Cherine "it's great to be a Miami Hurricane!" A.'s Profile

Oh, how I do love JetBlue. I recently flew from Ft. Lauderdale to LaGuardia (round trip), and the experience couldn't have been more pleasant.

Before I booked my flight, I looked up prices on other airlines, and JetBlue and Southwest (my two most favorite airlines) were the cheapest flights. They also were non-stop. JetBlue ended up having the flight that worked out best for my schedule.

I didn't use the DirecTV much, but I blame the lack of anything entertaining on TV on Saturday mornings for that. Check in at FLL was a breeze, flight was uneventful (the best kind!), and we arrived in New York 30 minutes EARLY. And who could forget those yummy Terra Blues chips? The flight attendant was kind enough to let me take the organic whole-wheat cookies as well, which were my breakfast the next day :) My return trip went just as well, and check in at LGA was very fast. I can't wait to use them again.

I used Dial 7 to get from LGA to the Upper East Side. I ordered a regular sedan, for their $29 flat rate from the airport (plus tolls and taxes). My JetBlue flight got in 30 minutes early, so I called the dispatch to tell them I was at the pick up area. The lady on the phone sounded slightly irritated when I tried to give her my confirmation number. She asked if I placed the order on the phone or online, and when I said online, she responded (with an exasperated sigh), "Okaaay, hold on, I have to get to another computer." But upon getting my car number and finding my driver, my experience was fine from there.

My driver was quiet but friendly, and quickly placed my suitcase and garment bag in the trunk. When I got in the car and saw how ahead of time I was, I asked if I could change the drop off address to a few blocks away, and he complied with no problem. The ride was quick, comfortable and they sent a Town Car instead of a regular sedan, even though I hadn't paid the extra money for the car. Overall I had a pleasant ride and wouldn't hesitate to use Dial 7 again.

I have often driven by this cute little shop, but never had the opportunity to stop by until recently. Upon seeing the horse and buggy on the window, my mom and I had a strong feeling she was from Pennsylvania, and we were right! In fact, Jan told us she gets all of her chocolate from one chocolatier up there. She puts a lot of love into her creations, and it shows.

We spent far too long in there, gazing at the many varieties of chocolate in the display cases. Jan offered us plenty of samples, saying she said she wanted us to make sure we liked the chocolates before we bought them. I wondered how she made a profit after being so generous! I spent about $15 on chocolates in there, which was quite reasonable considering all I bought. Another thing I like about her treats - the chocolate is very rich, so you can't eat a ton of them in one sitting. I bought two of the s'mores bars, and it took me several attempts to finish just one of them. She also has quite a large section of sugar-free chocolates, for those interested.

I came here for a wedding rehearsal dinner (is it still called a rehearsal dinner if there's no rehearsal? just curious). We took up a large section in the back of the restaurant, separated by a wine rack. Our choices for drinks were red or white wines, and I was the strange one who asked for champagne. The waiter went to the bar to get a glass for me, which was greatly appreciated.

Once seated, we were given a special menu, which explained all of the appetizers being put in front of us (I sampled the meatballs, which were just okay, and the tzatziki, which I greatly enjoyed). We had a choice of entrees, and I chose the chicken breast. It was cooked perfectly, but didn't have a great amount of flavor. For dessert, we were brought some Greek cookies, a platter that included some pastries and cheesecake, and a fruit platter. It was a LOT of food.

Our server was quite attentive, especially considering how large of a group we had. I'd be interested in trying this place again, for an actual meal instead of a rehearsal dinner. My biggest gripe with this place was the bathroom. With only two stalls and very little room overall, it was far too tiny for the size of this place.

As a member of my friend's bridal party, this place was my first stop on my whirlwind stay in NYC. We all came here for a nice mini-bachelorette party - we had 10 people in our party, so we got five of the "Mad Hatter for two" teas.

We had a good variety of teas, including a vanilla black tea, a green chai tea and a pink (strawberry?) tea. We had buttermilk, berry, pumpkin and chocolate/peanut butter scones. The pumpkin ones, as many have mentioned, were delicious, but were more cake-like and very large. I could only eat half of one. The berry scone was my personal favorite, and all of the scones came with a small amount of clotted cream and preserves.

There were a good variety of sandwiches: cucumber, salmon, egg salad, chicken curry, hummus, etc. I wasn't entirely thrilled with them, and we had quite a few left over. I did enjoy the hummus and egg salad ones though. We were all too full to make much of a dent in the desserts. Thankfully they brought us some to-go boxes, and I'm sure all of the leftovers were put to good use.

I'd be interested in trying one of the other locations (it felt rather cramped), since they are apparently bigger. I did appreciate the whimsical touches of this place - the teapots with tags to tell you which tea is which, the mismatched cups and saucers. Our waiter was helpful, and answered whatever questions we had. Overall, I've had better teas, but we had a lot of fun, and the company made it all worthwhile.

I have nothing but praise for this hotel! I stayed here as part of a wedding block, as it was the least expensive of the options we were offered. I arrived around 1 pm (check-in time is at 3) and my room wasn't ready, but they gave me a key to get into the locker room downstairs so I could change. They held my suitcase and garment bag for me, and quickly retrieved them for me when I came back a few hours later to check in.

The hotel staff was extremely friendly, from the housekeepers to the bellmen to the front desk. Everyone was pleasant and greeted me, and were very helpful when I had questions. About two minutes into my stay, I managed to leave my wallet in the lobby, and ran back to the desk in a panic, thinking I was a very stupid tourist. They gave it back to me, and were kind enough not to mock me.

