My Room

When I first arrived to my apartment I was so happy and excited to be here that no matter what I saw, it would have been great. Luckily everything about it was great ! - except for the furniture in my room. There was a twin bed, a table and two chairs, a narrow book shelf, and a children's armoire with space for hanging things, but adult hangers didnt even fit inside of it ! When Blake was visiting me, we had to sleep head to toe in my miniture bed, and it actually wasn't that bad. However, if this was a regular arrangement, it would get very old, very fast. I plan that Sandra will be crashing at my place quite often because of its prime location in the city, so I need to get a larger bed, and also a dresser to put all of my clothes in because the child's armoire just wasnt cutting it. So here are the phases my room has been through already :

original setup - view from walking through the door

original setup - view from far side of room

my stuff stayed like this for a week because I had no where to put it ! it was fine, but getting tiring living out of space bags

the day I arranged to have my new stuff delivered, I was still unable to find a home for my old furniture, so I just stacked it in the corner -
I moved all the stuff over there on my own and was very proud :P

after my new stuff was moved in, with ALL of the furniture in my room :P

close to final set up - the armorie still needs to go, but my neighbor Thomas, who got all the furniture for me in the first place, doesn't have a space to store it. Ill make another post once everything is finalized :D

For me it was so necessary to get my own furniture, so that I could really feel at home in my new room. And I do !! :D

Creativity

My favorite yoga instructor from ISTHA Yoga in NYC, Michael Bartelle, just posted this on his tumblr. account and I think its awesome. I think each these principles are inspiring and I will intentionally embrace them as I embark on my new adventure in Denmark.

I have saw this chair at a furniture store around the block from my apartment. I really like how it is puts a contemporary and almost street art vibe on such an iconic and classical piece of Danish design - the Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chair. I have 2 plain wooden chairs in my room right now that I plan to refinish with my own designs. I'll let you know how it goes !

Blake's Visit !

So after being in CPH for 1 full day, my good friend from Fordham, Blake, came to visit ! He's been travelling through Europe for the past month and a half and I told him he had to come see Copenhagen. We've just been riding bikes all over the city, been to Christiania 2 times ;), and just chilling at my apartment.

The first day he was here we found him a CityBike, and he's been using it the whole time ! CityBikes are part of a public bike share program were you pay a 20kr deposit, use it for as long as you want, and then return it and receive your deposit back. So convenient. The first day was pretty rainy so after biking around the city for a while, we decided to head home. We stayed in for the night and had two bottles of wine and some lovely snacks. It was still fun just hanging out watching youtube videos and my new favorite TV show : The Inbetweeners - watch here.

TAPAS !

Yesterday we went out biking around again and just enjoying the city. We went to Nørrebro, walked around a bit, and did a bit of shopping. At night we were going out, in Nørrebro with some friends from the dorm I lived in when I studied abroad. We started our night at a bar called Kassen. They were having happy hour until 22:00 with 2 for 1 drinks. Sandra and I each had a mojito and a white russian - I forgot how good they are ! After happyhour was over, we moved on to a smaller pub with cheaper drinks. We had some beers there and ended up ordering two rounds of 10 shots - we were a group of 5 ;) Then we left there went to sit in Skt. Hans Torv, and had some beers there too. Then we made our way to our destination for the night - Rust. Its a club with live music. We didn't know who was playing but we all wanted to dance so we went. The act ended up being a really cool Danish ska band called 'Babylove & the van Dangos'. They were really good and it was such a fun concert !

Blake with our tray of shots ! We had half tequila and half Fisk - which is a Danish licorice liquor

drinking in the square

at Rust

This is the video for one of my favorite songs they played :

Today, we've just been chilling. We rode to Strøget - the pedestrian shopping street in downtown Copenhagen. We walked around a bit, saw a freakshow performance in a square with a glass eating man, a contortionist, and the man with the Guinness world record for most hair growing on his face...it was all pretty disturbing if you ask me. Then we went and got icecream cones from Paradis. So yummy. Tonight we're making dinner at my apartment and then who knows.

hehe so true !

