wandering for the weekend

The way Friday was going, I was really worried that we would have yet another rainy weekend in the city. Thankfully, it cleared up and left us with some gorgeous weather on Saturday and Sunday. Here's a little breakdown of how my wonderful weekend panned out: 

Still waiting for my rain boots to arrive from home, I threw on my favorite wedged platforms for a Friday night dinner to keep me at least an inch above any puddles. I also happily debuted my H&M trench (a total steal at $35) and headed out in spite of the less than appealing weather. We decided on a second visit to Bar Tabac on Smith St. after a fantastic experience there a few weeks ago. Quino and I shared the hanger steak with mushroom risotto the last time and enjoyed it so much we each got our own this time around. The meal definitely didn't disappoint and neither does the atmosphere at Bar Tabac. It's pretty loud, I'm not gonna lie but it somehow manages to be intimate and cozy. It must be the lighting.

We spent the better part of Saturday wandering around Union Square. Between stops at Strand and Baked by Melissa, we browsed the extensive farmer's market. I ended up not taking anything home with the exception of a few great pictures.

 {to-go treats from baked by melissa including s'more, chocolate chip pancake, tie-dye and of course, red velvet}

 {the rare book room at Strand... i'm pretty sure i wasn't supposed to take this but i couldn't resist}

{another snapshot of strand... i love this bust, book and typewriter decorative combo}

As for Sunday, Quino and I  went on a little adventure uptown to Central Park. We started out in Columbus Circle and somehow ended up on the Upper East Side right in front of the Plaza. I guess that's part of the beauty of this enormous park, you never really know where you're gonna end up. That's fine by me though, I'm all for getting lost for an afternoon.

{columbus circle}

 {entrance at of the gorgeous Plaza Hotel}

snippets of the city

New York City life has been nothing short of a whirlwind. There's always something to do or something to see and I'm loving every minute of it. I do have a confession to make though, I haven't been taking my camera around as often as I expected. Shameful, I know but I made sure to take a few pictures with my phone. The quality may not be as nice but thanks to my new picplz app, I got to use all these cool effects to make them a bit more fun.

As for the city, it’s a total foodie-fashionista's dream. Amidst bites of famously delicious pizza and to-die-for sweet treats, I keep stumbling on (or often purposely looking for) fabulous fashion at amazing prices. Case in point, Friday's visit to the BCBG store on 5th Avenue. With 60% off a lot of their amazing styles, it was too good to pass up! I left giddy with excitement over my finds and then met up with Clarissa in SoHo for some mid-afternoon coffee and gossip.

Most recently, I sampled some of New York’s finest (pizza that is). Quino and I took a short walk to Grimaldi’s and had to stand in line for 20 minutes but it was totally worth it! Their pizza had a nice thin but doughy crust. The tomato sauce was divine, definitely not your typical marinara and the ewy gooey globs of fresh mozzarella were the perfect finishing touch.

{our huge pie}

{beautiful gobs of cheese, torn basil and luscious tomato sauce}

{the cheese dripping... that's how you know its good!}

Hope to share more New York antics soon! 
Until then, I'll leave you with a few little snapshots of this fabulous city!

 {quino's amazing view - I'm so jealous he gets to wake up to this every morning}

{the same view but this time it was pouring all afternoon. i'm amazed that you can barely even see the bridge, let alone the empire state building}

{i love that i get this steamy view from my desk at work all day. gotta love don draper}

{the wonderful mini cannoli i had after lunch last week}

{funny little note someone wrote on the subway directory}

start to a big city summer

Having spent the last week getting to know New York a bit, I think it's safe to say that this is gonna be an amazing summer! Between exploring our neighborhood here in Brooklyn Heights to interesting subway rides and of course sightseeing, everything has been a fantastic adventure.

After settling in, we caught the subway into the city early last week to track down our offices. We made a few stops along the way, including a visit to the gorgeous post office on Park and a quick lap around the originals Macy's followed by our first, but certainly not last, soggy water hotdogs of the summer. We made a pit stop at Time Square that day too.

Among my other New York escapades were walks across the Brooklyn Bridge (once with Quino and again when my dad stopped in for a visit). We also spent a day walking around downtown. We snapped some shots at Wall St. before walking over to Battery Park for a ferry ride to the statue of Liberty.

Work started this week so we wont have quite as much time for adventures but it’s been a wonderful experience so far. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has I store!

I'll leave you with this beautiful shot we took just after sunset in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Amazing, isn't it?

Best Wishes from the Big Apple!

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?