We got a room with two queen beds, and it was much more spacious than I thought it would be. The room and bathroom were very clean. They have free wifi (I didn't use it, but my friend did and had no problems), which was a nice surprise. It's a 100% smoke-free hotel, which I'm still not used to seeing (but I like it!). The beds were very comfortable, although the pillows could be a bit more firm. I know at some point I'll be back for a visit, and this will be my top choice hotel.

As I've written before, I do love middle eastern food, and was happy to find one nearer to my home than my usual go-to spots. So my dad (who is Persian) and I ventured up Federal Highway for dinner.

When we walked in, we saw that while they appeared to be decently busy, there were also plenty of open tables. So when the host asked if we had a reservation, we said no and looked at each other as if to say, "seriously?" But the host fetched us some menus and sat us in the middle of the restaurant. He turned out to be our waiter as well.

To start, they bring you a basket of bread and a small dish of olives. We devoured both - my dad said the bread tasted just like the bread from the bakery in his hometown in Iran. To start, we ordered the yogurt and cucumber dish. They brought quite a large bowl of it, so we had to ask for 2 more bread baskets in order to eat it. It was delicious and the cucumber wasn't overwhelming, but by the end of it we were full... and we still had our main dishes coming. Thankfully, I only ordered a small portion of the falafel, while my dad opted for the chicken kabobs.

My dad loved the chicken - it was marinated and flavorful, and I even snuck two pieces for myself. It came with a small side salad on the plate, as well as rice and what appeared to be couscous. We both tried the couscous and were not fans. As for my falafel, they were good, but I got tired of them a bit quickly. I ate three of them before calling it quits. We got a to-go box for the remainder of the chicken and falafel, and I also ordered their rice pudding to go so I could try it the next day (and it was quite good when I had it for breakfast!).

All in all, I liked this place, but I prefer my other usual Mediterranean restaurants.

I loved this place so much that I decided to treat my father to dinner here for his birthday. As tempting as ordering that beer and cheese soup was, I made myself order something different. We started off with the brie pillow (AMAZING - we practically licked that plate clean), while I got the pretzel-encrusted chicken. This dish could quite easily serve two people, and you'd still have leftovers. You get two large chicken breasts, served with a gigantic pile of garlic mashed potatoes. It also comes with a White Beurre Blanc on the side, which I used as a dip for the chicken. I ate only one of the breasts and brought the other home (and had it the next day cold... I usually am not a fan of cold chicken but this was still quite yummy!), and hardly touched the potatoes, because I just had to save room for that creme brulee that I raved about before. My whole family left here nearly painfully full, but incredibly happy with our meals :)

My friend suggested this place for dinner for our "girls night out." I'm all for trying new places, so I was excited to try it. Of course, I managed to drive right past the place (the sign could be lit better), and parked at the nearby parking garage (which was free for the first two hours! Thank you, city of Hollywood!). Turns out Lola's has a parking lot behind it for free parking for its patrons. D'oh. I'm not very familiar with Hollywood, but now I know :)

The interior is small, and it seems like it would be a fabulous place for a romantic dinner. We had a group of eight women, and were taken into a separate room with paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Our waitress was very friendly, and answered my (many) questions about the menu. When I first glanced at the menu, I thought the prices were a bit on the steep side, but you don't get cheated on portions. Some dishes even give you an option of ordering a half-size portion. I decided to get the chicken breast, which comes with a mushroom bread pudding. I despise mushrooms (and it turns out there was also sausage in it, which I would not have eaten), so I asked if I could substitute something else. They are VERY accommodating and let you substitute almost anything you wanted. So I got the au gratin potatoes instead, which were incredibly delicious. And even though I didn't eat the skin, the chicken breast was full of flavor and cooked perfectly. I cleaned my plate. I wasn't the only one either - everyone at the table raved about their choices. I tried the gnocchi (which is in a mushroom sauce, but you can ask for it without the mushrooms, which my friend did) and thought it was great. I also tried the much-talked-about short ribs, and even though I don't usually eat short ribs, I wasn't surprised people raved about them.

A quick note - when we were there, the door to the ladies room had a broken lock, and at least three of us found that out the hard way. Apparently one girl had remembered that being an issue the last time she was here too. But we told the waitress who said she didn't know, and was very glad we brought it to her attention. Just test the door to be sure when you go :)

I have always hated running... but I've decided to try to train myself properly. In order to do that, I needed to get some new sneakers, since mine are around 3 years old and have seen better days. Having never purchased "running" shoes, I went in rather clueless. I wasn't in the aisle for more than 20 seconds when one of the employees, named Seth, asked me if I needed help finding something. I told him what I was looking for, and asked about the differences between cross-training sneakers and running sneakers. He pulled a very lightweight pair of Nikes down for me to try, and pulled out the shoe insoles so I could try out the Air insoles. He helped out some other customers while I was trying mine on, and I pulled out a few other pairs of shoes to try as well, but he always made sure to come back to me and see how I was doing. I told him I liked the pair he had chosen, but that they were a bit too expensive for me, especially considering the Air insoles were another $25. He said he might be able to find a coupon for me ($25 off a $100 purchase), and went off to check. He came back, and told me to tell the person at the checkout about the coupon so I could get it.

Once at the checkout, I mentioned the coupon, but the cashier didn't listen to me. Instead, I got a hard sell from him about their "replacement plan" on the sneakers, which cost $9. The guy would not take no for an answer. Once I made it clear that I wasn't interested, he then waited for me to swipe my credit card, which I wasn't going to do until I got my $25 off. He grudgingly found it and I was then on my merry way. Overall I was impressed with the service I got in the shoe department, but the cashier dropped the rating a star.