Let me just start off by saying: Not having a doorman, or at least a willing bodega next door, to receive deliveries REALLY SUCKS. I am convinced that the UPS delivery person for our street refuses to ring our buzzer, because somehow, every time, I get ONE NOTICE on our front door that is coincidentally the FINAL NOTICE. Thus the hike to no-man’s land to retrieve my packages.

So there I am, trekking back four avenues, in heels no less, to the nearest subway when heavy snow flurries begin to appear. Great, I think to myself. I am disgruntled, probably mumbling under my breath, shivering in a hunch while I wait for the light to change, when a jolly woman to my left leans toward me and says, “It’s snowing!!”

Blank stare.

“I’m sahrry, I’m fruhm South Carolinah, and we just don’t see this very owftuhn!” She does a twirl…an actually twirl!

That southern drawl that now sounds so foreign to me really snapped me out of my grumpus. She was right. Snow is cool! And I remembered how much I loved it those first couple of years in New York.

It’s also amazing to me how people from the South will talk to a flag pole if it’ll listen, and they don’t miss a second to tell you where they’re from. New Yorkers have a lot of pride, but I think Southerners might have more.

So thank you, overly friendly Dixie chick, for reminding me that I actually do love the winter weather here, and how the first snowfall of the season will always remind me of when I first came to this enchanted city.

But this year, it was all me. ..And my sister.

We started the day at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. And it wasn’t nearly as bad of a nightmare as I had anticipated! Crowds, children, cold weather, CROWDS – not exactly how I’d like to spend my holiday. But seeing that the Parade was still an unchecked box on my New York bucket list, I figured it was time to brave it.

We scored a spot right at 59th Street and 7th Avenue, where the parade route turns south. This was excellent viewing for the balloons as they made their way across 59th and turned down 7th.

After coming home to a much-needed nap, we began to prepare our feast. We stuck to traditional Sutton Family recipes, with a few new twists. Check out our hard work:

Full menu included:
Roasted turkey breast
Apple and sage stuffing
Mushroom and green bean casserole
Roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary and brown sugar
Mixed nuts, black olives, dinner rolls
Pumpkin cheesecake pie with graham cracker crust and whipped cream

A delicious success!

So here goes. First up on my virtual crawl of NYC’s best winter bars:

Highlands
W. 10th @ Waverly Place (Greenwich Village)

This is definitely my kind of bar… and not just because I have Scottish genes. Anyone looking for that rustic, woodsy, flickering-candle ambience will feel right at home here. I met a couple friends for happy hour here (unfortunately, no drink specials) and between us we tried:

the Sweet Ginger Brown
the Scotch Pear Martini
the Blood and Sand

The bartender made us a few custom drinks, too:

a champagne and St. Germain cocktail (note my recent obsession with St. Germain. It’s awesome.)
a tequilla, lemon juice and chipotle cocktail (“It tastes like a fireplace…in a good way,” anonymous.)

Absolutely check out Highlands next time you are in the Village. It’s a great place to hole up and take comfort from the chill outside. Be sure to check out the wall paper in the bathroom, too.

How To See New York’s Secret City Hall Subway Stop

Last weekend, my sister and I made our usual Sunday trip to Anthropologie (yes…we’re up to weekly visits now) when I spotted a GLORIOUS dress I had had my eye on for months. It was marked down nearly 75% off, so of course I had to buy it. Good thing it fit and looked nice, too.

So as I waited through the check out, I calculated my savings and grinned at such a good steal. But! Lo and behold! My total rings up, and the price is a good $15 higher than what I expected. Now, I know my math skills aren’t exactly college-level (it’s the truth, I took no math in college), but I queried the sales girl anyway.

“Ohhhh, riiiight, starting today there’s a sales tax on all retail items,” she says.

What the—! Sales tax!? Sorry, I haven’t heard those words in almost 5 years. Sure enough, there is now a 4% statewide sales tax on everything, through April 2011. After April, the tax only applies to items over $55.

Pssshh. This is ridiculous. Get it together, New York! I’m sick of paying for your hideously unbalance budget!

It’s been a crazy week in music, y’all. Last Wednesday, The Black Keys rocked my face off at Terminal 5. Friday, my sis and I mellowed out to The Swell Season in Prospect Park. And last night I got a permanent side cramp dancing to Robyn & Kelis at Webster Hall. So let’s get right down to the reviews, shall we?

