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