I have been slacking...2 weekend updates

So first I spent a weekend in NY City and then here last weekend was my birthday.

NYC - hmmm, where to start. We arrive 2 hours late, so we get to my friends apt at 1 am. We still have to go out, so we get dressed and leave for Le Souk, arriving at 2 am to find out a friend had ordered a bottle for all of us. NICE. So we get in that way, otherwise we would have stood outside all night, just like waiting for a taxi at the airport. Le Souk is an awesome little bar, hookah bar, restaurant. I got my friend to try hookah, it was HILARIOUS. You know its not a cigarette, but her attempt was such. hahaha. Anyways, too funny. I got hit on by a guy wearing sunglasses in the middle of the village in NYC at 3 am. WTF? no, and then he wouldn't leave my group alone. Somehow he became part of our group. This place had awesome music and people were actually dancing. I love that. :) I really enjoyed myself. We crashed at 5 am I think, something like that.
The next day we just did a little touristy stuff...World Trade Center site, and a few Starbucks stops later we ended up in the shopping area off 5th. So that was fun. That night we had a big group dinner at a sushi bar. It was terrible. Let me tell you, I have never had such bad seaweed salad or sushi in my entire life. I was so hungry later I was about to eat a hot dog from a street vendor. It was called Matsuri. I do not recommend this ever, unless you just want drinks, because those were decent. Its in some hotel. In that same hotel there is a club and I cannot remember its name at all. It was FUN though. Great music, great drinks, great size dance floor, seating areas, no lines in the rest room even though the bar was packed. All in all I loved this place. I think it might be hard to get into sometimes, but we had 8 girls and 2 guys, so go figure. Then we went to some club, and please forgive me for not knowing the name...but I was drug to this place. My friend is living there for a few months and met a guy, so we had to meet him out. This place was decent, about midway on my ranks. Good music, good drinks...and plenty of seating. And let me say the crowd wasn't bad either. I was getting hit on by nice young professionals left and right. Even got a brunch date for Sunday. haha. But anyways, the dance floor was elevated and full. So people were hogging all the space and it was scary to get up there. You might fall a few feet on heels. OMG. Again, sorry I cannot remember the name. If I ever figure it out I will note it.
After that it was about 3 am and we headed to the meat packing area for a club. But what we didn't know was Paasha had a famous DJ there and we could not get in without paying $50 each or 3 of us could get in with each bottle. Ummm, sorry, no. So we went back to the west side where we were staying and scoped out the home neighborhood for late night bars. To our surprise we could not find one. :( So we settled for late night pizza. Too bad.
Sunday was a gem of a day. Beautiful weather, nice breeze, we had brunch outside. (I went with my friends, not the guy who asked me out). We went to Nero, its in the meat packing district. You pay $20 and get bottomless champagne, mimosas, Bellini's, or bloody Marys and a dish of food. Very good food too. Totally worth $20, especially in NY. We hung out the rest of the day in the NYU area, Washington Square Park, and some shopping places. Nothing too special. That night however, we were going to take it easy. So we started at dinner in Hells kitchen. We decided to try the Ouzaria (since I just got back from Greece). It was fantastic. We had ouzo, lamb, eggplant dip, all of it fantastic. Not as good as in Greece, but pretty good for NY, since I have had bad experiences with food so far (do not eat Mexican food in NY, YUCKY).
Then we walked over to Thalia. Now, if you are a Spanish music fan, you know who Thalia is. She does not own this bar. haha...but it is named after some Greek god or something. Anyways, irrelevant fact for you. This bar is a great little prize. The ambiance is fantastic. Reds/oranges/bright colors accented with gold and black. Beautiful. Great specialty drinks. I had something called Ryan's Whisper. It was very unusual, but great. 3 out of 3 olives for sure. We had a few mojitos and then our NY native buddy called to go out. He told us to meet him somewhere (I wasn't on the phone), but we ended up in a somewhat gay biker club. I think. I don't know, but it was gross and everyone was staring at us...like in the movies. I even had to use the restroom, OMG. I will never again go down that street. Nasty. When we figured out we were not in the place he wanted to go, we went to another little village bar. It was very simple, just a lounge bar. We had a few drinks there. Again I am sorry for forgetting the name, but honestly you can find little lounges like that on every street. Then we went to the meatpacking district. I don't know what happened to taking it easy, but we ended up in the trendiest hotel bar. It was so awesome. Hotel Gansevoort (I think I am spelling it right). This place is awesome. We started with a shot...then went to the terrace. Its a great view of the water and other big hotels/pools/meat packing plants. Just kidding! :) But the bar is large enough for about a hundred people to take a seat. There are two small bars on each side of the place. The drinks were made well. I think we had a few drinks and some more shots. The music that night could have been better, but it was Sunday, so they were playing old school. Also a 3 out of 3 olive bar. Highly recommended - if you can get in. The door guys are more than a typical prick of a door guy. But I might say its almost worth it to wait a while.
We left Monday night. We had a terrible day after all those shots, honestly one of us had to stay in bed all day until we got in the cab to the airport. Haha, not me, but so funny. So that was the end. All in all a great trip, very fun, very lacking in sleep, which is always a great sign of a good time.

My birthday was also a blast...there are pictures I dont remember. Another good sign of a good time. My friend hosted the preparty at her new house, full bar, fondue, finger foods, the works. It was awesome. She even decorated...how sweet. That party was met by a few long time no see's. I love those. It was a good time. There are pictures, but a few people seemed to be ghosts...I dont see them in any pictures. (You know who you are). Then we headed to Rocbar, I think I was a birthday bitch trying to get everyone to leave before Rocbar's line formed. Not an easy task with a full bar and a full house. Moving 30 people is never easy. At Rocbar a few more people showed up...I think we filled up half the back lounge. Awesome. I honestly do not remember much after the shots started coming my way. I remember points where I had two in my hand and someone else was trying to get me one. NOOOOOO. Anyways, I am sure you have all been to Rocbar, so I will do a quick review of the place for those slower folks. There is a rock area, a techno area, outdoor lounge, and pool hall area. Its an eclectic place, with a lot of character, room, and people. All types of people. Hard rock crowd with mohawks and chains, techno dancer with funky clothes and the regular trendy type. I think the Red Door type started to go here, but couldn't hang with the Rock group. I love it. So, its awesome, there are bars everywhere, so easy to get drinks (proven Saturday night). The only downfall is the line. It starts at 11, even if no one is there, they start a line. That sucks. But once you are in, its a good time had by all.

Happy Birthday to me!!!