The end of an endless summer...

Well, this little girl is back in the big city and ready to take on another year filled with adventure! I had a lovely arrival into the city on Thursday and I've already had a weekend packed with things to do. On Friday, I had oodles of time to kill in the city. So, I helped my sister bring her compost into the Union Square Farmer's Market. After that, I got coffee with my friend Sarah and finally ended up wandering New York. I meandered my way back to Union Square and bought lunch at the farmer's market. There's this incredible vegan bakery that had a stand there that day (I wish I could remember what it was called), so I got this ridiculously good vegan empanada. I would've taken a picture, but I ate it too fast. I window shopped at Bed Bath & Beyond and stumbled upon the most incredible craft store I've ever set foot in. I guess I can't call it a true craft store. It's a stationary/paper creations store. I easily could spend every penny I own in that store.

I browsed Barnes & Noble, I sat in the park and read, and finally made my way to the Strand! The most incredible book store in the United States (easily). After the Strand, I went to visit my sister at her workplace and then we headed back to Brooklyn.

Saturday was less eventful, as we spent the majority of the day lounging around, but Saturday evening I headed back into the city to meet my friend Curtis for dinner! We went to this place called Caracas Arepa Bar. It's an incredible Venezuelan restaurant and ridiculously affordable. I had an arepa with guayanes cheese, fried plantains and avocado. Arepas are basically a Venezuelan food staple - they're a corn "bun" that have a similar texture to an English muffin, but are slightly sweeter and a bit more spongy. They're also gluten-free, which makes my tummy very happy, and super delicious.

My arepa!

As you can see, it's a tiny place, but it's a great restaurant to meet one or two people for lunch or dinner. I highly recommend it. Afterward, Curtis and I made a quick trip to Butter Lane, a yummy cupcake shop just down the street from Caracas. Butter Lane is a quaint, really cute cupcake shop that lets you choose your cake and frosting combination. It's delightful. I had a vanilla cake with honey-cinnamon frosting, and Curtis had a chocolate cupcake with sea salt chocolate frosting. Amazing. (Since those were scarfed down rather quickly, I also didn't get a picture of those). 

Afterward we met up with our friends Jake and Dylan. Before long, it was time for me to head back to Brooklyn and get packed and ready to move in. Today, my sister, her husband and I moved my stuff in and got slightly settled. I've spent the majority of the day trying to be productive, and it hasn't worked very well. So, here I am, finally catching you up on my life! I'm trying to get back in the swing of things, which is much easier said than done. I miss and love everyone from home, and can't wait for another successful school year! 

♥ Em

A true man of honor.

I have the incredible responsibility of typing my grandfather's journals this summer. He kept a series of journals, 17 in total, starting in June of 1979. He was in the midst of building the beautiful log cabin on Swan Lake that he and my grandmother would spend the next 28 years living and loving in. The home came to be more than just a place for them to retire: it was the trademark of every grandchild's summer memories. Each summer, my parents would load up their 1979 Datsun pickup with all 6 children and make the 8 hour trek to Northern Montana. My siblings have stories beyond compare of times at the lake, going tubing down the river, games played with the cousins, and so much more. I came on the tail end of things - the 7th child, 10 years after the "youngest" before me had been born. And though I don't share all of their memories, I still remember losing quarters to my grandmother to "buy" back the stuff I didn't put away. I still remember the smell of Saturday morning waffles, the way my grandfather sat at the head of the table making the waffles. I remember sitting on the window seat, watching the birds feed early in the morning. The sound of my grandfather's laugh. Playing horseshoes and always losing. (Gramps was the champ). There were many memories I didn't experience. I was too young to play with the older cousins, needed to stay inside more often, had to be "looked after" all the time. But the lake was still my favorite memory, and remains my most beloved place in the world.Typing up these journals has been an amazing experience. It's like reading a book, but you know the characters, and you've been to the setting. 

Later in his life, my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He passed away 5 years ago today - July 4, 2007. It seems appropriate. He loved his country: he fought in World War II, being honored with a Purple Heart for being shot in the head. He spent the rest of his days serving his fellow men in various ways. He was the most considerate, loving, genuine man I've ever known. He took care of his neighbor's properties when they were gone, looked after them, was heavily involved in the betterment of his community, and had a genuine concern for government and righteousness. He was an educator, a principal before he retired, and had an incredible mind.


