You Should Always Wear Glasses or Contacts in the Dorms

And here are the 3 reasons why:

1. Everything is a spider, or worse a cockroach. If it's big enough, it might even be a mouse.
2. You have to get real close to the clocks in the hallways to be able to read them.
3. Nobody is recognizable. But everyone knows you.

Just some late-night humour because I am blind as a bat.

Getting Through These Last Busy Weeks: Summer Plans!

As the weather warms up and due dates approach left and right, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming. For the next few weeks, I have essays and projects due almost every other day and then, of course, there are finals. Everyone deals with their stress a little bit differently, but the one thing that really helps me is knowing what I'm going to be doing in the summer and being able to look forward to it. I have a busy set of months until next school year, but busy doesn't have to be bad.

I was accepted into a summer program in Shanghai that I will be attending from the very end of June, basically July, to the end of August. I ended up applying for this program on my own, completely independently of help from Macaulay, Hunter, or Flagship, but even though that in itself was quite nerve wracking - I am so glad that I did. I can talk about the program and my experience applying for it on my own more in depth soon, but really I just wanted to say that it is really good to have something to look forward to. And it doesn't have to be a big thing. Besides this program, I'm also really excited to be able to watch my younger brother graduate from high school. That's going to be bizarre, but so so great. And I'm really excited just for warm weather! I went to Miami for Spring Break and got a taste of more consistently hot weather - I cannot wait.

So, if you are feeling a little bogged down in the stress of the end of a semester: just think of the things that you will get to do this summer. Even if you will be working or taking classes, make plans to do something special - just so that you can say "right, I need to sit tight now, and then I will get to do such and such." And, just remember that you can do this and everyone is rooting for you.

You're Halfway Through, Guys!

Just a quick note to say that you guys can do it, you've already gotten through two days (possibly three, as many professors seemed to have used the reading day to schedule finals earlier than originally planned by Hunter) and you've only got a few more, if that! You can do it! And then time for rest and going home, however you get home, is so close.

Going home means something different to everyone, this was me about a month ago.

PS - I turned twenty, on Wednesday!

Getting into the Holiday Spirit

From about December 28th-ish to December 18th mid-day, I am probably the worst person to try to spread the holiday spirit to. Especially in the first half of December. I celebrate Christmas, but I emphatically believe that seasonal products and entertainment should stay within the confines of their season. Plus, my birthday is the week before Christmas, and anyone who is in a similar situation knows my pain; however, I am here to talk about a few things that do, in fact, get me into the holiday spirit... Even when it's not yet Christmastime!!!!

Number One: Advent calendars! I love advent calendars. For those of you that don't know what these are, they are December 1-24 (sometimes 25th) specific calendars. Every day leading up to Christmas in December, you open the "door," or in the fancier ones perhaps a small present box, and you get a little treat. For me, advent calendars always mean chocolate, but one day I'd really love to treat myself to a nail polish one or a mini candles one. My mum usually buys my and my brother's advent calendars, or a relative sends money for her to buy them in their stead. Top tip: Trader Joe's always have really cute ones. 

Number Two: Making a Christmas/Birthday wish list. I don't usually make a super formal one, but I like to write down a few things that I would like. Mostly for my own entertainment, and so that after the holidays I remember what I wanted to use any Christmas money to buy, but I usually also let my parents in on one or two things that I would really like. Presents always make me happy, so this is kind of a given I suppose. 

Number Three: Twinkly lights! I hate early Christmas trees. Growing up, I always made my parents wait until after my birthday to put up the Christmas tree (wow, that makes me sound really quite bratty..). But (the point is) if I'm walking around the city, twinkly lights in the trees do actually make me feel pretty festive. Or at least, more willing to be. Further up 23rd, around where the Home Depot are, there are a bunch of trees with lights on and I was over there on Sunday evening, and it looked really sweet. 

Number Four: Hot chocolate. I mean, come on, do I have to write a paragraph.

With all that said, as the semester is winding down, I do wish you all the best of luck with your final exams and papers and presentations. You have earned a good relaxing few weeks, or closer to two months if you aren't taking any winter classes or working at all. And, if you have a little trouble getting into the holiday spirit - Christmas or other December/January holiday - maybe just stir up some hot chocolate and put on a fireplace ~mood background on your computer.

