WEEKEND REPORT / PART TWO

Witty intro goes here. (Struggling!) Hi! 

I got to take a fun class on Saturday morning from the girls at Local Creative Brooklyn, all about prop styling and iPhone table photography and Instagram theories and things, which was really so much fun. If you've never gotten down and nerdy about Instagram strategy, well, you should. Grab some friends, it's impossible to keep a straight face, it's really fun. After a few tips on framing, styling, etc. etc., our teachers said "Get to work!" and I literally froze. I stood there, completely immobilized, my phone between my palms, while everybody buzzed around me grabbing props and placing them just-so, knowing exactly what they were doing, feeling inspiration all over the place, and there I was blank-headed thinking.... craaaaaaaaap. I am legitimately bad at this stuff, is what I always suspected, and it's so true, there is not a cell in my being that knows what to do right now, and oh! the inadequacy! ;) It was really kind of wonderful. I gave it my best go and picked up a couple of fun tips, I beefed up my Insta-game, you know. (Side thought: I realized I really think I'm better at noticing beautiful things, enjoying + interpreting them, rather than actually creating them myself from the beginning. You know? At first this epiphany made me feel bad. Like, Well shucks. But then I thought about it and, well, I guess that could be the idea behind being a writer, isn't it? Sort of maybe? Eh.) So then I pestered everyone to find out what their favorite VSCO filter is. 

F2, landslide.

Do I count as a prop? Anyway, I definitely feel like I made improvements. Get ready for the most beautiful Instagrams of your LIFE from now on! (ehhh.)

Ok, see this one I set up from scratch. Proud, so proud! 

And then we made a communal lunch together. It was very Brooklyn-y. 

Also delicious.

Oh, Williamsburg, you weirdo. 

So then I found a G train, ran home, dropped things off, changed my clothes, stared at the wall for a minute, and then set off to meet my boys in Manhattan.

My boys were running errands on the LES that morning, buying a wedding gift for one of Brandon's friends from work. We met up at The Smile on Bond Street, I love this place. When I walked in, Huck was halfway through a cookie the size of his head, with melted chocolate smeared from forehead to chin, and nearly half the staff completely in love with him.

Then we were like, now what? And since we're still getting the lay of the train situation to our part of town, and since it was still so nice out, we decided to wander over to the D train at West 4th, because you can always count on the D train, is how I generally approach things.

Someday soon I'm going to dedicate an entire blog post to my varied thoughts on the trains. I have many swirling. In the meantime, pigeons.

Just one of these pigeons is an actual pigeon. The rest are hand-sewn, felt pigeons. We walked toward them, absentmindedly noticing how weird it was that they weren't flying away as we approached, until we realized, Oh, art installation. The one, actual, live pigeon, was super freaked out, you could just tell. I watched him for a minute, peering sideways into the faces of all these cloth birds frozen mid-peck, stepping around them gingerly, looking more than a bit concerned. I could practically see the wheels turning in that little birdie brain of his as he sorted things out. Can you imagine what that must have felt like for the guy? What on earth!? Do you suppose pigeons have their own fears of a pigeon zombie apocalypse? Because that was it, he was in it. Anyway, you know how I feel about pigeons. 

Then we got pizza. 

(Now that I'm halfway into this thing I'm starting to doubt the necessity of a two-part weekend post.)

(Unrelated completely, but I just adjusted the zoom on my Chrome (I'd been operating on 90% apparently?) and suddenly typing with these enormous letters I FEEL LIKE I AM SHOUTING. Everything is SUPER EXCITING THAT I AM SAYING.)

(Not that you asked for any of this information, but I also just got caught up on Pretty Little Liars about an hour ago and zomg you guys!)

AND THEN SUDDENLY, THERE'S ALL THIS GOING ON. Well, so it's fall again. (Might I direct you to here?) This tiny farmer's market stand!! It's on the corner of, what... Minetta and 6th? By the pickle dude, and the tattoo shops. (One of these days I'll get a pickle from the pickle dude, but until then... it just all seems so specific. Like, when are you in the mood for a pickle? I'm almost never in the mood for a pickle when I'm by the pickle dude, it's completely inconvenient. If I want a pickle I'm usually at home, it's 10PM, I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the fridge, pondering the intricacies of life. Not running around the Village.) But look at all those eggplants! That, right there, is an entire spread of absolutely gorgeous vegetables that I have no idea how to make into actual food. Pumpkins? Are pumpkins even edible anymore?

After much prayer and consideration, I've decided that jackets and coats aren't going to count in my under 40 fall capsule (which I started as of Sunday, are you in or what!). Your mileage may vary, but I figure anything you'd take off when you'd walk into a restaurant or theatre, that don't count. So, this sweatshirt shawl blanket jacket dreamboat thing with the leather pockets, is in.

I later decided that these shoes, were not.

Oh and hey! Happy Rosh Hashana!