Thai Food Forever and Always - NYC Day 5

Today is my last full day in New York and wow am I going to miss it! Counting down the days until I can come back… or move here!!

Today was so much fun! As per usual, I slept through (well snoozed through) my alarms and got out of bed at the ripe early morning time of 9:30 am! Go! Me! Soooo today (like yesterday) was filled with lots of throwbacks and old friends! I went back to a coffee shop (from Day 1) called Ateaz (it’s on the East side, on 2nd and is absolutely phenomenal - highly recommend) to hang out with my friend Mckayla who I have not seen in 3! WHOLE! YEARS! I also went to France with her. We caught up on life and reflected back on many memories involving our local gym, “Shiny Acid”, our stint in boxing, and my original host mom’s idea of a salad (hint its 3 pieces of lettuce and a slice of tomato). Ah! I really missed her. I think one of the coolest things about travel is not only being able to make new friends, but also the ability to reconnect with old ones. Mckayla and I picked up right where we left off. She was my rock while abroad and wow I had missed her dearly!!

After an amazing time with an amazing friend, I went back to the apartment to check on Lil Izzle (aka Izzy, the person that I am here with if that wasn’t too clear). This girl is one of a kind - no joke. She is so talented and motivated and has been working so hard to secure internships… I am so proud! When I got home this girl was doing research and adulting so hard. I whipped up some avocado toast to feel semi-capable as an adult (or at least act the part). I settled down to my computer, opened a word document and Netflix and let’s just say… Netflix WON - not surprisingly. After a while I traveled up to the west side to Columbia to meet Bel, Emily, and Natalie! I went to high school with them and it was so so nice to reconnect and kind of just catch up! I kind of completely disconnected from high school after I skirted out of there, but seeing them made me so excited and it was soo nice just to hang out and hear about their lives!! Again, old friends are some of the best ones!! We went to this dank Thai place (I swear I could eat Thai food for the rest of my life!!) and then I walked around the campus for a bit! It was so gorgeous WOW!

Also FUNNY STORY! On my bus ride over, this woman was wearing a shirt that said, “My password is the digits of pi” and me, being a nerd, loved it and told her I loved it! We got to talking - because I’m freakishly extroverted - and she asked me where in the city I went to school. I explained that I went to school in Santa Barbara and NOT UCSB. She asked where and I began my typical speech of, “It’s called Westmont. It’s a really small liberal arts school in Montecito” *people stare weirdly* “You know… where the fires were” and then they nod their head with understanding. This woman however goes, “Oh my gosh! I know someone who goes there!” And the girl that she knows, Mallory, IS DOING A GROUP PROJECT WITH ME! I asked the lady how she knew Mallory and she said she tutored Mallory BACK IN PASADENA! I’M FROM PASADENA! She went to Westridge and then came back to Pasadena after college to tutor. Wow… a small world. Like HOW RANDOM IS THAT?!?!?! Sometimes my mind is blown. It doesn’t take as much *shock* to blow my mind nowadays, probably due to the fact that I am extremely burnt out or because you know, anxiety. But those are just a theories!

After I got home, Izzy and I hung around for a bit and then we went to dinner with Claudia and Cesar (her boyfriend!) We walked to this restaurant called “Up Thai” (more Thai food - feeling blessed!!!) and let me tell you, this place is magical. The food made me just want to melt WOW and it was just such a nice place. I leave tomorrow and this was a nice little last hurrah with Claudia and Cesar. Just a little shoutout to them - they have been such incredible people and so loving! I feel part of the family and Claudia has become my sister - so amazing :)

Tomorrow I will post a little reflection on my time in New York. It’s been amazing and I wish I didn’t have to leave but until next time my friends

XOXO, Gossip Girl (JK Shae Caragher, but I’ll take that as an alter ego hehe)

Izzy’s recap: “I did absolutely nothing today. My eyes are bleeding. I was Eeyore for Halloween. Just say… uh… *laughs* Shae is starting to piss me off but I love her at the same time. *laughs to make it seem less offensive* *pounds fist into bed to show she is superior* *falls off bed laughing* Um… Shae made us order summer rolls but I’d rather eat doggy poo. That’s it.”