Gossip Girl: Behind Closed Doors

Before I even pushed play on my DVR tonight I was wondering, "Is Jack really Chuck's dad?" I think that is the question on everyone's mind after last week's episode.

I couldn't help but laugh in the opening scene when Dorota complained to Blair that Vanya racks up their internet bill by playing World of Warcraft.

Over at the Empire I was thrilled to see that Chuck has traded in his red, onesie sweat suit for a much daintier pair of gold and navy, paisley pajamas. All is right in the world again.

Speaking of returning to original form, Dan tries to be supportive of Blair returning to her scheming ways and he calls her, "OGB - Original gangsta Blair." Oh boy. The words "gangsta" and "Blair" do not belong in the same sentence.

Meanwhile, Nate has Diana's datebook and is trying to crack the code. Lola, Nate and Chuck are hot on the trail when they involve Serena. Serena claims to have seen a decoder book, but later we learn she invented that decoy as part of her conspiring with Diana. In return for the favor, Diana offers up Gossip Girl's cell phone number.

Across Manhattan Dan is invited to a summer artist in residence program in Rome. Though it's prestigious, he turns it down to pursue his relationship with Blair.

Later, back at the Empire, Dan calls Blair to check on her and she says, "I'm at the Empire with Chuck, Nate, Serena and Serena Light." Ha! Poor Lola.

The gang winds up on Diana and Gossip Girl's trails at a private sex club. This story line has now officially become outlandish.

At the club Serena calls Gossip Girl's cell phone, hears it ringing and then the evacuation happens, keeping her from finding the cell phone and its owner.

Upstairs Chuck finds Jack, Nate and Lola find Diana and Blair opens a door and exclaims, "No! It can't be." We don't see what is behind the door but I would bet every penny to my name it is Bart. I have been predicting this for weeks now.

A few minutes later Nate and Lola admit to Serena that they tricked her and got Gossip Girl her laptop back. When Serena tries to call Gossip Girl's cell phone, the number is disconnected. Personally, I have never cared who the real Gossip Girl is. Do you?

At the end of the episode Blair heads to Brooklyn to meet up with Dan. Dan lies to her about why he isn't going to Rome and then he says those three precious words, "I love you." Too bad Blair doesn't say them back. Ouch, Lonely Boy.

In the closing scene of the episode Chuck goes back into the private club, opens the party room door and BOOM! Bart is there!

I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Excuse me while I do an obnoxious "I was right" victory dance.

In previews for next week Dan asks Blair to go to Italy with him (apparently he's having second thoughts about declining the program) but she is too busy gallivanting with Chuck. The love triangle re-emerges!

*Images courtesy of CWTV.com.

Sugar Fix: Koryodang

On my final night in the Big Apple, after a delicious Italian feast at Nizza, my friend took me into Koryodang in Korea Town for dessert.

Koryodang has the most stunning, nature inspired, front window display.

Directly inside the door is a freezer case with rows and rows of brightly colored ice pops. Hello, lover.

On the opposite wall is the glass bakery case full of delectable goodies.

Look at this beautiful, pink fruit cake.  It's almost too pretty to eat!

Once you decide on a confection, you can take a seat in the serene dining space. I love the trees!

The seating area in the back of the cafe is decorated with dark wood columns that make the space feel very sophisticated.

I could not get over how beautiful and elegant this place was.

After drooling over all the offerings, we went with our gut instinct and picked out ice pops - vanilla for her, coffee for me.

We proceeded to happily lick our ice pops all the way home.

Dining Out: Nizza

On my last night in New York City I met up with three of my closest childhood friends at Nizza on the corner of 45th Street and 9th Avenue.

Nizza has a large outdoor patio which was totally packed when we arrived at 8:00pm.

We had a reservation and got a fantastic, spacious, round booth in the back left corner of the restaurant.

From my seat I was taking in all the wine themed decorations which included rows of wine bottles lining the ceiling.

The bar was one of the most impressive I have seen. It was literally glowing.

The menu at Nizza is classic Italian, mostly focusing on pizzas and pastas.

While we looked over the menu our waiter brought us some bread, burrata cheese and olive oil to nosh on.

We decided to order a plate of fried ravioli for the table. When I've had fried ravioli in the past they have been coated in coarse bread crumbs. These fried raviolis were almost bordering on sweet instead of savory.

