NYC: our sublet apartment

So this post is mostly just for our mom's and for us to remember our little NYC apartment.

We lucked out with this sublet from craigslist, it came furnished AND it is only used to rent out so there is not a permanent resident that is just letting us use it for the summer. This is SUPER nice because we aren't having to deal with someone else's stuff all over but it still has everything we need! It's perfect. We did a LOT of rearranging when we got here - I think every piece of furniture but the couch and the wall art we moved from where it was originally. I tried to make the most open space I could for things like yoga and patterning/cutting out fabric/etc.

Here is the short little tour.

LIVING ROOM/BEDROOM/OFFICE/SEWING ROOM

 ^^had to get creative with space...so the shoes went on the awkward shaped coffee table that used to be in the middle of the room.
{We brought the lamp, fan, air cleaner, and obviously the lotion and shoes}

 {We brought the blankets/sheets/pillows for the bed}

 {We brought the tall lamp - no overhead lighting..}

^^This is me standing as far back into the corner as I can..

 {We brought a printer, iron (under the small table), table, and everything on the table}

 ^^This piece of furniture was a suprise - it wasn't in the craigslist post but I am SO happy it was here because there is no dresser and I was worried about where we would put our clothes and extra stuff.
{We brought basically everything that is filling this bookcase}

 ^^There are two big closets - this one has all of our hanging clothes and a lot of the suitcases, the other one (not pictured) has cleaning supplies and the rest of the suitcases.
{We brought the clock, mirror, and bin}

KITCHEN

 {We brought the blender and some dishes/silverware/cooking utensils/pans/etc.}

{We brought the rice cooker and drying mat}

^^Yes, I guess this is suppose to be the preparation/dining table - but since it is just me alone for my meals I eat at my desk - or on the coffee table and use this to prepare my food. The door is to the bathroom which I didn't post pictures of because it isn't that exciting.
{We brought the folding chair}

So there it is.

NYC: June 1 - July 5

{Week 1: June 1-7} 

Bree & Taylor: Moved in. Shake Shack. Wandered our Neighborhood. Luce. Chelsea Market. Ronnybrook Dairy. The Highline. Insomnia Cookie

 ^^Madison Square Park is located directly in front of Taylor's office - and lucky for us that means that Shake Shack is extremely close. We live about 5 minutes from Taylor's building.

^^Shroom burger + fries + vanilla concrete with bananas

 ^^Behind Taylor is Madison Square Park and the two Credit Suisse buildings - in front of him (not pictured) is the Flatiron building. Credit Suisse takes up two blocks, 23rd and 24th between Madison and Park Avenue - We live on 24th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue.

 ^^Taylor works in the building on the left on the 19th floor!

 ^^Though the photo doesn't look that appetizing - this is hands down our favorite Italian meal. Mushroom Ravioli from Luce on the Upper West Side. It is heavenly.

 ^^We ate at Chelsea Market at Ronnybrook Dairy and then spent some time wandering the Highline.

 ^^S'mores Cookie

{Week 2: June 8-14} 

Bree: Potbelly's. Trader Joe's. Levain Cookie. Fabric Stores. Hart of Dixie. Mango Licorice. Le Grainne with Emily. Billy's Bakery. Scandal.

Taylor: Started training. Worked 85-90 hrs.

 ^^Only the best cookie on the planet - Oatmeal Raisin from Levain

 ^^Mozzarella and Apple Sandwich with Mango Lemonade - not sure where it was from..

^^Emily was in town with her mom so I met up with them at our usual spot - Le Grainne Cafe (my favorite french place!!) and had dessert at Billy's - sadly they did not have my favorite coconut cake but they had peanut butter pie and since I wasn't with Taylor for once... (he's allergic)

{Week 3: June 15-21}

Bree: Union Square. Black & White Cookie. Revenge. Sketching. Bagel. Blogging. Vampire Diaries. Rosa Mexicano.

Taylor: Worked 105-110 hrs, Rosa Mexicano 

 ^^Wandering around 5th ave waiting for our Rosa's reservation. Taylor got off work pretty early (8pm) so we were finally about to actually go out to eat rather than just order in or eat separately.

{Week 4: June 22-28}

Bree: Central Park. Banana Pudding. Whole Foods. Carmelita Bar. J.Crew Sample Sale. Sick. Friday Night Lights. Potbelly's.

Taylor: Worked = 110+ hrs

 ^^Shown with a Levain cookie on top

 ^^I scored some awesome heels!!! and a purse.

