Sharing my favorite things

So I was getting a massage at Chinese Bodyworks (on W. 72nd St. btwn Broadway + Columbus; 212.877.3620) and loving every minute of it. I decided I'd send an email to my UWS friends to let them know how fabulous (and reasonably priced) Lucy at Chinese Bodyworks is...you can get an appointment same-day and it's a great massage!! Still during the massage I thought, there are a lot of things I get excited about and want to tell people about. So I decided to start a blog...finally I have an excuse.

I have some new favorite things as of this weekend (in addition to Chinese Bodyworks)...

I went to dinner on Friday night at Gyu-Kaku (34 Cooper Sq 212.475.2989); it's a Japanese barbecue restaurant...very good food, fun atmosphere, good cold sake, reasonably priced. We had a reservation and had to wait a bit but it was definitely worth it. Fun chef's menu concluded with smores (can't go wrong). Would be very fun as a group.

I spent the first part of my 11-mile run yesterday listening to the OC Soundtrack (number 6); I downloaded it from iTunes and love it. Can't stop listening to it. Esp the second song. Great album for running. Today I actually downloaded some of the other OC soundtracks but haven't listened to them yet.

Last night I had dinner with friends at Celeste. This is a small Italian restaurant on Amsterdam between 84th and 85th and I love it. Very small, cozy place. Doesn't take reservations but the wait isn't bad...you can go for a drink around the corner while you wait and you won't lose your spot in line. The Italian owner is very personable and remembers you if you've been more than once (I love that). All of the waiters are Italian (or at least pretend to be) and the food is great. The best part of all is the cheese plate at the end. The owner smuggles the cheeses in from Italy and they're amazing. He'll explain the plate to you, cheese by cheese. Even if you can't understand a word he says, it's fun!

That's all for now. More favorite things to come.