Thursday was work as usual. And laundry, packing... the boring things. Although Natalie and I got within two feet from a cockroach while in the basement laundry room ... of course we ran out screaming, ah! 

So... the fun day: Friday 

EATING & BIRTHDAYS 

(because they belong together like that)

Friday was fun! Ali, Natalie and I tried a new place for lunch in Chelsea called Cafeteria. We were all wanting to breakfast food so we had some omelettes and croissant french toast going on. 

We walked around West Village and the Upper East Side because we wanted to walk around and see the city but it was also way too hot to stay outside without any air conditioning breaks. I actually went into the five-story Kate Spade on Madison this day! It was out of this world AMAZING. 

I needed to pick some Levain cookies up for Stephen's birthday so we walked across the park to the Upper West Side. IT WAS SO HOT. We picked up some cookies (you could get one for free by liking them on facebook-- SCORE) but left the shop because it is so tiny you can barely stand in there! We took our cookies (and drugstore-bought sodas) to a nearby Starbucks and chatted for at least an hour. Again, just to avoid the hot thick air outside. It was really fun though. This man was painting sketches in his watercolor book across the table from us and we couldn't stop starring-- they were incredible. There is a lot of talent in this city! 

We went back to our apartment to clean up a bit. I had a group of our friends meet at Limbardi's Pizza in Little Italy to celebrate Stephen's birthday a little early since I'll be in Hawaii for the actual date. He didn't know about it so we walked over there to buy some extra time and try to be the last ones. 

It was all of the girls without their significant others when we first arrived-- Welcome to your all-girls-party, Stephen?! (this is what comes with crazy and unpredictable work hours) BUT the boys were there just minutes after! We got lucky that they were all able to make it!! 

It was so much fun to get together as a big group! It's hard with schedules and small spaces around here to do it as often as we do in Provo so it was totally a special treat to see everyone! 

^^ Obviously we are really good at taking pictures 

After a few of us walked through Little Italy to eat gelato and stare at all of the flavors of cannoli's (can't you have three desserts in one day??)... and then walked home. 

Sidenote-- one of my favorite things about New York is that you can walk everywhere! It feels so nice to have so many options of places to eat/ things to do or see so accessible! 

THE APOLLO 

Last night Stephen & I went to Amateur Night at The Apollo Theatre. 

We stood in line behind the owner of The Clippers, as Stephen would say, "waddup LA" 

So now we have floor seats to all future games. 

(that's not true) 

Anyway, the show provides one of the most entertaining nights out there! It is a high-energy show rooted with soul and talent while being extremely interactive. The whole time you, as an audience member, are singing, dancing, holding hands, applauding or booing ... it is a blast. 

During intermission there was a DJ that played music for everyone to dance for ten minutes. The most random group of people got on stage and did this dance together. I guess there is a music video that explains the whole thing? Because they all knew how to do it? I felt old for not knowing about it... until this 50 year old got up and knew the whole thing. So then I just felt uncool. 

It was a great night!! 

(also at work today we got another intern, Kendall-- so now I'm not the only one who doesn't speak Spanish and have a friend to talk to!! It's so wonderful!! She's totally the cutest) 

THE FRICK & WASHINGTON SQUARE

Most of the office got home from Vermont Monday night so they took Tuesday off. Since I was one of three people in the office that day I left early in the afternoon. 

The rest of the night was free! So I walked to The Frick Museum from work. 

The Frick is the former mansion of Henry Clay Frick that houses his private collection of art. I loved it-- there was a video that explained his life as well as the history of the museum (I watched it twice alone because it felt so good to sit down in the cool air... )

All of the art pieces were incredible-- most of the collection was impressionist landscapes and portraits, which are my favorite. There was also a lot of Chinese and French pottery and dining sets that were fun. 

I took my time in the museum and came to the conclusion that museums are always best alone. Everyone finds different things interesting and it feels good to take some time to learn and think independently. I really enjoyed my time! 

^^ I always love walking past The New York Public Library 

From the museum I wandered a bit around the Upper East Side. Wished I was shopping in the five-story Flagship Tory Burch Store. Also wished I was shopping in the Kate Spade shop. I took a picture of the outside instead because it looked so beautiful... and kept walking (haha) 

^^ All of those floors: Kate Spade (jaw-dropped) 

I caught a subway to met Alex in Soho to have dinner at the Chobani Station. 

Chobani Station is not just greek yogurt with sweet toppings like I assumed, it actually has more of a savory menu. It was the perfect place to meet Alex at since we've both been obsessed with Chobani flips while living together this past year. 

 ^^avocado & mango dip with blue corn tortilla chips. 

It was my first time seeing A-Olp (who is no longer A-Olp) since her wedding a month ago! I loved catching up with her!! 

We walked over to the Birchbox store across the street where you can make your own box of samples. It was perfect timing before packing for my trip this upcoming Saturday! 

After we walked up to Washington Square Park-- the weather was perfect, which made the park extra enjoyable as well as beautiful. 

Later that night I met up with Stephen. We went to the Eately for a quick dinner and walked around the Greenwich area ... and also back through Washington Square Park-- also beautiful at night! 

BRUNCH & THE DAY OFF 

Today was Stephen's first day of training at Credit Suisse. He had a late start at 11am so we were able to meet for breakfast before he went into the office. I met him at his place by Union Square and we walked down to The Butcher's Daughter off Elizabeth Street in Soho. 

The Butcher's Daughter is a juice bar and vegetarian restaurant I've been wanting to try since last summer (mainly because of how cool it looks). We loved it. 

