week in nyc | dinner parties, music festival, catching up

Auto-captioned from the film, lightly cleaned. Elena's words, not edited prose.

yeah i don't want nobody else i just want you to see sunshine good morning hello happy vlog bringing another vlog in my life hope you're doing well we do some fun exploring today check out a restaurant with gabby and ashley go to empire state building and have some fun days ahead i'm also going to festival which is exciting i haven't done a book update in forever but i've been reading a lot more books again on track for my book a year goal i've recently read let's pull up the list i've recently read our time is now which is about voter suppression by stacey abrams midnight library by matt hegg the picture of doing great by oscar wilde outliers by malcolm gladwell the story of success the death of ivan ilyich if i'm saying that right which i really liked by leotolstoy and then 1984 by george orwell so more to come i feel like this is gonna be a long vlog so i'm not gonna do a review of each book i think i'll do that in the next vlog so stay tuned um but gonna go get ready and go meet up with some friends hello from 12 chairs i'm with my gal gabby's working for their social team and we are reaping the benefits of every meal french packs yes shout out to gabby this looks so good just finished the loveliest meal with both chairs what was the actor we were sitting next to adrian grenier yes from entourage and a delaware's product and it was lovely it was just simple didn't bother him or anything just just deserving and now we're headed to empire state building because i got an email where they're like do you want to come check it out the views i was like hell yes so it's a little gloomy but we're gonna go check it out let's go ladies it's kind of great so look who it is i brought my dad camera hey time to get my hair cut these ends need a little love and i love cutler salon in soho with my gal hey emily sue she's the best oh my it's like 3 30 and it got so dark and gloomy out so we're going for like a little cozy background kind of into it i feel like with most of my vlogs i love starting them off with little intro ketchup talking about life and what's new i feel like in my last vlog you're talking about life being crazy busy which it still is it's starting to slow down again but i have some exciting travel plans coming up for this fall and i cannot wait to share i might be moving somewhere for a month or two stay tuned i am so excited also if you've seen my past vlogs you know i talked about a lot and learning french and i've gotta be honest i took a big chunk of time off um like i said earlier went through a breakup and because of that you know wasn't really taking french classes at all or like keeping up with my book challenge at all and you know what that's okay you gotta give yourself a little bit of grace and i've accepted that but i feel like i'm ready to finally get that ball rolling again i'm finally getting back up i'm using lingoda again i've plugged them in a million videos and they saw apparently and they wanted to sponsor video so today's video sponsored by lingoda talk about the most authentic integration ever i love them i think it's an incredible way to learn languages let's talk about them a little bit so lingoda is basically like an online language learning school that connects you with native teachers we currently have english as well as business english uh spanish french and german we go to host one on one session or group learning sessions via zooms from you know bare bone beginner all the way up to like a much more advanced level i like i'm obsessed with the structure of their website for me it works really well because basically you're given almost like a lesson plan of sorts with different classes that you have to take before you can move on to the next chapter why i was drawn to lingoda is that there was such a set plan that i knew i could follow and like feel accomplished as i slowly cross it off and like you know advance to a higher level lessons are taking place 24 7 in all these different time zones so you basically plug in your own time zone and you're connected to different class times that are available the ones that i've done that are a few other students in the classes they're often in like places all over the world like in europe or asia and we're all connecting so all you really need is like a good internet connection and 60 minutes and you can squeeze these class times in throughout your day which i really like i was starting to do it obviously you have the flexibility but like i try to work at my computer monday through friday like ten through six give or take just to get all my work done and i like squeezing in little classes like once per day so maybe a class at 12 o'clock class at three o'clock and would kind of like give me a little break from work or to cap off the work day and there's just a bunch of different times available all there's tons of qualified teachers on there and you're connected with cus you know you're connected with native speakers so you're able to learn some more of like the about the accents or slang and things like that there's also five different lesson types that cover speaking communication vocabulary grammar and reading i'm doing the monthly subscription where it's about nine dollars fifty cents a class which is so affordable compared to literally everywhere else i was looking and then they also have these marathon courses where you can commit up front and then earn up to like 400 euros cashback so they have like three six 12 month options definitely check it out it's super cool and it's a great way to make it more affordable and really pushed you to go to each class definitely check it out you can get the first seven days for free i'll leave everything down in the description below of course as well as getting 30 off your first fees i love lingoda i have signed up already for several for two classes this week because that's all i can fit in this week hopefully i'll do three or four next week also a little exciting update on just feelings and whatnot i mean if you've been following my journey i've been making videos like post-grad essentially i don't even feel post-grad anymore but you know moved to new york now three years ago which is crazy i feel like throughout so many vlogs i've really talked about like the struggles of finding community and friendship in a new city especially postgrad where you don't really know a lot of people and how difficult it can be talking about feeling lonely and i feel like i can safely say that i feel like i've like just really feel like i found my people which is just such a beautiful thing and i would say for most people when you're seeking out friends in a new city it's hard to turn casual friendships into like deep genuine friendships without time under your belt because it's harder to see people when you're older you know you have different schedules and so even the first year is a lot of just trying to get to know people since i came back this weekend from like the loveliest weekend away up in the berkshires that's where i did this just like such