Travel: NYC (Brooklyn) - Day 1

• B and I took a taxi to LAX to board a direct American Airlines flight to JFK at noon. This was the first time I had to check in luggage for a trip to NYC simply because the weather report showed that there would be a 40-degree swing in temperatures throughout the week. I know one should pack in layers for that sort of thing; but between sunny/rainy/cold/heat-wave weather and casual/dressy attire, I simply could not squeeze everything into a carry-on and backpack. The upside is that American Airlines gives some sort of priority for passengers that do not board the plane with a roll-on carry-on. So, B and I squeezed in somewhere between Group 1 and 2's boarding call..
• We arrived earlier than our scheduled time (8:40pm local time) and waited for E to tell us where we would meet on the subway system back to her place. Instead, we were pleasantly surprised when she drove up in her own car at the airport (with M, her dog, in the backseat)! E described M (a rescue, chow mix) as "skittish" and he was definitely afraid of us at first, but he had no problem resting his head on my luggage in the backseat as E and B navigated the route to get back to E's place.
• We arrived at E's rather large apartment in East Williamsburg, dropped off our luggage, and went out for dinner at St. Anselm (one of E's favorite restaurants). We miraculously avoided the 3-hour(!) wait and were called back to return to the restaurant after briefly standing in the bar next door for less than 15 minutes. It was definitely pricey (B and I split a 34 oz. steak at $1.90/oz.) and we had plenty of drinks and sides to satiate us (E's boyfriend, B2, eventually joined us after he attended an EDM? concert earlier).  
• From there, we split up. E and I went to a 24-hour laundromat to wash sheets/towels while we chatted, and B and B2 went to a tiny "movie" theater (that is actually a deli in the day) that played audience recommended movies. People also brought in their own alcoholic beverages. 
• When we fnished up, E and B2 dropped us off at E's apartment and they left (with M!) to stay at B2's place. It was then that B and I realized we would have E's apartment all to ourselves the entire time we stayed there. E is just awesome like that.