un viaje puertorriqueño

{the small town of boqueron}

{boqueron beach}

{playa sucia}

{a trip to san juan}

{crash boat beach}

featured above: a much needed break from the rigors of graduate school.  we stayed at a small beachside resort in the southwest corner of the island, in a small town called boqueron.  while boqueron (translated as "anchovy" in spanish...?) is no tourist-attracting // cruise ship-porting san juan, the six of us quickly fell in love with the tiny little town.  we charmed our way to free drinks at will's restaurant, almost adopted a stray puppy from alex at galloway's, made a bad name for all american girls while paddle boarding with ignacio, and caught a free ride to the rental car place with manny.  we drank piña coladas and ate tostones all of the days, explored the crystal clear depths of las playas, karaoked to bon jovi with some locals, and were so sad to say goodbye to our tiny corner of the island that we had made our own when the 7 days were up.  

now back to the grind and some summer internship decision-making.  ciao!

"i think the truth is if you really care about the quality of somebody's life as much as you care about the quality of your own, you have it made." 

- edie windsor 

9/52

{in anticipation: midterms week vs. spring break}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"go all the way with it.  do not back off.  for once, go all the goddamn way with what matters."

- ernest hemingway, the complete short stories 

lessons from my city.

things new york has taught me, part uno.

o1.  i'm now in a hurry to get EVERYWHERE.  not only because the trains are so conveniently spaced 12 minutes apart right when i need one, but because i now live in new york city.  i'm constantly weaving around people, even if there isn't really a purpose.  i feel as if i'm running that half marathon i ran sophomore year in college when i signed up for the time-group that included blind people in wheelchairs because i wasn't sure how fast i would be able to run.  slow is now too slow.

(the other day in hoboken, while i was walking after dinner with friends, i cut off a couple on the sidewalk so intensely that you would have thought i had somewhere to go.  i didn't.  "THIS ISN'T NEW YORK CITY, AMY," my friend jabbed.  the subsequent long walk in front of them was a bit awkward, to say the least.)

o2.  sometimes you have to sacrifice your body for a more spacious floor plan.  because i moved my full-sized bed into the little nook that would have been cute and cozy when i was eight years old, i can no longer open my closet door all the way.  in order to grab something from the back, i have to strategically squeeze the smallest part of my abdomen into the small space left between the door knob and the wall, and let's just say that this isn't the most comfortable position.

o3.  leave for everything ~20 minutes early.  baby fell on the subway tracks, chick held the subway doors open for too long, it's finally 50 degrees outside and the winter gods don't want you enjoying the warm weather.... basically anything and everything will delay the subway.  especially when you're on the 1 train, which is the dumbest train on the face of this earth, and is also the only train i ever take because i'm too lazy to walk to the D.

"i thought new york city was going to be the most exciting, magical, fraught-with-possibility place that you could ever live; in a place where if you really wanted something, you might be able to get it; a place where i'd be surrounded by people i was dying to be with.  and i turned out to be right." 

- nora ephron

found.

the oscars this year blew my mind.  another speech given at a black women in hollywood luncheon that i could watch over and over again.

"beauty was not a thing that i could acquire or consume.  it was a thing that i just had to be.  and what my mother meant when she said 'you can't eat beauty,' is that you can't rely on beauty to sustain you.  what actually sustains us - what is fundamentally beautiful - is compassion.  for yourself, and for those around you.  that kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul."
- lupita nyongo

8/52

{going into hibernation: snowcopalypse part 34}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live." 

- pete seeger 

sounds good to me.

{a daily view}

"i do not trust people who don't love themselves and yet tell me, 'i love you.'  there is an african saying which is: be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt." 

- maya angelou 

7/52

{because of sunshine and a blinding white shirt and a tiny peak at a fleeting snow-free street}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"the only thing i know is this: i am full of wounds and still standing on my feet."

- nikos kazantzakis

a snowy massachusetts weekend

{skiing at butternut}

{a winter wonderland}

on valentine's day weekend i realized that the only way to actually like snow is to fully embrace it.  and embrace it, we did.  73% of the weekend, there was snow up to my knees.  also, i skied my first black diamond!  and i went sledding for the first time!  and that little man in the last picture lying on his back in the red jacket is my boyfriend, the one and only.  the one and only, that is, that completely ate it while sledding amongst the 8-year-olds bouncing up and down the mountain around us.  i presume this means we're getting old. 

also: how i feel about winter. 

"we need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. to have real conversations with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk."

- thomas moore 

found.

THE GAP by Ira Glass

on days when i feel off, or days in which i'm too busy to properly function, i've come to realize that i subconsciously turn to inspiration from others for a proper pick-me up.  i thrive off their creative ventures; their tantalizing stories; their form of this-is-why-i'm-on-this-earth mojo.  which is why i'm starting a new series in this little space appropriately called "found," which will remind me that i'll find my way eventually even when i'm feeling lost. (get it? lost and found? i hope my transparency hasn't been lost on you yet.)

today, a bit of inspiration in video form: from ira glass, host of this american life.  

"nobody tells this to people who are beginners, i wish someone told me.  all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.  but there is this gap.  for the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good.  it's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not.  but your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer.  and your taste is why your work disappoints you.  a lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.  most people i know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.  we know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have.  we all go through this.  and if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work.  put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.  it is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.  and i took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone i've ever met.  it's gonna take awhile.  it's normal to take awhile.  you've just gotta fight your way through."
- ira glass 

6/52

{a valentine's day ski trip}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

- pablo picasso 

sounds good to me.

{a watercolor view from my subway stop}

"when you come out of the storm you won't be the same person that walked in.  that's what the storm is all about."

- haruki murakami 

l i f e l a t e l y.

{because jon stewart is a ridiculous human} 

{because 5 britney spears are better than 1}

{because money for life & chocolate for the soul}

{because i love a little reunion and some mouth-watering pizza}

because new york, because youth, because a really chilly weekend meant nights with good people and good food. 

"just slow down. 

slow down your speech.

slow down your breathing.

slow down your walking. 

slow down your eating. 

and let this slower, steadier 

pace perfume your mind."

- doko

5/52

{year of the horse | an afternoon in chinatown}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"ask her what she craved and she'd get a little frantic about things like books, woods, music.  plants and the seasons.  also freedom."

- charles frazier

lunar new year + sigmund's pretzels.

after much contemplation, i finally decided this weekend that the cutest asians are those under the age of 5, followed closely by those over the age of 65.  i spent friday and saturday stalking humans of new york's cute asian confetti-covered little people, and then proceeded to find them myself on sunday.  the temperature was in the balmy 40's (amiright, new york?), and we soaked it all in by following the parade from mott to east broadway. we saw hundreds of dragons and tons of glitter and even conceded the tops of our heads as arm rests for the pushy people who taped the whole festival via iphone. tag me!

"the most wasted of days is one without laughter."

- e.e. cummings