Romance Under the Stars

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This month is all about love and celebration, well for me it is! Before our amazing trip to the Dominican Republic, Andrew and I celebrated Valentine’s Day at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium. We enjoyed the open bar, some snacks, and some tunes but what made the night was viewing the night sky in the planetarium. Astronomy gurus identified some of the constellations and shared some romantic stories about them. It was pretty amazing seeing them up close considering I can never identify them EVER just by looking at the sky =).

I was slightly disappointed with the food, though they did advertise hors d’ oeuvres only, the servers hardly got around to us because of the crowds and the small sampling sections they did have were limited. However, they did have three bars to make it up to us patrons! Overall it was a fun night.

valentines-day

Last minute trip to paradise

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Andrew and I decided to get out of New York for a few days and booked a last-minute trip to the Dominican Republic. We’ve been twice before, and it has always been super relaxing and chill. This time around we stayed at the Luxury Bahia Principe Bouganville.  I highly recommend it. We did all-inclusive and stayed in the adult only section, as the Grand Bahia Principe La Romana was right next door. It was perfect! We had access to two private pools, a private section on the beach and adult only restaurants but still had the opportunity to explore the family areas as well.

Here is the suite we stayed in, had a jacuzzi and outdoor patio area too =). The hallways had these amazing gate like pieces that made the place feel like you were walking in a castle.
hotel-room
One of my favorite things about the resort was the sculptures. They were everywhere and each pretty unique. I would say a nice blend of European and Modern.

sculptures

The pools were spacious, and there were plenty of spots. We didn’t have to reserve any chairs. Andrew and I even found a spot where he could smoke his cigar without it being an issue.

pool
The beach was beautiful. Pretty much all the seating had a cabana/hut feel, and there was plenty of space. The water wasn’t crystal blue but still a sight to be seen, and the sunsets were gorgeous. We took advantage of a free hour of kayaking on our last day.

beach

The food was pretty good, the best all-inclusive buffet experience I’ve had! On Friday, Andrew’s birthday, they had a seafood buffet with grilled lobster which was yummy. We also got to try their signature restaurant, Don Pablo, which had an AMAZING foie gras appetizer (we had two!) and their Brazilian restaurant.

food
The trip wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the spa. We got massages two days in a row and took advantage of their sauna and jacuzzi sections because why the hell not!

spa

Overall I had a great time. It’s been a while since I traveled to a country that doesn’t predominately speak English. It was a bit refreshing to have to try to speak and learn something else. This trip has reminded me how much I love to travel and to explore. Need to pick my next travel destination soon!

Brooklyn Bridge

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I’ve been hiding underneath a rock for some time now and I’m finally resurfacing. Had such a great weekend with friends and family. Saturday, I braved the tourists and walked the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn and back. This is the second time I’ve walked the bridge and I got to say it’s totally  worth it. The sights, the sounds,  and the company, I encourage all my fellow New Yorkers to do it at least once.
  

5th Anniversary @ Maze

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Andrew and I recently celebrated our fifth anniversary at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, Maze, at The London hotel in the city. Andrew and I are big foodies and are a big fan of his British show, The F Word, so it seemed like a good place for us to check out.

The space was amazing with beautiful chandeliers at the bar and blue seating everywhere. I also loved the bathroom area, which is basically a corridor of  individual bathrooms that include your own personal sink with a great selection of lotions.

The food was also amazing. Yes it was small portions and it was expensive but I knew that going in. I truly enjoyed everything I ate and the portions were good enough for us to share. We got the foie gras, spicy shrimp toast and scallops for appetizers. The foie gras was a bit messy to eat and the shrimp toast wasn’t really spicy but we didn’t mind one bit, they were all delicious. Andrew got the NY strip steak and I got the branzino. We also tried the brussel sprouts and the wild mushroom sides. If I could’ve licked the brussel sprout plate, I probably would have. To top it off we got complimentary dessert because they had to move us to another table to accommodate another party. It wasn’t really a big deal since our plates were already cleared when they asked but I gladly ordered and finished the apple tart and the chocolate mouse.

We spent easily around $250 but I’m worth it =). I would absolutely go back and maybe hang out at the bar before enjoying my meal next time.

Figuring out what to get

Figuring out what to get

scallops, the foie gras and the shrimp toast

scallops, the foie gras and the shrimp toast

very excited for my branzino and brussel sprouts...

very excited for my branzino and brussel sprouts…

wine and dessert

wine and dessert

Taping of America’s Got Talent

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I’m actually more of an X-Factor girl myself but when I heard about the opportunity to attend an audition for America’s Got Talent in Newark I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been on shows before in college, I was on Total Request Live once and went to The Daily Show but never anything talent/contest related.

So the taping was at a performance art center in Newark and I was a little bit worried about transportation, turns out it was a piece of cake. Two $5 NJ Transit tickets to Newark at Penn Station and a 20 minute train ride later, boom Adrienne and I are in Newark. Adrienne’s friend Aileen picked us up from there but the center was pretty close to the NJ Transit station.

I must say getting in was pretty smooth, we were barely online for five minutes. We got our tickets, showed our bags and then headed to our seats. We unfortunately were in the third ring and probably won’t get any TV coverage but it was still fun. They had an Audience Manager/Producer that was pretty on point and kept everyone lively  practicing how to clap and cheer. One thing that I actually was pretty surprised about was how many kids were at the taping. The audience was definitely mixed but it just so happened the area that I was located in had a ton of kids, at least everyone was well behaved.

I had a great time with the girls even though there was a lot of waiting time but I must say no one really wowed me. They had about five singers, two comedians, three dancers, a psychic act and a magic show act. I really wanted to see a dog/dance act but that didn’t happen. Only a few got through to the next round….so there may or may not be a cool magician act or weird dance act going to the next round but those were my favorite ones =).

Here are some shots…

Adrienne, Me and Aileen talking a selfie

Adrienne, Me and Aileen taking a selfie

Waiting to be entertained

Waiting to be entertained