HOLLY IS HERE.

what a wild, wild week that has been. sunday night i went over to nesci's and and we watched the fountain, which was good but a bit "heady." around midnight his roommate came home and we all went to a nice bar on bedford that served hundreds of types of beer (at $9 a glass). we had pomegranite beer and i was peer pressured into trying prosciutto and melon because my new friends are italian (and bullies, obviously).

monday came and as did a very spring break-ish few days. a double date margarita night at maracas (resulting in holly getting sick) and a hungover morning at rockaway beach made it feel like we should just airbrush our names and location on a white tall tee. also, i received a lifetime ban from rockaway beach due the fact that i went in the ocean with a pink inner tube. then last night holly and i saw michael showalter perform at union hall in park slope. he was amazing as always. it gave me jumpy legs. then we got dunkin' donuts (also amazing).

tonight started out awful, but wound up pretty fucking fun. a "double date" in brooklyn went awry due to my stupidity. needless to say, i got embarrassed, fled brooklyn as soon as possible, and ended up back in the village where we met up with corey. we went back to maracas for a drink, then made our way to the chelsea piers. on 15th street and 9th avenue we had a freak encounter with zach hone, who neither of us have seen since high school. then we met up with dustin and his friend, and soon we were all feelin' good and bonding over the jersey shoreline. also, i guess i didn't completely spoil things with nesci, but now i do owe him a night out.

i don't know if any of this made sense because i'm numbed and need to go to bed. work tomorrow. fun this weekend.

rockaway beach, the darker side.. among other things.

it's sunday once again. the weeks are seemingly flying by as every other day wendy and I are saying to one another, "it's the freakin' weekend."

last night wendy and I went out with some of our urban coworkers to a bar/club combo in brooklyn, studio b. we got ready and drank our sparkz and then made our way to meet up with morgan, sean, and his boyfriend at morgan's apartment. after sitting around and drinking a bit more while I taught Morgan's dog Lola new tricks, we finally made our way to the bar around 1am.

another reason presents itself as to why wendy and I cannot return home; bars in ann arbor close at two while we aren't making it out of the door until 12:45, at the earliest.

studio b was arguably a bust. while my favorite dj ever the juan maclean was spinning, he wasn't spinning well. we made the most of it as there was a $13 cover so we sucked down vodka tonics and I danced on top of the speakers. nevertheless, about 45 minutes of thumping techno will do anyone in and we split.

I will say this, the bathroom at studio b was oddly erotic as I'm convinced the men's room was constructed to promote anonymous sex. trust me, you just need to see it to fully grasp the sexy anonymity of it. but I assure you I did not partake in anything like that!

the train ride home blessed me with a friend who has also taken the asvab and did backflips for me on the train. I'LL MISS U ARMY BOYFRIEND.


HOLLY IS HERE TOMORROW. THAT IS ALL.


and now, a few photos from the past week or so:

rockaway beach rehab center.


wendy washing up, lookin' good.


it's a flipflop summer.


our fav. dive bar, c/o rockaway beach.


us in our fav. dive bar. PRICEY DRINKZ~!


friday night train ride home.


WE LOVE NEW YORK TRANSIT.

"the annex, ew."

so i finally made it to the richard serra exhibit at MoMa. the pieces blew my mind, especially belts and sequence, band, and torqued torus inversion. as i was walking through the latter pieces, a ninety year old man with a cane struck up a conversation with me about talking about the significance of the work. i hope i can still appreciate modern art when i'm that age.






i then headed back downtown and hit up the end of the season sale at french connection. after work i met up with corey and we headed back to our favorite pier for drinks and another "i love new york" recap session. jersey only looks appealing from the chelsea piers.

from the pier we walked all the way to the lower east side to go dancing at the annex. with a few minor stops along the way, resulting in my bleeding knee cap, we finally made it. we walked in to a band that was finishing up their set. they were okay, but only because they did a cover of "hotel yorba." downstairs, however, the dj set was pretty good (but really only because they played "bullet with butterfly wings").

