Monday was the last day of summer vacation before my big boy started 1st grade and my little guy went back to day care so we ventured out a little farther than we normally do to visit a park with a splash pad.  I packed a picnic lunch for all of us in the big Oots Lunchbox. The Oots box worked perfectly – we all helped ourselves from the different containers and we used the internal box lids for little plates. I packed: blueberries, strawberries, leftover barbecued chicken legs (2 for me, 1 for Wyatt and one chopped up for Augie), whole wheat pretzel sticks and a little tub of edamame hummus to dip the pretzels in. The hummus is a new-ish Trader Joe’s discovery. I’ve liked it for a long time, but the kids are suddenly cuckoo-crazy for it.

Tuesday

And then Tuesday we were officially back to school!

I feel ridiculous telling you this, but Monday night I froze up when it was time to pack the lunches. I went into the kitchen and I just didn’t know where to begin. Deciding what to put in the lunch boxes is always the hardest part for me and I completely blanked. Part of it was exhaustion from a lot of activity on a really hot day, part of it was that I didn’t have as much “lunchy” food in the house as I thought I did, and part of it was that after my “Back to School, Back to Lunch” series of posts last week I felt like I really had to bring it with the first day lunches. Silly? Yes! But I still was stumped.

And then I looked at the lunch box idea list that was stuck to our fridge and I got a bunch of ideas. We eat our own dog food here at Wendolonia!

The toddler lunch had leftover wild rice from dinner, mixed veggies from the freezer, turkey meatballs and blueberries.

The 1st grader’s lunch was blueberries, a strawberry cereal bar (cut into chunks to fit) and turkey meatballs that I cut into quarters and threaded onto skewers. I also included a little container of catsup for dipping the meatballs in.

Wyatt has been crazy for dill pickles this week, so for his snack, I cut a couple into chunks and put them into a small box with some pretzel sticks. I was very careful to drain as much liquid off the pickles as I could and put them into a silicone baking cup so that they didn’t make the pretzels soggy.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, Augie’s lunch was soycatash, leftover salmon chunks from dinner, a mini whole wheat hamburger bun and some cantaloupe chunks.

Wyatt’s lunch and snack were packed into the Laptop lunchbox: a Z-Bar, whole wheat pretzel sticks, cantaloupe chunks, corn, a mini hamburger bun and ham and cheese roll-ups.

Thursday

This 1st grader lunch had strawberries, cantaloupe stars, baked tofu, a mini hamburger bun and a box of raisins.

His snack had cantaloupe, a strawberry star, a few pretzel sticks (a little hard to see) and a cheese stick. I had to cut the ends off the cheese to make it fit in the box, and although I planned to use them to fill those little gaps, I ended up eating them because they looked tasty. Oops! Also, do you see what I did here with the stars? I was planning on using both types of fruit all along, so I just used each one to decorate the other. Easy peasy!

Friday

Wyatt’s lunch was pretty simple today. I packed leftover pulled pork into the thermos, then slipped that into the OOTS Lunchbox along with containers holding a mini hamburger bun to make a sandwich with and some mixed berries. I also threw in a Z bar as a treat for his snack. I cut the package open because either they don’t help the kids with their lunches in 1st grade, or Wyatt is too shy to ask for help yet.

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A few months ago, I won a giveaway for some Cosmo Cricket scrapbooking supplies at the Ella Publishing blog. The box came in the mail on Friday, and I was super excited to sit down and make some pages with the paper inside. Cosmo Cricket is my favorite paper company and I hadn’t even seen this line of paper yet. On Saturday — for the first time in ages — I made time to do some scrapbooking. I’ve really been wanting to do some pages about Augie since our photo albums have so few pictures of him in them yet. This paper pack is family themed so it was a great place to start.

The page is a selection of photos of us together that I pulled from a big stack. I took most of these myself with the stick out your arm and click method. Very sophisticated!

The journaling reads:

My dear little Augie — you are so special to me! I’ve been so piviledged to spend two years at home with you. I have loved being there for all your firsts — first steps, first words, first slobbery kisses. I know you so well and I love all the things about you that make you who your are. You’re my boy!

