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. 

ROOSEVELT, BRUNCH & PONG 

FRIDAY 

On Friday I was able to join in on a client meeting / site visit at the Rainbow Room at the Rockefeller Center. The room is extremely opulent but the view is far more impressive! 
Since the room is on the 65th floor the view is just high enough to see every building, park and street without creating an ant-size effect. It is incredible! 

Later after work I ran some errands around Soho, walked around Union Square, and then met my roommates for dinner. 

Stephen got off relatively early so we were able to meet for the rest of the night! 

We took the tram over to Roosevelt Island. The island was quiet and provided a great view looking back at Manhattan! 

SATURDAY 

Saturday morning Stephen and I went to Sarabeth's for brunch with our good friends Alex & Dillon. We all met up at the Flat Iron Building and walked a few streets from there. 

^^ how we wish we looked "candidly" 

^^ how we really looked candidly

(the amount of places I carry a hair brush to is extremely embarrassing) 

 The table next to us had ordered this breakfast-pizza and we were all drooling over it. 

So we went big and ordered it as an appetizer to share. 

This is why it's important to pick good friends. 

^^ chicken sausage, avocado and spinach frittata with THE BEST pumpkin muffin ever on the side 

(their homemade jam is to die for) 

After brunch, Stephen & I walked and shopped around the area for a while. 

Stephen went into work for the rest of the afternoon and I finally got to explore the ABC Carpet & Home shop. I had heard about this place (mainly from the LoveTaza blog) for forever and it surpassed all my expectations. I think the two stores take up like two blocks and are filled with the most amazing stuff (that I will probably never be able to afford) 

^^see, HUGE 

^^ & also very cool 

It started pouring rain, which is getting suuuper old. So I ran to the grocery store and headed home. 

We were able to get together with a big group of LDS couples working in finance that are living in the city. We started at The Eately for a quick dinner and ended at this social club for a few hours where we talked and played ping pong

 ... Since we're all post/current BYU students who have to get our zoob-fill??

 It was really fun to meet some more of the "banker-wives" as well as a few old friends! 

^^ so, so much rain 

Quick highlights of the Week! 

SUNDAY

After a great week in Maui with my family I had a long day of traveling back to nyc. I got in Sunday morning, made it to church, and was able to walk around (favorite smoothies in hand) along the ports in the late-afternoon with Stephen!

 Unfortunately it starting POURING rain (harder than I've ever experienced... ever) so we had to run home from the subway station getting completely soaked along the way ... and were stuck inside for the rest of the night (opposite of a highlight). But fun to be back in the city and with Stephen nonetheless! 

MONDAY & TUESDAY 

I worked a lot these days but really enjoyed being able to do some more editorial work! We did a piece with Martha Stewart magazine this week and I was also able to communicate with some clients! A little desk work made me feel validated as a soon-to-be graduated college student :) 

On Tuesday night a big group of us had a girls' night! (because all of the boys work such late hours) We saw Inside Out near Union Square. Loved it!!! 

WEDNESDAY 

This was a really fun day! Work was really relaxed because most everyone took the day off. (the wedding world is definitely not a Mon-Fri 9am-5pm kind of a business) 

SO I was able to meet my roommate, Ali, for lunch at this cafeteria-style restaurant, Dig In, just a few avenues over from my work. We kept saying it's like a rustic / New York version of Lemonade in Los Angeles. We loved it. 

^^ they are known for their market plates. Everything is farm to table, which I love. This was their wild salmon on buckeye wheat rice (?) with a spinach + mango salad and roasted sweet potatoes on the side. It's the best because you can basically customize your own plate-- a protein over a grain with one cold side and one warm side. I wish I could go every single day!! 

^^ passing the flower markets on the way to lunch 

After work I went to the Chelsea Market with the other intern at my work. We wanted to grab some books at their cute book shop at the west end of the market. 

After I walked to Soho to meet up with Ali and Alex. We window shopped and chatted outside of  Momofuku's Milk Bar with desserts. From cake bites to their cereal soft serve everything was just as good as it's hyped up to be! 

(although I personally think the cake bites win it all) 

Ali's in search for wedding shoes right now so I went with her to Bergdorf Goodman to look at their shoe gallery. It was unreal(istic) and amazing. 

THURSDAY 

I had a lot of client meeting with my work today so we were running around a lot. I always really like the  days with extra running around because I think it's a really good way to discover new streets, shops, restaurants ... 

I got off work in the late afternoon and walked The High Line for a long portion of the way home. At the end of the High Line I ran into this rustic garage market, Ganesvoort. 

I loved walking through it (and was wishing I was 1. hungry + 2. had a friend there with me!!). But I did make room for this PB & J shake from a juice stand outside. PB & J -- I mean it was like made for me or something!? 

Lucky for me, Stephen got off early this night! We went to a Thai restaurant near his place called Gnam! It was really great. We sat at the bar and got to see them make everything fresh! We walked north for a while and passed like 10 nail salons. Every time I tried getting Stephen to stop and get a pedicure with me. He was not into at all (so the nails were not touched). I'm kind of glad about it. But that was our night!