Christmas Spectacular!

It has been awhile, hasn't it? Needless to say, I've been caught up this semester with a tremendous amount of work. But now that it has pretty much all settled down, I'm ready to get back to blogging! <3

This past Saturday, my family and I took a trip to the city to watch the Christmas Spectacular! This was my first time seeing it and I was excited that we were able to score some good orchestra seats.

Being in the city just around this time of the year is just such a great feeling. Christmas music is playing along the streets and all the street decor are out. There are also these little shops that are set up near Bryant Park for the holidays. You can buy a bunch of self-crafted and small branded stores trying to sell their trinkets as gifts for the holidays. I suggest checking them out and maybe grabbing some unique presents.

I've never been inside Radio City so when I stepped in I was greeted by a beautiful chandelier which I hear is made up of mostly Swarovski crystals if not entirely. The stage and amphitheatre were so pretty. The Rockettes put on such a great show as usual. Looking stunning and precise as ever. I was also impressed by the little girl that played Clara during the Nutcracker piece.

We ended up eating at Ruby Foo's for dinner which was nearby. I've never eaten there but I was pleasantly surprised because I didn't expect much when I sat down. Their sushi were pretty unique and their soups are delicious.

I definitely think the Christmas Spectacular is a must see during the holidays. Although it felt a lot shorter (90 minutes) than I imagined it to be, it definitely gets the whole family to spend time together to watch an amazing show.

Bridal shower happiness

A couple weeks ago, I went to Craftbar NYC to celebrate my cousin's bridal shower. Bridal showers are really those events that sets your whole life in perspective before you reach a milestone. You know it's like when you go to your high school graduation rehearsal or when you have that last get together with your friends before you all go your separate ways until next summer. Even though this isn't my bridal shower, it still makes me think.

I've seen my cousin grow up. I've seen her graduate, I've seen her get on the Dean's List for the first time, and I remember that first Christmas when she was able to afford to get everyone Christmas gifts with her own money. Now, she's going to get married in just a few days. It doesn't seem that long ago that she wasn't engaged or even dating her current fiance. It makes me think where I'd be in ten years or even five.

I can't wait until that period of my life where all my friends are starting to get married and I just get invited non-stop to all these cute and creative bridal showers and that staring in awe later at the actual wedding!

Exploring central park

I was in need of an adventure. So Mark and I decided to take on the streets of New York City, yet again. But the city has yet to dull with each trip. We set off first to SoHo. We went in the little shops and walked around for a bit. Easily arguing over when to cross the streets in our attempt at becoming skilled and natural New Yorkers.

I was treated to a lovely lunch at macbar which is absolute heaven if you're a mac'n'cheese fan. They offer an assortment of mac'n'cheese in different flavors. It's the best place to get your favorite kind of comfort food. But if you plan on eating here, make sure you call in and get your order in early! Otherwise you might have to wait 15-20+ minutes.

After getting food, we headed to the upper east side where we visited this cute little bakery right after Park Ave called Bel Ami. I googled this bakery because I'm always craving macaroons as a small dessert when walking in the city. I got Jasmine, Green Tea, and Lavender&Honey flavors and the green tea was my favorite! Macaroons are so good.

We walked a couple blocks to Central Park where we visited the Central Park Zoo for the first time! I was kind of impressed by this little monkey I have pictured below haha. We grabbed from yummy dippin dots and enjoyed the rest of our stay from there. A lot of the zoo was still under construction which kind of made the zoo a little smaller than it is usually.

Boy, do I love the city.

Another Soho trip

This past Friday, Mark and I headed to Soho to spend time together and shop around. Around this time of summer, a lot of stores mark down most of their clothes. So we visited stores like Zara, Topshop, Aritzia, and a couple of boutiques in hopes of scoring some really good deals. Surprisingly, I couldn't find anything I really loved in the sales this year. I ended up just making a couple purchases at the new Brandy Melville on Broadway.

The highlight of our trip ended up being the food we ate. We had some pizza covered in vodka sauce which was good but nothing too extraordinary. Then we headed to the infamous Rice to Riches and Mark had some mascarpone flavored rice pudding with some cherries. It was an interesting flavor but I'm not sure if rice pudding is really my dessert of choice. I opted for some delicious cupcakes from baked by melissa instead!