I’m very excited upon reading this over to discover that I misspelled the word “privileged” for posterity. Yay!

July 2, 2010: Augie runs across the back yard with one of his beloved plums. Our neighbor’s tree rained plums down on our driveway for several weeks and every time we went outside I spent the whole time trying to keep Augie from eating rotten plums.

July 3, 2010: Now here Augie chows down on one of the ones we picked from the tree. The other challenge with the plums was keeping the boys from eating so many plums that their digestive tracks blew out.

July 4, 2010: Wyatt got to try out his first sparkler on the 4th of July! We were at a friend’s house for the afternoon and in addition to putting on super hero costumes, the kids ran around the yard with sparklers (closely supervised, of course!).

July 5, 2010: Wyatt decided it was “red day” and collected as many red things as he could fit on the pull out cutting board.

July 6, 2010: Trying on Dad’s sunglasses. He looks a little Tom Cruise-y here, I think.

July 7, 2010: Wyatt and I had a free afternoon after his morning pirate camp (Augie was at day care) so we got lunch at his favorite restaurant, Denny’s (?!) and then we went to the bowling alley. He totally kicked my butt, but in my defense, he got the bumpers when he bowled and I didn’t!

July 8, 2010: I had completely forgotten about this incident until I pulled this photo up! Wyatt was up to one mischievous activity after another and finally got sent to his room to get his act together. He fussed and whined about it for a very long time, but then things went quiet. I knew better than to think he had calmed down so suddenly, but I was so thankful for the quiet that I decided to just let it go for a bit before checking to see what he was up to. Before long, he came out of his room, dressed all in white with his body pressed up against the white wall. He inched along for a bit, convinced he was camouflaged and that his dad and I couldn’t see him. I actually think that Augie didn’t notice him at first, but eventually he got to the oak bookcase and the jig was up! Busted!

After a fairly light summer, these weekly bento posts are going to start to get beefy again!

Monday

Wyatt begged and begged his dad for a Z Bar at the grocery store, so he got to take it for his snack as a special treat on Monday. He also got a few blueberries and strawberries.

Bonus Dad Snack:

My husband was working at home on Monday for the first time in several weeks and I was so happy to have another adult around that I made him this fancy snack plate (he’s usually on his own for lunch and snacks). I gave him apple slices, grapes, fake Triscuits with aged gouda (our new favorite cheese) and peppered salami slices.

Tuesday

For Tuesday’s day camp snack, Wyatt had nectarine slices, three blueberries for garnish and fake Triscuits.

Wednesday

Wednesday’s snack was a biscuit and blueberries. I drew a Batman logo on the biscuit with food markers. If you’re wondering why the bat is green, it’s because most of the markers in my set (including the black one) have dried up now. The pink still works OK, but there’s no way Wyatt is going to allow me to draw the Batman logo in pink. I think it’s time for a new set!

Thursday

On Thursday I packed a whole wheat hot dog bun and strawberries. The inside of the bun is spread with a layer of home made plum jam.

Friday

Finally, I packed this snack for Wyatt’s last day of day camp. There were blueberries and as a special treat, he got a big handful of cat cookies.

See you next week with lots of lunches!

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It’s back to school week here on Wendolonia! I’m going to be bringing you a new article focused on lunch-packing every day this week.

Today’s topic: Kid-centric Food Blogs!

Photo courtesy of Another Lunch

Another Lunch

Melissa from Another Lunch is one of my favorite bloggy buddies and her site always offers up something fun and inspirational. She puts together themed bentos and muffin tin lunches for her kiddos that are super-creative, but simple to execute (once she’s passed on her clever ideas).

Cooking with My Kid

Cooking with My Kid is one of those wonderful 365 projects — a mom cooks a new dish with her young son every day for a year. The dishes are usually pretty simple but they’re chosen to introduce her boy to new flavors and ingredients. She helpfully lists out which steps her son helped with for each recipe. The site is new to me, but I can’t wait to try some of them out with my kids.

