Spring forward!

I know I vowed to keep this blog up, but things have been so crazy, the last thing I've wanted to do after work is come home and glue myself to the computer screen again. My life has basically consisted of work, coming home, crashing, and repeating - week after week after week. I've been lucky to be able to squeeze in a brunch or a dinner with friends here and there, but for the most part, I've been in total hibernation mode.

Now that Spring is FIIIIINAAAALLLLLLLY here, I'm feeling more compelled to merge with the living again and actually go outside/ pick up my camera! Jobs are finally starting up again too, which is a nice reminder that I'm supposed to be keeping this side project up for myself. So, expect more consistent updates!

That said, I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Mine has been exceptionally awesome and productive. Gave our apt a super deep clean (which it needed desperately), went on a plant spree, got all of the laundry done, treated myself to a mani-pedi, brunched, put together a care package and date night'd. Phewww!

B is off assisting today, so I've spent my Sunday being lazy with my cat babies and catching up on things online. Now I'm off to prepare for Cinco de Mayo festivities, but in the meantime, here are some lazy Sunday pics. The start of more to come!

So, I know I'm extremely late on this one, but I hope that your year is off to a fantastic start!! I have no excuse for being a terrible blogger, outside of just indulging my urge to disconnect and a desire to refocus and re-prioritize all of the things in front of me. BUT! It's February 1st and it's time to make some moves, don't you think?

I kicked off the new year in California with my friends and family and then promptly rushed back to New York to dive headfirst into all of my new responsibilities as an official agent. I finally feel as if I have a grip on everything, so it's back to booking jobs, having meetings and events, and picking up my camera again!

2013 has been very productive so far. I've committed to eating better and to keeping as physically and mentally healthy as possible. I feel like I'm in such a good place! I hope all of you are too :)

My outlook on this has never been more clear:

 

Cheers to working our butts off and getting closer to our dreams this year! I see big things ahead!

spring in november

If you live in NYC, then you know today was PERFECT for brunch & pretty much finding any excuse to spend the day outside. I think we've all earned a little bit of good weather at this point, no?

It's been a super productive weekend and I look forward to many more. I know they'll be colder and I'll be crankier, but I'm still stoked to have gotten to enjoy a random spring day in November.

Anyway, I'm excited to finally share this project with all of you! Thank you guys for your likes and support and for checking in :) I'm going to do my best to keep my updates as regular as possible and can't wait to share new work with you!

p.s. can we talk about how cute wanda is when she sunbathes?

Hibernation

I've gotta say, spending so much time in my apartment the past two weeks because of Sandy and the nor'easter have morphed me into the ultimate hermit. I hate the cold, so going out in the winter is hard enough as it is....but all of this mandatory indoor time has given me a major appreciation for our little apartment!  While I would like to believe that I am always grateful for what I have, I am especially thankful this month for the "little things" - for electricity, having hot water again and being able to sleep in my own bed at night. It's so saddening to know that not far from my little nook, so many people were not as fortunate. 

Luckily, there's still stuff we can all do in & out of NYC to start the healing process, even if we're not able to get our hands dirty in person. Here are a few ideas in case you want to help!

Occupy Sandy has created a registry where you can purchase items that are needed for victims on Amazon - brilliant.  

Eat down, Tip Up  is an effort to help mobilize local businesses that were affected by Sandy after having to close for over a week in lower Manhattan. It's simple! You eat downtown, tip generously and spread the word. Here's a list of participating restaurants in case you're a local. 

New York Cares is organizing various relief projects to assist all over the city.

& of course, you can donate money to the Brooklyn Recovery Fund, who are donating 100% of all proceeds to Sandy recovery.

A quiet day in Greenpoint

Happy Columbus Day everyone! This might be my new favorite pointless holiday. I spent my lovely day off exploring my old neighborhood in Greenpoint enjoying the chilly weather and what's left of the flowers. Going to be so sad to see them go!

