New York City ❀ Spring 2024

This was my second time visiting the Big Apple, the first being btwo years ago and only for two days. My mom and I were there for about a week this go-around, but the trip itself was still rather lowkey. Our intention for visiting was mainly to hang out with family rather than be tourists. Even so, we were able to do a couple things and had a nice time!

Day 0 and Day 1

I'll spare you the gory details, but I'll say this much: our first travel day was a nightmare. Lots of delays and mistakes and motion sickness on the plane, and we didn't get to my brother and SIL's apartment until 3:00 AM. It took us until after 4:00 AM to fall asleep, and then after a few hours, my nephew was awake bright and early and chipper! To say the least, the Mercury retrograde was NOT playing around (joke)(kinda).

Because of this, our first real day in New York was a wash, sadly! After my brother dropped my nephew off at daycare and my SIL left for work, my mom and I napped through the morning. We felt better after catching some more Z's, better enough to grab lunch at a local diner and take a walk around. Our stroll took us through a college campus where the pear trees were in bloom, fragrant like flowery snow. So many beautiful old buildings and statues were dotted around, too! The brownstones and brick and other architectural features in this part of NYC are lovely. We also stopped by an art supplies store––it's wayyy too easy to wile away the hours at a shop crammed as much goodies as that one! A ton of trinkets tempted me, but I behaved and walked away with a new sketchbook, charcoal pencils, a print to frame, and cotton and tweak incense. I've yet to burn it, but the sticks smell so clean and fresh!

For the rest of the afternoon and evening, we mainly just hung out and played with my nephew. Since it happened to be National Burrito Day, we had burritos for dinner! One thing about staying (or doing anything) with my brother: you won't grow hungry. He and my SIL are both big foodies, and always have a slew of recommendations of places and things to try!

Day 2

Another rough night. I kept waking up, and drenched in sweat at that. Adjusting to a new bed can be tough, but compounded with the stress of the other night, it was hard settling down––not even mentioning the timezone adjustment, too! It's SO much easier traveling from the east coast back to the west coast rather than the other way around.

Day 2, that Friday, was one of our sightseeing days. My mom didn't sleep well either, so we took the morning slow and got out of the apartment in time to grab lunch before our adventure. Originally we had plans to visit the Museum of Modern Art, but because of our late start, we shifted gears and checked out the Brooklyn Museum instead.

The Brooklyn Museum ended up being a fun jaunt! The museum itself was MASSIVE. It's the second largest in NYC, but we were still taken aback by the sheer scale. Large chunks of it were being renovated at the time we went, but we still spent a few hours exploring its offerings.

The Brooklyn Museum contains over 500,000 objects and is especially noted for its Egyptian collection. The age of some of its pieces astonished me, especially when considering their good condition. One of my favorites was this gold wreath. Only one of four in the world displayed a public museum, I was amazed at seeing such a thing! With painfully delicate and detailed gold work, it's incredible that it's survived for thousands of years. It makes me wonder and wish about the craftsperson, how they would feel about their handiwork being beloved across time.

Hands down my favorite piece in the Brooklyn Museum was Judy Chicago's art installation The Dinner Party. The Dinner Party depicts a fantastical dinner for 39 mythical and historical women, each with their own elaborate place setting. Each place setting has a beautiful china painted plate, unique to the guest. The plate and other dinnerwares sit on painstakingly embroidered table runners, done with a variety of needle, fiber, and sewing techniques––all mediums that are considered to be ""low"" art forms, and dominated historically by women. The table sits upon a ton of triangular tiles, and on them are the names of 999 other women.

I won't lie, this installation really touched me. Looking and being lost in its intricacies almost made me cry, haha ; __ ; The amount of effort and time from Chicago and the volunteers working to accomplish this beast of an installation is astounding. Ceramics, china painting, and textile arts are mediums often dismissed as being lesser (hmm, I wonder why!) or somehow unworthy as being part of artistic dialogue, so it's really special to see a piece that celebrates the care and complexes of these crafts. Many do not understand the amount of labor that goes into something like an embroidered table runner when in actuality it is as deserving to be displayed in a museum like any other art form. Here's a link if you want to learn more about it and see the full installation!

After the museum we walked to an ice cream place down the street that my brother had recommended. My mom and I split a cup of fudge ice cream, and WOW was it delicious! Super creamy and smooth~ We purchased a pint of another flavor to bring home to my brother and SIL.

The standout on food on Friday, however, was the pizza my brother picked up. Oh my LORD. No joke, it was best the pizza I've ever had. Everything about it was perfection. The barbecue sauce, toasting on the crust, seasoning on the chicken... it was sublime, and I'm gonna dream forever of it. I mean, look at the picture! Have you seen a prettier pie!!

