lights and camera.

new york city has held a special place in my heart since 2011. the year i got engaged.
however, i think it was before this date that new york seemed like a dream. growing up watching the today show, friends, && moves like you've got mail, serendipity. new york seemed surreal- where the cameras and lights where shining. my sister leela and her husband, russell, called me at the beginning of september- one of those weeks that seemed harder than most. school had just started which means less sleep and let's face it, back to working again. no more pool days. that alone is upsetting. she told me that they wanted to give caleb and i a hotel to use as a getaway && explained that I could pick out the city I wanted to visit.(!!!!!) immediately my mind ran to... NYC. a city I just can't get enough of. && only four hours away from d.c. (one of the best parts of living in the nation's capital) caleb and I decided to book a hotel in brooklyn, and boy, were we in for a treat.

i have never really explored brooklyn (usually head straight for manhattan). however, this time, we decided to take the new challenge && roam the burrow. we attended the brooklyn flea (found on popular shows like "flea market flip" && ended up loading a beautiful find, an industrial cart, into our car). next, we went to the brooklyn brewery- which in my opinion was the busiest brewery i have ever visited & after i tried the drafts- i understood why. we indulged in the most delicious doughnuts at "dough"- coconut, hibiscus, nutella-umm yes (thank you rockstar diary for your suggestion). && the cherry on top, towards the evening, was when we unexpectantly ran into what they call "smorgasbord." if you know me, you know i  am a grazer. smorgasbord is literally an outdoor food venue filled with tents of every food item possible, and all homemade: smores cookies, ice-cream sandwiches, lobster rolls, pumpkin biscuits. heaven in my terms.

if the food wasn't enough,

we sat eating dinner watching the sun go down and

looking at the entire manhattan skyline.

thank you Jesus- this was truly a gift.

^^^ dough. coconut. still dreaming.

my suggestion, if you have never explored brooklyn, cross the bridge.
thank you leela and russell. the lights and cameras seemed to be shining this weekend.

^^^ bummer. a little big.

^^^ our new cart. (hard to see)

^^ smorgasbord. homemade s'mores bars && so much more.