in a new york state of mind

For those of you who don’t already know, by some serendipitous turn of events, Quino and I both ended up with internships in New York City this summer... at the same time. Needless to say, I'm counting my blessings but more than anything I'm excited beyond belief!

We leave a week from today and I have a to do list a mile long. One list I am looking forward to doing work on though is my New York list. I haven't been to the city in ages and I've been making a mental list for years for all the things I want to do while I'm there. Now that I know I'll be spending an entire 10 WEEKS there this summer, this list is hitting paper (or at least my computer).

Quino and I started working on it a few weeks ago and it’s getting so long I'm not sure we'll be able to do it all. While our list is shared, he seems to be naming off all of the sights we should see while I just keep naming off places I’m dying to eat at. Clearly we complement each other well.

It would take far too long to include our entire list on this post, here are some of the things I'm most looking forward to:

 

Eataly – if heaven was full of gourmet Italian food (which it probably is), this would be it

Henri Bendel – if Eataly is food heaven, Bendel’s is fashion heaven

Baked by Melissa – specialty cupcakes with my name (albeit spelled differently) in the title, count me in

Picnic in Central Park – yes, this is absurdly cliché, but I don’t care… I’m doing it anyway.

Also on my New York list, random things that will probably never happen but I still hope will:

Get into the Cash Cab

Meet Bethanny Frankel

While going through this list, I will undoubtedly be taking pictures of EVERYTHING so stay tuned! If you have any suggestions of things to add to, send them my way. Now I'm back to doing piles and piles of laundry and attempting to pack 10 weeks worth of clothes into 2 suitcases. 

This should be interesting...

soup for the soul

Stuck at home with a cold today, I decided to make myself some French Onion Soup. I tried this recipe for the first time about a month ago and it was a huge hit! The process is simple, but from start to finish the soup takes almost 2 hours so patience is definitely key here.

To start things off, I chopped up this enormous pile of onions, though it took a while seeing as I had to leave the room a few times to avoid tearing up.

After almost an hour in my favorite pot alongside an entire stick of butter and some fresh thyme, they had cooked down and become beautifully caramelized. While the smell alone was enough to make me want to eat it this way, I resisted the urge.

Instead, I drowned them in white wine, followed by a combination of both chicken and beef broth. A simmer on the stove for another 30 minutes and they were ready for the oven, topped with homemade croutons and cheese of course.

Hopefully a few bowls of this wonderful soup will help kick my cold, I’ve got a busy week ahead of me and can’t afford to spend it in bed. 

Happy Sunday!

shake it like a. . .

I bought my Fuji Instax Polaroid over 2 months ago and had shamefully not used it until a few weeks ago. Awful, I know but between the camera’s bulky build and the obscenely overpriced film, I’d been really hesitant to break it in. I would have posted sooner but I was waiting to get these lovely stickers in the mail from PhotoJoJo to liven these pictures up a bit. They make such adorable additions, I couldn’t resist getting them! 

Well, this outing to the park with Quino and his dog, Ginger seemed like the perfect occasion to snap some sweet shots so I took it out for a spin. Though the park is just down the block from his house, Ginger was already exhausted by the time we got there (attribute it to old age and too many stolen snacks) so she went straight for the fountain. 

Instances like this one are among the many reasons you should never put your mouth on a water fountain. This picture is priceless though.

We followed that up by some childish swinging and an affectionate moment at the bottom of the slide. 

On our way out, Quino spotted this shopping cart. Naturally, he felt the need to put the dog in it (I’ll never understand the way boys think). We tried to take Ginger home it, she was worn out from all the running around after all, but she wasn't the biggest fan of the bumpy ride once we hit the pavement so we let her out.

All in all, it was quite the successful afternoon :)

beauty product explosion

I'm sure it's no surprise that I love playing with makeup. The idea that you can just put a few things on and change your entire look has always fascinated me. 

The bomb scene of beauty products seen here is what happened to my vanity this past weekend in preparation for a night out at UVA. Though my typical makeup routine consists simply of concealer, eyeliner and mascara, I pulled out all the stops, and all the products in my arsenal for that nights escapades. I clearly had too much time on my hands, but I used everything seen here (and even a few other things I ended up pulling out later). 

My Essentials for a Night Out:

Smashbox Limitless Eyeliner (both the felt-tip pen and the pencil) - this stuff DOES NOT budge. period.

Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Ludwig - the perfect combination of colors for any occasion

Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Intermix - bronzer and blush in one palette? sold!

Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eyeshadow Primer - to make sure your beautifully blended shadows don't go anywhere all night

Vincent Longo Lip Stain in My Sunshine - I'm not the biggest fan of lipsticks so I love that this lip tint makes me feel like I have nothing on while looking like I just drank red wine

CoverGirl Lashblast Fusion - I have scoured beauty counters the world over and despite having spent way too much money on some insanely overpriced mascaras, I swear by this stuff. I always opt for the waterproof kind though, I have a tendency to laugh so hard I cry

But an hour spent primping is a total bore without the perfect get-pumped playlist. I had Lupe Fiasco's "The Show Goes On" practically playing on repeat that night along with some Britney and the new Jennifer Lopez song, "On The Floor". 
Now back to a failed attempt at studying for tomorrow's finals! How many days til the freedom of summer?