Brooklyn

On a summer afternoon in Brooklyn, I wandered solo through Cobble Hill, spending a lot of time checking out the new (ish?) bookstore Books Are Magic and then walking around the lovely neighborhood. I ended up at an entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Promenade, so I headed over to Brooklyn Bridge Park to see the always great skyline view while catching the sunset.

Fall Reading

Another season, another busy few months, another too ambitious reading list. This fall's list is far too extensive, but I'll be happy to read even a handful of these books when I have a chance between classes, work, and anything else going on. There are a bunch of recent and upcoming releases that I'm really looking forward to getting to in between reading for school (such as Little Fires Everywhere, Artemis, They Both Die at the End, and Sing, Unburied, Sing). I'm also excited to continue flying through Megan Whalen Turner's fantastic Queen's Thief series, hopefully picking up more Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman, and reading some books that feel perfect for fall.

Whitney Museum

From a summer Sunday spent at the Whitney Museum with Shae, my favorite museum and photo partner -- photos from the museum's terraces, mostly from the outdoor installation.

Summer Reading in Review

Unfortunately, my summer has just ended for me with the start of school this past week. I'm hoping to continue reading as much as possible during this semester, in addition to my heavy school reading list, but for now I'm thinking about the books I read this summer. Unsurprisingly, I didn't read everything on my ambitious summer reading list, but I did read 35 books this summer, so I'm pretty pleased. I'd like to think I made a dent in my extensive list of books to read and my piles of books in the rooms at school and at home, but I probably balanced out all progress by just adding more and more books to the list. Getting a library card in the spring has also made me even more of a book hoarder - I constantly have a long list of holds and a stack of library books to tackle. Anyways, I read some excellent books and it was a wonderful three and a half months of reading overall, spent in sunny parks and at the beach, on the subway and lazy days in bed. It was great to get a lot of time to dedicate to reading, as well as to see that my big jump out of a long reading slump in the beginning of the year was not a short-lived return to reading book after book. I did reread a handful of books - finishing my reread of Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle, listening to Stephen Fry's audiobook of the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes by starting with A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, and flying through Ally Carter's Heist series once again - but the rest were new releases and books that had long sat on my to-read list. So here you are - a reading roundup highlighting almost half of the books I read this summer, complete with thoughts and recommendations.

Homemade Pizza

My dad and I have been attempting various methods of cooking homemade pizza pretty much every time I come home. Part of the problem is figuring out how long to cook the dough, and the question of using the oven or our grill, and the debate between a pizza stone, cookie sheet, cast iron skillet... It goes on.

We started out with store-bought dough, canned sauce, and a variety of cheese and toppings, but we've branched out to homemade dough and sauce. Finding the right dough recipe was part of the problem, but I'm no stranger to looking at and trying a thousand recipes for one thing (case in point: my previous searches for the best chocolate cake recipe and easy cinnamon rolls, and my ongoing searches for the perfect yellow cake recipe and a chocolate chip cookie that best fulfills my criteria).

I still have some pizza dough recipes I'd like to try - such as a sourdough base - but this one was good, and quick, and very simple. A handful of ingredients, only 15 minutes of rising, and a thin crust.

Also, I put herbs and garlic into the very dough of my pizzas, and that really made it even better.

Washington Square Park

With the end of the academic year at NYU came a week of commencement and graduation ceremonies, crowds of purple gowns at Yankee Stadium and Radio City Music Hall, and hordes of people in Washington Square Park. Plus, there was a unfortunately-timed heatwave throughout the week. I spent the week doing some graduation photoshoots, collectively sweating and squinting in Washington Square Park, trying to find spots without too many people walking by, and waiting for shots in front of the arch, while enjoying some friends' exciting moments of graduating from NYU. Our 'campus' was hot but pretty, sunny and green in the park (with lots of NYU purple). Cap tosses, graduation gowns, and time in the park for something more fun than cutting through to get to class.

Summer Reading List

It's summer, so it's reading time! I've been reading a lot this year - 38 books so far!! - so I'm hoping and planning to keep it up this summer, and hopefully read even more this summer. I have a huge stack of unread books on my shelves at home and even bigger to-read shelf on goodreads. Of course I won't read all of these books, but I like having a big list of books to choose from. My very ambitious reading list for this summer:

Phone Diary: Spring Semester

Somehow, I've finished my junior year of college. That's really weird, and I'm not quite sure how I've already completed three years and only have one semester left... Highlights of the spring semester: seventeen shows (including a couple of my all-time favorite musicals), another semester at my internship, a slow emergence of spring weather, museum visits, and reading far more than I usually do during school.

Books: 2017 So Far

I've been meaning to write about books again for a while! Lots of books to talk about - I've been reading more recently. I read 50 books in 2016, the most since starting college, but I wasn't reading steadily; I read a lot over the summer, and only occasionally during the school year. But so far in 2017, I have read a lot. And that's mostly during this semester, which is unexpected and a bit impressive to me, honestly. I set my Goodreads reading goal at the beginning of the year: 60 books, ten more than last year. I'm already at 31. It's April. I kind of can't believe it.

