providence, ri (and philadephia, and boston, and newark)

It seems like flights just haven't been working out for me this winter. First, this fiasco trying to get home from Madison, WI in December, and now this trip out to Providence, RI that ended up taking an extra 8 hours with a postponed job interview and a detour through Boston.

first, a red-eye flight to philly, which was fine and dandy, until they canceled my next flight out to providence bc of maintenance issues. so i spent the morning hanging out in these rocking chairs figuring out how to get to providence and then working out my interview schedule.

solution: flying to boston and then taking the train down to providence. while waiting for the train, i stopped by flour bakery for some lunch - a roasted lamb sandwich, which is basically the only thing i ever get from them other than their breakfast sandwich. it was as amazing as i remembered.

i also struck up a conversation with this biostatistician from brown university who also had his flight cancelled and was making his way down by train. he'd also gone through med school and is now applying to residency programs, which is kinda cool. i got his business card too. not sure if i'm going to contact him bc i have nothing to say, but it was nice. 

finally made it to providence. it was ridiculously cold, and i got pre-frostbite (or something) on my pinky finger just on my 10-minute walk from the amtrak station to the hotel. it still feels funny... i would have loved to explore downtown providence and done some shopping, but it was way too chilly to even think about walking around outside. this polar vortex is really cramping my style.

I ended up interviewing the next day, and heading to the airport right after. Thank goodness my return trip was smooth sailing, with a stop in newark, nj, and included a cute weimeraner. It's good to be home, where winter is is a balmy 50 degrees. 

madison, wi

Hi friends! No link love today, because I haven't had the time to pull one together. It's definitely been a busy week. Instead, have some iPhone pics from my two-day trip to Madison, WI for a job interview. This company really spends a lot of time and effort into their recruiting process, and it was a blast. And if it all works out (and that's a HUGE if), I'll be within driving distance of Chicago and my beloved Blackhawks, which makes all this goshdarned winter cold worth it. I really hope it works out. I'm beginning to fall in love with Madison.

waiting for my flight. i swear that dude knew i was taking a picture and deliberately walked into my shot. also this picture is really green for some reason.

somewhere over minnesota. maybe wisconson. who knows. 

the wisconson state capitol. absolutely stunning.

it's not *that* cold. but really, it's not, considering that it gets below zero at its coldest. but it is the first time i've heard of freezing rain. the weather ended up turning a 7-hour trip home into a 12+ hour ordeal with tons of delays, missed connections, luckily grabbing a seat on standby to a nearby airport, and an extra stop in Salt Lake City for some emergency medical care. ay carumba. at least i made it home safely. props to all the customer service representatives that have to deal with rude customers. i can't even bear to stand next to one of those conversations, much less be on the unhappy end of it.

Well that ended up pretty rambling there at the end. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and if you're flying anywhere for the holidays, safe travels and fingers crossed for no delays!

lighthouses

Number 9 on my 101 in 1001 list is to visit another three lighthouses.  For some reason, I think of lighthouses as an east coast thing, but the west coast definitely has some beautiful lighthouses too! My best friend Hannah and I had plans to go on this lighthouse road trip sometime during college, but never got around to it (although that seems to be the story of our friendship; we've got a google doc full of things we want to do but haven't.  instead we order takeout and watch stupid movies.) So now, it's on my list of things to do.

Fisgard Lighthouse

However, I did get the chance to visit two lighthouses while I was vacationing in the Pacific Northwest last summer with my family.  We stopped at the Fisgard Lighthouse in Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, and the West Point Lighthouse in Discovery Park, Seattle, WA.  The Fisgard Lighthouse was restored inside, so you could go in and explore.  The West Point Lighthouse was being repainted when we were there, and I'm not sure the current state.  But neither are particularly out of the way of their respective city, so I would definitely recommend visiting both!

West Point Lighthouse

san diego

This past weekend, my mom and I took a day trip down to San Diego. We didn't do too much - mostly just shopping and some eating. Most of these places were suggested by Design Sponge's city guide. Here are some of the places we went to.

Food:
Cafe 21: we went here for lunch based off yelp reviews, but weren't really impressed? there was a decent wait outside too, so we were surprised by the quality of food.  maybe people went for the drinks? they had six selections of sangria, and huge bloody marys etc etc etc. it also took forever to get our food, and all we ordered was spinach crepes and a spicy cristo sandwich.
Rim Talay Thai Cuisine: we ended up grabbing dinner in Oceanside on our drive back home.  Yelp didn't steer us wrong with this one. we ordered their fresh rolls (aka spring rolls), an island curry (red curry plus pineapple etc), and a tom yum noodle soup.  great food for a decent price, but service was a bit slow at times.  they also do a pretty popular takeout. we parked next to a barber shop full of marines getting their high and tight sharpened up; it was amusing.

