Happy Friday, my darling readers! And happy (almost) Valentine’s Day, too! What do you have planned for the three-day weekend? That extra day off is always a nice bonus at the end of a long week. Matt and I are celebrating Valentine’s Day with a reservation at Cosme, a new Mexican joint. It’s supposed to be amazing, but Matt’s a tough critic when it comes to Mexican food (he’s from the west coast, so it makes sense). Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead. Here, to get it started right, a few happy posts from around the web:

Flooring as work of art.

Love this dress.

7 habits of optimistic people.

A downloadable Valentine just in case you need it. (Love this one, too!)

…and one more adorable V-Day gift!

Insert whimsy here. Can’t wait for this book!

Interesting essay on quitting New York.

Celebs on Serial. Love!!

Laughed out loud.

A quickie guide to mastering a 5K.

Cute clutch.

Forget winter. Remember summer?

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We’re inching closer to the middle of February (and Valentine’s Day!), which reminds me: March 1st is the seven-year anniversary of the day I moved to New York. I still remember that weekend! My parents helped me pack my entire Beacon Hill studio apartment into the back of a U-Haul truck and we hit the road. Upon arrival, my roommate Gillian sketched out a map of NYC for me—with clear indications of which avenues went up and downtown and rough geometric blobs of which neighborhood led to the next. It’s hard to believe, but I had no idea! (Not to mention, I moved before smartphones were a thing.)

Recounting memories like this makes me think: How many years until you’re a true New Yorker? Everyone has different definitions, but I loved this one by Thought Catalog writer Jackie Berg:

“Aside from the born and bred, at what point during a journey does one become a New Yorker? … It happens when your outstretched hand on the promenade can trace the entire skyline with memories.”

What a beautiful thought! It’s also completely on point. Whenever I’m in a cab, places look familiar. When I walk down a neighborhood block, I think of that time I waited in line forever for brunch, that time I went on a terrible date or that time it started pouring and I had to run to the nearest subway, three streets away. It is strange to feel like I’ve covered so much ground in a city so big. In a city that was once so unfamiliar to me I needed someone to map out the directions of each avenue!

How long have you lived in New York? How do you define being a New Yorker? So curious!

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Have you bought a Valentine for your sweetie yet? The cards above and below are clever and cute—just in case you’re still looking for ideas!

One caveat: Not sure I could give card #1 to anyone. Do I really love Matt more than Paris?! Kidding. Sort of.

Happy (almost) Valentine’s Day!

xoxo

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I’m already a fan of Ruth Wilson (if you haven’t watched yet, you need to catch up on The Affair!), so I was super excited to have the chance to see her perform opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Constellations, now on Broadway. A bonus? The show is just 70 minutes long. Don’t get me wrong: I love theater and appreciate a show with an intermission, but when you go into a play cut to that length, there’s an added element of time (and in this particular show, physics) that both the performers—and the audience members—have to pay attention to. The lights go up and the story has to hook you, fast. Distractions (like coughing seatmates) have to be ignored, all in an effort to keep up with the pacing and attentively follow along.

Here, the stars (Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson) make this easy to do. Their performances are captivating and raw, and as their relationship plays out on stage, the only distraction that crops up seems to be how you apply the plotline to your own life. For example, what if you could relive the events in your life that led you to this point? And imagine them with multiple outcomes, all of which alter the ending? The result is a poignant and breathtaking story of a couple rewriting time scene by scene.

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