Westville...Return to Food

I have been slacking on this! I've been going out for dinner almost every day this past week, but haven't been left feeling too well after. So it's home cooking for the next few days, limited alcohol and lots more juice and smoothies for me!

The one restaurant I cannot wait to try again when my stomach isn't acting up is the WESTVILLE RESTAURANT. I had gone to their EAST location, which is right on Avenue A and 11th Street and next to the Hi-Fi bar, which I still haven't gone to yet.

Their standard menu had some really great sounding items - even the salads, though pretty simple, sounded amazing. It's a vegetarian friendly place, but there are a few meat options and lots of seafood. Each of us ordered off the Specials Menu and now I discover they list the specials beforehand online.

I ordered a plate of sides and couldn't finish them all - so I also had a wonderful lunch today. We also ended the night by ordering two bottles of wine at TERROIR WINE BAR and one we all fell in love with - Hermann J. Wiemer Riesling. Luckily my one sister lives by the Finger Lakes in NY and I'll be getting more of this wine next week!

I have a few photoshoots coming up by the end of this month. But for now, there's two magazines out through the end of this month. Allison Mindy Roth is a featured model wearing Sibyl Vain in SUGAR HEART MAGAZINE, which you can get on Mag Cloud. And then the winner of the Sugar & Spikes Beauty Pageant is wearing a Sibyl Vain bow bikini in the August issue of URBAN INK MAGAZINE and...the spread was shot by Steve Prue!!!! OMG!!!

Wines! I Drink You!

I think since Easter I have been drinking wine everyday. Orginally, I was going to head off to Whole Foods for the usual Salmon Run brand I like to pick up, but I didn't have the time to. Then I was yelled at and stripped of my Easter basket unless I retrieved wine for the holiday meal. Enforcing my right as eldest sibling, I dragged my sister the long, treacherous three blocks to the liquor store so I may indeed have my chocolate bunny.

Now. I love wine. It's awesome. But I usally just get a recommendation from the waiter when I'm out for dinner at classy joints. So when I'm in the liquor store...I just buy the pretty bottles or whatever is decently priced. Plus, I don't think of the town's liquor store as a carrier of high-class wines.

But I'm now addicted to CUPCAKE VINEYARDS! And they are on sale at the local store for like $9 a bottle. Whoa.

Really like the Sauvignon Blanc - it's light and crisp and not bitter like some other nicely priced brands. I seriously think I drank the whole bottle in two days.

Then, last night I bought Cupcake Vineyards' Moscato and was quite pleased. I just had to throw a sliced strawberry in the glass and then had a stroke of genius. Strawberry puree! I just bought the Magic Bullet Blender that day and decided to try it out. What a cute mini-blender. Plus I added Winter White Savannah Bee Company honey and it was really good.

I have a new brand and I'm happy! Plus, the name is so cute and there's blend names like 'Angel Food' and 'Red Velvet' - got to look into that.

Also tried out some new reds. the MARK WEST Pinot Noir is pretty good and I like with dinner. The gentleman at the store said it was their top selling and was like $12. As for pretty bottles, I bought ROSE'S SWEET RED and expected sweet, but this was still really dry. Not bad though, but I want more to decorate my sewing studio like the label than drink more of it.

Punk Rock vs. Posh Life

Sometimes I feel I live a double life. Most people would say I'm one of those weirdos who has pink hair, wears all black clothes and goes to a lot of rock concerts. But then there's some that will look at me and think I'm this artsy spoiled brat who drinks during the week and dines on the weekend with several trips to go overseas lined up.

But I think what I'm really trying to figure out is not what others may think of me, but where the hell do I think I fit in?

You would think one would have things figured out after college, but sometimes that's not the case. Even with two degrees that should have sent me into teaching or art curating, I still wanted more. So following the leads of so many other sewers/designers, I decided to try to sell my designs on eBay and Etsy and try to get photoshoots set up. Then the next step would be making millions and on my way as the enxt Betsey Johnson.

Not the case.

I'm on the road to a new career dealing with wardrobe and it's so exciting. But until then, it's my social life that can't be ironed out.

It's like, one night I'm out with my fellow punk-rocker seeing Orgy play at Irving plaza (which was awesome as hell) with all the goth kids. All black clothing, pinkish-purple hair and Converses. After, we headed to one of the best bars in town, Otto's Shrunken Head and got glow in the dark drinks and got our pirate on. Plus, the music was perfect Interpol, Smiths, chill dance. After, we hit the diner next door and got disco fries. My new guilty pleasure.

But then the next day I'm off to my friend's birthday celebration. She's this picture perfect Anthropologie hipster and have a fun night around Union Square. We grab food before at Maialino in the Gramercy Hotel. It was snobby older people in suits, dresses and even the hipsters look intimidating. But the food was so good.

After we went to Pierre Lotti Wine Bar and sat outside being the weather has been so nice. The waiter was rude and we all joked about it. But the wine and drink menu was awesome. Had the nicest port wine and two of the people in our group got these absinthe and bourbon drinks called The Ramsey or something and were in love with them (and ready to sleep). PLUS! They had Jacques Torres Chocolates and we ordered a bunch. Perfect compliment for the drinks.

So, that's the two sides of Union Square : punk rock at Irving with pirate rum drinks and disco fries that didn't break the bank and then posh food and drinks that were worth the price, but you have to be aware you'll get looks for the hair color and tiger print dress. Pick your poison.

New Food Adventures of February

New restaurant obsession...Azya in NYC!

It's a wine and chocolate bar and what kind of chocolate? Jacques Torres chocolates!

My friend and I started our night last Friday at Pad Thai on 8th Avenue and they have renovated since last I was there. It's so pretty inside and the menu is still amazing.

We tried the crab rangoon and SO yummy. I of course got vegetable pad thai and had to take half of it home because I was so full.

My friend got a mojito and I got this strawberry puree and gin martini and we were set. But then the waiter came over and freaked me out because he came out of no where and asked if we were ready for a third drink. It was buy two get one free. If we had read the sign beforehand, we could have gotten severely drunk, haha.

We found this place by accident. We missed out seeing a movie, so dessert and wine sounded perfect. We were walking around aimlessly and my poor friend was hurting - new shoe problems.

So before she hit me over the head and stole my wallet to take a cab ride home...we looked frantically for a place to go. But where to go? Googling and Yelp wasn't helping and then I found Ayza and when I realized it was Jacques Torres, jackpot!

Super cheap and absolutely delicious fondue, amazing chocolate strawberry martinis and you can order truffles a la carte. They have a dinner menu and so I think that may be in the near future.

I was meeting my assistant in Hoboken for a mother-daughter dinner and being my mom and I got there early, my mom freaked out over going to Carlo's Bakery..thanks television. So yes, we decided to see how far we could get to being allowed in and began to wait.

My feet were frozen, but we waited. Finally we were one of the last people to get a number for admittance and after 45 minutes, were still a half hour away. UGH!

I won't give details, but the most loveliest lady I know was able to get us in and not have to wait that last half hour. It was packed inside, so I wanted to leave. But my mom did spend like $65 on a few things and was excited enough to have a photo taken outside.

Verdict? The cupcakes were NOT worth the wait. But the coconut macaroons and canolis were fine, but I really did enjoy the lobster claws. Really good!