New York City

Hello, New York City!

Can you believe this was my first time back in over 15 years? I deliberately avoided New York as a form of self-preservation. I knew I’d fall madly in love and immediately want to live here, so I steered clear throughout my twenties and early thirties while my life stayed firmly rooted in Toronto. Now, at 34, I’m back - and I was right. I have fallen in love with New York, and yes, I want to live here. Oops.

My dear friend Paula moved to Williamsburg last year with her partner and I’ve been dying to visit her. By the grace of God, she was able to score tickets to Fred Again’s USB002 tour on Friday, January 23rd, and had an extra for me! Within minutes of the news, I bought a plane ticket to LGA and we planned a weekend out of it.

Our New York City weekend was mainly spent in Brooklyn. On Friday night we indulged in L’Industrie Pizzeria and had the time of our lives at Fred Again (I’m serious, it was incredible), which was at East End Studios in Queens. Saturday was spent braving the frigid, blistery cold in the West Village: brunching at Cafe Cluny and window shopping at Casa Magazines (my literal dream) and Big Night, one of the coolest home goods stores I’ve ever seen. That evening we went out in Midtown, with dinner at Osamil, an incredible modern Korean gastropub, and then late night cocktails at Obvio, quite possibly the most ‘New York’ bar in existence (the entire space is covered in giraffe print). On Sunday we were hit by the epic snowstorm, so after trudging to Apollo Bagels for breakfast, we spent the day cuddled up inside, only venturing out for a warm and comforting ramen dinner at Tonchin. On Monday, I spent my final morning in the city walking through Brooklyn, drinking coffee from Partners and getting happily lost in the stacks at McNally Jackson Books. Despite the cold weather and snowy sidewalks, it was such a fantastic weekend and I left wanting more, like possibly every tourist to ever step foot in New York City.

Until next time!

Unfortunately, I didn’t take as many photos as I wanted to due to the weather, but I hope you enjoy the selection below. I am finally getting used to my X-T50!

Amsterdam in 35mm

After Copenhagen, I hopped over to Amsterdam to meet up with my sister and best friend for Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), a four-day-long electronic music networking event that brings artists and industry professionals from around the world to Amsterdam. Although I’ve been to Amsterdam a few times before, nothing prepared me for what was to come over the next few days. It was truly an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

As soon as we landed in Amsterdam, we started our night at the Hoxton in De 9 Straatjes and then journeyed all the way to the infamous Gashouder Westergasfabriek to watch Adam Beyer perform. Over the weekend we attended Mystic Garden, a magical music festival in Westpoort where we danced all day and all night. Despite the long nights, we made the most of our days by exploring all that Amsterdam has to offer. My friend and I took a canal tour through the city; admired Rembrandts and Vermeers at the Rijksmuseum, which was absolutely phenomenal; and my sister and I spent quality time with kitties at KattenKabinet, an art museum dedicated solely to cats. The three of us drank coffee at notable cafes such as Cafe Baskets, Locals, and Salvo Bakehouse, and ate way too many servings of the classic Dutch fries (with curry sauce, mayo, and chopped onions, of course!). We ate stroopwafels larger than our heads at Melly’s StroopWafels and went Miffy-crazy at de winkel van nijntje and HEMA. On our final day, we celebrated the beautiful October weather by wandering the iconic streets of Jordaan and enjoying a perfect last meal at Turbo, a mid-century-modern lover’s dream. It was so fun being back in Amsterdam and I can’t wait to plan another trip.

Photographs were taken with my Canon ELAN 7 using a combination of Kodak ColourPlus 200 and Kodak Ektar 100 films developed and scanned at Downtown Camera.