Nurture Baby

Though Augie is well out of the baby food stage, I still check in with Nurture Baby from time to time for ideas for toddler-friendly dishes. I particularly liked the Bebe Bolognese — as did my boy — and I loved having small portions in the freezer to pop into his lunch box on day care days.

Meal Makeover Moms

I discovered the Meal Makeover Moms via their weekly podcast, but their website is a source of great family-friendly recipes too. The difference between these woman and many other food bloggers though is that they test the heck out of their original recipes before they release them out into the wild. As a result, every recipe of theirs that I’ve tried has been top-notch — and my kids have eaten (almost) all of them too!

Gourmet Mom on the Go

The Gourmet Mom on the Go isn’t a bento site per se, but it offers up some insanely cute serving ideas. A sandwich shaped like a lion with a grated carrot mane? How freaking cute is that? The recipe archive on this site is enormous, so no matter where your tastes lie, you’re bound to find something your family will enjoy.

Hungry for some more inspiration? Check out my list of favorite bento blogs!

What are your favorite blogs with ideas for feeding the kiddos?

More from this series:

• Monday: Lunch Box Ideas (with a free downloadable list for your fridge!)
• Tuesday: Lunch Packing Gear
• Wednesday: Sandwich Adventures
• Thurdsay: Kid-centric Food Blogs
  

It’s back to school week here on Wendolonia! I’m going to be bringing you a new article focused on lunch-packing every day this week.

Today’s topic: Sandwich Adventures

Sandwiches are the foundation of many packed lunches, but it’s easy to get into a rut with them. PB&J day after day can get really boring. So what can you do to make a sandwich — that convenient and easy lunch box staple — exciting? Here are a few ideas for jazzing them up:

Vary the Bread

One way to make a sandwich instantly interesting is to swap out regular sliced sandwich bread with some other kind of bread. Here are a few to try:

• Tortillas – Most kids love tortillas and they’re probably something you already have in your kitchen. Stack fillings inside and cut them into easy-to-eat wedges. Or spread fillings evenly over the tortilla and roll them up for wraps. Once your sandwich is rolled up you can take it a bit further and slice them into small rounds of “sandwich sushi”. (Don’t use the word “sushi” if it will make your kids freak out though.)
• Naan – This grilled Indian bread is soft and a little chewy. My kids are absolutely ga-ga for it and ask me to buy it nearly every week.
• Pita pockets — There’s something about stuffing sandwich fillings inside a little pocket that makes them more fun. Pita pockets are great for looser fillings like tuna, egg or chicken salad that tend to fall out of regular bread when you take a bite.
• Flatbread — My oldest son likes his flatbread layered with ketchup and salami. (Blech!) If your kid isn’t a big weirdo (and I mean that in a loving, caring sort of way), you can use more traditional ingredients.
• Biscuits – This is a new favorite at our house. I buy the tubes of biscuits from the grocery store and bake them in the morning. We eat some with our breakfast and then at lunch time, I slice them in half and put ham and cheese inside. Yum! They’re also the perfect size for a bento box.
• Cresent rolls — Another bake-in-the-morning option, also sized right for a bento.
• Mini bagels — Add cream cheese and jam to a cinnamon raisin bagel, or roast beef and cheddar to a plain bagel
• Garlic toast — Technically this is sliced sandwich bread, but it’s so much more exciting than that. I spread regular bread with butter, sprinkle on a little garlic salt and then toast it in the toaster oven until it’s golden brown. Slap in a slice of cheese (and maybe even a little tomato) and your sandwich is suddenly fresh and delectable.

Shake up the Fillings

Take some of the old stand-bys — turkey and swiss, peanut butter and jelly, chicken salad — and tweak them with some fun additions or substitutions:

Turkey and Swiss

• Swap the meat: choose smoked turkey, southwest turkey or herbed turkey instead of plain, roasted turkey
• Swap the cheese: replace swiss cheese with muenster, havarti, or cream cheese
• Add this: mashed avocado, cranberry sauce or mango chutney

Peanut Butter and Jelly

• Swap the peanut butter: try almond butter,  sunflower butter or cream cheese instead.
• Swap the jelly: replace jelly or jam with raisins or thinly sliced fruits like bananas, apples or pears.
• Add this: this is going to sound totally weird, but add a few potato chips to a PB&J — the crunch is fun and your kids will think you’re a totally awesome rebel!

