brooklyn farmacy

One of the stops on our adventure for Katherine's birthday celebration was a soda fountain called Brooklyn Farmacy. It was a relatively new restaurant that was made to feel old-fashioned with "soda jerks" who prepared homemade soda, delicious sundaes and everything else you can imagine that would be at a soda fountain. Even with the commute, I would definitely go back! Thanks for choosing such a fun birthday celebration spot, K!

[roommate picture!]

madiba

Last night my South Africa mission team ventured out to Brooklyn for some authentic cuisine. Our trip is getting closer (and closer!!) and we thought it would be fun to have some local South African fare at Madiba. It was delicious. I had fish and chips (with a fancier name than that) with fried calamari. There were a few extra adventurous eaters at the table, but I'm working my way up to that. All of the food I tried (including pap) had incredible flavor and made me even more excited about my trip. If you're in the NY area and up for the trek out to Fort Greene in Brooklyn, it's certainly worth it. And, of course, the design and aesthetic of the restaurant was my favorite part.

weekend entertainment

This kept us laughing all weekend as we watched Jenny (Buck and Christine's new cat) do somewhat similar imitations of this. Hilarious...and so darn cute!

olde good things

As you saw, I spent most of my weekend organizing and cleaning my apartment, but I ventured out quickly on Saturday afternoon for a neighborhood dinner and, along my walk, I found this store: Olde Good Things. I've seen it many times (they drive a truck all around the city advertising their store with the coolest & craziest things on their truck). I stopped by the window and peeked in since they were already closed. I've got to go back soon...afterall, it is 'the most interesting stores in New York City'.

Cool mirror, huh?

month of June: what I did

Here are the Top 10 (ish) photos of things I did in June. Blogging got away from me. Better late than never.

I mentioned this before, but I went to Salt Lake City. This pillow was on my bed in my hotel room. How adorable. Look at that salt shaker.

I visited the Mormon temple. Actually I didn't go IN, but I did a few loops around. It has beautiful architecture, interesting place.

Then I migrated to the South - 'the loveliest village on the plains' south. I went for another Four Friends wedding, and this time I took Brendan with me.

As you can tell, he's very happy to be on the Plains for the first time! (Although I may have been the happier one that he was finally getting to experience Auburn...)

I'm not sure why but I really love this candid shot. Thought I would add it for good measure.

Reunited again! The second time in just 3 months. We could get used to this... Rose I guess the pressure is on for you!

I found out that Rose had never climbed the Auburn sign to take a picture! That changed quickly when I learned that. We made our way up there with the beautiful Samford Hall in the background!

And then to make Brendan feel like a true Auburn-er, I made him climb up to take a picture too. He could pass for an Auburn grad!

The beautiful bride before the wedding.

Backstage waiting for the big event. (I forgot to mention: Rose and I were candle lighters in the wedding! We had to really focus or else a small mishap could have burned down the church and ruined Rachel's big day. We made it through successfully-whew!)

At the Greystone Mansion for the reception.

Tyler and Rose

Trying to catch the bouquet (I get competitive with this stuff at every wedding.)

Still waiting... and probably encouraging Rachel to throw it to me.

Even after all of my theatrics, I still didn't catch it.

So naturally I made Brendan go for the garter (you can see him in the far right of this picture above).

He didn't try very hard... and he didn't catch it.

Our wonderful hostess and the sweet Roberts girls.

I think Brendan was saying here "Please take my picture again!" So I obliged. (That's actually probably the exact opposite of what he was saying.) I like the picture though!

Goodbye to the newlyweds!

After the wedding, we headed back to Tuscaloosa. I spent the day on Sunday with my family and at the lake. I couldn't ask for anything more fun!

I'm pretty certain this was way over 10-ish photos. Too much to commemorate, I suppose.

operation organization

I've spent the majority of my Saturday cleaning and organizing my room, kitchen, apartment... everything. Unfortunately, my closet did not look this nice and tidy before I started. And even more unfortunately, it didn't look like this after I finished either. I don't know how things take a turn for the worse so quickly, but I think I've gotten them (somewhat) under control again... now to see how long they stay like that.