Ps. I tried to keep this as holiday-neutral as possible, but it's also personal and I celebrate Christmas, so of course that will show through. But, whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate, I do wish you all the best for finals, and for the New Year.

In Response: Protests for No Grand Jury Indictment

The announcement that the grand jury failed to indict Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown came in tonight. I just wanted to put a quick word about the aftermath and the protests that some may want to join in on, because I know that Macaulay students and Hunter students like to be active. This post is not about the grand jury's decision, it's simply a reminder for those who want to storm the streets:

Please be careful. Please be safe. Remember that Michael Brown's family has asked for nonviolent protest. Listen to those that are leading the protests, and try not to put yourselves or others at risk. Please do not make this about you and your friends doing something "cool," because that is not the point and that truly will not make a difference (I doubt this is really a necessary reminder). Please, please, please be safe. Remember that hate only breeds hate, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't protest injustice and move for change.

If you are not going to actively protest, please don't forget about Michael Brown. He was our age. He was a teenager. There are funds that you can donate to, if you want to help in that way and I can link you to some if you are interested. Don't forget about the countless others either. And don't just let this turn into a trendy hashtag.

--

For those who may not be completely sure what tonight's decision was about, I also wanted to add just a few words on that. The grand jury was not deciding whether or not Darren Wilson was guilty; the grand jury was tasked with determining whether or not there was any evidence that justified bringing charges against him. Generally, the grand jury is not asked to base their decision on the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt or even reasonable cause, but only that there was some evidence. This grand jury only needed 9 out of 12 people to indict. It is very rare for grand juries not to indict.

Update in the Brookdale Toilets!

This is probably a really weird post, but I went and took this picture especially for the blog because they've changed the toilet roll holders. And this is such a mundane thing, really, but if you've ever been to Brookdale you know that the loo roll literally ends up everywhere, so hopefully this will change that!

It's Been A While; and Top Tip: Registration

Sooo..... It's been a while. This is where I could embed a photo of me trying to be all cute and hiding behind my hands in embarrassment. I won't, but we can say I did. I do wish that I could say I have been doing something amazing, like skiing the Alps (I don't know how to ski) or writing a novel (I do have an idea that I love, but the actual writing part of it...). Really, I've just been busy with school and my internship; which, I suppose, is actually pretty good too. I am continuing with the internship that I started in the summer, and I love it so much. My job has changed quite a bit, become less about the legal and hands-on work and more about graphics and design, but that is totally okay with me. I am still working with some clients and still getting to see the inside of the court, but the focus is different now that the organization has more lawyers on staff and law research interns as well.

Top Tip: Registration

Now that spring registration is approaching, however, I just thought that I would come and say something that I think everyone should think about. This semester I'm taking a computer science class, and I'm really enjoying it (for the most part, part of me wishes I'd chosen the more advanced option because I really don't need to learn about how to install software). That combined with my recent work with my internship has really got me thinking that if I had taken compsci earlier I might have been able to turn it into a minor (or even a triple major). It's a little late now, unless I want to be at Hunter forever, but I think it's important that people who do have a little more time stop to think. If there is something that you think you may even have the slightest interest in, do it. Just take the risk and take the class. Or, outside of class, take the risk and do whatever it is that you think you may be interested in. I knew that I wanted to take compsci to complete the non-lab science since I started at Hunter, but didn't take it until this semester and I am regretting it a little. Don't do that. If you get the opportunity, jump on it and maybe you'll discover something that you love.

:/ It's Been A While...

Hey guys. I'm doing my best at a sheepish expression over here, even though you can't see it. I'd like to say that I've been really busy, running around doing this and that - simply not having a single second to just sit down and write about what I'm doing. That would be a lie. I've simply been having large bouts of writer's block. I do quite a lot of creative writing, on a normal basis, but since I had run into a block there, I was just uninspired over here. Not a great excuse, but the best I have. Since I'm up early this morning (registration day!!), I thought I would finally come here and update you guys on what exactly I've been doing with my life.

