Happy 25th birthday to us!

A couple of weeks ago, over Memorial Day weekend, Jake and I celebrated our 25th birthdays, mine on a Friday, his on a Monday.

Having our birthdays this close together usually means we're willing to up the ante a little how we would normally otherwise celebrate, since it's a group effort.

Back in January, I came across a great deal on plane tickets from MSP to LGA and decided to surprise Jake with a trip to one of his favorite places: New York City.

After laying down false track (Jake thought we were going to his parents' on Saturday and out to lunch with friends on Sunday to celebrate), I proceeded to pack a suitcase in secret, then wake my husband up at 4 a.m. to give him the news we were running away for the long weekend.

It was insanely hot in the city, so most of our photos turned out to be of food, rather than snapshots of us enjoying the city. So, here's a quick rundown of our delicious food tours of NYC:

Our first stop after dropping our bags in our hotel (we stayed near Penn Station) was a walk over to K-Town on 32nd St. where we had bossam and oysters for lunch.

Jake found a description of the Landbrot Bakery in the current issue of New York magazine during our flight, so we stopped in for brezeln and a beer. The staff were incredibly friendly and we had a great mini-meal.

After grabbing pizza at Brookyln's famous Grimaldi's, we went to the Brooklyn Brewery with a college friend. We took the "tour," which was more like "The History of Our Brewery While Standing in a Production Space."

Ordered the Cheese and Crackers at McSorely's Ale House (and I also discovered that I enjoy porter beers)

Veselka's pierogies -- a longtime favorite! Great way to start out the meal. I also snagged the cookbook so we can make more Ukranian food at home now.

Was very thankful not to have to hunt down the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck in the heat. Just waited in the line outside their new shop for a bit. Tasty stuff!

Inspired by this post on Amateur Gourmet's blog about the Second Avenue Deli, we met my cousin here for brunch one day. We had the absolutely delicious matzoh ball soup (not something Jake or I had had before, having grown up in Minnesota). At the end of the meal, they brought us tiny chocolate sodas!

While wandering the East Village, we stopped into Murray's Cheese just to gawk and enjoy one of the best smelling stores I had ever been to.

To celebrate Jake's birthday "officially" we went back to K-Town and had a huge table full of Korean barbecue (before and after shots)

And we liked Second Avenue Deli SO MUCH we went back a second time.

The very awesome pickles and coleslaw. Below, our first ever knish, Jake's grownup chocolate soda, and another plate of pierogies.

My foodie souvenirs! What could be better than picking up the cookbooks at two of the awesome restaurants we ate at? The 2nd Ave Deli book has been a great read so far -- lots of cool stories about the owner and the history of the restaurant.

Happy birthday Jake!! Your turn to plan something awesome for 26.... :)