[picture found here]

pies n thighs

Tonight I'm heading over to Brooklyn to try out LeeAnne's church and also this restaurant that I've been dying to try: Pies N Thighs. What could sound more appetizing than that?! I've been scouring the menu for at least a week trying to decide what I want to try. I still haven't decided and think it will come to a game-time decision...luckily, I probably can't go wrong with anything I choose! There's nothing like a good southern meal in the summertime, even if it's in New York.

gerda weissmann klein

Kat, Julie and I went to the Holocaust Museum this weekend while Kat and I were visiting. We watched this clip at the end of the tour about how Gerda Weissmann Klein met her husband Kurt Klein, an American soldier, on liberation day. This museum was both incredibly overwhelming and moving, something everyone should go visit at least once.



[I got this video from Katherine's blog, thanks Kat!]

ny2dc

I returned a few hours ago from a glorious weekend south of the Mason Dixon Line!

Katherine, Michelle and I took a quick trip down for the weekend to our nation's capital to visit friends. This was my fifth time to visit DC, and I have come to the conclusion that I will forever be enamored with this city. Its old southern charm, summers that feel like Alabama, and wonderful, accessible history of our nation made me (for only a second) wonder if I should just skip my bus back to NYC...

More pictures to come from our quick 42-hour rendezvous in DC!

a good soho lunch

Last Saturday's excursion included a trip down to Soho for lunch. Brendan had been raving about this place called Torrisi that had "the best Italian sandwiches in New York".  He got an Italian sub and I got chicken parmigiana sandwich. I have to agree it was pretty good. The restaurant was tiny, but had a good atmosphere and vibe. If you're in the neighborhood, you should try it out!

(outtakes)

I guess this is why I was satisfied with one successful picture as I mentioned below...

the wedding

As I mentioned earlier, Brendan and I had a wedding to attend last weekend! It was loads of fun: a small wedding filled with good friends, getting to be a part of Mon & Kev's special day, and dinner and dancing afterwards (er, just dinner for me). We didn't take many pictures, so I'm hoping Monica will share once she gets back from St Lucia or sometime in the future. But, at least Brendan and I managed to get at least one picture, which is sometimes rare!

brunch is my fave

Before I moved to New York, I didn't do brunch very often. But here, it's a must. And I've come to really love the in-between-ness of the meal, where you can get the best of both worlds. Friday afternoon, LA and I set a place for our brunch date this morning: Tipsy Parson.

I've been meaning to try this place out for a while. I just did a refresher on the menu to see what I wanted to have, and I quite literally can't hold in my excitement! Everything looks so delicious, though, I'm not sure how I'll ever choose...I better start thinking now.

weekend, weekend

This weekend is an exciting one! I have so many fun things going on that I'm counting down the minutes now... Tomorrow my friends Kevin and Monica are tying the knot! It should be a blast. The wedding is at a beautiful church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. And then on Sunday I have plans to meet up and catch up with friends I haven't seen in a while. If only the weather were nice and beautiful to complete this wonderful weekend!

[happy elephant found via pinterest]

a four friends wedding

This is a picture of four friends. We four friends went to Auburn together. We were all Chi O's together. Jenny, Rose Lynn, me and Rachel. And now, one of the four friends is about to have a new last name. I'm southbound tomorrow for Jenny's big day on Saturday. I can't believe it's finally here! I remember sitting in Mollie Hollifield in Spring of 2007 in Jenny & Rachel's dorm room trying to help Jenny think up a clever way of asking Andy to our Chi O formal (because Chi O's always seemed to ask their dates in a fun, creative way...). She ended up dropping off a huge care package for him at RBD library one night while he was studying, the basket was full of candy and clues to what she was inviting him. And...now they're getting hitched! My, how time flies when you're having fun. I'm so excited to celebrate these two on their special day!