rock, rock, rockaway beach

today was one of the most relaxing days of the summer. corey and i woke up bright and early and headed to rockaway beach via the a train (and a short shuttle). once we resurfaced from the train we knew we were right at home because 116th street and rockaway boulevard is nothing but kitschy beach shops, dive bars, and a dunkin donuts/baskin robbins combo. as we walked toward the beach, it no longer felt like we were in new york city, but rather that we were transported to a touristy town in northern florida. we were lovin' it all around.

the beach itself was unexpectedly clean. plus, we arrived pretty early so it was yet to get crowded. after about an hour of chillin' on the sand, we ran into the ocean and allowed ourselves to be beat up by the waves. despite the obscene amount of seaweed that ended up in not-so fun places, it was such a fun time.

after a few hours of beaching it, we walked back into town with intentions of walking to breezy point. instead, however, we ended up on a bus that took us to a dumpy park somewhere in between. we got off the bus and started to walk. soon we saw a food wagon with the appropriate slogan "home of the breezy dog" so we decided to stop and ask for directions. the locals were friendly, but gave us poor advice (i.e. they told us the best way to get to breezy point was to "hitch" and not to be scared because she's lived there twenty-two years and that everyone "hitches"). yeah right, you crazy lady. needless to say, we gave up on our dream of breezy point.

back in town we stopped for some local flavor at a chinese restaurant that advertised lunch specials $4.60. how could we resist? it's a good thing neither of us has gotten violently ill...yet. we also stopped for a drink at one of the local dive bars, where a loud pinball machine and crocodile dundee on the tv sullied our experience...ah well, a good trip to the beach overall!

i'm not going to talk about the two and a half hour train ride home because i still don't believe it. i will say that it was the first time i've ever been stopped for an extended period of time on the train because of an "emergency" up ahead. you win some, you lose some, i suppose.

lookin' good, feelin' gorgeous.

sunday, sunday.

once again wendy is at the rise and fall as I sit in our apartment relaxing.


yesterday I worked until seven and then spent the next two hours picking though the village. I spent some time in washington square park, my most favorite park in all the city [take that central park!]. I also watched the sun set at the piers. it gave me a lot of time to reflect on life post july 11th. and I must say, weedy and coney have made some positive changes thus far.

sunset over the jersey skyline.


once wendy got out of work, we made our way to a housewarming party complete with cheese and crackers, brownies, fruit and chocolate dip, and a miniature heineken keg. it's a stark contrast to see people our age thriving in the city while wendy and I are simply fighting to stay alive in brooklyn. in our defense, they actually live here while we're just .. squatters. gross.

we then had to head to yet another housewarming party but due to a late start and that I wanted one more beer for the road, we ended up meeting the party on the street and we all walked to METROPOLITAN.

now, if you stay up-to-date in our lives, you will know that metropolitan was the hit-or-miss bar from the night before. however, last night had a much more promising crowd [including zachary and my nerdy boyfriend] along with my FAVORITE COWORKER JUSTIN.

wendy and I sat/stood on the patio while chatting with justin and his friend george for a very enjoyable unknown amount of time before our appetites won over and we headed home.

at 4am eastern standard time, wendy and I used the stove for the first time since we've been here and prepared what turned out to be a delicious box of velveeta mac and cheese. i'm just glad we didn't burn the brownstone to the ground as I would venture to say we weren't in good shape to be playing with boiling water.


today I must do my laundry, I must call my parents, and I must must must fix my eyebrows!



our futures. you can do that with a comm degree.

yesterday was my first day off in three weeks and sadly i did not make it to MoMa. though we were uptown, and came close (we're always coming close), the line was too long so we decided we'll pay the entrance fee another day to see the exhibit in peace. instead we picked up some panties and nearly had an anxiety attack because we were above 20th street. we then retreated back to brooklyn for happy hour, which left us drunk, dazed, and confused by eight o'clock. in other words, feeling good!

