Oh Happy Roar: June 2014

Smorgasbord Saturday - 06/15/14 to 06/21/14

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Some of the best coffee shops in the United States (check out #15 for some Louisville love!)

Love this video of a woman who isn't held back by age

Destination: North South Lake

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

One of the things I knew would change when I moved to NYC was my ability to take road trips as easily. There's something about not having a car that affects that somehow... ;-) However, this past weekend was the perfect opportunity for a daytrip to upstate New York. I had a lot of friends from church who were camping in the North South Lake area of the Catskill region. While I'm not the biggest fan of camping, I do love hiking and ALWAYS love the chance to visit a new place. A couple friends and I rented a car and made our way up to meet them and do some hiking.

Our ride up was really fun and reminded me of all the reasons I love riding in cars with friends for hours listening to music and laughing about things we see along the way!

While it was chillier than we expected, the weather was beautiful! I'll let photos do the rest of my talking...

Notice the leaning trees! It stays very windy in this area all the time.

List of Ten - June 2014

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Following a challenge from Darling Magazine, I decided to start a new monthly feature: List of Ten. Here's what Darling suggests:

Without thinking too hard about it, quickly list the things you love right now – things you may not take the time to really enjoy but that you should.

1. Happy bus drivers

2. Getting told at a store "You so smiley, you get free gift!"

3. Philadelphia's public transit tokens

4. Water Block Plus Band-Aids

5. Hot chocolate with real whipped cream at diners

6. Marimekko postcards

7. Roadtrips! I drove for the first time in 6 months yesterday :-)

8. Ice cream from Emack & Bolio's

9. Having my own space for houseguests

10. Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones' collaborative album: Foreverly

Smorgasbord Saturday - 06/08/14 to 06/14/14

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Behind the scenes at Jeopardy!

40 maps that explain food in America

Gold-dispensing ATM in NYC

Love my friend Ashley's cherry blossom photos

Reflecting on Beverly Cleary's work

Madison Square Park ♥s Food

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

I went to two really neat food-related happenings at Madison Square Park recently. I really love this area of NYC and wish I got to Madison Square Park for events more often!

Mad Sq Eats is basically a food truck and restaurant round-up that's up in the park for the entire months of May and September. I wish they held this all Summer!

I must admit that one of my favorite aspects of the event was all the Marimekko fabric they used for the picnic tables and umbrellas :-)

I ended up going to this BBQ festival by myself after I heard about it at a wedding shower. Next year I want to bring a whole group with me! The atmosphere was very fun and the plates of BBQ from all over the country were just $9 each.

Smorgasbord Saturday - 06/01/14 to 06/07/14

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Beautiful and difficult slow-motion ballet

What happens when flowers and liquid nitrogen meet?

Gorgeous bees!

I didn't realize New York had some pieces of the Berlin Wall

Interesting look at the science behind handwriting

Beautiful June desktop background

Philly with Grace & Logan

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

I had the opportunity to tag along with my Louisville friends, Grace and Logan, for part of their vacation roadtrip this Spring! They went to several states and cities, and I had the chance to meet up with them in Philadelphia. I had been to Philly before, but never for this type of relaxed trip. It was so much fun!

I took a BoltBus from NYC to Philly. My total cost for bus tickets was $22!! I definitely recommend checking out BoltBus for a cheap and easy way to travel. Both buses I rode had lots of leg room, wifi, and electrical outlets (for phone charging!). I also was able to take earlier bus trips than my tickets stated because I arrived early and there was room on earlier trips. Overall great experiences!

I love Grace and Logan's laid back style of visiting a new city! They had such a great mixture of scheduled things to do, scheduled "free" time to explore the city, and ideas aplenty for where to eat.

Phillies game