maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to lose my way with words

  

1. Beautiful Bryant Park. I want to read here everyday. It's behind the public library, afterall. I can't wait for movies in Bryant Park to start in June.

2. Nobody was ready for this picture. But Walter graduated from Columbia Law, hoorah! Such a lovely, proud day.

3. Welcome to Central Park in the summertime. Also known as: everyone's backyard.

4. Our family spent the day on Long Island and in Southampton with my brother's girlfriend's family. It was quite chilly on the beach, but so pretty nonetheless.

5. Amanda and I rode the subway to Brooklyn to make sure she knew where one of her internships is located. I like Brooklyn, a lot! All of the three whole blocks I saw. Here we are enjoying the gelato we found in a cute granola and snack shop.

6. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is *free* from 4-8 on Fridays. It therefore resembles more of a shopping mall atmosphere with massive crowds of people and chitter chatter. I don't want to criticize the way other people experience art, but I feel like there's a certain museum etiquette of respect and generally quieter talking that is expected. That said, I'm in love with MoMA. I only made it through 3 1/2 floors, with van Gogh still to see on the last floor. Needless to say, you'll know where to find me every Friday this summer (I'll be the one with headphones drowning out the crowds).

Broadway is dark tonight

I've been wanting to blog for so long! But I didn't have internet at the hotel...and my brother's internet has been spotty. But here I am.

I am so ready to get set into a routine. I feel like I'm currently a nomad, wandering from one place to the next. I just want to be moved into my apartment (which happens tomorrow) and feel like I know my way around. 

But here's a recap of what I've gotten to do thus far:

-Great dinners with my brother's friends and family for his graduation; beautiful outdoor graduation at Columbia.

-Central Park, Magnolia cupcakes, more great eating.

-Saturday on Long Island with my brother's girlfriend's family; drive to Southampton, shopping around, walk on the beach

-Celebrity sightings: Kanye West, Chris Cuomo (from Good Morning America), an NBA bball player (Marbury?)...pretty sure I saw one of the finalists from Make Me a Super Model (the girl with short white blonde hair)

-Afternoon at the Met today: it was my first time going solo to a museum but I loved it, experiencing art is a personal thing so it doesn't really matter if there's people there or not. I didn't jam in the whole museum 'cause that would be exhausting, so I plan to go back this weekend or later this summer. I saw a really interesting Francis Bacon exhibit and a model/fashion exhibit.

Can't wait to settle in with my roommates tomorrow. Off to Whole Foods to figure out something for dinner.

"I wanna be a part of it..."

"...New york new york."

I am in the KCI airport waiting to board my flight to Dallas where I'm meeting my parents in the airport as we take the same flight to NYC.

Summer in New York: it still hasn't hit me. Saying bye to Jonathan just now I tried to fool myself to think it will only be a month, not three, that we won't see each other. Didn't work.

"Airports see it all the time...Someone's last goodbye blends in with someone's sigh."

I'll be double fisting journals this summer. I wanted to keep a good 'ol fashioned journal on top of this blog, so hopefully I keep up with it.

Well my group's about to board...'Til next time, happy summer :)

we went camping last night, despite the forecast for strong thunderstorms.

but i'm glad we did.

we set up the tent (that's jonathan's amazing new one!) before any sign of rain and got to enjoy a nice campfire with chats and s'mores.

and then God amazed us with his light show. watching lightning in the distance and feeling the thunder roll felt surreal. is it cheesy to say i felt more alive? ok, well label me cheesy then. once the rain did start gently falling, i was reluctant to get in the tent right away. i found myself spinning around, enjoying the feeling of raindrops on my face, light bursts in the sky, and the ground trembling from thunder. His power was awesome and tangible. 

i like to think that if i wasn't studying journalism, i would be taking classes to be an architect. when i really think about it, about the math that goes into it(i don't hate math, i just don't care to learn it past a certain everyday usable point) and the nitty gritty less glamorous planning that is involved, i probably like the idea of being an architect based off of idealized and romanticized ideas. nevertheless, i'm an admirer of architecture for certain.

this semester i took my first architecture art history course. i really loved it because it was a new way to think about art.

i'm intrigued by the role architecture plays in our everyday lives. the mundane role it has in housing grocery stores, banks, stores, gas stations, and plenty of other buildings we overlook on a daily basis. but even those buildings have a history and a place to fill. 

office buildings can seem mundane, but sometimes they're the most fascinating works of architecture. take the Willis Faber Dumas Building in England for instance. ok it's curvy and reflective during the day.

but at night! it's like a glow worm! i'm fascinated at how this building looks completely different based on the time of day it's seen in.

another fascinating aspect of architecture is the impact it tries to have on the earth it occupies. take green buildings for instance, like this one in Japan.

there is grass planted on the rooftops for recreation area, as well as a great insulation and cooling agent for the building itself.

this weekend i was reminded of just how much your surroundings impact your mood. we spent the weekend at an amazing lake house (cutely named Cedar Lodge) that was right by the ozark lake. it was a cabin-like house, completely decked out in characteristic wooden bar stools, bear paintings, exposed wood and stone fire place. all things that on a daily basis i wouldn't appreciate or find comfort in. but this weekend, for three days of relaxation, that house was a respite place. it was cozy, warm, homey. and its setting was perfect.

it reminded me of pilgrim churches i've studied before. these churches tend to be in remote areas where traveling to them is no easy task. there's usually rough terrain, with long uphill hikes. but then the church is like heaven waiting for you at the end of the difficult journey. well this cabin was a small mimicking example of that. the drive there was confusing at times and a bit unnerving, but arriving at the home was wonderfully perfect.