Hello Kitty Pop Up Art

An art exhibition of Pop Up Hello Kitty art came to town this weekend only at the Openhouse Gallery.

 I don't know why but I really like these two naked cat pieces.

 How many Sanrio characters do you see?

 Cat-opus

Next stop: Japan!

Codex Dynamic

I remember when I was little, I had gone to a museum with a constellation auditorium theater once and felt completely mesmerized by the vastness of the theater and the projections that were happening while I was laying down in my chair. I re-lived that feeling when during the Dumbo Arts Festival for the Codex Dynamic show under the Brooklyn archway. This time, I rewatched it at least 3x.

 And this last unrelated pic just had to be posted. It's a giant pancake, literally, from Le Barricou. It takes half an hour to order and bake/fry. I could not finish even one quarter of it!

Zombiecon at the McKittrick

I have no idea how I was convinced to participate in Zombiecon, but I did it. We crawled over to Gallow Green, the new rooftop bar of the McKittrick Hotel where the infamous Sleep No More, the interactive play, is performed. See my detailed post of the show here.

Over the summer I went back there again, but for a different culinary event: Absurdity at the McKittrick Hotel for Underground Eats. The above is a fully naked mermaid lounging around the lobster fest. In my hands are Mexican watermelons (not really watermelons) which look like, what you see – mini watermelons – used as a garnish for one of the cocktails being served that night. The event was themed based on the 1939 World's Fair. Dress up, dancing, and gluttony throughout the night!

Anyway, back to Zombiecon:

Zombie Snacks

I would probably not do it again, it was a little too weird for my taste. But it was fun seeing the different costumes that people came up with. And riding the train out to the event haha.

Um Segredo: Poe

I recently discovered underground supper clubs – intimate gatherings of food lovers who eat and the chefs who cook and serve up an array of courses that may not be found at normal approved restaurants. How could I resist? Especially a dedicated Edgar Allen Poe themed meal hosted through Underground Eats as part of the Um Segredo supper club series. On the menu:

Annibel Lee // Crab Salad, Pickled Red Onion, Arugula, Pine Nuts, Balsamic

Alone // Seared Trout, Butternut Squash Puree, Quinoa, Mustard Greens

Red Mask Of Death // Blood Sausage, Confit Potatos, Poached Eggs, Brie Foam

Tell Tale Heart // Tasting of Pork: Loin, Belly, Trotter, with Baked Beans

The Raven // Seared Squab Breast, Mushroom Puree, Onion Pain Perdu

Boston tragedy // Molasses Curd, Pecan Crumble, Vanilla Ice Cream

Best of all, it started with some BYOB and ended with Turkish coffee.

Next time I go to another one of these, I'm gonna request and grab front row seats.

The dinner was held at the Ger-Nis Cuilnary & Herb Center, they hold cooking classes there. I have never seen such a huge collection of spices all on one shelf. Not to mention the pots and pans hanging around too.

The chefs are a group from Roosevelt Island, one of which, Chef Santos, has started his own restaurant in NYC called Louro. Looks like there are still special menu sets on there that are themed!

We were allowed to walk in to the kitchen and chat with the chefs, take pics, and watch them brew magic.

Says the raven with a full stomach, "Nevermore."

Figment

It's amazing how much I saw in one day, by myself, and how much art can be found on Gov's Island. It was definitely hard to pick out my top fav photos, but then I realized I should probably just jam all the photos up on here, scrapbook and journal styled.

My day started off with biking over to Dumbo on my ancient rusty old Toys R Us bicycle. We made a pitstop along the way at Baked in Brooklyn to grab some bread and cake, I practically smelled it from 3 blocks away. Obviously we ran late for the Flavorpill Yoga in the Park event and had some trouble finding the actual spot, but we made it for the last 20 or so minutes after locking up! People were throwing out their free mats so I snagged a purple one home. As a matter of fact, it's right next to me on the floor as I'm typing :P. My friend had to ditch after, but I stuck around to catch the last weekend of the Figment art installations on Governor's Island. And I was glad I went!

