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Amy Chen

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DIY Drilled Jack-O-Lanterns

October 30, 2015

Last weekend, I visited my friend Emily on Long Island and we drilled jack-o-lanterns! I was eager to do something *different* this year, so made the suggestion of "drilling" these guys (as opposed to the typical "carving" of them). It actually was a TON of fun - and was pretty easy / stress free! In the case that you haven't carved out your pumpkins yet, maybe these will inspire you to drill some of your own. ;)

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In diy Tags Halloween, pumpkins, crafting, autumn
amy_chen_design_pizza_pie.jpg

Naan Flatbread Pizza Recipe

October 23, 2015

Naan flatbread is one of my absolute favorite types of bread! It is so versatile and you can eat it in so many different ways. Today, I'm going to show you how I use it to make homemade pizza. :)

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In food Tags pizza, recipe, flatbread

Dan Flavin at David Zwirner

October 16, 2015

This past weekend I went to see Dan Flavin's "Corners, Barriers, and Corridors" show at the David Zwirner gallery in NYC. The DZ gallery is one of my favorites in Chelsea, and they always seem to have the best exhibitions going on. I've been to two great Yayoi Kusama shows hosted by DZ in the last few years, and when I heard Dan Flavin was going to have an exclusive show there - I could not get my butt to the gallery faster! ;)

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In wanderlust Tags Dan Flavin, David Zwirner, NY, NYC, gallery hopping, gallery, art, interactive art, colorventures

Color Hunting in Coney Island!

October 9, 2015

I've been wanting to do a Coney Island blog post for quite some time - it's one of my favorite spots in NY! I LOVE that it is so far removed from the typical "hustle" of the city - as it's located at the veryyyy bottom of Brooklyn. The subway ride is pretty long, but if you're in great company - it goes by pretty quickly! ;) I made quite a few trips out there this summer with my fellow color-hunting friend Ruth (@bigntoasty). I took soooooo many photos each time I went, and I am finally gettin' my shit together to compile them all into a cohesive post! 

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In wanderlust Tags Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY, NYC, summer, colorventures
amy_chen_design_sunflower_maze_1.jpg

Alstede Farms Sunflower Maze (So Long Summer!)

October 1, 2015

It's hard to believe that it's already OCTOBER! Where did summer go?!

I realize that last Wednesday was the *official* start of fall.. and it's no longer sunflower maze season but corn maze season now lol, but I still feel like I have sooooo many un-blogged summer adventures! I'm backtracking a little bit today to a solo adventure I had in July at Alstede Farms. If you've been following my blog for a little while, you may remember my post from last fall about this place. It's one of my favorite farms in the area because of how big it is, and there always seems to be something fun going on during all 4 seasons! When I heard that they had a massive sunflower maze, I had to check it out because until this I had actually never been to one before! 

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In wanderlust Tags Chester, NJ, New Jersey, Alstede Farms, summer, sunflower

Refinery29's #29Rooms NYFW Installation

September 22, 2015

A little over a week ago, I got to experience one of the best interactive art installations I've ever experienced: #29Rooms. It was the only NY Fashion Week event I attended this time around, but I'm okay with that because it fulfilled all of my wildest dreams, haha..

For their 10th anniversary, Refinery29 put together an epic 29-room funhouse inside a Greenpoint (Brooklyn) warehouse. Each room was created by a different artist and offered a different experience than the one next to it. It was an extremely overwhelming visual experience to say the least, lol... I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to see it Thursday night before it went live to the public on Friday / Saturday. Despite this exclusive viewing opportunity though, I still felt like I could have easily spent more time in each of the rooms. There were even some rooms I didn't go into at all or failed to photograph because I was so overwhelmed trying to just take it all in. 29 is A LOT! I think I would have been overwhelmed had there been only 10 rooms... so imagine 3 times that. I unfortunately wasn't able to catch the name / artist of each room because I felt so scatterbrained through out the night, but will try to share that info with you for the ones I was able to catch or recognized on my own. 

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In design, wanderlust, style Tags Refinery29, 29Rooms, art, interactive art, NYFW, New York

5 Things I've Learned In My First Year of Blogging

September 15, 2015

I can't believe that it's already been a year since I've started this blog section of my website. (!!!) 

