Miami daze

Miami. Who knew I'd be frolicking around in Miami for a hot weekend this summer? All thanks to Ann Choi, one of the funniest and dearest friends I've ever had, I found myself swimming at South Beach, petting the cutest chihuahua, hanging with some of the smartest and nicest people, dancing to queen BEY and watching Ann rub sunscreen all over the bare back of a complete stranger. So South Florida basically exceeded my expectations in every way possible. I went down there with my trusty Minolta and finally got the photos back today from Film Box Lab - aaaaaannnd I gotta say - I'm absolutely in LOVE.

We spent the weekend at Karen's in North Beach, which was absolutely lovely all around.

Then we took a stroll at PAMM, aka Pérez Art Museum Miami right by the water (I guess in Miami, everything's sort of by the water).

Then we went back to beach because WHY NOT

Oh, and Wynwood Art District was actually one of the loveliest art districts I've visited. We even stumbled into this random TWLOHA gallery party where I ended up bonding with this random girl from Australia over photography. Panther coffee also did not disappoint.

Meet Peanut. THE CUTEST CHIHUAHUA IN THE WORLD!

Oh Miami. Thank you for such a beautiful weekend. :)

All photos taken with Minolta X-700 + kodak 200 + beautifully processed/scanned by Film Box Lab

Spoiling myself a bit

I may not be the type of girl that spoils herself with brand name shoes. But that doesn't mean I don't splurge on the "extra" on the rare occasions when I do have some money and time. For example, coffee. Food outings, including ostentatious brunch trips, hah. Expensive film lab services. Yeah -- I finally got these film scans back from Film Box Lab in Nashville -- expensive but worth it. All photos taken back in early May.

Of course, Madcap coffee tasting event was completely free. After the jitters from all the free coffee, Lauren and I headed over to Bub and Pop's sandwich shop next door for some real food (we think it'd be extra charming if they provided pastries or food at coffee tasting events...heh heh). I have a thing for Italian hoagies. GAH.

Brunch at Ted's Bulletin on 14th when Sammy surprise-visited me that weekend: Also: let's please not forget that they make pop-tarts from scratch. Random thought: I feel like I end up getting lunch food 90% of the time I go get "brunch." Anyone with me?

slow it down

Back in January, I knew my visit to NYC was going to be the last one for awhile. Yet I wasn't too insistent on doing much. Maybe it was the cold, dreary winter that put a damper on my spirit. My last memory of New York is so gray. Even though I spent a brief, brighter day there in May, frozen New York City lasted a bit longer in my mind.

Gray, blurry and cold. Hours spent sitting at my favorite cafe in East Village. The long, brisk walk to the Met. The first time I took New York slow.

Sweet home Texas.

Back in February, I faced the first set of the darkest days of the year.

I was in between jobs so there was that whole what-am-i-doing-with-my-life job insecurity issues and the reality of being back in Plano. Then my boyfriend left for the military and we had absolutely no communication for about a month. And one fine morning in February, I slipped on ice on interstate 35, spun out of control and crashed into the construction barriers multiple times while an NPR reporter's voice blended into a wild mixture of indecipherable sounds of cars screeching and things crashing into other things. I felt my body swinging against the seatbelt in slow motion -- the seatbelt that probably single-handedly saved my life. When it all stopped, I was nauseated - and oh, all the delayed a shock that paralyzed my body as the car finally came to a full stop. How am I going to pay for this? Was the first question that popped in my head. Crying and shaking were all to come later. Everything was so cold and hectic. A truck driver got out of his car and immediately ran over to see if I were okay. I told him I was fine. He stopped the entire incoming traffic and motioned me to pull over. I pulled over and he left. I tried to get out of the car but the door was jammed.

Oh, it was dark. Trust me.

It obviously took me awhile to recuperate from everything. When I finally came home, I resolved to do absolutely nothing for at least 3 weeks. Such dark days. I basically became a serial homebody and refused to go out or do anything for awhile. But the truth is, there are so many what-if's and why-me's you can ask yourself til it becomes torturous. Yeah, I initially kept asking myself if I should've just stayed in DC to look for a job, if I shouldn't have decided to drive back to Dallas from Austin that morning, etc. But the afterthought is never going to change anything. The truth is that you make decisions and you own up to them because they were yours after all. And it's your life.

What I'm trying to say is that things got dark so I did something totally despicable: I baked cookies. If you know me at all, I am literally the worst person in the kitchen. Like I basically microwave all my meals and I feel like I'm sometimes bad at even that.

The cookies actually turned out pretty well. My dad baked his signature scones. And slowly, somewhere between carefully studying the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies and listening for the oven timer, I started feeling okay about everything. Home. Baked goods. Time. They're always good for the soul.

Crosby Coffee in Brooklyn

Crossing off my to-do list, one coffee shop at a time. One warm weekend in November, I went up to NYC and dragged Hyeri to an obscure area in Brooklyn that even she had never been to (in my book, Hyeri knows all the cool/cute places around New York). Not gonna lie, it got pretty scary when we almost got lost but thanks to Google Map, we were able to find this small/quaint little place in the most unexpected corner of this street. I loved the quiet and chill atmosphere, and coffee was excellent. And of course, all white interior, including all the furnitures and walls, with the huge window that softened the light everywhere, made everything so photogenic.