End of Summer

It officially feels like fall in New York today, which, for the first time ever, I am super excited about!  I actually have an itch for leggings, boots, scarves and chunky knits this year that I'm super excited to satisfy, though I know I'll regret saying that by the beginning of November.

I will definitely miss all of our summer adventures though. Hopping on the back of the motorcycle and exploring until we ended up somewhere new was my favorite thing to do - not sure how we're going to get through the winter without that freedom!

This trip was one of my favorite summer days. We hopped on the bike in Brooklyn and rode to Upstate New York until it got chilly enough for us to have to pull over to put on a few extra layers. We rode through small towns (my favorite part) until we hit the coast all the way back to NJ. We found a cute little restaurant right on the water and had an amazingly delicious dinner next to the docked boats.  I love our random adventures so much - it puts us both in such a positive mindset, it feels like we become little kids together when we're exploring new places. I wish everyday could be that way, but adulthood always calls...!

Anyway,  here are a few of my favorite moments from that day. Until next year...

Summer recap

Am I the only one having the best summer EVER? Well, sort of. The best ever would involve a lot more beach time and a lot less time spent in the city, but I'm doing what I can to remedy that with...

Lunchbreaks spent at Cafe Habana! aka: the best kind of lunch breaks. It's of course, no Versailles in L.A, but it definitely hits the spot when the craving hits. I'm sparing you the photo of my attempts to eat that giant ass corn on the cob covered in the cheese. It really wasn't pretty, but it was delicious!

Filling our apartment with summer flowers! The Californication/Santa Fe-esque additions continue to pile up! Guess I'm pretty fortunate that I found a Jersey boy with a (possibly) more LA aesthetic than myself / who appreciates the random bouquets of flowers I'm constantly sprinkling around our apartment. I know this is far-ish off, but I'm dreaming of the days when I'll be able to wake up early on a saturday and bring home a car load from the LA flower mart!
I also really love & recommend that issue of Beached Days if you haven't already picked it up. It's issue 001, so there's still time to catch up!
The animal head we picked up on one of our photo excursions our sophomore/junior year of college. We were only best friends back then, but we found that one together, and after trying to find the most efficient ways to clean/disinfect it without ruining it, there it is! Probably the most romantic skull that will ever exist in my life. I mean, I hope.

Pool days with my ladies! Thanks to our charm and determination to swim with bloody mary's in hand on a weekly basis, this salt water pool has become our new weekly ritual. We've made some preeeetty interesting pool friends & enjoyed some seriously delicious grub here together on many a Friday. Hands down my favorite Williamsburg gem.


Loungin' with some serious babes (see: colorful shorts man behind me)

trying new summer recipes! i've been obsessed with summer salads lately, and this is my favorite. My summer salad staple is : 10 ounces of Chickpea, a whole, sliced avocado, 10 ounces of sweet corn, 1/2 onion, lots-o-limes, an entire jalepeño + salt + pepper to taste. Pretty sure Brandon's over it, but it's definitely the summer of the chickpea for me!

Love + California

I really couldn't think of a better way to kick off A Heart String than with a recap of my most recent trip back to LA! Love and California are synonymous to me, and the more time I spend away, the more enchanted I become. Everything about it is so beautiful - the wind smells like flowers (on a not-smoggy day, of course), the trees, the LIGHT! I am so grateful to be from such a magical place. It's not that I don't love Brooklyn for what it is ...but as cliche as it sounds, there really is no place like home. 

Lucky for me, I have a pretty amazing travel companion. Brandon is hands down, my favorite person to travel with, ever. Everywhere we find ourselves is enough for him and the less we plan, the better - which is exactly how I love to vacation. Growing up, I was always dragged on tours or hyper organized cruises that didn't leave very much room for exploration, spontaneity or authenticity, so I'm pretty happy we both love to just sort of go with the flow. 

We spent a LOT of time with the fam, ate a LOT of mexican food and got plenty of sunshine. Here's to hoping it lasts me through the winter...I love New York, but ya know. You can take the girl out of California, but you can't ever really take the California out of the girl. Not this one, anyway.