They came with a spicy tomato sauce for dipping which helped to balance out the sweet crescenza cheese filling.

To start, one of my friends and I split the arugula salad which came topped with parmesan, lemon and olive oil. We told our waiter we would be sharing the salad and he brought it to us on two small plates, one for each of us. I love when restaurants do that. I was so excited for the salad that I forgot to take a photo of it!

My other two friends ordered the braised artichoke hearts as an appetizer, which came with two artichoke hearts stuffed with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. The dish got a so-so review.

For our entree, my friend and I split the Napoletana pizza which is tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. It was everything a classic, Italian pizza should be. The flavors were perfect and the cheese was ooey gooey and delicious.

Our friends decided to share two plates: the Caesar salad and the Carciofo pizza. They said the Caesar had a strange dressing on it, almost like a runny Italian. It wasn't what they were expecting and they mostly pushed it around the plate.

They also shared the Carciofo pizza which came topped with artichokes, olives, goat cheese and parmesan. Can you tell they like artichokes? They loved their pizza as much as we loved ours, commenting that the crust was oven baked to perfection.

The atmosphere at Nizza was great, our waiter was very attentive and the food was delicious. If you're looking for a great pre-theater meal, I'd highly recommend it.

After dinner, one of the friends and I decided to walk from Nizza (45th and 9th Avenue) back to her apartment at 33rd and 3rd Avenue. It was a beautiful night and I always love walking through the city.  Just a few blocks before reaching her apartment we decided to stop for dessert at an incredibly beautiful place. More on that in the next post!

Grey's Anatomy: The Boards

It's a double dose of Grey's recaps this week!

Last week:

The episode opens in the airport with Zola holding a pink balloon, waiting for Meredith to land. I'm sorry, but she is simply the cutest toddler I have ever seen.

The show centers around our gang interviewing for their next positions, likely outside of Seattle Grace. Kepner travels with color coded binders, Avery gets asked about his famous grandfather, Karev is sought after for his fundraising abilities and Cristina is being wined and dined and showered in gift baskets.

Back at the hospital a teenage girl is admitted to the ER who was the center of a police investigation (she is played by Luke's daughter from "Gilmore Girls"). She was abducted at age six and held captive in a man's basement. When the patient, Holly, finally details to Meredith what he life was like in that house my heart was breaking. I literally gasped when she revealed that she'd had a baby.

For some reason Holly becomes very attached to Meredith and the other residents tease Meredith about it to which she responds, "Can I help it if she imprinted on me?" A Twilight reference!

Bailey is very emotional about Holly's case and when she goes to pick up her son Tuck at the hospital's day care center he isn't there. She immediately loses it and insists the day care declare an emergency. A few seconds later Tuck appears and it turns out her was at the nurse with a bloody nose. Phew! I was actually getting nervous.

When it is finally time for Holly to get released Owen leads a team meeting reviewing the status of all of her conditions. When each department agrees she's in great shape, everyone claps for Owen as a way to thank him for his leadership on the case. The camera pans back and look at that  - even Cristina is clapping! Is this foreshadowing a reconciliation?

Outside of the hospital the chief has been visiting Adele at her nursing home and has discovered she is falling for another patient. In fact, he even walks in on them naked in Adele's room! I was not expecting that! Poor, chief. This is so upsetting.

At the close of the episode Meredith is seated at an interview with Brigham & Women's hospital in Boston and when they ask how serious she is about the position she says, "Oh, I'm very serious." Would the show ever really send Meredith, Derek and Zola to Boston?

In the previews we see flashes of Kepner kissing Avery, then punching a stranger, then sleeping with Avery? This is going to be good!

This week:

This week our gang is off to take their boards in San Francisco. As they board the bus to the airport Bailey watches them and says, "They started out with so little promise." I laughed out loud and couldn't help but remember those episodes in season one where the crew hung out in the basement to avoid Bailey.

Once the gang lands in San Francisco they are surprised to see Jackson's mother is there! She offers Jackson his lucky pencil which is cute and patronizing all at the same time. A few moments later the chief also arrives in town and Avery's mother is back to her flirtatious tricks.