Chicken Salad

• You can’t really swap the chicken in a chicken salad, I don’t think. Maybe you could use turkey, tuna or eggs? Sorry, that’s not really very original….
• Add this: chunks of apple, halved grapes, chopped celery, toasted almonds, curry powder, a spoonful of mango chutney or apricot jam.

Try Something Really Different

Or you can try subbing something that’s technically not a sandwich at all:

Deconstructed Sandwich

We’re big fans of the deconstructed sandwich around here. Roll up some deli meat, cut some sliced cheese into shapes with cookie cutters (or just into squares) and pop in a pile of crackers.

Build Your Own Pizzas

I loved this idea from Food Momiac: Buy a refrigerated pizza crust and when you have a little extra time on the weekend bake it off into several 2-3 inch wide little crusts. Then pack the crusts into your kid’s lunchbox along with some spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese and mini pepperonis (or whatever topping he likes). Let your kid assemble his pizza at the lunch table. So fun!

What do you do to shake up sandwiches in your lunches?

More from this series:

• Monday: Lunch Box Ideas (with a free downloadable list for your fridge!)
• Tuesday: Lunch Packing Gear
• Wednesday: Sandwich Adventures
• Thurdsay: Kid-centric Food Blogs

It’s back to school week here on Wendolonia! I’m going to be bringing you a new article  focused on lunch-packing every day this week.

Today’s topic:  Lunch Packing Gear

I’ve written quite a bit about the boxes I use to pack my kids’ lunches, but I thought I would highlight some newer lunch packing products that have piqued my interest:

Laptop Lunches 2.0 Bento Kit

Laptop Lunches released a new line of their Bento 2.0 kits earlier this month and I’m dying to get my hands on one. I’ve been using and loving our original Laptop Lunches kit for over a year now. I like the fun colors and the cute bags that come with these new sets but what’s really cool are the reconfigured inner boxes. Three of the boxes have lids now and you can also buy an additional set of Bento Buddies that allow you a lot more flexibility when packing lunches.

Lucky Cat Bento Box

We already have a Panda box in this shape, but my cat-loving kids would go nutso for this Lucky Cat Bento Box. Plus, it’s red! So cute!

Eco Lunchbox Three-in-One

Eco Lunchbox makes this cool stainless steel box that’s kind of a cross between a stacking style bento and a traditional tiffin. It has two layers that are the perfect size for a kid’s bento, plus a smaller box that can be used inside the box to contain wet stuff or outside the box to hold an extra snack.

Totoro Bento Box

Our whole family loves the movie My Neighbor Totoro, and I’ve had my eye on this Totoro Bento Box for quite a while now. It’s just the right size for a preschool lunch and it comes with handy removable inner cups too.

So Young Mother Lunch Box

I love, love, love this scooter lunch box from So Young Mother! In theory, I have my eye on it for my toddler who is obsessed with our neighbor’s Vespas, but honestly I’d be perfectly comfortable carrying my lunch in it too.

Star Wars Cookie Cutters

These Star Wars Cookie Cutters have been around for awhile now, but I can’t get them out of my head. They make the best looking sandwiches, and they’re sized just right for a bento box lunch. Check out this fantastic Darth Vadar lunch that Melissa from Another Lunch made with them! The red honey stick/light saber gets me every time.

Niko Niko Face Punch

I love the face punches I’ve been using for bentos, but this Niko Niko Face Punch set is somehow even cuter than the ones I have! Use the punches to decorate sandwiches, rice balls, or just about anything.

Want more ideas for bento gear?

Here are a few other places to look for bento gear:

Amazon:

Amazon has really stepped up their bento offerings in the last few months! I have assembled an Amazon store with some of my favorite bento box supplies and a few bento related books, or you can also just dig around on Amazon on your own to see what you find.