chris met us at bedford for mexican food and eventually we headed out to bushwick to chill with the "bros." the sheer amount of testosterone was overpowering for corey and me, but things picked up when i started spoon feeding people spring rolls and the other alex did a mean acoustic rendition of rihanna's "umbrella." such men those alexs are, hah.

corey and i split around midnight to try and catch the last train before the L train turned into a shuttle. unfortunately, we didn't make it and ended up taking the shuttle anyway. our last stop of the evening was metropolitan, where corey found a hottie with glasses and tevas, hah. ten minutes later we left. we hate metropolitan.

in other news, i went out with a new friend on thursday. we saw his friend's band play in the east village and then chilled back in brooklyn...it's refreshing to meet nice new people.

broken english

this is me in five years (when i'm probably a brunette again).


thanks to a nice chat in washington square park and a movie date with myself last night, i've been feeling really optimistic about life. let's be real. we all get down on ourselves sometimes, but i suppose that comes with the age and life in general. future plans, past in present, looming career choices, post-undergrad education plans, love, loneliness, etc. we've all got a lot on our plates. however, i've become increasingly assured that we will all be okay (and obviously i have to authority to make such generalizations, hah). that is to say, we're young, well-educated, and have a myriad of opportunities available to us, but we must take care of ourselves in order to be happy. decide what we want in life. no, i do not want to meet "empty" people at misshapes every weekend and fade away into a subcultural abyss of sex, drugs, and beauty facades...but i do want to find my niche here, and i realize that will come with time.

after work yesterday i walked to east houston to escape the heat and finally see broken english. i enjoyed it, but not necessarily for it's credibility as an art film. for me parker posey's character hit too close to home. from her mannerisms to dating woes to wardrobe to the fact that she sits outside joe's coffee and goes to visit the penguins in central park when she's feeling down, her character was me. to make things even stranger, as i was walking back toward the west village after the film, i saw parker posey herself coming out of whole foods. this made for a weird displacement that led me to believe we really are living in the truman show, hah.

eventually i made my way to the chelsea piers, where i met up with corey and a bottle of wine. despite the fact that we were facing jersey, the breeze from the hudson felt really nice. we talked more about life after college and at that moment we decided that there was no where we could go except here, or maybe europe. or maybe canada. or maybe california...but middle america is out of the question! snobbery, i know.

here are some photos of katie and heather's visit this weekend. it was really nice to see them and they treated us to a fabulous dinner at sushi samba.




p.s. my apologies for the existential rant!

today at work I was asked to mock up some fun summer sun tips. I thought I should share them all with you here since we are all caught in the throes of summer as I type.

SUMMER SUN TIPS:
1. Stay Safe: Apply sunscreen 20 to 30 minutes before catching some rays for utmost effectiveness.
2. Cloudy Caution: Overcast might look dull, but your skin won’t know the difference. The sun still passes through clouds with the same harmful UVA and UVB rays.
3. Age Awareness: Sun damage is the leading cause of premature skin aging. Make sure to apply sunscreen to your face, too!
4. Be Aware of What You Wear: Remember that your clothes won’t fully protect you. Loosely woven fabrics are no better at warding off harmful rays than a low SPF.
5. Lavish Lips: Use a lip balm with at least an SPF 15 and remember to reapply every two hours for maximum protection. Lip balms can also be used in other sensitive areas such as under your eyes, the tip of your nose and the tops of your ears.
6. Socialite Style: The bigger the better when it comes to sunglasses. Larger frames help protect the skin around the eye as well as the eye itself.
7. Glossy, Glossy: Leave the baby oil and lip gloss at home. High-shine products increase the sun’s ability to penetrate deeper into your skin causing long term effects.
8. Over and Over Again: Reapply sunscreen every 60-90 minutes as most lotions aren’t made to last all day. Waterproof sunscreen isn’t any different when it comes to reapplying.
9. Wet and Wild: Stay hydrated with a bottle of H20 to keep yourself feeling fresh in the summertime heat.
10. Hot and Cold: Sun exposure can cause a pesky cold sore to flare up! Keep in mind to protect your lips in the sun and use Abreva afterwards to shorten healing time and the duration of your cold sore symptoms.
11. Mirror, Mirror: Water can reflect sun from below and cause you to get some sun where the sun really doesn’t shine. Remember to be aware of reflective surfaces around you when outside.


