Local Treat: The Boathouse Restaurant

On Father's Day I was just recovering from a three and a half day bout of food poisoning so when it came time for dinner I was absolutely famished but in no condition to cook. So my husband took a look around local places and came across this gem.



Located directly on the Hudson River, with beautiful Hudson views in Ossining, NY, the Boathouse feels like a treasure tucked away and hidden from the more mainstream restaurants. The ambiance is lovely, with a bar and tables both in and outside. A family restaurant, they also offer a child's menu but many of the adult items kids will love too. We were surprised to find that they had been open for two years, and somehow escaped our radar!

Since it was Father's Day the restaurant was packed. A short wait at the bar, and we were seated inside. A nice sized loaf of freshly baked rustic bread was placed on our table to keep us busy while our food was being prepared. Crunchy crust, soft inside and still warm, just the way I love my bread!

One of my favourite warm weather meals to eat is lobster rolls. I don't recall the first time I had one up in New England, but I fell immediately in love. I love lobster but hate having to work for my meal, so the lobster roll is the perfect compromise. I find that here in NY its not uncommon to find shredded lobster with no chunks of the tender crustacean in sight. Not the case here! Huge chunks of lobster filled this lightly toasted roll, with the addition of a little mayo, small amounts of celery and onion for crunch. It was so overstuffed that there was no way I'd finish the entire thing, so I shared with my Punk Glam King. Homemade coleslaw and crispy sweet potato fries rounded out my meal (all came with.) PGK had another one of their specialties, the Seafood Pot Pie which he enjoyed, and the Punk Glam Princess had homemade mac n' cheese and she cleaned her plate, then grabbing some of my sweet potato fries!

My enormous lobster roll. I can't seem to make out the chunks of lobster, but trust me, they were abundant! I must say that outside of New England, this lobster roll had the most chunks of lobster I've come across thus far.

Other items that looked great were the Crabmeat Avocado Salad served over a bed a Mesclun greens with balsamic vinaigrette. Again, love crab, hate having to work for my meal, so anything that entails having the meat already out of the shell is perfect for lazy me! Portobello Burger with roasted red peppers and mozzarella sounds great, as does the Chicken Capistrano -- cutlet sauteed in light lemon, tarragon, and artichoke sauce. For dessert, had I had room, I would have had the Chocolate Crepes -- crepes filled with chocolate ganache and drizzled with raspberry sauce or the Apple Raspberry Pie -- French crumb topping served with a dollop of whipped cream. If you're a shrimp lover (I'm allergic, boo!) there are loads of choices as well as burgers, steaks, and all kinds of fish and seafood. Lots of wraps, salads and pasta rounds out a very nice menu with something for everyone -- even vegetarians and vegans! (Vegetable Nori Crisp -- julienne vegetables wrapped in seaweed dipped in tempura batter and fried, or ask for one of the great salads or Portobello burger minus the cheese.) If you're a martini lover, they have a whole page of specialties -- how great would it be to be sitting outside overlooking the Hudson and sipping a martini? Summertime at its best!

A thoroughly enjoyable meal for Father's Day, and the perks include being next door to the Marina we may be joining (we're not boaters -- too much work, ugh, have you guessed yet that when I like to relax it entails NO working whatsoever? -- we'll be joining for the pool overlooking the Hudson, just lovely!) this summer. We've been told they give Marina members a discount, so that's another reason not to make dinner in the sweltering NY heat!

A very fuzzy iPhone pic of the Marina's pool overlooking the Hudson.

The Boathouse is easily accessible to those of you in the city who feel like taking a short jaunt into the 'burbs for some beautiful riverside seafood/ fish dining (burgers, chicken, steak as well as wraps and salads available as well), as its just below the Ossining train station, directly on the Hudson (simply walk to the riverside of the train tracks, and head north -- to your right -- to find it tucked away along the river.) Jump on a Metro North train at Grand Central Station and in under an hour you're inside the restaurant!

Beautiful sunset over the Hudson.

The Boathouse is located at 800 Westerly Road, Ossining, NY. Phone: 914.923.6466. They accept reservations, so if you're planning ahead best to call. They don't have a website, but here is their information on the Guide to Ossining, which also lists their business hours: http://www.guidetoossining.com/business/listing/business/20825386/The-Boathouse

Here's to a summer filled with lobster rolls, crab salads, and beautiful views!
Cheers!

Jessica Simpson "Dany" Sandals Update

Yesterday when I got home after picking the PGP up at school, I found a box on my front porch. My sandals had arrived! I honestly didn't expect them this soon, as I had only gotten the shipping notice yesterday and the tracking information was coming up with nothing. So I was hugely surprised.

Of course I had to rip open the box and put them on immediately. They are super comfortable, but I will warn those of you not used to wearing heels this high that these are seriously high. I have no trouble walking in them, even up and down stairs, but I'm rarely out of very high heels so I'm very used to the difference of walking in super high vs. average heels.

They appear to be fairly well made, although the "wood" is actually some kind of plastic (I think, definitely synthetic), however this makes them more lightweight on your feet rather than the heaviness of a wood heel so I'm not really bothered.



This picture was taken just before we got hit with terrible rainstorms hence my hair is starting to explode with the humidity! Also excuse the hideously enormous jeans. They are so giant that I just pull them on and off, and are my housework jeans. Its odd to see myself in something that adds pounds due to the bulk, but I was entirely too lazy to change!

Also wearing my vintage dead stock YSL cat eye sunglasses I found on eBay a few months ago. After getting the McQueen sunglasses that were a slight cat eye, I had pulled out some vintage ones and realized how much I loved them. However most of my vintage sunglasses have very scratched lenses, so I searched for a new pair and came across these. I highly recommend the seller if you are interested in getting a pair for yourself, they arrived in just a few days and came with the case and the original box as well.

