Long time no see --- things are not good in America

Hey everyone, it's been 2 months. Jeez I'm really bad at this. School got a little crazy after I last posted, but I'll try harder to post more often.

My last post was on November 7th, just a day before the earth stood still, we were so young, naive, so mislead. On November 9th when the results were officially in, it was like doomsday in NYC, and many other cities around the U.S. Everyone was dragging their feet, it was very very dark and cloudy, people were crying, sulking, wailing, everything. It was very depressing, and upsetting. We were all so angry, scared, and filled with despair. I felt especially afraid and paranoid as a person of color that I would be targeted for a hate crime (like many others have in NYC after the election). Racial slurs and swastikas started popping up in random places around the city: the subway, payphones, walls, etc. It was such an ugly sight to see....

So it's 2 months later and we're all still pretty disgusted and upset, dreading the next 4 years, but yesterday while in Boston visiting my friend, I saw women of all colors/ages/religions marching and chanting  in solidarity, the same thing happened in cities all over the U.S., and all over the world: Washington D.C., Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Austin, Denver, Sydney, Nairobi, Capetown, Tokyo, London, even ANTARCTICA!!!

Millions of people marched yesterday all over the world, and it gave us all the needed hope and energy boost . It's only the beginning, and we need to harness this energy throughout these 4 years. Even though things will be very difficult and we'll have to deal with a crybaby in chief, I believe that we can do it. 2 years from now we will vote to replace all of the people in the senate, and I will make sure my butt is at those polls, and I'll drag whoever I know with me!

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Prospect Park

Yesterday I decided to take a short trip to Prospect Park in Brooklyn and walk around for a bit. I don't got to Prospect Park very often so I thought it would be a good idea to check out the foliage there. I'm a bit starved for nature/peace and quiet so this was a really nice break. Unfortunately my camera died about 10 minutes after I got there, but that's ok because it gave me an opportunity to just take everything in and relax. Gonna keep it short this week, hope you all are doing well, hope fall (or spring if you're below the equator) is treating you well!

P.S. If you're American, please go out and vote on Tuesday, and for those who are not American, keep us in your thoughts and prayers, this election could make or break us, and we're all terrified =S

Tryin' to relax...

Taking a walk through Central Park is really relaxing, especially after you've managed to finish most of your homework for the weekend. I don't want to be that person that complains all the time, but man, grad school is a lot of work. Lots of busy work unfortunately =/

Anyways, besides grad school, everything else is pretty alright. My rabbit is chillin and happy as ever, I got a $20 coupon from DSW (shoe heaven) which was great, I bought some much needed Shake Shack yesterday, and I finally took my camera out for a spin after 3 months, shame shame shame on me.

Hope you all are doing ok, I'm going to attempt to do some exciting things this month so I don't fall into that slump of being a graduate student hermit, only emerging when I need food and water, so stay tuned! But don't expect anything too exciting, I'm a relatively boring person haha.

I'm so sorry....

It's been exactly two months since I've posted something on here, and I really have to apologize. I hate the fact that I sort of abandoned this blog, but it was always at the back of my mind. 

Anyway, since I got back from Haiti, my scheduled kind of went into full throttle. I started working a lot more, and in September I started graduate school at New York University! A few other exciting things happened during my long blog hiatus:

1. My close friend got married in August, and I played for the ceremony. He got married at a vineyard, which was awesome, the wine was pretty great too *wink wink*

2. My other close friend got engaged, and will get married in December. I'm gonna be a bridesmaid y'all. 

3. I went to the ice cream museum with my brother, it was kind of disappointing but very instagram friendly haha hence the two photos (the deer head and the pink ice cream).
4. Celebrated my 24th birthday about a week ago. I like the number 24, so I hope that means that I'll have a good year.

There are probably other things that I'm forgetting but anyway, I am very very sorry for not posting; I was really really banking on having a constant posting schedule, but life always has other plans. 

Thanks you all for sticking around, and I'll find a way to post more regularly. 

