Recovery Sundays

On this sunny Sunday morning we found our recovery in the delicious form of the $10.95 brunch special at the East Village gem, Flea Market Cafe.  The decor reflected the name perfectly; a collection of antiques, collectibles and garage sale finds that made the room feel more like your grandmother's basement than a New York restaurant.  It was cozy and fun to look around as we sipped the complimentary coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice--pondering everything from vintage signs to a bike tacked up on the wall.  We settled on brioche french toast with fruit, tomato/spinach/chedder omelet with home fries and salad and a hot baguette with jam.  As the days grow colder we will definitely return to Flea Market--for the unbelievable deal and mouth-watering meals--next time we're trying the carmelized apple pancake!

Flea Market Cafe is located at St. Marks and Avenue A...and also boasts a sunset menu from 5-7 every day; $15, $17 or $19 for 1, 2, 3 courses respectively, plus a glass of wine or beer!  There's no missing your old cafeteria when you can get the delicacies of this foodie flea market for under $20... MSS

Flea Market Cafe Menu

This Week's Juiciest Bite

Tonight at the Highline Ballroom, one of our own Vanderbilt alum Ben Cameron is going to be rocking out with bands Roctopus and DJ Eurofunkenstein. Starting at 9:30 p.m., recent grads will be invading the scene ready to get weird for the 5th Annual Turkey Bender: Facebook Event

What exactly is the Turkey Bender? Who the hell knows... but we're psyched. See you there!! xx

Monday's Marks

I couldn’t wait to get to John Baldessari’s exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum, his first major US show in over twenty years. When I heard that the College Group at the Met was sponsoring a late night viewing party, complete with music and food, I knew that the night to relive my glory days and pull out the trusty old college ID had come.  Pretty sure my slow sipping of a glass of red wine and endless attention to John Baldessari’s later works separated me from the revelers focused on dancing to the beat of the opening band the Beachniks, but it really was exciting to be amidst a group of young art lovers celebrating in the Met after hours.  The exhibit itself spans a vast portion of Baldessari’s career; definitely take note of how elements of his earliest works, like body parts (God Nose, 1965) continue to be his focus in later pieces like Nose and Ears, (Head with nose), 2006.

I particularly enjoyed his photographs that had been painted over and attached—pieces like Heel, 1986, The Overlap Series: Jogger with Cosmic Event, 2000 and The Duress Series, 2003. In The Overlap Series, Baldessari experimented with photographs printed on clear acetate, attaching and reversing them. Two seemingly incongruent scenes, a black-and-white still from a Buck Rogers movie and a color snapshot of a local jogger become intertwined, the new, fused image brought to life with bright, acrylic scratches of color. Images like this are the fire behind Baldessari’s work; a unique and somewhat odd vision that allows him to take everyday shapes, images and primary colors and turn them into something completely new and eye-opening. This is a main reason he has been so influential in contemporary/conceptual art—he highlights subjects that have historically been very important in the evolution of art; eyes for emotion, the ability to create a realistic human form, and upends that focus—into separation and abstraction.

This show is a must see, for its expertly curated evolution of style and subject matter and more importantly, Baldessari’s witty commentary on the conventions of art, mass-media, and his heightened awareness of the world around us.  Huge kudos to the College Group at the Met for bringing students (and delicious hors d’oeurves) to this important exhibition.   xx MS

 John Baldessari, Pure Beauty, is on view through January 9 at the Metropolitan Museum.

Overlap Series, Jogger with Cosmic Event

The Duress Series

Saturday's Spot

Trinity College.

Saturday's Spot

After a one-day hiatus for yesterday’s Halloween festivities—which involved a run-in on Third Avenue with Bert, Ernie and a gorilla—we are back with a now established staple of the East Village brunch scene, The Sunburnt Cow.  This darkened enclave off Avenue C was a welcome respite from the fall breeze and the crowd inside seemed energized by the laid-back surfer vibe.  As various tables finished their meals, a makeshift dance-floor appeared, everyone moving to tunes from the likes of Yolanda Be Cool. 

While boozy brunches are becoming indispensable to the New York weekend crowds, this one took the notion of all you can drink brunch to a new level with its delectable dishes and 18-dollar price tag. Our group sampled everything from crispy crab cakes benedict and smoked salmon benedict with avocado to a burger with toppings straight from the far reaches of The Sunburnt Cow’s owners’ Australia: lettuce, tomato, thick slices of beet, fried egg, cheese, fried onions, pineapple, and bacon strips.  While this combination sounded odd at first, the photo below really says it all.  

Mix these platters with unlimited “Moo-marys,” “moomosas”, screwdrivers and the Sunburnt special Greyhound—a refreshing grapefruit and vodka concoction—and your weekend keeps rolling through Sunday.   If you and a group are looking for a pick-me up in the coming weekends look no further than this Australian transport in Alphabet city—just be sure to call ahead or wake up early—this spot has New York brunchers flocking.  One too many moomosas left us with the below snapshot--and a thank you to nymag.com and yelp for the decor images....The Sunburnt Cow is located at 137 Avenue C at 9th street. 

Spotlight Thursdays

BIRCHBOX-- Ever wandered Sephora aimlessly for a good hour before ending up with 10 different brands of mascara? Or worse, just that little mini perfume from beside the counter? How about that foundation you bought online that made you look like a warrior princess? The answer to these dilemmas seems to have arrived in the compact yet adorable shape of BirchBox. We stumbled upon this “fruit of the month”- esque makeup company at the MyNines event at the Buckingham Hotel last week and were immediately drawn to its perky pink packaging and the fun girls enthusiastically singing its praises. When we found out those girls were Harvard Business School alums and fellow new transplants to New York City like us—we were sold! 

The co-founders Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp, classmates at Harvard Business School, were first inspired to create BirchBox when their friend Mollie Chen, a former beauty editor at Condé Nast Traveler, would bring them home samples that she hand-picked to fit their skin, coloring and personality. Hayley and Katia were determined that everyone deserved their own Mollie to get them the best beauty products—and figure out the ones that didn’t work—without a huge investment upfront. Mollie is now the Director of Content for BirchBox, so technically once you sign up you do have your own Mollie!

With 3 to 4 deluxe samples each month from brands like Cargo, Nars, Benefit and Kiehls, just to name a few, custom picked to match your “beauty profile,” you are sure to find the colors and brands that work best for you—while trying out some pretty amazing products along the way.  Hayley gave me a sample of The Face Shop Collagen Mask Sheet, a featured item in the September box. While I greatly resembled Hannibel Lector while watching Boardwalk Empire on Sunday, I could not believe how amazing this mask was—my skin was glowing and looked relaxed—it really was like a facial right from the comfort of my couch. So if you love one sample, like my Hannibal mask, you can go online and purchase it right from BirchBox’s site—no hassling the woman at Bloomingdales to locate the exact shade or size you want.  All this for $10 a month or $110 a year—I’d definitely skip my Starbucks soy latte two Mondays for that! 
xo,
MSS


www.birchbox.com