J-Box:

J-Box also has a huge collection of bento supplies at their store in a range of prices. Some of my favorite boxes are from their store.

I should probably mention that I have affiliate relationships with J-Box and Amazon. If you follow my links to those stores and make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage of the purchase and you will be helping to support this website. Thanks!

More from this series:

• Monday: Lunch Box Ideas (with a free downloadable list for your fridge!)
• Tuesday: Lunch Packing Gear
• Wednesday: Sandwich Adventures
• Thurdsay: Kid-centric Food Blogs

It’s back to school week here on Wendolonia! I’m going to be bringing you a new article  focused on lunch-packing every day this week.

Today’s topic: what to pack in the lunch box!

The same scene plays out every weekday morning in kitchens across the country: a tired parent leans forward with one arm holding the refrigerator door open, eyes scanning the shelves for something to pack into a lunch box. What do we have in the house? What do we have that’s healthy? What do we have that he will eat?

I’m faced with the same daily questions and after months of starting from scratch — and getting into ruts — I finally decided to write down all the foods my sons like that can be eaten cold or at room temperature. I asked friends and blog readers to send me their suggestions as well and came up with a fairly comprehensive list.

Not all kids will eat everything on here of course (my son wouldn’t touch carrot sticks if his life depended on it) but even the pickiest eaters will find some things on this list that they’ll enjoy.

Make your life easier on hectic mornings Download a printable version of this list, print it and stick it to your fridge for instant inspiration:

Wendolonia Lunch Box Idea List – PDF

Carbs/Tummy-fillers

• whole grain crackers
• pretzel sticks
• mini-muffins
• goldfish crackers, cheddar bunnies or other snack crackers
• pretzel thins
• bagel chips
• mini-rice cakes or rice crackers
• cooked ball of rice
• leftover pasta — toss with some chopped veggies and vinaigrette or a little olive oil, garlic salt and parmesan.
• granola bars
• banana bread, zucchini bread, or other quick breads
• cereal bars
• dry cereal
• mini-bagels
• hot dog buns, hamburger buns or dinner rolls
• garlic toast
• pita bread — I usually toast these so they don’t get soggy. Mini pitas are fun or you can cut a big one into wedges.
• leftover pancakes or toaster waffles — mini-waffles go over especially well.

Fruits

• apples slices or chunks (dip in pineapple juice to prevent browning)
• berries — strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
• cherries
• grapes
• bananas
• melon chunks — watermelon, honeydew or cantaloupe
• dried fruit — raisins, dried cranberries, dried apples, banana chips, etc.
• canned peaches or pears — drain and rinse with water to remove excess sugar.
• applesauce
• pineapple chunks
• orange or clementine wedges

Veggies

• carrot sticks
• sugar snap peas
• red bell pepper strips
• cucumber slices
• celery sticks
• grape tomatoes
• steamed green beans
• steamed broccoli spears
• frozen peas — run them quickly under warm water to start them thawing
• frozen corn

Proteins

• leftover meat from dinner cut into chunks — you can send almost anything: roast chicken, pork roast, chicken legs and carne asada leftover from tacos are all things my kids have enjoyed.
• chicken or turkey sausage with bbq sauce or catsup for dipping
• deli meats — turkey, ham, salami
• beans
• peanut butter “sandwiches” made with crackers or graham crackers
• taquitos with salsa for dipping
• baked tofu
• quesadillas
• mini-burritos
• mini-pizzas — top mini-pitas with sauce, cheese and pepperoni
• hard boiled eggs

Dairy

• yogurt
• cheese cubes
• cheese slices
• cottage cheese
• string cheese, Laughing Cow, Babybel or other small single-serving cheeses

And then there are sandwiches, of course! But we’ll talk about those more later in the week.

Don’t forget to download and print this list! I’ve made it easy for you:

Wendolonia Lunch Box Idea List – PDF

What do you send in your kid’s lunch? Do you send something with your kids that I’ve left off this list?