After a meal together, the chief gives in to her advances and sleeps with her! I suppose after walking in on Adele with another man he feels he has the freedom to do the same. I couldn't help but laugh when Avery knocked on his mother's hotel room door and the chief answered in the hotel robe.

This hour Dr. Kepner got a strange case of 'roid rage and punched a competitor in a bar. She even screamed, "Yeah, bitch! Wanna go?" I have to say, this is so inconsistent with her character that it was a bit hard to believe.

A little less hard to believe was her kissing Jackson! That kissing outside her hotel room door turns into more and with her permission, Jackson becomes her first.

The next morning when Jackson and Kepner arrive at the boards, Kepner won't even look at him. He tries to coax her into saying something, anything, and then she blurts out, "I was a virgin because I love Jesus and now Jesus hates me." Oh boy.

Kepner gets called into her boards first (hopefully she can keep it together), followed by Jackson. When Jackson stands up he drops and then breaks his lucky pencil. Bad omen?

While in San Francisco Meredith gets violently ill with the same stomach bug Zola caught at day care. Cristina arrives to Meredith's hotel room wearing a mask, with yellow gatorade (the only acceptable flavor in my opinion) and an IV bag full of fluids. Oh, to be a doctor.

The scenes where Meredith and Cristina are talking through the hotel door reminded me of their relationship in the early seasons when they were "dark and twisty." Shonda has really nailed the symbiotic nature of their friendship.

When Meredith asks Cristina is she would really consider transferring to Columbia in New York Cristina answers, "There are phones you know." To which Meredith replies, "Oh, you hate the phone!" Cristina agrees, "You're right. I do." I loved this little best friend moment.

Karev, the final person in the group, misses the boards all together because he goes back to Seattle to help Morgan say goodbye to her baby. I wonder if Morgan's character is staying on? Another tortured girlfriend for Karev?

There were two major developments back at the hospital: first, Bailey lays into Teddy about her treatment of Owen. She gives a fierce monologue about Teddy blaming Owen for Henry's death and refusing to be his friend and how she can't expect him to be kind to her when she makes him carry that burden. We'll see next week if that sunk in.

Lastly, Sloan hangs out with Lexie while Jackson is away and says he misses working with her. He also says he thinks she and Jackson were a great couple and they should try to work it out. Ouch!

In the previews for next week there is a new character played by Mr. Feeny from "Boy Meets World." I bet he delivers the news on who based their boards. The preview also shows Avery's mom telling the chief, "One of your Seattle Grace doctors didn't pass."

Who do you think is the weakest link? Did Jackson snap like his pencil? Did Kepner break down about Jesus? Did Meredith vomit on her proctor? Did Karev really miss his appointment? I'm dying to hear your guesses!

*Images courtesy of TVFanatic.com.

Dining Out: Madison & Vine

After our last work day in New York City last week we decided to toast to a job well done at a bar we had seen across the street from our hotel.

Our interest was piqued on our first day in the city when we walked toward the subway and spotted this restaurant which was bustling with people at both the bar and their outdoor tables.

The restaurant is called Madison & Vine and it is part of the Library Hotel on 41st Street (between Park and Madison).

As we approached the front door I noticed their chalkboard special which for Manhattan, is actually a great deal. 

As soon as we walked in I noticed the Gothic style bar. I really loved the presentation of the wine bottles.

When we arrived it was still early by New York City standards (6:00pm) so we had no trouble at all getting a table right in the front window.

We had a great people watching view, accented by a giant white pot of spring flowers.

Each of us were delivered a multitude of menus. Though we knew we only wanted drinks, the food menus were extremely tempting!

Especially the bar menu which was propped up, staring us right in the face.

When our waiter came over to greet us he mentioned that we had arrived just in time to take advantage of the happy hour special. If you order any bottle of wine, you receive a complimentary cheese plate. This seemed like a no brainer, so we quickly placed our order for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

The bottle arrived and we each received a full glass which we happily clinked in honor of a successful week.

We were still taking our first sips when this glorious cheese plate arrived:

I have ordered many a cheese plate and even the ones that cost $40 can be skimpy. However, this cheese plate, which was free, was superb!

We received five kinds of cheese (brie, blue cheese, roquefort, smoked gouda and pecorino), two types of crostini, red grapes, green apple slices, fig jam and apricot jam. Can I get a round of applause for Madison & Vine?

