hi there

i'm still here. thought it was about time i'd drop you a line.
i don't know what happened really. time, i guess. too many commitments.
i am trying to focus on things i enjoy - new hobbies, like vegan cooking. above are two vegan dishes i made recently. recipes here & here.
anyways, i'm done with work for the summer. so glad about that.
i have some trips lined up - portland & nyc & camping of course.
so many good times with luis lately, it's hard to keep count :)
trying to enjoy the little moments along with the big ones.

new york

well, luis & i just got back from new york two days ago & we loved every minute of it. we packed in quite a bit of things in five days/four nights (empire state building, times square, american museum of natural history, 9/11 memorial, statue of liberty, the high line, brooklyn bridge, central park, grand central station, & more) and walked about 12 miles a day, but it was all just magical. we had coffee & sweets at the cutest cafes, had a fancy dinner at anthony bourdain's old restaurant les halles, ate delicious street food, and took the subway like pros. luis even decided that he would like to live there one day. 

with everything we did & saw, one thing stood out about new york - it's kindness. we were in awe as we witnessed time and time again, new yorkers preforming random acts of kindness. you could visually see the neighborhood camaraderie. people look out for each other in new york. i love that. 

 me in front of the american museum of natural history - night at the museum!

 my favorite meal of the trip - kati roll $6

 luis finally got his blue coffee cup

 i think spreading love is the new york way

we took the staten island ferry to see the statue of liberty for free! 

 kisses on the brooklyn bridge

manhattan skyline

it was here in new york, on the subway actually, that luis encouraged me to start blogging again. so here i am, spreading the word on how magical new york is. also, new york can be very affordable. we spent around $700 total for both our plane tickets, we stayed with my friend abbie, we used the subway or walked for all of our transportation (an unlimited week pass is $31), & most of the places we went were free or by donation (pay what you want). we spent most of our money on food & that's ok with us :) we will definitely be back again.

india

i suppose one of the reasons it has taken me so long to write again is that the last thing i wrote about was getting on a plane to india. well, i am back & honestly i didn't like india that much. hence my hesitation to write about my time there. probably the top thing that i did not like about india was the insecurity i felt traveling as a woman not accompanied by a man. i had never felt that way before in my life, and i detested it. although it soured my opinion about traveling in india, i am glad i experienced it, as so many other women in the world feel this way on a daily basis.

while there were things i didn't enjoy in india, there were also things i enjoyed about my time there. i got to see the brilliant taj mahal (the above photos were taken there), the delicious food (although i did get sick at the end of my trip & a week after being back home), the bright fabrics splashed throughout, and the beautiful top floor room my sister & i got to stay at in jaipur. while i would never go to india again, i am still glad i went. it was for the experience.

here i am

I've always said that my blog would be for me & not the other way around. So when I started to feel like I wanted to blog again & when Luis mentioned that I should try to get back into it, I decided I would. There are so many new things happening in my life. Alas I write this, I'm at the airport, about to board a plane to India. Crazy. Anyways, here is a tiny update on my life: I got a full time position with the school district writing science curriculum & working in the classrooms. I just got prequalified to buy a house that even though looks like the right thing to do, I still get nauseous thinking about. I now have a caring & thoughtful boyfriend. Our meeting seems providential. I continuously pray that God continues to bless us & each of us in our own lives.
& now I'm going to end this post short because I want to get some breakfast before I board. I hope you all are doing well:)

zine news!!

i have exciting news! i will be tabling at the 2015 san francisco zine fest! more info to come :)