ready for a long post?

This weekend started out on a slightly sad note, because I had to say goodbye to Kylie. We both came to New York ready to make professional connections and focus on internships, but neither of us expected to find such a close friend. Even though she’s about to move to France for a year (I know, so fun!), I'm sure we’ll keep in touch. And since she goes to Georgetown, I’ll get to see here when I visit Matt.

We had our farewell over a slice of pizza in Columbus Circle. Then we walked to Grom for real Italian gelato – I mean the good stuff, with an Italian menu and employees with accents.

After we said goodbye, Kaiti and SB showed up on my doorstep! Actually they showed up down the street, and we literally ran a block to hug each other – I was barefoot, suitcases were flying, people were staring and I was too giddy to care.

That night we wandered through the West Village and talked non-stop over frozen yogurt and red wine. We got up early the next day to pack in as much as we could – and that’s exactly what we did.

We started our day with brunch at Bubby’s . Then we walked through Soho in search of Bethany Frankel or the Kardashians. No celebrity sightings to report, but we did see lots of expensive price tags so we headed to Brooklyn stores that were more up our alley.

Of course I took them to 10 ft Single , but after this weekend I have a new favorite store - Made . If you sifted through all the other vintage stores, found only the best items and arranged them in a little boutique you would have Made. Reusable canvas shopping bags made it all the more charming.

We were starving after walking and shopping, so we stopped by the Brooklyn Farmer's Market for a snack. I've always gone in the morning, but late afternoon is definitely the way to go. Some booths were closed, but we got free tastings, discounted prices and a spot at a picnic table to eat our hot and spicy Mexican tacos.

(Yep, those are oysters above – this is a farmer’s market like no other – with frozen bananas dipped in chocolate, bloody mary’s with an okra garnish, homemade mustard and so much more)

That night we ate half-off dinner on Bleeker Street , thanks to Kaiti’s i-Phone, stopped by Grom for dessert and went out to The Jane Hotel . We seriously (I mean seriously to the point of lifting the lid off a cookie jar and reaching my hand in) considered Magnolia Bakery post-Grom, but ran out before the cupcakes got us.

On Sunday we had BBC’s with B and J, wandered through Central Park, walked the Highline (below) and squeezed in Magnolia right before Kaiti and SB left for their flight.

I love SB and Kaiti more than I can say, and it made my week to give them tight hugs again and get excited for our senior year. (We already have our whole first week planned.)

All of our friends have been so scattered this summer. We’ve learned a lot from our various countries, jobs and camps, but we all three missed each other more than we ever expected to. We are so blessed to have the most wonderful friends and life in Athens, and I’m excited to get back to it very soon!