If you work in the city and you are ever able to leave your desk before 6:00pm, you must take advantage of this amazing special!

Have you discovered any great restaurant or bar deals lately?

90210: To Wed Or Not To Wed

After another random spring hiatus (just like Gossip Girl and Grey's Anatomy), tonight 90210 returned!

We open the episode with Adriana furiously packing her things to move out of Dixon's apartment. She says to Navid (who is watching her pack), "It is over and this is my blender!" Oh, the quality writing on this show. 

This hour Adriana teams up with Austin to take her career in a new direction. Navid seems to think Austin has impure intentions and pushes him into an ice sculpture at Naomi's engagement party.

Speaking of the engagement party, Annie tells Naomi the truth about PJ and his trust fund. Initially, Naomi doesn't care. At the party PJ's boarding school friend, Richard, says, "We've all been wondering who the lucky girl would be." That seems to make Naomi uncomfortable.

Later, PJ reveals the name of his new yacht, "the Naomi." Rather than being tickled pink, Naomi feels overwhelmed and bolts. She gives back the ring and tells PJ she can't move forward with the engagement.

Caleb (the priest in training) also seems to be running away from Annie. Annie admits to him that she is falling for him and he turns on his heels and disappears. Later on, Ivy tries to pressure Caleb into admitting he really likes Annie and he won't crack. In one of the final scenes of the episode he comes back to the party to find Annie and winds up passionately kissing her in the rain. Swoon.

Somewhere in between denying Annie and kissing her, Caleb also managed to call Social Services on Ivy saying she is a danger to herself. Oh boy.

The most dramatic story line of the night was the emerging Liam-Silver-Navid love triangle. Liam confesses his true feelings for Silver, but she shoots him down. Silver then pours her heart out to Navid and confides in him that she does have the cancer gene. Liam tries to convince Navid to go back to Princeton, but in the end, he only wants to be with Silver.

In the final seconds of the episode Liam kisses Silver again and demands that she acknowledge she has feelings for him. I am loving this triangle!

In previews for next week Naomi finds herself back to work and planning a wedding. It also seems Silver may be pregnant. Could it be Liam's baby? My DVR cut off the final seconds of the preview but it looked like Naomi may actually be planning PJ's last minute wedding. Yikes!

*Image courtesy of CWTV.com.

Gossip Girl: Are You My Mother?

Hello there, Upper East Siders! Since I was away last week, this week we're doing a double dose of recaps.

Last week:

We open on Blair and Dan having breakfast at Blair's house where Dorota is referring to Dan as "Lonely Boy" to his face. Priceless.

Blair is hell bent on introducing her and Dan to society with splash and at the suggestion of famous New York power couple, Julian and Jenna, decides to host a London themed salon.

The salon turns out to be a complete disaster and several hours later Dan shows up with an overnight bag on Blair's stoop and sheepishly says, "I was hoping to have a sleep over with you." I hate them as a couple, but I must admit, that was damn cute.

This hour Lily and Rufus are feuding over Ivy. Rufus is paying for Ivy's hotel room in New York and Lily wants to destroy her. When Rufus refuses to cut Ivy off, Lily cuts him off. Ouch, bro.

During this episode Lola finds out that Serena has been acting as Gossip Girl and tries to expose her. When Nate confronts Lola about her behavior, for some odd reason she falls on the sword and protects Serena.

The major bomb this hour was the discovery that Diana Payne is in fact Chuck's mother. She is the one who donated the blood that saved him. She had an affair with Bart and agreed to give the baby to Bart and Elizabeth to raise as their own. I couldn't help but laugh when Chuck said to Elizabeth, "You were in New York, you wanted to see me and my best friend's bed wasn't close enough?" Touche, Chuck, touche.

At the end of the episode Gossip Girl texts Diana and says, "That wasn't the secret I was talking about." Oooooooooo! There is another dirty little secret! I have been saying this for a while, but I'll say it again, I think Bart Bass is still alive.

In previews for the upcoming episode we learn that Nate hires a private eye to investigate Diana's past and if that doesn't work, he's willing to seduce her again for the info.

This week:

Nate is on a quest to uncover the truth about Diana Payne. He thinks her cash flow is coming from Jack Bass. When Diana catches him rifling through her hotel room, he sleeps with her as a diversion. How convenient.

