Getting Situated

"I'm going to a friend's beach house in Jersey"

"... the Jersey Shore?"

"Yep."

"Are you going to be on TV?"

So this past weekend I was lucky enough to venture to the Jersey Shore after a whirlwind work trip to LA. My friend and colleague Lauren grew up with a house at the shore, and still goes back from time to time to relax and get away from the city. Considering the summer has flown by and I have barely even had time for day trips to Long Island, I jumped at the opportunity to escape the miserable heat of the city for a couple days at the beach.

I'll admit, I had some preconceived notions about "the Shore," even though Lauren insisted we weren't going anywhere near Seaside Heights. Although there were a few questionable characters out in the local beach bars on Saturday night, I'm pleased to report (okay maybe secretly a little disappointed) that Snookie and The Situation were nowhere to be found. Unlike what MTV will have you believe, there are nice parts of the Jersey Shore - and Longport is definitely one of them. We stayed at Lauren's friend's beautiful beach house, ate amazing seafood, and got to sleep in later than I can ever remember sleeping in. Oh, and we soaked up as much sun as possible during the short trip.

Thanks Lauren and Ashley for a fab weekend away, and for dispelling bad rumors about the Jersey Shore :)

The Never Ending Birthday Comes to a Close

There's nothing I love more than birthdays. Not just mine, I love all birthdays because they're a reason to be excited about life and to celebrate. Okay fine I'll have to admit, I do love being treated like a princess for a day on my birthday, and it didn't hurt this year that it was preceded by a week of vacation and followed by a short week at work because my office was closed on the big day.

Being that my birthday is July 5th, it somehow gets wrapped up with celebrations for the 4th and turns into a full weekend of celebrating - but this year it just seemed to never end...

celebration night #1: big group dinner...

... followed by out for rooftop fun - complete with incredible views

celebration night #2: 4th of July...

fireworks!

...watching fireworks with my favorites

celebration day #3: birthday lunch with my faves...

... birthday cupcakes, round 1.

celebration day #4: office birthday = flowers and more cupcakes, followed by another bday dinner

celebration night #5: I know, this is getting ridiculous. work bday dinner, cava and yummy desserts

So I guess it has to end at some point... although I did still get to do some birthday shopping over the weekend, and still have a birthday massage to schedule so I suppose it's still going! Thank you to my amaaaazing friends, family and colleagues for treating me like a princess for the best extended birthday ever :) xo

The Beach is That Way

Growing up in Florida, I was definitely spoiled having the beach a 5 minute drive away and a sailboat in my backyard. I'll admit I had a bit of separation anxiety leaving the beach in Florida when I moved to Athens, GA and I still whine constantly about the weather and lack of good beaches in NYC (I guess you can't have it all).

Although I don't think I'll ever get used to an hour train ride and paying to go on the public beach, yesterday I discovered that good beaches aren't as impossible to get to as I thought.

Not bad for a day trip! Now that we've ventured to Long Beach, we have the rest of the summer to discover new beach spots...

Super Swarm

Of course I haven't had time to post since I've been back from LA... back to NY, back to hectic reality. Can't really complain though, I like keeping busy and have had lots of fun stuff going on since I got back.

Had a perfect NY weekend after having withdrawals from my city and my friends. Fun nights out on Friday and Saturday. Highlights of the weekend night outings was definitely the intense 80s bar crawl we found ourselves a part of. Never again will I NOT dress up for a theme party. Who knew you could possibly feel so out of place in a black dress?

Saturday was suuuper relaxing. The first day I haven't really had to be "on" in quite awhile so it was nice to enjoy an Ess A Bagel and chill for a bit. Sunday was my favorite kind of NYC day, which was spent brunching and basically wandering around. We discovered a new brunch fave, The Park (I'd only been there for an event at night - had no idea it was open for brunch), walked the High Line, and eventually made our way to the Big Apple BBQ.

For the second year in a row, I went to Big Apple BBQ and didn't actually eat BBQ... I don't know how to alter my plans for next year so I can actually get there at a good time with no lines, but I've now tried Saturday and Sunday and both are insane! I guess it's just an example of how any good thing that you get excited about in this city just comes with insane lines. That includes everything from BBQ festivals to a trip to Trader Joes (am I the only one excited by shopping there?)... it's just one of those things you get used to in the city. At least now there's an upside to the crazy lines....

I'm on a Boat!

How I've lived in New York for almost a year (and technically two summers including when I interned here in college) and NOT gone to Frying Pan until yesterday completely blows my mind. For those of you who haven't been, it's a huge bar/restaurant comprised partially of an old pier in the Hudson and partially of several random boats (one of which looks like the Titanic inside.. more on that later).

It's a completely genius concept that really makes you feel like you're on a cruise/living somewhere much more tropical than the city. Since I moved here I've complained that I miss the water (and cringe when people snarkily inform me that Manhattan is an island... yes, I've noticed). Growing up, I've always lived on the water and had boats. Granted I rarely actually spent much time on the boats (sorry Dad) but having them in the backyard and knowing they were there if I wanted to take advantage was enough. And after 18 years of living in Florida, I definitely fell in love with all things beach/ocean related.

