week of awesomeness - days 05-07

Sometimes, your week becomes so lovely and pleasant and so sincerely rad that you just don't have time to blog about it. Which is probably ok, because it's not like too many people even read this thing (thanks, dad!) But then Sunday night turns into Monday morning, and you wake up and it's chilly and rainy and grey for billionth time this year, and you look back on your week and smile.

because you took a rainy walk to an art museum

and had a lovely little solo lunch at a new bao shop

and added another mile to the running log

and went to a Mets game

and froze your butt off, but it was ok because you had beer and Shake Shack

and watched your boyfriend remember to water the plants

and took a leisurely walk to a flea market underneath the Pepsi sign

and finally tackled that tower of old magazines on the coffee table

and then curled up on the couch with Indian takeout and episodes of The Americans.


So here's to you, Week of Awesomeness. Thanks for letting me play ;)

week of awesomeness - day 04

If the past three days were about getting out and doing something, then today was about slowing down and enjoying the stillness. A quiet cup of coffee in the morning. A slow jog down a sunny street. A tough but meditative afternoon yoga class. A cooling lunchtime salad, giving myself the time and permission to simply enjoy the tactile sensation of chopping vegetables. A small glass of wine, because, hey, it's five o'clock somewhere. Ironically, the weather was absolutely stunning today (or at the very least, not cold/rainy/snowy/vortexy), and yet I spent the least amount of time outdoors. Instead of searching in vain for the signs of spring, I needed to open the windows, flush out the last of the winter doldrums, and let the cool spring air find me.

week of awesomeness - day 03

I decided to spend today making up for yesterday's lack of color. I started by going to the Macy's flower show, but quickly realized that everyone else in New York had the same idea, and then left the Macy's flower show. So where else in New York has an abundance of living things? Oo! I know! The Highline!

Unfortunately, 24 hours does not make for a significant change in the life cycle of a flower (or does it? Again, not a botanist), and I was met with a whole lot of the same brownness I saw yesterday. So, ok, fine. Lemons, lemonade. There were still a ton of interesting things to photograph on the Highline, and I was able to focus on using a small aperture on my camera (no pun intended), one of the features I'm most excited to use now that I own a DSLR. Even though I was bummed about today's weather, I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with the pictures I got - taking the extra minute to find the hidden beauty in an otherwise cold and cloudy day definitely paid off!

week of awesomeness - day 02

I don't want to jinx it, but spring may actually actually finally be here. It was in the 50's today in New York, and the knit hat that I've been rocking for the past six months was pleasantly too warm. I decided to seek out spring in the most likely of places today - a botanical garden. Since I'd already trekked to the one in Brooklyn last fall (and couldn't emotionally handle a trip up to the Bronx), I chose to keep it local and head out to the Queens Botanical Garden. Unfortunately for my Week of Awesomeness, however, the plants had not gotten the memo that it's alright for them to come out. I was met with a lot of dirt and wood chips, but not one single piece of color. I did manage to find an interesting branch thing (disclaimer: I know nothing about plants) that was oddly placed in front of a free-standing window in the middle of an otherwise empty garden.

I snapped a photo and headed back home, slightly dejected at the prospect of having my personal nature photography class cut so short.

But wait! I live in New York City! If you don't like one park, just go to another! And so I did, heading to Central Park and finding a sole sign of floral civilization amongst a whole lot of humans and their canines (see: the above yellow flower).

Oh well, you win some, you lose some. The day wasn't a total bust though, because once I gave up on my search for plant life, I focused my attention on playing around with my new DSLR (best birthday ever/best boyfriend ever), attempting to teach myself how to shoot in manual. I've been intentionally misusing the settings (I learn things by literally breaking them down and then putting them back together), and while most pictures are destined for the trash, this one turned out to be pretty cool:

week of awesomeness - day 01

I am without employment this week, but I say that without negativity or resentment. Small chunks of unemployment come with the freelance territory, and I have experienced a blessedly small lack of work in the past seven years. Adding to my positive outlook is the fact that I am without a job for this week, and this week only - I have a few small gigs lined up over the rest of the month, and then launch into a massive project at the beginning of May - so really, I'm on more of a forced staycation.

Taking an exotic trip wasn't in the budget this time around (and really, I did go to Belize not that long ago), but just because I'm trying to save my pennies doesn't mean I have to live like a hermit. So this week, I am allowing myself one purely-for-fun, slice of awesomeness per day. Today's mission? Bake a loaf of bread. From scratch. Why? Because why not? Oh and also because I recently cashed in some gift cards and bought myself my first ever dutch oven (Martha Stewart, 6-quart, in red), and apparently that's how you bake bread these days.

I followed this blogger's suggestion and used this recipe for No-Knead Bread (based on the original from Sullivan St. Bakery, and it turned out wonderfully. The Week of Awesomeness is officially off to a great start.