food

My week in Instagrams: 11/9/14

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Hello friends! What a week it’s been. Between friend dates and church events, I’ve barely had a spare moment to post to Instagram, let alone this blog. Whoops! As fun as it’s been, I’m looking forward to a shortened work week and some nights in coming up. Meanwhile, here’s a tiny glimpse at the insanity, post-election:

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On Wednesday, I had approximately two hours free in between work and community group. Convenient, since I hadn’t finished the reading for group! I headed to a Starbucks in midtown for my seasonal favorite – the delicious but expensive peppermint mocha – and some reading time.

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Friday was the last Liberty Sisterhood gathering of 2014. Our fearless leader Andi Andrew stood onstage alongside some truly amazing women – including my dear friend Trish, pictured above – to talk about sisterhood and cast vision over our future. It has been such a joy getting to know the amazing women of Liberty and there are such great things to come in 2015!

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Yesterday capped off the week with a night I had been looking forward to for many weeks! My roommate Becca and I bought tickets to Nick Offerman’s standup set at the New York Comedy Festival. Before the show, we headed to a diner in Hell’s Kitchen for breakfast (and beer) for dinner. We try to make Ron Swanson proud whenever we can.

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful and restful weekend!

Follow me on Instagram here.

My week in Instagrams: 10/26/14

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Looking at my Instagram profile over the past week, one might think I am the sort of person who enjoys the “great” outdoors. I assure you I am not that sort of person. I do, however, appreciate how beautiful nature is this time of year, particularly here in the Northeast – orange is my favorite color and for now it is all around!

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Early in the week I spent some quality time with my friend Breanna, whose birthday was yesterday! Bre lives in Park Slope, a neighborhood I had yet to visit, and I might have been late to lunch because I kept stopping to take pictures of the trees.

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Wednesday was one of those days where I had a small amount of time to kill before work, so I decided to  take the train a little further and backtrack through the park. Naturally I got caught in the rain, but somehow this city is still beautiful even when it’s wet.

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On Friday I realized I hadn’t been to the High Line in a while, so I headed there to check out the foliage. Gorgeous, of course.

IMG_2854This week has wrapped up with a visit from my friend Jenny, who I recently visited in Toronto! Yesterday Jenny, Taylor and I headed to the East Village for bottomless brunch at Poco. It was one of those brunches where you completely lose track of what time it is because you’re just having too  much fun. It’s been such a treat to have a bit of a vacation without leaving the city!

What have you been up to? Follow me on Instagram here.

Courtney visits NYC

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Last weekend my dear Courtney came to visit me from Phoenix! It was a very exciting event because although I’ve been lucky enough to see friends as they’ve passed through the city, Courtney was the first to travel to NYC specifically to visit me!

Courtney and I both consider ourselves to be foodies, and since she’d seen most of the tourist attractions on a previous visit with her family, our weekend mostly revolved around trying new restaurants. Here’s a peek at what we got up to!

Vanilla bean doughnut and a cold brew at Doughnut Plant

Vanilla bean doughnut and a cold brew at Doughnut Plant

Friday

Courtney flew in on a red-eye and we hit the ground running! We spent the morning in Chelsea, eating at Doughnut Plant, walking the High Line, browsing the Chelsea Market and roaming the stacks at Strand. After a quick lunch at Whole Foods, we headed back to my Brooklyn apartment to relax.

That night, after spontaneously walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, we made the trek to midtown for happy hour at Southern Hospitality, a country bar founded by Justin Timberlake. Yes, you read that right! It was a fun experience but I wish we hadn’t had to schlep through Times Square to get there! After dinner, we headed to one of my favorite areas – the East Village and Lower East Side – to meet up with a friend of Courtney’s from college and do some bar-hopping.

Roasted duck at DBGB

Roasted duck at DBGB

Saturday

After letting ourselves sleep in on Saturday, we headed to the West Village for brunch at Cafe Cluny! The West Village is my favorite little neighborhood – it’s streets are so quiet and charming that you hardly feel like you’re in the middle of Manhattan.

Saturday night, we got dolled up (along with my roommate Becca!) and headed to dinner at DBGB in the East Village. After dinner and some exploring around lower Manhattan, we celebrated my friend Amanda’s birthday at the Standard Biergarten. I love introducing my new friends in the city to my old friends from back “home!” On our way back to Brooklyn we stopped at Magnolia, the bakery that started the cupcake craze and made famous by Sex and the City.

Tacos and the Manhattan skyline

Tacos and the Manhattan skyline

Sunday

Sunday was by far our busiest day! Courtney, Becca and I started the day by trekking to Red Hook for brunch at Fort Defiance before making our way to Brooklyn Bridge Park for Smorgasburg! Smorgasburg is one of my favorite things about Brooklyn – every weekend local restaurants set up at a park so you can grab your favorite food and enjoy it while admiring the skyline. After we finished our tacos (me) and chicken & waffles (Becca & Courtney), we spent hours just relaxing on the pier, and then migrated to Bryant Park for more of the same. At dinner time we grabbed burgers at Shake Shack (a NYC institution!) and then came back to Brooklyn to meet Courtney’s cousin for a drink at a pub near my apartment. A very full day of food and fun!

9/11 memorial pool

9/11 memorial pool

Monday

On Monday, we made our way to downtown Manhattan to see the 9/11 memorial pools. Neither of us had seen them before and we’re both glad we went (and glad we skipped the new museum). The memorial is extremely poignant and well-done.

After some time of reflection, we wandered down Wall Street before making our way to Herald Square for a cup of coffee at Intelligentsia and a slice of NY pizza near Penn Station. When the afternoon rolled around, Courtney headed off to JFK and I returned to work! The weekend was a whirlwind but such fun to spend quality time with a friend I hadn’t seen since March.

The weekend also kicked off a very busy season! After not leaving NYC since May, I’m ready to hit the ground exploring. I’m off to Toronto for Labor Day weekend, to be followed by a trip to Dallas next month and to Phoenix in December. My mom and her friend are also visiting NYC in October, and I’m so excited to have a better idea of what’s reasonable to fit into a long weekend in the city with visitors!

Myself, Becca and Courtney at the Standard Biergarten

Myself, Becca and Courtney at the Standard Biergarten

Thanks for coming, Courtney!