Packing It All In!

The end of summer is so close I can feel it...What I really want to do is stamp my feet, shake my head back and forth, and scream NO! NO! NOOOOO! four-year-old tempter tantrum style. But...since I can't do that, I am trying to pack in as much fun as I can in these final few days of summer.

Yesterday I took the train to Greenwich to meet my friend for lunch. I really never actually go to Greenwich, but I must say it is cute little town. My friend and I strolled around the town center, window shopped, and then had lunch at Meli-Melo--a cute, little sandwich shop. The highlight of my meal was dessert! Mint chocolate chip ice cream with real mint? Yum.

Today, after lunch with my graduate school friends, I am soooooo excited because my friends from high school (including my West coast favorite!) are coming in for a couple days that will include some champagne, a lot of catching up, some window shopping, dinner at Beauty and Essex and brunch at Le Grainne. I. Can't. Wait!

Circa 2006-ish??

Hope everyone is enjoying those dwindling days of summer!

Driving on the Left Side of the Road

In a little while, I am jumping on the train to head to Greenwich, CT to meet one of my favorite people for lunch. After having a taste of the freedom of a car for a few weeks in Ireland, the return to public transportation has me weighing the conveniences (and inconveniences!) of both forms of transportation. Despite the relative convenience of a car, where I do not have to rely on a train schedule for my comings and goings, I think that I still prefer public transit (with a dash of cabs in the mix!) for getting around. Granted, driving on the left side of the road was, for two New Yorkers who never really drive, an adventure in and of itself, but beyond that added dimension, I think I am a subway/train/ferry/taxi gal at heart.

One rarely gets lost on public transportation...

We used both a GPS and countless maps, yet still managed to get lost on several occasions. Getting lost becomes significantly more difficult when train tracks run on preconceived tracks. 

If there is an obstruction in front of a train, it is the conductor who worries about it, not the passengers. 

While sheep crossing the middle of the street probably wouldn't happen too much in the US, other errant animals might dart out (I will always remember the time that my graduate school roommate hit a deer-yikes!).

I will leave you with a couple of videos of us (and by "us," I mean M.--I merely provided moral support and map reading skills) driving. I think you will agree that we should stick to public transit.

Happy Tuesday! 

The Rocky Road to Dublin: Dublin, Ireland Travel Guide

As I mentioned here, getting to Dublin proved to be a bit of a hassle due to a last minute flight cancellation. Once we arrived though, we had about three of our ten travel days to spend exploring this beautiful city. Here is a list of my favorite things to see, do, and eat around the largest city in Ireland...

Accommodations:
We used Airbnb and stayed in a home in Dublin. The house was well-located, charming, had a beautiful garden out back, and bikes for us to borrow.

Eat:
Fish and Chips at Leo Burdocks
The Cellar at the Merrion Hotel: We stopped for lunch and it was the perfect respite from a morning of walking
Chapter One: Found in the basement of the Dublin Writer's Museum
Cake: Our absolute FAVORITE place for lunch. Difficult to find, but well worth the wandering, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was perfect! From kitschy mismatched teacups to organic, sustainable food, to the tiki garden that surrounded you as you ate in the middle of an urban area, this place offered much to love.

The Stag's Head: We loved this place because, since it was a little tucked away, it seemed to be filled with relatively few tourists and lot of Dubliners meeting their friends for drinks after work. We felt very authentically Dublin!
The Limetree Cafe: Across from the gaol, this place was delicious and a healthy counterpoint to the traditional Irish breakfast

See:
The Guinness Factory: We loved the tour, but if that is not your thing, at least go to the top floor bar for an amazing 360 degree view of Dublin

The "Doors of Dublin"
The Dublin Writer's Museum
National Gallery
Window shop and people watch on Grafton Street
Take a tour of the impressive Trinity College Library 

Phoenix Park (I recommend biking it!)

The Memorial Gardens
Wander the cobblestone streets

Walk along the River Liffey
Dublin Castle
Listen to traditional Irish music at one of the many Irish bars
St. Stephen's Green
Merrion Square
The Kilmainham Gaol (or "Jail" for you Americans out there!)

Shop:
Kilkenny
Avoca
Brown Thomas
Daintree Paper Store: Continue through the garden in the back and you will stumble upon Cake!

A Note on Packing:
Should you find yourself traveling to Dublin, or Ireland for that matter, be sure to pack for fickle weather. At one bed and breakfast where we stayed, we overheard a couple saying that they were hoping for better weather to which the owner replied: "Just wait twenty minutes." This response really captures the essence of Irish weather; pouring one minute, the sky will open the next to reveal the most spectacular sunshine. Summer in New York City brings 90 degree temperatures, while Ireland seems to hover at or around the lower 70s, but can also dip into the 50s. Be prepared with scarves, blazers, and rain gear!

