sad news: you’ll slowly see the amount of pictures in these posts disappearing because the camera on my phone WON’T FOCUS. it’s honestly making me scream. i want to throw it at a brick wall sometimes. i’ve given up recapping with my pictures because UGH THIS CAMERA, but please bear with me. i’ll try my best~
also, i keep delaying these recaps because i’m so busy i hardly have time to sit. *cries* can i simultaneously live in the moment and blog about it? will someone tell me where i can to acquire a time turner?
friday, july 3
we had friday off because of independence day (MURICAAA) and it was the best things in the world. I WAS HONESTLY SO HAPPY. i planned on meeting up with my friend, ana, for the day. we knew each other for a few years because of instagram, but i never actually met her irl. she’s attending the same summer program as me and i was so excited when i found out. i immediately asked her to hang out.
we decided to eat lunch at gyu-kaku because it was near spot dessert bar, the place we really wanted to go to. my sister also ate with us because gyu-kaku is delicious and she knows what to order. it was really nice eating with ana because ~internet people~ and she just so happened to have the same soul as mine. it was so strange how we automatically clicked and there was even this one time when we said the exact same thing in the same tone. that only happens when you know someone reaaaally well.
afterwards, we ventured to spot dessert bar and my sister decided to leave and do her own thing. spot is my go-to dessert place because everything is so cute and asian and DELICIOUS. i always get the green tea ice cream with chocolate lava cake (yes, it’s as good as it sounds). we ordered that and the ‘chocolate forest’ which is a chocolate mousse cake served with pistachio ice cream, oreo crumbs, and black sesame cake. we were stuffed and ready to continue on with the day after everything was finished.
our next stop was the strand bookstore! she’s a bibliophile such as myself but never had the chance to visit the strand yet. obviously, we had to go. we explored the shelves and shelves for a few hours and it was the best thing. i convinced her to read and buy ‘simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda’ by becky albertalli and she convinced me to read (but not buy because it wasn’t there) ‘sarah’s key’, by tatiana de rosnay. i ended up buying the collector’s edition of fangirl, by rainbow rowell, because it was so pretty <333 we got matching sushi-themed and degas-themed socks too!
our day was supposed to end here, but we had nothing else planned for the rest of the day and we enjoyed each other’s company so much we decided to go watch inside out! i’ve been wanting to watch this movie for a while annnnd the movie theatre had recliners. we had to choose our seats when we bought the tickets and the screen was flipped so we ended up sitting in the waaaay front instead of the back. it wasn’t as bad as i expected because the recliners were so comfortable.
saturday, july 4
happy birthday, america! my sister and i decided to be a bit festive with our outfits so we were dressed in red, white, and blue. in the morning, we went to the egg shop for breakfast. while we were waiting for seats, we got coffee at happy bones. normally i’m not a huge coffee fan, but i think i’m slowly changing.. i don’t know what to feel anymore. the food at the egg shop was good, but it wasn’t like OHMYGOD I NEED TO MOVE TO THIS CITY SO I CAN HAVE IT EVERYDAY good.
next, we decided to explore soho. we stopped by zara to do some shopping and i ended up buying a beige blazer and my sister bought a red coat. it actually took us like, two hours to get through that store. i never realized how time-consuming and exhausting shopping is/was. then we went to urban outfitters and we bought sunglasses! i’m so happy with this buy. for some reason, i’m becoming more and more obsessed with sunglasses.
because shopping is so incredibly tiring (no joke), we went to snowdays for a treat. last time i was here, i shared a cup with evelyn but this time we each got our own. about halfway through, i realized how gigantic it actually was. the regular could be a meal on its own. i don’t understand how some people can consume so much sugar and frozen ice (as good as it is), but that’s just me.
at night, we bought tickets to watch ABT’s cinderella! marianela nunez was performing and she is my favorite dancer of ALL TIME. i love her; she is queen. this was my first time watching her perform live in a principal role (because she’s usually in london, mentioned that in my previous post) so i was SO EXCITED. but at the same time, i wasn’t sure because i’ve never watched cinderella and i wasn’t a huge fan of the ballet in general.. in the end, SHE WAS AMAZING. i was so close to meeting her backstage, but then i had to go eat with my other friend, joowon, who’s in the company.
