Girl’s Trip to New York

My friend Yebon is currently in medical school in Brooklyn. This past June was her 30th birthday, so she invited us all up to celebrate with her!

Yebon and I met rock climbing in our home gym years ago. I had gone to the gym by myself that days and spent some time on the auto belays (where you can clip in a climb the wall without a partner – the auto belay slowly lowering you to the ground once you let go). She came up to me while I was on the ground and complimented my chalk bag (a Magikarp plushie turned into a climber’s chalk bag) and we started talking from there. We climbed together that day, exchanged numbers, and became fast friends. She even drove 5 hours up to The New River Gorge and camped/rock climbed with me and some of my other friends the third time we hung out. I asked her later why she felt so comfortable doing that when she didn’t know me that well and she just told me, “Ehh, you seemed nice and you don’t have serial killer face.” Haha – my favorite strange compliment to date!

Amanda, Savannah, and Alison were also there to celebrate Yebon’s birthday. Amanda and Savannah I knew from dinners and hangouts while Yebon was still in NC, but this was the first time we met Alison, and we all had so much fun together! We got along great (even with 5 girls sharing one bathroom – lol) and had a blast exploring gardens, trying new foods, drinking Michelin star boba, and staying up past our bedtime (we are knocking on the door of 30 after all).

I’ve never been to New York before, but I’ve always wanted to go. All of my ideas of the area come from popular movies and shows that are set in NY (I’m thinking the Devil Wears Prada and How I Met Your Mother, specifically as my NY references – lol). I envisioned it as this lively, bustling place filled with people, noise, and endless buildings. It’s been described as “the place in the US that most closely resembles Japan, but not really,” so I was pretty excited to experience it for myself! While the city itself, to me, felt like I imagined it, I was surprised to see so much beautiful green space and parks where we stayed. I brought my camera along on this trip and we took some photos at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which was absolutely beautiful!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our girl’s photoshoot in the gardens!