More from this series:

• Monday: Lunch Box Ideas (with a free downloadable list for your fridge!)
• Tuesday: Lunch Packing Gear
• Wednesday: Sandwich Adventures
• Thurdsay: Kid-centric Food Blogs

On Sunday, the conference was officially over and my flight home didn’t leave until 7:30 pm. All alone in New York with a day to myself? What a lucky girl!

WARNING: photo-heavy post ahead! Go get yourself a cherry-yuzu soda or something while you wait for the photos to download. (This joke will make sense later in the post. It won’t be any funnier though.)

I loaded my iPhone up with a list of stores I wanted to visit and headed to SoHo to do some shopping.

First stop: Pearl River Market!

The Pearl River Market is three floors of bright colors and pure inspiration.

It’s jam-packed with imported Asian goodies and everywhere you look there are bright colors. Oh! The colors!

Paper umbrellas small and large, Japanese snacks, silk lamps, clothes, bags. It’s all so delicious!

I bought some of these butterflies to hang in our bedroom:

I also bought one of these beckoning cats. I’ve wanted one for years.

I spent over an hour exploring the Pearl River Market and I could have probably stayed another two hours.

My next stop was Muji. Muji is a Japanese store, but it’s the complete opposite of Pearl River. Where Pearl River is all bright colors and chaos, Muji is soothing neutrals and strict order. The two stores couldn’t be more different if the two owners coordinated.

I wanted to buy everything in the store to bring order and calm to my life, but I settled for some city stencils and a shrink wrapped scarf (the kids were amazed when I unwrapped it at home).

Next stop: Purl Soho! I’ve been reading Purl’s excellent craft blog, The Purl Bee for quite a while now and I couldn’t wait to see their store full of luscious yarns and fabric in person. Visually the store did not disappoint:

The wall of Liberty of London fabric samples was gorgeous. I had planned to buy some fat quarters but apparently I’ve never really looked into how much they cost because I was stunned by the prices. When I picked up a small bundle of fat quarters I thought the $95 price on the tag must have been a misprint but then I discovered that the fabric on the bolts was running around $35/yard and I realized that it’s just really frickin’ expensive fabric. I decided to by-pass that particular purchase.

Somehow I resisted this rainbow of wool felt, but I did end up buying a book about felt food written in Japanese. The pictorial instructions look pretty good, but we’ll just have to see how it goes when I sit down to try it!

After all that shopping and eye candy, I was ready for some lunch. I logged onto Yelp! to investigate restaurants in the area and decided to treat myself to a fancy meal at Mercer Kitchen. I didn’t realize it until after I was seated but Mercer Kitchen is one of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurants. As a celebrity chef stalker, I was excited to finally taste some of his food.

I started off with a salad of roasted red, yellow and white beets with big knobs of goat cheese. It was dressed in simple vinaigrette and had some kind of micro-greens scattered on top. It was very simple, but the flavors are some of my favorites and the ingredients were top-notch. Delicious!

To drink, I ordered the house-made cherry-yuzu soda. Wasn’t it a pretty color? If you’re wondering what yuzu is, it’s an Asian citrus fruit about the size of a small grapefruit. (I had to look it up.) It should not be confused with a yakuza which is a Japanese gangster.

My whole meal at Mercer Kitchen was great — the best of the many delicious things I ate in New York — but the entree was what really knocked it out of the park. I had sea scallops with pea greens ravioli in a bacon vinaigrette. The ravioli were not what I expected. I misread the menu when I ordered and I thought I was getting ravioli with a pea puree inside (have you been watching Top Chef? Are you sick of them saying “pea puree” a million times per episode?) but I was pleasantly surprised by what actually came. The greens inside the ravioli had a nice herbaceous flavor and they cut the richness of the scallop and bacon flavor perfectly. So, so delicious!

OK, the last thing I want to show you from Mercer Kitchen is the bathroom! There was a big skylight in there along with white-washed bricks and this cool arched door. When I noticed that it was devoid of any plastic toys it became clear that it was nicer than any room in my whole house and I decided I wanted to move in. Is that weird?