joowon, evelyn, and i decided to go to k-town to eat delicious k-food because, well, he’s korean and by this time, going to k-town should be a tradition. we ate at a place called the kunjip and although we didn’t order bbq, it was still very good. joowon ordered all the stuff, since it’s his home people and stuff, so i’m not really sure what we got. nonetheless, it was scrumptious. afterwards, we wanted to stop by at spot dessert bar but it turned out to be closed; we went to caffé benne instead. i was already stuffed, so i didn’t eat anything there but we chatted for a bit longer and waited for our other friend, bruce, to arrive. (we ate with bruce last week)
joowon and bruce wanted to go drinking to celebrate their last show for the season* and so we tagged along with them to a korean bar. i’ve never been to a real bar or anything similar since i’m underage, so this was all exciting and new to me. nothing too crazy happened (but i had my first ever shot of soju – it was absolutely disgusting and i question why people go drinking), but it was just nice to finally hang out with them again. the last time all four of us were together was in december. :’-( it’s hard having friends who are always so busy. by the time evelyn and i got home, it was already 3am. feeling very very POOOOOPED.
*ABT’s met season is 8 weeks long, with 8 shows per week. each week is a different repertoire, so it’s basically been performing, rehearsing, and dancing nonstop. i honestly have no idea how they survive.
sunday, july 5
i went to steps again in the morning to take ellison’s ballet class. however it really ruined my day, for a few reasons: 1) IT WAS SO CROWDED. packed classes are some of the worst things in life, next to character deaths and humid days. 2) i wanted to sleep in because i was so exhausted from the night before. 3) because of reason #1 and #2, i couldn’t take a good class. 4) THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE.
i was supposed to meet evelyn and we were going to go eat together then visit ikea, but she called and said plans changed and she’s getting her own food. i didn’t really mind and went to juice generation to pump up my mood from that somewhat terrible morning. an acai bowl a day keeps the sadness away. after that, she called again and told me to meet her at ikea in new jersey. um… what? i didn’t know the directions, was on my own, compeletly thrown off, and exhausted. also angry. so i decided to not go to ikea and do my own thing. which involved a nap.
with nothing to do, i decided to go to the guggenheim museum. it’s really not that far from the apartment, so i simply walked there. the architecture was beautiful, but i don’t think museums are my thing. i don’t understand it (the artwork or whatever) and i’m usually alone. when you’re with someone else, there’s usually commentary or feedback to provide to each other, but with yourself it’s much more dull. i was also extremely frustrated because my phone camera was being wonky and wouldn’t properly focus. UGH. i wanted to throw it down the six floors. at least i had my dslr to capture a few shots:
back home, i ordered sushi from seamless and relaxed. evelyn came home and was mad that i didn’t go with her to ikea, but i was too tired to care (sorry not sorry). the day was simultaneously relaxing and tiring. i suppose that’s a side effect of living in the city.
the rest of the week
a few things that happened:
- i woke up on monday and threw up. HORRAY. yeah, turns out i ate bad sushi. i couldn’t go to class in case my stomach decided to flip inside out in the middle of pliés, so i stayed home all day.
- buuuuut i did visit sprinkles cupcakes on monday as well. after realizing that i wasn’t all that sick, i went to get ice cream. obviously.
- on tuesday, i found out i got a demi-solo for our show piece! i’m actually glad i didn’t get a solo this year because the choreography was not my strong suit, but hey, a duet is nice!
- i had an amazing class with ms. rosanna seravalli on wednesday. so far, she’s my favorite teacher.
- i visited the yumiko dream and design studio! yumiko is like the ‘chanel’ of ballet leotard attire and i got to visit their studio! my sister is a yumigirl, so i attending one of the events was a major perk. they even gave me some free stuff~
- i finished since you’ve been gone. it was beautiful and my review is already here!
- i went to momofuku milk again, but this time with a bunch of lovely people from my class <333
– alexandra
I love your photos!!