We love you and miss you, Grandpa. Thinking of you today and always. 

These are my cousins - they're awesome. This song is dedicated to my grandpa. 

Some ponderings since being home...

Idaho Falls is a relatively small town. I say relatively, because we have a fairly decent population size, yet in relation to any large metropolitan area, we are by comparison, quite small.  These past two weeks have been a constant reminder of how small of a town it truly is - everyone seems to know everyone. It's always at the most inconvenient times that I run into someone I know. You'd think that I would at least be wearing makeup during this chance meetings. Nope. The other night my nephew graduated from high school. It was a very interesting moment. Revisiting my high school was a crazy reminder of my past and how many things I didn't want to remember, and a strange and sweet reminder of the beautiful memories that I did want to remember. Sitting in the gym in which I graduated, I could only hear the echoes of my thoughts: "It all has come full circle".

The phrase "come full circle" was thought to have been coined somewhere around 1878, However, Shakespeare's use of the phrase in his famous tragedy, King Lear, "The wheel has come full circle" was the first written introduction of this concept in the 1600s. A concept that is most interesting, because it depicts that the wheel had completed its cycle, and yet only ended up where it began. It is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a series of developments that lead back to the original source, position, or situation or to a complete reversal of the original position". I remember my first month of school, during my vocal production class I came in contact with this lovely phrase. We were in the classroom in which I auditioned for NYU. My professor kind of chuckled and said, "Ah yes. This room. Everything comes full circle, doesn't it?" And being at Skyline, revisiting those "hallowed" halls, being overwhelmed with a sickening sense of nostalgia, the phrase "come full circle" couldn't have been more pertinent.

But this realization was very encouraging because I was able to reflect on an incredible year. I don't feel like I've returned to the original position. Rather, I feel as though I'm tracing a spiral. I'm at a new point, right across from last year. You can see the other side, but you're not there, you're just slightly removed, infinitely cycling around. And it's unbelievable when I reflect on where I've been, what I've seen, and how much I've learned. A very dear friend once gave me an Idaho postcard that said, "Never forget where you came from". I couldn't if I tried, and I'm so excited to see what else is in store!


Upon coming home, I have realized several things about myself.

I need to stop starting new books. I think I'm on book #4 now, and I'm only halfway through Game of Thrones. I just don't know how else to make it through my huge summer reading list.

Idaho is dry. Very dry. After my 193rd glass of water yesterday and my 70th chapstick application, I just about threw in the towel.

I love not paying for laundry, toilet paper, food, and cleaning supplies.

Eggs make me sick. No wonder I don't eat them. Blech.

I've missed Mauri Green sooooo much.

I need to go to Europe.

I hate driving.

In addition, I've realized...

There is not enough time in the day. There never is.

Pinterest is addicting, and completely destroys your planned-for-years wedding ideas that you previously thought were so great. Now I have to plan everything all over again.


All my dearest love,

Em ♥

Chasing rainbows.

I'm home! Well... not right now. I mean, I'm actually sitting in the middle of a coffee shop. There's nothing like the atmosphere of a coffee shop for artistic inspiration. Forgive me if this post ends up being short and sweet, I'm sure I'll have much more to say in a week's time! It is so good to be back in the land of potatoes, where laundry is free, toilet paper is soft, and coffee is cheap! :) I do miss New York (I've already started a countdown), but I look forward to the precious moments ahead of me this summer.

I'm writing a book! It's quite a daunting prospect, but it's a challenge I'm welcoming with open arms. If it fails, then I'm all the better for it. And it's a perfect summer project. Along with reading the Game of Thrones series. I'm drowning in words.

I arrived home last night to a joyous smothering of little people hugs and kisses. The nieces and nephew were waiting on the porch steps when we pulled into the driveway, and it couldn't have been more precious. :) I spent the evening settling in and spending time with the family. And it seemed like Idaho was happy to have me home, too, for it greeted me with this! A beautiful, yet brief, lightning storm and rainbow.

Thank you all for reading my blog! I want to encourage you to follow me, and I want to remind you that I have an awesome "follow by email" option. It sends you my posts via e-mail! That way, if you're not on Facebook, or you don't always see my link, you can get an awesome e-mail each time I post. It won't spam you or send you anything other than my post. I'm subscribed to a couple blogs I follow by e-mail, and it's a really handy feature. I'm so happy to be home, and will continue to blog through the summer, so stay tuned!