As you all know, I'm taking five classes. I think they're going pretty well, it's hard to tell though really. This will be my last semester taking a Macaulay Seminar course, and I'm really enjoying the group project that I'm doing. It's not something I would have ever come up with on my own, and on Sunday we managed to go outside and actually do things for the project. Of course, that wasn't too great because yesterday I woke up to my feet killing me after a lot of walking over the weekend. I blistered both of my feet last week, because I'm silly and wore just the completely wrong heels to see a play, and although they're quite a bit better, the walking was not fun for my feet.

But I saw this play, "The Cripple of Inishmaan," on Tuesday and it was just absolutely amazing. It was hilarious, and well-written, and the acting was great. Daniel Radcliffe was the lead role, and although his accent wavered sometimes, overall he was amazing. That's the second live show that I have seen Daniel Radcliffe in, as I saw him in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" back when he was in that.

As I said, registration is today and so I've got to go head to school. Normally I wouldn't just aim to be in school for registration (although you're recommended to, in case you run into any issues), but I've got class less than a half an hour after my time and wouldn't be able to make it in. So, good luck to everyone who has registration today and later this week!!

3 Things New Yorkers Hypocritically Complain About

1. Being on the wrong side of the escalators or stairs. It is one of my biggest pet peeves, especially since we go to a school with a vertical campus where one of the buildings relies on the escalators. You would think that people would learn after the tenth time of asking them to stand on the right side of the escalator, so that people can walk past if they are in a hurry. People don't learn this. And that's fine, OK, so I have to ask you to step aside instead of you already doing it, whatever, no big. It's worse on the stairs at the subway station, though. If there is a throng of people attempting to leave the station, you really don't need to be that one person who makes it more difficult for everyone to get up the stairs. That being said, if I'm deep in conversation with someone, I have been known to be party to someone standing on the wrong side of the escalator.
2. Standing by the doors in the subway car. Literally the worst, because it means less people can get into the car, and those who are further in have a harder time getting out. The subways in NYC have a lot of pros, but people not knowing how to make room for more people is definitely a con. Not moving into the car also makes the subway ride far more uncomfortable for everyone, because those who are trying to get into the middle of the car usually can't, and there's a lot more jostling and bodies pressed up against bodies. But, again, I have been known to stand by the doors from time to time. Generally, if I'm only going one stop, which I try not to do in the first place, then I'll wait by the doors because it's a hassle trying to get back out from the middle, but that doesn't excuse that I still do it.
3. Stop walking in the middle of the hallway or street. This one's a big one I think. I'm big into having a destination and walking there in as straight a line as possible, but this is made super difficult when you have to turn left or right to avoid road blocks. Road blocks in the form of people stopping to have a chat, or a make-out session, in the middle of everyone else walking. This definitely happens within Hunter as well, and is super annoying when you have a backpack (mine's a messenger bag so I only wear it off one shoulder, and it swings when I swerve) and you have to get to class. And, yet again, I still sometimes find myself stopping in my tracks to say hi to someone. I try really hard not to do this one, because it really just stops traffic, but I know I have at one point or another... Or, at least, slowed down to a point that was probably not super conducive to everyone else moving along.

Now, this may sound a little on the complaining side, but really I'm just interested in what your New Yorker pet peeves are. Feel free to list some in the comments!

Things I'm Loving: January

Hello there, it's been a while hasn't it? Well, I decided to take a little break from blogging during the winter break after I finished Picmas because I was taking a winter course. But I'm back! Since it's the beginning of February, and it's been a while since I last posted, I thought I'd do a little round up of my current favourites. Things that I'm enjoying doing, things that I'm enjoying using, etc. Basically just things I've been loving recently.

So, first up in the way of life things is this website called HabitRPG. Basically, it's like a super cool way of creating to-do lists. There's a section for habits, dailies, one time to-dos, and rewards. You enter everything in yourself and basically you win coins for any of the dailies or to-dos you complete, but lose health for things that you don't complete or bad habits that you do. The coins that you win go towards the rewards that you purchase. It's totally self-regulation, but gives you a little incentive to actually do the things. Also, you have this totally cute little avatar, which you can purchase more cool things for with your coins. This isn't something that is going to work for everyone, obviously, and I've only just recently started using it, but so far I'm liking it. If it turns out that I can't keep it up, or it's just not really helping me, then that's fine, but it's nice to even just have a place to list out what I need to do. And you can make the tasks as small as possible, that way for every little thing that you accomplish you still get coins. Like I put in wash dishes as well as put dishes away, so I get coins for both tasks. And in my habits, I've got use the stairs because I know that's not something I'm going to do daily perhaps (since I do live on the 9th floor) but when I go to school and I'm just going between classes, I do actually tend to use the stairs... And I'm counting when the escalators are broken.

