Stateside - NY, Chicago, LA

i dont make it back to the states that often, but i do make it back about once or twice a year. time this it was for a good friend's wedding just outside of Chicago in Woodstock at his finace's family apple orchard.

but before i got to the wedding, i flew through NY for a few days on a quick biz trip. here's my fateful story:

so i have a few quick work meetings, grab dinner with my mom, and then go off to meet some friends for drinks and check out a DJ, Roxy Cottontail, i've been wanting to see for a while. i meet up with some of my best friends, Sarah and Banjo, and proceed to get wasted. we drink lots, make friends with the bartenders, waitresses, regulars and have a great time. i continue to amaze ppl in NY with my drinking abilities - 8 double Jack/Cokes, 7 shots of Patron, 4 Vodka Redbulls, 2 beers, 6 Jagermeisters and a triple Macallan 25 (neat) for the road.

so after a hard night of drinking, i hit the meat-packing district with some new friends, for some late night eats before calling it a night...morning. i vaguely remember scarfing down a burger, fries, a salad and then getting in a cab, getting out of the cab, and then getting on the E-train. i had about 7 stops to go and fell asleep for about 5 of them. i woke up to find that my backpack with my laptop, computer, phones, keys, passport, wallet, ds lite, etc were all long gone.

so instead of spending the day enjoying time hanging out with my mom, i was making reports at the MTA lost and found and filing a police report (which managed to take nearly 4 hours). and instead of spending time with my dad and cousins in LA a few days later, i was running around getting my replacement passport and trying to piece my life back together. that said, i did take some time out for in-n-out. aren't you jealous?

i also had some awesome tacos and pizza while i was in LA:

at least i got to enjoy a few nice days in Chicago and Woodstock for my friend Jae's wedding at his wife's family's apple orchard. here are some picks of the best "Chicago-dogs" in town at Wieners Circle. i had a classic char-cheese with the works (cheese, grilled onions, relish, sweet peppers, pickle and tomato):

i miss the food in the states already!