Happy Saturday! This week I returned from a two-and-a-half week trip to New York. My cousin got married the day after July 4th and we all went up there to celebrate her finally becoming Mrs. Lennon. It was great to see so many members of my family. There are tons of us — my mom is one of ten kids — so getting us all together is a pretty big deal.

Of course, to me the trip is all about food. There are tons of things available in New York that Texas doesn’t have. Deli sandwiches, Entenmann’s coffee cake, and Ralph’s Italian Ice are among my favorite things to grab while back in the Big Apple. In fact, I love them so much that I willingly gained weight on the trip. I’m only here once a year, so I decided to follow the rule of my newest favorite fictional character Tom Haverford — “treat yo self”.

In fact, I started eating rare finds way before we made it to Long Island. On the drive — yes, we drove 26 hours because I hate flying — I stopped in Nashville at a place my coworker had reccomended called The Loveless Cafe. The building was tiny and the wait was an hour, but it was 100% worth it. You get homemade biscuits and preserves whether you order breakfast or dinner. When I couldn’t eat all of my pork and explained to the friendly waitress why I couldn’t take a to-go box, she packed me up a ton of the biscuits to go. It was heavenly.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and so much fun. My 9 year old godson tore up the dance floor with his breakdance moves, courtesy of us watching Step Up 3 too many times. There was a photo booth that everyone crammed into to take glamour shots for the newlyweds and the ceremony left my adorable uncle crying as he watched his daughter become a Mrs.

Although almost everyone else in my family hates it, I absolutely love going into New York City. In fact, I even went in at 5 am one morning to get standby seats for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I am that dedicated to city adventures. Actually, I lucked out by waking up before the sun because on the way to breakfast near 30 Rock I ran into actor Ken Jeong (Leslie Chow from The Hangover). He grabbed my cell phone and snapped a picture of us. I was in movie buff heaven.

I got to take my baby cousins to the zoo in Central Park, which was less exciting when we found out that the polar bears wouldn’t come out in the heat. We adventured around the petting zoo before taking them to F.A.O. Schwartz.

I also got to show my godson Times Square for the first time. It was adorable. I told him I would take him anywhere he wanted. Only place he wanted to go? “I want to see the place where they film Saturday Night Live”. I was happy to oblige. I do anything for that kid. I found a way to have Twlight’s Jackson Rathbone take a picture with his Flat Stanley for school, I’ve brought him along when I was going to meet “Drake and Josh” star Josh Peck, and I made him this ridiculous Cheeseburger Cake for his birthday. It’s worth it to see him freak out when he gets excited.

It was sad to come home, but it is nice to get back into the kitchen! I hope you’re having a great weekend, reader. Stay posted for new recipes this week!