Sisters in the City

Leigh Ann got to see my new neighborhood -- and I think she loves it almost as much as I do. She's in town for work, but we both wrapped up our days early to race to the Eugene O'Neill Theater on 49th Street at 4:30, where we entered the 5 o'clock lottery to get tickets for Book of Mormon.

Sadly, we were not the only ones with this idea. I'm not good at estimating crowds, but I think there were at least 250 people who entered the lottery to win the 20 available seats.

Ticketless, we headed to her hotel room so I could collect the three pounds of nuts from Costco that my sweet sister kindly "imported" for me. Then we headed to the West Village so Leigh Ann could see my new home. I need to take a few more street snaps so you can appreciate it too, but I am still stunned that I ended up in such a picturesque part of the city.

We had cocktails at Smorgas-Chef, a restaurant on the corner that happened to be offering $6 lingonberry margaritas. Yes, please! We had some parsnip crisps with dill cream while we watched the passersby.

We thoroughly enjoyed the people parade, which is all the more interesting during this transitional time of year when no one seems to know what to wear. One woman walked into the restaurant in a grey wool cape as a girl crossed the street in a black sundress. It's been cool and rainy all week, but it was warm and humid this afternoon, so it's a real fashion dilemma.

After drinks, we strolled to the Meat Packing District and settled into a sidewalk table at an Italian cafe called La Gazetta. We split crostini with white bean puree, a salad with lemon vinaigrette, and two pastas. I had the gnocchi with cherry tomatoes and pesto, but it couldn't compare to Leigh Ann's pappardalle with zucchini, pine nuts, mint and pecorino.

This is the first dish that has ever made me want to make pasta at home! I mean, if you're going to make your own pasta, pappardale seems like the perfect one to try.

We practically licked the plate.