The Cheesecake Factory.

It may be the weather but as I spend my afternoon researching exemplary damages I have found myself craving sweet potato fries. Not just any sweet potato fries, but specifically those from The Cheesecake Factory.

The Cheesecake Factory is a chain of "dining restaurants" found throughout the US. We stopped by the one at The Grove shopping complex (one of my favourite places in LA!!) on our most recent trip, and it was definitely an interesting experience. The portions of food, as tends to be the case in the US are HUGE! When I looked up The Cheesecake Factory online, reviewers (who I'm assuming to be US residents) complained that the service was bad and the food incredibly overpriced. While I understand that Americans may find food in their own country expensive, I beg to differ. By Australian standards to food is so cheap! Mains were not more than $25!!

The food was absolute deliciousness. We had The Incredible Grilled Eggplant Sandwich, which contains a large chunk of grilled Japanes Eggplant, Roasted Red Peppers, Red Onion, Melted Mozzarella (yum!) and Garlic Aioli on a Toasted Bun - it's really more of a burger than a sandwich. The best part (which we didn't pay much attention to when ordering) is it comes with a generous side of crispy, delicious French Fries AND a salad.

The other dish we had was the Grilled Salmon. Like the Sandwich we weren't sure what to expect when ordering, and the dish came out with a generous piece of Salmon and a pile of spaghetti. It was served with a basic butter sauce and some mushrooms.

(Apologies for the blurriness of the photo, can you tell I was in a hurry to eat?)

Not realising how much food we would be getting, we decided to order a side of sweet potato fries (just to be safe and make sure we wouldn't leave hungry lol). I seriously could have skipped the rest and just had the entire serve of fries to myself - they were so incredibly delicious (no joke, yum x 1000000!!).

The piece de resistance!

Needless to say, we couldn't finish the food (and there was no way I was leaving the sweet potato fries behind) so our lovely server packed them up for us. Sadly, we didn't try any of the iconic Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes. Next time, I guess.

iPad 2

Having been busy with work and uni the past couple of weeks I haven't had much time for my poor blog. As a result of being so busy there isn't anything particularly exciting to write about. So I'll share the tale of last Friday when I decided to finally indulge myself and buy an iPad 2.

I have wanted an iPad since the first one was released but I kind of decided to save for a holiday instead - but since I'm no longer saving for anything in particular, on a whim I decided, why not finally get one. Of course, I took the normal person route and ordered it online rather than lining up for insane amounts of time outside an Apple store. Apparently, one guy (who I might add, already owns an iPad 2) was out there for 50 hours. I saw these crazies on my way to work Friday afternoon and couldn't believe the lines and the camping equipment around!!

Anyway, while I patiently await the arrival of my iPad 2 sometime in April I decided to buy a pouch to store it in. Slightly sad, but I was in one of my favourite stationery stores, kikki.K, and couldn't resist.

Pretty, no? (okay, I'll admit, it looks A LOT better in real life)

Then, when I arrived home a little while ago, I found this waiting for me...

Seems it was a day for iPad 2 accessories to enter my life lol. It's mildly ironic that I have a cover and a pouch for a product I don't yet have. Oh well, I guess in the meantime I can look at them and think of the awesomeness that will be the iPad 2 :)

NYC Fashion Week + Food = Fun Times!

So having been in NYC for two fashion weeks, I cannot stress how much fun and alive the city becomes (well, admittedly the city is pretty awesome and bustling anyway but there is a certain air about it when all the fashionistas come out to play). Whilst it may at times be a trip down struggle street trying to find a cab during fashion week (not ideal when you are weighed down with bags from a shopping spree) there are a lot of fun things that you can do to partake in the fashion week festivities.

This year my sister managed to score a reservation at a Fashion Week Afternoon Tea at the Mandarin Oriental's Lobby Lounge - needless to say it was a lot of fun and once again an absolutely incredible experience (and I know I keep saying that about everything NYC related, so I apologise and will try to think of another way to describe it).

The Mandarin Oriental is so plush and nice, that by the end of the afternoon I was tempted to max out my credit cards just so I could stay.