Its been nice to have a visitor and to share this city, that I love so much, with someone from back home :D Blake leaves tomorrow to meet up with another one of our friends in Berlin. I will definitely miss him !

Finally in DK !!

before I left. I was so stessed that my bags were over the weight limit - and they were.
But they let me through anyways

Yayay ! I've arrived in Copenhagen with my weights worth of stuff ! I couldn't be happier. My apartment is lovely (pictures to come) My arrival day was seemless with Sandra meeting me at the airport and helping me bring my bags to my new apartment. My roommate, Eva, is so nice and cool. Then Sandra and I went and got cold Danish beers and split a burger that was delicious. When we got back to my apt we had some wine as well :) Sandra started making lables for my door, bookshelf, table, wall, bed, and chair to help me learn Danish ! Its going to be really tough - especially speaking ! But the only way to get better is just to do it !

mmmm Tuborg classic ! even better because they were free !
our food took forever to come out so the waitress gave us free beers !
that is just fine with me :D

Today I woke up and went for a 5 kilometer run around the lakes near my apartment - so pretty. Then I had some errands to do like register my CPR number - Danish social security number, get some groceries (and a kanel snegl - aka cinnamon snail - aka heaven on earth), and then I was hanging out with my dear friend, Jacob. We walked around the botanical gardens and King's gardens which are both near my apartment. I seriously live in the best location in the city ! It is near everything ! And then tonight, I bought a bike !!! yayay

the Wednesday special from a bakery near my school - Saint Peter's
it is the best bakery in CPH and older than America !

inside the Botanical Garden

So so happy !

Homemade Black Bean Burgers

I got this recipe from my favorite blog Eat. Live. Run. – Again :P My friend Patty, from Fordham, was visiting me at my house for the weekend and we had a lovely time. In the afternoon, we sat and chatted by my pool and then took a walk to Nourse Farm – a farm stand near my house. When were there we got ingredients for the Grilled Summer Vegetable Salad, a quart of strawberries to have for dessert later that night, and a small box of raspberries to eat as a snack right then.

Patty and I were both Urban Studies majors, but we became close friends by going out for coffees and going to our yoga studio together – ISTHA yoga on E 11^th Street in NYC. It is seriously heavenly and I love it and miss it so much ! When we took classes together we would usually get something to eat afterward. We often talked about how meatfree options are so appealing even though neither of us are formally declared vegetarians. So when Patty came up to visit me, I thought it would be a good idea to make our own homemade veggie burgers !

They came out great ! It was a bit of a process to make them, but the recipe made 6 total, so it is possible to make it once and freeze some of the patties for another time, and it is definitely worth the work !

First you roughly chop a jalapeno pepper and two cloves of garlic and put them into a food processor and blend. Then add a can of black beans into the processor and blend until it is a rather smooth texture – like bean dip. Then take the mixture out of the processor and put it into a bowl. Add one ear of fresh corn, another can of black beans, and half a cup of bread crumbs. Mix it all up. Then form equally sized patties. We made ours on the grill and cooked them for about 4 minutes on each side. They were great and I would definitely make this recipe again – if I have a blender or food processor at my new apartment in Denmark !!

Grilled Vegetable Salad

This meal was inspired solely from a trip to the farmers market and it was so good I’ve already made it twice. It is so good because the vegetables are locally grown and so fresh, and also preparing vegetables on the grill give them such a good flavor, and it’s a great way to make a salad more unique. I used grilled asparagus, summer squash and zucchini, but you can really use anything you want ! After slicing and grilling all of the vegetables, I just mixed them into a bowl of spinach. Again, I love making salads with spinach because it does the same job as lettuce but you get so many more beneficial vitamins. Also, the spinach leaves are sturdier and hold up better, as compared to a bag of spring mix salad for example. Both times I made this salad, I made a homemade balsamic vinaigrette / dressing to go with it. It was just a combination of almost equal parts oil and balsamic vinegar, and then maybe some freshly pressed garlic and one or two teaspoons of Dijon mustard. It was a simple yet delicious dressing to go with a simple yet delicious salad !

