Don't worry. I am alive and well.

Yes there was a earthquake in New York City.
Yes I am in New York City.
Yes I felt it and the light fixtures in my office swayed back and forth.
Yes the other ladies in my office freaked out.
No I did not freak out (especially not like these people).
Yes I thought it was kind of cool.

A Friendly Visit

For the past few days I've had some friends in town and it has been a blast. I met up with them in Times Square where we ate some BBQ at Famous Dave's. This summer should probably be dedicated to all food BBQ because I think I eat it at least once a week. Or every other week. It's a lot.

We went shopping at American Eagle and since my friend bought something, we were able to have our picture taken and displayed in Times Square. Here's a picture of my picture!

We also went to the M&M Factory and to the Hershey's Factory. I resisted buying all of the chocolate I wanted to, but we did have some fun with the themed products.


Best part of their visit? Eating at Da Gennaro in Little Italy. That place was delicious! I can't describe how wonderful my gnocchi with pesto sauce was. A large group of people speaking Italian showed up around 9:45 to start dinner. You know it's good when Italian people eat there. Probably my favorite dinner in the city.

New York International Gift Fair: Part 3

Okay okay, so I definitely took a lot of pictures at this thing... Here is the final part of my posts about these awesome products.

Tiny tables by oomph


Seashell art


Gold "barnacles" for your wall


Pirate boxes (so cool!)


Shadow boxes by Christine Originals

New York International Gift Fair: Part 2

As promised, here are some more images of the inspiring products at the show.

Funky globe


Bouy mirror


Lined paper pillow


Terrarium (new obsession)


Backgammon table

New York International Gift Fair: Part 1

These past two days I've been able to go to the New York International Gift Fair to see some great products available to the trade. Here is a small sampling of my favorites. I'll have more tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Patchwork-print stools

Army helmet lamp


Stone stool with hand-painted design

Cute little vases

Small dishes by Waylande Gregory

Bookends by Roost

A day at the beach

All day Saturday was spent some great friends in the sun. I felt (and continue to feel) so lucky to be here in New York City, to be close to the ocean, and to have befriended such great people.

Thanks to SPF 50, I did not get burned. Instead I developing a nice golden glow. While I'm still pretty light compared to others, it's a lot better than the pasty color that many a Rexburg winter has preserved.

Did I really eat all that in less than 24 hours?

Yes. That is actually the title of my post. It was my roommates last night and so immediately after getting in from D.C. I went straight to a Yankees game! It was pouring rain but eventually let up. Although they lost (lame), I still had a great time with friends.

See? I have friends! :)

I had to get me some ballpark food to really enjoy the experience so I got a massive Italian sausage dog. So delicious and greasy!

After the game (at around 12 or 12:30 am) we went to Juniors bakery in Time Square that of course was open. It's the city that never sleeps, remember? I got a delicious carrot cake cheesecake. Two in one amazingness!

And the next day as a last hurrah, my roommate and I went to Levain's Bakery where I ate (not in one sitting) a gigantic chocolate chip walnut cookie. Probably the best cookie I've ever had.


All of that was within a 24 hour period. Actually, probably less than that.

Did I stop there? Of course not! A friend from my interior design program got into town for a month long internship in the city and as we were walking to her place, we realized that our favorite cookie shop (that I just went to a few days before) was right there! So I got another giant amazing delicious chocolate chip walnut cookie. Aaaand to celebrate her arrival, we all went to Shake Shack. I resisted getting a burger, or fries, or a shake. But I did give in and get a rootbeer float. That's better, right???

After writing all of this I'm kind of appalled. I mean, it sounds like all I do in this city is eat eat eat. There is some crazy awesome food, but there needs to be some self-control! Can you just feel my pants getting tighter and my round face getting rounder??? In my defense, I have also eaten more fruits and veggies this week than I have over my entire stay here. I guess since I'm not used to it, I probably needed to over-compensate! :)

Don't worry. I will be a good girl from now on. Really.

Vacation to D.C.

I took off a week of work to visit my wonderful friend and Washington D.C. It was so good to see here and to see a new city... not as a 9 year old. We took a stroll through Old Town Alexandria to the Potomac River.

We ate AMAZING burgers at The Burger Joint. I got the Lamb burger that is a (dare I say?) better version of a gyro. Mmm good! To top it off, we shared the most delicious sweet potato fries I've ever had. Needless to say, I enjoyed that eatery very much.

We toured the great capitol of our country on bikes that we rented for only $5 for the entire day! We road to the Lincoln Memorial...

...went through the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Very moving, heavy stuff.

And jumped for joy at the Washington Monument.

We also saw the White House, the Smithsonian Museums (but didn't have time to go through them), and the Agricultural Building that has corn lining the sidewalk. Bike riding is a great way to see the sites and get a good work out without killing your feet.

After a day in the city, our next day was spent in the country (so to speak). We drove along the lovely Potomac River to Mt. Vernon, the beautiful estate of George Washington. Yup, that's him.

Due to renovations, the front was block by scaffolding. Lame. Luckily there was a miniature scale model inside so I got a picture of it. It was so cute! I love little buildings!!!


Other events in my wonderful week with my wonderful friend included splitting a tasty salmon for lunch at Whole Foods, shopping at Target (where I purchased light wash jeans and peachy nail polish), and taking siestas every day. Siestas = favorite thing ever. That and having air conditioning. Such a luxury! All of you back home better be grateful for it. Or else!

Now I'm back in the great city of New York. I could literally feel the change in me as I stepped off the bus. It was probably my blood pressure rising...