P.S.  These photos are from my instagram, follow me @farrahadnyc

Haiti

Wow, I haven't posted since July 3rd! Sorry about that y'all.

Anyway, so every year a group from my old church (led my mom and dad) go on a mission trip to Haiti, to hold a camp for about 300+ children from the country side of Haiti. It's a lot of hard work, and it's SUPER HOT, but it's good for the soul you know? While there is still a great amount of poverty and suffering in Haiti, things are getting better and better. I went back in 2012, which was 2 years after the devastating earthquake that hit the capital, and compared to then, the capital has improved immensely, it's kind of amazing. There is still a major littering/garbage problem, which I would like to see get fixed. I'm sure they will soon.

Anyway, so while I was there, I didn't take out my camera very much because I was mostly working, or traveling, but I managed to take some photos, especially at the hotels that we stayed at. Hope you guys enjoy!

Brooklyn Heights

What's up y'all. I'm going to keep this short and sweet today, but here are some photos that I took in Brooklyn Heights! I'll be playing at a church every Sunday in Brooklyn Heights until September so I'll be in that area a lot. Brooklyn Heights is one of my favorite neighborhoods ever, it feels like the suburbs, and it's right across from Lower Manhattan. It's very expensive unfortunately but it's definitely goals.

Hope you guys are having a nice weekend, and Happy Independence Day!

Sky is the Limit

I wanted to share these cool pics that I took on the plane from Los Angeles. I'm pretty sure this was the Rocky mountain range, not entirely sure, but Lawddd was it super gorgeous from the plane. There were so few clouds in the sky, and the view was so clear!!!

I'm going to be super busy this week playing piano for churches, rehearsing, etc, but that's what I love! The summer weather isn't my favorite though =/. I like the vibe of summer, and how the sun sets pretty late, but I much prefer the Fall. Best season ever.

What's your favorite season?

Smorgasburg

Smorgasburg is a food festival that started up about 3 years ago in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 40-50 vendors set up shop at the pier and sell awesomely good (but unfortunately expensive) food. They have a few locations now, and run from April-November. Yesterday I took a solo trip to the location in Prospect Park, which is located in Brooklyn, because I wasn't really in the mood to socialize haha. I've been to Smorgasburg with friends twice before at the more popular Williamsburg location, and each time I went, I bought the Ramen Burger, because it's really good (even though it's $10 yikes). This time around, like the last time (because I'm not adventurous at all), I got the Ramen Burger, a Scallion Pancake Taco, and Pink Cactus Lemonade, which was amazing by the way. I was curious about that really popular raindrop cake, but I couldn't find the stand at this location. Apparently it tastes like crap so I'm probably not missing out on anything. After about an hour of people watching, walking, eating, sweating, and balancing my Cactus Lemonade and taco, I took the subway back home. I had a good time, even though it was a bit too crowded for my taste. It's best to go after 3pm, and during the cooler months April, beginning of May, Sept-Nov. 

Sometimes when you go out alone, you think that everyone is pitying you for being by yourself, but really, they're not even paying attention to you. I used to feel extremely self conscious when I appeared to be somewhere "alone", but as I got older, I stopped caring so much. I go to the movies alone, shopping alone, the museum alone, church alone, etc. I feel like it's such a Western thing, the idea that you must be surrounded by people at all times in order to be happy, in order to appear "normal". It's nice to be with people, but it's nice to be alone too. What do you guys think?

Los Angeles Part 2

Last Los Angeles related post I promise. During our last few days in L.A. my mom, aunt, and I went to visit the wedding venue that my cousin and his fiance chose for their wedding in December. They want a very relaxed cottage-feel for their wedding, and I think they did a great job choosing the venue.

It was nice to take a break from the city, but for some weird reason, I was excited to get back. Maybe I love NYC a lot more than I think haha. I still need a break from it though, homegirl needs to experience new things! Hopefully I'll get that opportunity when I finish Grad School in 2018.

Anyway, hope you guys had a good weekend, and R.I.P. to all the victims of this terrible Orlando shooting.

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