It is finally here: Friday. The day every intern anxiously awaits. And as the clock strikes 6:00p.m., every intern is dashing home and ready for the weekend. Being in New York City, there are a million and one things to do on a Friday night.
Some interns like to relax, lie in bed, and let the stress of the workweek melt away, while others would rather let loose and grab a cocktail with friends and co-workers.
If you are one of those people that like to stay in and relax, don’t worry. So many delicious restaurants deliver. So far, my personal favorites have been The Bread Factory (to-die-for make-your-own-salads delivered!) and Atomic Wings (there is nothing better than blazing hot boneless wings, yum!).
For those with a sweet tooth, I cannot forget about Pinkberry! They deliver their frozen yogurt desserts (because who doesn’t love a great fro-yo?), and you can top off your tasty treat with a huge selection of fruit and other scrumptious toppings like chocolate shavings and chunks of granola!
Don’t get me wrong; I can vacillate between wanting to stay in and wanting to go out. But when it came to be my first Friday in New York City, you better believe I was hitting the town! My first Friday night kind of went something like this:
My roommate, Carly (a fabulous Chicagoan that I am semi-obsessed with. She is totally great!), and I met our friend Maggie for dinner and drinks at Ivy Bistro in Tribeca. It was a quaint little Italian restaurant with dim lighting and subtle music. The tomato and mozzarella sandwich was delicious and the place is rumored to have Tribeca’s best sangria. Naturally, we all had a glass (some of us had two… ahemmm… Carly & Maggie) and we hands down agree it is the best sangria we have ever had! So if you ever get the chance to come to NYC, make a trip to Ivy Bistro and grab a glass of their sangria!
After hitting up some not-so-great clubs and yummy but expensive drinks, we headed home to snuggle at Maggie’s Tribeca apartment. Luckily, Friday night out number two went a little better.
Carly and I ate dinner at the dorm and then proceeded to get ready to hit up the clubs. You know how girls are when they get ready together: anxious and excited for a night out, screaming the lyrics to songs and dancing in the chair while curling or straightening their hair. Well, that was exactly what we were doing.
I had on my “Getting Ready to Rage” playlist, you know, a little Waka, Lil’ Wayne, Flux Pavilion, Skrillex, and an up-and-coming favorite of mine, PAT the Prodigy (if you haven’t heard of him collegiettes™, look him up on Facebook—he’s a fellow Boilermaker and a personal friend). After a good hour of primping and getting pretty for the NYC nightlife, we grabbed a cab and we were off!
First stop, The Penny Farthing, a nice cozy bar on 3rdAvenue off of 13thStreet. According to a friend, it is kind of a “Midwest Frat Boy” kind of hang out. So, of course, I knew I would love it. Sure enough, I did! As soon as I walked in, I felt right at home. Why? Because it looked incredibly similar to our very own Boiler bar, Brother’s—just a lot wider, with no upstairs.
To make the situation even better, we met a few boys from Penn State! Obviously I “Cheers!”-ed to Big Ten schools with them and then we chatted about Big Ten football and basketball.
As fun as The Penny Farthing was, we wanted to hop around and get the feel for some other options. Our next stop was by far the best place I have been to. It was an amazing club called XIX. A totally crazy DJ was spinning some super hot tracks, and we got our dance on all night long.
One of my favorite beats, the Laidback Luke Remix of Dirty Talk by Wynter Gordon, came on at this club and I went nuts. I was in complete rage mode and instantly texted my friends back at Purdue because the song reminded me of football Saturdays!
The lights were so low they were practically off, the place was super chic and modern, and naturally totally packed. Drinks there are extremely expensive, like $16-a-drink expensive. We were with a girl who knew a club promoter working that night so we got to take full advantage of the bottle service.
I even met a club promoter friend of my own to meet up with when I want to. If you are in NYC and want to go out, you MUST make friends with a club promoter; bottle service is the way to go—unless you’re rich and don’t mind dropping $100 per night, before having to pay for a taxi home.
When it comes to NYC nightlife, I am definitely still a little naïve about all the hot spots and restaurants with the best specials, but these are the places that I have found that I absolutely love and completely recommend.
More to come, Boiler collegiettes™!
HC Love, XO!
Photo Credits
1. http://chicagoist.com/2007/10/16/pinkberry_financing.php
2. http://www.georgebillis.com/inventoryNY/NY01/index.html
3. http://ny.eater.com/tags/xix