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.

Australia & New Zealand

 well, i am back from my trip! i actually came back about two months ago, but i just haven't blogged until now! i really need to get back into blogging...

anyways, it was an amazing trip. so much happened & i felt so many things on this trip. it was a much needed getaway.

although, i won't go into too much detail (because fitting two weeks of vacation into one blogpost is a scary thought!), i'd like to share little details with you through photos : )

 i got to meet (& stay with!) two of my blogger friends! first i stayed with sarah. she was so loving & i thoroughly enjoyed my time with her. i got to meet her caring family & tour her family's business. & she took me to kikki k!! i loved kikki k. i stocked up on so much stationary goodies.

then i stayed with katyha in sydney! we went on a great little adventure in sydney, walking to all of the places i wanted to see. i got to see the opera house, which was a big highlight! we also caught a glimpse of mia wasikowska while we were out for the night at bills eating pavlova. (i love pavlova now!!!)

then i hopped on a plane & met with my sister for the first time in eight months. it was such a great feeling to have my sister again.

 in auckland, raquel & i ate good food at the food truck garage as recommended by amanda of here comes the sun & visited the auckland art gallery. fun fact - my instagram photo of the veggie burger was regrammed by the food truck garage instagram : )

after spending a few days in auckland, raquel & i started our road trip around the north island of new zealand! we drove on the left side of the road on the right side of the car...& i drove for a bit as well! i didn't like it...

 after spending some time at the hot water beach, we made it to matamata aka hobbiton! seeing hobbiton was a dream come true.

after a surreal experience in matamata, we hit the road again to the tongariro alpine crossing aka mt. doom. i have an amazing story of how we hiked the tongariro crossing, but i will just say that it was 7.5 hours of almost nonstop walking in extreme weather conditions (the shuttles were even cancelled because of the bad weather), high winds, high altitude (hard to breath!), & up steep mountainsides for over 12 miles. i still can't believe that i did it. the views were incredible. it's an experience i will never forget.

 after our hike, i could barely walk & woke up in pain many times that night. the next day i downed pain killers & went caving - glowworm caving. it was incredible.

during our road trip around new zealand, we stayed at many hostels (backpackers) & airbnbs. this one was really cute.

 it was a fantastic trip & i was sad to leave my sister. she is coming to visit in september though (on her way to india!) & i am so happy about that. i miss her.

i'm off to oz! (australia) & that beautiful hobbitland of new zealand

today i am off to catch a plane to visit my sister in new zealand! i'm just about all packed & filled with anxious butterflies. i get to meet sarah & katyha in australia on my trip as well! i'm not sure how much i will be able to post on here as i am not bringing my laptop & i have been a poor blogger lately, but be sure to tune in to my instagram account where i'll be posting daily! @from_lina

new

happy new year. it was a nice night in last night. alisa & i made mocktails & watched new year programs on tv in our pjs. we bought 6 small poppers for a dollar & welcomed the new year.

it is time for new calendars! i recently learned about midori traveler's notebooks & decided that i wanted one for my calender this year. they are about 8.5" x 4.5" with leather covers & elastic which make it easy to insert many different types of notebooks, folders, & pockets. instead of spending about $50 on one, i decided to make one out of some leather we had lying around the house from when we made moccasins with my american girls class :). i used ray blake's diy video & the inserts that he provides for free on his site. i used paper i saved from an old 2013 anthropologie calendar for the grid & calender inserts & gold elastic to secure them inside. i was really impressed with how it turned out. as usually, theo wanted to be in the middle of everything. (also, sorry the photos aren't the greatest...)

i was pretty proud of myself for just going for it & making my own notebook. it had been a long time since i had worked with leather & i am excited to experiment with other ways i can use my leftover leather.

today was a lovely lazy day where i spent over half the day in my pjs. i started personalizing my midori, watched the grand budapest hotel on my ipad mini, had a tasty brunch with alisa, & then headed to the movies with my parents to see the last hobbit movie. i liked it. tomorrow i have to get caught up with letter writing. i think i have about 4 letters to write! that will be fun : )

link love:

• these hair clips are just so cute. beary cute ;)
• i usually don't like cake, but this cake is just so perfect. & as a part swedish gal, i love it even more.
• gold & white polkadot bowls that you can make?? yes please.
• i know it's not definitely (& thankfully) not summer, but i would love to use these creative fruit kabobs as place cards at a luncheon. 
• even though this west elm doormat isn't available anymore, i still would love one just like it for when i have my own place. 
• speaking of having my own place, wouldn't this just be so beautiful?

biggest little city

 my family took a trip to visit my relatives in reno last weekend. they have quite a few cats, so there was always entertainment ;) it was a nice little getaway, but it was so hot that i almost passed out when we were outside at an animal sanctuary. i had never felt that way before. it was very strange. so, we tried to stay cool with lots of cold stuff : )

 we ate brunch at my favorite restaurant there -  the old granite street eatery. i love everything about it - the penny tile, amazing food, & awesome staff. if you are ever in the area, it's a definite must!

 my sister & me : )