CRYSTALLIZED.

HELLO WORLD. I officially, hands-down, have a favorite store in Manhattan - and it is the SWAROVKSI CRYSTALLIZED concept store in Soho. It is, honestly, the combination of almost everything I have ever loved:

1. DO-IT-YOURSELF CONCEPT (I love all things hand-made and especially made by MOI)

2. BLING BLING Swarovski crystals (UHHHH do you recall my recent obsession with the bedazzler??)

3. BEAD STORE (I grew up with my bead box and string box being my two most precious possessions and taking trips to STRUNG OUT - our local bead store - was a common occurrence)

Top it with ice-cream and place it on a beach and I would most certainly be in heaven.


This is only the entrance of the store - you are greeted with a wall gleaming with an array of beads!!!!!!!!!! They come in alllllll different colors and sizes and shapes. This is beyond being a child in a candy store..this is a child in Willy Wonka's factory.


WHAT I WOULD DO TO GET THIS WOMAN'S JOB!!!!!!! To be surrounded by beautiful crystals all day and to help customers choose which crystals to purchase is a dream job. I treated my visit to Crystallized as a first round interview and immediately began taking the reigns in Shalini's Necklace Adventure. I already had a vision. And all Shalini had to do was buy the beads. MUAHAHAHAHAHHA


After running rampant around the store and drooling in every drawer of beads, I finally calmed down and selected the beads we would use for Shalini's project. We walked over to the lounge in the back where there is plush seating for your creation-comfort and a bar that serves desserts and beverages. TRES LUXURIOUS, no?? The woman-who's-job-I-will-soon-have came over to help us start the jewelry making process.


Needless to say, I disregarded everything she said - demanded a pair of tweezers - and started BEADING!!!!!!!!


The end product - BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! And it looks PERFECT on Shalini's skin and easily matches many different outfits and colors.


If I was not already overwhelmed with happiness and content, we then walked by Baked by Melissa's stand of mini-cupcakes!!!!! Of course we could not pass up the offer of 3 mini cupcakes for $1.


But Melissa's not kidding - they are REALLY MINI. I am quite disgruntled. I would tell you what my peanut butter and jelly cupcake tasted like...but it was so tiny I forgot I was eating. But that's ok - you also have the option of buying 100 mini cupcakes for $70. Next time.


To end our perfect Sunday afternoon, we dined at Gobo, a vegetarian restaurant in the West Village.


The roti canai was absolutely delicious - really flavorful, soft, and moist like a croissant.


The seitan skewers with green tea mustard sauce had a great meaty texture and tasty flavors.


The eggplant stuffed with herbed tofu cheese was probably my most unfavorite dish of the entire meal. It wasn't BAD, it's just that everything else was just SO GOOD. I think the watery-ness of the dish also put me off.


The natural seitan medallion in sizzling spicy citrus sauce was the one that tasted the MOST like real meat but when something is fried I guess it all kind of ends up tasting the same. Real excellent, indulgent dish.


The soy protein & spinach roll with jade mushrooms was my FAVORITE dish. Very homey and comforting - it is like the vegetarian version of a meatloaf. The spinach and soyprotein roll is unlike other things I have eaten...and it is sitting atop a bed of mashed potatoes. NOM NOM NOM.

Beading, cupcakes, and vegetarian food...what more could I want..really.