We went to bed with happy bellies. I'm actually a bit lactose intolerant (especially during my luteal phase which really flares up my symptoms) so I try to limit my dairy intake, but indulging was totally worth it!! ;w;

Day 3 and Day 4

Our weekend was two quiet days spent at home. On Friday, my SIL took off to visit a friend for the weekend. Since it was my brother's first time watching the baby overnight without her, we laid low and helped him out. Walks and trips to the park, some Neopets on my end. My SIL returned on Sunday, and her parents/my brother's in-laws also came to visit that. Like I wrote earlier, visiting them was really our reason for being here, and honestly it was nice to chill together!

And it's even nicer when you have a cute nephew to play with! He's learning how to walk, toddling clumsily around, and he chatters alllll the time. Seriously, he has so much to say! He can't say "Sarah" quite yet, but he DOES call me "Rahrah", which is too adorable. Hopefully it sticks as he gets older!

And I promise I'm not just saying this because he's "mine", but that kid is so smart, I swear! For instance. My mom surprised my my brother, SIL, and nephew with Sesame Street themed finger puppets she had handmade. At a couple points during the trip, I would line up the puppets and point at each of them while telling my nephew the characters' names. Then, if I were to ask him "Where's Big Bird?" or "Where's Elmo?" he would grab the correct puppet!! I was amazed at how he quickly he picked up on it. Watching him reach certain developmental milestones is so fascinating.

You wouldn't believe this kid's appetite, either. On Saturday my mom made chili verde, and from that my brother made him a burrito bowl of sorts with rice. No joke, he ate a portion the size of an adult's--more than what I ate, anyway! I was so surprised! But hey, good for him, he might turn out to be super tall someday because of how well he eats!

OH, and special shoutout to the some of the best cookies in the world.

Day 5

Our last full day in NYC, and!! Museum of Modern Art day!! Ahhhh!! We made great time that day, up and out the door just after 10:00 AM. A few subway rides later, we were smack in the bustle of Manhattan and its concrete jungle. The museum is right outside the station too, practically waiting for us!

That day, I knocked a big bucket list item off my list. After years of dreaming, I finally saw one of my favorite paintings in-person, Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night! Words or photos do not convey its beauty; reproductions lack the actual vibrancy of the painting's colors, nor its intensity. I was pleasantly surprised by its intensity too, within the motion of the stars and clouds, the moodiness, the paint's texture... and admiring the texture is for sure one of my favorite parts of seeing Van Gogh's pieces in person. When looking at one, you can tell that he had a great love for his medium of choice. The paint's dimensionality is sooo expressive, breathing life into each curve, swoop, and stroke of the environment. A poster can't capture this. Seeing The Starry Night alone was enough to make the museum a great experience. My sweet mom was so patient too, letting me admire it for a bit, haha! ;u;

Another highlight was seeing the MoMA's collection of Claude Monet's Water Lilies. While Monet did a number of paintings featuring his garden's lily pond, the ones at the MoMA were HUGE, we were so surprised! Three giant panels stretching across a curved wall. The sheer size is enough to get you lost, let alone the color palette and texture. How the museum exhibited them as lovely, too. There were two other Monet's in the room, on opposing walls. Arranging them this way allows for the Water Lilies to take center stage, creating a serene atmosphere!

Other favorites were The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, and pieces by Hopper, Picaso, Pelton, and Rosseau. We spent about two or three hours there and we both agreed that we would visit again. Definitely consider visiting if you're in NYC!

After the MoMA we hopped back on the subway and made our way back to my brother and SIL's borough. Since this was our last full day there, we definitely wanted to make the most of our time with them. Before heading back to the apartment we stopped by a bagel shop for some delectable sandwiches! We had sandwiches at this place last trip, so it made for a yummy reunion.

Something else--that Monday was eclipse day! New York City was (sadly) not in the path of the eclipse's totality, but the visibility was about 90% and still awesome to see. It's so awe inspiring how low the chances of the moon and sun being the correct are, and how lucky we are to live on a planet where we can see this. Seeing everyone out on the streets giddy and with glasses in hand was so cute to see as well! Witnessing this together felt like a big Community(tm) moment--if you ask me, I think we (using the royal we here) should be out wandering and hanging out like this at least once a week.

And that was pretty much it for the rest of the day! We hung out, playing with my nephew until he had to go to bed, and gnoshed on some delicious Chinese takeout after. Not a half-bad way to wrap up a cozy trip!

Day 6

That morning we ran around packing everything up, savoring the time spent together before taking a car to the airport. Saying goodbye is always so bittersweet! I know it's especially hard on my mom, who wishes they could be closer, and my dad and me feel the same. We will just have to plan another trip soon, or at least my parents will. I want them to spend as much time with their grandson as possible!!

There's not much to say about our flight back home to California other than it was thankfully WAY SMOOTHER in every possible capacity. A huge relief! I spent most of it daydreaming and playing Animal Crossing before the plane touched down at 5:00 PM PST.

And that's it, because like... how do you even end a travel log besides saying something like, vacations are fun, but there's nothing like sleeping in your bed? Because that was certainly my take away after a long day of traveling! But seriously, I hope to be back soon. I guess that's the advantage of having family faraway, knowing that there many more adventures in store~