... sending postcards

bryant park

2012-05-28T12:52:00.000-04:00

I walked around Bryant Park by myself one morning. The warm sunny days that we were fortunate to get for a day or two suddenly went back to winter coat-wearing weather. This Bryant Park definitely wasn't the bright, cheery picnic spot that I remembered from our summer in NYC, but beautiful all the same.

- Mina

dallas bbq

2012-05-28T00:31:00.001-04:00

After an evening of running around The McKittrick Hotel for a few hours, we stumbled into the first restaurant that we saw. Dallas BBQ was packed with people. It was lively, loud, and the servers were so friendly.

I asked our waiter what an "onion loaf" was and he informed me that it was basically a plate of onion rings. I ordered the "small" portion, aptly titled the lil' onion loaf. Generally speaking, New York City doesn't fall into the big portion size stereotype that many other cities in the US adhere to, so I really wasn't expecting a massive pile of fried onions - not so lil' after all.

I swear that we looked for a restaurant that serves healthy food... but everything else in the area was closed. I thought New York was supposed to be the city that never sleeps?

sorry about all the crappy instagram photos lately.

we'll give it a rest after the ny posts.

sleep no more

2012-05-27T11:11:00.000-04:00

Our friends are surely sick of how much we've been raving about Sleep No More. I just can't get over how unique of an experience it was. It's one of those things that you'll enjoy infinitely more if you don't know too much going in. So, I won't say anything else... except that you should go if you get the chance. Here are some links about it if you're interested:

New York Times
Jude Law talks about Sleep No More
Cool Hunting

the grey dog

2012-05-23T02:00:00.000-04:00

Someone recommended The Lobster Place near the High Line when we solicited your help in planning our NYC trip. After doing a pathetic job trying to find that restaurant, we just ended up taking a long walk and had lunch at The Grey Dog, which was also on our list. Oh well; I'm always looking for reasons to go back to New York.

I liked how relaxed everyone seemed at The Grey Dog.... and their seared tuna and avocado tacos were pretty perfect.

*more instagram photos here

sock puppet portraits

2012-05-22T00:21:00.000-04:00

we met this guy when we were walking on the high line.

he makes and sells portraits of sock puppets.

i think they're adorable.

fuji instax in nyc

2012-05-19T13:05:00.001-04:00

We bought this Fuji Instax camera well over 2 years ago and are still on the first pack of film. For shame! The last time we took photos with it was also in New York on the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a fun camera and I'm hoping to finally move onto another pack this summer. Hope you guys are having a lovely weekend!

the high line

2012-05-18T04:02:00.000-04:00

thanks so much to everyone who recommended the high line!

we were extremely lucky to get a bright "summery" day in mid-march; it was a neat place to spend the afternoon.

We saw this guy with a sign that read:
"Sit & Talk. Topic: Role Models"
New Yorkers, is this a thing?

new york: day one

2012-05-15T02:07:00.001-04:00

Photos from the first day of our trip to NY.

The itinerary:

Washington Square Park.

Chipotle for lunch.

(don't judge us, there aren't any in Montreal)

Rice to Riches for dessert.

Walking aimlessly around NoLIta and a visit to the MoMA store.

Finding out that the New Museum is closed.
Strand.

Momofuku for dinner - then across the street to the Milk Bar for some compost cookies + ice cream.
...and a cab ride back to the hotel.

ny

2012-05-02T10:03:00.001-04:00

taxi!

strand bookstore

2012-04-29T09:55:00.000-04:00

we could spend hours in this place.

*more instagram photos here

xylopholks

2012-04-27T11:54:00.000-04:00

I lamented about not seeing the Xylopholks around town during our previous times in NYC. So, I was pretty surprised that, on our first day in the city, we randomly happened to catch a "performance" at the Times Square / 42nd Street station. Their music just makes me happy. I mean, who doesn't love a xylophone and an over-sized pink gorilla?

late night papaya dog

2012-04-26T11:41:00.001-04:00

I love New York and was so happy to be back. Even though we were a bit groggy after the long train ride, we were eager to go out immediately. We arrived in the evening and made our way to Whiplash at the Upright Citizen's Brigade, where we spent nearly every Sunday a few summers ago. After the show, we were hoping to grab a bite to eat at one of the many places on our list, but everything seemed to be closed. Luckily (unluckily?), there was a Papaya Dog down the street from where we were staying on West 42nd Street. So, we had a greasy late night snack and headed back to the hotel.

to new york by train

2012-04-25T11:34:00.001-04:00

Despite my best efforts, I'm a procrastinator and I leave packing until the last minute. I ended up adding items to my suitcase late into the night. This, coupled with the fact that I essentially have narcolepsy in moving vehicles, meant that I slept for most of the train ride to NY. These are the few instagram shots I took en route.

