Hello! Happy 19 days into the New Year :)
Hope you are happy + healthy. It feels good to start writing again, no matter what it sounds like, it’s just a good reminder to do a lil brain exercise. Missed u!
Destination: somewhere in the Catskill Mountains, coincidentally on a trail in Twilight Park
I Uber-ed to LGA to put down my credit card on our $68 rental car that the other two neglected to bring. It was a start to the kind of day I wasn’t prepared for, but the days have ways of surprising you.
I sat in the backseat of our Nissan Altima that wasn’t cleaned for us so I didn’t feel bad eating my sausage egg and cheese with lots and lots of ketchup straight from the packet.
It’s difficult for me to engage in ongoing conversation while sitting in the backseat because it’s usually that the music is too loud and the front seat passengers are generally soft spoken, but I was okay to disengage every now and then.
The world of Brooklyn was far behind us and I was on a journey with a friend I had, until this point, only spent time with in the office or at our ultimate tabata classes, and her roommate, who I had met for 1 second once before. Through the music (she was playing Wiz Khalifa) I heard her (the roommate) say that she no longer says the “N-word” because she used to say it when it was in songs, but her friend called her out and said it was hurtful. I learned she’s from Texas.
It was a crriiiisssp 30 degrees and I was only wearing one (1) layer of leggings and generally ill prepared for a hike in this! climate!
It was an easy-to-moderate trail, a perfect level for getting to know someone while experiencing new ground together. I learned about her family, the tips we learned from our Asian grandparents on how to make rice, and high school obsessions (both are of One Direction/Twilight/Justin Bieber cultures).
Destination: Woodstock, NY in the hopes to see the dairy field where the festival took place. Turned out we were approx. 30 miles shy of it but instead found a log cabin of a bar with stained glass windows and marvelous chandeliers, an unexpected but perfect juxtaposition.
It was surprisingly a town filled with young people. Maybe it was the long weekend that brought them in and drove off the old hippies we were hoping to hang out with. The two hottest people in town worked at this bar and I imagined what their lives were like here.
Dinner at Yum-Yum noodle housed conversations like: would you be able to fall in love with an alien? Have sex with one? If you could only choose to have 1 of the 5 senses what would it be?
Destination: Brooklyn, NY where we returned home as friends.
A compilation of standouts ranging from Dec til now:
My very good friends Kristen + Daniel getting ENGAGED I could still cry. I remember the very beginning days of when they started dating :’)
My 27th birthday- it was heartwarming that basically everyone I know in NY was in one room getting to know each other <3
Zack Fox concert at Irving Plaza. We have the same birthday, I DM’ed him to get free tickets but failed :/
The Thierry Mugler exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum
This dog staring out his/her Upper East Side loft and saying hello
Several rounds of yut-nori, a Korean game we play during the holidays purely based on the player’s luck. Throw in $10 and some soju for an elevated experience.
“What If This Were Enough?” a book of essays by Heather Havrilesky
The great outdoors
My friend’s pup refusing to move while I made the bed but made for a cute pic
An early dinner (5:30 perfect dinner time) at Kiki’s in LES. Must get the zucchini chips + fava dip
Byeeee
<3 Hailey