Showing posts with label Hoboken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hoboken. Show all posts

Monday, February 17, 2014

it's time to celebrate!

in a tough economy, any financial milestone can get you giddy.  whether it's paying off your credit cards (or getting them down to the 4-digit numbers), paying your rent on time, feeling financially sound enough to make a big purchase, it's all worth celebrating...

i am now happy to say that i'm debt-free! 

 photo 2014-02-14cardebtfree_zps232e8f39.jpg
"peanut" and i give each other high fives today... and reminisce the first few days of her existence from when i lived in hoboken, pre-parallel-parking bumper scratches, pre-deer-smash, pre-hubcaps-disappearing, pre-fender-bender-on-the-4th-day....

with my eyes set on my finances when i graduated, i was able to pay off my student loans in just a couple years, but when my car decided to poop out on me, i was faced with a tough decision.  i was out in scary new jersey, hundreds of miles from anything i was comfortable with, and had to get a "new" car all on my own.  there was nobody to ask advice where to get my car serviced, there was nobody to ask advice on the best dealership, there was nobody to sit with me when those scary car salesmen try to get more money out of a "little girl."  the ultimate decision was to get a brand new car, the safest bet when i was out here on my own.  who knows if i actually got a good deal on my car, but at least i'm DONE paying for it! and i paid it off over a year early.  there's certainly a special satisfaction for knowing i paid for the car all on my own....

i had a vision for being debt-free in my early adult life, and i did it.  boom.

now i can set my sights on bigger and better things.... or, you know, just save some money?

cheers.
jenn

Friday, August 24, 2012

work late = longer commute = angry me!

i've been working more hours than usual...
which puts a rut into my nightly routine (kickboxing, shower, eat, blog)
i leave late, which doubles my commute in rush hour traffic, i get home late, i miss the kickboxing class, and i can't blog.

so... wednesday night i decided i've had it! i'm not NOT working out just because i miss kickboxing class.

so... i... just... RAN (yes, just like forrest gump tells that sweet old lady in the movie)

i ran all the way to 11th street in hoboken.  round trip is just over FIVE MILES!
craziness, right? well, i guess i didn't run it all in 1 shot. when i got to the hoboken train station, i decided to take a peak inside the newly renovated space.  i was speachless!



it's gorgeous in there.  it's like a mini grand central station. AND it handles 3 different train systems, AND it's a bus stop, AND it's a ferry terminal. (i love that we have so many modes of public transportation!!)

so, running all the way to hoboken was totally worth having sore quads and calves 2 days after the run...

cheers to the weekend!
we're having our favorite "local" visitor visit this weekend!
and going to 2 bbq's
and going on a sailboat ride tonight!
i LOVE summers in the city :)

what are your plans this weekend!??

Thursday, July 5, 2012

happy birthday, murica

baseball
beer
fireworks
(twice!)
mcd's
cookout
jello shots
(twice!)

all on a tuesday and wednesday?

burgers and beer before the game at molly blooms ... and go mets!  
(from the VERY last row... best. seats. EVER!)
fireworks, piggie-back rides (mr p: "man, i feel like mario riding on yoshi!" (immediately nick stops, crouches, and sticks his tongue out "bloop bloop"...), stroll through grand central, and (ugh) jello shots.

 festive empire state building, mr p and christina have a quick heart-to-heart, and mr p orders THREE mcgangbangs (well, one for me, two for him)
miracle grow in full form... so ready for those babies to turn red and juicy!
backyard oasis, complete with a blow-up pool and tiki torches, courtesy of my awesome upstairs neighbor!

3 most adorable pups ever... also courtesy of my awesome upstairs neighbor
(of course, not cuter than my boy stewie , but he's 600 miles away)
winners for being most festive!  these girls are roommates to the owner/baker of brookie cookie , and my friend jo brought this awesome dessert pizza! (brought the toppings separate, so the bext artist of the group could turn it into a patriotic pie :P)

after we stuffed ourselves with grilled food, lots of desserts, and jello shots (again, courtesy of that awesome girl above us), we ventured to hoboken to catch the BEST view of the macy's fireworks   (yep! those ones you watched on TV!) , with the manhattan skyline lining the background.

happy birthday america!!

now it's back to work... while all the people with more than 2 weeks vacation turned their weekend into a 5-day weekend.
someday, jenn... someday.

how did you spend your holiday!? hopefully seeing at least SOME fireworks!!

cheers!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

memorial day weekend... finally!

this week has been a pretty busy/crazy one (see here), but i finally have time to share memorial day weekend fun!  

we had visitors, the first REAL visitors from mr p's family, but they didn't get here until sunday, so we had a few days to relax before the tourist-ness began!

started off the day with some dames coffee and a croissant

next up, mutz and tomatoes :D

spent the evening at SAGE! ...a new thai restaurant/bar in williamsburg, brooklyn (our friend is the owner, so we had to try it... we will DEFINITELY be back!! such a great time :D)




after a crazy, music-filled cleaning session sunday morning, louie and rena arrived!!  they left at midnight after working an entire saturday, drove through the night, then played tourist on sunday.  troopers i tell ya, troopers.

first stop: wall street! 