a cute little cabin getaway and just like with six of my gal friends these are people i've known for quite some time and just to like have such genuine friendships where you feel like seen and comfortable like you can be your absolute self is like the most beautiful thing and it's so it's been such a journey to find i feel like i have a few little friend clusters of people that i just like absolutely adore so i'm just going to share that because it is a journey you've probably seen me on my journey if you follow me for a while you're not there yet don't worry i've been there it takes putting an effort and putting yourself out there but especially like post breakup and moving into a new chapter i'm just very grateful that people have been around me i don't know i'm kind of rambling i mean if you watched like three vlogs ago i was literally like crying so you know to show you my honest emotions as i'm going through them also i'm so excited and i'm excited that i can say that i'm excited to be turning 25 i still have two months to go i literally have been or i guess a month and a half i literally have been saying i'm 25 for like six months where and someone asked me my age i'm like oh i'm turning 25 soon like i've been doing that for like six months i don't know why like i want to appreciate each age that i'm not while i'm at it i feel like mid-20s are going to kick ass i feel like it's an extremely difficult season of life i mean i'm technically in my mid-20s where it's like so much just from what i've seen from friends like confusion when it comes to work and relationships and like where your life is taking you but i think it's such a beautiful season too for like very uncomfortable discovery where it's like you've left the comfort of college you're out of your post-grad season some people are making massive pivots because they've done things for a few years out of school and i feel like it's a really chaotic but gonna be a really cool like chapter with life i obviously like have no clue what i'm doing you know i love the job that i have now it's the dream job and i don't know what the future holds at all no i feel like i'm just like settling into this like excitement and like hopeful anticipation of what's to come i hope i can share some of that energy with you because i've not felt that way in a really long long time throughout the pandemic and other epic painful life changes so things are looking up i'd be rambling so on that note i need to get back to work and i'm gonna have some friends come over for dinner below hello i feel like i never chat from this corner of my room i guess it doesn't make that necessarily a ton of sense too but figured out i tried a new spot update i finally got a dad cam i've been wanting to get one that works for so long i've actually had one for honestly a year at this point which is crazy but i just it was not working well so i got this for anybody who wants to get one out there it's the sony handycam it's 5.3 megapixels i figured since i'm getting a dad cam for the sake of it to be like kind of nostalgic and not be high quality anyways i'd get something with lower megapixels and it was cheaper too so stoked to use this today i think i'm going to head to a local coffee shop which i've talked about so many times all the king's horses and meet up in the well get some work done and then jenny's going to meet up with us hopefully bop around maybe get some drinks or something luckily oh in a couple days i'm so excited i'm doing like a little collaboration with thrills vodka and firefly festival and going to clarify festival in dover delaware which is gonna be so fun natalie's gonna come and there's so many good artists performing and this is like my first time back experiencing live music and i'm just overwhelmed at the thought like it hasn't even fully set in like i'm just i am so pumped for this it's so exciting too because i'm working with the festival i get like vip passes which i've never had before and so i'm like get to get a little baby backstage access and special viewing areas which is like literally 15 year old me could hear that she would lose her mind so it is very exciting so stay tuned for that at the end of the vlog i'm gonna finish my first cup of coffee and then pack up my stuff and go to a coffee shop let's go oh she's so cute she's exporting the best feeling finally don't you agree i'm gonna be the first commenter oh my god who's gonna be first if you beat me i'll give you a kiss what do we just order when i go to auntie elena's there's only one thing that i need and it's orchard grocery i'm getting the monty elena got the rocco sign me up yum you looking at a shirt right now we're flying it's that time of day and when i start looking at etsy it's just a hard life up there it is tell me more i made it i'm in delaware hello dover you look beautiful today like literally move in to any hotel room as soon as i'm there i'm like let me just play the jewelry i brought i'm like unpacking and i'm gonna like neatly hang up and like fold all my clothing i feel like i've done this whenever i travel and then i'm just convinced that wherever i am now is like my home bring it home with me wherever i go this is what happens when you don't plan your outfit i'm going to a four day festival i've packed four skirts four pairs of shorts and four pairs of jeans i'll learn 12 different bottoms over the course of you know i guess technically three and a half days beats me and yet i pack like this anyway at least we'll have backup options it'll be great all right guys welcome to my store we've got shorts skirts different trousers and leather pants uh bag options as well as top options always nicely folded it's a must different glasses be like kind of fair natalie's coming as well she is she wasn't in new york before so she's on her way on over and i'm gonna be splitting and sharing clothes with her to figure out her outfits together so that's part of the reason why i have so much all right let's let's get ready i just got here i'm losing my i have the guest pass and they just told me i literally get to go up on stage are you kidding me i'm gonna have to attack in the best way oh my god incredible amazing blew my mind we love her stan and phoebe day one success probably tried on like six looks at this point really hoping for the best today's day two i'm excited natalie's back there hi natalie if you could even there it is hi welcome to the mess you're trying on a plethora of clothing options got this little top going on potentially this little skirt the classic mascara look and a cutie little skirt oh she's hot she's funny here we are we go doing great so excited elephants my life day three we got a cutie little fit we're gonna go meet claire who is the point person for us she is great she's a homie um she works with a pair company who works with three olives who's basically bringing us here to firefly so we're all gonna go jump in the car together and head towards the festival and get the day going delaware one two three hello it's elena natalie hey your favorite duo welcome the two six one counts day three day three should we do a race am i definitely carlson's