Oh, Is This What A Weekend Feels Like?

I'll be the first to admit that I don't always take advantage of the fabulous opportunities that come with living in New York City. Honestly, my free time usually consists of hanging around my apartment. Isn't this the city with something for everyone? Don't I love adventures? So what am I doing?? (Well saving money mostly.) 

Yesterday though, I had the day off and decided I was going to go out, take a "me" day, and do something new and fun! I still didn't want to spend a lot of money so I gave myself a limit of $30 to spend and came up with some fun ideas that would be cheap. 

I thought about going to a museum with my sketchbook and sketching some of the sculptures and whatnot, something I've seen others doing and love the idea of (I really want to get back into drawing, I haven't done much since college but I loved it when I was doing it everyday). I also thought about going to a coffee shop and being one of those people on their laptops who just sit and take up a table for hours (I figured I could get more done in terms of job searching and getting important stuff done in a different environment). 

I had some other ideas too and ended up meeting a friend for lunch at Qdoba before she went in for work. Then I went thrifting! Which is something I absolutely love to do and hadn't done yet in New York. There's two places on the same street as HC and I always walk by and want to go in, so yesterday I did! And I found some really awesome stuff! If only I wasn't on a budget... But I did find some stuff I've really been needing, a pair of skinny jeans for just $8.50 then I went to a mall and grabbed some basic stud earrings I've been eyeing. Both exciting purchases :)

Still in an adventuresome mood, I paid my first visit to Trader Joe's and oh my word! I fell in love! Haha, everything was cheap and organic and awesome! I really love that it's all store brand products. The line discouraged me from buying anything, however, I will most definitely be returning :)

I had the day off again today (this is feeling like an actual productive weekend!) and am writing this from Argo Tea, a great little tea place with stores throughout the city. Where I plan to chill for a couple hours, maybe meet a friend, and overall get some work done so that I can start to have a better answer to the question, "What are you doing with your life?" 

xo ash

Teasing Weather

Brrrr....

Wasn't it just 50* last week?! Yes, yes it was. And now, it's FREEZING! Literally. 27* doesn't do much to encourage me to leave the house. In fact after waking up this morning and getting all dressed and ready I turned on my white Christmas lights I have in my bedroom, made a cup of hot Toffee Almond Supreme tea and crawled back into bed with my laptop :) I'm doing work though, don't worry, it's just so much warmer and cozier under some covers!

I've been working on sprucing up my resume and looking into other options for jobs/internships/service... pretty much anything, in case things don't work out with my current internship. Applying for anything else is just such a long process, there's editing the resume plus updating my portfolio then actually writing up a cover letter and applying...

Now though, I am going to get out of bed and do a little shopping with my birthday money before work tonight :)

Cheers!

(Random fun fact - I don't think it really fits me but I really like it when people end a conversation or as a goodbye say "cheers!")

I'm a Paid Artist!

Hello all!

I've had some excitement this week starting with friends visiting this weekend. As usual, we had crazy-full days but had some awesome experiences! From strolling through Central Park to eating noodles from a street vendor in Chinatown, from walking on the beach at Coney Island to having a drunk guy ask to sit with my friend and telling her he just wanted to bite her... it was a classic NYC experience :)

It was great to see my friend from college again as well as meet new friends and make memories. We watched Pitch Perfect every night and listened to its soundtrack every morning - I hadn't seen it before and I'm now obsessed! Overall it was a lovely weekend and I couldn't have asked for better house guests :)

It's so fun to have extra people around! Having visitors helps me remember how fun and exciting this city I'm living in can be!

In other news, I am now a paid artist! In college, I had drawn a picture of a sunflower in a storm which actually turned out pretty good. One of my professors saw it and said it would be prefect for an award he sends out in the winter and wondered if I'd be interested in selling him the rights (he offered to buy the drawing also but I couldn't bear to part with it just yet). I said of course and today in the mail I received a sample of the award as well as a check.

It's so exciting to have your work out there, even if drawing isn't my forte or target area. I do still love it and it feels awesome to have something I've created be recognized and appreciated. And worth money :) I feel honored to have been asked to offer up my work and feel so blessed for the opportunity. And am as excited as ever to see what else God has in store for me!