welcome to new york // part vi

i was supposed to leave the city after this, but i guess i’m staying! i was beyond excited and happy when i got the job to be a counselor for ABT’s young dancer summer program (and when my parents let me stay). my city dreams aren’t coming to an end… yet.

saturday, july 25

evelyn was in a desperate need to do her nails so we woke up early and went off to check that task off the list. she had plans to go somewhere early in the day, but i ended up going back home to relax after we were finished. i did some boring “normal” things like laundry, cleaning, and instagramming before i decided to get some food. i was spending nearly the entire day to myself so i could go anywhere!

i ended up deciding on a place called korilla. it’s basically a chipotle-style korean restaurant which is ALL THE THINGS I LOVE. i didn’t check when it opened, but i got there just in time and was their first customer! i relaxed there for a bit and called my parents and gave them an update on my life. i would’ve taken pictures to show you my delicious food, but it’s not very aesthetically pleasing. but take my word for it, korilla is so good.

my next stop: the new york public library! unfortunately, i didn’t go to the iconic one in bryant park but this one was just as gorgeous. it was originally a courthouse, so everything inside was classic and medieval. there were stain glass windows, spiral stairwells, and a huge study room. i didn’t end up taking any pictures because i didn’t want to disturb everyone with my camera’s shutter. i ended up catching on my blogging, which is great!

a short while later, evelyn called me and asked if i wanted to eat snowdays. i didn’t really want it because i had it on thursday AND i was still full from korilla. but how can i turn down snowdays? so i left the library and went to meet them (evelyn and her friend – the one who we ate dim sum with last week) for some ice cream.

evelyn was spending the entire day at the library as well, but the NYU one instead of the NYPL. she preferred that one because it opened until midnight and had a lot more study rooms. however, you needed to pay to get in. it worked out fine for her because she had a working student id from her college days at boston university, and therefore, didn’t need to pay because technically she was a “student.” i, on the other hand, couldn’t get in without paying for a 3-day pass. after meeting up, it would be more convenient to pay for it anyway because i’d probably be visiting the library three times since 1) i love books and 2) i’ll be staying longer aka more opportunities to go.

on our way back from snowdays, we decided to stop by at the strand (again). okay, it was more like i wanted to go the strand and managed to convince them to go with me. YAY~ we spent some time browsing and found a vintage book about ABT! it was out of print and in nearly perfect condition. there were huge pages of pictures of prima ballerinas in their old days and it seemed so precious. the best part? it was only $20! insanity. the only problem was that i weighed about 20lbs. we ended up buying it and i also got another strand bag.

while registering for an NYU library pass, we realized our new problem: i didn’t bring a photo id. i usually don’t have one with me because the only photo id i have is my passport. being homeschooled means never needing/having a school id and i haven’t gotten my driver’s license yet.. UGH. evelyn and her friend said it was alright to stay at starbucks with me instead, but i turned it down and decided to go home then come back with my id. i needed to drop off some things (echm this 20lb book) at home anyway, so might as well. even if it wastes an hour of time.

i arrived back at the library at around 6:15 pm… and the office closed at 6. which meant, i couldn’t get a pass; which meant, i came all the way back for nothing. UGH. the frustration was way too real. i didn’t even get much blogging done and nearly wasted an entire day running in circles. i decided to just go to the starbucks next door but for some reason, it was closed. not a problem, i could look up another coffee shop on my phone, but MY PHONE DIED HAHA. my life was falling apart.

i went back to evelyn and she looked up a nearby place i could go to and recharge. on the way, i decided to stop at kung fu tea, which is by far my favorite bubble tea place in the city. drinking that made me feel the slightest bit better. when i finally sat down and resumed blogging, i was back to normal despite the unfortunate events that occurred previously. yay for blogging!

afterwards, we decided to eat at saigon shack for dinner. i love pho, so it really lifted my mood. once we finished, evelyn and i went to k-town to buy kimbap for tomorrow’s lunch. we were planning on going to the beach and we (obviously) love korean food, so WHY NOT. we also stopped by tous les jours (which is featured in dream high, one of my favorite korean dramas) for some bakery goods!