Next is a beauty/skin sort of thing, but it's more in the general category. It's a lip balm from Lush, which I bought last month and am loving. It's called Honey Trap, and it's in a little pot so you do have to use your fingers, which I'm not a huge fan of, but I'll brave it. It seems to be working really really well, which is great because who wants chapped lips? It says "for vanilla honey kisses" and I think that's an accurate way to describe the taste/smell. It's really nice, not overpowering at all, and smoothes in really well. Lush is amazing! I can't use a lot of the stuff because of my skin, but I've been buying things for people as presents and they make good gifts. Obviously in the dorms the bath bombs aren't very helpful, but they make shampoo and conditioner bars that you could totally use here. They've got a decently new store located at 1293 Broadway, and another one located on 14th Street, if you want to go check out their products. I've been going to the one on Broadway, and it's small and the people are nice and helpful.

As far as clothes go, I've been really loving this Union Jack beanie that my parents got me for Christmas. For those of you who don't know, the Union Jack is the British flag. It's got a little pom pom on top, and it's been really helpful for these cold past few weeks. In addition, I got a belated Christmas present, which I asked for from my aunt when I visited England at Thanksgiving, of a really warm and soft hooded dressing gown or bathrobe. It's got little bear ears on it, and it's super cute and I really love it. I've been wearing it all around the dorms, because it's been so cold, but also just cause it's really adorable and I like being a bear...

And just, one last thing I thought I'd share is that I've been getting back into cooking lately. Last semester I kind of got into a bit of a funk as far as cooking goes. I don't know, I just didn't have a lot of motivation to cook for myself and was eating out or getting delivery a lot. That really hurt my bank account, but also when I order food I have a tendency to eat less healthily. I am still sticking strong with my no-McDonald's since getting back from Asia, but I definitely wasn't eating as much veggies as I should have been. But, I went grocery shopping with my friend and bought a whole bunch of stuff, and have been cooking a lot the past couple of weeks. I've been documenting my most interesting meals on instagram, so if you're interested I'd love to direct you over there.

I also thought that I'd include a little New Year's/New Semester resolutions bit, just so that I have it written down and I can hold myself to it. But essentially, I want to start exercising a bit (even if it's really a little amount, which it probably will be) and I want to start eating more healthily, which I have been. And I really really want to start reading some more and so on my HabitRPG I've actually got 10 minutes of reading as a daily task. I will increase that as I go on, but I thought that with the semester starting, that 10 minutes was a good sort of jump off point since I haven't done much for-pleasure reading since the summer. And of course, I want to keep up on here and I've got a bunch of ideas for posts that I want to write as well as a bunch of sequel posts that were meant to go up last semester, but didn't. So, yeah, I really want to finish as many of those as possible and just keep writing. The thing I love about having a blog being an option for "community service" hours, is that I love writing and this is a way that I have to always be writing. Even if it's just about the boring stuff in my life.

Picmas Part Five: Happy Christmas!

Just checking in from Canada to put up the last five pictures of Picmas and to wish a very happy Christmas to everyone who celebrates!

Locked up the dorm room until the new year.

Drove for ten hours, to arrive in a very snowy Canada!

Went cross country skiing, even though the whole family is rubbish.

Beautiful morning picture on Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas everybody!! If you don't celebrate, make sure to take advantage of the free day off ;)

Picmas Part Four! FOUR DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!

