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This weekend was eventful. I spent most of the summer solstice traveling back from Iowa (pics TK), but Sunday was an adventure. We had a delicious brunch and went to the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm. Nicole and I were able to identify most of the vegetation, which made us feel really smart (though, she knows much more than I do!). As we were leaving the staff asked if we knew anyone with a backyard and showed us a chicken - apparently this chicken ran away from a slaughterhouse!  I offered to help by taking the chicken to the Composting Learning Center at Earth Matter.

I've been working with Earth Matter for the past few months. After building their website, I couldn't help but stay on to help with volunteer coordination and social media. It's been a great experience and I truly LOVE hanging out on Governors Island.Come visit us and hang out with Eagle!

**Also pictured, growing the garden of friends and bonding over "Goya" products while watching the World Cup - yet another sport I am clueless about.

//It has been so much fun having Bethy live in New York. We've been friends since the days of doing college radio and music theory classes, but I think our friendship has truly blossomed since she's been living here. I am so lucky to have such amazing, wonderful friends. We had one of those perfect lazy days. We started in Coney Island and wandered around and enjoyed Prospect Park and had dinner at Flatbush Farm (where they have THE BEST butter in the world). If you ever go there, be sure to ask for the bar menu, since it's a little cheaper. Photos from PP to come soon. Not pictured: The gigantic screw that fell/flew on Beth while we were eating hotdogs and fries. The person at the table next to us asked if it came in our food and we had to explain that it fell from the sky! I hope some angsty teenager threw it, but it's quite possible it fell from a ride! Yikes!  Also not pictured is our screaming on the inside track of the Wonder Wheel. For those unfamiliar, the Wonder Wheel has two tracks; an outside that's stationary and an inside one that moves. I thought I filmed it, but apparently, I had my lens cap on the whole time. Oopsies!

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// Gum-balls in Queens (how I wish I could jump in there!), a walk on the Williamsburg Bridge, lawn ornaments by my house, awesome office friends [seriously, I love these guys], trying to get across town on Halloween (it was hell, but those kids in the townhouse were so funny), and some flora and fauna of the fall. Fall was fun, but I'm glad that tomorrow marks the shortest day of the year because THAT means the days will start getting longer. One microsecond at a time. ♥

Girlfriends, sunshine, and a carnival from the 1920's.What more could a girl ask for on a Sunday afternoon?This little video (from one of my favorite blogs ever) captures Fête Paradiso even more perfectly. full set* "Merry" time is said very tongue-and-cheek because for whatever reason, THAT is what I kept calling the maritime building (shown in first and last photos). 

Waking up at 5:00 am (I immediately fell back asleep after taking this). Messages of love. Pretty sunsets on above-ground trains. Pretty sunsets from the edges of Brooklyn. A kitty so happy she's drooling. My favorite golden evening light. Things in full bloom and greenery everywhere. Finding quaint places with dreamy backdrops like this one. // yes, this is summer.

My lovely friend, Jeni, invited me to STooPS Bed-Stuy. Here's a bit about the event from their website: STooPS is a community-building event that will use the arts to bring people outside and promote social interaction among artists, homeowners, residents, and businesses of Bed-Stuy. Various Bed-Stuy homeowners will collaborate with local artists to host mini performances and art showcases on their stoops, yards, or sidewalks. At the same time, various local vendors, businesses, and organizations will bring folks together at the events main space, the Freebrook mansion at 375 Stuyvesant. The event will culminate with performances by several Brooklyn based companies and arts organizations. STooPS will unite a community! Not pictured: A quick summer rain, but it did not stop the dancing by the red stairs!

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// milk carton kids at the bowery ballroom // exploring the neighborhood // a warehouse dance party in bushwick {this was super fun} // my favorite fence flowers // a probably much-needed break for the cookie monster. as my (super funny and smart) friend julian put it, "people are still selling their bodies in times square...just now in costume..."

// i absolutely love springtime and this golden, evening light. the little white and purple flowers made me think of magical forests, so much so that i laid on the ground to take photos and imagined climbing to the veeeeery-tippy-top of the trees. ⚘   

this is one of the craziest things i've ever seen. i was half expecting an independence-day-type-of-thing to happen while taking this video! since i was talking to myself (continuously exclaiming just HOW weird i thought this was), i decided to edit that out and play some grimes instead. ;)

in no particular order: south williamsburg // street gems, aka broken candies // oil and water // raindrops // pacman on the L train //happy birthday to my dear may lovelies and happy mother's day to all of the mom's out there. you are terrific. gigantic hugs for those of us that must honor our mother's in memory. while we can't see them, they are there. always.

 // there was a point last night when the moon looked like it was going to roll through the streets. i sadly did not have my camera ready for it, but i was able to capture it as it started to hide behind the buildings and make it's way higher into the sky. these are the moments of "still there".

*these are the things that make up the easter hat parade....full set here

// this was the bomb.

// bursts of color help to brighten the gray days // silhouettes // diners // lights and fog // rain // many variations on the christmas tree // miscellaneous from the streets of new york this holiday season

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november 2, 2012 // lower manhattan still powerless, but filled with cars // cops acting as traffic lights // the east river ferry // long lines at the gas station on metropolitan 

These are the days of October...making pisco sours which require an egg white - yes it's safe to drink and oh-my-goodness-it-is-good. on the second night of making these, i was tasked with separating the yolk from the white, a task john thought was "advanced" for me. while hayden had faith i could do it, john was right. ;) // cooking in the apartment // a fall bouquet // a rainy walk in central park after a failed attempt at going to the natural history museum - apparently everyone in nyc had the same idea on the first rainy day in october.