- Mina

waffles + hot chocolate

2012-04-24T08:30:00.000-04:00

more photos from the winter // waffles and hot chocolate at the renoir

reminded us of our time in brussels

winter

2012-04-23T14:32:00.000-04:00

photos from a winter walk around mcgill campus

kazu

2012-04-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

Kazu is a popular Japanese izakaya-style restaurant, in downtown Montreal, that we've been wanting to try for awhile. We visited it on, what felt like, the coldest day of the (otherwise mild) winter and stood outside for about 30 minutes to get a seat in the crowded restaurant. Kazu was well worth the wait; it's definitely one of the best restaurants in Montreal. The tables are so cramped together that you can't help but check out what other people are ordering, and overhear their conversations about the food. A guy seated nearby told us we had to order the pork neck, so we went for it. I complied with his specific, and unsolicited, instruction of eating it without cutlery. For dessert, I got the sake soft serve and Mina had the earl grey ice cream, which was essentially ground tea leaves sprinkled on top of vanilla soft serve (which she thought was a genius idea).

-Alex

shabu shabu

2012-04-18T23:55:00.000-04:00

I tried shabu shabu for the first time shortly after we returned from our trip to Morocco.

I wasn't really into it, but Alex loved it. Highlight of the evening: candied ginger ice cream - so good.

a marrakesh home movie

2012-04-17T04:00:00.002-04:00

hassan ii mosque

2012-04-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

rick's cafe

2012-04-13T12:09:00.000-04:00

Rick's Cafe, in Casablanca, is a recreation of the piano bar/restaurant in the famous movie named after the city. I anticipated a tourist trap, thinking it was one of those places I had to cross off the list - as if missing this in Casablanca would be like skipping the Pyramids while visiting Cairo. It was far from it and we couldn't have been more pleased with everything. Unfortunately for us, the pianist who usually plays "As Time Goes By" wasn't around. After lunch, we went up to the bar (which we inexplicably had to ourselves) where we watched part of the movie and had dessert. It was the first place we headed after arriving at our hotel and a perfect start to the day in Casablanca.

pictures from a moving vehicle

2012-04-12T14:02:00.001-04:00

The sights and scenes on the way back to Casablanca were so interesting. A man selling chickens on the side of the road, sheep herders, kids hitchhiking home from school - it's neat to see how people spend their days... so completely different from our lives in Canada.

hello casablanca

2012-04-11T17:52:00.001-04:00

How adorable are these Gap Kids ads? I snapped these photos in a huge new mall in Casablanca that had a grand opening with Jennifer Lopez performing just shortly before we arrived. I'm hoping to get our Casablanca posts up this week... then some from Montreal... and then NY - determined to get caught up!

back to marrakesh

2012-04-11T07:56:00.002-04:00

We stopped often on our way back to the city: to admire the landscape, to eat lunch, to explore a kasbah, etc... - notably, Telouet which is crumbling and has a rich history. The detail in every inch of the rooms is astonishing.

At some point, we saw a goat-herder with his goats on the side of the road. There were about 5 or 6 peering over a rock and then suddenly we were surrounded by what seemed like hundreds. These photos and video seem underwhelming compared to the actual experience. But, it's not every day that you see a massive herd of goats scale the side of a mountain...

We ended our last evening in Marrakesh with dinner at Al Fassia which happens to be owned and operated by women only. I'm going to miss the rose water they put on your hands at the nice restaurants in Morocco - such a lovely way to start a meal. We shared the pigeon pastilla as an appetizer. I know we said that we weren't in a rush to try pigeon again but Amine (our driver/friend) said we had to have one before we left. It was pretty good!

fertal lahcen

2012-04-08T09:08:00.002-04:00

While in Aït Benhaddou, we met the artist Fertal Lahcen. Despite the fact that he explained it to us, we still don't entirely understand how his process works, but the paintings are lovely and there's one hanging on our wall now to remind us of our time in Morocco.

aït benhaddou

2012-04-06T13:33:00.001-04:00

On our way back to Marrakesh, we visited Aït Benhaddou, a 'fortified city' that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for 25 years. Apparently the kasbahs get damaged each time it rains. Most of the people in the town live in a more modern village at the other side of the nearby river but a few families still live within the ksar. We walked around and met some of the shopkeepers and artists which we'll be posting about this weekend - hope you have a good one!

...and if you missed them, some videos of us in the sahara desert: 1 | 2