365 Project: Days 79-85

79/365: The last day of our cruise was cold and rainy, which didn't stop me from eating three soft-serve cones (hands-down the best part of the cruise).

80/365: I celebrated my return to New York with a solo diner lunch and a walk through snowy (!) Riverside Park where I came across a most proper snow family.

81/365: I had a perfect Sunday: a sunny, chilly walk through Green-Wood cemetery where we saw the MacKay mausoleum (which has both heat and electricity), incredible buttermilk biscuits, a great House of Cards episode and more delicious food in between.

82/365: I bleached my hair again which means wearing a plastic bag on my head and getting wrinkly, white fingers.

83/365: After a day spent illustrating a dachshund for work (aka my professional peak), I met Jim for dinner next to a puppy store that had this adorable baby in its window.

84/365: I went to Target to buy clothes which means I left with nothing but Easter candy including a big bag of black jelly beans (my favorite).

85/365: I spent my morning assembling a classic New York breakfast made of paper, gifted to me by a co-worker who knows of my obsession with the "We are happy to serve you" cups.

365 Project: Days 70-78

70/365: The upside to an afternoon doctor's appointment: sitting outside and enjoying the sunshine in Madison Square park for a little bit.

71/365: I am still not over the excitement of above-zero temperatures and being able to walk to work again without freezing (completely).

72/365: I waved goodbye to my home as we left from NJ on a family cruise to Florida and the Bahamas.

73/365: Our first day at sea was cold and rough. A huge thank you to the makers of Dramamine.

74/365: The weather improved so I explored the (enormous) ship and finally shed my three pairs of socks and four shirts (this is what I consider beachwear).

75/365: I explored Cocoa Beach and enjoyed being warm for the first time in months.

76/365: Our second stop was Cococay, a private Bahamian island owned by Royal Caribbean.

77/365: I explored the colorful streets of Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas and tried to avoid people begging me to get my hair braided or take a horse-drawn carriage.

78/365: I spent the chilly, cloudy day at sea reading a new book (I finished the Devil in the White City—SO good!) and napping in between eating, eating and more eating.

Project 365: Days 61-69

61/365: I impulse-bought tickets for Trent and me to see a charity event when I heard Meryl Streep would be a guest—along with George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Danny DeVito, David Letterman, Carole King, Aloe Blaac and Natalie Cole— and it turned out to be a really wonderful, only-in-New-York kind of evening.

62/365: A group of us went to Red Rooster in Harlem for dinner where I had the best meatballs ever and admired the tile on the bathroom floor.

63/365: I met Jim and Katie for dinner in Astoria and I was early so I walked around a bit. I stumbled upon a fantastic antique/junk shop and found this Boston Terrier print for $5 (the adorable shop owner gave me a dollar off without me even asking). I definitely need to go back and do some serious treasure-hunting there.

64/365: I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately so I picked something off my shelf that I knew I'd love—The Devil in the White City, about a World's Fair and a serial killer—and I can't stop reading it. I always feel much better when I'm really involved in a great book.

65/365: I've had a rough few weeks, health-wise, so I decided to reward myself for positive test results with this spine necklace I've had my eye on for a while.

66/365: I tried once again to explore Woodlawn Cemetery in the snow, only to be told—again—that they weren't allowing any walk-ins due to "hazardous conditions." Get your shit together, Woodlawn.

67/365: I finally saw all of Grey Gardens from start to finish—and on the big screen—and loved every minute of it.

68/365: It was absolute hell trying to get out of bed on Monday morning after we lost an hour to daylight savings time, but finally getting to walk home through the park—in the sunshine!—made it all worth it.

69/365: My uncle was in town for a few days and I met him for lunch at a great French restaurant near where I work on the UES—and found out that it was stinky cheese week.

Project 365: Days 55-60

55/365: Francesca and I tried to apply for our IDNYCs but bailed when we found out it would be a 4+ hour wait (that was with an appointment).

56/365: I walked to work through Central Park and was the only person walking along the frozen reservoir path.

57/365: I met JMP for lunch at the Lexington Candy Shop, a wonderful old luncheonette/diner on the Upper East side.

58/365: Not the most comforting thing to see on the way to a doctor's appointment, but at least it made me laugh.

