I Want To Be A Part Of It // #CCTakesNYC, Part I

If you've been wondering where I've been for the past week (unlikely), I've basically been half dead from a nice combination of overexcitement, overindulgence, and overexhaustion.

You see, my best friend flew into the Big Apple to visit me (or to eat, it's unclear). And life is just a little better, a little more fun, a little funnier when your best friend is within yelling distance, you know? Or hugging distance, I guess.

It's been the best having her here and getting to show her all my favorite haunts, and getting to discover places new to both of us, and even just reverting back to our ways of two hour naps in the middle of the day and watching hysterical videos as a little breather when we got too tired. I think I could have the greatest time with this girl in the middle of NowhereLand, America if need be.

The grand adventure began on Thursday. Cassandra flew red-eye into Cleveland, made her connection by a literal two or three minutes, got into LaGuardia and somehow managed to finagle her way to Grand Central Station. I don't know how she does it. She met me at 30 Rock for lunch and then went to go do her own thing for a bit.

After work, I made her walk all three miles back home with me just to show her my daily commute. Best hostess right here.

I decided that a visit to Ippudo was absolutely compulsory, especially as Cassandra has never had real Japanese ramen before. Luckily, the wait was not an outrageous four hours, but a very doable ten minutes. 

Throughout the weekend, we implemented a sharing rule. Everywhere we ate, we would order one or two things and split it evenly. That way, we could try more things and eat at more places without feeling like encased sausages.

We started off with pork buns.

This summer, I've tried both Baohaus and Momofuku pork buns, and I still think that Ippudo is the champion where these babies are concerned. Light and fluffy buns, a good ratio of lean to fatty pork, a nice crunch from the lettuce, and a sauce with a kick that isn't too much. Winner, winner, chicken pork buns dinner.

And then some spicy ramen. Mmmmm.

The verdict? Smiles all around.

Afterward, we continued our sojourn back to my apartment. We wanted something sweet and decided on boba. I remembered CoCo, a boba place around the corner for me and we ventured in for a pick-me-up:

At home, I showed her my magical rooftop and then we laid in bed and caught up until we both passed out from a taxing day. Her, of traveling. Me, of sitting.

When we reluctantly woke up from our nap, Cassandra demanded ice cream.

So we walked over to the trendy Big Gay Ice Cream Shop and tried their famous Salty Pimp - and although it was deliciously sweet and salty, I will say that I do think it's overpriced for what it is. It is quite the sparkly joint for icy treats, though, so there's that!

Girl also demanded pizza anytime we left the apartment.

What she wants, she gets:

And finally, we wandered over to Washington Square Park and chatted while sitting by the fountain - about this summer, and this upcoming school year, and our plans for Europe next summer. We talked about ten days from now and ten years from now, and I've never been so excited about what's to come.

It's really the best thing, having your best friend next to you.

More to come!