Eating Ice-Cream Everyday for A Week

holiday adventures on the east coast

Jun 12, 2023

Last month I went on a two-week vacation and explored the US!

I had to travel to Boston for my sister’s university graduation, and since my husband has a lot of family on the East Coast we decided to make a road trip out of it! Starting in Philadelphia, to Cape May, to Princeton, to NYC, to Maplewood, to Boston. Whew!

Apart from NYC, I haven’t been to any of these parts before so I was super excited.

This was also the perfect opportunity to finish my SKETCHBOOK!!! This was a truly big deal because I had not finished a sketchbook since 2014 when I was still in art school. You can actually see that book in the video below!

And I attempted MULTIPLE times afterward to sketchbook again, but I had a really hard time trying to get back into it and kept failing. However, since I began my journey into traditional illustration last year, I attempted a new sketchbook and I was finally able to do it!

Funny enough, it took me exactly ONE YEAR (May 25 2022 - May 27 2023) to complete this book. I’m going to share the last few pages that I journaled on this trip, but you can view and download my whole sketchbook on my Patreon: available for my $3.50 tier patrons

Anyway, let’s get on with it!

Our first stop was Philadelphia!

Unfortunately, we only had an afternoon in the city but I absolutely loved how historic and beautiful the area was.

We headed to Reading Terminal to find some lunch, but of course, we went at the absolute worst time (weekday lunch rush) so it was packed.

I knew getting a cheesesteak was a must, and we saw an insane line for a stall. A lady in line insisted that this sandwich was absolutely worth it, so we decided to stay in this ridiculous cue for 40 minutes… only to eat the most mid sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my life. She tricked us!!!

We did however get some incredible ice cream afterwards which made the trip worth it. This also began our Ice-Cream Tour where we had to get a scoop every day.

We did a little walking tour of the city, and then we stumbled on an art supply store. Of course, we had to stop in :) Prices are generally a lot cheaper in the US than Canada so I always try to stock up on paints and materials when I visit.

Dan was very patient while I rummaged through here

Then we headed to Cape May, NJ for the weekend!

Guys, I fell in love with this beachside town!!! It was so quaint and beautiful, and I could just picture myself running a little bookstore by the beach. There were quite a few antique stores in the area as well so I had a wonderful afternoon with coffee and pursuing. I even nabbed a couple of little treasures including a fun Door Wedge, a wooden sailor, and an adorable porcelain elephant sugar/milk saucer set.

Note the ice-cream sandwich, we had to switch it up after two days of regular scoops!

The highlight of this beach town were these gorgeous Victorian homes, similar to the Pink Ladies over in SF. What a dream it would be to live in one of these!

Our next stop was Princeton! Again, we signed up for a walking tour to see the university.

There were quite a few bookshops around, and since I had finished my sketchbook, I got a Molekine to keep the party going, as well as a Hungry Caterpillar pencilcase.

To fulfill our icecream quota, we stopped at Thomas Sweet Icecream, which is famously known as Albert Einstein’s favorite spot!

Last year I had the chance to work on a puzzle illustration. I actually had no idea when it was going to be released, but funny enough I stumbled onto my puzzle at a toystore in Princeton!!!

Our next few days were split between Maplewood and NYC, and I got to meet some online art friends!

Fellow kidlit artist and Substacker Lian Cho took us on a little tour through Brooklyn! We spend the day exploring a bunch of fun thrift stores, grabbed some pizza, and met up with another kidlit artist, Veronica Mang.

Just three artsy gals (and Dan) painting the town red!

Lian has a new book out called 100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli and she got to do a fun window display at Books of Wonder. This is an incredible children’s dedicated bookstore in Manhattan that I had been dying to visit for ages. They have an insane rare book collection and even original art!

The next day I checked out her beautiful display, and even signed some books of mine they had in stock!

Then Radhia Rahman took us out for a tour of Queens!

We got to visit Yosuka Stationary where I grabbed a really fun fountain pen, and saw some of Radhia’s merch on display too. I also got a MASSIVE honeycomb flavored icecream cone from Van Leeuwen, and as soon as we left the shop it DROPPED OFF THE CONE and I had to walk-of-shame back inside to ask for a replacement (in a cup because I cannot be trusted).

After that, the fun tourist times were over (as well as the icecream because we destroyed our stomachs) and it was time for my sister’s graduation in Boston! Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos/sketches to share from this time since we were busy, but a few highlights!