Amanda

Monday

It’s the fourth day in April. Which means I am 7 days away from my arrival to earth. I was born this month. Another opportunity to start the “new year”. But no big changes really. I’m sticking to the original script.

Today is gloomy and raining. This weather calls for a good cup of tea, a foot rub, a good movie, and well other adult things. But instead, I’ll do my home work and get in bed early. My body is trying to recover from my simple weekend. I feel like I’ve been lifting weights, my entire body feels sore. Rest is always good.

Pertaining to work, I’m at a new site, and I am not doing anything at the moment. I’m bored. It’s so bad that I created a Snap chat account, I’m looking at social media all day to entertain myself, and my phone is dying every few hours. I know the work load will start on Thursday but I need to do something now.

April will have two mini getaways that I am excited about.

First, Jamaica. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. Last I went was for a funeral and I couldn’t bother to return again. For many years that was the purpose of my trips to Jamaica. Burying my loved one. This year I need to get over my fear. When my maternal grandmother passed away, apart of my world vanished. I was only able to see her for about a good three minutes before they laid her to rest. The last time I visited, anxiety was an understatement when I had to drive past her resting space. I didn’t get out the car, I couldn’t handle it. So this year, and now that some time has passed, I’m going to say hello, tears and all.

My second trip, well it’s undecided. I am positive that when I return from Jamaica, that I’ll want to get away again. I’m doing this trip alone. It won’t be far. Maybe jump on the Amtrak and go to DC. I’ve been meaning to go for a long time now. I’ll look up an Airbnb and see if I like that option or, get a nice hotel and do room service. If that doesn’t work out, staycation it is. Hotel in the city sounds cool too.

I hope I can get some reading done during this month. I finished Jojo Myers, You Before Me, and let’s just say that I am completely in my feelings. I cried after I finished that book. What a perfect way to resurface feelings? Well it will be in theaters in June, so I’ll be crying again. If your into love novels and believing that your partner should bring the best out in you, please read this book.

Anything exciting happening in April?

Sundays : B R O O K L Y N

Today, I jumped on the train and headed to Brooklyn. I have a love/hate relationship for Brooklyn. For good, bad, and indifferent reasons but I just can’t ever stay away from Brooklyn for too long. After my trip to California last year, I learned to get over the fear of doing things alone. So whenever I want to do something now, I just get up and go! Today’s adventure was the Brooklyn Museum.

I had been meaning to see the KAWS exhibit for some time now but every time I ask someone to come with me, it seems like its a hassle. Today I was suppose to be seeing the exhibit with a friend but they didn’t wake up on time. So what to do? GO by yourself. I asked an onlooker to snap a photo because this was the purpose of the visit! For a second I didn’t want to walk around the museum but I decided I had nothing to lose. The two hour train commute was real! So I was going to make my trip worth it.

My love for furniture and interior designed had me in the 19th century exhibits for longer than I anticipated. The fabric on the couch and chairs were gorgeous. Giving me ideas for my ~~house~~.

The modern art was fun. I’d like to hopefully go to the MoMa in a few weeks, when school starts to slow down. I have a thing for the arts.

I didn’t have breakfast and my body was reminding me of that. All that walking made me hungry. If you’re anything like me, you prefer the low key, old, no name spots. I didn’t notice it at first but, the name was hidden in the window. Tom’s on Washington Avenue in Crown Heights.

I decided to do breakfast. It was late in the afternoon, so I guess you can consider it Brunch. I didn’t finish my meal. One pancake had me ready to fall asleep. I recommend for a quick and affordable breakfast.

I’m ready for more days like this. I told my best friend that I might dedicate my summer to touring the city. I’m from New York and I really don’t explore it much. There’s so much to do. I have nothing but space and opportunity, as long as I am ready for the challenge, it can be done.

How was your weekend?

One Year Later: C A L I F O R N I A

So I never really talked about my trip to California. It wasn’t the best trip ever but it was a defining moment for me. I was in a space that I do not dare to speak of yet but as I had a conversation with someone earlier today, I realized that it had been a whole year since. How time flies. So why not re-experience the nostalgia with me.

So that wonderful guy that I had been in my feeling with since last year (if you had read previous post, I won’t leave any links for a reminder because we still cool), invited me out to a convention that took place in California last year. I was there for “Pleasure”; he was there for “Business”. It was a once in a life time opportunity, pay for your flight, I’ll take care of everything else. SOLD! I would had preferred for the trip to be romantic instead of what it turned out to be, but none the less, I was glad to see the West Coast.

It was March 24, and I was in JFK for about 4 hours waiting for my flight to depart. No delays, just assumed that being there that early made sense, not doing that again. The flight was about 5 hours. I arrived at approximately 3:00 PM, you know I had to do In -n- Out Burger, sorry no footage, but I needed a cup of tea and to enjoy the 93 degree weather. The jet lag was real!

So to make it super convenient, we did some research before we arrived. We got a crazy deal for this Mercedes rental from the owner of the car. It was awesome! Not too sure if I should share how we went about this because this is not for promotional use, so send me an email, I’ll be glad to share. The LA traffic is no joke at all. So being comfortable made it worth it.

Around the third day, because I had absolutely no clue what I had gotten myself into, and an over due disagreement and annoyance at my relaxed behavior, I finally got dressed because I watched Mr. Get dressed. Love that tie. Toured the facility, attempted at venturing off around the convention, but due to my fear of the unknown, I took a walk instead. That will be better explained in a later post.

After a 2 hour long unwanted conversation, to get back to the beauty of it all, we took a beautiful drive out to Laguna Beach! Amazing is an understatement. Under the candle light, we had dinner at a beach side restaurant. That picture isn’t the best but I had Lobster Fettuccine with a fried egg on top. Delightful!

We started our last day in California about 10:00 AM. We decided to drive and explore. Him once living in California as a child, to see the city as an adult was a different journey. We were able to capture some street art as we waited at a red light in Downtown LA.

Unbeknownst to me, he took us to the historical La Brea Tar Pits, and took a walk to get some lunch. Those sliders were amazing. I so recommend to anyone willing to be down for the food truck adventure.

Not exactly close by but we had wheels, we decided to take a drive to Hollywood. We walked for a few blocks and seen many famous stars on the Walk of Fame. This one stands out to me because Lord knows this woman’s voice was magic!

Not too far away, we drove through Rodeo Drive. All parts of me wanted to jump out the car and run into that Louis Vuitton Store. It was so appealing. The guy in the wheel made it all too clear how America works, but that is for another day.

We ended our day in deep conversation at the Santa Monica Pier. The water, the air, the people, the funnel cake, yes funnel cake, it was all to good to leave. But the New Yorker in me, needed to go home. I enjoyed the hotel, the good and not so good food, my friend who I am forever thankful for allowing me to see another part of the world, and the weather. It was 93 degrees during the day and 65 degrees at night. I slept with the doors open on the balcony. It was amazing.

The things that were occurring in my life at the time, did not allow me to be completely into this experience the way I wish I could had been. I now know that I had took a lot from such a short amount of time. I learned a lot about my wants, needs, personal struggles, career struggles, and my ultimate goals. I’m a firm believer that trips are always needed to refresh the mind, body, and soul. This was well needed, and I am glad I went. Maybe next year I’ll visit again but,

Until Next Time……