hours, we finally make it out of Brooklyn and back to our hotel.  We drove a total of 41 miles.


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“Hello Brooklyn”

29 04 2009

It has been almost one month since we first landed in New York City. 

Who knew that we would live the life of regular New York locals – living in Jersey and taking the Lincoln Tunnel commute every morning. 

Who knew that we would become familiar faces on the streets of Brookyln, get preferential treatment at a local bagel shop, and recognize people around the city. 

It’s been a fairly uneventful stay so far, but it has had its moments. 

1)  Nathan and I are becoming Street Fighter Champions (during those slow periods at the pop shop, what else is there to do but to play Street Fighter on the X Box, although the customers are now taking turns beating me at the game)

2) One rainy weekday morning we had a surprise celebrity visiter.  Ed Lover came to visit and get some free clothes.  Now, personally I really had no idea who he was, but Nathan recognized him as the infamous Ed Lover from MTV Raps, previously of the Ed Lover and Dr. Dre combination.  He’s now a big radio personality

3) We were invited out to dinner at Wolfgang’s, a very good steak restaurant inTribeca, during the Tribeca film festival

4)  We’ve booked an all-inclusive vacation for 9 days in….you guessed it – MEXICO.  We’ll see what we end up doing with that or if we change our destination.  You can’t go anywhere now without someone talking about Swine Flu.

5)  We’ve become experts in the retail industry.  I now know how to ‘paperfold’ shirts and have learned all the merchandising tricks of the trade.  Nathan has been doing his part by specializing in the exclusive ladies line and talking about the ‘extra bling on the shirts’ and the ‘colours that pop’. 

All in all, it’s been an interesting time in Brooklyn.  Sorry for the lack of photos, but there really isn’t much to see in the middle of the Brooklyn hood, at what used to be an empty construction lot.

One last hightlight – we ended up in a place called Teaneck, NJ in search of a Dairy Queen for their Midnight Truffle blizzard.  The place was an old-fashioned barn style building with line ups down the streets – who knew Dairy Queens were such a big deal?


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The Parade of the Easter Bonnets

14 04 2009

After a very rainy and dreary Saturday, Easter Sunday morning came through bright and sunny.  Nathan and I decided to head into the city and see if we could crash some easter egg hunts in Central Park.  But alas, all those eager, chocolate-hungry kids beat us to the hunt, so we settled for a nice lunch at The Empire State Building.

After lunch we wandered down 5th avenue, battling the crowds that were soaking up the sun on the sunny side of the street (I think I may have seen tumbleweeds on the other sidewalk that was shaded by the buildings).  It was really sunny, but the wind was kicking and it was freezing!  We spent some time soaking up the sun on the steps of the NYC Public Library.  As we sat there it started getting a lot busier, then there were whispers of an Easter Parade.  Well, after sitting for a while and realizing that the streets were definitely not closed, we took off…to be greeted by closed off streets.  Pedestrianized Streets! My favourite kind – I love walking in the middle of streets.   Now, I’m not sure if we just missed out on the Easter Parade, or if there is at all, but we happened upon the Parade of the Easter Bonnets.

easter-bonnetseaster-bunnycrazy-easter-peopleeaster-band

Pretty much anyone who wanted to could get dressed up and put on a big hat and people would want to take photos of you.  One woman had dressed her child up in an Easter Bunny costume and was yelling “Help the Easter Bunny go to college – $1 donation!“

Needless to say, it was a little crazy.  We finally did make it to Central Park, where we watched little kids slide down these rock cliffs on their bums – entertainment has definitely changed since I was young.

central-park

For Easter dinner we ended up at The Palm Steakhouse (www.thepalm.com), which has original cartoons drawn on the restaurant walls.  The story is, the original restaurant was right near the New York Times, and the cartoonists from The Funnies would go eat there, and although they couldn’t afford the meal, their payment would be a cartoon on the wall.

Fantastic Meal!  We both had charbroiled New York Strip steaks! Buzzing off steak, red wine and too much of a good thing, we headed back Jersey.


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livin’ like locals

11 04 2009

Now, if you read my previous post you may be asking yourself  “WHY, were you not there for Beyonce?” 

I know, I know – I’m kicking myself too.  But rather than stay at the truck all day when it was definitely not necessary, Nathan and I decided to enjoy the local flavour.  We took ourselves on a walk and enjoyed the day like many other Manhattan locals. 

Probably 5 minutes into our walk we (well, Nathan) got distracted by all of the fancy cars that were showing themselves off in the Meat Packing District.  Bentleys, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, etc.   Let’s just say, everyone was out showing their Sunday Best.   la-botegga

10 minutes into our walk, we got distracted by the allure of a rooftop patio with something called a “Bloody Maritime” and the wildest wild mushroom thincrust pizza we’ve had.  There was a twig/branch in the pizza – definitely not expected, but it didn’t dampen the enjoyment of the afternoon. 

lunch-on-rooftop-patio

 

 

 After our lunch we headed to the water. We enjoyed a nice sunny spring afternoon by walking along the Chelsea Pier amide the rollar bladers, bicyclists, runners, walkers, dogs, etc.  We saw this one lady who seemed to be a kind of attraction, however I don’t think she knew that she was.  She was a small asian woman walking 2 little fluffy dogs, but she had on this HUGE feathered hat that was blowing in the wind.  At first I thought, well, it takes all types, but then when people randomly came up to take pictures of her and/or her dogs, I thought, should we know this person?  Is the strange hat like the crazy swan dress that Bjork wore to one of the award shows? 

 

By now, it was getting to be about 5pm so we stopped for a snack at a coffee shop and, tired from our very busy day of car watching, eating, and pier strolling, we decided that it was nap time.   Off came the shoes and on came the sunglasses.  There’s nothing better than taking a nap on the grass and basking in the light of the fading sun. 

nathan-close-up

traci-close-up

 After a nice nap and some picture taking, we brushed ourselves off and headed back to the truck.  When we got back, THAT is when we found out that we had missed out on the excitement of the afternoon.  We had to console ourselves with mini cheeseburgers and milkshakes at Pop Burger (www.popburger.com), a self pro-claimed ‘glamorous burger joint’. 

 

 


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Jay, B & Me

10 04 2009

roc-pop-shop-jay

I start off with this photo because this, my friend, is the money shot.  Let me set the scene for you:

New York City….

5:00am….

Pouring Rain….

The Meat Packing District…

Amid all of these narrow one-way streets and decorative marshmallow shaped boulders, rolls a big black 18 wheel tractor trailer.  Little would anyone think that no more than 12 hours later, the streets would be packed with paparazzi (well, let’s say 10 paparazzi), the RW pop shop would be filled with the new summer men’s and women’s line and Jay would be hanging out playing x box with me (and when I say with me, I actually mean I helped set the system up, chatted with him for a couple of minutes and then got the hell out of the way, because who are we kidding – I don’t know how to play x-box!). 

new-york-gansevoortroc-pop-shop-at-the-gansevoort

 

 

 

 

 

So everything went extremely well with the event.  The Meat Packing District would exactly be the target market, BUT we definitely made an impact on all of the european tourists that were around. 

Two days later the streets really were flooded with paparazzi.  (note the limited edition bag that was made specifically for the pop shop)

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jayzandbey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now… if only we had been there to see the craziness that their lunchtime visit caused…


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