Reunited at Last! (with a little high fashion on the side)

     This week was an extremely exciting week for me because my boyfriend (and fellow d&m@Work blogger), Nik, visited for Valentine's Day! We hadn't seen each other in a few months, so we made sure to make the most of our week together. When he arrived to New York, he met me at my office and got the grand tour of where I spend my weekdays. I was excited that he got to meet my co-workers, since I am around them more than anyone else while I'm here. Over the week we spent together, we tried a ton of exciting food and went on a very long list of adventures. Our two favorite activities to do together are eat and shop, so we made sure to go to some interesting restaurants and stores to make up for our lost time. My two favorite dinners were at Peter Luger's Steak House and a fancy sushi place we stumbled across in Brooklyn after an all day shopping marathon. I eat salmon and Brussels sprouts pretty much every day of my life, so eating a few nice meals was a big treat for me. At Peter Luger's, we ordered the steak for two, so when our waiter brought out or food, it was a huge platter of only steak. My favorite part, however, was (of course) dessert. We ate the best cheesecake I have ever had in my entire life. The cheesecake came with a whole bowl of homemade whipped cream that was so dense it was a dessert that could have stood alone. Nik knows I have the biggest sweet tooth on earth, so he had been prepping me for that slice of cheesecake all day. I had a great time, especially since I finally got to try a restaurant he had been raving about for awhile. However, the best part of the meal was the next morning, when Nik cooked me a steak and egg breakfast with our leftovers before I left for work. When we ate at the sushi place we found, we were pleasantly surprised by the unique sushi on the menu. The craziest roll we ordered was a roll that included caviar and real gold flakes. I have to say, gold tastes just as good as it looks! Once again, though, my favorite part was dessert. We ordered some crazy wrapped banana and chocolate concoction that was one of the best desserts I have ever eaten at a restaurant. The banana roll came with delicious and flavorful vanilla bean ice cream and one sweet pickled plum. This plum was so good that we went a little wild and told our waitress how much we loved them- and she brought us six more to share!
     One of my favorite adventures during Nik's visit was when we went to see an Off-Broadway play. I'm not a huge theater person (and neither of us like musicals), so seeing a play was something different that we had never done together. We decided that if we were going to see a play, it should be crazy and a little out there, so we picked The Nether, a drama/thriller about technology in the future. The Nether was extremely dark, but it had an incredible story, even with all the creepiness. It was nice getting to dress up for the theater and go on a fancy date like that together (I felt so mature!). We had a blast attending the show, but we equally enjoyed analyzing the play afterwards. We are big movie watchers, so we enjoyed how watching a play consisting of only dialogue (no singing please) was a more personal way to enjoy a story. Being apart for co-op has been a good thing because we are having our own experiences in new cities, but it is also extremely hard since we're best friends and miss each other a lot! Even though we're both enjoying our co-ops, I think it's safe to say we're excited to be back in Philly together soon.
     While Nik was visiting, I still had to go to work. This ended up being a great thing only because I had the opportunity to attend my first Fashion Week fashion show. Of course, Nik and I had been hoping to go to our first fashion show together, but he was a good sport and would never want me to miss out on something like this. Naeem Khan, one of our clients, had his Fall/Winter 15 ready-to-wear show on Tuesday at the Lincoln Center. Lucky for me, a woman at work wasn't able to attend, so she gave me her ticket, which allowed me to have an incredible experience. The show began with a backdrop of real Swarovski crystal curtains in front of a huge blue graffiti mural. All of a sudden, a graffiti artist came out and began painting beautiful blue shapes over the mural. Once he was finished, the models came out, and the runway walks began. I appreciate when designers mix art with fashion, and it was exciting to see such an obvious collaboration during the show. Naeem's gowns and pant suits were very chic, and they all looked effortless on the models. This was a great show to have as my first Fashion Week experience because it was so over the top and glamorous! My week was exciting because I got to see my favorite person and experience something new related to fashion. I'm looking forward to more experiences at work and, of course, to see Nik again soon. Even though loving work and my excitement for moving back to Philly contradict each other, I'm happy to have positive things to look forward to on both ends.