Sisterly Love, Part 2
I think the second day was the most pleasant. I woke up slowly, to no alarm clock and with renewed feet (after aching all night, this was such a relief). Sham and I made breakfast and sat over cups of tea, talking about hair products and drama with our friends. We planned another day in the city and the Long Island Express waits for no one, so when my mom came down to tell us to get dressed, we didn't need a lot of convincing.
The heat and humidity of the city kicked my butt the day before, and I quickly learned that jeans were not the way to go for me. I opted for a shorter alternative and we headed out. Somehow we found ourselves in H&M and snagged a few things before meeting up with our guide.
The guide couldn't resist shopping, either.
Brandon and I actually go waaaaay back. His aunt and my mom are best friends, and when we were little we would hang out each time I came to New York. We ran around Central Park, saw Broadway plays, and went to space-themed restaurants, then came home and crashed in front of a TV almost every time. Imagine my surprise when he met up with us in Chelsea Market the day before!
He has a YouTube channel and likes tech, fashion, and traveling. I'm kind of sad that we didn't get to collab while I was there, but I already told him he needs to come to Atlanta so it'll probably happen.
Hopping on and off trains took up quite a bit of our day, but we did get to see and do some pretty cool things. Starting with a visit to a place I've grown increasingly fond of over the last few months.
My perceptions of graduate programs were shaped by what I knew about science programs, so naturally I had mixed feelings towards them. But something about Columbia really appeals to me. Actually it's many things, but I won't go into them here. I don't want to jinx it, but I could see myself here sometime soon.
We gave our legs a thorough stretch and walked to Harlem.
Made our way through streets thick with purple everything, into the subway yet again. This time we surfaced near Union Square and trudged into the nearest restaurant.
Thankfully, it was a good one.
The setup is pretty neat: everyone gets a card that they take to different stations: pasta, pizza, the bar, etc. Every dish is charged to the cards as you go and when you're done, you just take the cards up to the hostess and pay there. I found getting a drink a little tricky, but not impossible. And the food more than made up for it.
My cousin's granche de fiume: veggies, crayfish and lobster sauce
My incredible diavolo: pepperoni, onions, peppers
Brandon showed us around a bit, and we stopped to look at some shoes at Flight Club.
We went home, fell asleep on the train, and ended the day almost the same way that we started it: with tea and conversation (and cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery).
Keen to let out our inner children, we went to Coney Island the next day.
We rode as many rides as we could before settling our stomachs with Milano cookie gelato, which needs to be a thing everywhere because it is so incredibly good.
The next few days were spent visiting family in Philadelphia, culminating in a Beyoncé concert on our last night. And it was a very rainy night until we actually got to our seats in the stadium.
Those lovely ponchos did a decent amount to keep us warm, but never got to serve their full purpose as the sun came out just as we got to our seats.
Still, it was a dope concert and there are very few people who I would take two buses, two trains, and a few Ubers with in a storm and still laugh my way through the night. It was the perfect end to the trip.
