Sorry for the long absence, but I've been sprucing some things up around here. I've added a new Archives tab at the top of the page, which makes it easier to browse previous posts! And I finally have a simple domain name: amandafilchock.com Any suggestions? Please pop them in a comment below.

As expected with all of the chaos of a new fall semester, time has been racing by. I finally have a chance to take a breath and share some photos of what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks. I'm sharing the more exciting scenes with you, rather than when I was banging my head against my desk over midterm frustrations.

I'm moving fast! So hang on!

A few weeks ago I was invited to a beautiful wedding outside of Philadelphia. It was truly a perfect weekend. Seeing as I had never visited The City of Brotherly Love, we spent a brisk afternoon taking in some sights.

Philly, I love what I saw! And I'm coming back to visit soon.

Skipping over to Halloween where things got spooky at the Bethpage Village Restoration. All the evil clowns and ghoulish figures made me weak in the knees.

This year I went as Mr. Monopoly for a friend's spectacular Halloween party! It was ironically the cheapest costume I've ever put together.

I even snuck in some City adventures.

"On the Town" was beautifully done! If you're on a college budget like me, you'll find that tickets aren't too expensive! "New York, New York, a helluva town!" NYCB graciously loaned one of its talented principals, Megan Fairchild, to play the lead. If you love dancing as much as I do, run to this production at the Lyric Theater!

Or you can catch the original 1949 MGM film starring Hollywood's golden boys, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.

http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/on-the-town

Also, if you're willing to try the most amazing pierogi, head to Velselka in the East Village. This Ukrainian spot is open 24 hours a day. And it's super affordable! Sadly I wasn't able to take a picture of the heavenly dumplings before devouring them, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Shown below, they treated us to some festive decor that evening.

Find them here http://www.veselka.com You won't regret it.

This past weekend I was invited on a day trip just a couple hours north of Manhattan to Hyde Park, New York.

It was the perfect fall weekend to visit the former home and Presidential Library of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

We were led on a group tour through the impressive estate.

Here is the inside of FDR's personal library.

This is the view from the back balcony. You can see the Hudson River gleaming in the distance.

FDR loved this property, and requested to be buried here alongside Eleanor.

Next we walked through the Library. This is actually the first Presidential Library that was built in our nation.

I was very impressed by how large the library is! Everything that you could ever want to know about FDR and his three (almost four) impressive terms as President is located here.

This is the office that he actually used while he worked at the Library. FDR even delivered a handful of his famous Fireside Chats from this room.