Hello, hello! It truly has been a very long time since I last checked in here. Does anyone still read this thing? Around 2016, I turned my focus from this blog to my YouTube channel, which is now mostly dormant. And I have Timothée Chalamet to blame for that.

In one of the (many) Timothée Chalamet interviews I watched or listened to, he spoke in what I would consider an abstract way of his fear of being "boring." I still don't feel I 100% grasp what he means by "boring," but what he said got me thinking: are my videos helpful? Do they add value? Are they entertaining, if nothing else?

And even before I fell down the TC rabbit hole, I'd long thought my videos were becoming less and less interesting, helpful, valuable. Simply said, I was running out of original, fresh ideas. There are (and were, before I even started) so many people doing the same thing I'm doing on the internet, and I don't feel that I need to be adding onto that.

Timothée, in another interview, stated that he uses social media as "another expression of self" rather than self-promotion. John Mayer shared a similar, if not less positive, view of social media back in 2011 when he quit Twitter. (Never fear: not only is he back on Twitter and other forms of social media now, but he hosts a mostly weekly Instagram show called "Current Mood.") John made what I thought were very valid points about social media taking over one's mental energy and draining them of their creativity.

Overall, it seems there is a growing sentiment towards going back to a simpler time. Natural beauty. Whole, organic foods. And, maybe more for environmental reasons than anything else, a greater focus on reducing and reusing rather than recycling.

In a paragraph, in the three years since I last really wrote in here, I've: moved back to New York City, started a new job, seen Harry Styles in concert!, gone back to London!, seen John Mayer in concert!, visited the Canadian Rockies! (2017 was an exciting year), gotten my own place, visited Washington, D.C., seen Gary Clark, Jr. in concert, seen James Bay in concert. Most of which has been documented on my Instagram.

But in my everyday life, I've pared down my beauty "routine" to a place I'm mostly happy with, in terms of number of products and "cleanliness." Since 2013, I've worked on switching over to more natural beauty products, and while I'm not 100% there yet, I would say 80% of the products I use are free of chemicals that I find questionable. This year, I've also made more of an effort to consume things in a more sustainable way, whether that's in the foods I buy and eat, or the materials of the products I buy. It's early days yet, but I've been earnestly seeking ways to cut down on the plastic that comes into my life, and I've begun collecting my food waste and dropping it off with GrowNYC every week to create compost.

And in my everyday life, to go back to Timothée Chalamet and John Mayer, I've missed creating. Writing, mostly. If you haven't already noticed, my blog is called "Maxine Writes." There are some things about me that will probably never change: I will always love consuming pop culture, I will always love food, I will always love music, I will always love traveling, and I will always love writing.

So here we are.

I don't know how many people are reading or have ever really read this blog, but I'm writing in here because I love writing, and that's really all that matters, right?

I hope to make this a regular thing, but I want it to be mindful writing rather than content that's pushed out for the sake of this blog being active. And I don't really know what form this blog is going to take. Will it be about clean beauty, sustainability, music, Timothée Chalamet, life in general ... all of the above? I guess only time will tell.

But thank you for reading, if you're still with me at the end of this long soliloquy, or after years of being away. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Bridge City Hustle is a Brooklyn-based band who formed only in 2012, but you probably wouldn't know it by listening to their music. The band's music has a sound that seems distinctive almost to New York City -- jazz, pop-rock, R&B, soul -- it's all in there.

The band is largely made up of musicians who have previously worked behind-the-scenes with big names. Lead singer Johnny Burgos is a producer/songwriter/engineer, bassist Pete O'Neill has played with James Brown and The Allman Brothers Band, sax player Dan Cherouny works as an engineer and producer, and drummer/keyboardist Dave Zerio studied at The Hartford Conservatory. They are an experienced bunch coming together for the first time to release an EP, and it could've been a lot of the same old same old.

But "The E.P." is something new, a surprisingly contemporary blend of older, tried-and-true sounds. Burgos' voice is reminiscent of Gavin DeGraw's with falsetto, but spun in with R&B twists, jazz turns and a splash of sax, it's fresh and original while maintaining a dark, sensuous undertone. A must-listen.

In my "Hipstamatic" entry for October, I posted a few iPhone photos from my trip up to Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, NY. I'm finally back with a full-blown entry on my trip there.

Storm King Art Center is an outdoor sculpture park, located on 500 acres about an hour outside of New York City. I was shocked to learn that Storm King's been around since 1960, because I thought that I would've had a school field trip there by now, or at least heard of it before 2010! Since I heard of it a few years back, Storm King's been on my list of things to do. It just so happened that I wanted to make a trip upstate to experience New York state's awesome autumn foliage, so I paired the two together with the help of the Short Line bus company.

For $46, you get full admission to the art center and a round-trip bus ride to and from Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown. I think it was absolutely worth it. Sculptures are basically scattered throughout the park, in the most unexpected places. Here are some photos ...

October didn't really go by as quickly as one would expect at this point in the year, or in life, but what I have been shocked about is how quickly it's gone from warm-to-hot to very cold.

