An ode to winter break

Things that I have done during break in no particular order: spent time at home, seen family, seen high school friends, went to a real college party, went to a party in Brooklyn, watched a lot of tv (hello suits!), slipped on the ice and hurt my knee (there is still a sizable scar on my knee), started using a clarisonic, caught a cold, walked around the city by myself, perused a bookstore, ate really good food, celebrated a birthday both with family and then with friends, saw two movies (seriously a record), did some cooking and baking, earned some money, spent some money (including two lipsticks which I love), made new friends, went to a concert at Carnegie Hall (and from the fourth row!), got a flu shot (it's the worst flu epidemic in a long time), modeled for an amateur photoshoot, went to Flushing to eat hotpot (which turned out to be extremely expensive), probably watched too many youtube videos, got a haircut from a new stylist, ate at my favorite banh mi shop in soho, rediscovered an old game, started playing a new game, lusted over the Neiman Marcus x Target collaboration (only to be disappointed), got two of the Marc Jacobs pouches when the collab went on sale at Target, lusted over the new Prabal Gurung x Target collaboration (I am obsessed with the First Date print and the first look), attempted to buy an ipad mini and failed twice.

Things to do in the remaining seven days of break: see more friends, eat more delicious food (going to Mission Chinese Food on Tuesday!), start a new (and hopefully last) internship, second annual girls weekend, buy an ipad mini.

Also, please check out my "photoshoot" from this past weekend in Central Park photographed by my friend Ben!

Remainder of Winter Break

I've been quite bad about posting as of late. School started this week, and I'm still very much not in school mode. Because of my exam schedule last semester (or lack of) my winter break was extra long—five weeks! But now I am back to my busy busy life, which this semester consists of 6 classes (18 credits) and interning in Brooklyn three times a week.
Here is a glimpse of my birthday celebrations (both at home and in ny with my friends) and our first #girlsweekend where my mum, sister and I saw Darren Criss in How to Succeed!!

clam pizza at Otto

Raspberry-lychee bellini at Mercer Kitchen

Tuna wasabi pizza

salmon and mashed potatoes

almond ice cream bar

Four flowers juice: orange, pineapple, banana and pomegranate juice

lemon ricotta pancakes

ramen at Ramen Setagaya

Home!

Now that I'm a junior, I am truly appreciating my time at home—a fridge full of groceries that I don't have to buy, free laundry, my own room and a queen size bed and of course my family! This year my exam schedule worked in my favor and I was able to come home December 17th!! During winter break I always catch up with my high school friends since we all go to different schools there is only a short period where everyone is on break.
My friend Amy and I love Ajishin, so we always go there. This time, since we both weren't super hungry, we decided to split an udon and then order a bunch of sushi.

Kate and I also had Japanese food, which we made! And then this weekend Kate and I are going to visit Ann Arbor to see Jess and our other friends at UofM! I'm really, really happy that my internship is letting me start next week so I could stay an extra week at home. Because we traveled, I was only home for one week, which is not enough!

West coast travels

I've been home for a little over three weeks now, but I was gone for two of it! For Christmas my family went to visit my grandparents in Portland, and we also visited Seattle since we don't go to the West coast that often.

In Seattle, we hit up Pike Place Market right away. We don't really have markets like that in Michigan. I was pleasantly surprised with the variety of produce (especially fruits) that I've never seen before. We also ate at one of the restaurants and had super fresh seafood.

Dungeness crab roll and lemonade

My mum and my sister and I walked around downtown Seattle a bit. We mostly went shopping, but we also stopped for an ice cream break!!

I kinda regret not getting these Jeffrey Campbell heels. They've definitely grown on me

Honey Lavender ice cream!!

I didn't realize Seattle would have so many hills, like San Francisco. I guess that's the nature of the West Coast?
In Portland, we made sure to go to Voodoo Doughnuts and Big Ass Sandwiches. I liked how downtown Portland has lots and lots of permanent food carts, unlike in New York, where they have to drive off at the end of the day. And not just hot dogs and pretzels, lots of South Asian, Greek, etc. food stands. I wish we had had the time to try a few more.

Finally, I went to Vancouver to visit my close friend Justine who I have not seen in a year. I had so much fun in Vancouver!! I arrived on New Year's Eve, so a bunch of Justine's friends from high school came to her house to watch the various countdowns. The next day, her parents took us around the different parts of Vancouver and we had a really delicious hotpot for dinner. Monday, we went to an Asian mall with a yummy food court. For my last day in Vancouver, we went to Granville Island Market, which I really enjoyed, shopping at Artizia (which there is now one location in Soho) and a Glee marathon.

Yakisoba dog from Japadog, now on St Marks! 

Baked Portugese chicken and milk tea.

One of my favorite parts of this whole two week trip was Uwajimaya in Seattle. It's a Japanese grocery store/market/food court. I loved the food there. The first time I went with my parents and I got Korean, the second time I got a Japanese bento box. And I had to stock up on baked goods for my flight home, and the biggest honeycrisp apples I've ever seen!

Sunrise in Seattle 

Beard Papa cream puffs!

Bulgogi Dupbap 

Thanksgiving break

oh dear, I've gotten quite behind in my posts. Instead of going home for Thanksgiving, my family came to New York! We spent our time shopping, looking at all the store windows on 5th ave, going to shows (three!) and eating lots and lots of yummy foods. 

Bergdorf windows

Butter Lane

Peter Luger

City Bakery