life lately + a beautiful mess iphone app

Two weeks ago I stumbled upon the A Beautiful Mess app and now I am addicted to doodling all over my photos... perfect timing to showcase them and also share an update on life! And not just the usual yummy dinner photos...

One big piece of news is I started a new job 3 weeks ago! It was such a crazy and amazing experience because I wasn't looking at all. Getting recruited was such a pleasant surprise, although at first I was like, wait... what? 

But then when I received the offer, I never felt so sure about something in my life. As noted in my previous post, timing can really be quite perfect. Over the years, I've learned to trust my heart and instincts... so I accepted! You can read all about the details on my LinkedIn, but I'm now working at a subsidiary of Amazon and still located in NYC. I had a great 1-week orientation where I fell in love with the startup company culture and was awestruck by the Kiva robots in action at the Pennsylvania fulfillment center -- Amazon technology is just incredible!

Another fun update is I went intense hiking for the first time ever this past Saturday! Through a Living Social deal, a few of us went on a Catskills hike with Destination Backcountry Adventures. It was AMAZING. We left Manhattan at 7:30am and hiked in the Catskills until sunset, climbing Indian Head and Twin mountains. Our guide Dave said we hiked for about 9 miles up and down 2000+ ft of elevation! (Crazy!) After the workout, we treated ourselves to a very calorific dinner at Hickory BBQ. So grateful for that awesome day.

Have you ever hiked before? I think I need to do it again soon, but I'm really excited to chill out for Memorial Day weekend. Any fun plans?

(All photos by Helen Hearts, edited via A Beautiful Mess)