Babes who brunch

My favorite thing to do on the weekend is go to brunch. Yesterday my friends Kara and George drove into the city with their ridiculously cute baby, George Danger, to have brunch with a group of us at the tot-friendly restaurant, Sweetiepie, in the West Village. 

Right when I walked in, I saw this little birthday party going on in the birdcage. How cute is that? The next thing I see when I walk in? Bobby Flay! He seemed to be by himself, so I don't know what he was doing there, but it was exciting. Of course I was too flustered to whip my camera out in time!

Danger held it down at the head of the table. 

My boyfriend started winking at Danger, and then when Robin played peekaboo with him, he winked at her! The kid is a genius. Hmm, or maybe just a ladies' man? 

Danger couldn't stop looking at the mirrors on the ceiling, and Thea (who's holding him) joked that he'll be a natural porn star. If I was that cute, I'd be looking in the mirror, too!

There were tons of fun things on the menu (including tater tots!), but I got the egg white veggie omelet and wheat toast. I like brunch because it's the meal that's easiest for me to eat healthy at. I can order this every time and always feel satisfied. 

No one at our table ordered dessert, but the table next to us go the "piglet" which consists of: sponge cake, whipped cream, bananas, strawberries and six scoops of ice cream! 

The crew!

Kara's so sweet, she got me this T-shirt that says "Gangster-ish" because I mentioned one time I wanted it. I know I'll be wearing it soon, so you can see it up close then.

Of course, I was the only female not to hold Danger. I really want to get over my fear, and I totally talked myself into holding him, except right before he was about to be passed off to me, he started crying. Er, maybe he knew what was coming? Next time I'm doing it, damnit! How hard could it be?!

My boyfriend thinks it's a little weird that I'm not super-comfortable with babies, but I know I'll get over it eventually. Is anyone else the same way? Any tips on how I can ease into this?!

What's your quality of life like?

One of my biggest complaints about living in New York is my quality of life. (If you saw my 500-square foot apartment that I share with my sister, you'd understand). That's not to say that I don't have a great life here, but for the effort, work and money I put in, I don't get enough in return. We all know about my financial woes, but lately it's been my day-to-day life that's been getting me down. I live the life of a 23 year-old, not an almost 29 year-old. I want to cook nice meals on a regular basis and go on leisurely walks during the weekend without worrying about everything I need to get done that day--just normal stuff.

I know it's going to be a while before I'm not living paycheck to paycheck, but these simple life pleasures are definitely obtainable if I organize my time better and make them a priority. So, I started this morning by going on a walk with my boyfriend. We walked around a part of the Lower East Side that we rarely venture to and discovered lots of new cafes and restaurants.

We tried a new brunch place called Flowers Cafe. It had a cute hippie theme, and all the dishes on the menu had words like "groovy" and "go-go" attached to the names. I got the western egg-white omelette with wheat toast and a skim latte. Simple, but tasty. And cheap--my meal was about $7. My boyfriend got the steamed hot chocolate and it was so good. It was just steamed milk with Hershey's syrup, but it definitely beat the powdered stuff.

We walked by this cool little doughnut shop and even though I was full from brunch and (surprisingly) not really craving anything sweet, we decided to stop in. You know, for the experience.

I was tempted by this pumpkin doughnut, but went with the apple cinnamon one instead. It was really good--and even had little apple pieces on top--but I didn't end up finishing it because it was a little too sugary.

After our little adventure, I came back and hopped right on the computer to return emails and do a little blogging. It was hard to peel myself away from the computer to go to a yoga class, but I did, and I'm so glad. I really enjoyed it, and unlike this yoga class I recently told you about, I focused on my breathing and just relaxing. (I will say though, that my pigeon binds and balancing poses were on POINT, y'all). I even stayed until the very end of class to do some meditation. The teacher taught the class a new pose that's supposed to help with "balancing your emotions." So we sat indian style with our hands jammed up under our armpits and our shoulders scrunched up to our ears. (Think Molly Shannon in Superstar before she smells her fingers). I'm not sure if this move actually does anything to balance emotions, but it was funny.

Alright, well I'm off to check a couple more things off the ol' To-Do list before I get ready to go out. I'm being very ambitious (especially because it's so rainy out) and hitting up three parties tonight. Hopefully I'll have some good stories to share!

But tell me: What's your quality of life like? Is there anything you wish was different?

What's your favorite Sunday brunch?

An egg white ham and cheese omelette with whole wheat toast used to be my brunch meal of choice, but recently oatmeal has taken it's place. I used to always go back and forth about whether I was in the mood for something savory or sweet (even though I knew I'd end up getting the omelette), but with oatmeal I never feel that way. I can look at other people's fluffy blueberry pancakes and eggs benedict dishes without regretting my choice. Today Luke and I hit up Brown Cafe on the Lower East Side, both of us with intentions of getting oatmeal. Well, here's what I got:

I started off my meal with my favorite beverage, a skim latte. Skim lattes usually all taste the same to me, but this one was really good. I think the big mug may have given it bonus points.

I ordered my oatmeal with strawberries and raisins, maple syrup on the side. I'm aware that too much sugar can quickly turn it into an unhealthy meal, so I drizzled just a little syrup on top. Luke was too tempted by the egg dishes on the menu, so he passed on the oatmeal and got:

Baked eggs with wild boar sausage, rustic bread, potatoes and mixed greens. Yumm. I had a bite of the eggs and bread, it was delicious!

With trips to Spain and England and lovely meals like this, I'm sure no one is feeling sorry for me and my current unemployment self. I don't blame you. I can't tell you how appreciative I am for everything, regardless of the annoying complaining I do from time to time.

Anyway, tell me: What's your favorite brunch meal? Do you go out or cook at home?