that's the way this wheel keeps working now

Since I have 10 days left of my New York City summer, it has come time to reminisce. While I was on the subway on my home from work today I was thinking about some things that have made me laugh time and again this summer. Which got me thinking about all things...

Things that have made me laugh: (too many to count, but here are highlights)

*"Welcome to Ikea! Look at all these beautiful faces" The woman who welcomed us off of the Ikea ferry (+ Ashley's exceptional imitation of her)

*Conversations with my roommates over dinner (+ Persas) at Vento

*"Your ass is on my arm" A lady I accidentally brushed my bottom against one second too long on the subway

*Inappropriate PDA on the subway, in an "I don't want to look but can't tear my eyes away" kind of way (Sarah and Abby can attest to this)

Things that I've questioned:

*Do I want to be a magazine writer?

*Or do I want to own an art gallery?

*Or do I want to get a masters degree in something useless but totally art-related?

*Where do I want to live post-graduation?

*How the heck do you go about getting a real-world job?

*Why can't I let go and not worry about it?

Things that I missed:

*Having a summer tan

*Swimming in a pool

*Family, friends and loved ones :)

*Singing along with my music

*Bible study

Things that I didn't cherish nearly enough:

*Living in the same city as my brother for possibly the last time

*Having so much art at my fingertips

Things I can't get enough of:

*the High Line

*Brooklyn

*New York brunch

*unexpectedly seeing celebrities (current list: Gayle, Barefoot Contessa, girl from Confessions of the American Teenager, Josh Hartnett, Diane Keaton, Tony Bennett, Molly Shannon)

*being able to get anywhere via public transportation

Things I could have done without:

*All. The. Rain.

Things I loved:

*Busy days at work

*The Brooklyn Art Museum

*The Renegade Arts and Crafts Fair

*Visiting Jonathan in Colorado

*Having visitors here! Abby, Sarah and Jonathan made the city feel more like home

*Reading magazines during my commute

*The cooler weather compared to the blistering heat most of the country was getting

*Trying out living in a city for a few months...I want to do it in a lot of other cities now: Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Denver

--I'll keep adding to this as the days dwindle down. But I want to make this point: I usually worry before I start something new that I won't get out of it everything that I wanted. And maybe I did or maybe I didn't, but I feel like my time here is coming to its rightful end and the thought of being home is lovely and perfect. I'm not feeling anxiety about not checking everything off of my list, I'm feeling blessed with all that 11 short weeks have held.

dear blog,

i will update you soon. i promise.

with love,

a lazy writer

telephones, they can't replace me with you, face to face

{There I go stealing lyrics again. Thank you, Matt Wertz, With You Tonight}

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend the 4th of July with Jonathan in beautiful Colorado. After a tiring & delayed day of travel on Friday evening, I made it to Denver. Saturday night we ate breakfast at Boulder's great farmer's market and walked along Pearl Street (think downtown Columbia...with mountains in the distance). We headed to Estes Park in the afternoon with hopes of finding a campsite in Rocky Mountain National Park. The tour guide information lady laughed when we asked what the chances were of finding a campsite (on the 4th of July)...but we got one of the last ones (so ha, lady!) After setting up camp (in the rain...) we drove to one of the nearby lakes and caught a beautiful rainbow and tranquil beauty surrounding this lake. It was so calming and just lovely. Then we headed back to Estes Park to catch the fireworks show along the lake. We saw some elk hanging out on the golf course along the way. No big. 

Woke up to beautiful sunny weather on Sunday and drove all through RMNP. We stopped at so many lookouts that the beauty of it all has kind of blurred in my mind. Hopefully the pictures that follow can do this weekend more justice than my words. Simply said, it was a wonderful break that was much needed. A break in all kinds of ways: a break from city life, a break from getting dressed up (and wearing makeup or doing my hair...ah camping:)) & a break from a long-distance relationship. 

rainbow: check. bench: check. mountains, lake, trees & perfection: check.

Jonathan's internship local

fireworks (Jonathan and his digital SLR took this one)
to me it kind of looks like the background is too perfect and we're photoshopped in (also jonathan's)
looky there, leave no trace!
"I could really go for an elk today" said Jonathan as we left the campsite. I think these will do the trick. I kind of wanted to take one home with me.

Big Colorado sky that Leigh Anne loves (and I clearly see why).

Shameless plug: For more pictures, check out Jonathan's new flickr account.

