NYC Guide: 5 Things I Loved This Week

Confession: These events happened over the past few weeks. I love New York City so one of my New Year’s resolutions is to share more NYC content on Elana Lyn!

1. “The Invisible Thread”:

I saw “The Invisible Thread” with my mom and dad. The show is a true story about Griffin, a 20-something who quits his job in NYC to volunteer for a charity in Africa. Griffin meets and begins teaching a group of teenagers and eventually donates their tuition to a school. Griffin founded the Uganda Project and he and his boyfriend, Matthew Gould, wrote “The Invisible Thread” to raise money. My favorite part of the musical was connecting with the students then learning how successful the actual students have been.

2. #HerAgendaLive: Overcoming Fear, Facing Failure and Actualizing Ambition:

I went to Her Agenda’s event Overcoming Fear, Facing Failure and Actualizing Ambition. The panel featured Meagan Hooper, founder and CEO of bSmartGuide.com, Victoria Taylor, director of digital community at WeWork, Soledad O’Brien, CEO of Starfish Media Group, and Vanessa DeLuca, the editor-in-chief of Essence Magazine. I left feeling so inspired! And you can to, watch the full event.

3. Spin for Sundara:

My friend Erin Zaikis hosted Spin for Soap at Studio 360 to raise money for Sundara‘s disaster relief work for the recent Chennai floods. They raised enough money to cover soap deliveries for 1000 residents affected by the floods. It was a great spin class for a great cause! I’m so proud of Erin and all of the work she does.

4. SkinCeuticals Dermaplanning Facial at Russak Dermatology:

A few weeks ago, I went to a SkinCeuticals and Russak Dermatology event hosted by Alison Brod PR. I learned more about SkinCeuticals and the new office while people passed around chocolate-covered strawberries, macaroons, champagne, and light bites. The Russak Dermatology office is gorgeous and I was so excited to open my gift bag and see that I could to go back for a facial! I chose the SkinCeuticals Dermaplanning Facial. Dermaplaning is an exfoliation method that uses a specialized tool to exfoliate the epidermis and rid the skin of dead skin cells and fine hair. After the exfoliation, I got extractions and a gentle chemical peel. My skin felt so soft afterward and it really helped clear out a few stubborn blemishes! Christine from Russak Dermatology was fantastic and let me ask her approximately 1,000 questions about skincare. It was the perfect way to spend my day off from work! My skin has been essentially blemish-free, soft, and glow-y ever since.

5. Manila Social Club’s Golden Cristal Ube Donut:

You may have seen articles about the gold donut. The cafe is right next door to us at work. It’s essentially a second office for us. (They even let us host conference calls there all the time!) We were all so excited to see that they are getting so much attention because of their new Golden Cristal Ube Donut. It’s filled with Ube mousse and champagne jelly and covered in 24-Karat gold!