Soho Shopping

I must admit that Spring Street is one of the greatest.

It's full of scrawny hipsters, authentic food, and shopping.
Best of all, it is home to
Rice to Riches.
(tonight i discovered i can overnight a pack of rice pudding for $55.
don't even ask how my self restraint kicked in.)
But before we indulged in that calorie packed delight
we had dinner at
Bread.
I was served the most delightful mini diet coke bottle
and a delicious Salmon, cucumber and cream cheese sandwhich.

And then...

(me, lady that makes the picture, erika, nekku)

(yes i have a very high quality camera. i'm aware.)

in 5th grade
I won the invention fair
for creating a car washing helmet.
well, i'm proud to say that the idea has caught on
in the rice pudding industry.
mom,
please testify that this looks exactly like my
crafty car cleaning contraption
sitting in the closet!


Greatest of all, this place shares my same life motto:

Crosby Street Hotel

Today whilst working for free I came across this phenomenal hotel.
Something about it I just love.
It's so simple and elegant yet edgy and unique.

Maybe I'm just covetous because I'm living in a jail cell.

I think I should probably start every day
in a 30 million dollar apartment.
Or better yet, the entire 16th floor.
Preferably the one designed by us at Eric Cohler.
And shown on HGTV's hit show
Selling New York.

Can you even believe this view

of Central Park and the Met?
Ah so incredibly breathtaking.We may have gotten sidetracked on the way back to the office..
and stopped to casually loiter outside a certain diamond store on 5th avenue.
And possibly trespass into a few stunning lobbys.


But we finally made it back.
And finished the day at the office with
a chocolate zucchini muffin from
The City Bakery.
(quite possibly one of the most mouth wateringly delicious muffins I have ever partaken of!)

Just another great day at the office.

p.s.

Why didn't anyone tell me that my zipper was down.
all day.

"No matter where you go-
there you are."
-Confucius

gyro.

me: "wow what is that long line for?"

mallory: "have you not gotten one yet??"
me: "gotten what?"
mallory: "a gyro! there aren't long lines in new york for no reason!"
me: "get me in that line."

talk about a piece of heaven. mixed with a little secret sauce.
everyone should get in that line.

New Canaan, Connecticut

You know those postcards that you browse by

of the storybook houses with the white shutters and picket fences surrounded by green. so much green.Or the cards with a beach and a wooden dock with crabs scurrying around on the rocks and sailboats for miles. Well this is where I spent the weekend.

And it was the most beautiful town (in America) that I have ever been!
(it is also home to Philip Johnson's Glass House!) Jess invited me to come kayaking and shopping and eating (of course) in this lush picture perfect town. It was amazing.

(okay maybe this action shot was stolen and is not even close to replicating our relaxing and exciting kayak exploration, but it will be replaced as soon as I get the pictures from Jess).
It was a lovely retreat from the city.
Even though I am yet to get a tan.
Getting back was a different story however...
They dropped me off at the New Canaan train station.
The routine goes as follows:
train to Stamford. Transfer to train going to Grand Central Station.
Simple enough, even for me.
Well, once the train arrived in Stamford, the conductor told us all to get on the 3 to Grand Central. So we did. 5 minutes into the journey we were informed we were on the express to New Haven.
Connecticut.
Everyone was on the wrong train.
And the crowd became quite riotous.
At one point, a man huddled us all together and said,
"okay okay now we all gots to stick together. we goona get through this. we gots each other."
I acquired quite an eclectic group of new friends that night.
And I only questioned my safety once, for a brief moment in Harlem. After waiting in New Haven for 2 hours
(photo found on this fantastic blog)
and then taking an extra long train ride back to the city I finally arrived home at 4:30 am.
But I appreciated the adventure.
How boring would life be if we always got on the right train?

let me introduce you to some kids that you ain't used to.

today i was thinking about how easily the cool kids make my day better
with a little bit of gold and a pager.
i often times think of myself as an inside out oreo.
and new york city has unquestionably made me more hood.
the weekend before i came out here
i went and watched the cool kids in salt lake.
the place was a little more packed and tipsy than anticipated
but it was nothing that couldn't be solved with a little bit of rap.
and a more distant location from the stage
(3rd row started getting quite unruly. my sequin jacket didn't appreciate it's bath of alcohol either.)
i over quote their lyrics daily.
usually adding my own originals
(after all, it is a dream of mine to someday win a freestyle rap battle on the streets).
I guess for now i'll just kick a little somethin' for the cool kids
and we'll do it again.

even though i still haven't seen the movie
(i know i know, when it comes to classics i'm as uncultured as they come)
i can still appreciate some
serendipity
and their delicious frozen hot chocolate trademark!

but something that is almost as good as frozen chocolate
(not many things come close)
is a little bit of Utah in new york.
Johnny Utah's.
it resembled more of an upscale idaho hot spot.
but regardless- it was quite the experience.

you better believe the mechanical bull was the highlight of my night!
i haven't laughed that hard in days.
it's incredible how unintentional booty jiggling and bull riding go hand in hand.
entertainment in it's purest wild west form.

and watching erika battle the bull was almost better than christmas.
(photos hopefully to come)

pretty soon my photo documentation will consist primarily of food.
without me.
this is due to a dramatic increase in weight.
an estimated 187 pounds
have added themselves to my body.
oh well.
at least i'll be fat and happy.

got my foot lookin like an '88 draft pick

can you even imagine my reaction
when these stepped on the subway in front of me??
ah i couldn't get a stealth picture fast enough!
long live leopard print.