(One last thing that I do not have a picture for: Josh Hartnett was seated first class on my return flight to New York City. My 7th grade self was freaking out--I used to pull out pictures of him and put them on my door. Ahh celebrity crushes)

hoping I would see the world with both my eyes

{I notoriously overuse favorite quotes, lyrics, songs...I'm guilty of it, and I admit it. So here again, in this blog title,  I am stealing the words of John Mayer's 3X5. When other people say what you're thinking, why not say it again?}

Not to contradict myself (and the previous post) but rather to shine some new found joy to my life here in New York City: I have had a great past two WEEKdays (and today it even rained!) God answered my prayers to help me see His purpose for me throughout the week. Work has picked up and I feel like I'm doing substantial things that help the magazine. And that feels GREAT. 

Now to be perfectly honest, maybe my good mood has a little something to do with the fact that... Friday I get to see Jonathan. After 6+ weeks apart (longest time yet) we're spending the 4th of July weekend together in Boulder where he's interning. Yeah, ok, so that has a huge impact on my cheeriness. But the first reason does as well!

Tonight after work I was literally craving a good read. But I have yet to finish the book I started at the beginning of the summer (David Sedaris' Naked---which is not a testament to the book's quality, I just have rare instances of being in the reading mood). So I bought New York Magazine at Borders and can't wait to curl up with it after dinner. I need to learn more about this summer home of mine if I'm going to label myself a temporary non-tourist. 

(But speaking of tourist: Sunday night I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with my two roommates and a friend. It was absolutely perfect weather for it and a very memorable "touristy" thing to do while here.)

It's sad how drastically my mood and feelings toward the city change once it's 1) the weekend & 2)sunny. Every weekend I re-fall in love with this place I'm calling home for a summer. It's because during the week my routine is redundant: go to work, come home, sleep (I sound like I'm way too old for my age). So the weekend finally gives me those moments to discover things, explore, soak in beautiful and exciting things. Not to mention that when it's not raining you can see more than when your umbrella is hovering over your view.

Today I explored Chelsea. Last night I mapped out some galleries to visit after brunch with Deborah. We ate at Empire Diner, an authentic diner that was converted from an old Pullman car (aka train car). Delicious French toast. And great company:)

From there we visited the waterfront of the Hudson River which was beautiful with sunshine and warmth.

I read an article in the New York Times this week about an apartment that faces the new High Line park that has occasional live performances on its fire escape. I was intrigued. And once I looked up the High Line, I was even more intrigued. It was a railway constructed in the '30s to lift freight trains off the streets. Now, it's a mile & a half long elevate urban park. It's amazing how people dream up alternative uses for rundown spaces. It was a really unique experience-I can't say I've ever been on an elevated park. 

so you have a sense of where it is in reference to the street.

i call this 'growth among the rundown.' to me it kind of symbolizes the entire park: reclaiming natural beauty from something that hasn't been in use or appreciated in decades.

this is the fire escape from the New York Times article.

Then we visited countless art galleries along 10th & 11th avenues and from 22nd Street to 27th. When I say countless, I'm serious. Galleries pretty much exist back to back, door after door. It's amazing. Here are just some of the favorite things I saw in a few of them:

what are people waiting in line for inside of an art gallery?

this. lights hanging from the ceiling in a small room surrounded by mirrors and an inch of water around a standing platform. it was a bizarre feeling seeing these lights going on forever every which way around you.

yes, i like tree paintings.

and glass bottle collections.

and dogs in galleries! :)

and wings with a cool light effect.

and giant pumpkin sculptures on the side of the street. 

We concluded the afternoon with gelato at Grom Gelato farther uptown. (And then I had gelato again after dinner with Ashley's parents tonight. I might as well be in Italy).

p.s. I've said this before, but the random interesting architecture I stumble upon in this city is breathtaking. 

I've been itching to blog for days now but either didn't have a moment to do so or was to tired when the moment rolled around. So here comes a recap, I hope it does the days justice.

Friday, June 18

*My editor was gone from Good Housekeeping but I had the neat assignment of looking through decades and century old copies of Good Housekeeping. Next May will mark the 125 year anniversary of the magazine (let that set in for a second...125 years) so they'd like to do a special feature for next Christmas that involves past crafts. I wish I could spend days looking through every single issue, especially from the years surrounding WWII. The assignment reminded me that there's truth in saying that newspapers and magazines are records of history. You can be told about how people lived in WWI & II, but it's a completely different, tangible thing to be able to look at the advertisements and stories that were relevant and important to people at the time (ex. "Won't be able to have a real Christmas tree this year?" "It's harder to plan meals these times"). This is where I would insert images of pages I scanned, but I hear my communication law teacher's voice in the back of my head talking about copyright laws...so I'll refrain.

*My parents were in town for my dad's cousin's wedding. Friday night we went out to eat at Pipa Tapa's Bar in the Flatiron District which is next to a huge furniture store I need to check out some other time named ABC Carpet & Home. The food was great. For dessert, I finally tried a place I read about in my guidebook called Max Brenner: Chocolate By the Bald Man. DELICIOUS. (Abby & Sarah, prepare to eat here :) ).