^^ Stephen got an egg sandwich with cashew cheese and some form of vegetarian bacon? Ha kind of odd? But good! We split avocado toast with lime and curry seasoning. And I had a coconut-milk-yogurt fruit parfait with granola and goji berries. Yum. 

^^ The restaurant has a juice bar attached to the side of it so we went in to check it out 

I splurged on a juice because I picked up the flu on my work trip 

(yes, I'm aware watermelon doesn't cure the flu but it sounded a 100x's better than carrot juice... sorry not sorry) 

For the rest of the day I worked out, ran errands, and then wandered around Midtown and West Village (if I ever have a chance to wander, West Village is always my first stop) 

I met up with my roommates Ali & Natalie at Culture, a "healthy" yogurt shop. They had peanut butter & jelly as the flavor of the day so I think this means it's the beginning of a beautiful relationship. It was so good! 

I ended the night at Stephen's for a quick visit to hear about his first day. It was a wonderful day off! 

VERMONT 

I went to Vermont with my team for a destination wedding this week! It was an... adventure (the kind where you work the hardest you ever have in your life from 7am to midnight) I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But at least it was really beautiful?? 

The drive north was one of the most gorgeous sights. Matured trees, green mountains, running rivers and wild flowers surrounded every highway. Once we got to Woodstock, everything got even better (visually). The natural landscape and colonial homes/shops make it a must-see destination! (maybe one day I'll be back to enjoy it!) 

This destination wedding was a four-day celebration from a welcome part to a post-wedding brunch and we did it all. For each event there were amazing venues, custom tents + lighting, lavish catering, cocktail bars, bands, etc. As the design team we made flowers arrangements, took care of all the details, set floor plans (moving tables, chairs, lounge chairs, bars... I think I just got home from fat camp)-- it was crazy. 

Along with the non-stop work of creativity and manual labor, I was surrounded with a pretty diverse group. Being with these people was a learning experience all in itself-- kind of like sociology classes in real life. There were moments where I felt like I was on a reality TV show... but I learned as much from the people as I did from the experience of setting flowers and hauling furniture around. 

^^ the rehearsal dinner at Simon Pearce Glass 

^^ Reading How to Make Friends and Influence People (much needed for this trip) and eating breakfast on the porch early in the morning
...while the rest of the group fought hangovers

 ^^ aaand the big reception 

This reception tent was built custom at the Billings Farm from ground up. It was like Restoration meets Saks Fifth Avenue ... but even better. All those chairs... Yes, I moved every single one of them. 

AND I'm soo happy to have gotten through it! 

WALKING BROADWAY & THE MOMA 

Tuesday I didn't go in for my internship because we left for Vermont Wednesday through Sunday. Since it was the last full day Stephen and I would be able to spend together in the city before his internship we tried to take advantage of it. 

Stephen & I started our day with an early workout and a lunch picnic on my dorm floor (haha). We decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art because rainy weather. We walked four miles up Broadway huddled under an umbrella / in matching nikes (haha, yikes). 

We made a lot of shopping stops along the way. I think we hit like five JCrews in search of an XL rain coat for Stephen (and of course once we found it it was still too short). 
 .... then finally got to the MOMA. 

^^ a street view from the museum that I loved 

Modern art is definitely not a favorite for either of us. Maybe we are not deep enough to understand of the intellectual/hidden messages so we passed through about 90 percent of the museum pretty quickly. 

We loved this African American immigration exhibit though!
 The exhibit told the story of immigration from southern to northern states in America. There were 50 paintings with captions that went along with them. It was a good walk through history from a different perspective. They also had a media exhibit honoring the great African American entertainers with music and photographs-- loved that.

^^ The Andy Warhol collection 

"When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums" 

...I've been saying this my whole life, Andy!!! 

^^A book shop in the Fulton subway station 

That night (because it was STILL raining) we grabbed dinner, ran a few more errands and watched Serendipity while our experience from the night before was so fresh and happy in our minds :) 

MONDAY

The rain has been killer in the city! Today the biggest disappointment at work was walking half a mile to Home Depot in the rain to find out you need to be 21/need your ID to buy spray paint. I had to walk back to the office and do it again-- making it a 2 mile trip (picture me walking through the flower market with the world's largest umbrella in the screaming wind and rain.. not fun my friends) 

Besides that work/my internship has been going well. The team invited me to go to their destination wedding event in Vermont Wednesday so I'm excited about that!

After work I met Stephen at JCrew Men in Soho because he was getting fitted for a new grey suit-- it looked so good on him! THEN we walked over to Mole in West Village for dinner. 

We were suuper stoked because we had seen Mole on one of our walks a few days earlier-- we thought that Mole was short for guacamole, thinking that of course it would have at least a dozen guacamole flavors that we could try all night long. Unfortunately, we were wrong. We had totally neglected the idea (and actuality) that mole is a dish with chocolate and espresso, among other random ingredients. 

It was actually really good though! I'm not sure what happened to the two of us, maybe all of the constant walking had finally gotten to us but we were like POUNDING it! We walked out of there in the biggest food comas. We walked back to Stephen's place to try to overcome it. 

A few hours later we worked up our appetites enough for a run to Serendipity with Ali and Christopher. 

Luckily, Stephen loves peanut butter just as much as I do so it was an almost-instantaneous decision to go with the humble pie sundae. The best sundae ever. Peanut butter pie with graham cracker crust, vanilla ice cream, bananas, hot fudge and homemade whipped cream. WHAT.  

We ate it in like two seconds. 

(remember how full we were? really impressive... right?)