You do you.

Only one short week to explore the city.
(That has quickly turned into the longest blogpost)

The underground tunnels, the subways, the tube, the trains. 

They smell like Lagoon, with a deep mysterious vibe. Huge masses of metal moving, grunge and grime. Bursts of cool air rushing in as the train arrives, moving my hair and making me feel exactly like Kerri Russell. People moving, bodies everywhere. It has almost an errotic sense of making you feel alive. 

  

Entering the subway for the first time I had just gotten off the sky train and shuffled into a glass elevator. It was me and five (black) people.

As the elevator car lowered and the daylight started to disappear I got so nervous. I felt so small and insignificant yet so big and powerful at the same time. 

I got on two wrong trains with all the confidence in the world, and then figured out how to get back to my stop, two hours later. . .  BUT! it only cost me $2.75.

Walking around, the city streets with my headphones in was my favorite thing about New York.
So much to see and smell.

Just look at me: This New York selfie is glowing, I didn't even photoshop it, my teeth look brilliantly white, I don't know why. I've never looked so good!

It sounds really cheesy and forced to try and write how happy I was to be alone there walking around, doing whatever the hell I wanted. At one point I was on the high line, the sun was shining and I was so content with my life, the weather, and my pandora music station, I circled the corner to find this bit of wall art and it just exploded in my heart. I felt like it was everything I was feeling smeared on the side of a wall. Feeling extremely in love with no one or no thing in particular. Full of color and emotion.

It was a trip full of selfies. . .I felt just like Andie. This one is at the Home Alone hotel.

Central Park. . 

GrandCentral. . 

The Temple. . .

My Hostel, bunk letter E

Coundn't believe how awesome this hostel was. . 

Time Square. . .

Whitney told me once that “if you want to know how the world sees you, get your characacher done”

So coming upon a little Asian man that was charging $5 for characacher I was feeling on top of the world, and decided to get one done. This is how the people of New York see me:

With a 5:00 shadow and a unibrow. I don’t know how this happened, I was wearing a cardigan! Aaahh well! I still feel great on the inside, external appearances don’t really matter, do they? Right? Right. 

The second night I was there this gem of a man drove two hours in from Jersey to take me to dinner, he was livid that I didn't let him know I was there sooner so he could have picked me up from the airport. We drove around the city until midnight and had "the best Turkish food in the city"
(This picture was taken on the last day of my visit when we met up again because he insisted he take me to the airport) "This is no trouble! You are my friend, yes?"

It has been long over due to visit one of my dearest friends Dallin, and see him in his element, to hear for so long about New York and then finally get to see him there was such a treat, and to eat at his favorite sandwich shop with him in beautiful New York and catch up on his life made my millennium, he will always be such a dear friend to me. He is one of the good ones. 

And we walked the city streets, then met up again in Grand central Station for dinner, to people watch from the balcony and then head out to dinner. 

He thrives there, with his “You do you” aditude, I love the idea of finding out what 'you' is, and then doing it with no shame. Like Abraham Lincoln said "whatever you are, be a good one" in New York they just say "You do you"

My Gnome girls, there was never a better group of girls, well, maybe there was, but I will never believe that there was a better group of roommates out there, we had some golden Gnome days. 

Three of them are Prego, and we would play a game of asking people on the street to guess what three it was. 

We didn’t, but the idea of it cracked us up. The idea of everything crackes us up. 

It was good to see us all grow up in different ways, yet all be the exact same in other ways. 

Stayed up until 4am talking, playing spotlight. making a bed city and sleeping all snuggled together. 

Walking the street in a pack of six, trying to find a spot to eat, in a pack of six, all

At an amazing brunch place, just all of us with our matching umbrellas and black pants. ..

Central Park. . . 

Subway.. .

My Gnomies. . . 

This was a real treat, we needed a view of the city but the Empire State Building and the Rockafeller was more then any of us wanted to pay. So Riana Took us to a rooftop bar, the views were beautiful, and they gave us all robes to keep us warm. I told Hayley I would photoshop her thinner in this picture, but I just can't I get laughing so hard at how big she is. . . How did that happen??

This picture kills me. . 

Breakfast at Heath Ledger's place (Rest in Peace)

Rockafeller square. Could not believe how small it was.

 The night we had a fancy New York Meal, at Eatily. You are what you Eatily. . .

 China town. . .

 Dean and Deluca. . .

 Juje, and the charming title signs in the subways. . .

 Felicity. . .

 The worst hot chocolate of our lives.. .

 Street Rat. . .

 Kylee being a lil ass clown. . .

911, we all spent 2 hours at the measum, and then another hour on the processing bench.

Kylee and I went mad here, flea market. Jackpot. 

Riana's place.. . .

Lady Liberty. .. 

It was hard to pick a favorite night, but if I was forced to I would pick my last full night there. It wins, but only by a small hair. 

Jonnhy called me up, said that he wanted to see me again before I took off, so we met up at madison square park, and then began Johnny’s “Park Tour” (Kinnda like Park-core, but a lot more mellow)

We walked around Madison Square, then went down into the subway to pop up in another park, then back to the subway to another, it was dark when we reached Washionton Square Park, and got to see the archway I don’t know why it was so important for me to see, you just see it in all the movies and it feels historic rather then flashy and commercial. It was better in real life that I had imagined, this massive arch at the beginning of this park, with people all around us skateboarding, or playing on guitars, cars lighting up the streets.

After Johnny took me to the sky tram, that carried us right along the Queens Burro Bridge. It was pure magic floating above the city, above the river, and walking around on Roosevelt Island. 

“What bridge were they quoting in Gatsby? Was it the Queen Burro Bridge? "The city seen from the Queens Burro Bridge is the city seen from the first time". . . Was it the “queens Burro?””

“It is tonight”

“Ha! Yeah! It is tonight!”

It was so fun, then a walk through central park to get back to Johnny’s apartment to have New York Pizza on his rooftop, and feel exactly like Felicity. Hovering among the city. 

Then there was Jeffery, who was so kind to not only open up his doors to me, but made me breakfast. 

Jeffery’s dog Abe is scared to death of everything, he lives under Jeffery’s bed, and never comes out from under the bed. I am concerned for the dog’s well being. 

We forced him out of the house and to the park and Jeffery smuggled him onto the subway. 

Jeffery is a stud, making New York work. 

We took a trip uptown to see the seignfeild café, and a little bit of the best grilled cheese sandwich, a little bit of the best hot dog, a little bit of the best cookie, and a little sip of the best smoothie. I love food, I love food so much. 

Jeffery and I went separate ways after our food tour that ended up with both of us going to hang out with separate friends, it is kinda fun to pull a "catch ya at home" in the subway of New York. 

We were so soaked on the Seinfeld Cafe. 

Aslo- The black and white.

It was a beautiful trip, so fun to bounce from friend to friend, seeing the city in different lights. 

New York is charming as hell, I am completely in love with it, head over heels in love.