one of the best parts of living in new york city was people-watching.  there was never a shortage of interesting characters to scope out from the my seat on the r train, and those trips to the garment district every day were some of my favorite moments for that very reason.  and i got it honestly- almost as vivid as my memories of countless dance classes are the drives home, my mom slowing down to peek inside illuminated windows and note the need for our unknowing subjects to straighten out the pictures hanging on their walls.  

even better than watching strangers go about their lives was getting to know the teeny tiny percentage of people that i interacted with every day.  

meet daniela. 

wednesdays were the best days for the sole reason that i got to spend them chatting with her about delicious food, jean-pierre jeunet films, traveling, and everything else i love.  at only 20, she has already put out three collections for her line, allora, is trilingual, and has more intrinsic style in her pinky finger than i have in my whole body.

 in short, she is a superstar.

{stalk her here}

while i have a steamy love affair with state college and think leaving its little bubble will be harder than i can possibly imagine, the thought of meeting the people outside of this comfort zone gives me a bit of hope that it won't be so bad.  there are bound to be more people like my lovely friend, and less people who think being a fratlord douchebag/tranny sorostitute/compulsive studier/any college extreme is an acceptable way of life.

and if there are, maybe leaving this place won't kill me after all.