Eats & Treats: Brunch at Prune & Other Injuries at Large

The sheer volatility of travel can drive me a bit mad sometimes.  I'm of course, write this as I'm stuck at La Guardia Airport in New York because my 4:00 p.m. flight was cancelled, due to the crew not showing up.  Then again, the fact that this job is so dynamic is probably half the reason why I love it.  This weekend was proof by example that even the second, third, fourth, or millionth time you've ever done something, life has a habit of kicking your butt sometimes nonetheless.  Case in point:

• Don't wear strappy heels when riding a subway in New York.  No matter how fabulous and poised you may think you are, there's still a high chance that you're probably going to fall on your butt down a flight of stairs when rushing to catch a train.
• Don't wear a tight sundress because while it is cute and might accentuate you in all the right places, the strap might break while you're sliding out of a taxi and thus causing you cup your top to prevent a further wardrobe malfunction for the rest of the morning.
• Don't mix drinks.  Just don't.  It's a bad idea overall and you'll regret it in the morning.

Fortunately, with good friends and family, a sale at Club Monaco, and some incredibly good brunch food can fix all of the above (more on the first two in a later blog post).  Being an ever-so-wonderful sir, boy/man/JZ took me to brunch this morning at Prune as a lovely little pick-me-up.

Prune at 54 East 1st St. in East VIllage

Located on the corner of 1st and 1st, Prune is a must in the NYC brunch scene (according to Foursquare, the Food Network, and JZ who said he had been trying to get in via walk-in for a year now).  After waiting for 15 minutes, luck behold, we got a cozy little table right next to the kitchen.  The food reminded me a little of provincial France mixed in with a little East Village hipster with options from the "Youth Hostel Breakfast" to "Lamb Sausage and Oysters."  JZ and I opted for the Dutch Style Pancakes and Soft-Scrambled Eggs.

For pictures of the actual food, click the next page.  Trust me, it's delicious, and the pictures further prove it. Note:  Click for deliciousness.

Travelogue + Lookbook: East Village Street Styling

Travesty of travesties, this weekend marked the last bit of my four-month stint in New York City. What's up next, you may ask?  Next in a few weeks is the exotic and mysterious land of "New Hampshire", where I will in no doubt fight an army of lobsters with my bare hands.  Just kidding.  It will probably be more blog posts about food, travel, and fashion.  In any case, this weekend proved to be jammed packed with East Village culture, much needed girl time, and necklaces with dinosaur robots attached to them.  To celebrate my last full day in New York City, I met up with my friends Nicole and Jodi to explore East Village through cookies, coffee, and clothes (clearly the three most important C's in my life).

Zucker Bakery at Avenue A and E. 9th Street

Fully caffeinated with some 9th Street Espresso coffees and ice teas, Jodi and Nicole insisted on trying out Zucker Bakery a couple blocks away.  Funny note, 9th Street Espresso is actually on 10th Street.  Who would have thought?  Zucker proved both adorable and delicious, with light powdery confections that weren't too sweet and brought foodgasms all around.  Not to mention the decor was simultaneously quaint and fabulous.  I can't imagine that a single person would hate a stuffed moose with bedazzled sequin antlers.  We fully approved of the honey almond fingers (essentially Mexican wedding cookies, but in stick form) and the alfajhores (dulce de leche short bread).

Cloak and Dagger on Avenue A and E. 9th St.

Down a couple stores was quite possibly one of my favorite boutique finds, Cloak and Dagger, which was filled with flowy tops and dresses in bold prints, blues, reds and neon yellows.  The store itself was a tad pricey for on-a-budget me with  pieces from $60-$120, but it was definitely somewhere that was getting a second visit in the future.

To see me "awkwardly" pose through some photos in a "summer look", click the next page.  If that doesn't convince you to click the next page, there's a pretty sweet photo of a dinosaur robot necklace.  Trust me, it's worth it.