The City of Lights: A Travel Guide to Paris

The New York Times has a travel series that I adore (and reference frequently) called "36 Hours in ______," where, as one would expect from the name, they offer a guide for two days in various locations. M. and I have this beat with our "19 Hours in Paris" guide. Our trip to Paris was actually not supposed to be 19 hours. As happens sometimes with travel, we received a lovely email from Air France hours before we left for the airport (and were scrambling to make sure our liquids met carry-on requirements) saying that our direct flight to Paris had been *GASP* cancelled. We had been re-booked on a new flight routed through London, during the closing day of the Olympic ceremonies nonetheless, which would now give us a mere 19 hours in Paris before we would need to hop on another flight to our final destination: Dublin, Ireland.

After realizing that there were no other options and we had to make the best of this, we made a quick decision that we would complain when we got back, sleep very little, and simply enjoy our very limited time in one of our favorite cities!

Paris was a whirlwind, but Paris is Paris and, thus, even those mere 19 hours left me loving that city of lights. That's the beauty of Paris. You can be there two years or two days, have a detailed minute-to-minute plan or none at all and you will still leave feeling full; sated by rich French foods, melodic French language, architectural beauty all around you, history overflowing from every corner, and gardens, flower shops, and bookstores at every turn, and just when you can't possible be filled with Paris anymore--your belly distended, your feet, in the heels you have worn to feel tres chic, throbbing-- you will turn a corner and spy the Eiffel Tower at night and feel renewed once again...

Accommodations:
We had planned to get a hotel, but the more I read blogs, the more I wanted to rent a real life Parisian apartment that was not in the middle of a tourist district, so that is what we did. I would completely recommend doing this if you should find yourself in Paris. Several sites work well for this: Homeaway, Airbnb, and Haven in Paris seemed to have the best selection for our purposes. The place where we stayed was beautiful, despite the fact that we hardly enjoyed it since we pretty much threw our bags there and slept for a mere two hours that night! There was a view of the Eiffel Tower twinkling at night, gorgeous French doors overlooking a quaint street in the 10th Arrondissement, herringbone floors, and incredibly detailed crown molding and other architectural details. Even the elevator had all of the quaint little touches that the Paris of my dreams required. Lovely.

Eat:
Cafe Flore and Les Deux Magots: Right next door to one another, these two locales provide delicious food and great people watching.
A macaroon at Laduree: There are many locations, and you will be sure to stumble upon at least one in your travels.
A hot chocolate at Angelina's: Rights across from the gardens, this is the perfect stop for a warm beverage...
On this blog's suggestion, we ate at Cafe Central on an adorable street near the Eiffel Tower in the 7th Arrondaisment. French food is so delicious. So is French wine.

See:
We headed right to St Germaine for a bite to eat at Cafe Flore and walked around this neighborhood before proceeding to walk in a giant circle where we saw the Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries, Les Invalides, Place de la Concorde, Pont Neuf, Champs Elysee, took a spin on one of the many gorgeous old carousels in Paris, strolled along the River Seine, wandered the Ile de la Cite, and ended our night rounding the corner from where we ate to see a spectacular and unexpected view of the Eiffel Tower. Everyone was out that night picnicking and drinking wine on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower and we strolled along thinking that is the lovely thing about Paris. Even without a plan, and with a mere 19 hours, it is impossible not to fall in love with this beautiful, historic, romantic city of lights...

Savoring Summer

So, while the Brooklyn Craft Party put on by Etsy has received a surprising number of complaints on the listserve, I thought that it was such a fun event! Still insanely jetlagged from returning from our trip Thursday, it took a lot of motivation to get there for the brief time that we stayed, but I thought it was well-run and such a great concept! Crafters spread out under a tent facing the water in the beautifully renovated Brooklyn Bridge Park, music from various bands played, and the food trucks provided delicious sustenance to keep that crafting going! M. and I were obsessed with the photo booth. The location was also perfect. We were able to take a beautiful sunset ferry ride there.

On Saturday, we hopped on the early morning train to Connecticut, where, after a lovely lunch, some photo sharing, and catching up, I spent the afternoon at the winery with my mom and sisters taking in the beautiful view and sampling some wines. From there, we headed to M's parents house where we enjoyed s'mores, chilled rose, a dip in the pool, and a walk with the dogs around Harkness Memorial State Park. It was a perfect and relaxing weekend after our travels.

Hope everyone had lovely weekends and savored those precious last moments of summer...