This is the most popular one on the island. This guy looked pretty happy picking lady liberty's nose.

 "Nowhere to Sit" piece. I sat on it.

 This treehouse was pretty fun to climb up and walk around. I'd definitely live in it if rain was not a problem.

 There was also mini golf available.

These were some of the other figment pieces which included an outdoor wood library, a giant TV box starring you, a skeletal house, and big giant eagle wings made out of branches.

 I went all around the island capturing shots of these abstract sculptures, couldn't not check all of them off if I was already there. Exhausted at this point.

 There was also a little shop on the island with cool screenprinted items and wearables inside.

 I spotted and walked around this old prisoner building – apparently there are guided tours avail, but I was too late for that by the time I got here.

 The best reward was stuffing my face at Veronica's Kitchen food truck, for some oxtail, sweet yam, and mac+cheese. All while sitting on a rocking chair with my shoes finally off. It was a good day.

Yoga in X Square

Did yoga in Times Square. Nuff said!

Summer Solstice

Boatel

What is a boatel? It's not a hotel, but it's a boat that you can reserve to stay in for a night or two far in near the Rockaways, at Marina 59. I first heard about it through a passed on link. Having stayed before on a boat in Boston for a weekend, I closed my eyes, picked a day, and kept my fingers crossed it would be a sunny day when we went. The project originally started when Constance Hockaday gathered up broken boats that were going to be destroyed, "adopted" them, and had various artists give each boat a themed makeover. For a donation stipend of $50 a night, I jumped on it and took a chance that gave me back lots of memories and photo ops.

Let me introduce Crumb, our boat. It's the best one out of the bunch, with a two seater viewing deck on the top. We were able to view the airplanes passing by from JFK airport when the sun set.

 Cute personality and character inside the boat – my favorite trait was the crazy Shocker sign painted on the ceiling, and this hook set underneath:

 In this experience, there are no bathrooms on board, but there are shared public restrooms (surprisingly very clean and new) with showers ready for use. We stuck it out and didn't bother with those since we were going to beach it out the next morning anyway. There is no electricity on board for you to charge your phones and iPads and gadgets – after all, what would be the point?? This is supposed to be boat camping at its best!

For dinner, there is a common area with a shared grill – in total there were probably around 10 boats guzzied up together, each taking in 2-4 people. There is a grocery store right outside of the Marina within easy reach. We made sure we were prepared for the one night stay though – coolers, chili cheese corn, pork chops, strawberries, vino, and even fresh guac made on the spot. Yeah, we went all out. There were a couple of people who jumped off the docks and did a night swim before passing out in their own cubbies and calling it a night.

They're in the works to create some new boat designs, can't wait to see them.

 One VERY funny but stupid moment which could've cost me my life: Boatel sometimes does movie screenings on certain nights and projects it on the white screen below. We saw a floating chair and wanted to get a pic on it. Once I stepped on board and leaned back for a pic, the WHOLE CHAIR TIPPED BACK. Someone caught our priceless freak out expressions. Both of us are non-swimmers with no life jackets on -__-. Time to sign up for some lessons!

 All in all, in the end, we got the calm photo we wanted. With stained evidence that we survived the imbalance haha. For the water loving people, I did see some kayaks that were avail for renting and paddling around. There was also goats and cats along the dock, one goat came over to sniff what I had in my grocery bag, and completely sneezed on me.

Booking is a lot easier than it used to be, I'd definitely sign up to go back. For those interested, check their website sched.

BK Dine In 2012

One of my favorite times of the winter/spring is Brooklyn Dine in Week. I chose to go to La Flor Del Paraiso Restaurant & Bar in Boerum Hill for the 3 course dinner menu, which came with two sets of appetizers, entree, and dessert for only $25 total!

Additional $6 margaritas came with chips and salsa, awesome!

Chicken quesadilla starter, beef empanada was huge, chicken and fish entree dishes were yum. Sorry, forgot the name.

 Simple ice cream and strawberries and the flan that sent us into food coma.

I <3 BK.

Bebe

I bought a hamster! With a super cool abode!

Her name is Bebe. Like the Southpark character.