Odegard

This monday i had the opportunity of a lifetime.
I was invited to attend the
Odegard Rug Design Competition
awards ceremony
held at the Museum of Art and Design.
It was pretty incredible.
A few months ago I designed a rug and submitted it to the competition.
I heard that I was a finalist about 2 weeks prior to flying out to New York.
The day started out with a private tour of the Odegard Showroom.
Followed by a personal meeting with Stephanie Odegard!
She was so warm and welcoming and truly passionate about what she does.
That evening a car took us to the ceremony.
I was surrounded by and introduced to some of the most admirable
designers, architects, and magazine press in the world.
Ah it was amazing!
The best part was that I was able to share the experience with my family and friends.
Beccah and I were finalists,
but Abby, Martha, Erika, Nekku, and my mom were all there to support.
Martha was presented a Juror award
Abby was presented 2 Juror awards!
Cassandra was given a Juror award (although she wasn't able to attend).
6 of the top 11 rugs
(out of 800 submissions worldwide)
were Utah State University student designs!
One of the Jurors made a comment that Utah State was the new rug design capital
and to watch out for us.
We have such a talented program!
Beccah was awarded 2nd place
and I received 3rd!
It was amazing.

My award was so unique.
It was an actual ball of yarn that was flown to Nepal
and cast in a bronze mold by hand.
It's one of a kind and it weighs about the same as a 20 pound bowling ball.

(Beccah, Abby, Stephanie Odegard, Martha, Me)

Odegard will be producing and selling my rug.
I can't wait to see it actually made!
It was a wonderful night
and something that I will never forget
and always be grateful for.
I feel so lucky.

my love of eating was genetically inherited

guess who came to join in on the adventures?

yep.

momma brown came to town!

she just couldn't resist exploring with me.
soon as she flew in we jumped in a cab and hurried to our dinner reservations.
a girl in my office told me that i just had to go to Landmarc.
the food is done by a celebrity chef and the atmosphere was supposedly fantastic.
well, our food was weird.
mine consisted mainly of the weed looking lettuce typically found in a spring mix that you push aside.
my moms resembled that of an albino sonic the hedgehog.
burger king most likely would have been our best option.
good thing the next day we happened up a street fair
and i ate hot dogs and lemonade
and the best chicken skewer that i have ever eaten.

we also ate at the cutest cafe called Penelope.
we could have sat in there all day.
not only was the food unbelievable
(spinach and artichoke dip moved to the top of my favorites list)
but the atmosphere was so quaint and adorable.
we were in love!

and then.
after becoming extremely agitated and disgruntled
over the price of our tickets..
we saw it.


the greatest broadway play ever.
ever.
ever.
it was so good!
it was both of our first times
and we ranted and raved for hours afterward
to any strangers that would listen.
and even to the ones that wouldn't.
or didn't speak english.

as we glowed with a beaming musical theater spirit
we hit the number one tourist destination on the map.
overcrowded with asians and scam artists
we took full advantage of the ever bustling
times square.

which is home to
this little bit of heaven on earth!
ah! a store devoted entirely to
one of the top three most important things in life.
chocolate.

tourist attraction number two:
the empire state building.
not only does she have a love of food equal to mine
but it was her first time in New York as well
so she was just as excited as i was
to hop in with the crowds of fanny packs and flashing cameras
packed like sardines
into a concerningly fast elevator
up 86 floors
to see this view

(looking out over downtown, the lower east side, and brooklyn.)

after witnessing some unintentional asian moonings
(note to all future tourist attraction goers: dresses and/or skirts are not advised)
we discovered that the wind still blows 86 stories up.

for some unknown reason
whenever i am at great hieghts
and i look up
i become terrified.
refer to below.

i wish she could have explored with me longer.
we had a blast in the city
and i'm proud to say that her street cred has drastically improved.

some inbetween adventures..

For any who are unaware
my official jersey shore name is
the opportunity.
it was quite fitting as we ventured out to the
jersey shore
the other weekend.
there were lots of muscles, gelled hair, and thick accents.
basically all things good in life
wrapped into one sunny and Guido filled beach.

another tourist activity i found myself thoroughly captivated by was the Guggenheim. the exhibits all were mediocre (with the exception of a few Picasso and Van Gogh masterpieces thrown in the mix) in comparison to the amazing architecture! ah i could not get enough of this fascinating building!

and of course
one of my many favorite places
for gaining lb's
(no wonder pounds and i have the same initials..)
Rice to Riches
in Soho
just a quick little walk away!


which reminds me..
the first week i was here
mallory and i ate at Lombardi's
(the oldest pizzeria in the US of A, refer to tourist picture below).
word on the street is that you should order the clam pie.
so i did.
much to our servers surprise
i ordered it all for myself
(mallory isn't the biggest fan of clams on pizza).
it was simply divine!
so was mallory's clam free calzone.

the good news is that
i am now able to navigate myself
to over half of the touristy destinations
on my mental list.
as well as restaurants
but that kind of goes without saying...