new year, new york

"i look out the window and i see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world's greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance." -nora ephron

2016 has officially rolled around, which means—and i can't believe it—that i've been living in new york for a year now. i am so in love with this city and wouldn't have wanted to spend the last year anywhere else.

2015 was definitely hard. being unemployed for a while totally sucked, as did moving far away from my sisters and all of my friends. but mostly, 2015 was very, very cool. i figured out what i really want to do with my life and career, i made new friends and was visited by lots of old ones, and i got to see my parents more times than in the last five years combined. i met my favorite celebs, saw broadway shows, tv tapings, movie premieres, and concerts, waited in cronut lines, toured museums galore, and ate my weight in pizza and bagels. i got to know new york intimately and feel how living here has made me more driven, confident, and independent.

i am also very grateful that my career plans have started to really fall into place. i worked crazy hard all year and it feels amazing for that to finally be paying off. i have been enjoying working at j. crew and was so excited when they moved me to the bridal team. i am loving it so far. i was also thrilled to land a book publicity internship at w. w. norton that will start later this month. i can't wait to learn the ropes and see where the opportunity takes me.

i always love new year's and the feeling of a fresh start. i'm so looking forward to everything ahead in 2016 and am so happy to be sticking around in this city. i love that new york feels like home and that i get to grow as a person and build a life for myself here. here's to all good things this year!

hello from the other side

"the other side" in the title is referring to the actual other side because i'm dead now. RIP me.

i, like every other person in new york city, entered a few contests the other week to win tickets to adele's special one-night-only comeback concert at radio city music hall. when i got the email telling me i had actually won, i was shocked. the concert was incredible and i still can't believe i got to go. i took my friend mckell with me—she's given me jimmy fallon tickets and broadway lottery tickets, so i figured it was time to return the favor. when we got inside radio city and saw that we had amazing orchestra seats, we almost fainted. then we sat down and realized bill murray was sitting in the seat in front of us. shoutout to matthew mcconaughey, who is a babe and was also sitting in front of us. maybe the most satisfying part of the evening was that we had better seats than donald trump, who was sitting in the section behind us. LOL. but seriously, i could not believe that we were sitting in such swanky seats and that we were surrounded by movie stars. i legitimately felt like i was at the oscars.

then adele came on. she was introduced by jimmy fallon (sup) and she opened with "hello" and blew us all away. homegirl is unbelievable. THOSE PIPES. she is also stunning. she was wearing a gorgeous sparkly gown and a big beehive hairdo and that flawless makeup look. so beautiful. she sang lots of songs off her new album, as well as all of her hits and even some of her early stuff. every single song was pretty mind-blowing, but my favorites were "hello" and "skyfall" and "water under the bridge" and "when we were young" and "rolling in the deep" and "set fire to the rain" and "someone like you" and okay, everything. mckell and i were crying and singing along and having an emotional breakdown aka we were in heaven. also, adele is hilarious and so sweet. she came across as so funny and down-to-earth. her accent was cracking us up and her laugh is this amazing, adorable cackle. my favorite part was when she said she had a surprise for us and she was like, "whoa, it's not drake or anything, don't get too excited." but i think every person there was just in total awe of her and her talent. she is a queen.

basically, it was the best. such a special, inspiring, magical night i will remember forever. adele's album, 25, comes out on friday, and the concert will be aired on NBC on december 14th, so you can (and should) watch it! meanwhile, i will still be over here trying to process. in a good way. I LOVE U, ADELE!

every night with us is like a dream

this past weekend i saw taylor swift in concert when she brought the 1989 world tour to metlife stadium (as you probably saw if you follow me on instagram #sorry #notsorry). it was my first time seeing her in concert and it was a dream. i've been a huge fan of taylor's for nine years now. nine! each of her albums has been the soundtrack to a year of my life, and i have always related to her music in a way that i've never experienced with any other artist. i think this is why when she surprised us all by playing "you belong with me," i felt such a powerful wave of emotion and nostalgia that i started crying. i was kind of a hot mess, but they were happy tears.

