ILLINOIS AND THE LAST FIRST DAY

I found this book on my Mother's bookshelf. Its so beautiful, and I know it has to be my Step-father's.



When I go home to Illinois, I have to drive between the two cities my parents live in. This is what the land looks like in between.



And here's my father's front yard and the next is his backyard.






A little peace. Now I'm back in the swing of school and I'm excited, sentimental and exhausted all at once.

The end of summer and things to come.

My sister Jocelyn moved out of the apartment we shared for a year to move to Brooklyn.















I very much miss this lil doggie as well as my sister.





Today in Publication design, I was given the assignment for the week of making a zine/encyclopedia to answer the question," What is a warlock?" Here are some of my favorite online images found.

New York is just another place to be, if it wasn't for the history

While staying with Katie, we frequented Oslo, a coffee shop with super cute stickers on their cups.








Bitsy was sad to see me leave. Next destination: Prospect Heights to stay with my sister Johannah.





Johannah took me to this pier in Red Hook that has the best key lime pie. Its in this building that has some studios and multiple plant stores.





It was very beautiful and a much needed quiet spot.











On our way back to her hood, we drove past the Queen Mary 2 which goes across the Atlantic. It is seriously the biggest ship I've ever seen. Here is a diagram of how big it is.










The next day Johannah, her boyfriend Noah, and I went to the Shake Shack in Washington Square park. It always has a huge line, but some of the best burgers I've ever tasted.











We walked down to Union Square, my old stomping ground. When living there, I never ended up taking a photo of my building, but this time around I snapped one. Mine is the building on the corner, but the connecting one is the Decker Building, most well known as the home of Andy Warhol's factory.






While visiting with my friend Mark, the two of us and his roommate Jenny watched TV with our sunglasses on because with the bad reception, it was easier to see this way.








Mark has a very cute loft apartment. Perfect for art students. Below is a picture of a Michael Jackson bust he made. 7 in all I believe. Rhinestones in the eyes.








There was also this amazing painting in his apartment that his roommate's father bought at a prison auction. Its supposed to be Joan Baez and Brigitte Bardot. Why they would be together? Nevertheless, amazing.





Johannah was in the process of moving, so I helped her and Noah paint a few afternoons, and here is their yellow kitchen, which began as pepto-bismol pink.














In return for my work, Johannah and Noah treated me to some amazing Chinese food. We drove to Chinatown, and feasted at Joe's Shanghai. Chinatown has an overwhelmingly large amount of restaurants. Most of them nearly empty; this one had a long line. Johannah assured me this place had amazing food. And it definately did.





Here is their signature dish. The Soup Dumpling. mmm. They can be dangerous if you don't eat them correctly. First, you lift one onto your soup spoon, and then you bite a little hole into the dough. Then you drink the soup out of the dumpling. Once you've drunk the soup, it is safe to eat the dumpling, which has a pork or crab meatball within it. They were so delicious, I think I could have eaten a dozen of them.









Next, I spent a day in Manhattan exploring by myself. It was great and allowed me to relax a bit and explore some of my favorite spots. I then met up with Mark in the evening, and we headed back to his place. On the way we walked through a Puerto Rican neighborhood, and there were all these flags strung across the street.




Here is a view from my sister's apartment in Prospect Heights. So many plant-filled backyards. Her fire escape is covered with plants. This is one of the main reasons I love this neighborhood. That and the awesome brownstones everywhere.




Prospect Heights is a new favorite neighborhood of mine. New York trip over. Back to the Midwest.