Shopping, eating, and indie films in NYC

Tuesday, Todd and I walked around SoHo. I showed him the dramatic skate-ramp-like, modern interior of the Prada store. Then at a trendy boutique, I considered buying a purse that used a real handcuff as its handle, until I realized it was $75 instead of $27 on sale. Instead, I bought a funny sushi-themed baby outfit for my cousin's new baby. Todd tried on designer jeans (on his own volition!), which he then rejected.

We also stumbled upon Kate's Paperie, a wonderful stationery shop. I was tempted to get some photo albums but stopped myself. Todd was thrilled to find grid-ruled, spiral-bound notebooks. Of course I had to stop at H&M's and bought a couple summer tops to help me endure this crazy hot weather!

Shopping gets tiring on a hot summer day in New York, so we stopped for a nice casual lunch at Mooncake Foods, an Asian-fusion diner. Todd had fish tacos with Magnolia Jasmine Iced Tea, and I had Crawfish Dumplings with a watermelon cooler. Plus we shared lobster-mango summer rolls. it was all very refreshing and yummy.

We also walked into Little Italy, where we stopped for a gelato (an unexpectedly large serving) and coffee and walked a little bit into Chinatown. I looked around for cute knockoff bags, but I didn't really like anything I saw.

That pretty much zapped all my energy in the hot sun, so we finally headed back to the hotel for a nap. For a late dinner, we joined my cousin Bill and his fiancee Jenn for vegetarian Indian food at Saravaan's, on Lexington and 26th. The service was a touch spotty, but I thought it was still yummy. Bill claims there is better vegetarian Indian elsewhere.

Then Todd and I saw the new Jim Jarmusch film, starring Bill Murray, called "Broken Flowers." It was amusing, but the pace was a bit slow, especially for a late movie. Then we had dessert at Cafe Lalo (featured in the film, "You've Got Mail"), where we had their famous delicious frozen yogurt. Then Todd and I lamented how we don't have enough late-night food options in the bay area.

Back at the hotel, I figured out how to send pictures from my phone to my laptop through bluetooth (which saves $ from emailing them). It's easy and fast! I love my new phone.