Also while looking for something completely different, last night I came across a leopard version of these shoes made by Jeffrey Campbell called "Foxy" and available here. More expensive than these, but if you're a fan of leopard, they are quite cute!

Cheers!

DIY Studded Ballet Slippers

I decided I needed a pair of fold-up ballet flats to keep in my bag. In summer, while wandering around any city, feet tend to swell pretty fast when wearing heels. So this would be the perfect solution as they are lightweight and don't require carrying a tote bag. After doing a little research, the pairs I found made specifically for this purpose were made out of vinyl, and didn't look like they would hold up very well on city streets. Then a light went off in my head, and I recalled years ago when I had a pair of Capezio Ballet Slippers that I used to keep in my car for driving when I wanted to give my tootsies a rest from heels. Yes, real ballet slippers can be worn out on the street. I personally would be leery of wearing them in the pouring rain, but other than that they hold up very well. They can even be resoled easily by your local cobbler and I'm considering seeing if mine can put some type of rubber sole so that they'd be more shock absorbing, have a little traction, and perhaps keep them in shape longer. So I found a black pair on Amazon (here, super fast shipping which is free 2nd day if you have Amazon Prime) and promptly purchased them. Hint: if you have small feet, you can order girl's sizes and the price can be a little less. So don't be afraid to click on description's for girl's ballet slippers. They are the exact same style as adult versions with a sometimes slightly lower price, honest.


Once they arrived and I put them on, I thought they looked kind of boring. I thought I'd maybe add lace trimming (nope, way too girly) or some vintage trimming I had (not enough omph!) Then I recalled seeing a pair on an online shopping site (I don't recall where it was, the heat has me too lazy to google, sorry) that were studded. That mixture of demure with tough appealed to my sense of style. So I decided I would embellish my ballet slippers with studs.



I didn't take any pictures of the process as its easy peasey. Just figure out your design in advance, and then apply the studs. The only tools needed are some type of tailor's marking pencil or chalk (anything that won't leave a permanent mark), an awl or something similar for poking holes for the stud prongs, and needle-nose pliers. For figuring out the design I used a piece of cardboard to push the studs into so they wouldn't slide around.

Before you can apply the studs, you need to find the center of the area to be embellished. Real ballet slippers conform to your foot, so you will find the center of the shoe may not be positioned in the center of your foot therefore I suggest you try them on and stand in them, then mark off the center with the tailor's pencil or chalk.

When you decide where the studs will go, its easiest to make a hole (depending on the size of your studs -- don't make a huge hole if your studs have tiny prongs) with an awl. I don't suggest a leather punch as it will make too big of a hole even on the smallest setting. The prongs on my studs were fairly big so a small awl worked great. For the spikes I actually had to put the awl through a few times and turn it around as well as pull to the sides a bit to stretch it, as there are screws that go in the bottom and they need to fit through the leather and lining of the slippers.

I used the pliers as I went along to set each stud, but you can also wait until you have all the studs in place and then set them.




That's it! The last thing I did was find an old vintage Mary Quant makeup bag to store them in while they're in my handbag. The case will keep your handbag free of dirt from the soles, as well as keep them handy to find if your handbag is as much of a tangled mess as mine!



They came out so nice that I'm considering a pair of pink ones as well -- I can't resist ballet pink, and the addition of studs suits me perfectly!

Have you DIY'ed some ballet slippers? Plan on trying this? Let me know, I'd love to see what you came up with!

Cheers!

Jessica Simpson "Dany" Sandals with Discount!

If you're dreading another day of extensive heat in NY (ugh) perhaps I can cheer you up a little by sharing some "back in stock" news as well as savings on my favourite things to buy... shoes!

For those of you who missed out when they first showed up this past winter, Jessica Simpson's "Dany" shoe is back in stock on her site here for $98.00. I did a little looking around, and so far no one else is showing them back in stock, although I know its been said anywhere from late June to early July many sites will have them again.

Jessica Simpson Collection Dany, $98.00

In tan they're only available in US 10, but the black seems to have every size except US 11. I know they were going for crazy amounts of money on eBay for awhile, although right now there are actually a bunch of pairs under regular price. The other 11 pairs creep up from $150 to this insane pair with a Buy It Now price of $280! Forget eBay, if you purchase directly through her site there's a coupon that will give you a discount and you don't have to play stalking/ bidding/ sniping wars.

I did some checking and found the following promotional code to be valid. If this is your first order on the site, use coupon code CAPT10 at checkout to get 10% off. The code is case sensitive, so be sure to use it as shown. You use the code on the checkout page, now don't forget to use it as it saves nearly ten bucks on these! Shipping wasn't too bad either as I'm assuming they are heavy because of the wood soles, it was only $7.

These are super duper high shoes with a heel that comes in at nearly 6 inches so you really need to be a "pro" at wearing heels for these! I'm glad they added a big enough platform -- nearly two inches -- to make them comfortable. At this height, anything less would be not only uncomfortable, but we'd be getting into some serious ankle twisting/ breaking territory! I was in London when I first saw them online, but by the time I went to purchase, they were completely sold out everywhere. (Nano-seconds, I swear. Crazy when that happens!) Normally I would stay away from inexpensive shoes but I have to admit that some of her shoes are really quite good styles, not to mention very affordable and from what I've been told (and seen) seem to be decent quality for the price. They also remind me so much of a fab pair I had in high school that I keep wishing I hadn't worn into the ground and still had! So of course I had to order. Well... someone as tiny as me needs all the help they can get, and with these I won't have to go on my tiptoes (while wearing heels no less) to kiss my dear Punk Glam King as he stands nearly a foot taller than me! Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Now that I've gotten shipping confirmation, I can't wait for them to arrive!

Cheers!