Well the weather in New York yesterday was miserable; cold, snowing and windy. If you are one of those people who read this blog and know both me and Lisa though, you know that we are just about the two least likely people oh earth to be held back from something we planned and were looking forward to. So we suited up in sine very warm gear and watching Hunters boots and headed to Rockefeller Center.

Yes, braving the cold and snow was worth it for this.

Then we crossed the street to see the Saks Fifth Avenue window display. This year it tells the story of a Yeti who wants to create the perfect snowflake and I think it’s among the best they’ve ever had.

We went in to Saks afterwards to warm up and see the Christmas decorations inside and then we strolled Fifth avenue as I pointed out all the decorations to Lisa, explaining to her which were new and which displays I’d been seeng my whole life. We popped in to Tiffany’s to warm up too then headed to the Eloise shop in the Plaza and finally made our way towards Columbus Circle.

As we walked past Columbus Circle we saw people playing in the snow in a now white Central Park. We headed in to the Time Warner Center to look at their decorations and warm up again! And then we braved the cold and snow to walk around the Columbus Circle holiday market. Finally, tired and chilled to the bone, we headed back to my place to dry off and then I took Lisa to meet Chris because we have mutual friends who are expecting a full report from Lisa about my boyfriend (I’m pretty sure Lisa will give him a glowing review btw).

Finally, in the heart of our winter storm, we headed back out to Kefi, one of my favorite restaurants, for dinner.

Kefi, an inexpensive Greek restaurant, is a neighborhood favorite. Last January a pipe burst in the restaurant shutting in down. Denizens of Upper West Siders like me waited patiently for Kefi to reopen. While it took them nearly a year to do that, I’m thrilled to report that they’re finally back in business.

We split two appetizers to start. As usual I forgot to snap pictures until we were nearly done.

Warm Feta, Tomatoes, Capers, Anchovy, Peppers, Olives served with Pita Bread; which looks really pretty with the green and black olives and ripe red tomatoes, but you’ll have to use your imagination.

We also split the Greek sausage in some kind of lemon sauce which was delish.

Every since Kefi closed I’ve been craving my favorite dish there, Flat Pasta, Pulled Braised Rabbit, Graviera Cheese. Of course I had to order it and it was just as delicious as I remembered.

I also ordered my favorite drink there, the Lemonada, a lemonade based drink made with ouzo.

The meal was delicious and the company was fantastic. Another day in the win column for me!

One of the reasons that I knew this would be an exceptionally awesome birthday weekend is that I was anticipating the arrival of a very special visitor. A few months back Lisa found a really cheap deal on a flight to NYC for my birthday weekend and decided to snap it up!

Lisa has never in New York at Christmastime and nobody does the holidays quite like we do here. This meant my excitement was twofold. Not only do I get to have one of my close friends here for my birthday weekend (and meet my boyfriend!), I also get to show her the place I love best in the world; New York City at Christmastime.

My day off yesterday was spent mostly running errands (though some were fun like getting my hair done) and a bit of cooking.

For lunch I treated myself to one of my favorite things, an egg sandwich. I scrambled an egg with some milk and cheddar cheese and are it on whole wheat toast with a little salsa. So simple, but so delicious.

Lisa arrived just in time for dinner. Since neither if us were planning on drinking last night, but we were in a festive mood, I decided to make us some mocktails. I shook orange juice, pineapple juice and some of the liquid from a jar of pickled jalapeños over ice then strained the mixture in to salt rimmed glasses and floated a little seltzer on top. They were good though Lisa and I agreed that they could have been spicier.

I know that Lisa loves Mexican food so I decided to make fajitas and serve them with corn tortillas since she’s gluten free.

I marinated skirt steak in olive oil, fresh lime juice, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, unsweetened cocoa powder, garlic, salt and pepper and then cooked the meat to a nice medium rare. I served the steak with sautéed peppers and onions, red cabbage for crunch, pickled jalapeños, lime wedges, sour cream and, of course, those corn tortillas. I served all of this lined up on a tray and was so proud of how pretty it looked, but then I forgot to take a picture until we’d eaten and I was putting the leftovers away.

Birthday weekend day two was another great one and I can’t wait to take Lisa on her first NYC holiday adventure today!

My actual birthday is on Sunday, but I took Friday and Monday off to make a 4 day weekend out of it. That means that as soon as I left work on Thursday I considered my birthday weekend in full effect.

After work, my friend Mary and I went to the happiest place on earth, aka The Mermaid Inn’s “Happiest Two Hours,” which features $1 oysters and half price drinks every day from 5-7pm! Genius, no?

Mary and followed our normal routine. She ordered a white whine, I ordered a beer and then we shared 20 East Coast oysters (sorry West Coast, but our oysters are better!).

We always have a “toast” with our first oyster because we’re adorable like that.

After our oysters are finished, we each order the Mermaid Inn’s Lobster Knuckle Escargot. Basically they take an escargot dish and then put a piece of lobster claw meat in each divet. Then the whole thing is covered in garlic, butter parsley and toasted breadcrumbs and it’s served with toasted buttery bread. It is everything that is right with the world in one dish or, as Mary said last night, “It’s like love and happiness on a plate.”

Oh wait, you thought Mermaid couldn’t get more awesome; well it can! At the end of every meal there they bring you a complimentary mini chocolate pudding served in an espresso cup and a fortune telling fish for fun!

After we were done with dinner we headed to one of my favorite bars, George Keeleys, where I had two more beers.

Have we ever discussed on this blog, what a terrible drinker I am? Well, the last thing I consumed last night was the giant glass of water and two Advil that Chris brought me in bed. Not feeling so hot this morning, but it was totally worth it.