A stroll down memory lane: Brooklyn.

I've been missing New York pretty intensely lately. Not to live there, necessarily -- Florida is still treating us well and a home purchase is even in the works at the moment! (whoa. another topic for another post :) Surprisingly, I feel ready to put some roots down here in Orlando and know in my heart that it is the right decision. But that doesn't take away the affection and nostalgia I feel towards New York at the moment. It is easy to romanticize a place once you leave (I mean, let's not forget the car-hungry rats, people!). But, man, summertime in the city. You can't beat it. And I am plotting and planning how to get myself there stat. 

Anyway, I was perusing through some old pictures in iphoto today and came across these never-before-posted gems. The time stamp says September 29, 2012. Four days before the Very Bad Day, the day when everything was turned upside down. I remember this outing to Brooklyn so well. It was Saturday and we decided to do something a little different with Miles and head to the DUMBO Arts Festival. We took about a bazillion photos and I remember being excited to share them on the blog. Then brain tumors and hospitals and all that jazz took over and little did I know it would be my last big outing for awhile. 

It's 21 months later, and Miles looks a little different now :) but here we are...let's do this! Our amazing Saturday in one of my favorites neighborhoods in New York, at one of my favorite events in the city.

All the artists open up their studio space to the public so wanna-be-Brooklyn-hipster-artists like myself can roam in and out of beautiful, light-filled studio spaces and daydream about making it big in the New York art scene.

I recall that we tried to tour as many studios as we could, but we mostly just ended up hanging out on grassy patches so Miles could crawl around and get some of his energy out. And this view. Oh yes, we enjoyed this spectacular view very much, I remember.  

Look at that cute baby!! Compared to my big boy now. Whoa.

Oh yes, and this. sigh. Whoopie pies and coffee at this fun place. You know what I miss? Being able to just sit in a cafe and have a coffee and a sugary treat. Of course, I could do that still if I really wanted to. But cancer changes everything. In a lot of good ways, honestly. I am so much healthier than I was before and I've become passionate about nutrition and food and how it has the ability to heal the body. But because I know what I know, I know that I can't enjoy moments like this very often anymore. You know? Bummer.*

And that concludes our walk down memory lane. I need to go look at flights now, I think :)

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*the solution for this, I've found, is to pack my own (healthy) treat and sip on green tea instead (yes, I still do occasionally drink coffee). Healthy treat recipe here (minus the chocolate and about half the honey plus some hemp and chia seeds :)