(NYSE building)

ladies at the NYSE


pit stop at crumbs for a cupcake to share!



...before heading to battery park for a TINY view of the statue of liberty


next up: chinatown! ...and an intro to our favorite munchies spot, fried dumpling (yep, that's the name, haha)


...because you can't beat 5 dumplings for $1!  





banh mi to share (only 1 bite for me... someone LOADED it with way too much siracha!!  silly boys and their infinite spiciness tolerances..)


we pooped out early, and woke up early for a delicious mr-p-made breakfast of cinnamon challah french toast before heading out for the beach!


nothing better than riding to the beach with the top down :D


made it to the beach!  floppy hat and all.


they were in love with the beach.  ohio just isn't the same.


we came home early, and walked to the pier at exchange place before heading to hoboken for BIGGIE'S!


the pier has a breath-taking view of lower manhattan.
(just look at those cuties...)


i think we ordered every seafood item on the menu, for 6 to share... definitely not complaining though!  this seafood salad totally hit the spot.


so many oysters...


yummers.


roasted clams.


we called it an early night, had to work the next day, but spent our last night with louie and rena grilling steak and asparagus :D


and wrapped it all in lettuce wraps!


then dunked it in louie's famous jeow (ahhh so spicy! but SO good)


it was so nice to have family here for a long visit, we didn't want to see them leave!!

(miss you guys already!!)

who's next?? our door is always open :D

cheers.
(and happy "late" memorial day...)


ps... stay tuned.. in the next couple of days i will have some REALLY cool stuff to show you that i have the privilege of being involved with at work.  here's a sneak peak though...

pss... if you came here from living in yellow, thanks for stopping by!  follow me and stay a while :D

Friday, May 25, 2012

feeling posh

as much as i love to watch shows like sex and the city and think how cool it would be to live a posh life in NYC like them, whenever i go to a "posh" swanky place like they always go to, i realize it's TOTALLY not me.

so, when my friend jo wanted us to go to the chandelier room at the W hotel in hoboken, i was really not up for it (but trying to be social, i agreed). 

first, though, i made a pit stop at the historic downtown special improvement district (HDSID) farmers' market on grove street (it's AT the PATH station, so i couldn't avoid it!!) and snagged some whoopie pies from the sassy sweet treats table before heading to hoboken.


yummers.

well... i was certainly PLEASANTLY SURPRISED at how fun i had at the chandelier room!!  well, we were there for happy hour, so it might have been a different scene than the typical saturday night crowd, but it was still cool, with all the fancy brightly colored, velvety furniture, crazy huge modern artwork hanging from the ceiling, and amazing views of NYC just across the hudson river.


i was also expecting crazy expensive drinks (to reflect the crazy expensive hotel room prices!!), but they had a happy hour special where most drinks and all appetizers are just $3!! can't beat it!  so thanks, jo, for making me go to your fancy shmancy posh lounge :D

but, eating apps is not enough for dinner, so we decided to head over to the new location for biggie's clam bar!  we tickled our tastebuds with thai chili calamari, mussels in white sauce, clam po' boys, oysters, and burgers (total fatties last night).  we even snagged a guinness glass to boot! (not stolen, they GAVE it to us since we told them i broke 2 of mr p's glasses at home... p.s. THEN they told us they get them for FREE from the vendors! so, don't feel bad about "borrowing" beer glasses anymore!! haha)


mr p is about to eat his raw oysters on the half-shell!

we couldn't even eat half of our meals after eating so much before the real food came out!!  (fatties for 2 days i guess since we're eating so many leftovers!)

so, besides the mega MONSOON i experienced on the walk to the W (in my new favorite super flat sandals, mind you) last night was a blast :D  ...and i totally recommend BOTH the chandelier room AND biggie's clam bar if you are ever in hoboken (and they are relatively close to the PATH train if you are coming from NYC!)

cheers.
have a happy (and safe!) memorial day weekend :D