Weekend In Review.

It was an absolutely perfect Labor Day weekend up here in New York-- cloudless blue skies & abundant sunshine, three days of watching incredible tennis with my parents who were in town for our annual trek out to Queens for the Open, a lazy Monday spent catching up with good friends over delicious food (see below fruit, yogurt & museli combo from Peels!) and hours of aimlessly wandering around the city & some spare time in the kitchen working to clean out my fridge of last week's CSA goodness with an "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" pizza for the week. All in all, life was pretty darn sweet.

Hard to fathom today is already Wednesday... whew.
Happy Hump Day, all.
xo

(Long) Weekend Snapshots.

To say that our miniature army packed in a whole heck of a lot this weekend would be a grave underestimation. I swear, it's truly hard for me to conjure up more than a few brief moments when we weren't on the move, off to yet another destination, exploring another neighborhood, and sweating our tushes off the whole way there. (Thank you OCD tendencies for fueling me with the unnecessary urge to plan out every second of every day with a suggested schedule of activities. Yikes. Major kudos to you nine crazy fools for dealing with me for that.) But it's funny you know, despite all of the wonderful things we were able to do and see-- all of the things I successfully checked off my cerebral "to-do" list-- looking back through these photos, it's really those moments of unplanned and unscheduled occurrence that stick out as the most memorable.

It was that early evening spent soaking up the last of the city's summer sunlight from a perch by Central Park's boat basin, listening to the string duet across the way and just enjoying each other's company while speculatively people watching the city's passerby. And the afternoon spent deciding not to trek to that baseball game out in Queens and instead spent headed back to that local Mexican joint down the street for another pitcher of sangria for a second night in a row. And the decision to get the heck out of the sun despite the incredible food market we were leaving behind in order to stumble into the nearest coffee shop and just spend the next few hours talking over the most delicious cup of cold brew while praying for the rain to come. And that late night spent lounging around my living room, washing down cold beer with wedges of squeezed lime and dying with laughter over yet another successful achievement of scaring the living bejesus out of me with a ginormous rubber spider hidden under my pillow. 


It's funny how that all happens, isn't it? The way the most meaningful moments often can't be planned, or scheduled, or booked in advance; the way sometimes simply being in the presence of good, dear friends is all you need.


So with that, a (not so) quick peek into some of our crew's adventures from this past weekend, with a heck of a lot of good fun left out thanks to my negligence in properly documenting our treks--

Weekend Snapshots.

Holy moly. What a beautiful weekend we had here in the city-- bright blue, cloudless skies and endless amounts of strong, warm light to bask in. It was was one of those incredible, sunshine-filled weekends that reminds you of all the many reasons you've anxiously awaited summer's arrival. And boy did it feel good to soak up every last drop.

While a good portion of Sunday was spent lounging on my patio-- fresh squeezed lemonade in hand and a book I've been itching to get into draped across my lap-- Saturday proved to be its own unexpected adventure. After finishing an errand all the way up on 96th St. circa 11am, I realized with a free afternoon ahead of me there was no reason not to enjoy the sunshine and take a long walk home. So, walk I did. Well, 11 1/2 miles, 3 local farmer's markets, 8 playlist shuffles on the iPod, a (not so) quick tour through Chelsea Market, and a highly unfortunate (but not so surprising) sunburn later, I crossed back into Brooklyn already craving another free afternoon to do it all over again. Well, perhaps minus the sunburn next time.

God, I love this city.

How about you, friends? Hoping you had just as much luck with the weather as we did over in these parts. Here's to a wonderful week ahead.
xo

Weekend Snapshots.

We were gifted an absolutely beautiful weekend here in the city. While the unexpected crisp air and strong rays of sun were strangely reminiscent to the early days of Fall, I have to admit my heart skipped a beat when I suddenly realized that reaching into the back of my closet to pull out those cowboy boots of mine was actually fair game. Love when this crazy weather pattern seems to fall in my favor!

While the majority of my day was unfortunately swallowed whole with errands, somewhere between the purchase of a 10-pack of mini toothpaste tubes and a stop at the market to replenish my stock of granola on Saturday (Game on, travel schedule. Game on.) I found myself near the Promenade with a bit of time to spare. A stop by my favorite neighborhood cafe, an avocado sandwich & a tall, cold glass of cider later, it really started to feel like a Saturday. Here are a few snapshots from my little detour--

Thank goodness for those moments of easy calm & quiet.
Oh weekends, how I love you so.

Scenes from the Weekend.

Just a few photos from my wonderful weekend spent at home here in New York. It's been far too long since I've found myself with a full weekend to get out & explore, and Saturday's endless sunshine & cloudless skies provided just the opportunity to do so. Gosh, I've missed this city.

