For the second year in a row I was able to celebrate my birthday in New York City! Christina just happened to be getting married September 14th in NYC, so Koen and I made sure to plan my birthday (September 9th) into the agenda. Unfortunately I didn’t think it out very well, because we arrived on my birthday and we were exhausted. We still made it out to Cocoron, a Japanese soba noodle restaurant in Chinatown, for dinner and to Molly’s Cupcakes, the best cupcakes in NYC located in Greenwich Village, for dessert. After our cupcakes we headed back to Park Slope in Brooklyn, where we were staying for the week, to sleep off our jetlag. Unfortunately our hosts were sick and at their parents’ place most of the trip 😦

We decided the 10th was also a good day to keep celebrating my birthday! To begin the day I wanted a typical New York breakfast, aka an iced coffee (from Café Grumpy) and a bagel with lox and cream cheese (from the Bagel Hole). After breakfast we headed to Nintendo World at Rockefeller Center, where we bought Luigi shirts for Koen and our nephew Edward. Our trip to NYC wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Katz’s. Luckily we already knew that the sandwiches are huge, and Koen and I split a brisket sandwich and fries – yum! After lunch we headed back to Brooklyn, but this time to Williamsburg. I made reservations for Koen, Christina, and me to tour the Brooklyn Brewery and sample their beers. We had a little bit  of time to kill, so we stopped by The Bean for a smoothie beforehand. Then we met up with Christina and had a great time tasting the different beers and learning about the brewery. For dinner we went to another neighborhood in Brooklyn, Bushwick, for pizza at Roberta’s where we met Christina’s now-husband Rafaël, Danny, and Matt. Afterwards Koen, Christina, Rafaël, and I went to Sing Sing in the East Village for karaoke (Thanks Rafaël!). It was a great birthday!