connecticut // the yale chapter

This post's title is in honor of my beautiful friend Catherine who was gracious enough to put me up for a couple of nights before I headed home.

((and wouldn't you know it, I did exactly what I feared I'd do and forgot to get a photo of the two of us!))

Upon arriving I realized we've been friends for almost nine years. How is that possible? 

We met freshman year at Pepperdine, back when I wanted to be a journalist and she wanted to join the CIA.

Almost a decade later, I'm focusing more and more on photography and she's in her final year at the Yale Divinity School. 

Clearly, God knew better of us.

There was no way I could have fully wrapped my head around the grandeur of this ancient (at least by American standards) campus. The architecture, the snow, the immensity of it all... Oh my.

With a cup of coffee to keep my hands warm, I traversed the town of New Haven back and forth between the massive stone buildings, imagining all of the history that had taken place right where I stood. Thinking of the incredible minds that had met here. The literal life and times of one of the oldest universities in the country.

 It was absolutely breathtaking.

And when it became too arctic outside (yeah, even for me it was too cold) I took Catherine's advice and found my way to the museums. 

Oh... The museums.

I didn't dive into them as deeply as I probably should have, but I did give myself enough to time meet up with some old friends.

A quick chat with Degas...

An intense discussion with Stubbs...

Some deep thinking with Rodin...

A quiet moment with Millais... It was heavenly.

And finally, texts with Jared regarding the sculpture below:

me - At the Yale art museum and this guy's making my scowl face.

him - Looks like a cast of you.

me - Had I not told you I used to model?

After wandering the museums, it was time to meet up for a little dinner.

Catherine is in the midst of a Daniel Fast for Lent so she suggested this fantastic sushi restaurant called Miya's where there was plenty she could eat on the menu. I couldn't get over this place - it felt like something that you'd find on the east side of Portland (read through - even download - the menu... I was having a fit over the whole philosophy and mindset behind each dish, it's so neat).

And the sushi?

Holy wasabi, Batman.

Best. Ever.

And oh my goodness... Let's talk about how adorable Catherine's little apartment is. I snapped this quick picture because I'm fairly in love with that mirror over the fireplace (fireplace!) and the built-in bookshelves. Oh, and she made up the cutest little "guest bed" I've ever seen. A heated inflatable mattress? Yes please. 

Ultimate hostess status right there.

For brunch Sunday morning (which we definitely almost slept straight through) we headed to one of the dining halls on campus and, no offense to my future possible wedding someday, but I'm pretty sure whatever venue I end up at won't be half as fancy as this dining. 

It felt like the Great Hall in Harry Potter. 

The food was magnificent, too.

But who cares when your surroundings look like this.

Bellies full, we crossed through a few courtyards to the Sterling Memorial Library.

If you follow on Instagram you've already been inundated with these images, but hey, I want to post them again because I still can't get over it. 

We must have spent about 5 hours in this massive reading room. 

While Catherine was studying Dante (this is such a beautiful post by the way), I was playing with photos and catching up on all of your blogs.

Time well-spent in both respects I'd say.

Oh, oh! And before I forget, I have to tell you about Mory's!

The night I got there, after Miya's, we met up with some friends of hers at a free concert for the Arabella Quartet then retired into the back room at this Yale Tradition until after 1am.

We drank beer by the fireside and talked about religion and philosophy until the place closed down. I must say, being back in that academic environment got the student in me stirring again. And that Divinity School crowd? They know what's up. I loved every moment of that conversation (let's just say every good thing you'd imagine about the Ivy League is true... So much fun)

When it came time to leave Monday morning I set my alarm for 8am, per Catherine's recommendation, to move my rental car from the lot behind her apartment building. It was a pay to park lot during the week and in the nearly three years she'd lived there never had a problem so long as cars were moved by 10am at the earliest!

Not so on the morning of February 25th.

So... Yeah... My car got towed.

On the upside, I got to add Tony's Long Wharf Towing to my list of hotspots for the "Must See Places In New Haven" guide I'm writing.

Still, I'm quite pleased with the way my little adventure turned out.

I'll take a break now with all the Connecticut talk while I wade through all of the formal photos of the wedding festivities.

It should only take a hundred years or so.

Bear with me.