NEW YORK CITY, NY

New York City….I can’t quite put you into words.

You are an overstimulating, crowded and forgivingly smelly place. I say forgivingly because while your streets seep garbage fumes into the already congested air, you also smell of duck fat fries, buffalo chicken meatballs and the most delicious kale salad I’ve ever touched my lips to. Don’t even get me started on those birthday cake truffles from Momofuku.

Or your mushroom toast from Five Leaves and adorably quaint, quiet streets of Brooklyn.

You also happen to house a lot of fellow foodies + wine bars, both of which I am a total fan of.

Sofia, Megan, Anna, Katie, Evan, Leslie, Danielle, Shayne, Sarah, Rebecca + Megan, I’m looking at you ladies. Anthony, I’m looking at you for putting up with all of us ladies, cleaning up and for my inaugural New York City dinner. Let’s not forget The Meatball Shop, Northern Spy Food Co., Emporio + Pedro’s for your seriously delicious food. I promise I’ll be back.

And you’re the home of Chobani!

I can’t even talk about how lovely + amazing this company is. I lucked out and even met the CEO + founder Hamdi Ulukaya! They love their customers, and in return, I promise you will love their perfectly thick Greek yogurt. If you love it enough, you should also visit their new Chobani SoHo store! It’s a Greek yogurt bar in the middle of SoHo, which is a total shopper’s paradise.

My favorites were the cucumber, mint + olive oil and orange, mint, dark chocolate + pistachio.

Amy, Lindsay, Emily + Hilary, I wasn’t lying when I asked if Chobani needed an intern.

This week was crazy…crazy busy…crazy amazing…crazy good.

I’ve laughed more in the past week than I have in a looooonnnnngggggg time. Most of that is due to Teri + our insane Freedom Trail tour guide, but Sarah totally gets a bunch of credit too.

Love this girl.

I love it more that she loves nachos as much as the manfriend and I do.

We ate a guava + cheese empanada and these super guacamole nachos (can you even resist ordering ‘super guacamole nachos’ when they are on the menu?) and washed them down with pomegranate margaritas. Then we went to The Meatball Shop to meet up with Alyssa, and I ordered PBR beer, because that’s just how I roll in New York City.

(P.S. Does anybody else start singing “Sante Fe” from Rent when they say New York City? “New York City…center of the universe…times are shitty…but I’m pretty sure they can’t get worse…”)

Then the Alt Summit with Brooke!

This is the part that I am having the most problem putting into words.

The design conference was filled with the most amazing, talented creatives, and it was just so inspiring to be around people who appreciate art, design, color, imagination, line, texture, good fashion (the most good-looking room of people ever) and want to help you appreciate more. To appreciate it better. To put it into practice in your design career.

My favorite piece of advice came from David Karon, who started the participatory arts festival Figment, when he said, “Sometimes you have to create what you want to be a part of.”

Whether it’s starting a blog or a company or it’s just planning a trip to NYC for the week, sometimes you have to take a giant leap of what-the-hell-am-I-doing and begin it yourself.

Thank you New York, I hope to see you again soon.

P.S. Yes, that is Martha Stewart in the picture at the Alt Summit. #lifemade