sunday, july 26

you know how i said we were supposed to go to the beach? well, the weather forecast claimed it was going to thunderstorm in the afternoon, so that meant no more beach. we met up with joanna (evelyn’s former roommate) and went off to williamsburg, brooklyn instead! our first stop was toby’s estate coffee. the decor was very hipster and artsy. loveeeeee.

we decided to get brunch at cafe mogador. our seats were in an indoor patio/greenhouse-ish thing, if that makes sense. i really love the interior design of these places in williamsburg. absolutely beautiful and i love the vibe. we all ended up ordering the same thing: a salmon benedict with avocado. it was SO GOOD, like a b(r)unch of places in new york (did you see that pun because that was so obvious).

afterwards, we decided to sit on the waterfront and simply overlook manhattan. it was so peaceful and beautiful. it was almost as if we were sitting on a mini-beach.

when we headed back to manhattan, my sister and i were planning on getting piercings! evelyn wanted another small one on her earlobe and i simply wanted to get my ears pierced. i got them pierced when i was in fourth grade, but i didn’t take very good care of them so my ears quickly got infected and the hole closed up. to my dismay, they wouldn’t let me pierce them because i was still under 18. *rolls eyes* i needed to have my parents here or be a legal adult. oh, well. at least evelyn got her piercing. i guess i’ll just have to wait another year or do it when i go home :///

we went to explore soho after, specifically chobani and bite lip lab. i really wanted to get a custom lipstick color from bite for multiple reasons: 1) it’s MY color and it’s special and awesome, 2) i can customize it however i like, 3) it’s bite, which means it’s edible, which means i can eat and not feel like my lipstick is a problem, 4) IT’S SO COOL. we didn’t make a prior appointment, but we asked if they had any extra time and they said it’ll take around 15 minutes. we decided to go to chobani while we were waiting and I LOVE CHOBANI. yum. also, the lip colors we all got truly made my day. it was so cool going through the whole process and i’d love to do it again in the future.

rest of the week

my legendary list of things i managed to kinda accomplish begins…. now:

• on monday, i began my first job: begin a counselor!! i felt so adult-ish because i was allowed to take the elevator ohmygod. it’s a big deal, okay? we had to climb up those treacherous stairs every morning for the past five weeks and it was absolutely awful.
• we really didn’t do much because it was placement day. we mostly just told people where to go and sat around doing nearly nothing.
• tuesday is when things start to get real. we find out who are kids are and have responsible tasks such as taking them to the right studio, calling role, and showing them where the restroom is.
• found out we’re in gg-1 ALL WEEK which means no sprung floors, but at least the studio is pretty?
• i found out none of the kids from home ended up in the level i’m in charge of, which may have been a good thing.
• i ended up eating with one of them at chloe’s fruit because why not.
• on wednesday the kids in my class decided it was alright to do ariel flips (aka no-hand cartwheels), piggyback rides, and scream around madly before class started and i didn’t even know how to function. it was bad. the teacher managed to whip them into somewhat shape though.
• also went to chloe’s again – this time with all the kids from home
• i technically had two dinners. originally i wasn’t going to eat the second one, but once i stepped into the restaurant there was no going back.
• we ~officially~ moved out of the old apartment and into the new one. all the stuff is gone! everything.
• it was too hot and humid for words or proper punctuation and we all felt like death haha it was awful
• on thursday i had a physical therapy appointment, which was awesome. while i was there, i saw two of my favorite dancers: sarah lane and david hallberg. no big deal, guys.
• i stopped by book culture and bought a hardcover of hollow city by ransom riggs for like, $5!! support indie bookstores, peoples.
• friday was the last day of week one! i ate dinner with the munchkins (little ones from back home) at joe’s shanghai and i was surprised at how good it was. or maybe i was hungry. last time i came, this restaurant was truly a huge disappointment.
• it was also the last day for national ice cream month, hence my ice cream post.

my journey is nearly coming to an end! are you sad or happy that these recaps are going to be over? honestly, i don’t know what to think because as much as i enjoy talking about myself, these are absolutely exhausting.

– alexandra