59/365: I've been growing my hair out for no particular reason and it goes rogue sometimes—thank god for winter hats.

60/365: I met Jim at the Lower East Side Coffee Shop for diner breakfast before we headed to Williamsburg for a bit of exploring before it started to snow.

Project 365: Days 48-54

48/365: Three co-workers and I went to a made-for-me free lecture at Cooper Union about gravestone lettering.

49/365: I had an early doctor's appointment in Midtown so I waved good morning to my favorite building and stopped at Grand Central to pick up sausage-egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwiches from Shake Shack. They were just as delicious as I expected them to be.

50/365: I hung up my Valentine's flowers to dry in one of the few cat-proof corners of the apartment.

51/365: I walked nearly a mile (from Grand Central) on the coldest day that New York has had since 2004 only to have my doctor tell me that they had rescheduled my appointment while awaiting insurance confirmation. A call to let me know might have been nice but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

52/365: I met friends for a diner breakfast in Chelsea and walked down the West Side Highway to see an abandoned stand-alone diner. I passed by this old hotel sign which is 100% perfect to me.

53/365: I realize this is the second breakfast sandwich in this post, but it was incredibly delicious and definitely worth documenting. Lazy Sundays are my very favorite days lately.

54/365: I haven't been spending a lot of time in my apartment, and I think this ridiculous creature is kind of mad about it.

Project 365: Days 41-47

41/365: I got sick for the first time in a year and spent the day in my bed watching movies and sipping tea from my favorite mug.

42/365: I like to do my freelance work at a specific Starbucks, which happens to be across the street from a Momofuku Milk bar. Freelance = corn cookies, always.

43/365: Because you can never have enough cookies, I made these ginger molasses cookies for a special Valentine.

44/365: At work we declared Friday "Fluffernutter Friday" and celebrated appropriately.

45/365: I had the most perfect Valentine's Day and then arrived home to an adorable package from my friend Shannon, containing this emoji pin (and glittery Mozart socks) that made me gasp with joy.

46/365: I met JMP at the Square Diner for a very necessary breakfast on a very cold day. Side-note: They replaced their previously-awesome sign with a new one, and I'm not happy about it. New does not always mean better.

47/365: Jim and I got our dollar's worth exploring the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History while trying our best to avoid the grabby, sticky throngs of children.

Project 365: Days 30-40

30/365: I love other people's birthdays more than my own.

31/365:  We saw a (free!) dress rehearsal of Larry David's new Broadway play and it was so good.

32/365: I finally fulfilled my dream of walking through a snowy cemetery, and Green-wood was pure magic.

33/365:  Sometimes I eat garlic-stuffed olives and cheese slices for dinner, served on a paper plate left over from my Halloween party because I'm a totally successful adult

.

34/365: I took a snowy/icy walk through the beautiful North Woods of Central Park on my way to work.

35/365: I made a special dinner for a special dinner guest.

36/365: I found a heart in the middle of my mandarin.

37/365: I didn't realize it until I was putting together this post, but I've been seeing hearts everywhere. Maybe it's Valentine's Day or maybe I'm just getting sappy in my old age, but as I walking to meet my friend JMP for dinner, I saw tons of these chalk hearts—on the sidewalk, on mailboxes, on doors, etc. Regardless of why they exist, they made me smile.

38/365: Jim and I tried to go to Woodlawn Cemetery but they weren't allowing anyone to walk in due to the snow, so we went to the Bronx Zoo instead.

39/365: Lazy Sunday Scrabble games are quickly becoming my favorite thing.

40/365: I got my first Valentine of the season in the mail (thank you Grandma!).

Project 365: Days 23-29

23/365: I dyed my hair for the first time in months and got the color exactly how I wanted it (which is to say, not much color at all).

24/365: We took a vertical tour of St. John the Divine and my inner 8-year-old emerged when I saw this guy with posable fingers in the gift shop.

25/365: I went on my first-ever cross-country skiing adventure and really loved it. The views were incredible, the wintery nature was gorgeous and the entire day was pretty much perfect.

26/365: We got off work at 1:30 due to the impending "blizzard" so Francesca and I ate Chipotle and watched the snow on Lexington Avenue.