It was always something I had thought about starting - and at one point I decided it was time to finally act upon that. As a fresh grad, I was feeling super lost in terms of what I wanted to do with my life, and I wanted a place where I could explore my multiple interests. So far it has been a super rewarding experience! Today I wanted to share 5 things I've learned in this first year of my blogging career, and share some insight on what it takes to run a blog. Whether you are contemplating starting your own blog, recently just started a blog, or have been blogging for years - I'm hoping my insight is helpful to you! :)

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In real talk Tags blog, blogging, tips, blog birthday

New York / New Jersey Ice Cream Bucket List

August 25, 2015

Ice cream is by far my biggest summer guilty pleasure. I could literally probably eat my weight in it... ha. This summer in particular, I made it my mission to try as many different ice cream shops in my area (NJ / NY) as possible. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you are probably already aware of my ice cream obsession. I keep an ongoing "Ice Cream Bucket List" on my phone's notes app, and am constantly adding new places to try! I was able to uncover some of the best ice cream I've ever eaten this summer, and now I'm here to share the SCOOP with you! ;) 

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In food Tags ice cream, bucket list, NY, NJ, New York, New Jersey, summer

Destination: Exit 0 (Cape May + Wildwood)

August 14, 2015

Last week, I went on a little Jersey shore road trip for 4 days down to Cape May and Wildwood. It was hands down one of the best adventures of my life. Growing up, my family often took day trips down to the beach - but we never once stayed overnight. I've only had the opportunity to actually wake up the next morning to a beach once or twice (ever)... so you can probably imagine my excitement lol. I've lived in NJ my whole life (with the exception of 4 years spent in NY for school), but I have never been that far south in the state. As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, my family isn't big on travel - so any opportunity I get to experience something new (even if it's not in a new state or country) - is one that I embrace with arms open wide. I treat even small, local, day to day things like grand adventures.

I ran myself so ragged the entire time - wanting to experience and explore as much as possible before we had to head home (because even 4 days was not enough). We did basically all of our exploring on foot, which was probably a good thing because I totally ate like.. 2 or 3 times my weight in all the amazing food the area had to offer.. ha. There wasn't really any "down time" and I didn't even actually sit on the beach or swim in either of the hotel pools for the entire time we were there.. lol.

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In wanderlust Tags Cape May, Wildwood, New Jersey, NJ, Jersey shore, Jersey Collective, summer

Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ

July 22, 2015

Last month, I made a trip down to Asbury Park with my dad to celebrate the opening night of Jersey Collective's first gallery show. I've lived in New Jersey all my life (with the exception of 4 years spent in NY for school), and it's kinda silly that I've never been to the town Bruce Springsteen named his 1973 debut album ("Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ") after. In other words, this trip was loooong overdue haha! Growing up, my family often made trips down to Point Pleasant -- and now, we typically head to Long Branch for our summer beach escape. I had no idea that Asbury Park was so close to those other two Jersey shore points... until I looked at a map (lol). For some reason I always thought that Asbury Park was farther south! Clearly my sense of geography is terrible..

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In wanderlust Tags Asbury Park, NJ, New Jersey, Jersey shore, Bruce Springsteen, Jersey Collective, Kerri Sullivan, summer
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AMYVENTURES

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Blog
The Summer It Turned Yummy
The Summer It Turned Yummy
about 3 weeks ago
Recess in Cape May
Recess in Cape May
about 3 months ago
Strawberry Picking, Peony Peeping, Park Frolicking
Strawberry Picking, Peony Peeping, Park Frolicking
about 4 months ago
Spring Things
Spring Things
about 5 months ago
Cemetery Season: Poetry Month + The Grief of April
Cemetery Season: Poetry Month + The Grief of April
about 6 months ago
Solo Day Trip to Seaside Heights
Solo Day Trip to Seaside Heights
about 6 months ago
Reframing a "Mundane Chore" as an Adventure: Visiting a New Grocery Store
Reframing a "Mundane Chore" as an Adventure: Visiting a New Grocery Store
about 6 months ago
Creating In Community
Creating In Community
about 7 months ago
A Sunny Sunday for the Soul in NYC
A Sunny Sunday for the Soul in NYC
about 7 months ago
Christmas Cookies 2024
Christmas Cookies 2024
about 9 months ago

INSTAGRAM

@AMYVENTURES
the life of a tomato girl โœจ๐Ÿ…๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพโœจ

made the executive decision to harvest the rest of my tomatoes last week when we got our first fall freeze warning ๐Ÿฅถ went out there at 9 pm in the dark and filled up all 3 of my larger sheet pans ๐Ÿ˜‚ (they&r
one last dose of summer this weekend in one of our favorite places ๐ŸŒž new @taylorswift music blaring from my car’s speakers down the parkway โค๏ธ‍๐Ÿ”ฅ ocean beaches back open for the dogs ๐Ÿพ the clearest and bluest skies, water warm enough to s
so long september ๐Ÿ‚

the last days of summer and first glimpses of fall โœจ savoring every last tomato and flower in the garden (and collecting seeds for next year) ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพ celebrated stewie’s 6th adoptiversary too… how quickly 6 year
first fall bake of the season โœ”๏ธ๐Ÿคญ๐ŸŽ an apple galette where I measured nothing ๐Ÿ˜… baked on a very foggy night ๐Ÿ‚

