This weekend has been fabulous so far. Part of what makes it fabulous is that we are on day three of the weekend and it’s not over yet, folks! Let me just tell you about Friday.

Klane and I went to Nolita to try Cafe El Portal. It’s hard to find good Mexican food in the city; being so far away from the border has something to do with it, I think. But friend Rubi told us this place was legit, and she would know because she is Mexican. She was right, it was authentic and amazing.

Insert photo of me with ridiculously delicious grilled corn:

Mmmmmmm.

Being so close to SoHo, and needing some new shoes for fall, Klane and I walked over to wander through one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. We went to a few stores and just wandered around. I could wander those streets for hours (and we did).

Before the 1960′s, this neighborhood was dirty and grungy, filled with sweatshops and factories. Then artists moved in and converted large loft spaces into apartments and art studios. Because of the influence of the artistic community, SoHo has become one of the most posh, hip neighborhoods in the city. It is beautiful. I love the contrast of old and new. I love the cast-iron architecture, the detailed embellishments on the buildings, the history. I love the mixture of high-end shopping and art galleries with industrial, factory-type buildings. It still has a sort of grungy, industrial feel, but it’s beautiful at the same time.

It’s best to get away from the crowds and wander the quieter streets of SoHo. Littered with ultra-hip boutiques, shops and galleries, they are much less crowded and much more beautiful than what most people see when they visit the major chain stores on Broadway.

We also had a hilarious time walking through Bloomingdales. Neither of us has really shopped there before. I received a Bloomingdales gift card for $80 and thought I could pick something out. We quickly realized that $80 doesn’t get you anywhere in Bloomingdales. Well, I guess you could get a very plain white t-shirt. But that’s about it.

So what started as an earnest search for something, anything at Bloomies that I could buy with my measly little $80 card, quickly evolved into a game of “Guess how much this costs?!” We were astounded by the pricetags almost every time. We tried to guess high and still came short. Klane would guess $200, the jacket would cost $475. I guessed $40 for a plain t-shirt, the tag read $70. It was amazing.

The most expensive item we came across was this jacket for $995. And if you find a thousand-dollar jacket, of course you have to try it on to see what a thousand dollars feels like, and then take a picture of yourself to prove that you wore such an expensive item.

We’re lucky we didn’t get kicked out. And I walked away with nothing. I just couldn’t bring myself to blow that gift card on a t-shirt that I could get for $10 at H&M. I’m sure the $80 t-shirt is higher quality but it’s just not worth it to me. Maybe I will slowly spend the giftcard on yogurt from 40 Carrots.

After that excursion we headed home to chill out with some home made Orange Julius shakes (recipe forthcoming, when I figure out the measurements), and then headed down to the West Village for some wafels and dinges with Pat and Linday. We had some good times hanging out and talking with Pat and Lindsay. I love them.

And that was just Friday!! Wait till you hear about the rest of the weekend.