Our Two Week Break: Staycation, Philly and Neil's Naturalization

After the holidays, Neil and I took a short break from the shop at the beginning of the year. We were thinking about going somewhere (last year we went to LA--it was my first time on the West Coast and it was so much fun), but before we knew it was December 28th and we still hadn't made any definite plans or booked any tickets so we decided to have a staycation in New York and do/visit some of the things and places that had been on our list!

We finally went to Té Company (@tecompany) in the East Village, an adorable and intimate Taiwanese tea shop with Taiwanese pastries; we visited Stray Vintage (@strayvintage) in Sunnyside and claimed some amazing finds; we took a day and just walked around in Manhattan, one of my favorite activities; we visited The Sketchbook Project (@thesketchbookproject) in Brooklyn to find Meagan's (@meaganillustrates) sketchbook; and with the help of my Dad, we put up some new shelves in the shop behind the counter. To prove how good of a job he did, he jokingly hopped on one of the shelves to prove how load-bearing it was and then Neil and I had a heart attack 😂 I finally got back in to journaling in my TN (I fell off during the busy-ness of the holidays) and figuring out my format for my new Hobonichi Planner. I love it so much--how have you all been enjoying your planners?

We took a day trip to Philadelphia and it was the perfect weather for walking around. We thought it an appropriate trip what with Neil's upcoming naturalization ceremony! Upon arrival, we ate everything at Reading Terminal Market (scrapple at Dutch Eating Place, roast pork sandwich at DiNic's--SO GOOD, ice cream at Bassett's and delicious donuts at Beiler's). Walked over to the Liberty Bell to visit the famous crack? gap? Then we explored the first Senate and Congress at Independence Park and saw a very faded handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence. We ended our trip by exploring the adorable shops around Old City--more sweets at ICI Macarons, more donuts at Federal Donuts, a visit to stationery friends at Omoi Zakka, cheese steaks and antiques! 

On the day we re-opened the shop, January 15th, Neil and I woke up early to attend his naturalization ceremony. It was a three hour ceremony and unfortunately, family members and friends had to wait in a separate room where the supposed livestream of the ceremony was actually frozen, but he is officially a U.S. Citizen now and it felt great to be able to be there with him and give him a hug at the end of the three hour separation! Thank you to everyone who liked that post, said congratulations and shared in our happiness in that moment!