THE PARK, ROOFTOPS &

JERSEY BOYS 

this weekend was SO GREAT. 

mainly because stephen did NOT have to go into the office 

(until mid-sunday) 

which is HUGE 

& I got to hang out with him! 

Friday night we met at Toby's Estate, which is a coffee shop in the Flat Iron District that turns into a Strand bookstore, combined with Club Monaco ... 
it's like some crazy-amazing marketing / business plan. The place is decorated BEAUTIFULLY; you feel like you could just stay there all day ... 

eat. read. shop. repeat 

^^all of the books are ones you want to plop right onto your coffee table / nightstand 

I want every single one of them 

^^ the cutest flower stand when you first walk into the bookshop 

After the bookstore we walked over to the Chelsea Market for Italian food! 

We shared tortellini and a veggie salad. 

The tortellini was stuffed with pork and different cheeses, needless to say it was amazing.

The veggie salad could be forgotten about. 

(also not pictured: "the best salted chocolate chip cookie in new york"

 from The Bake Shop in Greenwich << I'm a sucker for a good cookie and feel the need to test the validity of all that claim this. 

It wasn't true. However, still very good.) 

SATURDAY 

We walked around Central Park, the weather was so beautiful! 

 ^^ there was a lot of trudging through bushes and climbing rocks (all in white pants, scary)

We went to an early dinner at Tavern 29 in midtown for dinner 

^^ rooftop seating 

I loved the stringing lights and view of surrounding skyscrapers.  

The food did not disappoint either!  

^^ sweet pork grilled cheese 

black bean and quiona burger 

balsamic-glazed sweet potato fries 

And the best part of the night ... 

Jersey Boys!!! 

The music was SO GOOD. We LOVED. 

^^ one more because I love it 

weekday highs 

SUNDAY

After church on Sunday, Natalie and I went to Communal on the UWS for brunch (at 4:30pm) 

^^ a sunny shot with my roomies post-church 

Stephen got off work later that evening and we walked along the ports to the Irish Gardens 

And then back to his place! 

Always so, so much walking 

MONDAY 

Pretty much every night the guys are working is a girls' night. 

But on Monday night things were amped up ... 

first: Maison Kayser for pastries / cookies 

i.e. sugar 

^^ chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie (bigger than my fists, put together) 

and second: face masks  

( + strawberries?) 

So ... that was a wild night ... 

TUESDAY 

An early run to the flower market 

followed by floral arrangements with our lead florist! 

Sweetgreen always has THE longest lines in the world for lunch 

But since everyone has been raving about it, I had to try it (food-fomo?) 

I called and ordered ahead, which is definitely the ticket 

 ^^ the harvest bowl 

roasted sweet potatoes, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, slivered almonds, apples, goat cheese 

whaaaat 

WEDNESDAY 

We had two design meetings at work this day 

I LOVED them 

The whole process from floral arrangements, designing the mock tables and meeting with clients to discuss every detail has been the highlight of my internship thus far 

^^  I love new york 

On Wednesday night a group of friends got together at Rosa's Mexicana for dinner 

I think one of the best parts was having the guacamole station come to our table! 

We were all cheering her on ... we may have been a little over-excited but when you know something good's coming your way, you've got to get into it!

^^ can we talk about these nachos??? 

FOURTH OF JULY 

I was a little nervous about celebrating the 4th in the city because 1. my mom kept telling me to avoid crowded areas in fear of terrorist attacks (the whole city is extremely crowded) and 2. what's the 4th without barbecuing, swimming and eating a ton of watermelon? (it's nothing.) 

LUCKILY we took a train to our spend the day with friends in Connecticut 

But first... we met Alex and Dylan for brunch at The Smith! 

^^ It's never too early for blue cheese chips, right?? 

^^ The special of the day stuffed with brisket 

^^ The train ride and our really, really tall boys 

We arrived! The boys played sports for HOURS, went straight to the pool for more sports, we all swam, and then the boys... played more sports. 

During the fourth quarter of sports... the girls drove to Main Street for gelato. 

^^ Second ice cream day in a row!! killing it!! 

Everyone got cleaned up a bit (minus me with the nice slathered-back bun) 

and we went to New Canaan for fireworks. 

We walked through the woods to get to the park for the show. There was a band of the most-spirited senior citizens playing our nation's proudest anthems! So fun! 

HAPPY 4th FROM NYC!!! 

GOVERNORS ISLAND &

 THE YANKEES 

Friday was a day of zero work and a lot of play! 