Hello all! If you're reading this, I have finished my finals for my third semester of university! That means that I can breathe. If you still have a final on Monday, or multiple ones, then just take some deep breaths, drink warm drinks, and keep your head down until then. This week was stressful and not stressful. I had my birthday on Tuesday, and it was awful and snowy, but I got to see my family and went to the Chobani store in Soho, and got presents. Despite having two finals on my birthday, I still managed to enjoy myself and am very glad about that. I think that's my take away from this semester. Even when things are super stressful and there seems like there is no end in sight, there will be something - anything - that you can take away and be like, yeah, that was good. One of the things from this semester as a whole that was great, despite how stressful and not too fun a lot of it was, was that I made new friends! Some of whom I was able to become very close with, and I am definitely thankful for that. Now that the sappy is all out, let's get to Picmas Part Four:

Breakfast for dinner is a tradition here at Brookdale that must be upheld. 

Birthday! Even though it was gross and snowy, and I had two finals, I still managed to enjoy myself.

Had a take home final that took me all day, but finished the night off with some ice cream to make it all better!

Had to go uptown, and walked very briefly into Central Park.

Cabbage patches stay hardy even with the snow!

Picmas Part Three!

Maybe it's just the Christmas do-gooder feel that has already settled in the air here in New York, what with all the twinkly Christmas lights and trees that are impossible to miss on the streets, but apparently there are actually good people in this world! Yesterday, I had to attend a Macaulay event with other sophomores to present our seminar projects. My group and I headed out bright and early, grabbed some Dunkin Donuts, and at some point before getting onto the 1 train, I dropped my wallet. I had quite a bit of a panic about it - understandably - and called my parents to have them cancel my debit card. However, once they did get in touch with the bank, it was only to get the notice that someone had found my wallet and had called to cancel the card already. Wow. That meant that somebody had picked it up. That meant that somebody hadn't just taken it and tried to get my money out. I had to stay at the event for almost three hours, antsy as I waited to be able to head back to 23rd street and scope out who had my wallet! Luckily, I got in touch with the man who had picked it up and was able to meet to get my wallet. Everything in it. Nothing taken. Solid. There are good people in this world, apparently; and, with that, let's get on with Picmas!

Painted my nails with this gorgeous mint colour! I'll paint them one more time, more festively, before Christmas.

Did my laundry. What does the fox say?

This picture is another that I took days before, but I was gross sick on Friday.

SNOW! (Ew) Also Santa Con and Secret Santa!

The Macaulay building was done up all nice and festive, and I just took a picture of the stairs.

Picmas Part Two!

Hello everybody! This is WAY late (as in part three should/will hopefully go up tomorrow), but I wanted to get it up now. As you're probably well aware, it is cold and finals-ey around here right now, which means that I have been sick and busy this past week. I didn't have the time or energy to put into editing picmas pictures, but I was quite quite ill yesterday and am now feeling a lot better today (I think it was that final get everything out of your system kind of sick) after lots of sleep and water. I even ventured out in the snow, which I don't really tend to do. So, better late than never, right? Here's Picmas Part Two!

Went with Danielle to this museum out in the middle of sketchy town for her class.

Although I didn't go see this band (don't even know who they are), walked past and look my name!

This actually happened on the 6th, but since I was sick on the 8th... Dumpling skin crisps with Danielle! 

I really love my rain boots! 

It was snowy! (Not as much as today though).

Picmas Part One!

So there's this thing that vloggers do called Vlogmas, which is basically where they make a video every day in December leading up to Christmas. Anyone who will know me, will know I hate Christmas before my birthday (December 17th, hehe), but since I do take a lot of pictures, I thought I'd do this just for something cute. I'll be taking pictures everyday, and then every five days posting the past five days' worth in one go. They may be pretty random, but that's OK, it's just for fun and a way so that you can see what I'm up to this December.

traveling from derby to manchester by train; saw my cousins

walking around manchester; did a bit of shopping & eating

this was the plane from birmingham to dublin; then went back to jfk

wasn't feeling all too great but did get to study a bit for poli-sci

had lunch with my dad at potbelly on park avenue; yummy yummy

Weekend at Home (Mostly in Pictures)

So, I'll be the first to admit that I really don't like coming home to the suburbs. However, even I have to admit that there are a lot of perks to being, well, not at the dorms. Here are a few:

A REAL shower! (And more private toilet, at that).

A non-single bed!

Wifi that ISN'T awful!

