“As she entered the relatively cool and dark atmosphere of the library, she felt a familiar aura of calm wash over her.” Mirror Lake by Juneau Black

If you haven’t been to Book Club Bar in the east village yet, you must not be introverted enough. This bookish haven was made for the sort like me, who bring books to parties, on trips, friend’s houses, just incase I need a book. The bespoke coffee and cocktail bar is lined with silent readers and bartenders softly asking if they’d like another. Further into the store is a curated selection of books for sale, inviting armchairs, and a patio outback. Sure you can socialize with a fellow book worm hunting the shelves, start a game of chess, attend one of their events, or…the option is always there to just…read. Read and not be the odd one out! Isn’t a room full of wallflowers simply a garden?

Previous July weekends saw me hiking in Sleepy Hallow, a day trip away for less than the cost of a latte in Manhattan. My foreign born friend took the trip with me and as we walked through the famous cemetery, I had the opportunity to regale her with the classic American short story. We crossed the bridge where the Headless Horseman took Ichabod Crane one drunken night, into the Rockefeller estate preserve lined with carriage roads. “The same Rockefeller as in Rockefeller Plaza?!” - she asked. “Yup. They owned it all.” As a proud alumni of The Gilded Age (streaming on HBO, season 2 coming soon but also we support WGA and SAG-AfTRA and we wrapped like a super super long time ago) and a lover of history, this day trip was everything for me. I highly recommend heading up there for a break from the city. Be forewarned though, if you want to see the actual Rockefeller mansion, not only the surrounding nature preserve, you need to purchase a pricey ticket. So we skipped that part of the trip, hiked down the side of the highway back into town, and ate some tacos. Still an incredible day.

Before that was of course, BARBENHEIMER double feature weekend. My roommate and I made a full day of it. Outfits. Dinner break. Window shopping. The movies themselves were both wonderful-stunning-iconic-go see them for yourselves-no spoilers here.

One more weekend back and I was swimming at the haunted Asbury Park. Haunted you say?! Yes, haunted. Maybe that should be the theme of my July. Everyone knows the Titanic, but few people have ever heard of the SS Morro Castle. The year is 1934. The Great Depression has reached into every American’s pocket, and Cuba under control of Batista has become a hotbed of crime…and a sought after escape for thirsty U.S. tourists looking to escape prohibition on a four day luxury singles cruise out of New York. This intersection of poverty and party is where the SS Morro Castle made its fortune in four short summer seasons. That is until September of 1934, when the flaming carcass of the ship drifted onto the shores of Asbury Park, NJ with injured survivors swimming to the docks, and drowned bodies drifting onto the sands weeks after the disaster. (Should I write this script?! You tell me!)

The captain dies mysteriously the night before the captain’s dinner.
The replacement captain encounters a northeaster’ and, incredibly untrained for the job, commands the ship drive faster into the storm.
The engine explodes. Because it’s the 30’s, everything is oil paint so the fire spreads to every cabin and dance hall.
Guests were not instructed by the untrained - unpaid - crime affiliated crew members on where to find lifejackets. Half the lifeboats are jammed, so people start jumping into the ocean and breaking their necks on impact. Remaining functional lifeboats were filled only with crew members, rowing quickly past drowning tourists.
30 min after the fire spread, radio engineer George White Rodgers sends the SOS.
Once ashore, the captains body, ordered to determine cause of death, is no where to be found. Thousands upon thousands of morbidly curious beachgoers travel to Asbury park in the remaining month to view the haunted hull just 500 feet from shore. The money collected from snack food sales saves the park.
George White Rodgers is hailed as a hero. Hired as policeman years later, he places a bomb in his boss’s desk, who tried to object to his Hero status. His boss is injured but alive, and begins a mission to uncover Rodgers true history…which he discovers is a life of crime and arson!
Years pass and despite being sent to trial multiple times, Rodgers is always acquitted. Until July 1953, when Rodgers is caught committing the double homicide of a man who owed him some money and his young daughter.

Talking about what I do in my spare time isn’t the usual subject of my blog. (My career updates and monthly playlist will still be on the newsletter.) This particular July I had more than a few friends fly to Europe or visit a national park. Perhaps I am a bit jealous of their travels. Perhaps I’m a bit annoyed at friends asking me what vacations I have planned this year and feeling like my answers don’t live up to their expectations. I’m continuing on. I’m auditioning, modeling, writing, and working in the field. I came to terms with my reality of another summer in New York. I had to remember that I can continue to explore; get curious about the depth of history and diversity of people all around me. New York is never done. So that is what I hope I’ve revealed to you this month. If you aren’t on some big adventure to a new place, or rocking an incredible work opportunity at your dream company, if all you have is a weekend between cobbled together odd jobs, those precious hours can be as full of wonder and fun as you make them.

LIFE IN BETWEEN THE WEEKEND:

submit, audition, callback, repeat
work out + skincare
hours on set ~ the best part =)
career supporting odd jobs

New York is Never Done