I can’t believe Halloween is tomorrow. I feel like I breezed through October! I did start the month right with a fun date night. We ate at Paris Bar inside the Le Meridian Hotel on 57th street and attended the immersive Phantom of the Opera experience, Masquerade.
We had a blast! The food before the show was amazing and I loved the immersive experience.
Last week, I had an impromptu lunch with my mom and daughter. We ate at Anassa Taverna in Astoria. Everything was yummy.
Next week, my family and I are going on our first Disney cruise. We are so excited and are counting the days (4 more to go!). In the meantime, I’m revisiting some of our past cruise vacations to get us ready.
In February 2024, we enjoyed a 10-day Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to celebrate my husband’s birthday. It was also extra special because it was the first cruise with our daughter.
We had a fantastic time! The boat was gorgeous, and the food was amazing. One regret I did have was that we didn’t take advantage of all the amenities on the ship. We didn’t make it to many of the shows and did not end up using the kids’ club services. We took advantage of excursions during our port days, but some of the ones we were looking forward to got canceled due to the weather. However, we still had a blast and ended up hooked on cruising!
Today is my Dad’s 83rd birthday!
We went to London Lennies, one of our favorite restaurants, to celebrate.
I’m celebrating Epiphany with my family this weekend by enjoying a galette des rois , aka King Cake. A trinket is hidden within the cake, and whoever finds it becomes King or Queen for the day.
Update:
The second galette des rois got devoured before I got a chance to take a picture.
Last week, I attended Holly and Ivy at the NYJL. This annual event includes a festive lunch and a shopping experience. It’s so popular at the League that tickets are hard to get, and I’m glad I got to snag one.
I had a great time with friends and got some cute things for Christmas.
I’ve always wanted to check out this restaurant. I finally got the opportunity earlier this month having lunch with a good friend.
My friend had the mofongo with chicharron and loved it. I had the bistec with onions and rice and I brought home the pernil and rice. My bistec was okay but the pernil was amazing.
The restaurant has a very cozy vibe, and I look forward to coming back with my family.
Last month, we had dinner at Mokja in Astoria. The food was amazing, and I still can’t forget how cute this restaurant was.
The restaurant had a very romantic kind of vibe. There were lights and flowers everywhere.
Another thing I loved about the restaurant was that it had a lot of personal touches. They had bag holders at each table. They also had bowls, cups, and silverware for kids. It was so cute and made my daughter feel special.
I will definitely be back. I recommend it for date nights, families, and small groups.
I recently got to enjoy my family’s beach house on Long Island.
We had a great time at the beach, eating, boating and clamming. Most importantly we had much needed family time.
The Casual Explorer 