New York, New York

For some reason, Brown gets a whopping two whole days off of classes for President's Day, so Amelia, Diego, Gadi, and I decided to bus it down to New York City for a couple of days. Much of Amelia's family lives in New York and they were very gracious to us--showing us around, paying for meals, and so on and so forth.

I didn't bring my camera with me around the city because I wanted to enjoy myself without it, which in retrospect was a shame because we encountered so many photo-worthy moments. Giant bubble-making in Central Park, poetic buskers in the subway, and many many amazing pieces of art at the Met and the MOMA. I was able to catch up with an old friend at Columbia and wander around on the highline. The vast and various amounts of food we had was all sorts of delicious: chocolate delicacies at Max Brenner's, self-made mimosas in our hotel room, noodles at a tucked-away japanese restaurant called Tabata, wild mushroom tart at the MOMA, sushi just outside of Columbia, chicken rice at a halal food cart... all these things and more found their way into my stomach. If we hadn't been walking for almost every waking moment during the trip, I wouldn't have been able to fit in the tiny hotel elevators.

And yet (and this is going to sound infinitely cheesy) I think that my favorite parts of the trip were when I was sitting by myself on the window ledge in (out of?) our hotel room, either wrapped in a blanket at night or enjoying the nippy NYC winter mornings, just people watching. The night sky was nothing like the luminosity we saw in the woods of Massachusetts, but I guess New York makes its own stars

Credit to Amelia!

Dreamhouse

Amelia, Danny, Hannah, Scout the great dane, and Gadi.

I had just about the most picturesque weekend ever. Amelia, Danny, Gadi, Hannah, and I headed over to Danny's aunt and uncle's place in the woods of Massachusetts near Worcester. Rhey had a beautiful white house with wonderfully furnished rooms, hand-made wooden furniture from local craftsmen, three adorable cats, and the friendliest, largest black great dane I have ever seen.

Ashley!

Leica!

Liz and Jerry were the most gracious of hosts. Jerry told us fantastic stories about their travels to Nepal and New Zealand as well as his work on a book about Porschas. Liz's cooking was an absolute delight--especially after we had all been subsisting on Brown cafeteria food for the past two months. The chocolate chip cookies were the perfect mix of crunchy exterior and chewy interior. the ribs were smoky, the salad fresh, and the maple syrup on the pancakes in the morning had been tapped from their very own maple trees.

We spent the hours of daylight there hiking around the house. We climbed around abandoned farms, trekked through the wilderness, and frolicked through the woods as the sun set. When it started to get cold and dark, we went back inside for bittersweet hot cocoa and delicious chili. We did our homework near a roaring fire, roasted marshmallows, and ventured outside at night to gaze up at the stars--the brightest ones I've seen since I went to Montana three years ago. I saw the big dipper for the very first time.

If it sounds picturesque, that's because it was. There were times when I paused, looked around at the people around me, and wondered if this was really happening. was I really in a Architect's Digest-worthy house with my best friends from college, the cutest pets, and amazing food?

I can't wait to go back.

When Danny stole my camera.

EZ cooking, classy dining

Last night, my friends Ezra and Hannah decided to throw an elegant dinner party involving button-down shirts, piano music, and dim lighting. Ezra made delicious food (EZ cooking with EZbaby) from fresh ingredients, and Hannah made a baller macaroni & cheese that even I, a declared hater of cheese, tried and enjoyed.

Oven roasted root vegetables & pan-fried gnocchi with pesto

Nutella & jam make for a very good crepe spread

It was both a classy and messy affair. wine was spilled, nutella was smeared, and there was even an accidental stove fire that set off the smoke detector. Never before have I seen so many well-dressed people bustling around in a tiny dorm building kitchen. I got to wear a dress that showed off the henna wing tattoos on my back, which was extra exciting.

Our elegant solution to the sounding smoke detector

Like most freshman-organized things, there was not enough table space and way too many dishes. But good food & good fun was to be had by all and I had an excellent time.