UsTheDuo's First NYC Concert

I was fortunate enough to attend UsTheDuo's first ever NYC concert last night. If you haven't heard of UsTheDuo, they are a singing married couple that first started posting videos on Youtube, then Vine, and from there were featured on GMA and was recently signed by Republic records. I first heard of UsTheDuo when the married couple were still single. I first found Carrissa Rae featured in cover videos by other Youtube artists such as AJ Rafael. From there, I've been following her and her now husband Michael through their romantic love journey and musical career.

Watching them last night truly humbled me. At first, I was in some kind of daze that after all these years of only seeing their faces on social media and Youtube videos that they were finally right in front of me! But then as the show went on, you could truly see how genuine and how kindhearted this couple was. They were interactive with the audience, they were charismatic and humorous, and they looked like they were incredibly happy to be there. Which made me, incredibly happy to see them too. It was a small, intimate setting so I was able to see the couple up pretty close. Luckily, I was able to catch them after their show for a mini Meet and Greet and that was when I was just in awe with how nice they were. Talking to them they had their full attention on you and they truly wanted to hear everything you had to say. It was a little intimidating because of how receptive they are. I'm not sure what I expected them to be like personality wise, but they're better than anything that I could have imagined them to be.

UsTheDuo are about to embark their FIRST ever North American Tour very soon after just releasing their second album recently. I wish them all the best and I hope they get everything they ever want because they truly deserve it. Carissa Rae and Michael Alvarado were super inspiring as a couple, as individuals, and as professionals and I was so glad to have met them.

Check them out here:
http://www.ustheduo.com/

Nolita//Soho//Washington Square Park Over Spring Break

I try to go to NYC every time I get a break from school. I love exploring new places of NYC especially because I'm so used to hanging around the midtown/theater district area. This time I went with a friend to check out the American Apparel Warehouse located in Soho. It's definitely worth a visit but since it is a warehouse, it might not have what you want in stock. But after going there, I don't think I'll ever buy a regularly priced item at an American Apparel store ever again.

We then headed over to Washington Square Park near NYU. It was a little bit chilly the day we went but it was a perfect time ago. The sun was setting and everyone there was kind of just sitting down and enjoying the fresh air. We then went to a cute french bakery for some authentic macaroons which I unfortunately didn't get to snag a picture but were absolutely delicious.

Christmas Tree in NYC!

Last night, Mark and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to the city to see the tree. Traffic was absolutely crazy and there was a ton of people milling about, taking pictures, and seeing all the extra lights and decorations that get put out during the holidays. It was hard getting a picture by the tree just because everyone was moving but luckily, we found another couple that needed a picture as well and we did a sort of trade off. The weather was absolutely perfect with a nice breeze. We saw a street performer that jumped over four people with no help from a trampoline or anything but his own momentum and skill. Which was pretty impressive to say the least. It was a lot of fun and I finally was able to grab some chicken and rice which I more than satisfied with. You simply can't beat street food sometimes. It was another long trip back home because of the never ending traffic but it was worth it. :)

Beach and City Visits

With only a month of summer left, I'm trying to make the most of it! Despite my bigger expectations at the beginning of the season, I'm pretty content with how most of my summer went. I kept busy with my new job and now that it has pretty much slowed down, I can spend the rest of my free time with friends. With that being said, I went on a couple trips this past week. The first one was a trip to the beach with my family. Which was much needed. It's easy to get caught up in jobs and daily routines that it's important to remember to make most of the time that I get to spend at home. We visited an aquarium and local shops for some treats. We attended a sea lion feeding session where they performed stunts and funny tricks which made me think back to the documentary on dolphins I watched in high school. I wondered if it was sick of me to enjoy watching the sea lions follow orders even if they taught through positive reinforcement. I don't know if those kinds of situations are ever justified.

I took a day trip to NYC to meet up with some friends from college which was pleasant. I enjoyed being tour guide for a day and discovering new spots along the way. I must admit, it sparked a bit of excitement in me which I'm now looking forward to this fall. It was a nice feeling seeing those people outside of school. Since I go to school so far, they seem so intangible and our friendship falters only to be reconstructed four months later. So it was a nice change to see them.