That weekend I did allll the things in NYC.

i had all intentions of posting this on Monday but chilled out in the Monday blues for a bit too long, which totally hijacked that plan, and then got so busy yesterday that i didn’t have time! but here i am — hi, friends!

so, the good news: i stayed in NYC this weekend and had a non-stop, fun-filled run-around weekend chocked full of awesome people, places & things.
the bad news: back to the non-weekend life was rough.

so, here’s a recap of my non-stop weekend of wonderful places, people & things:

Friday: i took a vacation day (makes alllll the difference to have Fridays free!) because my fun California friend who we (we being me and everyone who knows him through me) affectionately (& appropriately) call Manbun came to visit. i love having friends in town, especially in the nice weather, because i get the chance to play tourist in my own city and bop around all over the place. as expected, we did sooooo many things while he was here, so prepare yourself for photo overload.

you know what’s better than having friends from California? having friends from California who are photographers. i think i’d be totally fine with someone following me around and photo documenting my life.

in a camera store, because that’s where photographers hang out when they visit new cities, duh.

the tricky thing about photographers is that they can make you look better in photos than you do in real life. i’ll take it. 🙂

The Highline. there’s a fantastic exhibit on it right now called The Collectivity Project by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson (such a dope last name, no?), which is essentially a whole little sectioned-off area boasting tables with thousands of white legos begging visitors to play architect and leave their marks.

Mets vs. Dodgers game. this was my first time at Citifield in a few years, and i forgot how beautiful this stadium is. my friend is a crazy Dodgers fan, so this was the perfect “while in NY” birthday gift for him, and we ended up with a gorgeous night for a baseball game.

Saturday: woke up & ran 9 miles (i needed that — more running chat later this week, mmmkay?) and then trekked over to one of my newly favorite neighborhoods: Williamsburg, BK. man, i love that little hipster town.

here’s my favorite shot of the day: my acro modeling debut against an awesome “DREAM” mural on a random side street.

i take zero credit for the concept, but Hundo P credit for the ups. 🙂

3 places we went in Williamsburg (&i’d recommend them all):

Sweatshop cafe & design shop. so minimalist, so elemental, so Australian, so dope. loved this little place.

Radegast Hall & Biergarten. such a happening spot on Saturday afternoons! a band i really like was playing, and it turns into an all-out dance party where everyone just can’t help but have the best time. i love when life is like that.

Crown Victoria. i don’t have any pix of this place, but it has a really sweet outdoor space out back with a “backyard BBQ” sort of vibe, complete with food/drink trucks and picnic tables. we saw a bachelor party all dresses as superheroes, which was awesome. really great chill spot.

we capped off our action-packed Saturday with dinner at Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village, which is a really hip & popular place to which i’ve never gone before. i wasn’t sure i’d be that into it, but it was the one restaurant he really wanted to try…and it was really good. (i was also starving at this point, but it was seriously good!)

we split these 3 things:
shiitake buns: hoisin, scallion, cucumber

corn appetizer: pickled tomatillo, pepitas, oregano

hozon ramen bowl: scallion, chickpea, kale

i honestly would have never ended up here on my own and had zero idea what to order or expect, so i was happy to let him order (thankfully he chose all vegetarian = brownie points for that), and he did a great job, as all the dishes were great. the chickpeas and kale combo was fantastic.

Sunday:

Bemelman’s Bar at the Carlyle Hotel. we swung through here after church specifically to check out this amazing spot where author/artist Ludwig Bemelman’s of the Madeline children’s books fame transformed the walls of the bar with his artwork. it was truly a magical, whimsical spot to which i can’t wait to return.

we went during off hours and simply walked around, and i had a sort of “moment” there, in the empty, classic bar with the magical walls telling tales of a fairytale NYC that feels so untouched and sacred. i do believe i could have stayed there with a journal or book for hours and had a renewal of the soul in that tuck-away of a lovely spot.

Central Park. walking around Central Park on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the summertime, watching the miniature sailboats on the pond and feeling the overflowing happiness of simply being — i should do well to have more of these things in my life.

and yes — i am as in love with the world in that photo as you could possibly imagine that girl to be.

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