Meet Baby Brooklyn!

When I got home from Texas, I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me, a new puppy! Meet little Brooklyn, we had been talking about a puppy, but she sort of fell into our laps and I just couldn't say no. Poor pup was left at the vet, and after the doctor had taken such good care of our other dog, we just couldn't say no. She still only four pounds, but she's healthy and now has a good home. Her name definitely fits her tough, outspoken personality already! It was nice to come home for the holidays to a pleasant surprise, I can't believe its the last time I will be in LA before I permanently move back! I've been crazy busy all week trying to get a job locked in, and after lots of phone calls and research, I can finally say that I am officially employed starting this summer! Its been a crazy four years, and I am starting to get really excited for the next phase of my life. Putting lots of positive energy out as I get ready for the big move!

Texas Time!

For my last spring break, Im starting off the week with a quick weekend trip to visit my brothers; we're all flying in from all over the country to see each other for our last break. Once we all landed in Austin, it was off to see the sights and enjoy all the live music and drinking. And it's completely true, everything is bigger in Texas; bigger, louder, and crazier in Texas! The city is beautiful, there's a great mixture of parks and rivers to enjoy along with downtown and University of Texas to explore. We had so much fun going out every night to 6th Street and bar hoping with all our new friends. They also took us to some of their favorite spots, like canoeing at sunset and barbecue on campus. The weekend was finished off with celebrating Holi, which basically is an excuse for people to throw colored powder and water balloons at each other and run around, pretty much our favorite new holiday. It was a great weekend!

65 Days and Counting...

Not to sound cliche, but its already the beginning of the end. I can't believe that it's already been four years! New York has been a bigger education for me than school itself. I can't really sum up the experience because I don't think I will know its impact on me until I leave. Its been a really difficult four years, but I know I needed to do it. So now it is time to enjoy the rest of my time on the east coast and get excited for the next chapter. Now to finish planning my amazing graduation trip...

Food Filled Weekend In Boston

For Valentine's Day and President's Day, I took the long weekend off to head north to Boston for some family bonding. After watching all the beautiful snow up the New England coast, we immediately headed of to dinner for Valentine's Day, we got the best table in the house, being a party more than two. The best part about eating with my cousin is we always end up splitting the best dishes so we can try more things. We ordered gnocchi and seared duck with cherry sauce, which was very similar to our favorite meal we grew up eating on vacation every summer. Our food journey was off to a great start, and with the weather still being nice, for winter in Boston that is, we headed out to lunch the next day. We went to Asana at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel to have one on the most amazing lunches ever! Ordering the tuna melt with grilled yellowfin tuna, truffled cheese, pickled onions and capers all on a croissant and a short rib sandwich with melted cheese and caramelized onions. But the best thing had to be, hands down, the crispy brussels sprouts with parmesan cheese, garlic and thyme, they were incredible! We walked down Newbury Street which is one of my favorite spots to shop and enjoyed a sunny day. Later that night we went to The Beehive for some live jazz music with a great glass of wine and dinner. Afterwards we went out to a fun club nearby. The next day we started early with an all day V-Day Pub Crawl with a bunch of friends, if theres something Boston is serious about it's definitely their drinking, we finished off the day with much needed greasy Chinese food take out and an early night home. Unfortunately the next day we woke up to a snow storm and opted to stay in until later that night. In the morning after the snow cleared, we headed to Trident Booksellers and Cafe for ricotta and blueberry stuffed french toast and eggs benedict, amazing breakfast inside an old-school, quaint bookstore, just what we needed. After a beautiful day we met up with an old family friend for dinner at Lolita Cocina and Tequila Bar with tapas and margaritas including pork al pastor quesadillas and fried chicken tacos. It was a perfect ending to a crazy fun weekend! Its always fun in Boston, can't wait to go back!

Birthdays, Blizzards, and Shopping Bags

Nothings like Blizzard Nemo to slow down the birthday celebrations! As the storm started coming in, I couldn't help but fight it and go out anyways. After a very long dinner at one of my favorites, Poco, in the Lower East Side, I had to defy the snow and go bar hopping. Since it was a tuesday night, we didn't have a ton of options, but it was definitely fun! I was hoping to go out with friends the following weekend to celebrate, but we were all a bit snowed in. With crazy winds and over a foot a snow, the weekend became quite slow. Of course I still managed to do what I really wanted, have a day off to go shopping and other girly things, like afternoon with tea and macaroons. Hopefully birthday weekend part two in Boston will be more eventful!

Tapas With A Twist

After a couple crazy weeks of school, I deserved a night out with my girlfriends. We decided to try The Social Social on the Lower East Side. Since it was a last minute choice, I made an early reservation, but even when we arrived the place was already packed. We sat down in a very dark, loud, yet cool scene. I ordered a cucumber vanilla cosmo, and it was really good and equally strong. We ordered some of the restaurant's most popular dishes, starting with the french onion soup dumplings, we were all a bit confused, the concept was interesting, but the taste was just odd. We then shared sliders, my favorite being the kobe philly with truffle and goat cheese fondue. Finally we finished with arroz con pollo and shrimp and grits, they were both really good, not amazing, but definitely enjoyable. I would love to go back to try other items on the interesting menu.