The Lobby Lounge is located on the 35th floor and has AMAZING views of South-West Central Park and Columbus Circle.

Food-wise this is the BEST afternoon tea I have ever been to, ever! Sydney High Teas do not even compare. The service was brilliant, the waitstaff were super friendly and accomodating - and like many restuarants throughout the USA they actually ask you if you have dietary requirements/allergies upon your arrival, which is music to the ears of a vegetarian (me) and a sufferer of an insane amount of allergies (my sister).

Then as if the service isn't enough to make you feel all VIP-like, the food is simply amazing. To start as with all high/afternoon teas there were a selection of savory sandwiches. They were good but I can't say I remember all that much about them as I got distracted by the arrival of the Lobby Lounge's signature ginger scones.

The scones are infused with a hint of ginger and then accompanied by the kitchen's signature ginger marmalade. I was worried that it may be too overpowering but the two combined to create a very delicate flavour.

And then the sweets arrived...

I have only one word to describe it all...YUM!! Unfortunately, as is the case with afternoon teas you tend to get full really quickly. The portions are all deceptively small and you think you'll be able to eat it all but alas that is not the case. Thankfully, in the US of A, restaurants around the country pack up your left over food so that you can take it home with you (hurrah!). I only wish they still did that here in Australia.

The sweets were so adorable and were all fashion themed...

Diane von Furstenberg Biscuits.

Hot Coco Chanel - a delectable chocolate mousse.

This was a plain old strawberry and vanilla cake. I don't recall it being fashion house inspired.

Jimmy Choo Caramel Tart.

Apple Brown Betsey Johnson - an apple crumble/tart of sorts.

Donna Karat Cake (aka Carrot Cake).

My only regret about the afternoon tea was not selecting a black tea to accompany and counteract all the sugar being consumed. Instead I decided to be adventurous and try a herbal tea (herbal teas are generally outside of my comfort zone so I don't know what possessed me).

I selected a Mountain Berry tea which was a beautiful, rich, berry red colour and tasted like bubblegum. The tea itself was nice but because it had a mild sweetness to it, it wasn't the best accompaniment to such sweet food. Even so, the fashion week afternoon tea was by far the best food experience I had in NYC and was a nice way to be a part of a NYC Fashion Week festivities.

NYC.

So after a week filled with reacquainting myself with the incredibly boring routines of uni and work, I have finally found some time to post up pics from my recent trip. Looking through the photos makes me incredibly nostalgic and it is clear I am suffering from the usual post-US trip depression.

Okay so on the surface this picture is your typical out-the-plane-window shot but I took it because it shows the aftermath of the February 1-4 epic snowstorm that hit 2/3 of the US...and well, I thought it looked kind of cool.

The lovely Radio City Music Hall.

The view from the Top of the Rock. I don't think it matters how many times I've been here, it is always such a great experience.

Atlas and Rockefeller Centre.

For anyone wondering, this is a picture of the "World's Largest Store" (well at least Macy's claims to be). The reason this has made it into this post is that I thought my lovely travel companion would appreciate it haha

The iconic NYC landmark - the Plaza Hotel. While us mere mortals can only imagine how nice it is to stay here, there is a wonderful food hall accessible to all located inside, as well as the lovely Sarabeth's Bakery.

Lexington Ave.

Home to Bloomingdale's, the store that many people I speak to can never seem to locate when in NYC haha. Well, I found it people, I found it.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. There are no words to describe how incredible this place is. Love it!

Times Square.

I have a love/hate relationship with this place. I love it for how alive it is no matter the time of the day. But then I hate how loud it is when your staying right around the corner and trying to sleep.

So that is all for my photos for now. I keep getting asked what is my favourite place or thing to do in NYC. To be quite honest I couldn't narrow it down to just one thing. It is such an incredible city with so much to see and do, and quite frankly I love everything about the place. In terms of a favourite moment, well that I can easily answer. Being picked up in a limo from the airport and driving over the Brooklyn Bridge to see the Manhattan Skyline at night is definitely up there as an absolutely incredible experience. We may have even squealed with delight :)