Effy's Kitchen | Spanish Harlem, NYC

My friend Cara took me to a hidden gem for bottomless brunch in her neighborhood.

We ventured a few short blocks from Upper East Side to check out Effy's Kitchen towards the outer edge of Spanish Harlem. The restaurant's bottomless brunch special--one main dish with endless mimosas--costs only $20.

If you're trying to find a brunch spot to catch up with your friends, take your sweet time at Effy's and enjoy the fresh omelettes with your orange bubbly.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for brunch in the West Village by Washington Square Park, check out this popular pub. 

How to Spend 72 Hours in California | Part 4

Once Steph and I left the foggy San Francisco Bay area, the California sunshine followed us to Napa, the final leg of our weekend trip.

We took a few back roads away from the bumper-to-bumper traffic to enjoy the scenery, since everyone else in the state of California decided to head to Napa...

I chose to go to Domaine Chandon in Yountsville—Moet & Chandon's California sister—for our only wine tasting. As much as I wanted to check out other vineyards, we had to spend our time (and money) wisely. Walking into Domaine Chandon's Tasting Room perfectly fit our schedule.

Enjoying our Prestige Wine Tasting while leisurely strolling around the beautiful terrace couldn't have been further from a hardship...

We grabbed lunch at R+D Kitchen down the road. Steph and I didn't order a glass of bubbly at Domaine Chandon, but we made up for it by ordering the brut at the outdoor bar. I loved my spinach and goat cheese omelette. 

It also happened that it was National Iced Cream Day, so I asked the bartender where I could fulfill my craving. She told me that the restaurant owned Kelly's Filling Station and Wine Shop next door and they served a good vanilla iced cream.

What the bartender refrained from sharing was that this vanilla soft-serve was also organic and locally made...

California has shown me that it really is possible to get everything you want.

It's not all about the destination—the journey is just as important.

As hokey and cliche as it sounds, every drive Steph and I took on this trip was equally as exciting as the places we visited.

Whether it was pulling off to the side of Highway 1to decide if a wave was a whale or a rock, or talking about our true life goals, we made every moment worthy of memory.

One of the things I will always remember about Steph are the random, short weekend trips we took in college—I'm happy to add this 72-hour-MontereyBigSurSanFranciscoNapaValley extravaganza to the list of memories post-undergrad.

Tablao Wine Bar & Restaurant

SoNo's new Spanish wine bar adds more culinary variety to Washington Street 

It's hard to ignore Tablao's inviting entry while driving down the center of town—the open double-doors, open windows and ambient lighting from the bar stands out from the rest. The Spanish wine bar and restaurant occupies the space where Coromandel used to be, perfectly situated in SoNo near other popular restaurants including Cask Republic and Match.

I kept dinner simple with a glass of rosé and the pappardelle entrée. The bartender, who quickly picked up on my novice knowledge of wine, helped me pick out the right rosé. 

Lobster, scallops and shrimp were tossed in a light, sun-dried tomato sauce with the pappardelle. I pleased to have a generous amount of lobster—an expensive ingredient that can be easily skimped on by restaurants who don't know any better. I was also happy to learn that the pappardelle pasta is made in-house by the chef himself.

Tablao is still new to SoNo—it's only been open for about two months—but I hope it will become a fixture in the area. 

Note: I initially headed to SoNo to check out Chocopologie's dinner and drink menu, but it turns out they had quietly closed last week...

Buck-A-Shuck at TwoTen Oyster Bar & Grill

It's been a while since I've been back at TwoTen Oyster Bar in Narragansett and I was pleasantly surprised at the weekday deals they were offering.

Not only were they doing the Buck-A-Shuck oysters, but there were also $5.00 martini specials. I couldn't resist the Tinderella martini, just because of the name.

I'm still figuring out the difference between varieties of oysters. Since I've only started to eat them within the past year, it's a taste I'm working on refining. I love nearly every sort of seafood, so a "bad" oyster seems impossible to come by... Unless it's really salty...

My friend and I shared our entrees--he ordered the swordfish tacos and I got the chicken parmigiana. To be expected, both of them were delicious.

SoNo Baking Company

When I go to Connecticut to catch up with my girlfriends, one of the things we love to do is go to South Norwalk, appropriately nicknamed SoNo for being an hour away from Manhattan.

We ended up doing brunch at the SoNo Baking Company, a local treasure situated away from the town's main drag.

The SoNo Baking Company, a bakery and gourmet café, was founded by one of Martha Stewart's colleagues. Everything is made fresh and tastes fresh--I would recommend the SoNo Benedict for brunch with local tea.

Westport/SoNo: Shopping and Chocopologie

This afternoon, my mom and I did some shopping in Westport at LF, Urban Outfitters, and Banana Republic. I got a few cute dresses and an adorable fedora hat similar to one Jessica Alba has been photographed wearing. My mom bought two slight hi-lo cut dresses, a sweater, and a loop scarf.

For dinner, a friend and I ate dinner at Chocopologie in South Norwalk.

If you love tea, European-inspired cafe food, and anything chocolate, Chocopologie is the place to be. There is an extensive beverage menu, including several herbal teas and the spiced hot chocolate. The dessert menu includes truffle beignets, molten chocolate cake, and chocolate chip cookies baked fresh. If, for whatever reason, the dessert menu does not take you, the array of chocolates on the back counter will. 

My friend ordered the quiche du jour and I ordered a croque monsieur--"open faced Virginia ham and gruyere cheese sitting on top of egg-battered, toasted pain de mie." We split the molten chocolate cake for dessert. 

Dress, BCBG Max Azria; Cardigan, Gap

Urban Outfitters

Croque Monsieur served with an Arugula Salad and Buccaneer tea