The crepe I had.

Great finale to the night.

"Oh love, when it rains it's sure to pour..."

Saturday, June 20

*I love New York, really. But the rain is starting to get to me. I heard this will probably be the wettest June New York City has seen in quite a few years. Of course. Saturday my parents took my roommate Amanda and I to lunch. I wanted to show them my beloved Brooklyn, but the rain managed to even ruin my romanticized perfect view of Brooklyn. I suppose it's for the best. I can't have it on too high of a pedestal now can I? I still love it, no worries. Then we attempted to escape the wet crowded streets (that really were making me wish I was anywhere but here) but going to see Whatever Works, a new Woody Allen movie. It was funny, also predictable at parts because it played upon a lot of stereotypes, especially about the south. But overall, it was something to keep us indoors, entertained and dry.

When you're here, you're family

Sunday, June 21

*Happy Father's Day! We had brunch at one of my new favorite restaurants in NYC which changes menu/name/decor with each season. So currently, it is Park Avenue Summer. We had brunch with my brother's good friend and his family. It was a really great early afternoon and further developed my love for New York's brunch tradition.

The menu featured Fruit Loops as an appetizer option. My brother felt the need to try it. He said they were good. What was special? Lemon grass milk and fresh fruit added.

*The rest of Sunday was spent in Queens. My dad has an aunt and two cousins who live there. Ester was the one getting married. 

My attempt to capture our adventurous walk to the church. Queens is not very pedestrian friendly in its roads. But thankfully we found a woman who went to school at the church we were trying to find so our sixth attempt at getting directions was successful.

The beautiful bride and groom. And the fella in the right corner is who I will stereotypically Jacques. He is a French photographer Ester specially flew in for her wedding. He was a riot though. The things he did to try to capture moments just couldn't be taken seriously. Here he asked the groom to toss the umbrella down for "wonderful picture." The umbrella flopped down on the ground. 

These two were high school sweethearts, broke up, and found their way to each other after so many years. So sweet. Their first dance was to "At Last," so fitting:)

My lovely mom.

Beautiful Manhattan skyline from the restaurant in Queens where the reception was held, Water's Edge.

My parents. Such good-looking people.

My dad dancing with his aunt. 80 years old and she couldn't stop saying she wanted to get out there and dance.

Goodnight, Manhattan.

oh, it is love

[[Sorry if this post seems scatter-brained and not following one direct line of thought. It's because I am and it doesn't.]]

I spent another lovely (most overused word in this blog? perhaps) day in Brooklyn. I went to the Brooklyn Museum of Art after brunch with Kelly. I think because a) I didn't really know what to expect from the museum & b) it was the first time in a while I paid a ticket to visit a museum, it was pure bliss. Pure bliss, I tell ya. 

I think the biggest "Oh my gosh moment" came when I realized that the museum housed Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party." I've studied this work in practically every art history class since high school. It's a key work in feminist art, as she creates a figurative dinner party seating mythical women as well as many of history's notable women. It's a room-size triangular table, with 39 place settings on each of the three sides. The tiles underneath the table have 999 signatures of other great women from history. Or should I say, "herstory." Chicago went so far in making her point about feminism that she refers to the heritage of women from the past as "her"story rather than "his"tory. It's a huge work of art (literally and figuratively) and I'm so glad after years of discussing it in classrooms I finally saw it in person.

An example of a place setting: a frilly little thing for Ms. Emily Dickinson.

Next, there was a wonderful exhibit of Gustave Caillebotte, now a new favorite Impressionist artist. 

There were too many unexpected jewels I found, too, but I just absolutely loved the museum as a whole. It had so much variety, for one thing. Its exhibits ranged from modern, to Islamic, from jewelry to sculpture and architecture.

[[Here's where the train of thought goes off on it's own.]]

I feel like God's hand was tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "See how you're happy right now and full of thoughts and a million questions about people and life? THIS is what I have planned for you. THIS is what I know you need in your life, in your future. So stop being so worried about what it is you want to do. Because I know your heart and where your gifts can be used." 

At least that's what I hope he was telling me. Because when I'm surrounded by art, or reading about art, or studying it, or writing about it, I just think about the world more deeply, more creatively, in a hard-to-describe kind of way that gives me an excitement and peace like no other thing. I think so much can be learned from a work of art--I fall back on this quote time and again but I find it to say so much of what I think: "Through art alone are we able to emerge from ourselves, to know what another person sees of a universe which is not the same as our own."-Marcel Proust

Until next time, Brooklyn. You never disappoint me.