THE BLACK KEYS

What a fan-f*cking-tastic show, good lord. Despite having played at Central Park Summer Stage just a few hours earlier, the BKs brought their a-game to T5 for a midnight gig last Friday. It made me realize just how long it’s been since I’ve seen some real rock ‘n roll.

Strangely, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach took me right back to my childhood. His gritty guitar riffs remind me of the days when my dad would open up the living room windows and blast ZZ Top’s Greatest Hits while doing yard work. Watch this clip of “10AM Automatic” and tell me it doesn’t remind you of “Gimme All Your Lovin’.”

And because this will simply put you in a good mood:

Drummer Patrick Carney was outta control. Never before have a seen anyone move around a drum kit like that. I personally judge a drummer’s talent based on his or her facial expressions. You know they’re good when they get that crazy, contorted look on their face, and Carney looked as if he was about to go all Linda Blair on everyone at any second. I almost felt bad for him, his glasses would barely stay on his face he was thrashing around (and sweating) so much.

I was disappointed they didn’t play my favorite song, Meet Me In The City. But, if you download just one of their tunes after reading this, make sure it’s “Next Girl,” off their current album, “Brothers.”

THE SWELL SEASON

My new mission in life: marry Glen Hansard. We’d have ginger-haired babies and he’d serenade me to sleep each night. True, there might be some baggage left over from his relationship with band mate Marketa Irglova. (They broke up, but still play together? Right…sounds like some cake eating if you ask me.)

Regardless, I can put the baggage aside after hearing an amazing show by The Swell Season on the lawn of Prospect Park last weekend. (Note: the duo were formerly titled The Frames and are popularly known for winning the 2007 ‘Best Original Song’ Academy Award for “Falling Slowly.“)

Hansard has one of the most powerful male voices I’ve heard in a while. I was so glad he played “Leave.” I swear his wind pipe just bypasses his lungs and connects straight to his heart. If this sort of song is your schtick, you should definitely check out “Say It To Me Now” too.

By far the best moment of the show, for me at least, was their cover of “Into the Mystic.” I love me some Van Morrison, and I want to dance to this song at my wedding. It’s a sign!—Glenny and I are meant to be. *sigh

ROBYN & KELIS

THIS WAS THE BEST EFFING SHOW OF THE SUMMER, TO DATE.

I kid you not; Webster Hall was transformed into a psychedelic (predominately homo) dance floor for two hours of gyrating beats.

Kelis was pretty entertaining, though I think her outfit was hotter than her set (a turquoise-latex halter body suit, and a Cleopatra-esque wig, highlighted with streaks of silver glitter.) Everyone sang along to “Milkshake,” and she closed with her new single, “Acapella.” But I think everyone was politely waiting for the real show to begin.

To borrow a quote from Entertainment Weekly’s official review: “Once the stage was set for [Robyn], the crowd went from medium-grade frenzy to ‘I’m a 12-year-old girl who just touched Robert Pattinson’s underpants’ insanity.”

Yep…I think that sums it up accurately. Her voice! Her outfit! Somebody pass me a glow stick! I’m just going to let these videos speak for themselves.

“Dancing On My Own”

“With Every Heartbeat”

Baked By Melissa's teeny tiny cupcakes

Their gimmick is this: quarter-sized cupcakes allow you to try more flavors than if you had to order a full-sized cupcake. Personally, I think this idea is genius, speaking as someone who likes multiple cupcake flavors.

Tie-Dyed (Vanilla), Cookie Dough and Red Velvet; Yoo-Hoo box drink

Last weekend, I tried the Tie-Dyed (which is just plain vanilla cake, vanilla frosting), the Cookie Dough and the Red Velvet. Washed it all down with a Yoo-Hoo — A YOO-HOO!

Need I say more? This place is fantastic. Check out their Web site for info about ordering for events, and nation-wide delivery!

I hope everyone had a patriotic and not-too-hot-and-sticky Independence Day last weekend. I celebrated in the usual way: food, fireworks, sunblock,…oh, and VIP entrance to She & Him at Governors Island! V-I-P bayybaaaaayyyyyy.

