Spring Break at Barnard
Instead of flying home, I decided to stay in New York for my first Spring Break. This is partly because airfare was waaaayyy too much and partly because a week in New York? YES PLEASE. This is what I got up to for the (freezing) week:
Saturday: a day in bed
After six weeks of a busy schedule and not enough sleep, I spent the entire day on Saturday in bed. And when I say the entire day I truly mean the entire day. I only got out of bed to get food from the other side of the room, where I had stockpiled food for the day. I watched far too much Criminal Minds and slept for twelve hours.
It was glorious.
Sunday: FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL!
On Sunday, I emerged from my dorm room to head to the Food Truck Festival with my friend Maya, who was also staying on campus for Spring Break. We headed to 77th Street and Columbus and stood in awe of the food trucks gathered in the playground/black-top space of an elementary school. There was everything from lobster to greek food to mac and cheese and it was absolute BLISS. Maya and I selected mac and cheese and some pita and hummus for our lunch and the food was amazing.
After the food truck, I decided to head back to campus because it was FREEZING outside (my toes had possibly become icicles while waiting for our food) and spent the rest of the day reading in my bed and watching TV.
(There may be a theme here.)
Monday: shopping + home-cooked meals!
The Met (on Saturday)
On Monday, two of my friends and I went down to Fifth Avenue to do some shopping. After spending too much money in various stores, we journeyed to Fairway Market where we joined in the pre-snowstorm grocery rush and stocked up on food for the week. Then, we headed back to campus and cooked dinner (!!!!) of stir-fry and sweet potato and it was delicious. Mind you, this was the first home-cooked meal any of us had had since Winter Break.
Tuesday-Thursday: one word = CHILL
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I spent cooking my own meals and watching too much Criminal Minds. I got ten hours of sleep a night, read two books, and spent some quality time in bed.
On Thursday, I did venture out of bed to go to brunch with Maya at a diner on the Upper East Side called Midnight Express (we highly recommend) and go to a book signing that evening at Books of Wonder in Chelsea.
Friday: my best friend came to town!
On Friday, my best friend came to town! She goes to Brown and decided to come up to New York for the weekend. I spent the day finishing up all of my homework that had to be done over Spring Break, and preparing for her arrival.
That night, we watched some Criminal Minds and got to bed early because Saturday was a FULL DAY for us.
Saturday: museums! food! oh my!
Super cool models at the Jewish Museum
On Saturday, we got up early and went to brunch at Midnight Express (I'm obsessed) and then walked over to The Jewish Museum. I'd never been before and really enjoyed the exhibits! After The Jewish Museum, we headed over to The Met, because no matter how many times I've been I always see something new. Also, one of the highlights of being a Barnard student is free admission to most NYC museums and The Met is one of them! It makes going even more convenient.
After The Met, we met up with a good friend at Bluestone Lane Coffee on 88th Street, and I had some tea. The coffee shop is in this beautiful church and so adorable inside - I highly recommend stopping by if you're in the area! Then, we went to the
DO
After the Cooper Hewitt, we stopped by a cute diner and grabbed some dinner before heading downtown to our last stop for the day: DÅ! Do is a super popular place that sells edible cookie dough--similar to an ice cream shop, but for cookie dough. Basically, heaven. We stocked up on cookie dough after waiting in line for 45 minutes in the cold (not pleasant, but worth it) and headed back to campus.
Maya met up with us and we watched INTO THE WILD, which we highly recommend, and ate our cookie dough in utter bliss. Then, we crashed from our long day, and prepared for Sunday!
Sunday: FOOOOOD
Vanessa's Dumplings
On Sunday, Aneeqah and I had very specific plans: food and The Tenement Museum. The Tenement Museum is my absolute favorite museum in New York City and a place I recommend to everyone who visits. It's a museum in the Lower East Side that focuses on the history of immigrants in New York, specifically those who lived in a certain tenement on Orchard Street. The tours are super interactive and despite having visited four times, I always come away with new information.
After the museum, we had lunch (but breakfast for us because we woke up so late!) at Vanessa's Dumplings. It's a couple blocks from The Tenement Museum and is now one of my new favorite food spots. It's SO inexpensive (see: my lunch of eight dumplings and three pork buns for only five dollars ) and really yummy. Definitely a spot to check out!
Then, we went to a coffee shop called Pause Cafe and spent a couple hours doing some work. Aneeqah worked on homework, I worked on cover letters for internship applications, and we both enjoyed some hot tea and cute dogs who stopped by.
San Marzano
At five o'clock, we went to dinner at another new favorite: San Marzano. It's an Italian restaurant on 12th Street and was utterly delicious. I got ravioli and my friend got this amazing tomato cream sauce pasta and we both left in love. After dinner, we went to Oddfellows Ice Cream, which serves creative ice cream flavors. I got Oatmeal Cookie Dough (can you tell I like cookie dough?) and my friend got Miso Peanut Butter. Both = 10/10.
Then, we headed up to The Strand bookstore for the kick-off event for the New York Teen Author Festival and met some of our favorite authors. It was a super fun event, and we followed up the book signing with some browsing before heading back to campus.
And....that was my Spring Break! I put my friend on the train back to Brown on Monday morning and it was back to the grind for me. The break was so much fun-- full of delicious food and great friends and plenty of rest.
All of these things are examples of the perks that come with going to school in New York! I love that I can head out for the day and see so much, and then come back to peaceful Barnard--it's the best of both worlds and definitely one of my favorite things about Barnard.