Girls' Night!

It’s been a busy 24 hours since I last posted! Where to begin?

Yesterday afternoon, I picked up my sister-in-law Cammy and her friend Julie from the bus station in midtown. We didn't get back to my apartment until well past lunchtime, so food was the first item on our agenda!

We headed to the easiest place I could think of: Bamboleo, a cheap but tasty Mexican restaurant near NYU.

While waiting for our entrees, we tore into a basket of chips and salsa.

For my main dish, I ordered a vegetarian taco salad. It was loaded with black beans, sautéed carrots, spinach and zucchini, iceberg lettuce, guacamole and pico de gallo, all tucked into a deliciously flaky taco shell. This picture is rather deceiving- the salad was quite large and filling!

Cammy wanted me to take a picture of her guacamole quesadilla too. 

After filling our bellies, we meandered down Broadway for some light shopping. After picking up a few new makeup items at Sephora, we stopped at Dean and Deluca for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

Orange Vitamin Water Zero and dark chocolate covered espresso beans. Caffeine, chocolate and hydration. That's a pick-me-up if I ever saw one!

* * *

For dinner that evening, I’d made a reservation at Ajna, a trendy Asian Fusion restaurant in the Meatpacking District. The interior of the restaurant was absolutely beautiful- hundreds of candles, cozy oriental-print chairs, gold accents, Buddha statues and Indian-inspired cherry-red chandeliers. I tried to take photos, but the lighting was too low for them to show up using my point-and-shoot :(

The food was excellent, though! In lieu of bread, they brought us salted edamame pods to start.

We also opted to share the tartare sampler, which included piles of lobster, tuna, salmon and yellowtail served with roe and grainy crackers. I was a bit nervous to try raw lobster, but it ended up being my favorite of the four!

For my entrée, I continued the raw seafood trend with the sashimi plate. It included salmon, tuna, white tuna, yellowtail and scallops.

Following a bad experience with raw fish over the summer, it had been several months since I'd eaten sashimi. I'm glad to report that my last altercation had no lasting effects on my love for sushi!

To round out the meal, we split orders of steamed baby bok choy and sweet and sour eggplant.

The best part of dinner was the fact that Julie whipped out her camera at every course as well. We bored Cammy to tears by bonding over our mutual love of good food- she would make such a good blogger!

Though the other girls passed on dessert in lieu of fruity cocktails, it’s no secret that I always save room for sweets J I ordered a chocolate praline cake with chocolate crumble and vanilla ice cream.

To. Die. For. I loved how the crunchy praline bottom of the cake went so well with the light and fluffy chocolate top- it such an interesting texture combination! And it was perfectly sweet and chocolatey without being overly heavy or rich. Perfection.

Satisfied with sushi babies, we hit the town for some bar-hopping. 

Though I love sushi, it just doesn't fill me up the way most other meals do! As a result, the night culminated with a trip to Five Guys' for a late-night snack of Cajun french fries and peanuts. I went to town on the free barrels of peanuts and ate about three times what's pictured...my phone, dress and hands were all covered in peanut dust and salt. Mwahaha.

Now, we're off to brunch before doing some exploring. Hope you're enjoying your weekend!