The Things I Miss About New York

Ever since I moved out of New York City, I can't help but get nostalgic sometimes especially when summer begins to peek its head. While the Philadelphia suburbs have been great and also very close to a city themselves, nothing beats New York City (sorry friends!). Below are the things about New York City that have me daydreaming lately...

1. Working with what you got.

Everyone owns whatever they have in the most sincere and genuine way possible. Whether it's their attitude, style or tiny apartment they pay too much for - not only does no one apologize if these things are simple or outrageous but they make it look good and completely respectable. I always got the feeling that people were exactly who they were from the moment you met them (note: I have a boyfriend so this may be different in the dating scene) and if you didn't like them it was okay, no one would be mad about it, everyone would move on and share a drink the next weekend. Additionally, no one will ever be able to beat the interior design and lifestyle hacks of someone who lives in New York City. 

2. Walking everywhere. 

Even when you're bored or have no money, walking around New York brings the same feelings and culture as a night out. You can walk from different neighborhoods to different boroughs, over bridges, by water, past unique shops and, of course, restaurants and bars to jot down once you get your paycheck. There's also Central Park and Prospect Park, which offer the most beautiful green settings in the industrial park that is New York. My favorite place to walk will always be around the West Village weaving between Morton and Barrow then down the piers overlooking the Hudson River. Oh how I miss the sunsets from there and running more and harder than ever before due to the mass amount of runners who look like they just left the Nike ad on Broadway. All in all, I've never had better conversations than on a walk with friends. 

3. The coffee.

Oh, the coffee, THE COFFEE! From Prodigy and The Smile to Gorilla and Blue Bottle...I have yet to find a coffee shop in this here parts that competes with the mass amount of excellent coffee shops with exceptional atmospheres. I would do anything for a Prodigy iced coffee to start my mornings again. 

4. The competitive drive.

This kind of breeds off of number one...Although this part of New York chewed me up and spit me out, I learned the most from it. There is an underlying competitive drive to New York. It's fast-paced, energetic and if you can't match it, you'll feel a little defeated. Now, I hope you aren't picturing people acting like wolves and tearing their teeth into one another. It's not like that, well it might be but that's not what I want to talk about. What I mean is everyone is doing amazing things, they know they are and they always have their eyes on the prize. Everyone has a new thought, a new business, or a new handbag and chance are they will get all of the above. When you're in New York, you're surrounded by the most driven and focused people you will ever interact with. It's a kind of environment that you either feed off or can shove you to the back of the pack. 

5. The amount of bouquets you walk by on the street. 

I mean, they're flowers, do you really need an explanation?

6. Listening to music. 

Music becomes something completely different when its listened to walking up from the subway stairs, through the East Village or across the Brooklyn Bridge...it just does, I can't explain it. 

While I am very happy out here in the suburbs, these are the things that I just miss about New York added upon the rooftop bars, food, fashion and mainly summer time. What are the unique things that you love about your city?

Sunday Morning Treats.

It's been a while Blogger and whomever is still reading this blog. Since my last post in January and quite a few things have changed. In July, I moved out of New York City and settled in to the suburbs of Philadelphia to begin a new job. While New York City will always have my heart, I am quickly learning to love Philly so, I hope that you will all stay with me while I track my new encounters. While I get my encounters in order to share, read on for some Sunday morning treats to lay in bed with as you sip your coffee. 

Watch this: Have you seen the new The North Face commercial? If not, you must watch it but beware it will leave you with unsettling wanderlust. For me, this is how a commercial is done - it does not over sell the product, has amazing music (that you can buy with proceeds going toward the Peace Corps.), multiple shots of skiing, and urges the audience to do something. I tilt my hat to you, The North Face.  

And this: What you really think when you run into an ex...

Collection of work: The new Todd Hido book. 

Breaking up is hard to do: via The New York Times.

Network, network, network: As a new Philly girl trying to grow her network - I could not be more excited about The Hive. I mean, what is more powerful than smart, ambitious females surrounded by each other in exposed brick and drinking free coffee...barely anything. Membership is now open! 

In case you were wondering: Here is how to properly hashtag cat sightings in Philly. 

Bookmark: The most highlighted passages from our favorite books via Kindle data. 

Burn notice: These candles (enough said). 

Sing-a-long: Careful You by TV On the Radio 

Enjoy your Sunday! 

Sweet Somethings.

Look at you, you made it to Monday again and just in time for the new weekly post, "Sweet Somethings." Each Monday, I'll supply you with a list of things that have made my heart dance in the past few days and hopefully make a case of the Mondays disappear.

+ Speaking of sweet...a new study has found that love makes things taste sweeter 

+ Free People has added love stories as a new category on their blog 

+ Kendrick perfected my favorite song to spin to 

+ Zooey Deschanel has teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger for a new line of dresses 

+ Indoor tents from Etsy

+ Brooklyn just created their own Shuffleboard Club 

+ Kittens and Kale

+ Last day of Madewell's extra 40% sale items 

+ Finally, my favorite quote from last night's GIRLS episode:

"If you died the world would blur. I wouldn't know what a tree was." -Adam 

The Train Seat.

Hello Sunday night, we meet again. While I giggle over Jonah Hill's SNL episode and pick my favorite outfit out from the Grammy's, I thought I would share a little piece of writing I did this weekend. Yesterday, I woke up early to take the train to my parent's house for the night. I absolutely love spending the weekend away and catching up with myself. It's nice to be out of the city and listen to your thoughts and play with adorable cats. So, for the first time in a very long time, I wrote a little something-something while traveling. (Side note: I think trains may be my favorite way of transportation.)