Free food!

More free food!

Reminder that APUSH (and high school in general) exists, and I will never have to deal with it ever again!!

Withdrawal Symptoms

So, this is a post that I didn't think I, personally, would ever have the experience to write about. Today, I withdrew from Arabic. Now, that may come as a shock to those of you who know how excited I've been about taking the language since well before I even enrolled in the class (to be honest, well before I even started college), but here's the thing: sometimes, you need to take into consideration your priorities and your health.

Don't get me wrong, I actually love Arabic. I think it's a beautiful and interesting language, that when I'm in class I really enjoy learning. However, it's also a super difficult language, and it requires a lot of extra hours put into studying it. Which would be fine, if I wasn't also still not fluent in Chinese and taking 3 300 level courses this semester.

I think the bottom line is, you need to do what is right for your health and for your overall academic situation. For me, Arabic is something that I have wanted to pursue for a while and is something that I would definitely consider getting back into in the future, but at the moment, it's not something that I have the time for. Also, I've been so super stressed these past few weeks and it was coming from all sorts of sides, and so having one less source of stress will be good.

I'm definitely not the kind of student who goes into a course thinking, oh if I don't like it or it's too hard, I can just drop it. I hate giving up and I am not particularly fond of asking for help; I like to get things done on my own. But there is a line where you need to look up and see how far down you've fallen in terms of work and stress. Today was the first time I felt up to cooking for myself in at least a week. That doesn't happen. I love cooking and it's something that I do even when I've got a million things on my plate; so, for me, that was one sign.

Seeing that W in place of what I would hope would have been an A (but because of all the stress I was under and how much it was effecting all my work, might not have been), does send a shock to my system. I don't like it. I'm not going to lie. I do not like seeing that W there, even if it doesn't effect my GPA. However, I know that a W is much better than F, which I feel I may have been in danger of receiving if I had kept struggling with managing everything.

My priorities right now are in Chinese and Political Science. Those are the two things that I know I am in it for the long haul with. I would have liked to have had Arabic be another, but it's just not something that is feasible. I'm sure there are people who could handle it, and that's fine, but it wasn't a situation that I was handling well.

And, I'm not going to lie about this either, pressing that button and withdrawing from the course felt good too. It sucks to know that this is something I couldn't handle, but it feels good to know that I have less stress to deal with now. I put a lot of time and effort into the class, and it's irritating to know that it won't mean anything now, but that was a lot of time and effort that probably should have gone into other things. I'm still doing well in my classes, I just want to be able to do my best, and now I think I can.

This was really difficult for me to write. I do write some reflective, personal things here, but this is probably the most personal post that I have ever contributed. I don't particularly want to talk about it too much, but I do think that it's important for people to see that this is an option. That if you're stressing out and not coping well, taking the W isn't the end of your life. Don't just drop because of silly reasons, though, please. You owe it to yourself to try your hardest, always, but if your hardest is battling with stress and anxiety, then that's when you need to question if withdrawing isn't the right thing to do. Tomorrow is the last day that you can withdraw with just a grade of W and no penalty, for this semester, so I wanted to write this today, just in case this was something that anybody was dealing with at the moment.

I have turned off comments, however, do feel free to email me if you want to talk about anything. Withdrawing from courses, stress, really anything that is related to your time here at Macaulay Hunter. xo Maya

October Faves and November Prospects!

Although I still have to get around to writing the second part of my Chinatown guide, when I did this last month it felt kind of therapeutic, so I thought I would write another end of the month review/beginning of the month hopes type post.

So a few of the things that I have been obsessing over during the spookiest month of the year were music related. There are three songs in particular that I even got on my phone, which are the first three to be downloaded there permanently because I usually just use my old nano. The first, I'll just get it out of the way because even though I love it, I realize not everyone will, is One Direction's new song: Story of My Life. Yes, I like One Direction and I have for a while now. But this song is quite different from their other stuff and it's really worth a listen, even if you have an awful opinion of them. The music video comes out this weekend, and I'm super excited because it looks so haunting and they're going to show pictures of people from their lives. I know it leaked yesterday, but I haven't watched it yet (though Tumblr has completely spoiled it for me). Second is a song by a British Youtube artist who is going to be going on tour with British group Union J in December. His name is Elyar Fox and his song is called Colourblind; the song is just fluffy basically, it's catchy and fun to bop your head to. Third is a very recent favourite, Adam Barnes' She Will Stay Beneath the Moon, which is actually about a year old. Adam is also British and I haven't had a chance, yet, to listen to everything by him, but what I have heard so far I really like. (As you can tell, the theme is British artists.. Usually is, to be honest). There are obviously other songs and artists that I've been listening to, but these three were definitely worth noting.


