The Beckstroms

I have to admit, it has felt pretty good to get back into "normal" life.  Being in Utah feels more like the norm because it was the norm for so long.  We know the streets, the stores, the canyons, the doctors.  It's just really easy here.  Living in New York felt like a sureal dream, and it was fun while it lasted, but I am glad that I have awakened from that sleep.  We played so hard, spending only sleeping time at the apartment, and I have just barely finally like I am rested again.  Do I miss New York?  No, we left with a great taste in our mouth still.  I do miss several things about it, and those are my friends that felt like family and took care to make sure we were always doing ok.  We weren't there very long, but we were taken in and welcomed in a wonderful way.  I look up to all my dear friends that live there in that physically demanding city.  These are some amazing women!
I am loving being able to cook again.  I wasn't not cooking because we were in New York, it was because of the pregnancy.  I was so sick, but luckily we were in the mecca of delicious places to eat!  Caroline even said excitedly, "Mommy, you can cook again because you are not sick anymore!"  That made me feel like a million bucks and since she was so thrilled I felt like the greatest cook ever (which I am soooo not!). 
Eating out is one of my favorite things to do that we haven't done a ton of while in law school.  I don't even think it's about the food for me, rather the atmosphere.  If a cafe' has twinkle lights, I am sold.  Not all of the places we ate at had twinklies, but there were some delicious eats.  Here are a few...

Alice's Teacup I already wrote about beause we went for Caroline's birthday.  Again, I would highly recommend it for breakfast!

Sarabeth's is another quaint breakfast nook that I could go to again and again.  It's been a favorite for a long time and has never been a place to disappoint...especially in the French Toast department.

Anyone that is from New York (but no longer living there) that knew we were going to live there said, "Eat a bagel for me while you are there."  Well, Absolute Bagels won our hearts over.  The line in the morning is always ginormous, but so worth it!  We lived right around the corner from it so we visited often.

If you have a major sweet tooth like myself, Levain Bakery is worth a try.  Not only is the brief history of this bakery unique, their cinnamon buns won a contest on Oprah, and their 6 oz. cookies are so soft and just melt away in your mouth.  As you can see, they bring pure delight to your day...especially the dark chocolate chocolate chip variety.

As for pizza, I was kind of doubting that we would find any worth talking about as we neared the end of our stay in NYC.  We ate a lot of it because it's everywhere and the kids will eat it.  The last night when we were out with my family, we went to Lombardi's in Little Italy.  It is delicious old-school Italian pizza with thin and crispy crust, crust is so important to me, and the sauce and bubbly cheese were delicious.

And if you are looking for some refreshing fruit drinks, hit Gray's Papaya, which is a hot dog joint.  The papaya and pina colada juices were my favorite.  It's cheap too which is always a bonus in NY!

There are tons more, but hopefully you can enjoy thinking about these ones for now. 
What are your favorite restaurants, not just in NYC, but anywhere?  It's so fun trying new places.