Trips and Sunny Days

As expected, Spring has brought a week of rain to Chicago, but today is beautiful!  Yesterday was also a gorgeous day!  Gorgeous enough for my roomy and me to crave a bike ride to yoga!  I was lucky enough to have a planned mini-vacation during the worst of the Chicago rains.  I got to go home to NYC and CT, see my favorite people and spend time with my lovely parents.  I indulged myself in a little shopping trip to Desigual, my absolute favorite store, which I initially found in Barcelona.

I left Chicago in the evening on Monday and had a very smooth flight into NY.  I got in around 11PM, so I had planned to stay in this hotel called the Pod Hotel in Mid Town East.  It felt like a college dorm or something, it was awesome. Very cute!

I spent all of Tuesday enjoying the city and getting some much needed "To Dos" off my list.  That is always rewarding.  I met my mom and our very good friend Mariam for lunch at Candle 79. This is my must-go whenever I'm back in the city.  Amazing Vegan food, a great ambience, delicious cocktails or juices, and always amazing service, even when it is packed and we have to wait.

Green Juice!!

Avocado Cucumber Mushroom Tartar

Spaghetti and Wheat Balls

My mom's giant burrito

After lunch I went shopping.  Isn't it an awesome store?!  I had a movie moment when I was there where a wonderful sales-guy basically commandeered my shopping trip and picked out a bunch of dresses that he told his coworker later that he "wanted to see me in."  They were really nice and and I ended up buying two beautiful dresses!  This is going to be a dressy summer I think! Good sales guy too.

Met one of my best friends for a juice before heading to Grand Central.  But not before noticing this new bakery! TINY, and I mean tiny, cupcakes!  AAAHHHH!!! Small food!  These guys were about the size of the top of your thumb.  Too cute for life!

The next day, when I had returned to Connecticut, my dear daddy took me out for a lovely breakfast, just the two of us.  We went to one of my favorite places Le Pain Quotidian.  There are now two in CT, which is very exciting.  They even had a new raw vegan breakfast option, which I got.  It was a cashew and coconut cream parfait with seeds and buckwheat for the crunch, topped with a raspberry puree.  Yum yum!  My dad got a big omelet and some hot cocoa because that's how he roles yo.

I proceeded to Starbucks after breakfast for some journaling and weather ogling.  New England really is a beautiful area.

Crashed my friend's work.  We've been friends since high school and try to see each other whenever I'm around.  I love her!  We went to a park for lunch and, though short, had a great catch-up time while enjoying some Whole Foods buffet goodies.

My day and a half visit was over so I headed to the airport.  All was well until I realized that my flight was cancelled.  Chicago was having some real nasty weather, and most flights were not heading in or out of the city.  Unfortunately my parents had already gotten home, so I called my cousin and stayed at his place in Long Island.  I was secretly happy that my flight got cancelled.  I love my cousin and his family, especially their little son, and was bummed that I wasn't going to be able to see them this trip.  Yay circumstance.  I also got to wake up to this.

Not a bad deal.  I did eventually get back to Chicago.  What a relief. This trip really let me step back from a lot of "stuff" that had been going on in my life recently, and boy did I need that perspective.

And so, with the decision to put myself first again, work on my goals, and move forward with my plans, I am still feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. My skin also looks better than it has in months, my energy is way up, and my body is in an overall happier place.