- 3 apples, thinly sliced
- lemon juice, cinnamon, ground ginger, brown sugar, corn starch, salt (tossed the apples in all of this)
- 1
rounded up all the yummy things I made this summer on substack (link in bio) ๐ŸŒž

๐Ÿ‘ peach wineberry chia seed jam
๐Ÿ„ chicken of the woods mushrooms (various ways)
๐Ÿ• peach pizza
๐ŸŒถ๏ธ jalapeño garlic basil pesto 
๐Ÿ… cutting board salsa
๐Ÿซ bluebe
we’ll always have summer ๐ŸŒผ

#summer #endofsummer #summerdump #jerseycollective #rescueismyfavoritebreed #summergarden #summergardening
doing @sangennaronewjersey with your brother, boyfriend, dad, and cousin is the only proper way ๐Ÿ˜

๐Ÿ• pizza from @coneyislandpizza (included some photos from last year too)
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น arancini (rice balls) from @thelittlesicilian
๐Ÿฅ” tornado potato from @s
fall is in the air and chilly nights are here - which means tis the season for warm and cozy dinners again ๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿ

I’ve been making this curry noodle recipe on repeat using veggies & herbs from the garden (eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, zucch
the summer I turned (half the backyard) pretty ๐Ÿ˜†(and into a sunflower field) ๐Ÿฅน๐ŸŒปโ˜€๏ธ

why re-plant grass when you can have flowers instead? ๐Ÿ™ƒ I’ve loved studying the way the sun hits them throughout different times of the day and seeing all th
mid august abundance from the garden ๐Ÿฅน I always love taking an annual bounty photo when the biggest variety of things are growing and that time is now โœจ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพ๐Ÿ…๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅ’๐ŸŒป๐ŸŒถ๏ธ

extra grateful for it all this year because flashback to this spring I wa
been wanting to bake blueberry cornbread muffins for what feels like weeks and finally did yesterday ๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿซ๐ŸŒฝ used @thefullhelping’s vegan recipe & topped with leftover crumb topping I had from a fruit crisp โœจ some things are worth turning th
hammered some of the flowers in my garden onto watercolor paper for fun ๐Ÿ˜ new favorite way to preserve the season unlocked ๐ŸŒผ

#flowerpounding #flowerhammering #tatakizome #hapazome #ecoprinting #gardening #flowerprint #plantdye #naturaldye #summer
the most fun day ๐Ÿฅน started off with the special TSOU blueberry matchas from @theelknyc and a couple treats from @libraebakery ๐Ÿซ๐Ÿฅ๐Ÿต (fuel for a crafternoon spent making our shirts for the night โœ‚๏ธ) we finished them just in time ๐Ÿ˜… grabbed a couple
happy #nationalicecreamday ๐Ÿ˜š๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ“โœจ

#icecream #summer #jerseycollective #strawberryicecream #icecreamshop
summer arrivals @shopamyventures ๐ŸŒž๐Ÿšโ›ต๏ธ๐Ÿโœจ

#shopsmall #vintagehome #etsyvintage #summer
the life of a tomato girl โœจ๐Ÿ…๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพโœจ

made the executive decision to harvest the rest of my tomatoes last week when we got our first fall freeze warning ๐Ÿฅถ went out there at 9 pm in the dark and filled up all 3 of my larger sheet pans ๐Ÿ˜‚ (they&r one last dose of summer this weekend in one of our favorite places ๐ŸŒž new @taylorswift music blaring from my car’s speakers down the parkway โค๏ธ‍๐Ÿ”ฅ ocean beaches back open for the dogs ๐Ÿพ the clearest and bluest skies, water warm enough to s so long september ๐Ÿ‚

the last days of summer and first glimpses of fall โœจ savoring every last tomato and flower in the garden (and collecting seeds for next year) ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพ celebrated stewie’s 6th adoptiversary too… how quickly 6 year first fall bake of the season โœ”๏ธ๐Ÿคญ๐ŸŽ an apple galette where I measured nothing ๐Ÿ˜… baked on a very foggy night ๐Ÿ‚