Ahem…right, moving on.

So I’ll be honest — I mentioned previously that I wasn’t a huge fan of She & Him. (I think my exact words were, “That cotton commercial [Zooey Deschanel] sings is like nails on a chalk board to me.”) But, I was thoroughly impressed by them: catchy tunes, energetic stage presence—and I swear, not since I saw Hanson play the Woodlands Pavilion circa 1995 have I heard a crowd sing along with such dedication. Everyone was in a constant state of head-bobbing and hip-bouncing. Quite fun! (Though perhaps the Bushmills Whiskey open bar was helping…ehh.)

M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel

Tasty Bushmills

My only critique would be that neither M. nor Zooey really talked to the audience. Part of the live-show experience is to divuldge all the dirty stories behind the songs. All we got from Zooey was a 10-second request for some sunblock, to which a speedy stagehand promptly brought her a bottle of spray-on Banana Boat. She made one squirt onto her chest, and I thought…girl needs a helluvalot more coverage for that pasty skin! (I say this because I, too, have pasty skin, and therefore I can criticize one’s lack of sunblock.)

The dynamic duo

I will say that we got a real treat towards the end of the show when M. and Zooey sang an acoustic version of “You Really Got A Hold On Me.” I absolutely love this song, from the original version by Smokey Robinson to the ballad version by Cyndi Lauper. S&H’s take was somewhere right in the middle — it had a twangy, swaying beat with a lot of emotion behind it.

To close the show, Zooey and her female band mates sang “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee” in a capella. Naturally, the audience erupted into a sing-along and continued to shout, completely-off-key, our country’s entire repertoire of patriotic anthems.

'Sweet land of liiiibertyyyy'

It was a touching moment as we made our way back to the ferry…celebrating the birth of our country whilst gazing at the Manhattan skyline in a whiskey-induced haze. Yes, that my friends, is true Americana.

Land of the free, home of the brave

Bobby Long — an English folk singer and guitarist — kicked off his second U.S. tour at the Highline, this time backed by the Kalob Griffin Band. Complete with two acoustic guitars, one electric, bass, drums and even a lap steel guitar, I was really excited to hear Bobby’s old repertoire morphed into a fuller, richer sound.

In all honesty, the arrangement of some of the “new” old songs was overkill and a bit of a mess; like they took the original bluesy, raw, acoustic melody and drowned it in a soupy sauce of over-bearing drums and electric guitar solos. I was literally watching with a cringe. I’m not one for change…or messes really…

But! Not to be disappointed, I was really impressed with one of Bobby’s mainstays, “In The Frost.” The multi-instrument sound really suited this song, in a toe-tapping, Pat Green kind of way. Check it out:

Note for copyright infringement: The following are not my videos.
Note for judgmental viewers: I am not one of the screaming girls in the audience.

And the show only got better from there. Maybe it was just a rocky start — Bobby did talk about how he and the band only met the day before to start rehearsing. That’s another thing I love about his shows: his stories. Leave it to an English, country-boy songwriter to tell good “behind the music” stories. Here’s another one about a heroin-addict prostitute he used to play with as a child (…??!):

True to his self, Bobby mixed in a few acoustic segments, letting the band take a break. In my opinion this was the best part of the show. It’s interesting to see someone actually look more comfortable on stage alone — maybe it was the familiar mask of his harmonica holder…maybe it was his second Heineken kicking in. Either way, Bobby closed the show with a soulful rendition of “Dead and Done,” reminding me why I trucked all the way over to the west side on a Tuesday night. Here it is:

Check out Bobby online – the music bar at the bottom of the page will give you a clip of several songs. I’ll leave you with my most-favorite Bobby performance: “Sad Woman Blues” at Room 710 in Austin, TX. I’ll be back in a couple weeks to review She & Him and the exciting new venue out at Governor’s Island.

Now, this is meant to be a joke of course. But…maybe these guys are onto something??

Imagine how effective this would be, say, near 14th Street/Union Square!? Or how about coming out of subway exits…the dividers could start at the turnstile, go up the stairs, and diverge tourists as they gape up at tall buildings, allowing the rest of us to get on our way!

Yes…this is a brilliant idea. Now how does one submit such a thing to Mayor Bloomberg…