So yesterday being the first real day of summer (not officially, but in my mind yes), it seemed like the perfect day to finally venture to West Chelsea and check this place out. Oh, that and the fact that about 15 people we knew were having birthday parties there. And I can see why.

As much as I love being outside on days like yesterday, it ended up getting cold and some point and we drifted over to the pirate ship/Titanic as we were calling it for one of the aforementioned birthday parties. It's literally a sunken ship (or its expertly made to look that way) that is docked and available for private parties. Knowing only a few people at the party, we took it upon ourselves to explore rather than socialize...

Oh the things you'll find on a pirate ship... Anyway, the last thing I have to say about Frying Pan is props on having your very own foursquare badge.

Street Fair, Tim Burton and Naked People

My favorite thing about living in New York is there's always somewhere new to go or something new to see. I was talking with a friend today about how I feel like you could spend your whole life in this city and barely scratch the surface of trying all the restaurants, and visiting all the galleries, museums and landmarks. Having a "9-to-5" job (do those even exist anymore?) makes it even harder to get out and experience all the city has to offer, but since moving here I've tried to squeeze as many fun activities into my little free time as possible. This weekend was the perfect, filled with interesting experiences...

Saturday we went to the Hester Street Fair, which just opened this weekend and is filled with vendors of all kinds - food, coffee, smoothies, art, clothes - you name it, it's there. Apparently this area was once the home of NYC's oldest and largest pushcart market, who knew? Anyway, it was fun to roam and around tasting everything and checking out the art and jewelry... They're open for the next few months so stop by and check it out if you missed the crazy opening weekend!

Unlike Saturday, which was a beautiful spring day in the city, yesterday was completely miserable and rainy. Fortunately a friend and I had already snagged tickets to the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA, which was in its last weekend after being sold out basically since it opened so we spent the day indoors and quite entertained.

The exhibit was really interesting, and definitely made me want to go watch all of Tim Burton's movies immediately. Must finally get around to signing up for Netflix...

We also wandered through a few other random floors (I've been to MoMA a few times and can never manage to see everything), but the exhibit we still needed to see was "The Artist is Present," by Marina Abramovic. I use the word "by" loosely, since the artist actually is the exhibit. You can read all about the idea behind it in this article from the New York Times, but essentially she's sitting at a table staring at whoever is next in line to sit across from her. Based on the picture on the Times article, she seems to at least wear different clothes day to day... it's a pretty bizarre exhibit, and continues upstairs with people in various positions, some clothed and some not.. I won't go into all the details, but it's definitely worth checking out. If nothing else, it seems like it'll be something everyone in NYC will be talking about soon so it's worth knowing what all the fuss is about. New York just may be one of the only cities in the world people will pay and stand in line to see someone sitting at a table and staring straight ahead..

PS, if you're a Sex and the City fan, you may recognize the picture with the ladder from the episode where Carrie meets the Russian... remember the crazy woman on exhibit not eating, drinking or sleeping? Same as the one we saw today :) Who said Sex and the City isn't cultured?

SRQ

"You know you're from Sarasota when... you don't know where the "Q" in SRQ comes from but you still refer affectionately to your city by those three letters"

A few highlights from a relaxing weekend at home...

Tampa Airport, welcome homeee

First stop: checked out Dad's new sailboat. Oh, Florida.

Why did I ever leave this?

Village Idiot, classic Sarasota.

home sweet home.

I have to admit, after a few days spent soaking up as much sun as possible and bonding with the parents, I was strangely ready to get back to my crazy cat, tiny apartment and hectic city. Who would have thought after only a few months I'd be calling NYC home...

Home Sweet Home

No matter how great things are going in life, there's always something so special about going home for a few days. Knowing that I don't have to do anything but relax and spend quality time with friends and family for the weekend is just so settling.

Is it weird that within a day I feel right back at home in my old bed from high school and having my mom make me coffee in the morning? It's like I never left. Sure, my room has been rearranged, I haven't lived here for four years, and my baby brother is off at college (all details that force me to realize I'm no longer 17), but it somehow feels like nothing has changed.

I feel so lucky to have a place to go home to that will always feel like home. Unlike many of my friends, I was born and raised in Sarasota. My family has been in the same house almost my entire life, and they have no thoughts of leaving this beautiful city any time soon (as far as I know). It's so sad to me when families move away and my old friends no longer have their home here to come back to. I can't imagine spending Thanksgiving anywhere but here, or going somewhere for Christmas that I can't spend the day at the beach because it's 70 degrees in December.

It's just nice to know that no matter what I'm doing, no matter where I'm living, home and all the emotions that come with it are only a plane ride away.

(PS - While I'm raving about being home, I have to give a little shout out to Siesta Key, which was featured in the New York Times "Escapes" Section yesterday, including pictures from an old friend of mine!)