The High Line: A New York City Treasure

Ahh the High Line, converted old train tacks that are now a highlight to any NYC guidebook. For those of you who haven’t visited to the High Line the best way to describe it is like a secret, elevated park that doubles as a walkway and sightseeing spot. There are entrances and exits all along the railway from 14^th to 34^th Street, so you can come and go as you please.

I remember the first time I visited the High Line was right when it opened in 2009. I was in high school at the time and was spending the day with my parents and cousins just walking around and people watching (one of the best pass times). Since it was summertime there were tons of people out and multiple local food carts filed with artisan flavor ice pops amongst other food groups.

I remember being amazed by all the green trees, the grass, the view, and just the general architecture design of it all. For starters, the fact that these abandoned train tacks got turned into a park is pretty remarkable. With the various areas filled with benches the High Line is a great place to meet friends or take a late afternoon walk to admire the art/graffiti/murals that adorn the sides of passing buildings.

One thing I love about the High Line is how when you’re up there walking you are still in the city but you also feel very removed from it at the same time, not unlike the feeling you get when walking through Central Park. In all honesty I could probably spend a good couple of hours there just looking out at the water (YES, you heard that right, the water! You can see the river from the High Line! Raise your hand if you’re sold already cause I know I am) and just watch life go one down below me. Evidently the designers of the High Line knew how people like you and me think and they created a whole little section where you can actually sit over the street and watch the traffic below you through a plexiglass window!

Another bonus is that if you visit multiple times a year you can watch the season’s change in the flowers that are planted and bloom between the tracks! I love doing this

However, what you will see on the High Line is not limited to nature. Sometimes you’ll be luck enough to see performances, such as the one time my mom and I passed a solo dance performance that was being videoed and photographed in one of the little bench alcove area.

You really never know what you may find!

Have any of you ever been to the High Line or want to go? If so, let me know and what you liked most about it!

Ps. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a post, I’d really appreciate it! J

~ Monique ~

My Italy Adventure: Part II, Venice

“We’ll always have Venice” Wait…you mean to tell me that’s not the quote? Oh, it’s, “We’ll always have Paris”? Well, Paris is pretty cool too I guess, but have you ever been to Venice?!

When I was studying abroad in Italy for a month two summers ago I was lucky enough to spend my first weekend on a whirlwind trip to Venice with some girls in my group! I was pretty hesitant at first about going because this was my first time traveling abroad with only people my age…and now I was going to leave the city into which I had just landed for another city a four hour train ride away. However hesitant I was at the time I am so glad I went through with the trip.

I remember falling asleep on the train to Venice, trying so hard to keep my eyes open and failing miserably. Yet, the second I caught my first glance of Venice as we arrived in the station along the water I was immediately awake and alert for the day! Venice is truly the city of water and bridges.

The first thing we did was buy a day Vaporetto water bus pass, and it’s a good thing we did because that was truly the only way we got around. As far as public transportation goes, and I’m from NYC so I think I know a little something about public transport, this was pretty good. I mean you’re on a boat with an amazing view in all directions as you go from one end of the city to the other, what could be better than that!

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I love architecture, especially that of older buildings, and Venice is the perfect place to find this. Everywhere I turned, every building I looked at was adorned with structural detail I couldn’t take enough pictures. They just don’t make buildings like that anymore.

Unfortunately the weekend we were there it was chilly and there was always impending rain, so all my pictures have a cloudy overtone, but I wouldn’t have changed it.

One of my favorite memories is of walking down a street filled with shops and really feeling like I was in a small town. There were hand crafted chocolate and pastry shops, trinket shops, and of course, ones filled with Venetian masks. I even had my first real Italian gelato in Venice :)

Although I only spent a whirlwind two days in Venice we covered A LOT!

Here were my favorite highlights from the trip:

Saint Mark’s Basilica

Piazza San Marco 

The Grand Canal

Bridge of Sighs (a must see!)

Rialto Bridge

Ca’ d’Oro

Have any of you been to Venice before or want to go? What was your favorite part? Comment and let me know!

Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a post, I’d really appreciate it!