Shopping:
Pigment: super awesome store in North Park, with a "plant lab" where you can create your own terrarium with their selection of glass globes, plants, sand, etc.  
Progress: also wonderfully curated, with an awesome selection of cards and home goods.  in South Park
Bubbles Boutique: a clothing and accessories store in the Gaslamp District.  apparently they only (mostly?) stock local artists/jewelers/etc? Depending on what you're going for, may not be worth the drive and parking, but if you're already in the area, definitely worth a look
Bixby & Ball: in the Cedros Design District in Solana Beach, a little bit north of San Diego. I'd visited this place before, and wanted to show it to my mom. the last time I was there, they had spread out onto the steps and driveway out front for a sale, which was great for me. this time, it was just the shop. pricey goods, but the ambience and quality is fantastic.
Solo: just down the street from bixby & ball.  lots of great stuff, plus it's in this warehouse-y looking cement brick building that they managed to make inviting and not like costco at all.  you could probably find a lot of their goods elsewhere for a couple dollars cheaper, but it's still a great place to browse and get inspiration.  the rest of the store in the Cedros Design District also warrant a visit.

and some places we didn't get to, but wish we did.
Food:
Maza Grill Kabob: apparently they offer good, cheap food.  unfortunately they were closed for the long weekend.
Alchemy: had a delicious-sounding menu, but we weren't hungry when we got to the South Park area, so decided to move on. also seems to have a community aspect to it, which is exciting
Craft & Commerce: their lunch menu looked fantastic, but they only offer food from their brunch menu on weekends, which wasn't as exciting.

Shopping:
Vocabulary: we ended up passing by this part of town completely. =[

Spring Break Round-up

I love visiting other cities whenever I get a chance, and being on the East Coast means that I have so many choices to choose from. This spring break, I went to Washington, D.C. and New York City.  Here are some my favorite places.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Food:

Founding Farmers: we were in the area on a Sunday night, when the streets were all empty.  you wouldn't have realized it from the restaurant, however; both floors were completely packed.  good food and quality ingredients that are made in-house or carefully sourced.

Standard: great barbecue. 'nuff said.

Shopping:

GoodWood: they have a shop puppy that makes a visit worth it.  They mostly carry 19th and 20th century antiques, other vintage finds, and some locally-made products.

Tabletop: a wonderful collection of modern accessories.

Proper Topper: runs the gamut from hats, dresses, baby toys and clothes, books, and more.  good for treating yourself with something beautiful or for gifting a friend.

Trohv DC: huge place chock full of home goods, furniture, party accessories, and more.

Other:

Museums (obviously).  Most of the Smithsonian museums are free, which just makes it all better.  The most popular are the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History, but some other gems include

National Gallery of Art: beautiful art in a beautiful building.

Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art: Asian art plus a random gallery of American Art.

Museum of American History: I learned so many new things about this country.  Made me proud to be an American, even with all the hiccups we've had (and are still having).

Botanic Garden: and many other gardens dotted between the museums are beautiful.

NEW YORK CITY

Food:

Doughnut Plant: huge donuts with innovative flavors.

Russ and Daughters: cream cheese and cured salmon all made in-house.  lines are long, but worth the wait.

Patisserie Claude: best croissants ever.

Pearl Oyster Bar: lobster rolls and shoestring fries

City Bakery: pretzel croissant.  better than it sounds.

Eataly: Mario Batali's food extravaganza.  a mix between grocery store, deli, cafe, and restaurant.

Momofuku Milk Bar: crack pie is a must-have.  cereal milk ice cream as well.  heck, just try everything.

il laboratorio del gelato: wonderful flavors.

Mast Brothers Chocolate: handcrafted dark chocolate with beautiful packaging.

The Cinnamon Snail: vegan food truck bursting with flavor.  the pastries are wonderful too.

Shopping:

Brooklyn Flea: better in the spring/summer, but still great in the winter.  fantastic collection of clothes, craft, antiques, and food.

Papel New York: cute shop featuring cards and paper goods

Moon River Chattel: kind of like a thrift store, but classier and higher quality and wonderfully curated.

Brook Farm General Store: possibly my favorite store ever.

Purl Soho: quality yarn and fabric shop.  their website also has free patterns for a variety of projects.

Other:

High Line Park: built on abandoned railroad tracks above the city, with great views of the Hudson and surrounding streets

beach day

It rarely ever gets cold in southern California.  One fine day in the middle of winter break, my family and I cruised around the beaches dotting the coast.  We drove up to Seal Beach, and then hit Huntington and Sunset Beach before ending at Newport Beach.  Along the way, we drove by a dog beach that I need to revisit because puppies.  That is all.