Life Lately | Holidays, Sleepy Hollow + NYC Day

These last few weeks have been super busy, not that I would have it any other way! But it was also a good balance of having time off to rest and feel re-energize thanks to my (nearly) two week holiday staycation. So here's what I've been up to! 

The holidays

Christmas everything! I feel like the majority of last month was dedicated to holiday dinners with friends, traditions new and old, shopping for presents and just spending time with the ones I love. AKA the best time ever. There was Edo Sushi with Alexa and DJ; Momofuku Noodle Bar with Alexa and Kristin (first time there and loved it!); Junior's Restaurant with Estelle (we go there every year), Petit Poulet with Alexa, and Cafe Matisse with Carina. Then on top of the usual Christmas shenanigans with my extended fam (cousins Secret Santa + this year's theme of wearing green on Christmas day), my "immediate" family and I did a smaller gift exchange during one of our weekly Tuesday night dinners too. Everyone was in the holiday spirit which I really needed since it was a sad time for me too.

Sleepy Hollow

Something my two cousins and I used to do was go on photography shoots. We hadn't gone all year just because we've all been crazy busy but I insisted we go before the end of the year. And we did! We went to Sleepy Hollow to explore the town, since most of us hadn't been before. It's such a quaint and historical place! I had no idea. A bunch of things I wanted to see were closed so we'll probably go back again. But while we were there went to Lyndhurst Mansion, Old Dutch Church, Hudson Farmer & Fish for lunch, and Main Street Sweets for ice cream. It was just so fun to pick up my camera again and explore somewhere new. 

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum + Taiyaki NYC

I knew I wanted to get in one more "NYC day" before the end of the year and I'm glad I was able to squeeze it in. I'm not going to lie, I was so tempted to stay in bed because it was raining but I was determined to make it happen! I met up with Mary Ann for lunch before heading up to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. It was on my list of museums to visit and it felt great to cross it off my list. Even though I prefer looking at art, the interactivity of this museum and some of the concepts were super interesting to see. My only two complaints were the crowdedness (they ran out of space in coat check!) and the lack of an air conditioner (I was very uncomfortable). From there I went to Mercer Street Books & Records (loved the vibe until I saw he was selling review books!), Milkbar (to feed my cookie cravings), Cuyana (to buy a bag), and Maman for a coffee break. And to end the night, I met up with Alexa and Kristin at Taiyaki NYC because we wanted to try their Care Bears-inspired creations while it was still available. They were cute and delicious! 

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What have you been up to lately?