Tales | Island & Hills

December 31, 2015 / 0 Comments

2015: Year in Review

As we move forward into 2016, we’d like to say a quick thanks to everyone who has supported us in our first year. Since our launch date this past June, we have accumulated over 4,800 total views on Island & Hills, with readers in more than 59 countries. We are so blown away by these numbers and truly appreciate your readership and feedback. We have tons of new content in store for 2016 and can’t wait to share this next chapter of Island & Hills with you all. Wishing you & yours a fantastic new year!

Sincerely,

Aditi & Maddie

December 8, 2015 / 0 Comments

Wish List + Resolutions

I have had a lot of deep thoughts about mortality lately. Probably not the cheeriest way to kick off a post about the holidays, but I’ve promised authenticity on I&H, and that’s where my head has been these past several weeks. These thoughts started with the attacks in Paris, made worse by the threat on New York City, and the shootings in Colorado Springs and San Bernardino. I was taking my life for granted before these events. Now, my frame of mind is different.

December 4, 2015 / 0 Comments

December Favorites: LA

DECEMBER 5TH – LOS ANGELES HARBOR HOLIDAY AFLOAT PARADE

This holiday tradition has been around for over 50 years and features elaborately decorated boats. The Battleship Iowa hosts guests to watch the event with cocoa, cookies, carolers, cocktails, and a visit from Santa.

DECEMBER 10TH – HOLIDAY HAPPY HOUR @ LA ZOO LIGHTS

Starting at 6:30pm, guests can enjoy a heated private lounge with complimentary snacks, wine & beer. There are even special holiday cocktails for purchase. What’s better than Christmas lights, animals & booze?

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-zoo-lights-holiday-happy-hour-21-tickets-1895847029

November 11, 2015 / 2 Comments

Tinder Ambiguity

A couple nights ago, I went to dinner with one of my closest friends in the city. Over a couple of amazing cocktails, we swapped stories of our current dating highs and lows. I shared my most recent dilemma with her: when meeting people through apps (especially on Tinder), it is really hard to know what someone is looking for. Rarely is it ever explicitly stated in a person’s profile, which makes every first date feel like some sort of psychological study; while chatting about our backgrounds, interests and lives in New York, I am constantly pulling for subtext. If he mentions an old girlfriend, does that mean he wants something more serious? If he picks a spot three blocks from his apartment, does that mean he’s only interested in the Netflix and chill part of the evening?

To be clear, I’m not looking for any sort of serious relationship right now, but I’m also not interested in a casual, one-time fling. I want to get to know someone to the point where I feel like I can trust them before anything physical happens; that’s just how I roll.

Sharing these thoughts with my friend, we realized we were in the same boat and came up with an interesting experiment. Rather than continuing to navigate this grey area, we decided to cut to the chase and see what happened. We each pulled out our phones, logged onto our respective apps (Bumble for her, Tinder for me), and typed the following to our most recent connections:

“Out of curiosity, what are you looking for on [name of app]?”

I blindly swiped right on at least twenty guys and asked them all the same question (maybe this will affect my Tinder karma… can someone tell me if Tinder karma exists and, if so, will I lose Super Likes because of this?)

November 3, 2015 / 0 Comments

Wake Up Call

Yesterday, this (ironically) viral video caught my attention:

(If you’re looking for cliff notes of the video, click here for the back story and then keep reading).

I had never followed Essena O’Neill’s accounts, but was struck by the honesty, vulnerability and power in her message.

I’ve talked with a lot of friends in recent months about how isolating New York can feel. You walk onto any subway car during rush hour, and it’s as if we’re all cyborgs — glued to our smartphones, headphones in ears, doing everything we can to zone out the rest of the world. We’re together, but completely alone. And I’m guilty of this as much as the next person; it’s so much easier to engage in the virtual world than it is to engage in our physical world. But what kind of impact is this having? How is this shaping us as people?

October 27, 2015 / 0 Comments

LA Trip

A couple weekends ago, I traveled to Los Angeles to see Aditi for the first time in over a year and a half! We put together a little recap video of the trip to commemorate our first reunion since the launch of Island & Hills. Thank you to all of our supporters who have helped Island & Hills grow over the past four months. This is only the beginning; more tales from our two cities to come, so stay tuned!

xx
Maddie

October 21, 2015 / 0 Comments

Noomi

I originally thought the topic of Noomi would be a simple one to write about. I have been wanting to write about her ever since I adopted her four months ago because she has become such an important part of my life, but I had a few different ideas about how I should approach the subject. I wanted to make sure I included the importance of adoption and the many ways that she has actually rescued me. I also wanted to do a fun post about the best dog parks and most dog-friendly establishments in Los Angeles. But as I’m sitting here writing this in my bed with her dozing off next to me, what I’m actually thinking about is what time I need to wake up in order to take her out and feed her before getting ready and heading to work on time. Luckily, I take Noomi to work with me every day which definitely made getting a puppy an actual possibility.

October 15, 2015 / 1 Comment

I&H Music Festival Survival Guide: First Timer vs. Seasoned Pro

A couple weekends ago, I traveled to Las Vegas for the Life Is Beautiful music festival. This was my first ever music festival, and I relied on Aditi a lot beforehand for suggestions and advice about the experience. Originally hailing from Tennessee, Aditi is practically an expert on the music fest scene (she first started attending Bonnaroo in high school). As a seasoned pro and a first timer, we teamed up to give you our top tips on making the most of your next festival experience.

September 29, 2015 / 0 Comments

Confessions of a Closeted Romantic

I spent last weekend in Colorado attending a celebration of my late grandma’s life. One of the best parts about this weekend-long event was being able to discover even more about my grandparents through stories and memorabilia. One particular instance that stands out in my mind: my grandpa used to write my grandma beautiful love letters over the years (many of which were saved and I had the great fortune of reading). These weren’t your average “u complete me” high school love notes; they were “The Notebook” level confessions of love.

Now a lot of my close friends probably read the title of this post and thought in an exasperated voice “Closeted romantic? YEAH, OKAY.” *insert eye roll here*. My friend Hallie always jokes that I’m going to meet my soulmate while carrying bags of groceries; the bottoms of the bags will give out all at once, and as I frantically try to pick up the contents, a dashing man will come to my aid. The rest is history *cue wedding bells*.

Whenever I hear her talk about this scenario, I give a laugh, respond with a wistful “yeah, wouldn’t that be nice?” and then we move on. The truth is, that thought lingers in my head much longer than I am ever willing to admit — that is, until now.

September 15, 2015 / 0 Comments

How to Host

If you live in a big city, you have likely held the position of “host” at some point or another. Whether it be friends or family, hosting can feel stressful; the unspoken expectation is that you serve as your city’s unofficial ambassador of fun. You’ve lived here for six months now, what do you mean you don’t know the best place to get Turkish food on a Wednesday? (Hold on, let me check Yelp…)

All this aside, if you love and care about the people that you’re hosting, you genuinely want to show them a good time. This past weekend I hosted one of my best friends from college, Colleen, for a quick 24-hour trip; here are the things I learned from her stay (along with the several other hosting duties I’ve had during my time in New York):

Category: Tales (page 1 of 2)