LESSON LEARNED

I recently had these photos taken of me sitting on a roof of an auditorium at my high school. Yes, I understand that this is dangerous and I am very high up but I learned something this day. I only got on the ledge of the roof because I had to take a photo with a wide depth of field, and needless to say, I was terrified getting on the ledge. But once I was on it and focused, I realized how beautiful the view of my old city is, and that, as cliche as this sounds, I am not afraid of the heights, I am afraid of falling. So, there is one main lesson I learned this day with my photography, and my life in general; don't fall.

PERSPECTIVE

Today, I, unfortunately went through a very traumatic experience. I won't state the details because it's still a fresh wound, and I am an emotional person, but my brother, mum and I could have gotten in a very life threatening car accident today. Thank God, everything turned out alright and no one was injured, physically, but I am still incredibly shaken from the whole ordeal. Being in a situation where you legitimately think you are going to die, really does put things in perspective. It made me realize how thankful I really am for my family, my amazingly supportive friends who I could never thank enough, the fact that I live in a home and not on the street, that I don't have to fight for my education and that overall, even though I have my first world problems regularly, they always pass. I will remember this day, not to scar me, but to remind me that I have a good life. 

MY CITY

When you're born and raised in a city, your city, you forget to notice the beauty within it. You don't notice the old architecture of the buildings, or that Ice Cream shop that has been around since you parents lived there, or the bookstores that you take for granted, but others are smitten by. Yesterday afternoon, my best friend Nicole and I decided to go to our favourite cafe, Julie's Coffee and Tea Garden. Nicole doodled while occasionally drinking her coffee, while I wrote a short story, taking breaks to sip at my tea and scroll through Instagram. While we had that time to unwind after a long week, I realized how lucky we are to be living in such an amazing city. Not just because of the many little cafes and reading spots, but because of the people, the scenery and the diversity. As we finished up at Julie's we decided to walk around a bit, noticing a Beer Garden and other cute restaurants, those of which we had no idea were there in the first place. An extremely adorable shop, and although expensive, the prices are necessary, called Daisy's was about two blocks away and we decided to look around. It's gorgeous, to say the least. The owner, a very nice women obviously has some serious talent in the art of interior designing. Nicole and I couldn't resist and bought matching maps of Paris. Sadly, after our outing, I headed home and Nicole had to leave for dance class, but I don't think I've ever head such a satisfying day in my city. It's truly one of a kind. 

You can find more photos from this day on my Instagram and Nicole's Instagram.

NEW YORK

Two weeks ago I took my much awaited trip to New York! The trip started off on a stressful plane ride and somehow morphed into a soothing, nighttime car ride from Laguardia Airport to The Manhattan at Times Square Hotel. Of course, the next day, I met up with my long distance best friend, Anoula, her blog here, and she and her sister showed me around SoHo and gave me my first subway experience, which wasn't as different as BART, San Francisco's version of the subway. The next day we went to MoMA, until I had to say the dreaded goodbyes to Anoula and her sister. On my last day in the city, I spent some time in Battery Park and ended up going to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

My three days in Manhattan came to an end, and I was headed to the Hamptons to stay with my uncle for three days. (Thank you for letting us stay with you!) The time was spent wisely, swimming each day and eating an unhealthy amount of junk food and napping with the best dogs, Luca and Merry. It was gorgeous and peaceful, a great way to end a trip. Check my Instagram @shirgul to see more photos!