Plan B weekend

The rain did not cease since Friday night, so we had to reschedule/cancel our original weekend plans of going on a hayride and strolling around some riverside towns taking in the final days of fall. Saturday was quite dreary with no sun in sight hence we decided that Palisades offered the most on a rainy day like this. In my opinion it is definitely one of the BEST MALLS in the country. http://www.palisadescenter.com/

Here are my reasons: a great range of moderately high end and low end stores, department stores including Target, Bed Bath and beyond & even BJ's, different kinds of entertainment (bowling, piant ball and skating; these maybe pricier than expected), good selection of restaurants on the 4th floor which is named the "ThEATery" (Fire & Ice is the newest restaurant to open at the end of summer) and movie theaters including an IMAX theatre.

So this is why we decided to spend our evening/night at Palisades on Saturday. After accomplishing my shopping tasks for the day, we headed to the ThEATery. There was n't any movie we were really keen to see but we settled on "Where the Wild Things Are" due to its favorable reviews. The restaurants were as crowded as expected around 6.30pm and we settled on Japanese cuisine mostly because they were able to seat us right away at the sushi boat.

The “East Japanese” had a really good selection of sushi ranging from $ 1.50-$6 per serving. We had several varieties of tuna and salmon sushi along with some sweet shrimp which were offered at a reduced price. The chef was deft at presenting a selection rich in variety at good speed. Even though we were satisfied with the sushi boat, a full dinner menu was also available. We had some homemade flan (an atypical dessert for a Japanese restaurant) which was made to my liking to finish off our meal.

Sunday started off on a great
note as the leaves were glistening in the sunlight. After a great workout we headed to find a big brunch. This was my first time seeing the actual town part of Yorktown heights where I've been working since January of this year. We found Yorktown Coach, an ideal brunch spot that served typical diner fare. Nelson had some really good french toast while I decided on a huge mexican omelet.

Still continuing our exploration of Yorktown, we stpped by at Turcos, supermarket with a gourmet food court and a cappuccino bar. I got some tasty mini cannolis for dessert and we also picked up some fresh produce for the week. This would be a great choice whenever we planned to pick up dinner on our way home from work.
http://www.turcos.com/

Towards early evening we headed to Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm for some cider donuts. http://www.wilkensfarm.com/

We had been there a few weeks ago and really enjoyed their fresh donuts. But upon seconds pulling into the driveway, we were amazed to see the line outside! Apparently everyone wanted to enjoy the beautiful day with a side of donuts. Even though I really was craving them, we left with a mental note to come in the early afternoon next time.

Halloween on Hudson

Halloween is a very active time in the Hudson valley. There are various events going on in many towns along the river. But Tarrytown and Sleepy Hallow (which are adjoining towns) have forged a noteworthy link to halloween with Washingtown Irving's famous story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" being set in this historic town.

http://www.hudsonvalley.org/content/view/196/199/

Weekend days and nights have been dedicated to celebrating the legends for many years and there seem to be plenty to do, especially for kids. This will be our first year participating in the halloween actvities in Sleepy Hallow.

Last year we were still settling in when halloween rolled around. But we did take and evening off to see the great jack o' lantrern blaze at VanCortland Manor at Croton-on-Hudson. Tickets are typically priced around $15-20 per person and it was totally worth our time and money. It was simply a great display of creavity and craftsmenship and captured the essence of halloween.

There wre were giant dinosaur sculptures which were the centerpeice to this amazing display of carved phunkins. In keeping with last years election news, Joe the pumpkin was also present!

This year we are planning on going to the Halloween hayride with a regaling of the famous legend. Hopefully It will be a good opprtunity for me to learn the comeplete story for the very first time.

Staying Close to Home

After a long, hard week of work, last weekend was one of those weekends that you just want to play by ear.  Saturday afternoon was spent napping and/or catching up on TiVo.  Itching to go out and do something after spending most of the afternoon inside, we decided to explore some of the restaurants right downtown in Ossining.  There's not too much downtown, but we walked around a bit and settled on Mauro's Restaurant.

Mauro's had great upscale-style service, and lots of seemingly yummy things on the menu.  Maybe thanks to the economy, they had a family-style option for a lot of their dishes.  I love this!  Salad to start, and a huge version of a dish to share.  It works out well since my wife is generally a cheap date (doesn't eat much).  We ended up even having some to wrap up and take home.  Desert was excellent too, all for only about $30.  However, when we got home Anuja realized we forgot the leftovers....I hate when that happens!!  Oh well.

Columbus Day Weekend

Outlet shopping has been on our mind for a few weeks and we took advantage of the columbus day sales to make the long awaited shopping trip to Woodbury on saturday 10/10/09. It was about a 45min ride from our home in Ossining, NY and we started early afternoon in the company of another prolific shopper my sister, Lukshi & her husband Sean. Our first real stop was at BCBG where we snatched a few good deals. There were lots of marked down items (mostly tops and pants) in the $40-50 price scale. Dresses from last year's collections were also available for around $100 (or less). Kenneth Cole had a 25% sale off of all purchases and Banana Republic had some great bargains. Even after five hours we hadn't shopped to our heart's content, but we left with some great finds.

I was excited for sunday as we were heading to NYC to meet up with one of my best friends and her boyfriend. As New Yorkers, they were in charge of picking a restaurant for brunch. Once we decided on the cuisne to be indian, we planned to meet at curry hill on Lex.

We decided to try the buffet at Copper Chiminey upon our freinds' recommendation. The food was extrmely cheap ($10/person) and the buffet had a good variety of dishes; three types of chicken, minced lamb and several veges. We also couldn't resist trying the banana custard and halwa for dessert.
http://www.copperchimneynyc.com/

Then we walked over to Union Square hoping to walk through the bustling farmer's market. But when we reached there around 3pm..it was already too late. Hence, we settled in to the Coffee Shop for some espresso and hot choclate. There was ample seating at this time and it was a great place to sit and catch up.

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/coffee-shop/

A perfect fall date!

Our weekend started with a relaxing date night on Friday (10/09/09). We were in Whiteplains for a dinner and a movie. We headed to the theater (City Center 15: Cinema De Lux) to buy movie tickets before we headed to dinner. After around 7pm, the lines at the theater can be excrtiatingly long, so buying tickets online or early enough is advised. After strolling down Mamaroneck Ave we decided to stop at Haiku, a new asian bistro. There was no wait if we sat outside and we certainly wanted to experience one of the last beautiful fall evenings. We ordered a few different sushi rolls and really enjoyed it.

http://lizjohnson.lohudblogs.com/2009/07/24/haiku-asian-bistro-opens-in-white-plains/

Then we headed to The Iron Tomatoe, an italian grocery store/cafe to pick up some dessert.

http://www.theirontomato.com/

We bought some yummy heart shaped cookies that provided the sugar rush I needed to stay awake for the last showing of the night of the new release The Couples Retreat. It was an entertaining yet a forgettable ensemble movie. But a perfect end to a great date!

About This Blog (obligatory first post)

Yes, we have decided to write a blog, a journal about our travels and experiences.  After having met in Ithaca, NY and lived there for a few years as grad students, we graduated, got married, and moved to Westchester...all sort of at the same time and not necessarily in that order.  Part of the reason we wanted to find jobs in the area is that we enjoyed the area so much.  There is always something new to explore, and now that we have regular jobs with the weekends free, we actually have time to explore!


Hopefully we can give interesting accounts about the places we visit, whether they be restaurants, neighborhoods, events, or otherwise.  Making these accounts should motivate us to explore even more, and they just may motivate any of you as well.