NYC DAY #3 BLOG!!!! Okay, I'll try to keep this one shorter..

NYC DAY #3 BLOG!!!! Okay, I'll try to keep this one shorter & more to the point than the last one... hahaha next joke. In the morning we went to the West Village and had breakfast sandwiches & coffees at THREE OWLS MARKET. I wouldn't say it was the best place I've ever been, but if I lived close to it I would definitely be a regular. They had a regular menu, an assortment of pre-made mains & sides (like a mini Erewhon, but not nearly as expensive), & tons of drinks (coffee was good too!). I got a yummy breakfast sandwich & side of kale salad because I severely needed some greens in my diet. I don't usually eat much bread, so you can imagine the amount of carbs I was consuming wasn't sitting *great* with my body. But when in NYC, amirite? From there we took a walk to the LITTLE ISLAND which is a recent manmade island at one of the destroyed piers that apparently a multi billionaire gifted to the city. Imagine being so rich that you're like, "I'm going to build an island and give it to NYC for funsies." Wild. There was nothing going on at the time so it wasn't that exciting, but there's an intimate amphitheater overlooking the bay that I would love love love to see a show at someday. For dinner we went to BAR PRIMI in Little Italy. It was early so it was pretty empty but it was starting to fill up when we left. Before I go into the food, I have a confession to make. I'm not sure if most of y'all know this but... I *really* dislike almost all cheese. I know, I know. I'm not proud of it! And I'm not a picky eater! I promise, it's not a choice. My body reacts like I drank curdled milk (which like, it kind of is? just saying). As a foodie, it can make things difficult since cheese is kind of everyone else's favorite thing. I can do some occasionally, like mozzarella on pizza, pepper jack on a breakfast burrito, or parmesan fries, but I often end up peeling some of it off because it's too much and anything beyond that grosses me out. I can immediately tell when something has unwanted cheese even when the cheese lovers can't taste it. Recently, I learned to enjoy triple creme brie, although I'm still picky about it and only use small amounts. So when Spencer wanted to order the truffle ricotta crostini... I was not about it. I like lasagna but I always secretly scrape off the ricotta because the texture grosses me out. I'm also not a huge fan of truffle. In small amounts it's okay, but it's usually overdone for me. However, being an adventurous spirit I decided to try it and OH GOD, WAS IT GOOD! The truffle honey smelled strong but tasted light, the hazelnuts were perfect, and without the typical ricotta texture, I actually like ricotta? Who knew! Our mains were a garlic linguine which was amazing (but definitely not a first date meal) and an orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage which was one of my favorite dishes of the trip. It was pasta, but the broccoli rabe convinced me it was healthy. We also had another kale salad (need those greens) which was really yummy for being what it was. I needed a nap & a shower after that meal, but eventually we ended up at FIG 19 - a cool speakeasy type spot that was a bit difficult to find because you have to walk through an art gallery first, so from the street it didn't look like the right place. Luckily the bouncers were around and helped us out! It was very small and pretty busy, but we were able to get drinks in 15 minutes and snag a seat after about 30 minutes. The drinks were good, although nothing as exciting as Apothoke, and the decor was a vibe with bad taxidermy, chandeliers, and a fireplace filled with candles. I also noticed people were really friendly in there. We didn't stay long but I chatted with a few groups while waiting on drinks and got really welcoming energy from everyone. They all took one look at my outfit and somehow knew I was from LA. Happens every time I go to NYC! Unfortunately, the speakeasy I wanted to hit next was a 40 minute wait, so we decided to just head on over to WEBSTER HALL which is actually where I played my first ever professional DJ set before it closed (and then reopened). We ended up there because Penny was performing at the event called DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, an iconic party in the gay scene. She's part of a larger production at a later date, but they were performing a few numbers at the party. I expected it to be more of a live show, but it was basically just a club vibe with a DJ and a few musical style drag performances towards the end. The DJ was fantastic (if you've never been to a gay club, they usually are) and played all the feels from groovy house music to Avril Lavigne. PHOTOS: West Village selfie, spicy breakfast sandwich, yummy yuzu seltzer, me trying to take a picture & failing at the Little Island, Bar Primi, ricotta crostini, garlic linguine, sausage orecchiette, sad attempt at a selfie with a skull in a very dark Fig 19, Webster Hall, & some grungy mirror selfies in the venue bathroom stall xoxo, cc