Halo Air Salt Rooms: Amen!

It's exactly what it sounds like. Halo Air Salt Rooms. Eh? What's that mean? Literally, the place is a spa where you go into your private salt-enmeshed chambers, with purified dry salt aerosol blowing out into the room. It is a futuristic, minimalist salt cave where you lie back and relax, with optional cable to watch while you let the salt work its cleansing magic.


I booked 50 minutes of the Halo Air Salt Rooms from Lifebooker, at only $26. Really, less than I would spend on a night out, and much more purifying and relaxing. Yelpers generally give the place positive reviews as well.

I tried the place out of, well, curiosity, but specifically because I suffer from dry skin and am willing to try most treatments to help my skin at least once. While I am not sure yet how effective this is as a dermatological treatment (and reviews seem to suggest that ongoing visits are required to truly notice effects), I would say that besides being relaxing, I did breathe a lot easier while in my salt cavern. For anyone who needs a bit of relaxation and has $30 and an hour to spare, and especially for anyone with respiratory issues, I recommend this place as an experience you need to try!

(Located at 133 W. 22nd St, between 6th and 7th Ave., Halo Air Salt Rooms is conveniently located in Chelsea.)

On Romance, Lust and Life: Miss Abigail's Guide, Cheek'd and Woody Allen

This weekend I saw both Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage and Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. On opposite sides of the romantic spectrum, the off-Broadway play and Allen's movie both get you thinking about dating, intimacy and even the notion of fate.

Miss Abigail's Guide stars Eve Plumb, the actress who played Jan Brady in The Brady Bunch, as Miss Abigail, and Manuel Herrera as Abigail's sexy sidekick, Paco. Plumb and Herrera brilliantly and hilariously play off of each other to dispense advice on "dating, mating and marriage," reviewing tidbits from antiquated books and play-acting recommended techniques on flirting. Several audience members are called up on stage during the act, and my friend was one of the lucky ones to go on stage. The interaction with the audience was a nice little touch to the show, making it feel especially intimate in an already quaint setting. (The play takes place at Sofia's Downstairs Theater and the set design made it appear as though we were simply in an extended living room.)

(photo credit: Carol Rosegg)

Miss Abigail and Paco even provided cute little wallet-sized cards of advice, "Miss Abigail's 10 Commandments for Couples" and "Miss Abigail's 'Am I ready for School today'?". The former card features such advice as "Women, remember a man is only a grown up boy. He needs mothering and enjoys it if not piled on too thick" and "Men, don't take love for granted. Remember your wife wants to be treated as your sweetheart always. She wants you to woo her." And there's also: "Men, remember, marriage is a fifty-fifty proposition and you are not the majority stockholder" and "Women, don't try to boss him around. Let him think he wears the pants". Compromise, appreciation, respect and humor are all nicely intertwined as key features in these 10 commandments. The latter card, meanwhile, stressed the importance of dressing neatly and maintaining one's appearance. Personally, I take this as a given, especially in NYC, but then again, Miss Abigail did have a point when she had Paco display photos of people improperly dressed, with a "muffin-top" showing through and a "plumber's crack" on display.

All in all, while I wouldn't say that Miss Abigail's Guide was particularly revelatory, it was a nice hour and a half of old-fashioned dating advice that reminds us why old-timey values can be so important and helpful to not only remember but to practice.

Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," meanwhile, examines the lives of several family members and how their love lives seem to gradually go askew. As one of the leading characters states, yes, "You will meet a tall dark stranger" but it might be that stranger that we are all fated to meet one day: death, that is. The movie reminds us of how we all yearn to find that special someone and to have our lives neatly fall into place, while also reminding us of how unrealistic such romanticism often is. Starring such actors as Antonio Banderas and Naomi Watts, the movie is definitely well-cast and captivating, even if you may feel it's a bit dark and your strings are pulled a bit too concertedly.

After these two extremes, I would be inclined to see something like Cheek'd tonight, "a panel of single New Yorkers as they share their secret sexual behavior and and personal sex stories". As the website reads: "Cheek'd (noun): 1) a fun and non-intimidating way to meet that intriguing stranger who just sparked your interest 2) a deck of 50 cards, each bearing a flirtatious comment to pique the curiosity of your intended and a unique code linked to a private online profile that you create. With card in hand, the object of your affection can enter your code at cheek'd.com, learn more about you and send you a message. Privacy protected. Missed connection averted." It sounds like a fun, intimate evening.... but sadly I have class tonight.