Another thing that I have been loving this month has been some new make-up that I've bought! If you have no interest in make-up, feel free to skip this paragraph. But essentially my favourites have been Urban Decay's Glide-On Shadow Pencil. I have five of the shades, and I usually do a blend of Rehab and Mercury. I've had a travel sized Rehab since last year, but I've really started using it again this month, which has been fun. In addition, two new things: Rimmel London's BB Cream in Medium and Exaggerate Waterproof Eye-liner in 290 Precious Gold. Now, I know not everyone wears make-up, and to be honest I am very hot and cold with make-up (I'll wear a full face of make-up for weeks straight and then have a few days where I don't wear any at all, or vice versa), but I honestly think one of the most important things to remember about make-up is that you can look beautiful with or without it. I know that sounds horribly cliche and I'm definitely not trying to preach at you, but I just thought I'd put that out there.

Now that we're officially in November, I thought I'd also add a little bit about a few things that I'm looking forward to moving forward. One of them is NaNoWriMo! If you don't know what that is, it's a completely awful form of self-torture and stands for National November Writing Month. It's a challenge to write 50,000 words in one month for a novel. I'm already procrastinating, haven't started yet, though I have a fairly concrete idea and I'm definitely excited. Second is that I'm going to England for Thanksgiving. I'm going mostly to visit my grandmother because I was not able to go during the summer when my parents and brother went, but I'm sure I'll get to see other family too. And finally, I'm really looking forward to more excuses to drink hot chocolate AKA, hopefully, the weather deciding that it wants to do autumn and get a bit colder so that I can drink more hot chocolates. Starbucks' Christmas red cups have just come out again for the season, and I really want to have some Starbucks. So yeah, those are a few things that I am looking forward to this month!

A Quick Foodie's Guide to Chinatown! Part 1

So, one of the things that I have probably talked about in excess is my numerous trips to Chinatown! I love Chinatown! It's part of childhood, it lets me dip my feet into parts of a culture that I love, and it's just a really cheap place to get a GOOD bite to eat. So, here are a few of my favourite places to go to in Chinatown, just in case you were wondering where to go or where to take visitors!

Picture found on Yelp.com

First up is this tiny little hole in the wall dumpling shop called Fried Dumpling! It is located on Mosco Street (right off of Mott Street, by the children's playground/basketball park = Columbus Park); the street itself is basically just a hill and you really can't miss it if you walk down or up the hill. The photo doesn't show it, but in the entrance are these strips of plastic that are usually held back and you just walk straight in - the plastic kind of reminds of me of those long strips that clean your car in the automatic car washers'. Back to the restaurant! It's barely even that, there are like four bar stools, but it's much better to get your order to go and sit in the park, or wander around Chinatown to your next location. Fried Dumpling sells the bare minimum: pork dumplings, pork buns, hot and sour soup, and maybe a drink or two (but I'm not sure on that one cause I really just go there for the dumplings!) They're $1 for 5 dumplings, or $1 for 4 pork buns. You cannot beat that! I've been looking through yelp, and some people have been complaining about the quality, but I've never had a bad dumpling - they are simply delicious!

You can also buy them frozen, $5 for 30 dumplings. I did that last time I went, and I am really happy! They're not pre-cooked, so you do have to make sure you cook them all the way through (because pork and getting sick), but for me that's not issue. They're so cheap, so delicious, and so quick to cook anyway that it's a much better deal (for me) than buying them pre-cooked and packaged. As you can see from the picture above, I've already eaten the majority of mine..

