Thursday, September 22, 2016

My Friends: Stephen and Nathan



It may be the first day of Fall, but thanks to Stephen perpetually pushing back these posts, we'll still be talking Summer on Whale & Wishbone at least three more times in the near future. 

Next up, Coney Island, and honestly, it's not a true New York City summer until you go. Stomachs full from our Smorgasburg adventure, Stephen and I were ready to do some serious roller coaster riding -- in hindsight it seems so dumb to go from eating our weight at a food fair to riding upside down at an amusement park, but we were blinded by excitement and delirious form the heat.





This day was a dream for my inner photographer: unbelievably bright with clouds that looked photoshopped. Coney Island feels a little like stepping back in time to old New York. Icons like Nathan's and the Wonder Wheel all feel like they've been there forever. 





I mean look at these clouds. LOOK AT THEM. 






Coney Art Walls are currently on display outside Luna Park. It's an outdoor museum for street art, featuring immense art walls from 24 different artists. Stephen and I had a blast admiring and taking pics.  Above is a wall by Stephen Powers, and below is by The London Police.


Thursday, September 8, 2016

Boldly Going On 50 Years

Today marks 50 years since Star Trek first aired on television in 1966. It's been my favorite show for 12 years. 

I remember watching it for the first time with my dad, and although I can't tell you the specific episode we watched, I can tell you that I was completely hooked. I was in middle school at the time, and now watching Star Trek every time it came on. To this day, I love talking about the show with my dad, who remembers watching reruns in college. The fact that, at 11, a show had me as captivated as my dad had been at age 20 speaks volumes about Star Trek's ability to transcend time. 

Though you won't find me dressed as Spock at a convention, I can rattle off an intense list of reasons why I love the original series of Star Trek. It's engaging, thought provoking, relatable, funny, and smart. The show features a racially diverse crew comprised of both men and women, as well as the first ever televised interracial kiss. And although, it never fully escaped the lens of the 60s, it was still wildly ahead of it's time, firmly rooted in complex characters and compelling stories. 50 years later, those stories hold up, even if the original special effects don't. 



There's always been a connotation that comes with loving Star Trek, but in 2016 nerd culture is mainstream.  The world, and New York City especially, have gone all out to mark this iconic anniversary of the beloved franchise. A new blockbuster filma 3 day conventiona cosmetic collaboration, and an Intrepid exhibit were all on the summer agenda in New York, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't living for it. I participated in all of the above (minus the convention) and I thought I'd share a few snaps from my visit to the Intrepid Starfleet Academy Experience in honor of today's anniversary.  



Believe it or not, I convinced my Star Trek loving Birchbox boss, Allison, to bring our whole team to this exhibit as a bonding experience. We trekked (get it?) to the museum on a Wednesday afternoon with the rest of our small CRM marketing team for what I anticipated would be the best work day ever. -- It was. 

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Eat Your Heart Out



Neither Stephen or I had ever been to Brooklyn's famed collection of trendy and delicious food stalls, and this total lack of knowledge led us to kick off this bucket list day with a mistake. We first travelled to the Williamsburg Smorgasburg location because we're idiots.... well I am, but Stephen is for listening to me. Anyway, in case you don't know Smorgasburg has two locations. On Saturdays, the food fair can be found in Williamsburg, and on Sundays, it's in Prospect Park. For my non-New-York readers, those places, while both in Brooklyn, are roughly an hour from each other on public transport. Well, you live and learn, I guess... we laughed and got over it (eventually).


Here's Stephen when we for real made it to Prospect Park. The sheer number of stalls is immense, so we first took a literal lap to scope it out and make a game plan.


Cheesecake pops, ramen burgers, french fries, ice cream, lobster rolls, coffee... it's all so overwhelming, especially in the sweltering heat. As we were contemplating what to try, we discussed what it would be like to open a food stall together. I assumed Stephen would suggest making and selling something cute like ice cream sandwiches, but that was not the case. Stephen suggested we sell gourmet butter. I guess Stephen wants to open a stall at Smorgasburg in Colonial America, and seemed unperturbed when I mentioned no one eats raw butter.    


Looking back at this picture, I realized that those little holes are for our arms. I did not pick up on that at the time. 


This is Stephen attempting to find shade anywhere possible. I want to say it was upwards of 90 degrees, but maybe I'm exaggerating. 


Stephen made fun of me for getting this salad wrap, but jokes on him because it was delicious. 



I also stole a few of his fries. Clearly the heat was making us delusional.