I've gotten out of the reading slump I had for a few years; I would go months and months without being able to read or without reading consistently. But I started out strong this year by reading eleven books over winter break, with nine of those books read in 2017. I expected I wouldn't read for fun very much for the next four months as I went back to school. A few books over spring break was all I could really expect. But then I reading a lot throughout the semester, and I haven't stopped.

Well, I actually started listening to audiobooks; that's how I've read 19 of 24 books this semester (19!). I got addicted to audiobooks very quickly once I got back to school. Because I'm constantly listening to something as I go to class or work, do errands, or otherwise have time to do something but not to sit and read (or do homework), audiobooks are a perfect addition to the rotation of podcasts and music that I put on. Hours and hours of audiobooks are evidence that I now love audiobooks. I had previously only listened to them at home, when my brother was obsessed with the Harry Potter audiobooks when he was younger. I didn't think they would be a good way for me to read a book, but I was wrong. I still prefer reading a physical copy, but I love that audiobooks allow me to read when I otherwise don't have time. Plus, I do love stories told in this way, and listening to a good narrator is wonderful. I'm somewhat picky about which books I'll listen to - there are certain things I just want to read on paper - but getting into audiobooks has been perfect.

So, without further rambling, a reading roundup of the year so far! A slightly narrowed down list and book recommendations:

Kusama - Infinity Mirrors

Hirshhorn Museum's exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors has become a massive draw in DC. I managed to grab one of the free passes when they were released for the week I would be home for break, but only got one, so I ended up at the museum by myself. This also meant I was always ushered into an infinity room with a couple of strangers, who show up in the back of my pictures... Oh well. The exhibit was absolutely packed and you have very limited time inside the infinity rooms, unfortunately, but I'm still glad I was able to go see Kusama's famous infinity rooms, as well as the Obliteration Room and many of her paintings. Warning: while there, many, many obligatory selfies ensued.

DC + Emma

A few snapshots from a very, very cold day in DC over break. The day after a snowstorm, I headed back into the city for the second time that week to meet up with Emma, a friend from NYU. We ended up making our way through four museums (!) - the Renwick Gallery, Freer Gallery, Sackler Gallery, and the National Gallery of Art, to visit the newly reopened modern wing.

Pixel Forest

Late last year and into 2017, the New Museum presented an exhibit of Pipilotti Rist's work. The exhibit occupied a few floors of the museum, and one floor was taken over by Rist's Pixel Forest. The gallery became a "forest" of swaying, brightly colored strings of lights. It also quickly became a prime Instagram spot. Shae and I couldn't resist the photo opportunity, so we ran down to the New Museum a few days before the exhibit closed, right after we got back to the city in January, and took so. many. photos.

Paris Day Trip

A few weeks before my trip to London, I texted Shae and asked if she still wanted to do a day trip to Paris. She did, and so we bought pretty last minute Eurostar tickets to run away to Paris for a day. The day after I got to London, Shae and I hopped on a train at 5 am and left Kings Cross, arriving in Paris a couple of hours later. The train ride is only about two and a half hours, and we both had so much we wanted to do in Paris, even though both of us had been there before. With only 12 hours in Paris, we had packed our schedule full of spots we wanted to visit and got started right after stepping off the train.

Trip to London: Part 3

Final part of my trip to London! On Friday, we headed over to Duck and Waffle and Leadenhall Market, before going to the Sky Garden. We took about a million photos there, through golden hour, sunset, and the beginning of the night. I also saw the second part of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, although not without some drama beforehand.

Trip to London: Part 2

Part two of my London trip, presented out of order - days three and five. After going to Paris the second day, I had Thursday to myself before we went to see Cursed Child. My friend Sophia, also studying abroad in Europe, arrived in London that night to visit for the weekend. On Saturday, we started the day with brunch and filled the rest of the day with photos, Notting Hill, and crisscrossing the city a few times.

Trip to London: Part 1

Finally getting to my next London blog post... I was lucky enough to go back to London for six days in November, where I got to visit Shae and revisit my favorite city. I ran from classes to the airport and took a late night flight, arriving in London early the next day. We had the rest of the day ahead of us, so we had plenty of time for brunch, my favorite bookstore, not one but two museums, and a long, meandering walk through the decorated streets.

Phone Diary: London + Paris

London is my absolute favorite place, and I've missed it so much since leaving after my semester abroad. Many of my friends were studying abroad this past semester, and Shae happened to be studying in London. I took advantage of that and less expensive plane tickets (thanks, Brexit, for lowering the value of the pound?) to go visit Shae in London over Thanksgiving. It was so wonderful to be back in London for six days, this time with Shae, and getting to do some of my favorite things while also doing some new things that I hadn't gotten to while I studied there. My trip was packed and fun, from wandering around Bloomsbury, Notting Hill, Kensington, and East London, to seeing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and The Last Five Years, to enjoying London at the holidays. Plus, we also went to Paris for a day - roundtrip train trip, two museums, Shakespeare & Company, and many photo opportunities.