This month, I got to try a lot of things I've been wanting to try for a while now. Like the Australian restaurant Public in Nolita. (Unfortunately I don't have any photos.) I'm not sure what I was waiting around for -- a phrase I find myself saying more and more often as I get older.

Ever since I can remember, I've known of Hotel Chelsea as this iconic (but perhaps decrepit) place, full of history and star buzz. I don't know if it's because I grew up reading "The Baby-Sitters Club," in which my favorite character Stacey's best friend from home lived in the Dakota (only marginally related), or because one of my favorite actresses as a child was Gaby Hoffmann, who grew up in Hotel Chelsea with her mother Viva, of Andy Warhol-era fame.

Either way, the Hotel Chelsea has been undergoing some incredibly necessary renovations since August 2011, and a photographer named Victoria Cohen captured the hotel as it stood before. The photos to me are altogether eerie, like a skeleton of what once was. I can see some elements of the Hotel Chelsea in the simplicity of some of the downtown New York City hotels today, like Robert DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel. At best, some of these photographs capture a slither of the glamour that must have oozed out of this place in its heyday. But it seems the Hotel Chelsea was never meant to be terribly decadent, but a gathering place (perhaps a euphemism in some cases), maybe even a place to starve the soul and inspire art?

That's what I get from Victoria Cohen's photographs, which are on display at Third Streaming gallery on Greene Street through October 26.

August has been a really exciting month for me, with new opportunities and some birthday celebrations. The weather's finally cooled down some, making walking around the city bearable -- pleasant, even. And believe it or not, I made my first trip to both the High Line and Chelsea Market this month!

Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side

These mini city travel guides are something I've been working on for a long time ... I've been missing the idea of traveling a lot, and I thought that I'd walk down memory lane and pull out some of my best memories and budget travel tips (if I have any) and share them with anyone who can use them. These posts will be as thorough as I can make them without touching upon a lot of the obvious stuff you can find in common travel guides.

I'm going to try to post these once a month, though they take tremendous amounts of time to write and research, so hopefully you'll excuse me if I happen to skip a month here and there. And if you have any questions about any of the cities or would like me to delve more deeply into any particular section or explanation, please leave me a comment.

I'm starting out with my hometown of New York City, the city with which I am most familiar. I was born and raised here in New York City and I've had the pleasure (and displeasure) of watching it change through the years. Because I've lived here for so long and know the ins and outs of the city so well, this New York City "guide" will both be longer and more critical than the ones to come.

Before I get into it, there are a couple things that I feel are absolutely essential to know about traveling to New York City.

When to go ...

Try to go between September-December or April-early June. Summers here are unbearably humid, and add to that the closed-in nature of Manhattan and you're just asking for a sweat-soaked stroll through the city ... with all the other tourists who think summer's the best time to go to NYC. Winters here are a gamble, though for travel purposes, you might run into a freak blizzard and have to cancel your trip. Snowstorms in early April are not unheard of. Daylight hours are significantly shorter during the winter (the sun sets between 4:30pm and 5:30pm), and it can get very cold outside. Personally, I think late autumn is the best season to visit New York City -- it's slightly brisk, very romantic, and the city will just be beginning to get into the holiday spirit.

Lower East Side, Manhattan

Safety

New York City is not that dangerous. Pickpocketing and petty theft happens, but it's more likely that you'll be accosted by someone trying to sell you some sort of comedy show ticket or tour around the city. As a rule of thumb, leave heavy backpacks and fanny packs at home, and make sure the opening or zipper of your handbag is always facing forwards. If you're going to carry a backpack, tuck your most important items deep inside the bag, where it's least likely someone will be able to reach before you notice.

Try to minimize conspicuous use of maps. Preload a digital map or PDF onto your phone, or use your phone's GPS system if you have to. Call 9-1-1 if you feel threatened or are having an emergency.

Public transportation

Public transportation is one of the best ways to see and experience New York City. The MTA subway and bus system can be quite confusing to those who aren't used to it, but it's often the quickest, most efficient and most affordable way to travel around the city. The subway system runs 24 hours a day, though during odd hours and weekends, service can be limited. Safety is pretty much a non-factor on subways -- unless you're traveling alone and to remote parts of the outer boroughs, there is pretty much no bad time to take the subway. I've seen more people ride the subway at midnight than I have at 3pm on some subway lines. In general, I recommend sticking to the subway rather than trying to navigate the bus system (something I'm definitely not comfortable doing after all these years), but there are some exceptions, like the oh-so-convenient crosstown M79 (79 for 79th Street) bus.

If you miss your stop on the subway and don't want to walk from the next stop, look for the next "express" stop (usually denoted on the subway map by a small, white circle with a black outline) after the one you missed on on your subway line. Oftentimes smaller subway stops will not have a walkway that allows you to cross over to the train heading in the opposite direction without having to exit the station and re-enter it, costing you another ride.

