I can’t even begin to tell you what it was about this set up that made it picture worthy. First, I think it was the placement of letters. The deliberate choice to break up the iPad and IPhone. Second, it was the nice array of phone case choices. Plain colors? Got it. Bumpers? got that too. Marilyn Monroe fan? Don’t fret there’s one with your name on it. Or maybe you just want a big rubber bear-shaped case to carry in your pocket. Yup, that’s also an option. Third, this pop up shop was strategically placed outside of the Apple Store on West 14th Street but I bet the cost of the cases were half the price of what you would find in the store. Well played vendor man, well played.

This Easter weekend I walked 13.1 miles in one day (according to my Apple Health App). WOW. While many of my days are spent looking down or forward, just trying to get to where I am going, the weekends are times when I can stop and look around. I take the long way home, even if it means walking 40 blocks south, or meander through streets and ignore my map discovering new parts of the city I never knew.

I can also look up. Looking up to the buildings and sky to see a different perspective than the daily commute. A lot of New York looks down and I’m guilty of that too. We try not to make eye contact, especially to avoid those people who want you to sign petitions and just want “a little of your time to save ______.”  We just want to get where we’re going in the fastest way possible. This weekend, I found  new perspectives on things as I looked up on the city and not down to my feet. My phone helps me to remember these moments and also prove that I finished my first “half-marathon” this weekend. Here’s what I looked up to: 

Looking up to the Highline

Looking up to Rockefeller Center

Looking up to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral

Looking up 5th Avenue toward the Empire State Building from Washington Square Park

..the best excuse to stop working because everyone needs to eat. Copy catting a salad that I bought to take me through many long days in grad school by throwing together frozen grilled chicken strips, avocado, dried cranberries, goat cheese and tomatoes over spring mix with balsamic vinaigrette! Honey wheat pretzel sticks because why not and reading the New York Times because it’s good for your health to know what’s going on in the world.

Not complicated.

KISS. Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. Far too often I catch myself overthinking, overexerting and over-doing things. Trying to mesh lots of things into one design or do too many things at once. This only makes for a lot of “less good” things done at one time, or not enough great things being done. Less is more and quality over quantity. I’ve learned this in New York, more than anywhere else I’ve lived so far in my life. Here in New York, you can get almost ANYTHING you want to eat. It’s a blessing and a curse. We can get that $1 pizza slice, or you can get that $5 pizza slice that has the tag line “Organic” or “Farm fresh” in front of it. While the cheap price point might be on point, you get what you pay for most of the time and it’s not always pretty. Definitely not as pretty as the meal above or even the one be low.

Okonomi is the cutest little restaurant tucked away in the BK. That’s Brooklyn, Williamsburg to be exact. Thanks to friends who live in the neighborhood, I have only heard good things about their traditional Japanese set breakfast. Over a year later, I finally got to try it myself and it did not disappoint. The colors, the flavors, the presentation, the ambiance. Everything so simple, yet tasty and made from local, fresh ingredients. Every time you go it’s different, and this time I selected to have the sake-marinated Big Eye Tuna. Combined with picked veggies, egg and swiss chard, it was divine. Living up to it’s hype and then some. Not to mention the company. This was my second time at Okonomi, the first was for a ramen birthday dinner, and I would go back again and again. With only 12 seats and 1/3 of them being at the bar, it’s not great for big parties so keep it simple, stupid. Bring A friend, not 10.

And then there’s Umami Burger. Straying away from the small quaint vibe, to the borderline loud boisterous bro-bar. This California implant holds a special place in my heart because of the times I had Umami in LA. The burger isn’t big, the choices are also changing and not of a wide variety, but the burger is done right. I am a burger girl. I love to eat a good one cooked just right with a little pink. Not really a fan of the Whopper Jr. anymore and will pay for quality over that White Castle quantity. Umami hits the spot, and when you get your plate and think “that’s it” trust me–that’s all you need.

New York, as complicated as you are, thanks for the reminder to KISS. That’s right–keep it simple, stupid.

I have a temporary new home in Manhattan. Not just in Manhattan but in the West Village. Pretending to be ballin’, but really just balling when all meals are $15. Guess I’ll be eating in more often and getting getting round off #pizzanight #everynight.

Behind every good morning is an even better breakfast. Better breakfasts lead to even better blog posts.

I live far from the “traditional” lifestyle of work. As a freelancer, I wake up, roll out of bed and into my office (my desk), sometimes still in my pajamas. The first thing I do in the morning, after brushing my teeth, is make breakfast. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with smoothies (like this avo-kale-mango-almond milk-chia seed concoction), but a lot of times I have  greek yogurt and berries or some type of oatmeal. Growing up breakfast was just more minutes to add in to the morning routine that I would rather have spent sleeping. Now, I can’t live without it. I eat my breakfasts as I write my blog posts for matsumoto studio.

When I find it hard to design things first thing in the morning, I can easily write. Writing is like a warm-up to the rest of my day.  I look forward to morning breakfasts and blog posts. This is a routine, but with a different subject everyday, it’s never rudimentary.