and for good measure, I found this photo recently added to our company server:

discotechs and foodswings

katie and heather are in town visiting this weekend, so our apartment has been extremely cozy. it's been fun, though. aside from working, we've been drinking and chilling (as per usual). friday night i went to the chromeo show at studio b. loved the venue. loved kid sister. loved chromeo. especially loved when the dj's played old weezer at four in the morning.

yesterday i worked and then we all went out in williamsburg. at one point in the night we ended up drinking canned beer and katie decided it would be a good time to summon over two new friends from croatia. needless to say, her perception was way off because they ended up being really short and really unattractive. highlights of the evening included when corey asked "what's croatia?" and when katie said "meet us here at the same time tomorrow." silly.

all things considered (hah, you can tell i've been listening to npr all day), i've been feeling really good and rejuvinated lately. however (sadly), my favorite bracelet broke on friday night, and i can't help but see it as some sort of an omen. ah well...i'm a little older, a lot blonder, and arguably wiser to the world than i was a year ago. such is life, i suppose.

friday will be the first day off of work that i've had in almost three weeks. coincidentally, corey has a free day too, so we are planning a trip to the richard serra exhibit at moma (finally) and taking in an off-broadway show entitled "my first time" (which corey scored free tickets to at work).

i've also decided that before i return to michigan, i'm going to treat myself to an abstract painting that i've been eyeing in soho for the past few weeks. that is, if i have any money left by the end of the summer.

one time at habana outpost this woman ate cheese off my fork.

HELLO ALL:
I am currently shacked up in bed with wendy as katie schultz and heather are visiting. last night wendy attended a show with her bros while katie, heather, and I stopped into a bar called subway [not the sandwich shop] where we enjoyed rounds of vodka tonics and $1 PBR.

the haunting is going on next door again. I found out my name is now IN PRINT inside the newest issue of the advocate. YAY! now you all know i'm not lying about my internship.

I've been enjoying a lot of nights in recently because I'd rather be spending my money on clothes over drinks. wendy and I did meet at the soy luck club for lunch before work yesterday and I ate yet another dish that featured avocado and swiss cheese. I'M OBSESSED.

I got lost on the subway the other night after going out for drinks and dancing with stephanie rose. they took our photos at the bar for the website, so check out manornyc.com sometime soon to see us!

the other day at my internship someone hacked into our out traveler site.





when wendy and I start to get down we eat chocolate. year old chocolate.




[tiny] street fair from our roof.




my first and last trip to the lower east side.





I HOPE U ALL HAD A HAPPY 4TH. I KNOW WE DID.





today, we work.

GYPSIES, TRAMPS, AND THIEVES

lately we both have been venturing out of our "comfort zones." and by that i mean corey went to queens this weekend and i attended a rooftop party in bushwick (note: i'm afraid of heights and corey is afraid of the n train). i also was molested twice in one evening. once by joel bauer (hah), and then by a stranger on the late night L train shuttle bus...this is a city filled with sexual predators! that said, we've been having fun (but admittedly been staying up too late). sunday night i went to morrissey night at a bar in soho, where the majority of patrons were young, hip, and beautiful. feeling a little displaced, i told people i was swedish (because midwestern is arguably less cool).

saturday night we came home to brooklyn after work with a grand plan to go to GREAT LAKES, a bar in park slope where we figured we would feel most at home. the walk to the bar tired us out, so we had one drink and walked back. the jukebox was filled with really good mix tapes.

it's 5 AM now and i'm wide awake and getting ready to work at seven. happy fourth of july everybody. katie schultz is coming to visit us on thursday. corey's sexcapading all over the town.

more often than not, this is what i come home to (notice the empty bag of goobers at the foot of the bed)

more junk food

spooky!

GREAT LAKES! (great times)