I came home to you! ♥

All my love,

-Em

Tourist week! ... kind of.

After a long internal battle of whether to write a summary of my year thus far, what I've learned my first year of college, or to just post about my week, I came to no conclusion. So... this post will probably be a rambling tangent complete with pictures, little tidbits of my beloved NYC, inspiring quotes, summaries, and opinions. But it is time to blog again, so here I go. 

Our initial plan for the week (or rather, 3 days) after finals was to be tourists! We were going to call it tourist week and take a lot of pictures. We also were going to look lost, ask for directions, stop in the middle of the sidewalk and look up, and go to Shake Shack, take cheesy Times Square photos and the like. Well, we kind of became ridiculously busy practicing for Grad Alley, so we just spent the last few days in the city enjoying the time we had free.

 After our last final, Lauren and I headed down to SoHo to get some tasty Georgetown Cupcakes. (free, I might add) and took a walk around, window shopping and keeping it classy as always. If you haven't had a Georgetown cupcake, you have not lived.

I mean, really. Just look at these babies. 

I had the Hummingbird cupcake. Hummingbirds remind me of both my grandmother, and my mother. So it was an appropriate cupcake for Mother's Day weekend. They are truly the most incredible women in my life. I will always look up to their strength, independence, and determination, and to their feisty spirits and loving arms. When I was young, we used to spend a week or so every summer at my grandparent's lake. In their dining room was a window seat just behind the kitchen table, and it looked out to the deck where the bird feeders were. I remember sitting each morning at breakfast, waiting to see the hummingbirds come to the feeders. Hummingbirds were my favorite because they were so beautiful. I loved how fast their wings moved.They were always moving, never slowing down, never stopping for anyone or anything. I mean, they even ate flapping their wings a mile a minute.
I suppose they reminded me of my grandmother's spirit, the same spirit that my mother held in her - always moving, stubborn and feisty. Regardless, they have always held a large amount of appeal to me. On days like today, gloomy and overcast, I find myself yearning for the lake - warm and sunny weather, dipping my toes in the water.

I see this building every day on my walk to work. I love it, and so I finally decided to take a picture of it. It's one of my favorite buildings in New York. 

David and I spent dinner together last night, as our last "hurrah" in New York together. He has a full three weeks of school left. Lucky fella. My ride home from the Upper West Side last night was not exactly adventurous. Although it took me 3 trains to get there, I settled on only one transfer on the way home. Stupid B trains. They're always out of service. But... I couldn't help myself at Times Square. Pictures just had to happen.

Which brings me to the rest of my weekend. Filled with Grad Alley pactice, storage pickup, throwing so many things away and packing for Idaho... it managed to be a crazy weekend. Andrew and Bonnie are in the city this week, so I had the pleasure of meeting up with them on Saturday night, which was incredible. We met at Dolce Vizio, a Tiramisu shop and then browsed the shops of SoHo. While I was waiting to meet them, I went into the World's Smallest Store. And I met this guy! He said that there was only one thing in the shop that would interest me, and he found it. It was a necklace made out of a vintage typewriter key. He asked me why I was dressed all vintage-like. (I was wearing waist high polka dotted pants and a lacy blouse and pearl earrings.) But then he said, "No wait. I know.... You're an actress, aren't you? You're a performer?" And I laughed and said yes. Although that doesn't really explain why I like vintage clothes... 

We had dinner reservations at Hangawi, the most incredible vegetarian Korean restaurant. Afterward, we went to see Sleep No More (for my second time... and since I've already blogged about it, I won't give you another summary). Needless to say, I thought it was great, but I did find that I enjoyed it much more the first time. 

Sleep No More

Tonight Lauren, Juliet and I headed to Chinatown to get some dumplings for dinner. Mmm. And then we headed to Little Italy to finish off the night with a Cannoli! After our tourist-y dinner, I went to see the Avengers with Steph. Very entertaining. :) And since it's ridiculously late and I have to wake up in 5 hours... I leave you with this. My final New York picture, to celebrate my successful first year living in the Empire State...  

I'm coming home in one day and three hours. Idaho, I'll see you soon. ♥

-Em

And since I promised you a quote...

"Many people think that they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."

-William James