^^The view from Taylor's office

-I have mentioned going to Potbelly's a few times but I never have photos... I get the Turkey sandwich with hot peppers and an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie - and sometimes an Oreo shake. It is amazing.

-I picked up a cold on Wednesday and was sick in bed basically until the following Monday, luckily Taylor didn't get sick!!

{Week 5: June 29-July 5}

Bree: Sweetgreen, Levain, Central Park, Columbus Circle, Grom, Twisted, Shake Shack, Laduree, Eataly, Witches of East End.

Taylor: Worked 80-85 hrs., Shake Shack, Eataly.

 ^^Ate Sweetgreen (Guac Salad) in Central Park and had Grom for dessert

 ^^My favorite Italian gelato - I ate this religiously when I was in Milan on my study abroad

 ^^Celebratory Shake Shack corn dogs for the 4th of July - SO yummy!

^^Yummy macarons for dessert after eating delicious panini's from Eataly - Vanilla and salted caramel are my favorite, but they are all good! {clockwise: Rose, Peach, Raspberry, Vanilla, Lemon, Salted Caramel}

Taylor's work scheduled (approximate)

M-F: 9am - 2am (sometimes as late as 3:30am)

Sa-Su: 11am - 9pm (usually not later than 10:30)

Taylor has not had a day off since we got here we were hoping to have the weekend of the 4th off because we were invited to a BBQ in Connecticut with all the BYU Investment Banking students who are here for the summer or are working here full time. Taylor is working on a really big deal and had to go in on the 4th from about noon - 10pm, luckily he was able to meet me for a bit outside his building for Shake Shack. The party was on the 5th but Taylor again had to work from noon - 10pm again. We tried to meet for dinner but it was cut short and he had to go back into work. Sunday was the closest to a day off he has had so far - he had to go in for about 2 hours in the morning and then again for 2 hours in the evening.

Since it is so quiet all alone in the apartment I like to keep TV shows going on Netflix constantly as I am sewing/blogging/designing etc. so I don't go crazy... I am looking for more shows to watch, any suggestions? I've already watched the following in the past - plus the ones I included in the weekly lists above - One Tree Hill, 90210, Prison Break, Lost, Heroes, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, Sherlock Holmes.

And that's what we have been up to.

I am all caught up on blogging, and am halfway through my to-do list. The rest of the summer I'll be hitting it hard with sewing for Provo Fashion Week!

Be sure to follow me on instagram @breelena for weekly updates!

Road trip: Provo to NYC

Taylor and I decided to drive to NYC rather than fly - because it was a nightmare last year only being able to pack so many bags and wasting money throwing things out we couldn't take home and buying new things we needed when we got there... Plus I needed to bring my sewing machine and other things like that. We have never really done a long road trip and wanted to stop in Chicago and Philadelphia along the way since we'd never been. We brought the Divergent audio book CD's and they saved our life! It was so nice to have something to look forward to every hour of the drive.

Day 1: Provo, Utah - Lincoln, Nebraska // 17 Hours
Day 2: Lincoln, Nebraska - Chicago, Illinois // 8 Hours
Day 3: Chicago, Illinois - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania // 11.5 Hours
Day 4: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - New York City, New York // 2 Hours

Day one it was long (and we didn't finished packing things up until after 4am so we had a long night - the road was easy and we made really good time.

Day two was much like day one, we wanted to be able to enjoy Chicago and planned to get there in the early evening so we had time to walk around the city. We went to the riverwalk and ate yummy Italian food.

Day three was long and hard - it was crazy crazy crazy stormy for parts of the trip and was really scary. There are SO many toll booths (by the end of the trip we spent close to $100 in tolls) and the speed limit wasn't very high - plus there was a ton of construction everywhere so the drive was not very fun at all - but we made it (well past midnight).

Day four we explored Philadelphia a bit, we wanted to eat at Sabrina's (I had been there with Emily and Katie before) and then walk around the University of Pennsylvania to see Wharton Business School. It is a gorgeous campus! It wasn't a long drive until we made it to NYC - Taylor's friend was able to help us unload our car and take the many many trips up the 5 flights of stairs to get everything inside. It was very very hard work and it started to rain on us halfway through, but our apartment is just like we hoped it'd be - no Craigslist surprises! After we dropped things of we headed up to Connecticut to stay at Taylor's Aunt and Uncle's house (thank goodness for family close by!) They are keeping the car we drove at their house for us this summer.

The next day we took the train back to the city and got settled in!