27/365: We had a snow day off work, which I spent eating a bagel, walking around Prospect Park, watching a movie and eating dinner with friends. After the park we walked past Green-wood Cemetery which was closed but insanely beautiful in the snow. Adult snow days are the best.

28/365: I met Jim and Katie in Brooklyn for dinner and walked past this sidewalk stencil outside of the Barclays Center on Flatbush Ave.

29/365: I had some gift shopping and card buying to do, so I headed to Greenwich Letterpress where I found this amazing Gilmore-Girls-themed key tag that I had to buy for myself.

This week we finally started to get some respectable snow on the ground, which is my very favorite part about winter so I'm very happy. I can't believe this month is almost over, but it's been filled with such wonderful delights that I definitely don't feel as if any time has been wasted.

Happy last-day-of-January and have a wonderful weekend!

Project 365: Days 16-22

16/365: This is a horrible photo, but I kicked off my weekend getting a chimichanga and a margarita as big as my head with my wonderful friend Trent.

17/365: I got breakfast at a favorite local diner and took the long way home.

18/365: I had the most perfect rainy Sunday, which started off with the best banana pancakes that have ever happened to me.

19/365: I took another walk around my neighborhood and visited this Atomic Buddhist statute. It once stood 1.5 miles away from the center of the nuclear blast that leveled Hiroshima, and now resides on Riverside Drive.

20/365: I got these sock monkey socks for Christmas and they make me happy every time I wear them.

21/365: I wore my skull and pom-pom sweater and prayed for snow (we didn't get any).

22/365: Francesca found another Greek coffee cup to add to my collection—the one on the bottom—and cemented her status as the best coworker/friend around. I've set a few rules for myself, including no picking them out of the trash (yet) or buying them online, but I have no problem accepting them as gifts as long as they were found "in the wild."

I kind of forgot about this 365 project a little bit this week, but that's ok. I'd rather have a grainy iPhone photo or the memory of an amazing day than the perfect shot, but hopefully I can be a little better next week. Have a good weekend!

Project 365: Days 9-15

9/365: I had a snowy commute to work and fell deeply in love with my new Bean Boots (so, SO worth the investment and wait).

10/365: We took the most amazing tour of the abandoned Ellis Island hospital complex and our wonderful tour guide pointed out this incredible view of the Statue of Liberty.

11/365: I spotted this amazing diner and its hyperbolic signage on a delightful walk through Queens (that included a stop at the delicious Dumpling Galaxy in Flushing).

12/365: A co-worker brought in her rotting bananas, so I took them home and turned them into banana bread for the office.

13/365: I didn't bring many knick knacks from my previous life when I moved to New York, but my bunny collection made the cut. I recently received this guy with precious gold feets from a wonderful friend for Christmas.

14/365: I finally started watching the first season of Broad City and immediately became obsessed. The episode where Abbi has to pick up a package on North Brother Island is everything.

15/365: Francesca and I spent our evening hanging out with some new pals at New York's first cat cafe, the Meow Parlour.

Project 365: Days 1-8

Inspired by the crazy-talented Kaylah of The Dainty Squid, I decided to do the photo-a-day, 365 project this year. I'm hoping it will help me become less afraid to take photos of the things I want to remember and less embarrassed to have my camera with me as much as I can.

Some moments from the first 8 days of 2015:

1/365: I spent New Year's Day at Coney Island, watching crazy people run into the freezing ocean and ate at a new-to-me diner.

2/365: I reorganized my work wall to accommodate some new swag.

3/365:  I spent a rainy Saturday at the New Museum and visited the Sky Room.

4/365: I took a foggy, damp stroll along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

5/365: In my next life I'm coming back as my cat.

6/365: Emma Stone and Alan Cumming were phenomenal in Cabaret and the show was entirely delightful. While we were waiting in the lobby, Eddie Redmayne and an Amish-bearded Andrew Garfield walked right past us—just a totally normal New York Tuesday night.

7/365:

Sale on strawberries + chocolate = a treat for my coworkers (and me).

8/365: I took a drawing class for the first time since college and was surprised at how much fun I had (also my first time ever drawing a human).

Hopefully I can keep this up all year—thanks for following along!