And so I continue with my reality, somewhere in between Miss Abigail's fun little universe and Woody Allen's absurdist, cynical one.

Early November NYC Adventures

I would say my fun last week began on Wednesday, November 3, when I met up with my friend to eat dinner at DuMont in Williamsburg. With a heated backyard garden and a pan-seared scallops special, my dining experience at DuMont was truly exquisite.

(The heated backyard garden at DuMont, open and airy,
and even more romantic and alluring by night.)

Then on Thursday, November 4 was Yelle at Highline Ballroom. Although I understood only a handful of the words in Yelle's lyrics, the songs are truly infectious, with high-energy rhythms and the lilting sounds of Yelle's titillating French.



And on Friday, I had yet another lovely Williamsburg dining experience: at Dressler's, located in South Williamsburg incredibly close to me. Dressler's is easily the most upscale place I have yet dined at in Williamsburg, with its charmingly decorated interior accentuated with classy chandeliers. Although my date was unable to secure reservations (unless we wanted to eat close to 10 pm), we enjoyed dinner and drinks at the bar, accompanied by a seemingly unending stream of fresh rolls. And topped off with a fresh apple tart. I do have to warn, it's not the most vegetarian-friendly place for dinner. This just means I'll have to return soon to Dressler's to try their brunch...

(Dressler's, above)

Yum. It has been a delicious week.

And speaking of delicious, I also finally redeemed a LivingSocial special for a box of handcrafted chocolates at Bespoke Chocolates, a simple, elegant chocolaterie in the East Village. Bespoke's profile on their website reads:

"Bespoke Chocolates is an award-winning artisanal chocolaterie established in New York City in 2008. Bespoke Chocolates specializes in the production of luxury handcrafted chocolates created with the freshest ingredients. Our chocolates are of the finest quality on the market, marrying classic European techniques with modern flavor profiles. Our Bespoke Chocolate shop, located in New York City’s East Village, features an open kitchen, allowing our guests to watch and interact with our chocolatier. It also serves as a unique destination for experiencing chocolate through regular in-store classes, tastings open to the public, and private sessions with our chocolatier for groups or corporations."

With chocolate morsels such as pretzel-covered sea-salted caramels, Turkish coffee bonbons and orange-infused dark chocolate, Bespoke Chocolate's diverse array more than compensates for is small size. I may just have to find out when the next chocolate tasting is.

(Above, the Turkish coffee bonbon.
As described on BeSpoke Chocolate's website:
"Soft Caribbean dark chocolate ganache, delicately infused with cardamom and coffee.
Not exactly a trip to Istanbul, but close enough for a Tuesday afternoon.")

And last night I discovered an East Village staple, Heather's, a very inconspicuous "dive" bar on East 13th St. (Personally, I see this place as more lounge than dive bar; it is simple and clean without being pretentious.) It was so refreshingly free of 22-year-olds and loud frat-party types that I felt like I was back in Williamsburg, that is, before Williamsburg also became flooded with people from outside hoods and boroughs. Yelpers also rave about their happy hour and DJ's.

So many places to try and so many places to try again.

YELLE - Music Video, La Musique

Pretty sweet music video! Can't wait for the show tonight at Highline.

Motor City Bar

Remind you of something a la Sesame Street?

NYC Quirky Party Lists

As I am taking it easy post-Halloween for a bit, I have time on my hands to write. So of course I end up writing about PARTY LISTS. Take a look.

Shaw Promotion, GBH, Ohmyrockness, Myopenbar, Nonsense NYC, 3rd Ward, Highline Ballroom and others are all mentioned.

Oh the constant temptation... ! But Yelle, I will see you soon!

The contagious energy of NYC...

Post-Halloween NYC

I have to say, post-Halloween is a little sad to me.

Yes, I went out and voted today, and advertising and product placement make me all-too-aware that Thanksgiving and even Christmas (and my birthday, and the new year... ) are all around the corner. With daylight savings time ending next week, we will all get that little jolt that yes, winter is right around the corner, and the days are only getting shorter.

I don't mean to sound so dismal. Maybe my zombie-inspired costume somehow seeped into my thinking...

(me, above, as a zombie dancer, with my friend Dracula)

At least I have a show to look forward to: Yelle at Highline Ballroom this Thursday, with French Horn Rebellion.

(Yelle, above)

As was so succinctly said on a t-shirt I purchased at the last Yelle show I saw: Dance or die. (Apparently Dance or Die is a popular European techno group. And in some American versions, they are re-named Do or Die.)

So, Do or Die... life goes on!