After my lunch, I headed back to the hotel. It was too early for me to go to the airport, but I didn’t want to just sit around in the lobby, so I went over to Central Park to relax for a while. I walked around a little at first and admired the views of the tall buildings rising up over the trees.

Then I parked it on the ground by a pond and watched the ducks. There were people everywhere and birds kept flying so close to my head that the back-draft ruffled my hair. After a few minutes a mom and a little girl around Augie’s age sat down next to me. The toddler was intent on petting a duck and her mom and I started commiserating about how hard it is to keep two-year-olds out of ponds. And that’s when I realized that really, it was time for me to come home to my boys.

New York — I’m smitten. I’ll be back as soon as I can!

I’ve already filled you in on the BlogHer ‘10 conference-y parts of my trip to New York, now it’s time to hear the rest of the story!

I got to the Oakland airport to fly to New York way too early. This was the first time I’ve flown without kids in years and I forgot how much less complicated everything is when you’re an adult traveling alone. Check-in at the airport goes quickly. Security goes lightning fast. Even buying a coffee and a magazine is easier.

At the gate, I met up with Lisa from Help a Mother Out (though she wisely arrived more than an hour after I did). We knew we were on the same flight so that part wasn’t a surprise, but we were psyched to find out we were sitting right next to each other on the plane. Good omen!

After flying by myself with both kids just a few weeks ago, the flight to New York was like a relaxing trip to the spa. I had time to read magazines, play games on my iPhone, goof around with photos on my laptop and even draw a mediocre picture of my pencil case.

And the best part was that I had multiple drinks on my tray table with no fear that they were going to get dumped on my lap. Very soothing.

Lisa and I shared a cab to the hotel and I oooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed over the bridges and the tall buildings the whole way there. You’d think after living in San Francisco for 20 years I would be immune to the effects of the the big city, but compared to New York, the Bay Area feels like a quaint little town.

When I checked into the Hilton, I was pleased to find that I was up on the 32nd floor. This was my view:

And this is what I saw when I looked down. If you look in the lower right corner, you’ll see a shwarma stand with a line of people queuing up for sandwiches. This stand is considered to be one of the best in all of New York, but unfortunately I never managed to get a plate of take-out while I was visiting.

After settling into our rooms, Lisa and I met up again to wander around the city a little and dig up some dinner. We were pleased to find that the Carnegie Deli was just a couple blocks away. We settled into our table and I was pleased to see we were seated next to Big Pussy:

After eyeing the plates on the tables adjacent to ours, we decided we’d better split a sandwich. The people to our left had plates with huge, delicious looking Reubens piled on them. Though they looked fantastic, neither of us thought it was possible to make a dent in one by ourselves. It wasn’t until we’d ordered one to split — along with a side of fries — that we found out they had were eating one sandwich divided into two servings! Yowza! Here’s a picture of our sandwich before we cut it up. Needless to say, we didn’t even come close to finishing it.

When I got back to my room after dinner the view out my window had transformed into this loveliness!

I spent all of the next day at the BlogHer conference, but in the evening Lisa and I met up again for dinner. We decided to walk by the park and just eat at whichever restaurant we passed that looked good. The park was lovely in the twilight:

And even the entrance to the subway was picturesque:

When we passed by the Plaza, we decided we needed to go in and check it out. So pretty!

We ended up eating a wonderful meal at a French bistro called Le Bonne Soupe. I didn’t take any pictures of my food, but I had a prix fixe menu with salad, mulligatawny soup, bread, creme caramel and a glass of wine. The food was yummy and the cozy atmosphere  of the restaurant was the perfect antidote to the overwhelm I was feeling from the conference and New York in general.

After dinner, I met up with Whitney and Heather and we finished the evening with hot chocolate and blog talk.

The next day was more conferencey goodness. Keynote, sessions, expo hall, more sessions. Then it was off to dinner at The Aspen Social Club with old friends and new.

Dinner was fine, but the conversation was better. After we ate, we hit the official parties in the hotel.

Next…Shopping and relaxing in SoHo!