Doing Christmas things in October. The ice rink is out at Rockefeller Center and so are the lights! Halal Guys for dinner. Can’t have it everyday but definitely delicious for a special day!

Tuesday I celebrated my birthday and received lots of love from the East coast, West coast and Pacific Ocean. Lots of sweets, treats and good eats.

Today’s my birthday! Only three hours in on the east coast and I already have so much to be thankful for.

A sunny day in the city is a perfect day to be outside. Today I went to the Japanese Block Fair with Paweena and family. Found myself some Hawaii in SD with a T&C Surfboard among the Japanese crowd, ate some Rita’s, and soy milk herb ramen (really delicious!), picked through some beads and even went to Central Park. What a day, tired but still working!

Although its hard to tell from the nice sunset and blue skies, it was so cold today! The low was in the 30’s and highs were in the 50’s. Summer weather has turned into sweater weather.

Walking by Union Square West and finding surprises I never noticed before. Always a nice thing.

A speeding car, fast Mexican street food and the bar for the roommate’s birthday—the weekend was over fast and now it’s time to work furiously through homework. Hugs.

A full day of playing tourist in NYC with good friends from Maui. An all day affair of eating. Early morning sun, lasagna lunch from Eataly to an afternoon “snack” from Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles in Chinatown. Small shop, good noodles, just like the movie, Kung Fu Panda.

Never got into the show, but totally into the building. These lights are up all year long, but walking down 5th Avenue tonight, Santa’s elves were putting up Christmas lights on some trees. It’s beginning to look like Christmas, in October.

Rain boots on my feet, umbrella in hand and looking north on 5th Avenue. Isn’t there supposed to be the Empire State Building in those clouds?

The beauty of NYC is not always what you see in front if your face but what you see in the sky. Sometimes I cringe walking the dirty streets and dodging crowds of people. Then, I take a moment, and think about all the things I learned in the past year. Not only about myself, but living in the city. Proves that when you put your mind to something, it really can happen. So this is what I say today– flying planes, birds taking a bath, and of course this big, bold, buildings. Just another day in the city.