Understanding Happiness

Flashback to Italia

In lieu of our typical weekday routine, my roomie Sarah and I decided that we needed to spice up our evening by heading out for dinner tonight. After Yelp-ing it, we found an Italian restaurant in the theater district that looked like it wouldn’t cost an entire week’s paycheck. 

We hit Times Square at 7 o’clock rush hour (umm, gross) and had to wade through throngs of people just to make it a block. But, it wouldn’t really be Manhattan if you didn’t get trampled by scores of people on the way to a quiet meal, would it? 

As we neared the theater district, the atmosphere calmed down and the store fronts began to look a lot more higher-end. We finally arrived at our original destination of Trattoria Trecolori, only to find two more equally adorable Italian restaurants beside it. After surveying all three menus, and with a recommendation with a couple exiting the third restaurant, we decided to dine at Scarlatto.

A cozy, intimate Italian restaurant decorated with shots of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, Scarlatto was the perfect solution to our weekday blues. Along with the typical bread for the table came a dish of olives-which made both Sarah and me reminiscent of one of our first dinners in Florence where our young waiter flirted with us by delivering complimentary olives, limoncello and chocolate cake. (It was worth him grabbing my butt in the picture we took with him at the end of dinner.) We both ordered pasta dishes: Sarah, the goat cheese and sun-dried tomato tortelloni and me, the pumpkin ravioli with a butter sage sauce. They arrived within just minutes and were probably one of the best things I have eaten since moving here. 

Upon returning home, Sarah claimed this was the first time she didn’t go to bed feeling hungry. Note to Moms: We apparently still need some serious cooking lessons. 

Our olive appetizer, complete with giant cloves of garlic. 

My pumpkin ravioli—every bite was like eating a sweet and savory pumpkin pie. 

Sarah’s goat cheese and sun-dried tomato tortelloni. So delicious!

Top 30: An NYC Summer To Do List

After finally getting our acts together (finding where we work, where we live and a few cheap bars to frequent), my roommate Sarah and I decided to compile a to-do list for the remaining nine weeks we will be living in the city. A few we have already completed, some we may never complete. (Ahem, spending a weekend in the Hamptons seems a little lofty…) However, we have to set our sights high in order to get the most out of our short time here. Ready? Set? GO.

P.S. Recommendations are welcomed! 

• 1) Visit the Met
• 2) Hang out in Madison Square Park
• 3) Walk through Washington Square Park
• 4) Tour the 9/11 Memorial Garden
• 5) Visit Brooklyn Flea Market
• 6) Walk down The High Line
• 7) Go to a speakeasy (Let’s go ahead and makes this “speakeasies”)
• 8) Take a class at Chelsea Piers
• 9) Attend a sample sale
• 10) Stroll through Central Park

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