Cascabel Taqueria, 1542 2nd Ave., Manhattan

You cannot get good Mexican food in England, according to my sister Amy, who is visiting from London. She has vowed to eat her weight in Mexican food during her stay, and we got la bola rolling with a trip to NFT-recommended Cascabel Taqueria on the Upper East Side. It was SO DELICIOUS. I had the carne asada tacos, which come in corn tortillas with creme fraiche, oyster mushrooms, and crispy onions. My tastebuds thrill at the recollection. Amy had the pollo chipotle tacos, a little spicy in a good way. We shared a huge dollop of lovely guacamole. We had a table outside on a perfect day, and laughed at the UESers' small, in-bred excuses for dogs walking by. We are thinking of returning 24 hours later because the experience was so pleasant.

We traipsed through Central Park a bit and then Amy was hell-bent on a red velvet cupcake, so we visited a place totally without a name on 72nd St. on the Upper West Side. Seriously, no name on the shop, no receipt, no name on the boxes....it was a whole bakery; why no name? In the end it doesn't matter, because our cupcakes were sub-par, on the dry side. Forgettable even if we did know the name.

Then we had drinks at Wine and Roses, 286 Columbus Avenue, then we went to a downscale bar whose name I didn't note, then I got another cupcake at Magnolia Bakery on Columbus. I liked it (red velvet, per Amy's influence) but it had a whipped cream frosting and I really prefer a heavy buttercream. That was dinner yesterday - two drinks bookended by cupcakes! It felt so good to put aside the wedding checklist and be self-indulgent for a day.