St. Thomas !

I was having a pool day with my friend Sean, at his house in Concord, Massachusetts. In the late afternoon, we decided it would be a good idea to go out and get some bottles of white wine and a big box of Coronas to enjoy for the rest of our evening. While we were out, we stopped at a local butcher shop and farm stand, to get ingredients to make a dinner for his Mom when she got home. We made steak on the grill and a Grilled Summer Vegetable Salad with grilled asparagus, summer squash and zucchini. Sean made a homemade balsamic dressing to go with the salad. The meal was delicious and his mom agreed. It was so good that she decided to invite me to St. Thomas with their family for the week !! This was on Tuesday night and we were off bright and early Friday morning.

It was my first time in the Caribbean and it was more stunning than any photos or videos I had seen in the past. We stayed at his family’s beautiful house at the tip of Water Point in Red Hook. We spent a week being super stressed out: waking up late, having amazing fruit salad and granola for breakfast, hanging out at the house, snorkeling, and going to lunch, the pool, and the beach at the Ritz Carlton. Ugh – we were just so busy the whole time :P It was soooo nice !!

One of the highlight from the trip was all of the fresh seafood ! I had fish almost everyday and it was so good ! One of my favorite meals was on the first night at a restaurant called Pesce. I had seared Ahi tuna with pesto mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. This was my first taste of the amazingly fresh fish that I would be enjoying all week. The tuna was cooked to perfection, still pink and raw on the inside, which gave it a great flavor and texture. Also, I really like the potatoes and thought they were a nice compliment to the fish.

Another one of my favorite parts of our trip was spending the 4^th of July in St. John. There is a huge festival there on that day as well, not celebrating Independence Day for America, but celebrating their own emancipation from Denmark funny enough. We took the ferry over at around 10 AM and posted up at a bar on the second floor terrace. From here we had a perfect view of the areas where the parade would be passing by. At about noon and 5 pineapple rums later, the festival came our way and it was AWESOME ! there were so many musical and dance performances, and just so much to look at ! At one point we even joined in on the parade and climbed up on a truck with a live ska band playing on it. It was soo fun. Later in the evening we went to a live concert with traditional Caribbean party music. Lol I don’t even know how to describe it but it was great !

All in all, an impromptu, week long getaway to the Caribbean proved to be just what I needed to help pass the time before my departure to Denmark ! It was the trip of a life time and one that I will never forget.

PRIDE !

The Empire State Building lit up with rainbow lights !

The passing of New York's gay marriage bill could not have had better timing ! The last weekend in June is always PRIDE weekend in NYC and usually conveinently coincides with my dear friend Peter's birthday aswell. I took all of these circumstances as opportunity to make a trip down to NYC to celebrate. Sunday morning I picked up my best friend Frank in Connecticut and then we continued onto Astoria, Queens, where Peter's apartment is. We hung out and drank combination of champagne, vodka, and orange juice and then we got on the subway and headed into Manhattan. After meeting up with another group of our friends, we made our way down to the Meat Packing district - NYC's gayborhood. The first party we hit was at the Gansevoort hotel. The club was on the penthouse level and there was a beautiful terrace and roof top pool ! Swimming in the pool was soo fun and some people even decided to play the game catch the glowstick :P The terrace was a perfect viewing spot for the firework display over the Hudson River. After leaving the Gansevoort we made our way to a club called Greenhouse, where there was a Japanese DJ spinning classic anthems including an awesome remix of Madonna's 'Like a Prayer'. Peter and I absolutely did not want to leave the club but when it was about 4 AM we decided it was probably time to go. It was such an amazing celebration for so many reasons and was a great way to spend my last night out in NYC !

PARTY PEOPLE !