Picture found on Yelp.com

Next up is a little Shanghainese place that my friend and I actually stumbled upon last year on a quest for soup dumplings. Since then, my friends and I have frequented place a lot. This is usually where I come for lunch before grocery shopping. There menu is quite a bit more extensive than Fried Dumpling, as is expected, but pretty much everything that we've tried has been great (and again, cheap). What my friends and I usually order is: 1 order of pork soup dumplings, 1 order of (pork) rice balls in soup, 1 order of baby bok choy with garlic, and 1 order of sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaf. The soup dumplings, for those of you who have never had the fortunate to taste them, are amazing - you do have to be careful because they will burn you if you don't eat them properly, which means either waiting quite a bit or biting/tearing a small hole, tipping the soup out into your spoon and eating the soup and skin/pork filling separately. The rice balls are a bit harder to explain, they're a strange gelatin-like consistency with a ball of pork filling in the middle, and the whole rice ball (there are 4 in total) is floating in a plain broth. We like to rip up the rice ball, eat it, and then have a go at the pork filling. The bok choy is a green vegetable, I suppose it's a bit like Chinese broccoli (I think some restaurants may call it that, though choy sum is also sometimes called Chinese broccoli). It's really healthy for you and easy to cook if you ever decide to buy some of your own. The sticky rice is officially called zongzi, and is a traditional dragon boat festival food, but is now eaten a little more often than that. Basically, the rice (with a pork filling, usually) is steamed wrapped up in a bamboo leaf, and then you open the leaf and eat the inside. We have ventured outside of these four things, trying different noodle dishes, but these are 4 we almost always order. And when I go by myself, I'll usually just order soup dumplings and that will fill me up quite nicely.

This is getting a bit longer than I thought it was going to be, so I will stop this here and have another few places to try out later! If you're feeling really cheeky, you could always grab some $1 dumplings and then head over to the Shanghai Cafe for an actual meal, but only do that if you're quite hungry as the Fried Dumpling dumplings are actually quite filling!

My Exciting Saturday Adventure!

Alright, so it's not that exciting, but I went on a mini adventure on Saturday! Anyone who knows me, knows that I can be quite lazy (one time, one of my friends and I took about 3 buses home from Hunter just to minimize any walking that we would have otherwise had to do), however sometimes I enjoy having a nice walk around the city... Even if it's unplanned.

On Saturday afternoon, I headed out to do a bit of grocery shopping in Chinatown. I was all set to take the downtown 6 to Canal St, but when I got there I discovered that there was planned work going on. All of the green line trains were running express, which meant that the 6 didn't stop at 23rd Street. Instead of going and taking the M15 downtown, I actually ended up walking over to 14th Street. It was quite warm, really sunny, and I was early enough that the Union Square Farmer's Market was still busy! It's actually not that great when it's extremely crowded, it's a bit of a mess, but since I wasn't going to buy anything there (though I definitely recommend shopping there sometimes), it was nice to stroll through a bit, take a few pictures, and then go down into the subway.

Because the subway was only making express stops downtown, I couldn't get off at Canal Street as planned, and had to get off the stop after at Brooklyn Bridge. That was OK, really, cause you can walk pretty quickly into Chinatown from there, so that's what I did (instead of waiting for the 6 to come back and head uptown like most of the people were doing). Doing this walk is always a little nostalgic for me, because this was how my mother and I used to walk to my Chinese school on Saturdays when I was a kid. I walked passed the dollar dumpling store that I love so much (and will talk more about in a separate post), and decided spur of the moment to go to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for a pre-lunch milkshake. Whenever I go grocery shopping in Chinatown, I always eat somewhere in Chinatown first because shopping on an empty stomach is bad. However, I think I may have overdone it a bit this time because after the milkshake, I still went and got soup dumplings (oops..). Now, I was going to talk a bit more about the milkshake and the soup dumplings, but that will all be included in a future post! So, here's another picture from Union Square:

So, after grocery shopping, which went way quicker and cheaper than usual (probably because I had just gone to Trader Joe's the day before and I was so stuffed that the idea of food was a bit odd), I walked to the M15 on Allen Street and took that back up to the dorms. So, yeah, that was my day out! It was really nice and warm, and walking around the city a bit was really relaxing. And now I've got some vegetables to cook with this week, and I'm all set! Yay!