Chocolate and Pickles? Yes. Chocolate. And. Pickles.

 Just a few more weeks now!  Quibbit, Mom, Dad and I have been getting all the final pieces of the wedding into place -- flowers, menu, accessories ... and Quibbit and I got the marriage license this week ... amazing.  But also a bit overwhelming.  Go here, check this, count that, set this up, don't forget these things, have this done by Wednesday, send this contract to that address before this amount of time ... it's a lot to keep in your brain, no matter how much help you get or how much fun it is.

So I thought we all needed a break this weekend.  I'd decided a few months back to give out truffles as wedding favors, but we were still deciding on which chocolatier to use.  We'd gotten a few suggestions, so we decided to check out one of them: MarieBelle, a wonderful chocolate shop filled with beautiful items up front and featuring a quaint Cacao Bar / Tea Salon in the back where you can have crepes (sweet or savory) and choose from several different hot chocolates (from the relatively mild Aztec - only 63% cacao - to the mischievous Spicy - spiked with cinnamon, nutmeg and chipotle) made one of two ways (European style with water, or American style with milk).  

The shop had so many things to offer, but my favorite were these Pin-Up Girls Chocolates that were really retro and kitchy.  Part of me wanted to pick these as wedding favors but I didn't think it would go over well with some of the people who didn't get my 1) sense of humor and 2) love of camp.  Still, there's no law saying I can't send them along as Christmas presents ...

We wound up spending around 2 hours in the salon, really just enjoying our crepes, our cocoa, and conversation.  It was relatively empty when we got there at 1:00 but by 3:00 every seat was taken and people were waiting ... so I suggest getting there early if you plan on going for brunch.

It just so happens that on the VERY SAME DAY that we decided to go to MarieBelle's ON THE VERY SAME STREET (Broome Street -- but further east ... down by Orchard Street) they were holding the Eight Annual Pickle Day!  And if there's one thing Quibbit loves, it's a pickle.  So we took the 15 block walk to the Lower East Side (slowly ... it was pretty hot out) and when we got there the fair was in full swing.  Almost TOO much of a swing ... lines were long, stalls were packed, ever inch of sidewalk was taken up by people walking left to right ... unless it was taken up by the other people walking right to left.  We were able to get some pickle samples, but ultimately they were few and far between.   Still, I'd grown up in New York, knowing about the pickle district and knowing that a real pickle doesn't come in a jar off a shelf any more than a real ravioli comes in a can.  But Quibbit didn't grow up in this magical land, so it was good for him to see The Pickle Guys and Guss' Pickles up close and in person.  I promised we'd come back again when it wasn't so  ... pickley.  I mean ... it was a great day, but I think we'll have more fun going back some time in winter.  Just in time for the Christmas Pickle Tree.

We finished up the day by wandering over to Ludlow Street where we ducked into the cool, dark Pianos for some great Original Sin cider and chicken fingers.   Hey, it can't all be chocolate and pickles all the time!  At some point I got a little tipsy ... and when (in the spirit of the day) Quibbit called me a pretty smart pickle I replied "That's right!  I'm a Smitty Part Pickle!"  I found this uproariously funny and repeated it waaaaay too many times but again ... tipsy.  I made Quibbit promise to call me a Smitty Part Pickle some unexpected time in the future.  Maybe it CAN be all pickles all the time ...