Sixteen Once: February 2015

Friday, February 27, 2015

Travels: Light Packing in NYC

Last week was February Break, and I got to spend the week in New York City with my mom and my little sister. We stayed in The Village at a small, but super cute, hotel on 8th street called The Marlton Hotel. Lately my mom has this obsession with finding hipster hotels in New York and other places near by, and then finding good excuses to stay there... but I'm not complaining. We had to take the train all the way down from Boston, so I couldn't pack too much. All I took with me was what what I could fit in my back pack (plus my camera) that way I didn't have to lug a huge bag on the train and around the city. Lucky for me, my mom is an expert at light packing and has taught me some of her ways. Here is what I packed and the thoughts behind it:

(my Herschel backpack)

The best way to pack lightly is by choosing simple clothing pieces that all go together. Starting off with tops, you want to pack the fewest possible tops that are pretty similar. The same goes for bottoms. This insures that any top can go with any pant and you can mix and match instead of packing separate outfits. I packed 3 tops (two sweaters and a long sleeve T) and 2 bottoms (Black Jeans and Cargo Pants). Along with what was put in the bag you also have to keep in mind that what you wear on the first day is also incorporated into this. So a good rule to live by is "wear more, pack less."

Then comes cosmetics. Firstly make sure your cosmetic bag is thin and moldable so that it doesn't take up more room then the products themselves do. The second thing is to only take your essentials and in the smallest size you have them in.

One last trick up my sleeve is packing all my socks and underwear in a plastic bag. This way they don't get strewn around my backpack and can be somewhat compacted to take up less room. I also bring along an empty plastic bag for my dirty laundry to keep it separate from the clean clothes.

Don't forget PJ's...

...Phone, Charger, Headphones, Lip Balm, Books, Purse (when I don't walk around w/ my backpack)...

My Trip (a quick summary)
The first day we took the train all the way to Penn Station and then took the subway downtown where we got off a couple streets away from the hotel. As we walked to the hotel we stopped by ViVi Bubble Tea and grabbed a warm drink. By that time it was already the late afternoon (due to the long train ride) so we checked into our hotel, watched some TV as we unpacked, and went out for dinner.
The next day we woke up pretty early and had multiple breakfasts. The first just for coffee and the second at this adorable place called Oatmeals. It is a small cafe that only makes oatmeal and allows you to put any add-ons that you want. Afterwards I got half my hair chopped off (ok..that may be an exaggeration, but it feels really short)!! We then visited the Guggenheim Museum and at the end of the day we walked 40 blocks to grab some dinner (but then we took the bus back to the hotel).
On the third day we woke up much later than usual so we had a small breakfast (at like 10:00ish) and then walked to meet my grandmother for lunch. After lunch we saw Wicked the musical and it was absolutely amazing!! I am obsessed with every single one of the songs! Afterwards my sister went home with my grandma and my mom and I walked back around the city for a bit, stopping to check out two more hipster hotels my mom has had her eyes on, then back to our hotel where we later had dinner.
The last morning I toured NYU and got to see the campus and learn more about the school (because of course college is all I am thinking about these days, being a junior and all). After the general NYU tour and informational, I went to an informational about the Gallatin School within NYU. I really loved it and I can totally picture myself going there. Once those were done we were planning on going down to SOHO but it was so freezing out (aww, no shopping :( ) that we decided to get our bags and get on the train (not before stopping for bubble tea one more time). We took the New Jersey Transit to visit my cousins and grandma, and we stayed there for the weekend then went home on Sunday.

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: Tightrope - Walk the Moon

Friday, February 13, 2015

Healthy Habits: All Mixed Up, Yogurt Parfait

My last 'Healthy Habits' was about my daily cold brew oatmeal school lunch (on the days where I don't buy soup at school). But, I got a bit bored of taking that same thing every day, so I decided to change it up a bit. To be honest it is basically the same meal, but with yogurt instead of oatmeal.

I have this thing where I need to plan out my school meals ahead of time, or else I spend hours staring at the fridge trying to find something I want to eat. If I have a routine then everything goes a lot faster and I'm always happy with my meal.

So this winter, I have been packing myself an unassembled yogurt parfait, but for the sake of this post I will show a step by step of what I put in it and how I assemble it.

Step One: Yogurt

I use the healthiest of yogurts, greek yogurt. It has a ton of protein and other healthy stuff. But to be honest, I don't love greek yogurt plain. So I mix in a bunch of fruit and other miscellaneous foods to balance out the taste.

Step Two: Raspberries

The first fruit I add to sweeten up the yogurt are some raspberries. I like raspberries in small amounts, so that is why I crush and mix them up inside the yogurt. This way the yogurt is not to yogurt-y and the raspberries are not to tart.

Step Three: Strawberries

One of my favorite fruits, the strawberry. I add a ton of these babies!

And the leftover tops don't go to waste, because...

...Lola loves strawberries too!

Step Four: Pomegranate Seeds

So this is usually the part where I add as many pomegranate seeds as I desire (another one of my faves), but sadly they are going out of season and we didn't have any in the house. Instead I added some coarsely ground flaxseeds and coconut flakes.

I then mix it all up and....Voila!!

It may not be the most beautiful yogurt parfait, but it sure is healthy and it tastes delicious!

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: High Hopes - Kodaline

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Look Book: Mustard Yellow and a Vest

These past two weeks have been crazy at school. Last week we missed two days for our first snow days, and then this week we missed two more! Don't get me wrong, I love spontaneously missing school and getting to wake up at 11:00 am, but after too much time in my house wearing the same sweatpants for days I start to feel really gross and bored. It's also really hard to go back to school after these long weekends. After long vacations, I especially have a hard time getting back into the flow of things and remembering what work I had done before break. Sometimes I wish that instead of having a bunch of breaks in the middle of the year we could have one super long summer vacation. But, then again, having to go a whole year of school without any breaks would be much more difficult.

So this time, I decided that instead of sitting in my bed all day and watching TV I would get ahead on a bunch of blog posts I want to do in the future.

This is the first!

This winter season there have been two trends that I have been loving: mustard yellow, and vests.

Mustard: Everywhere I go, I am just drawn to the mustardy yellow shades. I find that the earthy tone goes with everything and has this wonderfully warm sensation that makes me want to buy everything in its color.

Vests: I remember a couple years ago nobody would dare go near a vest. They were a fashion-faux-pas! But now, everywhere I look there is someone wearing a vest, whether it is a black one from UNIQLO or a classic North Face. They are this year's winter trend and I definitely find myself falling for it. A vest is a great accessory that takes any outfit and makes it comfortable and wintery (and super cute).