Friday Footnotes

Here is what I am loving on this August Friday:

It's good to be home! As much as I love travel, the return home is always equally nice; my own bed to sleep in, my dog to cuddle, not selecting clothing from out of a suitcase each morning...

I adored traveling in Ireland and a brief fling with France though and I'll have more to share on this soon!

This tea kettle that I picked up in Ireland and look forward to savoring warm cups of tea from on brisk fall mornings.  

My new favorite Anthropologie-esque store in Dublin: Avoca:

I took a cellphone picture of one of the many adorable displays (and got yelled at for my efforts!), but this store was seriously adorable! It had a cafe, an outdoor rooftop terrace, and multiple levels of stationary, housewares, clothing, food, and other lovely curated items...

My weekend plans: gotta soak up those last precious days of summer! 

This is the final weekend before labor day and I am looking forward to seeing friends and family in abundance, savoring those last chilled glasses of rose, dipping my toes in the pool one last time, and hopefully roasting a s'more or two!

Happy Friday!

Friday Footnotes

Here is what I am loving on this August Friday...

This Amazing Organization:

One of the lawyers who works here came to talk to my Women's Human Rights class the other day and the work that this organization is doing is challenging, but phenomenal. 

My favorite waffle truck's new location--close to home!

Excited to have some outdoor drinks here with my friends tonight...

Can't wait for the upcoming Etsy Craft Party in NYC August 24th:

Some of my favorite purchases ever have come from various Etsy vendors, so I am psyched to see all the local Etsy products in one place for my browsing pleasure! 

My latest read: 

Excellent!

Happy Weekend Everyone! 

Summer Session=Done.

Well, summer session is over...finally. Remind me never to take summer classes again! Despite the fact that my brain wants to go into autopilot when it's hot out, I really did enjoy my summer classes, but I am still so glad that it is over and that there are a few weeks until the fall semester starts!

Looking forward to enjoying some unscheduled relaxation time!

Who am I kidding!? I ALWAYS have on agenda. First up on the relaxation agenda? Redeeming my Groupon for a massage tomorrow morning... :)

My Writing Buddy

I had an interesting conversation with my sister a couple of weeks ago. Let me set the stage for you. It was a really boring Saturday night. M. was working on something in the other room. I was sitting on the couch typing away at my never finished novel. At one point, M. walked out and said jokingly, "What, are you writing a novel out here or something?!" I mumbled yes and continued typing away.

It was at that point that I called my sister to ask her something and, it turns out she was having the same kind of Saturday night, and lo and behold, she too was working on her never finished novel. The strange part was that we are both currently (and forever and ever) working on two pieces that are eerily similar. While this does little to solve the nature vs. nurture debate, it did inspire much fantasizing about becoming the next Bronte sisters.

Anyway, it was fun to exchange writing and get some feedback!

For those of you who are also working on your novels, this article from the Sunday Book Review in The New York Times really nails it! Although, I must say, I am not totally sold on Rule # 5...

Okay, now back to decidedly less fun writing: academic paper writing. I have procrastinated long enough. 24 hours and 25 pages. Let's Go.

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Fantasy House

Sometimes--especially when I am especially busy--I fantasize about picking up and moving somewhere with a slower pace of life. I know I have discussed this impulse before, but, as much as I adore New York City, there is something cathartic about dreaming of a life outside of the frenetic, chaotic, and always moving, pushing, pulling life that exists here.

My latest fantasy has centered on Maine. Last October, M. and I went there with the vague thought that perhaps we would move there someday if we ever tired of the city. We loved the food culture of Portland, the hiking of Wells, and the quaint seaside walks found in Kennebunkport.

So, while I really should be working on my paper, the latest form procrastination has taken for me has been to browse homes in Portland, Maine...

Loving all of these pictures from this home...

This kitchen inspires baking, I think.

A claw foot tub? Yes, please. 

I would like to read in that little nook on a chilly winter evening...

Ahhh...sometimes a little fantasy goes a long way. Meanwhile, back to my paper writing reality. 

The Ills of Procrastination

In. Paper. Writing. Hell...
It's crunch time.
What are your writing/get down to business rituals?
For me, there will be a lot of this:

And this (STAGE 5):

And this:

I cannot wait to be done with this thing...

Friday Footnotes

Here is what I am loving on this muggy Friday...

Thai for lunch with a friend followed by browsing the adorable store Pink Olive in the East Village:

My lavender pedicure:

This book about two of my favorite things: my celebrity crush and feminism...

Gabby Douglas: I know, I know, everyone has already been talking about her and you are sick of it, but seriously...She. Rocks.

My friend's upcoming trip to NYC: So excited to hang with a favorite person in my favorite city!

NYC Print: Rifle Paper 

Hope you all have wonderful weekends!