The Send Off of All Send Offs

If there is one place that I have walked by week after week, month after month, year after year; it had to be Republic. This noodle restaurant on Union Square West. I was hesitant at first, but after I checked out the menu and consulted with others who had eaten there and raved all about it, I decided on the "#21 Pad Thai Noodles", and was pleasantly pleased with my choice. Delicious. Cheap food, fantastic Asian Sangria, and vegetable dumplings that were to die for. It's funny how the establishments we judge to be too pricey because of the aesthetics outside the building, deter us from experiencing what is on the inside.

This is the spot we chose to have a small intimate going away dinner last night for one of my friends. This lucky duck is packing up and moving on to Spain in a few weeks. After dinner, and after perusing through American Eagle, we headed to "Sundaes and Cones", the ice cream place I recommended, which ended up being a hit. The flavors they have are unique and yumtastic. I turned everyone on to the grapefruit sorbet. Trust me on this folks - it's delectable.

Since we were near St. Mark's Place, A mentioned she had been itching for a belly piercing to match her belly button piercing. We found where she'd gone before; to a place called Addiction. J and K couldn't stomach the idea, so I volunteered to hold A's hand throughout the ordeal; while she got it done by a man who looked eerily like Rasputin. Originally, they thought she wanted what was called a "Christina" (warning strong images!), but thankfully, we corrected that misunderstanding immediately. Plus, we learned a new term for the night. I ended up getting pierced as well -- by A's nails as she squeezed my hand during the procedure! While we were indisposed, J and K went and bought the fedoras we agreed upon earlier they looked great in.

The night was capped off by torrential downpours and a make your own cotton candy machine outside a Chinese restaurant that charges only a buck for the powder. Interesting establishment, with a WANTED poster that featured several Asian men. The sign hung next to the stinky cooking station, where, of course everyone would be looking for criminals on the lamb.

On the way to the subway, we four stepped full on into a huge puddle. In flip flops, no less. It's official, we declared - all of us had to have caught a disease after that cataclysmic mistake.