January 2017 Recap | NJ & NYC

I’ve been waiting a whole month for 2017 to begin. Of course, it’s *officially* begun – I did watch the ball drop while stuffing my face with buffalo chicken bread, but I also haven’t been outside of NJ and NYC since before Thanksgiving. There’s definitely something to be said for being home, drinking hot coffee, and sitting by the woodstove with a puppy in my lap, but I long for adventure. Luckily, adventure awaits me on Saturday for almost six straight weeks. If you’re interested in following along in real time, follow me on Instagram as I’ll be posting a few pictures a day and using Instagram stories to share my travels with you all.

December 2016 | NJ & NYC

Even though I’ve already posted my 2016 Travel in Review post, it would be neglectful for me to not post a December 2016 recap, since my monthly recaps are something I’ve kept up since January. I didn’t visit any new places in December, but I still saw lots of friends and family, and that’s important.

NYC | Christmastime in the City

I’ve typically been a little behind when it comes to Christmas. I hope my family is okay with gifts purchased from Port Authority on Monday night right before I head home. But while my Charlie Brown tree may remain undecorated, my cards unstamped, and the second half of “It’s a Wonderful Life” unwatched, at least I was able to get into the Christmas spirit a little by just walking around the streets of Manhattan this weekend with a friend.

February 2013 Recap

February is one of those months that feels both short and long. Short because of the obvious reason but also that it always feels like it is jam-packed and goes by quickly. Long because it is so damn cold, windy (especially in the AM in Tribeca), and sometimes snowy, and it feels like a lifetime has gone by since I returned from Asia. Here are some highlights not yet seen on the blog.

NYC | Getting into the Spirit

Christmas has somehow crept up on me the last few years. I feel like at one point in my life I was thoughtful and sent out cards, bought gifts on time, and actually decorated my apartment. Because I don’t like to blame myself, I am going to blame my holiday shortcomings as of late on NYC. The city is decorated by November so I usually think “Oh, well I still have weeks to prepare, they just decorate so far in advance” and never realize when Christmas is only a week away because everything has looked the same all season.

Fall 2011 & Winter 2012 Recap

Remember when I gave y’all a mini download of some of my iPhone pics from around the city in August? Now that it is officially Spring, here’s a roundup of some of my favorites from Fall & Winter.

NYC | Ain’t It Thrillin’, Though your Nose Gets a Chillin’

Happy Winter! I just wanted to write a short post to remind you of all the fun things to do in the city this time of year. I have clearly been too busy to actually *do* any of them yet, but luckily, all the holiday stuff will still be here next week when things calm down a little bit, and the rest of the winter will last another few months so I hope to fit it all in. In the meantime, catch up on some of my favorite winter posts from last year.

NYC | Blades of Glory

Today I was able to knock yet another item off my 26 list. This item was also actually on my Holiday To-Do List (President’s Day counts as a holiday, right?!) AND my NYC To-Do List – is that cheating? I had a successful ice skating experience at Citi Pond at Bryant Park this morning!

NYC | Happy 2011!!

Happy New Year! Here are some views of Times Square around noon yesterday. Yes, I was crazy / curious enough to check it out, thinking it might not be so bad 12 hours in advance of the holiday. No worries, I didn’t start any fights with the millions of slow-moving, annoying, loud tourists.

NYC | Over the Hills of Snow

Someone should probably remind me how much I hate the snow. As early as this morning I was panicking (okay, I was FURIOUS) about the forecast for 18 – 24 inches of snow over NYC for the next few days. But as recently as an hour ago, I was walking leisurely for two miles through Bryant Park and Times Square photographing pretty things instead of hopping in a cab or taking the subway.

NYC | Oh, Do You Know, The Gingerbread Man?

Last year at Christmas, I thought it would be a good idea to bring home a Dancing Deer gingerbread house kit from Whole Foods and make it with my sister. I thought it would be delightfully fun and turn out beautifully and it turned out being incredibly stressful and really freaking ugly. Proof is below.

NYC | Yay Holiday Visitors!

Yesterday, Caitlin, Tyler, and I played “tour guide” to some of our friends from school who came up for the day. It was super fun and filled with lots of walking, holiday decorations, and good food (Caitlin always knows *the best* places to get special treats). Julie had two goals of the day, 1) to get Bobby to repropose to her in front of the tree in Rockefeller Center in front of strangers (lol) and 2) go ice skating – which, if you remember, is also on *my* holiday to-do list. Unfortunately, neither of these goals was achieved. Bobby respectfully refused to repropose and we ran into ridiculously long lines at all the ice rinks.

NYC | Shopping Malls are Inside for a Reason…

I don’t have any of my Christmas shopping finished yet. I just *don’t* know what to get all the wonderful people in my life!!! I want to shower them with turtle doves and diamond rings, but I just can’t find anything I really love for them. So today I made the awesome decision on the coldest day of the year so far (is this factual? feels like it) to go check out the outdoor holiday markets in Union Square and Columbus Circle. BAD MOVE! It is way too cold outside to be checking out booths and booths of jewelry, candles, and animal-shaped winter hats (which are pretty freaking cool, let’s be real here).

NYC | Radio City Christmas Cheese-tacular

Two weeks ago, Emily and I indulged our inner 5-year old slash 90-year old selves and went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. I thought the show was going to be more like a Broadway show, with Playbills, strict ‘you will get kicked out if you have a camera’ rules, and an intermission, but it had a dinky little program, was actually very casual, with cameras flashing everywhere, and was a lot shorter and wouldn’t have needed an intermission.