Yesterday started out kind of dry tbh. Chris and I didn’t have much planned for the day. I knew I would be meeting with a couple friends I had made through Instagram (perfect way to find models in Tel Aviv), but no times or locations were really set in stone. My jet lag was really bad so I was exhausted and missed my run. Finally, Chris and I decided to go get breakfast from a coffee shop down the street.

While at the coffee shop, we realized I had left my camera battery at home (hence the iphone shot above). We returned home and then decided it was time to go do something with our lives. So, we went on a walk through Gan Meir Park too the book store, Little Prince, on King George Street.

Chris and I settled into a cozy little nook in the indoor seating area after much contemplation on where to sit. With my laptop and a cup of black coffee, I was finally waking up. Chris was in heaven, surrounded by art text books from throughout the ages.

While in the coffee shop I finalized two photo shoots, both for that night. The first one was going to be in Florentine, so Chris and I decided to walk to Levintsky Market to get dinner at Tony and Esther’s- Chris’s favorite cafe in the area. I had to get another coffee if I wanted to make it through the night.

After Dinner, Chris got tired and decided to go home. We walked in opposite directions, as I went to Florentine. Jittering with excitement and obviously way to much caffeine, I met Sefi. Sefi is an Israeli blogger who was born in the former Soviet Union. She moved to Israel at a young age and has traveled the world, living in New York for some time as well. Her Instagram- way2yellow- features quirky, colorful pictures, showing her life in Tel Aviv.

I chose to meet her in Florentine because of it’s hipster reputation. I remembered the streets being lined with beautiful twinkle lights and incredible graffiti. When we began shooting, I immediately realized how different the lighting was compared to New York. Even ‘dark’ alley ways in Tel Aviv have at least one bright street light. When leading Sefi through one such alley way, she did not hesitate to go in noting “we are in Tel Aviv, it is totally safe.”

Sefi got a slice of pizza, and we continued to talk and walk. We continued to wandered around the neighborhood until we got to our bus stop. Turned out Sefi was actually living in the same area I was airbnb-ing, so we hopped on the bus and headed back to Dizengoff Center together. As we were on the bus, Sefi told me all about her life in Tel Aviv. She was so kind, and hopefully we get to meet again soon!

I was an hour early for my second shoot, but I messaged Maya (my second new Instagram friend) on the way to Dizengoff Center. She said she would meet me at our meeting place (Habima Square) right when I got there, so as I said by to Sefi and got off at the Dizengoff bus stop, I headed up the hill to Habima.

I waited at Habima for a while when I messaged Maya who was having trouble parking, so I got in her car and we went to Neve Tzedik, another hip neighborhood in Tel Aviv. Maya had brought her best friend Eden and the three of us walked together through the yellow tinged streets of Neve Tzedik to the Suzanne Dellal Theater.

Maya and Eden are both super cool and obviously gorgeous. It was really cool to meet two girls, both my age, but from another country. Our personalities clicked instantly and we had fun walking around the area making jokes, talking about their normal lives in Tel Aviv, and running into fancy restaurants with pretty lights to take pictures (#DoItForTheGram).

All the pretty twinkle lights reminded Maya of the Christmas tree in Jaffa, so we jumped in their car and headed over to the Southern most part of Tel Aviv. The tree was enormous and gorgeous, perfectly silhouetting the girls in the pictures. At first, Eden didn’t want to get out of the car, she was tired. But after seeing Maya’s excitement at how the pictures were coming out she came out too. They both loved trying on my fake glasses because of how they reflected the lights.

While in the area, we decided to go to the highpoint where you could get a view of the skyline of Tel Aviv. The skyline made a beautiful boket with lights dancing across the night time sea. After the skyline pics, we decided it was time for me to head home. Chris had been texting me, wondering where I was. Maya and Eden dropped me off at my Airbnb on their way back home to the North. We made plans to meet again, they both wanted to meet Chris as well after reading my first blog post.

Although the day started out rough, it ended pretty amazingly. I’m so excited to share these pictures and to meet new people! If I’ve learned anything so far, Instagram is a great way to make friends!