HAHAHA HI ALL
it’s been!!!!!!! close to two months! since i’ve last written. it went in a blink of an eye, i’m telling you. but happy to be back, happy to be jotting. currently skirting my work responsibilities to write this bc this is what makes me feel good!
angel and i saw a movie at the alamo last night and NOW it feels like i’m back/back/back in nyc. it’s been like 2 weeks since we got back and it’s been so lovely! work is on/off busy and boring but! i am back to freelancing again and networking so i think things on that front are looking up 🤞🤞 um let’s see what’s happened recently…… jupe is settling back in perfectly well, he’s only thrown up twice. we slipped back into old routines, found out that our building is getting sued, caught up with friends, booted up the fortnite, got a new printer, and just snuggled back into our lives here.
one big thing is that i went surfing for the first time!!! on tuesday, i took a wee sick day, scooted over to rockaway beach, and took a surfing lesson. i loved it a lot and my instructor was very cool (he asked me to shaka in the photo). i lucked out and had a private lesson despite booking a group one! main takeaways:
i got my ass kicked. i am not a natural-born surfer. but to be fair, the instructor said the waves were borderline unsuitable for beginners. it was very tough but idk once i’m able to stand up on a board i feel like it’ll be super rewarding. i did not manage to fully ride a wave but i did plant my feet once!!!! a win!
i really liked trying to surf. it was so great being in the water and felt good to trying something new. i had a lot of fun falling off the surfboard, also had fun swallowing buckets of seawater hehe
rockaway beach is super fucking lovely. i’ve been to coney island enough to know i never want to get in that water despite loving the boardwalk. but rockaway beach was as nice as some florida beaches and much quieter too. it wasn’t too bad getting to and from either. i also saw dolphins and the instructor said that sometimes you can see humpback whales (???)
(((europe section)))
ok so like i said, i wanted to vlog my trip and i did! i have successfully gathered all the footage that angel and i took on the trip and we are at over 4000 assets. i have them all organized into folders and set up the project file. video editing is not my wheelhouse and part of the reason i want to make these vlogs is to develop my video editing skills. i’m a good animator, after effects is my baby, but premiere is a different beast entirely to me. so ! be patient with me, i will probably be dropping videos over the next six months lol. ideally i’d like to have a video done every two weeks so we’ll see how that goes!
big headline though is that the europe (+ africa!) trip was so beyond gorgeous, the trip of a lifetime. i’m really happy to be back home and planted in new york but i really miss traveling already. the pace was definitely challenging, moving locations every 4-6 days. i 100% had days where the last thing i wanted to do was go outside. but even on those days i was like, how lucky am i to have this problem in barcelona of all places! fell in love with a lot of sights and sounds and food and was also able to take time to recharge~
there’s a lot i could say but i will leave you with these various rankings! please note: there wasn’t a single place i disliked or had an awful time in, i loved them all for so many different reasons. the difference between 1st place and 8th place are honestly so marginal. it’s genuinely so hard to pick a clear number 1 for any of these !
most accessible public toilets
athens, so many! couldn’t stop seeing wcs
budapest, sooooo many! + with directions to nearest wc!
amsterdam, many ! pee curl?
lisbon, many, tourist friendly
barcelona, ok!
porto, idk i don’t remember
bologna, lol ??? NO
marrakech, no!
best food cities
there’s like tier 1 of really really really excellent food: athens, budapest, barcelona, lisbon
tier 2 of really excellent food: amsterdam, marrakech, porto, bologna
best public transit
amsterdam, hello trams!!!!! so quiet and perfect in every way
budapest, had fun animations to validate
athens, had cool ancient ruins in their metro stations
barcelona, so clean and perfect and so on time
porto, we rode a double decker bus that was gorgeous until we had to wade through a million old people to get off at our stop, embarrassing!
marrakech, airport bus was delightful but did not exp others
bologna, nottttt easy to use at all
best activity city
this is the one where it is literally so, sooooo, so marginal so please take the bottom rankings with a grain of salt. i’m also fully making this up as i go
budapest, hello! fisherman’s bastion, buda castle, the DANUBE RIVER?, labyrinth, thermal baths, market!!!!