- 3 apples, thinly sliced
- lemon juice, cinnamon, ground ginger, brown sugar, corn starch, salt (tossed the apples in all of this)
- 1 rounded up all the yummy things I made this summer on substack (link in bio) ๐ŸŒž

๐Ÿ‘ peach wineberry chia seed jam
๐Ÿ„ chicken of the woods mushrooms (various ways)
๐Ÿ• peach pizza
๐ŸŒถ๏ธ jalapeño garlic basil pesto 
๐Ÿ… cutting board salsa
๐Ÿซ bluebe we’ll always have summer ๐ŸŒผ

#summer #endofsummer #summerdump #jerseycollective #rescueismyfavoritebreed #summergarden #summergardening doing @sangennaronewjersey with your brother, boyfriend, dad, and cousin is the only proper way ๐Ÿ˜

๐Ÿ• pizza from @coneyislandpizza (included some photos from last year too)
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น arancini (rice balls) from @thelittlesicilian
๐Ÿฅ” tornado potato from @s fall is in the air and chilly nights are here - which means tis the season for warm and cozy dinners again ๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿ

I’ve been making this curry noodle recipe on repeat using veggies & herbs from the garden (eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, zucch
a beautiful night enjoying golden hour at @riamedefarm earlier this week ๐Ÿ˜๐ŸŽโ˜€๏ธ 

founded in 1952, Riamede is the oldest PYO apple orchard in NJ with 54 varieties growing on the historic property (owner Ashley & her team work hard to preserve its
the summer I turned (half the backyard) pretty ๐Ÿ˜†(and into a sunflower field) ๐Ÿฅน๐ŸŒปโ˜€๏ธ

why re-plant grass when you can have flowers instead? ๐Ÿ™ƒ I’ve loved studying the way the sun hits them throughout different times of the day and seeing all th
some scenes from my favorite place to be in august… home in the garden with the dogs ๐Ÿฅน๐Ÿก๐ŸŒฑ๐Ÿ…๐ŸŒป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพ๐Ÿพโœจ

#summer #august #garden #njgardening #njinbloom #jerseycollective #njisallgood #homegarden #home
ending summer the same way I started it (with @takearecess) ๐ŸŒž๐Ÿน๐ŸŒป๐Ÿ’ฆโœจ

my code “amyventures” gets you 20% off through 9/2 for labor day weekend ๐Ÿซถ

https://app.devotion.club/brand/recess/amyventures

#takearecess #nonalcoholic #mocktail #
mid august abundance from the garden ๐Ÿฅน I always love taking an annual bounty photo when the biggest variety of things are growing and that time is now โœจ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพ๐Ÿ…๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅ’๐ŸŒป๐ŸŒถ๏ธ

extra grateful for it all this year because flashback to this spring I wa been wanting to bake blueberry cornbread muffins for what feels like weeks and finally did yesterday ๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿซ๐ŸŒฝ used @thefullhelping’s vegan recipe & topped with leftover crumb topping I had from a fruit crisp โœจ some things are worth turning th
the most magical moment with a monarch butterfly this morning ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿฆ‹๐Ÿงกโœจ can’t believe it didn’t fly away and we got to hang out for a bit ๐Ÿฅน

#jerseycollective #monarch #monarchbutterfly #summer #njisallgood #njisntboring #glimmer
hammered some of the flowers in my garden onto watercolor paper for fun ๐Ÿ˜ new favorite way to preserve the season unlocked ๐ŸŒผ

#flowerpounding #flowerhammering #tatakizome #hapazome #ecoprinting #gardening #flowerprint #plantdye #naturaldye #summer the most fun day ๐Ÿฅน started off with the special TSOU blueberry matchas from @theelknyc and a couple treats from @libraebakery ๐Ÿซ๐Ÿฅ๐Ÿต (fuel for a crafternoon spent making our shirts for the night โœ‚๏ธ) we finished them just in time ๐Ÿ˜… grabbed a couple happy #nationalicecreamday ๐Ÿ˜š๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ“โœจ

#icecream #summer #jerseycollective #strawberryicecream #icecreamshop
take me back ๐Ÿฅฒ

#capemay #capemaynj #capemaypoint #capemaybeach #jerseycollective #southjerseyadventures #summer
summer arrivals @shopamyventures ๐ŸŒž๐Ÿšโ›ต๏ธ๐Ÿโœจ

#shopsmall #vintagehome #etsyvintage #summer

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Amy Chen (unless otherwise stated). If you decide to reference anything from my blog / website, please give proper credit. Thank you! :)


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