Last Monday started out the same as usual. Scratch that! I went out to one of many parks in Brooklyn and went exploring. That’s one thing that I love whenever I go to New York. I get a lot of chances to just walk around and discover new things. I plan on moving there after I graduate so it’s better if I feel comfortable getting around before I move. Anywho! Eventually I made my way into the city to meet up with one of my best girlfriends.

After just shopping around we made our way to Whole Foods and sampled some goods and my friend got her groceries. Oh wow I got to try things like my favorite Greek yogurt (I just pretended to be amazed for the first time), dark chocolate-covered coconut bits, and this amazing cookie that I can’t even remember what it was but I know it was in the raw foods section.

Any guesses?

We made mini-sandwiches...

But not just any mini-sandwich.

PB&J's, PB&Banana, PB&Chocolate-Banana

Don't they look kind of like macaroons?

These were so much fun to make! There was definitely lots of finger-licking done.

Ready?

Then we headed back into the city.

It was funny because girls’ night was hosted by none other than a guy. We got to the building and we told the man at the front the code phrase “we’re here for girls’ night.” It was so funny because at first we thought it was a joke, but he knew exactly what we were talking about. So then we were headed to the top floor and were greeted by the funniest and witty group of girls + the host! Everybody loved the mini-sandwiches.

The next day we went on a bike adventure.

We rode over to the waterfront and just sat around for awhile.

And jumped around too!

Riding a bike while sitting Indian-style, naturally.

When we came back I fixed myself a perfect hot-weather lunch.

Broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cous cous, chickpeas, dried cranberries, feta, cashews, olive oil, and lemon pepper. YUM! I was inspired by this recipe.

I also tried a lychee jelly snack.

Met up with a friend and headed over to Dean & Deluca.

I wanted to find something special. But there were so many things to choose from. From wine-infused marmalades that cost as much as Matilda’s grooming to confections that could make the sourest of hearts melt.

I decided to get a pear hazelnut fruit spread.

After doing some more window-shopping we decided to head back over to Brooklyn.

Then we got ready to celebrate someone's birthday.

And I was excited because my birthday was just in a few hours as well.

Then we headed over to a bar where a lot of people signed to the same record label hang out.

We got down to Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and No Doubt’s “I’m Just a Girl”. It was such a fun night and it turned out that the other birthday girl’s birthday was the same as mine! So at midnight we were both given a birthday serenade. Next post is a recap of my birthday and then some. Can I say the word birthday one more time? Oh! I just did.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far. I’ve been eating delicious meals put together by the whole family, hanging out with my homegirl before she goes to Peru, and just taking it easy. With the heat we’ve been experiencing down here it seems that things sometimes just get done at the pace of a slug. Let’s just call it… cruising through life.