showing mom around NYC

My mom recently came to visit me in NYC for a few days so I was excited to show her around. I knew her interests lied away from the typical tourist traps so I definitely took her off the beaten path to places like The Cloisters, the NY Botanical Garden, Bronx Zoo etc. We also got to check out The Met and the Central Park Conservatory which were must see's in my book! All in all she has a wonderful time here and was surprised at how serene and beautiful certain places are even though they are either in the city or so close by! Check out the pics and you'll see why!! ;-)

Here is some info on the places we went to visit as well as some other things we did!

Sites we saw:

The Met: http://www.metmuseum.org/

Central Park: http://www.centralparknyc.org/

The Cloisters: http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/the_cloisters

NY Botanical Garden: http://www.nybg.org/

Bronx Zoo: http://www.bronxzoo.com/

Billy Elliot: http://www.billyelliotbroadway.com/

Places we noshed at:

Shake Shack: http://www.shakeshack.com/

Kefi: http://www.kefirestaurant.com/

La Rural: http://www.laruralnyc.com/

Nook: http://www.nynook.com/

Barney's Greengrass: http://www.barneygreengrass.com/

Zabars: http://www.zabars.com/

DC

this past weekend I got to spend it in DC with a few friends, if you don't know I actually got my undergrad at GWU, so it will always have a special place in my heart! Didn't get to take as many snaps as I wanted, but managed to take this image as the sun was setting over the reflecting pool/lincoln memorial!!

Downtown LA and the Walt Disney Concert Hall

so after spending a few days in Santa Monica, we went to stay in Downtown LA. Talk about a drastic change, not only was the temperature like 20 degrees different, it felt like any other urban downtown city. I was however inspired by all the architecture and did fall in love with the WD Concert Hall! Now that was fun to photograph! ;-)

more info on the concert hall: http://www.laphil.com/

ahhhh, santa monica

so I was out in Cali last month doing some traveling and got to stay in Santa Monica a few nights, this being my first trip out to the LA area, I was a little skeptical wether or not I would like it, however I fell in love with Santa Monica the moment I got there, just look at the pics and you'll see why.....

this was an overpass to the beach, i loved the graphic shadows and shapes it made!!!

the sunsets here were gorgeous, apparently they are like this all the time!!

strange clouds after a storm...

wow, I have been really bad about keeping up with this blog, but I guess better late than never!!! Here are 2 cloud shots after a storm on June 26th, i did some research and found out that they are mammatus clouds, or bumpy clouds, a rare occurrence....

you view more info on these wacky clouds here!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_cloud

Highline Park: Finally open!!!!

Last Sunday me and some friends spent a lovely afternoon/sunset at the newly opened Highline Park. Even though it was pretty crowded and we had to wait in line for a bit it was totally worth it! The views of the Hudson were spectacular plus the fusion between nature and design were flawlessly executed.

The High Line is located on Manhattan's West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. Section 1 of the High Line, which opened to the public on June 9, runs from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street. For more info, check out: http://www.thehighline.org/