SATURDAY 

Mid-day I took the subway over to Brooklyn to meet Stephen.We walked over to Smorgesboard, which is a food truck round-up that overlooks the water/city of Manhattan. All of the food looked unreal ... we did a lap to look at everything because obviously it was a BIG decision. 

We went with these hand-cut & fresh fries-- they were mouth-watering with the side chipotle dipping sauce. And a mexican-style sandwich. 

After lunch we walked over to the apartment where Stephen's been staying this week just to cool down (the heat is unreal!).  

We rode back to Manhattan and walked around the Upper East Side. We shopped around Bloomingdales for a while, again mainly to escape the heat. We shared a smoothie (second day in a row, yes!) before meeting up Ali and Christopher in Central Park to ride the row boats. 

^^ all of our failed attempts in order to nail this peace sign picture

Rowing boats was so fun! The boys mainly switched off (although I did try! and failed!). We enjoyed all of the sites surrounding us and also observed the wild life including two raccoons.... Christopher rowed us really, really close. It's amazing we didn't get attacked/tip over. 

After the boats we walked south along the park to The Plaza for our second night in a row of crepes in the basement food court. This time we brought Ali and Christopher along. I got a savory crepe with eggs in at it was pretty unreal. 

We had to hustle to Times Square from our quick dinner because we got tickets to see Matilda the musical at 8pm.  

Matilda was great! The main actress who played Matilda was amazing and the whole show was really entertaining (although very different than the movie). I think Stephen's favorite scene was definitely when the kids went wild rapping and dancing on the tables.. Ms. Trunchable was also pretty amazing. So much fun!! 

FRIDAY. It's the weekend! (until Sunday at least!) Today completed the first week of my internship at Matthew Robbins Design! Melissa and I drove to Upstate NY to collect a few things (FROM MARTHA STEWART'S HOUSE and make sure the deliveries for the wedding on Sunday had arrived and were placed properly).   

Martha Stewart's house was not a house but a compound of many homes, gardens, horse stables, a vineyard and also a greenhouse. Because my boss is friends with Martha, we were able to go to her greenhouse to collect a few greenery pieces for the upcoming wedding.  

After a long day out in the sun (or shall I say tent) moving heavy tables around-- the job is like 80 percent manual labor ... We left to go home! 

^^ The prettiest location 

Once we got back into the city I was starving. Stephen met me at this juice shop by my work. I was happy to be back in the city after a long drive home! 

We ordered two and split them. So. Good. 

After smoothies we decided to walk up to the MET. I had wanted to take Stephen to the roof for the really great view! It was another 50 blocks up in my sandals (ouch!) but it was totally fun. 

After checking out the view for a while we wandered back inside to walk through the impressionist rooms. I keep telling Stephen he is quickly becoming suuuper artsy. I love it. 

THEN after the museum we walked back down past the park to The Plaza for the food court in the basement. Stephen started with calamari, then we split two crepes-- one savory (chicken, spinach, pesto, tomato and cheese) and one sweet (nutella with blackberries/strawberries) again, SO GOOD. 

Wow Thursday was crazy. This was a "production day" at work, meaning that we had one of our big events to pull together. 

The event for today was a 50th surprise birthday party, with a $250,000 budget. But the price tag on this event wasn't the only thing that set it apart. The party was thrown by this lucky guy's girlfriend. The couple live with her husband and his girlfriend. They have younger children so divorce was "too complicated". 

Aside from the weird logistics of this family2.0, the setup was unreal. The venue was one of The Glasshouses, located in The Chelsea Art Tower overlooking The Hudson from the 21st floor. Every wall is a window that provides a different view of the city (including the view from the toilet in the restaurant-- very ideal) 

I got to the site around 9am hauling a few things they had forgotten at the studio. We fluffed silk napkins, set the table settings, placed the objects (they didn't want any flowers because this was a man's party). It was all really fun. And then it got crazy... construction workers started building tunnels, bars for sushi and alcohol .... the caterers came with glasses, food, and drinks, the band arrived! It was crazy town. We worked hard all day until 6pm, just an hour before the party guests were to arrive. 

Once we left I walked over to The Chelsea Market to meet up with Stephen. We walked in through the flea market, shopped around and then wandered through the rest of the building. The Chelsea Market is always really fun to walk through because of the really neat architecture and all of the great food/market options. (They also have an awesome book store in there!) 

I was so tired we ended up sitting on a couch in Anthropologie for like a good 30 minutes. Ha. Then we walked over to Soho for dinner with our friends. 

We walk around an average of 8 miles a day here so sometimes Stephen helps me out... The best.

