Our team spent the weekend on a number of adventures around the world. To celebrate our diverse staff and the cool sights they saw, we wanted to highlight some of the most epic weekends from all over the world. Catch a glimpse of their adventure below!

 

I spent this weekend in Reykjavik, Iceland with some college buds for a friend’s Bachelor Party. It’s always a great time when you get to celebrate someone close to you getting married.

He wanted to celebrate in Iceland, also known as the ‘The Land of Fire and Ice’. It is located where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet so the beautiful island is covered with volcanoes and glaciers.

In the short amount of time that we were there, we got to hike and snowmobile on glaciers, soak in the Blue Lagoon, go on a waterfall tour, and rage all night long in beautiful Reykjavik.

As I am currently back in France, I took advantage of this weekend to spend some quality time with friends and family. I left Paris on Friday for my hometown called Lyon, located in the South part of the country. I caught up with my family that I have not seen during the whole summer. My mum cooked my favorite meal for the occasion, her special Gratin Dauphinois.

Saturday and Sunday were mostly dedicated to my friends. We are an intensely close and fusional group, so being far away from them for as long as I was, was the hardest part of moving to The States.

On Saturday morning we had brunch with my three best friends in a sweet place in Lyon called Les Cafetiers (meaning The Coffee Makers). This is an amazing coffee shop created by a group of friends who have travelled all over the world. When they came back, they found the inspiration to create a place where their friends could visit any time of the day. It is that kind of sweet place that you don’t want to ever leave, and that made us stay there for four hours.

One of my best friend is getting married next summer, so afterwards, we went to try on some wedding dresses with this french designer, Caroline Takvorian. It was literally hysterical seeing our friend in those beautiful white lace dresses! The timing was perfect. It was the only occasion where I could be there for the fitting; it had a really special meaning for me. I will never forget that special moment.

In the evening we had a blast gathering with all of my friends who came to celebrate my last night in town before moving back to New York.

On Sunday we all woke up really late and after breakfast with my parents, I joined my girls for a coffee. We spent the entire afternoon chilling on a terrace to talk about our upcoming New York holidays together. Although it’s three weeks away, I can’t wait to see them again!

I spent the weekend in Minneapolis to see one of my best friends in the town he now lives in.

I mainly hung out in Uptown Minneapolis, the art and “hipster” community of the city. Two of the spots I have had on my list for the past year were Bogarts Doughnuts, and Spyhouse Coffee. I was most excited to photograph the gorgeous minimalist sans serif typography on the famous Bogarts Doughnuts wall, and the intricate mosaic tile on the Spyhouse floor. Both had the Minimalism I love from downtown Manhattan, but were much less crowded than the spots I visit in New York City. We did some graffiti hunting while in the area, finding murals that were no taller than 10 feet high, unlike the 30 foot murals we are used to seeing in other cities. The unexpected highlight of the city was the vintage neon signage. A lot of the businesses in the area kept their original signage from the 1950-1960’s or remade their signs to have the vintage “diner” signage feel. My dream is to someday to go the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, and this only furthered that desire.

In contrast, Downtown Minneapolis was more corporate and traditional. The financial district is located here, defined by higher buildings, sport stadiums and wider roads. Despite the more traditional vibe of this area, the three murals I wanted to see the most were there. The first was the giant music wall. The second being the Bob Dylan mural. And the third was the Pop Art inspired mural. The Bob Dylan Mural is painted by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra. The kaleidoscope mural is 60 feet tall and 150 feet wide and resides on the corner of 5th and Hennepin Avenue. The mural depicts Bob Dylan throughout the years, in three of his main phases of music. The music notes mural is a 5 story mural on the side of 10th and Marquette, the music is from French composer Maurice Ravel, called Gaspard de la Nuit. No one knows who painted the mural, and it was complete in the 1970’s but still stands to this day. Prince, a Minneapolis resident, loved this wall and was photographed there multiple times, as he was a big supporter of the music scene in the city. The last mural was called #ShopSmall by Greg Gossel, a colorful pop art mural, on the side of the old National Exchange building.

The most notable activity this weekend was finding a lost dog. My friend found this dog, a puppy really, running around the street and brought her to me, because it’s known that I’m an animal lover. I was making myself a pizza when my friends dropped off the dog, so it was only fitting to name her Pupperoni. The pup seemed well taken care off, but was very untrusting at first. Unfortunately, there were no identifying tags or chip, and after the postings went without a response, I transitioned her to a local non-kill rescue.

On Sunday, I went to a Barbecue at a friend’s house and watched football with them.

It was a pretty standard weekend for me in Florida, minus the unexpected company of this stray dog.

This weekend I spend a lot (if not all) of my time in my neighborhood, Bushwick, in Brooklyn.

On Friday night a few friends and I stayed in and cooked lasagna, made some drinks, and played card games. There was about 7 large queer personalities in one room, and to say the least, it was a great night.

I woke up on Saturday morning to the calm grey sky over Brooklyn. Within a few minutes of me waking up, i was already out the house and on my bike to meet a friend at a thrift store nearby.

After some shopping, and of course bunch (what is a weekend without brunch?) I went over to a Zine Fest that was being held a few blocks down from my house and got some cool art for my walls.

Saturday night I went over to my friends place for a housewarming party. I haven’t been to a house party so long, it was nice to be able to B.Y.O.B. and not spend a crazy amount. We socialized, drank, and danced until roughly 3am. I shuffled my tired feet home and immediately passed out once I had my cheese fries in hand.

On Sunday, my good friend Noah was hosting a pot-luck brunch party. I woke up feeling not 100% and began to prepare my dish, Challah French Toast. I made it to the party about an hour late, but it was Sunday, who’s on time anyway? After endless mimosas, bagels, eggs, and bacon I took a Lyft home to enjoy some relaxation time at home before the start of the week. Per usual on Sunday, I fell asleep on my couch at about 8pm and woke up at 8am ready for work!