I Just Might Explode

go to ellis island. done.

One of the things on my 'fourty before twenty' list was to go to Ellis Island. I had originally planned to do this when Steph was here, but we ended up at Battery Park completely unenthused over the massive line for the ferries. So that day we headed uptown instead, but it's bugging me since that I didn't go.

Then I started seeing fliers around campus for a free trip to Ellis Island, so I asked on Facebook if anyone wanted to come with me and my lovely friend Aleks said yes! We headed out in the blistery, cold weather today and experienced some awesome tourist people watching. 

Inside the registery room:

One of the reasons I wanted to go so much was that my grandparents came through Ellis Island in the 40s when they left the Netherlands and I wanted to go for that experience. We were able to find their names on the Memorial thingy. ("Teunis G. Van Manen family"), so that was neat!

Outside the building, waiting for the ferry back to Battery Park. It was cold and windy! Bleh.

And then some beauitful blooming trees at Battery Park afterward:

A lovely day! But, I'm glad to be back in my warm dorm room. Sipping on the coffee I got in the city and listening to Sleeping at Last while it storms outside. Just about perfect.

a warm day in the city.

Last Friday the weather was in the 60s. It was amazing. The weather in New York and Boise are practically the same(except New York gets more exciting snow storms), but since I walk everywhere here, I am so much more aware of the cold than I was in Idaho. I'm not an outdoorsy person, so the only cold I experienced in Idaho was between my house to my car and then my car to school. Here I walk to the subway, grocery store, to meals, and my classes. So, after my Art History class last Friday Alli and I went into the city and the warmth felt so nice. I was in heaven.

I mentioned to Patty once that I love fries and she totally me I would love Pommes Frites. And oh my, was she right! They sell amazing belgians fries and all these crazy sauces. Alli and I went to the East Village to try them out and we looooved.

Alli and I went over to Chelsea because she wanted to show me in the inside of the Hotel Chelsea. I fell in love with hotel and really want to stay there someday. Afterwards we did some gallery hopping and headed up to the Highline.

Alli being a cutie goofball:

You can see the outfit I wore that day in this post.

We went to the Justin Bieber movie afterwards and then headed back to Brooklyn much to the happiness of my high-heeled feet.

oh, love.

When I say I had a best(and too short!) weekend ever, I mean it. I had the best weekend ever.

I took a train out of the city and met up with Patty in Long Island where her awesome sister Kathy picked us up. We spent the afternoon in Port Jefferson and then went back to Kathy's cozy, delicious smelling house where we ate homemade macaroni and cheese, watched movies, and crafted on the couch. It was so relaxing and such a breath of fresh air out of the city and away from school.

I mean. I got to sit in car and eat real food. You really have no idea how exciting that is to me.

Here are some snapshots of the weekend!

Port Jefferson. I mean, really? I kept saying the town(and the people!) reminded me of Stars Hallow. As in Gilmore Girls. People were so friendly. And crazy. It was odd. (Is my New Yorkerness showing yet?)

They even had little red Telephone... things. (What are they called? Ha.)

Inside the little restaurant where we ate lunch:

The creepiest/coolest lampshade ever:

Portraits on the docks: Proof I actually scrapbooked:

Sigh. Can we replay the weekend right now?

paper aeroplane

Tonight I got to see Angus and Julia Stone at the Bell House with my friend Allie. It was magical and I have some girl-crushing on Julia. Allie and I both agreed that she was very seductive. If you have the chance to see them, do it!

a day with kp.

Today I got a sweet NYC welcome from the one and only Kelly Purkey. We hit up Chelsea Market for lunch and then had a lovely time on the Highline. It's my second time being up there and I think it's a favorite.

Thanks again Kelly for the lovely day! :)

Vroom, vroom.

On Sunday, my silly friends and I had a hotwheels race in front of the Design Center. The night before we walked through Brooklyn in the dark to buy Bionicles where we proceeded to put them together in the Target food court. Mature? That's us.

Actually we had to buy these toys as props for our drawing class and decided to take a much needed break from homework to have some fun.

things of the pretty variety

My friend Allie and I don't have classes on Wednesday afternoon so we headed down to Grimaldi's by the Brooklyn bridge and walked along the pier. The city has the ability to make me sort of claustrophobic. I'm always forgetting there is a sky above all the buildings. Being by the water and being able to move around and breathe was just so nice. Plus, Allie is a doll and the pizza was amazing.

saturday

Yesterday I met up with sweet Patty and darling Jamie in the city for coffee, walking, and a little bit of Central Park. It was great. They're great.

Getting there and back wasn't so much, but that's alright. I miss the good ole' days of driving my car places, y'know? Though you couldn't pay me to drive a car here. Yikes!

It was my first time meeting any of my online friends "in real life" and I don't think my experience could have been better. It's so nice to have familiar faces(and new friends!) right in the city. Thanks again to Jamie and Patty for hanging out with me! :)