Feeling like something sweet this morning (or rather afternoon), we decided on Martha’s Country Bakery. Possibly my favorite bakery in Astoria (and there are many bakeries in this neighborhood), Martha’s Country Bakery has a variety of yummy sweets such as cupcakes, fruit pies, eclairs, and many more. They also serve delicious coffee. When the weather’s nice, they set tables outside. Today, we sat at one of their cozy inside tables with a delicious cupcake and some cheesecake and tasty coffee. All very sweet!

I thought long and hard how to “introduce” myself to the NYC Metroblogging community.
So, uh, yeah. Hi! I’m the newest blogger here. You can check me out on the profile page and, of course, feel free to check out my blog, Confessions of a Southern Boy in Yankee Land, a hodge-podge of my life, my politics, and my pooch.
I’ve lived in the city long enough to know what I love and hate about the place, so I thought I’d start off with a few “Julie Andrews” favorite things. In no particular order:
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I’ve scooped up all my favorite meals of the year along with the places I had them at. I am not being paid by any of the restaurants or establishments mentioned in the following article.

BabyCakesNYC - Vanilla Frosting Cupcake

Their wheat, gluten, egg, and dairy free cupcake is moist, fragrant, and filling. The best part is that I forgot to throw the wrapper out and had it squished up in my car. Yesterday, I found it and started sniffing it and it was still as delicious. I wanted to devour the freaking wrapper. This babycake also inspired a track on the latest Juicy Show
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I left my house this evening in search for a gift for my Dad. Into the city I went taking the Williamsburg bridge the city skyline is misty tonight; a quiet joy has settled in merrily (at least that’s what it feels like.) I’m in an odd mood tonight, so here is what happened:

The weather was just past warm and just below cool - so I put my windows down and drove fast - I hit 80 mph on the Billyburg bridge. I slowed down suddenly in case coppers were near me or worst I was being tracked by evil radars. . .
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This past Saturday was my birthday, so I spent most of the day indulging in a little pampering with fellow NYC Metblogger Melissa. First, we had a laid-back brunch at the Pink Pony. I had a little surprise in store for Melissa that involved sweets a little later, so I stuck to the savory side for my meal, but Melissa tried a sandwich with peanut butter, honey, and banana that I’ll definitely be going back to try. I really liked the place - tasty food, nice atmosphere, and not too horribly expensive.

Next we headed over to sugar Sweet sunshine, a small bakery started by two former Magnolia Bakery employees. I had heard good things about their cupcakes, and had sampled a couple of their brownies and blondies (the Scutterbotch blondie is ridiculously good), so I decided to shower my party guests with a few dozen assorted cupcakes. With flavors like pistachio, pumpkin, lemon, and red velvet (which is a wicked good cupcake!), you can’t really go wrong. They even decorated a couple of the cupcakes for me at no charge.

After breathing in bakery goodness for a bit, we headed over to Bliss for Melissa’s surprise - the Double Chocolate Pedicure. I’ve been going to Bliss for years, and they always manage to exceed my expectations, especially at the SoHo location (for example, the last pedicure I got from them lasted an entire month). This pedicure is freaking amazing - they soak your feet in chocolate milk to soften them up, give your feet and calves a good scrubbing and exfoliation with a sugar scrub, and then massage, buff, and paint your toes perfectly. And while they’re doing all that, they give you chocolate ice cream with brownies on top! We were both in some sort of chocolate zen trance by the end of it.

All in all, a very sweet way to spend a Saturday in NYC.

Tomorrow I jet back to the coast but I have a few thoughts to leave you with. First, I thought I’d share my chocolate in a cup experiences. I know there are probably better places for hot chocolate (and hot chocolate seasons is waning), and I consulted no lists before I consumed these but feel free to tell me where I went wrong and I’ll try to right it next time I visit.

Joe, The Art of Coffee - Waverly St. - this little cup (a two ounce demitasse) looked a little skimpy at first. I got their spicy version which was thick and rich, more like the European-style hot chocolate I had in Spain when I was a teen. The spice was a pleasant burn, also I had this on Saturday so the warmth of the liquid and spice was a welcome change from the craptacular weather. Served in a stoneware cup. $3.25
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