 

1 & 2 -- A stop off at Smorgasburg in the morning with a dear friend led to some 3's Company Triple Berry Jam from Anarchy In A Jar and a mouth-watering, taste bud bursting Cemita from Cemita's Mexican Sandwiches and Tacos

3 -- A look over the East River.

4 -- A quick trip to Fish's Eddy.

5 & 6 -- Some greenery and blooms at the Union Square Market.

P.S. If you couldn't tell, I finally bit the bullet and jumped on the Instagram bandwagon. I hate to admit it, but I feel a strong addiction coming on. Feel free to follow me, here!

Happy Weekend. Happy Brunching.

One of my favorite things about the weekend is that tiny excess of time I finally find myself with to wander into a cozy cafe or favorite local joint for a bite to eat with good friends. After a week of hustle and bustle, there's just something so refreshing about leisurely-paced meals spent fueling your mind & body with wholesome food and long conversation. And as every New Yorker knows, there truly is no better place or way to do so than over brunch.

Needless to say, when I stumbled across this incredible brunch round up by Alice over on her beautiful blog Lingered Upon, I just had to share. Don't these meals almost make you want to skip on ahead to Sunday just so you can start indulging? Oh sweet deliciousness.

So, my fellow New Yorkers, what's the verdict? What's your favorite go-to spot?

Wishing you & yours a wonderful weekend and Happy Brunching ahead.
xo

Girl Walk // All Day.

Holy. Moly. Hello, Friday! Is anyone else as excited as I am for the weekend to finally be here? I'm not sure what combination of factors resulted in this past week feeling like it lasted a lifetime, but I do know how good it feels to have this wonderful weekend ahead to catch up on sleep, get outdoors to enjoy this unseasonably warm weather, and just re--lax. Two. Thumbs. Up.

In an effort to get this weekend off on a good note, I wanted to share this incredible dance project that I found through a friend of mine. Set to the soundtrack of Girl Talk's mash-up album, All Day, Girl Walk//All Day is a feature-length dance music video that follows three dancers through the streets and boroughs of New York as they use the architecture, landscape, and people around them to shape and inspire their collective, day-long mission to spread the joy of movement and dance.

 

The true magic in a public art project of this nature stems from the ways in which the spectators and environment react to and interact with the piece and, as you can imagine, in a city like New York, you just never know what you're going to find.

Take a peek at the trailer below and if you find yourself with some time, swing on over here where you can find all 12 chapters and watch the film in its entirety. (My suggestions? Check out Chapters 3, 4, 8, and definitely 10)

Happy Weekend, everyone!



Official Trailer: Girl Walk // All Day from Girl Walk // All Day

Ballerina Project.

For the past 10 years, photographer Dane Shitagi has been breathing life into an incredible collection of photographs that uniquely juxtapose the innate beauty of two personal sources of his inspiration-- his current hometown of New York City and a handful of its many beautiful & talented ballerinas. While the photographs themselves are worthy of praise alone, for me, it is the unexpected relationship between dancer & landscape that is created and captured within each still that makes Ballerina Project unlike any other collection of photographs that I've ever seen before. I just love the long, graceful lines against the angular architecture of the city landscape; the softness and beauty of the human form against the harshness and grit of an urban environment; and the subtle and natural existence of each dancer in a location that is unexpected in every way.

Shitagi explains-- I tried to take pictures of the ballerinas- not of their dancing. I tried to portray their souls- not their steps. As photographers, we often try to capture 'momentums' without really acknowledging the obvious... the camera can only take stills of something that is in its essence a flow.

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about Ballerina Project hop on over to the project's blog or Facebook page, where you can also view the project's photos in entirety.

To inquire about purchasing limited edition prints of the collection's photos (with a portion of proceeds being given to the photographed ballerina), click here.

Before I Die...

Initially installed as a giant chalkboard on the side of an abandoned house in a New Orleans neighborhood, the Before I Die project was created by artist Candy Chang as a way for her neighbors to take a moment out of their daily lives to remember what matters most-- Before I Die is an interactive public art project that transforms neglected spaces into a constructive place where we can discover the hopes and dreams of the people around us. It is a reminder to ourselves of what is most important to us.

Not surprisingly, this incredible project quickly garnered worldwide acclaim as it began to take root in cities and communities around the world, challenging individuals as it went to join together in documenting a global bucket list of sorts.

Just last month, on a small little street corner only a few blocks from my apartment, native Brooklynites joined the movement. While the project was unfortunately taken down before I could venture over, I came across some photos and wanted to share. Enjoy exploring the dreams and wishes of the many individuals who I have the good fortune of sharing these city streets with--

Right all my wrongs-- Hike the Appalachian Trail-- Fall in love-- Donate over 1 Million Dollars-- Start a family-- Let Fate Decide-- Win the lottery-- Leave a Legacy-- Experience true love-- Win an Oscar-- Be Happy. 

 

 

So how about it, friends? Let's give it a whirl. Before I die I want to _______________________.