You can purchase a "regular MetroCard," which you preload with money that is deducted at the rate of $2.50 per ride (including a transfer within 2 hours, if you plan on riding a bus after you get out of the subway). There is now a $1 fee for any purchase of a brand new MetroCard, so if you know someone who's visited NYC in the past and has an old MetroCard lying around, ask them if you can have it. If the MetroCard's expired (the date can be found on the white side of the card), try talking to one of the sometimes helpful MTA employees in the "boxes" inside the station, and see if they will exchange the expired card for a brand new one. The regular MetroCard can be shared with others, meaning if you and your entire family will be going to NYC, each person can swipe through the turnstile on the same card. The same cannot be said for the unlimited MetroCard.

If you plan on taking the subway a lot, you can buy an "unlimited MetroCard" that covers 7 consecutive days or 30 consecutive days, beginning the moment you first swipe your MetroCard. The 7-day card goes for $30, which comes out to exactly 12 rides at regular price. So if you know you'll be taking more than 12 rides in a 7-day period, go with the unlimited MetroCard. The 30-day card costs $112, which comes out to just under 45 regular fare rides. As I said before, the unlimited MetroCard cannot be shared, as the MTA would go bankrupt (for real this time) if it could be shared. If a whole bunch of you need to go somewhere, sometimes it's cheaper to just take a cab (though unless you manage to hail a minivan-sized cab, it's 4 people per taxi).

If you know you'll have limited time to get to your destination or you're traveling on a weekend or a holiday, be sure to check the MTA website before you get on the train. Trains are more often than not re-routed or out-of-service completely on weekends. And if you can, download a copy of the MTA subway map for your phone before you leave home so you won't be scrambling to find one if you get lost somewhere.

Fifth Avenue and 59th Street

Tips, taxes, and other customs

If you're from out of the country, know that gratuity is not included. This means that at a restaurant with service, you'll be wanting to tip about 2Xs the tax rate (8.875%) at lunchtime (10-15% is typical for lunch) and 18-20% at dinner. If you find the service particularly bad, tip on the lower end. But whatever you do, please do not leave without tipping! If you're at a bar or pub for drinks, the general rule is to leave $1 for every drink ordered.

The sales tax on clothing and accessories here is 0% unless you are purchasing over $110 in goods. There is no sales tax on what the city considers necessities, like groceries and bottled water.

Walking pace. I know ... you're probably like, "What!?" New Yorkers, myself included, get extremely testy when they're making a beeline from work to subway and find that they have to slow themselves down or dodge tourists on the way. New Yorkers walk at a quick pace that you can probably pick up pretty quickly, but then again, you're on vacation. The best thing to do when you're in a large crowd of people who look like they may be on their way to work or on their way home from work is to ... move aside. In Times Square, which is really the only place you'll have to worry about this, you can walk in the streets.

Try not to travel in large packs. The streets of Times Square get very crowded very quickly, and it's easy to lose people. Split your groups up into 5-8 people, at most. And whatever you do, do not stop abruptly in the middle of any street (Times Square or not) to take a photo unless you feel like getting yelled at. Swiftly move to one side before taking your photo.

Miscellaneous

While there really isn't much left about NYC that's "dangerous," don't get scammed or talked into something you didn't realize you had to pay for. While most people trying to sell things in Times Square are fairly legitimate, occasionally someone might try to talk you into buying a salon or spa package that has a lot of "fine print." Similarly, the characters (SpongeBob SquarePants, Minnie Mouse, Elmo, etc.) that roam throughout Midtown Manhattan (mainly Broadway and Sixth Avenue) are not posing for pictures because they like making people happy -- they expect you to pay for the picture. This is true for any Statue of Liberty mimes you see, and maybe even the Naked Cowboys or Girls.

If you're planning to see a Broadway show and didn't purchase tickets in advance, visit the TKTS booth, located under the bleachers at the newly named "Father Duffy Square" (Broadway and 47th Street) and stand in line for a chance at discounted tickets the day of the show. Or, you can save yourself some trouble by downloading the app, which seems to be constantly updated with ticket availability. There are other TKTS booths in the city, located at South Street Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn. Check the TKTS site for hours and locations.

Attractions

I'm going to now outline the sights and places I feel are worth seeing in the form of an itinerary ranging from 3 days to 5 days, divvied up by neighborhood -- which means you can walk between sights (the best way to see the city!) or take a bus or cab. You probably won't need any more than 5 days to see New York City unless you want to take a number of day trips or want to go off the beaten path.

"Must-sees" are coded pink and "only if you have time" sights in teal. *For restaurant recommendations (marked with a yellow map marker), click on "view larger map" for detailed versions of each itinerary I've created. If I did a write-up of all my favorite eateries, I'd never finish this.

Itineraries after the jump!

I'm back with a round-up of some photos I took this month on my iPhone. I'm changing the title of this monthly post from "Hipstamatics" because I've started using a mix of apps and, recently, likely no app/filter at all.

This month seemed to zip by, didn't it? This is made even more apparent by the fact that I don't have too many photos from the month of July. (I don't know where all my July 4th ones went!)

The sky's been looking like a watercolor painting a lot this month (I've been trying to take a photo a day out my bedroom window):

I know I've already said it (and will probably continuing saying it for each of the remaining months of 2013), but May really flew by. It was a blur and I can barely remember how I spent it. I just know there was a lot of food.