athens
lisbon
amsterdam
porto, matisinhos
marrakech
barcelona
bologna
best airport
amsterdam, i love u, you have so many seating options, trolleys, fast lines, so many miffys
budapest, i love u, u have burger king, excellent gift shop, quick security, ez transit
barcelona/madrid, absolutely gorgreous looking airports and i liked the shopping options
athens, honestly don’t remember a ton of this one at all bc our flight was at 7am
lisbon, didn’t see enough of it to rate fully but i liked the way the bathrooms look
marrakech, SO beautiful so beautiful, but the security and customs line were hell, and it was hot
porto, pretty solid, clean, stupid design, not rly notable
bologna, -10000 we had to sit on the floor, shit wi-fi, one public bathroom, italians, did have a very cool monorail that went really fast and felt like a rollercoaster
oh BUT I WILL SAY. angel and i expanded our michelin horizons TWICE on this trip. we had a specific saving bucket for michelin restaurants. so our first meal felt like it was free hehe :) the first meal we had was in athens at the zillers roof garden, a 1-star michelin restaurant, where we had such a GORGEOUS view of the acropolis at night and we got the best seat in the house. we loved the food, the flavors were fun and unique and the tableware was so cool. a very magical night and a very magical dinner <3
second michelin restaurant was caelis in barcelona. we snuck this one in as we went to their lunch service that was half the cost of their dinner menu and therefore felt more affordable. we unfortunately did not read the menu well and bit off way, way, way more than we could chew. the food was delectable, so succulent but fuuuuuuuuuuck we were so full. and it always felt like we had SO much food left to eat. we definitely worried the staff a little bit but they handled it like champs. we also said it was our anniversary and they delighted us with some little chocolates and raspberries on a ceramic cake. thank you!
(((craft corner)))
LADS WE CRAFTED. WE CRAFTEDDDDDD.
we swung by a cutie yarn shop in bologna where i bought 12 balls of yarn to make a pullover sweater and i’m pleased to say that i finished it today!!! technically still have to weave in the ends but i’ll be able to wear it tomorrow!! just in time to catch the end of the fall weather
other knit projects include a polo tee, finishing a pair of mittens, and hopefully taking on a sock project
while in amsterdam i bought a sketchbook and a pen and colored pencils and was able to fit in some sketching whilst sightseeing
(((mediA)))
did some progress checking and i’m currently at 170 movies watched this year!! only 30 more until i meet my 200 movie goal which feels super super attainable
watched more movies than i thought i would whilst traveling! standouts being:
alien: romulus, GOOD CLEAN ALIEN FUN, CAILEE SPAENY & DAVID JONSSON SUPREMACY
moulin rouge!, PERFECTION
the birdcage, it’s really fun until the son says something fucked up or nathan lane makes u want to cry
since returning i’ve been watching more and more movies which has been really delightful, some notables:
all my friends hate me, for my paranoid & overthinking bitches
pretty woman, the shittest remake of this perfect movie is imminent, i know it
brief encounter, GOD! it’s like in love actually when emma thompson talks abt joni mitchell melting her cold british heart, except it’s my heart melting for cold british ppl. i loved this
show-wise…. hehe………hehehe…. i’ve been watching below deck hehe….
and MY FRIENDS. i DID read three books while in europe, just like i wanted to! feels like a great triumph, since i’ve been such inconsistent reader these past couple of years. and what nice books i read too, i enjoyed all of them a lot
laurus by eugene vodolazkin: my god, my god!!!! an angel rec and it’s just so indescribably good. it’s probably a top 5 book i’ve ever read. i think sometimes i like it more than i liked tmrw and tmrw and tmrw… the book follows the life of a man of many names where he lives many lives in the name of religious redemption in europe. it takes place in the 14th century and it’s old timey and modern and timeless. i wish i had enough words to fully recommend this properly but it was really such a perfect book. the writing is simple and poignant and really just needles the soul more than u expect/want it to. tears sprung up constantly. it’s one of those books that you want to pick up immediately after you finished. the way it talked about medicine, religion, time, and friendship was so stirring, intellectually and emotionally. highly, highly, highly recommend.
andromeda strain by michael crichton: for book club!!! i found this so enjoyable. honestly more enjoyable than i thought i would. it went quickly and was very vividly written. it makes me really eager to watch the movie adaptations (book club hellooooooo let’s do it)
they’re going to love you by meg howrey: plucked off my tbr list and i enjoyed it a lot!!! a familial drama that had some really punchy lines. it also reinvigorated my interest in ballet. i took some classes in 2023 and i’ve been thinking about getting back into it in 2025, it was fun and used some oft neglected muscles!
and so. and sooooo. 2024 is winding down, the holidays are fast approaching. it has me reflecting on the time that’s passed. while traveling i resolved to take more advantage of my time and i feel like i have! i hope to be more creative in my free time, more ambitious with my hobbies. i want to learn more and live more, etc. etc. i’m happy to be back and writing this, this newsletter has been a huge source of fulfillment for me this year. a great reminder of what i’ve done and what i have to look forward to. so a million, million thanks to you for reading :)
hope you’re living well,
sarah <3