It was a beautiful weekend in NYC, but I spent the entire weekend wishing I was home in Tuscaloosa serving my hometown and all of the people who were affected by the devastating tornado. It has been so cool to observe everyone come together as one and serve. It’s beautiful to see the love, soul, selflessness, and strength in Alabama. I was thinking today what a better place the world would be if everyone had this attitude of togetherness, love, and servanthood ALL THE TIME!

“Buried deep beneath all our broken dreams we have this hope: Out of these ashes beauty will rise and we will dance among the ruins, we will see Him with our own eyes…”

Everyone please keep Alabama in your prayers.

Our second anniversary was at the beginning of this week so Miller and I celebrated at a tiny Italian restaurant in the East Village. They have the BEST white truffle ravioli and tiramisu.

This little park is a block away from our apartment- We will be spending a lot of time here all spring and summer.

Pretty tulips in the park

The Highline Park is one of Chelsea’s most popular attractions. It’s an overground park that was previously a railroad track, and it stretches about 20 blocks. It is filled with lounge chairs, fountains, trees, flowers…awesome place to hang out on a pretty day.

Sunset looking out onto the Hudson River

This picture was taken Friday night at the bottom of the Hotel Chelsea. I had just finished reading Patti Smith’s “Just Kids”. I have never been more taken by a book. I became entranced reading Patti Smith tell the story of herself, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many other artists living in New York in the sixties and seventies. Patti and Robert lived in the Hotel Chelsea along with so many other writers, musicians, artists, and actors. Other people who have lived in hotel include Bob Dylan, Tennessee Williams, Janis Joplin, Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, Arthur Miller, Edie Sedgwick among many, many more. The history of the place gives me chills. So i wanted to get out and explore 23rd street and the hotel since the book was so fresh in my mind. We somehow managed to get into a private art show at the bottom of the hotel, and the whole time I was there, I thought all of the people who had been in this room before me.

We had brunch Saturday in the West Village and spent a few hours walking around and exploring the area. The Village is my favorite area in all of Manhattan.The streets closer to the river are so quaint and beautiful. This picture was taken at the West Village apartment I lived in a few summers ago on Carmine Street. Great memories here….it was one of the best summers I ever had.

This is a picture of Annie Leibowitz’s home in the Village on the corner of West 11th and Greenwich Street.  I love the ivy growing on the side.

We spent our Sunday afternoon at the flea market in Williamsburg. This is where we will be spending most of our Sundays because I absolutely love it here. There are so many unique things, awesome jewelry, delicious food vendors, interesting people…and beautiful views of Manhattan.

Started the afternoon out with some iced coffee at this cute little coffee stand…

This rose-lemonade was so refreshing…it really did taste the way roses smell.

Asian hot dogs…my favorite of all the food we sampled during the day. I got the veggie dog topped with the Mel and Steve (sesame asian slaw topped with scallions and sesame seeds) OMG, so good.

Everyone sits on the grass right beside the flea market to eat their food, relax, and just hang out. Such a great, laid back atmosphere. I couldn’t help but notice what people were wearing and the things I kept seeing over and over were…striped tops, slip-on loafers on both girls and guys, red pants and shorts, all types of hats, cropped t’s and cropped lightweight knit sweaters, and pants rolled at the hem.

My purchases today in Williamsburg….bracelet with the cat charm. I have such a thing for cats. This super cheap buy made my day!

My new high drama necklace! I will be wearing this all summer with casual t’s and button downs.

Indoor part of the flea market- a jewelry lover’s dream!

View of Manhattan from Williamsburg

I have been wanting to go to the Mast Brothers Chocolate store since we moved here. This chocolate store is run by two brothers, and they handcraft the BEST chocolate and then wrap it in beautifully designed paper. I love that they let you sample all the different flavors…

I ended up choosing a bar made with cacao from the Dominican Republic. I chose it because my dad does a lot of mission work in the Dominican Republic and because I liked the design of the paper!