Holidays in the City

While clearly one of my New Year's Resolutions is going to be "blog more," I couldn't help but to get a hopeful head start on that.

Christmastime (and the week after) is my favorite season in NYC. The lights, the magic, and the chill in the air letting me show off my winter wardrobe all warm my heart. Just before December 25th rolled around, I went into the city with one of my best friends from college to experience the perfection of the season.

So, what do two twenty-somethings do for a few days of holiday cheer in the city? Well, of course, it all started at Serendipity.

The view from our seat.

Way back in 2001, Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack starred in a movie by the same name and brought heightened fame to the Upper East Side dessert haunt. Before that, in 1996, Serendipity's ice cream made an appearance in One Fine Day. But well before either big screen appearance, the restaurant was founded by Stephen Bruce in 1954.

Located at 225 East 60th Street (between 2nd and 3rd, also right by Bloomies and Dylan's Candy Bar), Serendipity III is a place of eclectically cramped quarters, Tiffany lampshades, and uber-famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. It's also home to the most expensive dessert in the world: the Golden Opulence Sunday ($1000 and 48-hour notice necessary...I asked a waiter last summer if they ever get ordered and he said "about once a month.").

It also has one of the prettiest restaurants in town.

While it's definitely on the more touristy end of things, and while there's also another location in Vegas, Serendipity III still holds its own.

For lunch, Lara was so intrigued by what the man seated at the next table was eating that she asked...and ordered the same! According to her, the Virginia Slim Open sandwich is incredibly filling and incredibly good.

The Virginia Slim: Turkey and Jarlsberg? Yum!

I personally went for the Eastside Western omelette, which was so stuffed to the brim with onions, peppers, ham, cheese, and tomatoes that there was no way I could eat all of its contents.

Getting western on the Eastside. 

And of course, we both partook in the divine Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. They have it in a few flavors nowadays, but we went for the classic.

So while we didn't pleasantly happen upon it by chance or sagacity, we did enjoy every bite and sip.