Bouncy Trouncy Bouncy Trouncy
fun fun fun fun fuuuun!!!!

That's how today felt...for the most part!
The day began with my laundry being delivered (wash and folded) so that I could pack. One of the perks about living in NYC -- laundry service!!!

Then Carina came by and I opened my birthday gift from her. The gave me a kitchen scale that measures in grams and pounds. Yippee! My baking and my knitting will benefit!!! Thank you Carina!!! 100x Thank you!!!

Next Dan and I dashed down to Chelsea for lunch at the Empire Diner with my cousin Dean who's here from LA for a wedding and visit. (He lived in Brooklyn for a number of years. What can I say about the Empire Diner? This wasn't my first meal there. It's over on 10th Avenue and 22nd street...not my usual haunt. Thankfully the food is always YUMMY! It's comfort food. As the menu says "yes, everything is good." The cold drinks (from soda & lemonade to iced coffee/tea) are served in personal carafes, and the plates arrive over flowing. Dean (photod below -- in a rare photo where he isn't smiling or with a camera attached to his face...he's a budding photographer, and yes - I love his shirt!!) had an omelet which he finished - so I assume it was good. Dan tried the BBQ chicken and I dove into the open face Chili Burger, both shown above. Yum! (I've been on a real burger kick lately!) The Sweet potato fries are good as are the thick sliced potato "chips". We sat outside, but inside they often have a piano player...which is amazing because it's tiny in there!

After lunch we popped over to Restoration Hardware to pick up the bar so my tapestry could be hung. I was so excited! My friends brought this tapestry back from Egypt ages ago and I've been deciding where to hang it. Upon arrival at home we opened the box (we'd check the color in the store) and voila -- a piece was missing so it couldn't be hung. Blah. It'll have to be exchanged...but they don't carry this one in the store so it'll have to be ordered and shipped. Blah again!

Since it was my last night on US soil we decided on a nice meal in and I brought out a 1999 Barolo I'd been saving for a special occasion. Uncorked it, decanted it... Blah - it was CORKED!!! How very very sad!!! Good thing we'd each had a nice glass while waiting at Meridiana for our take out.

So, Meridiana...Their menu is fairly standard Italian fare. Pasta with various sauces (pesto and bolognese I've tried are good), entrees ( a decent chicken and sausage) and apps (fried calamari and beef carpaccio.) Everything is good as you'd expect. DO try the specials where the offerings by the chef rotate with the seasons. We tried the rabbit - Yum! The Caprese Salad had some wonderful mozz and vine ripe tomato, again - Yum! Sadly the fresh fava beans and shrimp...the beans were a bit over cooked. DO try a glass of their Prosecco or Barbaro -- both of which we enjoyed.
We popped in Match Point and relaxed. I'd seen it in the theatre and liked it again!

Off to China tomorrow! See you there!