I guess Stephen and I have really been missing the ocean / water or something lately because we met in the morning for another ferry ride, this time to Governors Island! 

^^glamour shots en route 

Governors Island has so much history and character. And also provides another great view of Manhattan! We were so excited to get our (rented) bikes and cruise around! 

^^the island is also very artsy 

A lot of the historic homes have been dedicated to different art movements 

The central park was full of huge art pieces like this one! 

^^Us by the field saying hi to our friends and NOT in our real seats 

Stephen got us tickets to the Yankees Game! A lot of our friends all got tickets together in the same section and sat as a "mormon crew" cheering on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir who sang at the opening of the game! (although we totally missed the music because we were late... ) 

^^our fun group near the end of the game! 

We left early at the beginning of the ninth inning because "we like ice cream better than baseball" ;) 

We went to Emack and Bolio's, a favorite from last summer, for dessert! 

^^ obviously we both had peanut butter Oreo BUT Stephen also ordered cake batter and I haven't stopped thinking about it ever since-- definitely the flavor to order!! 

And I think after the fun-packed day, we both fell asleep in 0.2 seconds once we were home! 

SOUL CYCLE & 

THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY 

With the upcoming holiday weekend, no one wanted to be in the office Thursday... from banking to event design. SO not only did I get to leave the office early on Thursday but Alex and Stephen did also! 

Alex and I got off early in the afternoon and met for our first soul cycle class in Union Square. 

IT WAS INSANE.  

We had THE GREATEST time. 

The instructors are like DJ's who get you super stoked to go and push you hard for the entire hour without you even realizing the time is passing 

(except for the buckets of sweat dripping from every pore from about five minutes in) 

^^ I have honestly never sweated so much in my life 

We had to get some protein smoothies from Juice Generation because 1. we needed a refuel and 2. they taste really, really good 

We walked around the city to check out some of the holiday deals and then both got messages that Dylan & Stephen were leaving their offices early. SUCH GOOD NEWS. 

Stephen met me at my place and we walked down to the sea ports together. 

^^Down by the water there's a pretty cobblestone street full of shops and food trucks

We rode the Staten Island Ferry to be on the water, see the Statue of Liberty and look back on the city. The ferry is free for anyone with a metro pass because it's a commuter-ferry. The weather was nice but pretty cloudy so there weren't very many people at all. It was really nice! 

After the ferry ride we went to an Italian restaurant our friends told us about called Vapiano. 

Vapiano is a pizza & pasta bar like nothing I've ever seen before. You are handed a credit card as you walk in and either customize your own order or choose one of their dishes, you swipe your card at each station and then pay when you're all done. And the food is UNREAL. 

 ^^ demonstrating my waitress skills 

 ^^ Chicken pesto pizza with lots of fresh tomatoes on top 

We shared bruschetta 

Stephen had pasta, which he loved as well! 

I think we are already on countdown to our next visit! 

WALKING 

Monday I learned to do itemization spreadsheets & other technological-junky stuff. 

(I actually really liked it... like 100x's more than washing chalk boards...HA) 

I left work in the afternoon and decided to take advantage of the nice weather by walking. 

I took a few snacks and my book over to The High Line and read for a while.
IT WAS THE BEST. 

Then I wandered home by weaving through different streets within the villages. 

I found the most peaceful neighborhood, it was almost scary-quiet. 

And so beautiful. 

^^ Snuggled behind a private entry gate in a corner of the quiet neighborhood 

Do you want to live here or what?? 

^^ I believe everything should be covered in ivy 

^^ Dig Inn for dinner... Obsessed 

Oh, I would also like to add that this day started at 5am when the fire alarm went off at our apartment dorm. It was loud & so terrible. Since they told us it might take an hour and a half to get back inside we walked around the corner to Starbucks (and waited on the curb until they opened) to pass the time with some chai teas. 

^^ PJ's and Tory flats. Awesome. 

GIRLS NIGHT 

Tuesday I was able to take my time and walk TO work along the ports. 

AFTER work my friends / roommates met for dinner 

We were going to go to the Ganesvoort Market BUT all of the vendors inside were pretty much closed by the time we got there. 

So we walked a few blocks over to Dos Caminos for Mexican food! 

^^ I don't know why this happened. 

After dinner I met up with Stephen and we walked home to my place from 14th. 

I'm telling you... WALKING. I'm clocking like 10 miles a day around here. 

And loving it.