I wonder who sat in this seat just the other day - who saw the things I’m seeing, who passed the same stops I’m passing and who smelled the horrible smell of the train’s burning tar that I am smelling now. Do you think they were on their computer too? Maybe reading a book that made them think about the person who makes their heart skip a beat? Were they happy to be leaving and then arriving or were they wishing the train could turn around?

I wonder if they saw the same creek I just saw and thought about the one behind their childhood home they used to jump in when it was warm and how there was always a deep green frog dancing along the edges.

Maybe it was a couple sitting in this love seat on the train going to meet the girlfriends’ parents for the weekend in Princeton.  I bet the boyfriend said something really funny and had the girlfriend laughing loud enough for the boyfriend to start giggling and telling her “shhhh, everyone’s looking,” but the more she held the louder the laughter got. Finally, they both managed to pull it together and sit quietly holding hands with little smirks on opposite edges of their mouth, creating an illusion of a big smile when they put their heads together.  

Perhaps it was a child who sat in this seat. It was the child’s first train ride and every little movement made the child gasp and smile. Each time another train passed the window the child's hands would stick to the window as if they could touch the train. 

Maybe, it was each and every one of these people at different times of the day and finishing off with a girl in a green beanie writing all about them. 

One More Rep

On Monday night, my best friend, Katelyn aka Bucks, and I made a vow to put the wild child in the corner for a bit and trade one more round of beers for one more rep of workouts. I always wanted to live a very healthy lifestyle filled with spinning classes, hiking excursions and killer boot camps. I also really want to spend the summer rocking a Mara Hoffman bikini. So, what better time than now, right? Right!

The first step was trading in my empty refrigerator for shelves filled with vegetables and healthier choices. I've always loved to eat healthy and have a soft spot for all things vegan, but lately I have found myself ordering out bar food and living off mass amounts of pasta. Sorry Seamless, but it's time to close my account. One trip to Trader Joe's and I was on my way to making my refrigerator look like a rainbow. I packed up on brussel sprouts (favorite!), kale, mushrooms, peppers, greek yogurt, nuts, asparagus, eggplant and so many other scrumptious gifts from earth. I also kept some goodies like tons of cheese (now, you know why I'm not still vegan).

The second step was figuring out how I like to work out and beginning a routine to keep me focus. I have always been a fan of high impact cardio classes such as kickboxing, boot camp and cycling as they keep my mind off of what my body is doing and always have amazing soundtracks. So, I began Insanity for the third time in my life. My college roommates and I accomplished about a month of it and I never felt better and dare I say, looked better. Insanity is very much so insane, but its the type of work out I love with no mercy and even more squats. Beyond Insanity, I plan on incorporating more spinning classes and outdoor runs and hikes to keep boredom away.

The third step was beginning to blog about changing my lifestyle so, I could definitely not whimp out. Although I'm not sure who reads this thing...

Additionally, be sure to check out Katelyn's blog here:  Classically Prepped. It's a wonderful sweet and girly lifestyle blog about all things fashion, running and healthy cooking. 

Shameless Girls

I'm not sure my body can control any more excitement after the return of HBO's Girls and Showtime's Shameless. These are my definitely my two favorite shows outside of anything that is reality television (I'm such a sucker). Both premieres expanded the characters I always wanted expanded and kept the others exactly where they should be.

For example, have we ever seen so much Shoshanna in one episode like we did in "Truth or Dare?"Not only did we just see her, but we got to hear what really goes on in her head from eating off a fluffy pillow to being smitten by Adam calling Hannah his best friend. Speaking of, I love that Adam and Hannah are back together but do you think it will last? I hope so but in the world of Girls nothing can stay together for too long (see: Marnie). I've never been quite sure about Jessa because she is such a free spirit that it frustrates me when she is sad or not using rehab to her full potential. I need time for that review.

As for Shameless it was a little bit of a slow start to the season but it can only pick up! I miss Steve/Jimmy already, crave more Lip at home than Lip at school and wish Debbie all the best with her new arcade boyfriend.

I also think the marketing team of these shows are both absolutely brilliant to have the shows available on YouTube. It's good to see companies understanding their target audiences and their bank accounts.


What did you think of last night's premieres?

Also, you go Judd, Jenni and Lena! Read here why.

Pieces & Poems

Do you ever find yourself missing a piece of yourself? I do. For me, it is how creative I was in high school. I was always out taking photographs, reading new books, finding new music and, mostly, writing poetry. I loved poetry so much that I barely went a day without writing a poem or two. I kept my poems in a leather bound journal with JOURNAL scripted on the front and a golden touch on the side of the pages. Once that journal was full, I began writing on the pages of a suede journal I had found on the street in New York City (thrifty, I know). However, once I left high school I never looked back at the suede journal again. It is almost as if I hit the stop button on my poetry.

My poems were about everything from Bob Dylan to a boy I spent the weekend with at the Jersey Shore to Jackson Hole. I remember my poems hanging up in my then-boyfriends room, published in the student poetry journal and recognized by Rutgers University and poetry festivals (yes, they have those).These moments were thrilling and wonderful and are very much missed, yet each time I set myself down to write I cannot think of a single word to even start with. Which brings me to ask do you think some pieces of us just stay in the past because they were so wonderful in those certain moments? Or maybe we just put our energy towards something else to create new pieces?

On that deep note, I leave with the work of one my most loved poets, Richard Brautigan:

ALL GIRLS SHOULD HAVE A POEM

            For Valerie

All girls should have a poem
written for them even if
we have to turn this God-damn world
upside down to do it.

            New Mexico
            March 16, 1969