the concert was incredible. taylor opened with "welcome to new york" and ended with "shake it off" and in between she sang the entire 1989 album plus some throwbacks ("love story" & "you belong with me") plus some twists on the classics (rock version of "we are never ever getting back together" & dramatic version of "i knew you were trouble" & medley of "enchanted" and "wildest dreams"). she also brought out all her supermodel friends and nick jonas aka my first love. they sang "jealous" together and i was jamming in absolute heaven. unless beyoncé makes an appearance at one of these shows, i don't think that can be topped.

here are my impressions: taylor is literally the cutest human. she is so talented and sweet and engaging with the audience. she has amazing stage presence and is an even better performer than i realized. also, homegirl is truly rocking the crop tops. she changed outfits at least ten times. she sounded great live and she danced and played guitar and piano. she was just generally killing it all around. it was so exciting to finally see her in person, and everyone there was clearly having the best time. all i can tell you is that even if you barely tolerate taylor swift (what is wrong with you), GO BUY A TICKET FOR THE 1989 TOUR RIGHT NOW AND IT WILL BE WORTH EVERY PENNY YOU SPEND. mad love for real.

give my regards to broadway (and jake gyllenhaal)

a better title for this post would probably be gratuitous photos of celebrities but whatever. i clearly have no shame.

moving to new york in january was perfect timing, because several of my favorite actors were on broadway and i was lucky enough to see them. i saw jake gyllenhaal and ruth wilson in their new play constellations, and they were both amazing. the show is kind of like sliding doors meets the last five years; it's about a couple and the course of their relationship, but it explores a variety of parallel scenes and possibilities. the play really showcased their acting talent because the set was very minimal and neither of them ever left the stage. they were constantly jumping from scene to scene and would have to switch to a different conversation and emotional state in a split second. i read that they do 65 scenes in 68 minutes! conceptually, it was really interesting, and i would've loved it anyway because both ruth and jake are such excellent actors. i only paid $27 for my ticket and my seat was in the fifth row, so it doesn't get better than that. i met jake after the show and i am officially in love with him. i thought i was before, but then his face was like a foot away from mine looking into my eyes, so now it's official.

i also met my favorite actress (and style icon) (and all-around girl crush) emma stone. she was in the musical cabaret, and her run was completely sold out so i couldn't get a ticket, but i did get to meet her after the show one night. she is so funny and beautiful and sweet. now whenever someone doesn't think i'm funny, i will take solace in the fact that i made emma stone and her bodyguard laugh.

for my birthday, my dad took me to see bradley cooper in the elephant man. thanks, mom and dad! best present ever. the show was phenomenal—probably the best thing i've ever seen on broadway. the play is based on the real "elephant man," joseph merrick. the story follows merrick as he befriends a doctor who rescued him from his life as a circus side show. he was a very intelligent and extraordinary person, and became quite beloved by the british nobility. the play is really beautiful, and leaves you in awe of bradley's talent because no makeup or prosthetics are used to portray merrick's deformity. it was suggested only by the way he physically manipulated his body, which was even more impressive because he did it for two hours straight. it actually reminded me a lot of eddie redmayne's performance in the theory of everything. meeting bradley after the show was very exciting. a huge crowd of people waited for him and he was so nice and signed autographs for everyone. i also think he has the bluest eyes in the world.

then while lauren was just in town, we got last-minute tickets to see idina menzel in if/then during its final week on broadway. i was expecting to love idina but feel kind of indifferent about the show, but i was so wrong because we completely loved it. and it totally had another sliding doors kind of premise. the story follows a woman named elizabeth and—starting with one very small decision—it plays out two different possible paths for her life. idina was unbelievable and this song gave me chills. lauren and i were very emotional by the end. i am so glad we went!

i love new york. the arts and culture scene here is amazing and really accessible. it was so cool to see my favorite people act in person. now i just need beyoncé to appear in a broadway revival of dreamgirls or something. can someone call her people and make that happen?