Later on Elizabeth sends Nate a photo of her while she was pregnant, poking holes in Diana's story. Nate implies to Chuck that Jack must have put Diana up to this lie. Chuck then counters by recognizing the tattoo on the male arm in the photo and asks, "The real question is: Is Jack my father?" Is Jack even old enough to be Chuck's father?

This hour Blair tries to steal the spotlight back from Dan. Was it just me, or did Blair sound horribly nasal the entire episode? I found it distracting.

After Blair interrupts Dan's speech he calls her on her meltdown and tries to sooth her by saying, "I see us as equals." Barf.

The majority of this episode focused on the ever changing cast of the Van Der Woodsens. First, Serena catches William having brunch with Lola. Second, Ivy rats out Carol and thus, Carol gets taken away on fraud charges by the police. Lily, very clever.

Later, in prison, William convinces Carol to sign over her portion of Cee Cee's estate to him so that he can take care of Lola. My gut was telling me, he's going to take the money and run. We then find out that Lily convinced William to get Carol's signature. However, in his final moment on screen, instead of going to Lily's apartment, he goes to JFK. Perhaps my gut instinct was right!

Lily tried to close the loop with Ivy by writing her a check for one million dollars. Ivy rips it up in the elevator. What are you crazy, girl?

At the very end of this hour Lola tries to mend things with Serena and when Serena blows her off, Lola steals Serena's Gossip Girl site log in (as it was hand written by Georgina). This is about to get very interesting!

In previews for next week the gang hires Blair as their chief schemer to reveal the truth about Diana Payne. The Queen Bee is making a come back!

*Images courtesy of CWTV.com.

Explore: Scandinavia House

While I was in New York City last week my co-workers and I set up our home base at the Scandinavia House on Park Avenue. The Scandinavia House is the Nordic Center of America and most of the space is open to the public.

As you approach Scandinavia House from the street, the first thing you notice is the dark wood scaling up the edifice of the building. It's a bit unexpected amongst all the glass sky scrapers.

Hanging over the entry way are the flags of all the Nordic countries represented by Scandinavia House. It has a bit of an Olympic vibe to it.

From the street you can also see one of the gift shop's displays which boasts a major collection of Marimekko.

This month the Scandinavia House gallery was featuring work by three photographers, which was showcased by this poster which I found quite humorous. How can you look at a llama with a straight face?

The sign on the front door to the House feels very official.

When you enter Scandinavia House the first thing you notice is the gift display. The colors look like fruit punch.

The Scandinavia House gift shop is full of treasures.

You can pick up mini cookbooks of traditional Scandinavian recipes.

You can learn to bake Norwegian cakes and cookies.

You can drink tea from Stockholm.

You can takes notes in a beautiful, mustard yellow notebook by Lotta Jansdotter.

Beyond the gift display is the restaurant called Smorgas Chef.

The menu boasts Scandinavian favorites like herring, gravlaks, Icelandic cod, Norwegian salmon and of course, Swedish meatballs.

There is a birch tree growing in the middle of the restaurant and the sight of it took my breath away. You just don't normally see that in a restaurant.

The chairs at each table are brightly colored and there are small pots of flowers accenting the butcher paper table cloths.

The walls of the restaurant feature photographs taken in Scandinavian countries.

At the back of the first floor is the actual gift shop (or, the gift shop part II). This part of the store had sections set up by color like this red themed display:

And a black and white theme:

I loved this pillow with the bird cage on it.

There were adorable cards that were a bit cartoonish, including one of a chef that I couldn't help but love.

As you walk up the front stairwell to the second floor event space you can't help but notice the funky light fixtures.

From inside the event space the lights look like they are floating above Park Ave.

Should you ever choose to host or attend an event at Scandinavia House, the second floor event space has a beautiful, outdoor patio.

It's the ultimate urban oasis.

Each day when we left Scandinavia House I was continually enamored with this strip of Park Avenue. A girl could really get used to this neighborhood.

I feel so lucky that my home base for my work week in the Big Apple was such a gem.  You too can experience the beauty of Scandinavia House - the gift shop, restaurant and gallery are open to the public. Visit for yourself at 58 Park Avenue, between 38th and 37th Streets.