Saturday recap.

This weekend has been nice. Yesterday was warm, breezy & relaxing. We slept in a bit, then headed downtown to our old stomping ground {the Financial District} for some deal-searching at Century 21. No luck there {and I think I really hate that place- so big, and so messy}, but it was interesting to see the progress {or lack thereof} at Ground Zero & the surrounding area. Sidenote: after the explosion the other day, there has been concern of asbestos {abestos: any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate; is resistant to heat, flames & chemical action. Some forms have been shown to cause lung diseases} in the area surrounding Grand Central Terminal. This being said, when we went underneath on the subway, Mike would hold his breath {half-kidding} as a precaution. We soon remembered, however, that we spent 2 years living just a few blocks away from Ground Zero. Hundreds of people continue to suffer from lung problems likely resulting from the September 11th cleanup efforts. Hmm. I'm glad we're living closer to Central Park now.

We headed back uptown around 2:00 & went to the picnic that our Stake was holding at Central Park. Besides the fact that we hardly knew anyone there, it was good to be outside during such a beautiful day & fun to catch up with the few friends we saw. Afterwards, we went down to Rockefeller Center to browse through some of our favorites stores {H&M, JCrew, Anthropologie, Banana Republic & Facconable, all within a short distance of each other}. I waited in line for about half an hour to try on a cute black dress at H&M, only to love it but leave it by the door when I saw how ridiculously long the checkout line was. Grr. It was heartbreaking, but my patience {and Mike's especially} was running thin. We had better luck at Anthropologie, where I found a cute shirt on sale {always a plus at my overly-priced favorite store}, and at Facconable, where Mike found a tie that was actually 50% off {same story}. This never happens at this place, so we considered it a success. Rockefeller Center was a total madhouse {thanks to tourist season}, so we were happy to walk north on 5th Avenue, taking our time & browsing through different {and less crowded} stores.

We met Kellie & Jason at their apartment around 6:00 and decided to go to LAND for dinner. I love Thai food, & this place was so yummy. It's definitely a new favorite. Next time though, Kellie & I will not be so brave, and will ask that the three-star drunken noodles be not quite so spicy! I'm normally pretty good, but this was HOT. Pinkberry is conveniently located right down the street on the same block, so it was a perfect dinner/dessert combination {best combo at Pinkberry right now, by the way- raspberries & coconut}.

Oh- and I got a variation of this pad @ Anthropologie as well on Saturday. We've used the "All out of Pad" since we came to NYC {we've only had to replace it once}, but I found a great variation yesterday. Made by the same company, it is a similar pad {"EAT" - with the same large magnet on the back} that helps you to organize your meal plans for the week. I couldn't find a picture on their website, but Anthropologie is selling them in stores right now. It will be great to have an organized plan of what recipes I'm planning, where we are eating out, or where we're ordering take out from. I really do love all things "organization".