~ Monique ~

Sunday FUNday: Sunflower Fields

Last weekend was our first free time since being back at college and we had a long Labor Day weekend! One of the things I love and really appreciate about going to school upstate is that there is so much countryside and trees around me compared to at home in the city. If I were in NYC it would take up hours of driving to reach a sunflower, but up here there's one only half an hour away! Plus, we get to pass horses and cows on the drive!

For the past two years my friends and I have taken an adventure day to visit the huge sunflower field in Pittsford, New York, and this year was no different. We started the day with a scenic drive on the way to the sunflower field, which once we reached then turned into a ‘fun frolicking through sunflowers and taking loads of pictures’ time. I absolutely love sunflowers, their bright yellow color makes me happy with one glance and the sweet memories of my childhood summers that they evoke make me smile without trying. Thus, in my book any picture taken with an abundance of sunflowers is a good picture….even though the fact that the sun was in our eyes half the time made for some pretty funny photo outtakes. Unfortunately since it has been so hot lately a bunch of the sunflowers were already wilted semi-dead but we still managed to find a bunch that were alive and well just waiting for us!

Next we made our way to the near by Chipotle from which we ordered takeout to eat while we sat by the Pittsford Erie Canal. We found a picnic table to sit on and then spent a good hour watching the water go by, the seagulls swarming a single piece of food, and even some people in kayaks go by. While the canal is no match for the ocean water, there is still something so peaceful and calming about being close to water.

 

On the way home I was in for a surprise when we stopped by Trader Joes. There was a red English telephone booth in the parking lot! Obviously I had to be the dorky person who asks to stop so she can take a picture with it. I was so excited because I thought I would have to wait until I went back to England to see a telephone booth (side note: London is one of my favorite cities and I love everything British…including their telephone booths)!

After that excitement settled we headed inside and to my surprise (again) we were greeted by a flower display of, you guessed it, MORE SUNFLOWERS! All in all it was a day for the memory books and I hope we’ll be able to keep our sunflower field tradition alive after graduation!

I'm not ready for summertime to leave and take all the beautiful colorful flowers with it! 

What did you Labor Day adventures include? What’s your favorite type of flower?

~Monique~

Here's to Senior Year: Dorm Decor Edition

All moved back in at college and ready to take on senior year! Packing and moving into my dorm room the past three years has been a pretty stressful ordeal and I never seem to feel at home until my room is complete with wall decorations. This year I have the pleasure to live in a house with four other of my close friends, and bonus, we each got our own room! Thus, this time around I have more wall space to fill and can rearrange all the furniture. Before even arriving I had a vision in my head of what I wanted my room to look like, and this was basically centered on the theme of “butterfly fairy world” with some twinkle lights thrown in. Basing my decorations around the colors of my room, which include purple, pink, and aquamarine, I decided to get some new wall hangings and pile together all of my old cards, postcards, and pictures to hang up (à la Pinterest style). 

In addition, I already had the flags I had made from my old Lilly Pulitzer planner. These flags were actually the first things I hung up, and they went on my door. 

Next I turned to the blank wall next to my bed and here I arranged my fairy calendar from Barnes and Nobel, two wall canvases I had gotten from Francesca's over the summer, a print from Paper Source(a stationary and paper store that I just discovered and am IN LOVE with!) and a pair of butterfly wings I’ve had for years. Little side note here: I popped into a Paper Source store two days before coming back to school and I literally wanted everything in the store. I had piles of notebooks, prints, and mugs in my hand, and finally settled on sparkly gold wall flags and a print. But let me tell, you, it was a hard decision. Anyways, back to what I was saying…I love the way this came together to create the vibe of my room! The colors compliment each other beautiful and I feel as if my room is a great representation of my personality, bubbly, bright, happy, and colorful..and full of quotes! 

I even happened to find on of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes, "Why fit in when you were born to stand out" on a wall canvas at Francesca's! I love seeing this right when I wake up as it gives me motivation for the day. 

While there is no way I can choose a favorite section of my decorations, I have to say that the  part over my desk holds a special place in my heart.

What’s your dorm room décor style? How do you like to decorate?

~ Monique ~