We met Emily, Westin, Ali and Christopher at Tacombi Mexican. We waited an hour to get in (ouch) but the guac and tacos were worth the wait. (and horchata!) 

After dinner we all rode the subway up to the Upper West Side for dessert at Cafe Lalo. 

Cafe Lalo was first introduced to my family through my sister Courtney's best friend, Mandy. It is now a favorite go-to. The cafe has like 250 dessert options and stays open really late. It is also the spot where Meg Ryan waits with her rose for Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail. The place is beyond-charming. 

Wednesday I worked again. We mostly prepared for our event for Thursday. I got to help set up the mock tables and make a few design decisions with Matthew, which was really cool. I also still did the intern slave labor like drop off packages but not as heavy as paint today! 

After work ended I took the subway to Soho to walk around and window shop. The Bloomingdales on Broadway is my favorite-- it is small but always has the best stuff! (I just used the restroom there rather than buying anything but everything I passed-- amazing! Ha) 

Stephen met me in Soho and we went to get him fitted for a new suit before running up to the Upper West Side to meet my brother-in-law, Ryan, for dinner. 

Ryan's here for a few days for work so it was really fun to squeeze some time in with him while he is in the city. We met at Communal on 72nd for a healthy dinner. But of course followed it by Shack Shake custard and milkshakes after because that it what we do (meal sabotage, holler). 

And we walked there in the pouring rain so as a result of looking like wet dogs here is the prettier part of the night... 

I just want to add that Stephen ordered a peanut butter milkshake. So is he perfect? I don't know. Probably.

Tuesday was my first day of work. The studio is a two-story shop in Chelsea with stations for flower-making, mock tables, design boards, prop storage and more! It's really cool. The people that work there are even cooler. I met everyone today since there are only like ten of them. The Matthew Robbins team is like a little family and I already feel like one of them. 

My first project was painting. Not what I expected but actually very relaxing, haha. They play fun music all day and have a really playful mode while they work. I got to pick out some rugs for an event on Sunday and also run some errands. (I picked up a gallon of paint from Home Depot about a mile away ... and walked back with it. Woooof) 

After work Emily, Westin, Ali, Natalie, Stephen and I went to the Artichoke Pizza for dinner. The group was running late so Stephen and I walked along The Highline across the street for a bit. Always such a pretty view of the Hudson from one side and the city from the other. 

Of the pizza I've tried in the city, Artichoke is my favorite... Their white pizza with four cheeses including ricotta is to die for. Stephen ordered it to share and I mistakingly misguided him into thinking it was a lot smaller than it actually was. It was HUGE ... it was his lunch for the following three days after this. Woops. 

We walked along The Highline with Emily and Westin after. The night had turned to dark so the view looked a little different this time. The weather felt great and we had a lot of fun walking around with them.

Stephen and I got into New York Sunday evening. We were starving and tired so we just grabbed Chipotle and got settled in. BUT Monday was Memorial Day and also our first full-day in the city so we took advantage of every minute of it.

I woke up early that morning, ran and worked out in the gym at my dorm, got ready and met Stephen at my place. We took the subway up to 23rd to walk around Madison Square Park(literally we did a lap, reminiscing all of the loops Stephen had to do to land his internship with Credit Suisse ... I got multiple FIT tests along the way for the full experience. Very intimidating)

From Madison Square Park we walked southwest past The Eately, NYU Italian housing streets, Union Square, Washington Park, Soho, the Federal Reserve and Court house, all the way to the Financial District (where I'm living while we're out here-- 55 John Street!)

Along the way, we stopped for gelato at Amorino's-- flown in from Paris and probably the best ever

Once we were back in the financial district we met up with Westin, Emily & Ali. We walked through St Paul's Chapel on Broadway as we past by on our way to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The Chapel is always cool to walk through because of its history dating back to the days of the founding fathers ... It is the church that George Washington attended while in New York. More recently it's been known for housing the heroes and survivors of the 9-11 attack to the World Trade Centers. 

After crossing the bridge with our friends we parted ways and went to dinner at Dos Caminos for mexican food in Soho. Followed by walking through West Village. 

We kept walking (we walked for a total of 13 miles this day!!) ... we walked along the Hudson River past the piers and the High Line to 29th street so I could figure out where my work was located for my first day on Tuesday. 

THEN we took the subway to Brooklyn. Stephen is staying at his friend's parents house until his move in date at his dorm this upcoming Saturday. The place has the world's best view overlooking the water and Manhattan. We got there as the sun was setting, a great end to the day!