Showing posts with label weekend wanderings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekend wanderings. Show all posts

Monday, January 5, 2015

hey LA, new york city hates the rain too.

if you live in NYC (or the surrounding areas), you know how crappy it was this weekend.  when it's raining and you have to walk everywhere, you order take-out, you cancel your plans to "go out", you make watch the entire first season of friends (because HELLO!! friends is now on netflix, finally!)… i guess it's not just LA gets depressed when it rains outside.

madison square park, manhattan nyc

hung and i may or may not do this when it's nice outside too, but this weekend a friend from college told me she was in town, which meant brunch plans had to be made! luckily for us, we got to stroll across manhattan saturday morning before the nastiness began.  we don't do this often, just go stroll through the park, or go into the city much on the weekends period (now that there's so much to do HERE, in jersey city, blocks from home).  but gosh it was nice.  

the weekends in NYC are a different creature.  of course people have places to go and aren't exactly what this midwest girl would call "nice", but yeah, people are nicer, in a better mood, relaxed.  the first weekend in january isn't exactly tourist weather either, so there are less people on the streets.

we left our house with lots of time to spare, so we strolled through eataly, picking up a snack before brunch (if you only knew my husband and his eating habits…), got to the restaurant early, and ordered some hot boozy drinks to warm us up.

ham focaccia pizza, eataly, manhattan nyc

3rd and 25th, manhattan nyc

unfortunately the rest of the weekend was pure grossness outside, so we were hermits the rest of the weekend… watching netflix, playing video games, cooking stick-to-your-bones food in the crock pot… you know the routine.

pot roast in a cuisinart crock pot

now it's time to kick it into gear, and get back to being active again! we have a friends wedding in june that we have GOT to look good for ;)  my green smoothie is calling my name tomorrow morning (goodbye delicious rye bread and avocado toast, i'll see you when i fit into my skinny jeans again :P)
 
cheers.
jenn

Monday, September 22, 2014

what sundays are made for

 photo riverview_park_nyc_view.jpg

my monday brain might be thinking differently, as i got about half the sleep i should have got last night, but seriously, this sunday was the best.  my video-game-loving husband got to play video games while i went for a 6.5 mile run with a friend, got a blueberry scone from the riverview farmer's market and a ice coffee from modcup, drove to l.o.v.e. furniture to check out their collection of awesome vintage finds and refinished furniture, cleaned the house, and had friends over for dinner. 

how i ran 6.5 miles on a SUNDAY MORNING is beyond me.  i always thought that running with friends would wear me out faster because you end up talking, and can't breathe, etc. but it seems to pass the time faster! maybe that's what i've been doing wrong? i mean, as much as i love ke$ha, i can only listen to them so much before i realize i know the exact length of each song, and get sad when i've gone .35 exactly only miles to "blow". 

hung has become the master at making ma po tofu, and i think it's because we learned that a chinese sauce made from fermented black beans and chilis is the key ingredient to, well, everything.  for once we didn't have sweat dripping down our faces in a panic rush to get dinner done on time, because the dish is super fast to make (we just had sweat dripping from EATING it, because it's so spicy!).

can i have a repeat of that sunday every sunday?

how was your weekend?

cheers!
jenn

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

A Night of Noir - JC Fridays with E. Tittlemouse and Co.

jersey city has seriously been stepping up its game.  and right now, i'd have to say most of it has to do with the residents stepping up their game, coming out to support those small businesses that are popping up all over town right now, and the businesses stepping up either game by hosting community events.  it's been a win-win for everyone.  jc fridays has been a fantastic event in downtown jersey city for a while now, celebrating the works of local artists, getting the community out for a night of fun in the meantime.  although jersey city isn't home to galleries on every block, you can find local art in nearly all downtown restaurants and a lot of specialty stores.  for instance, LITM keeps its walls bare white, with rotating local art on display putting pops of color throughout the minimalist bar.

JC Fridays cupcake
cupcakes from sugar supply

while jc fridays is a great event to store hop/bar hop/art gallery hop, we decided to plant our feet at e.tittlemouse and co . for the night.  napoleon and belinda, the store owners, are huge supporters of local talent beginning to shine.  their theme for friday was "a night of noir" celebrating the upcoming works of john trigonis and lauren clemente , as they will soon launch a new comic book titled " siren's calling ," a horror noir comic book based in santa monica in 1947.   lauren is the illustrator for the comic, and her art featuring scenes from the comic were on display (and for sale) at the event, including original sketches of the characters. 

E. Tittlemouse and Co.

Lauren Clemente with Siren's Calling artwork
lauren clemente's artwork from siren's calling .

everyone was encouraged to dress as if they were in the comic, the men donning trench coats and fedoras, skinny ties and suspenders.  ladies played their parts with sultry dresses, red lipstick, and victory rolls, headpieces from local jewelry artist caviar noir , or fascinators in their hair.

while i was excited to attend the entire event (gosh the anticipation leading up to it was intense!), a last minute business trip put me at the store 2 hours late.  hoping to catch the tail end of it, i didn't even change my clothes before coming (lame!), but luckily my partner in crime/husband slipped his way to the event right on time, in costume (looking as adorable as ever), with the camera and all! enjoy his amateur-but-awesome photos below (gosh he's getting good at those photo-taking skills!)

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

labor day weekend in philly

photo blue door philly.jpg
i'm just obsessed with the look of this adorable house in south philly.  the blue door, the terra-cotta-colored pots, the greens... it's all my favorite color combination for curb appeal.  paint that brick white and i'd never leave....

after a busy long weekend in philly , hung and i are ready to relax (i suppose watching the documentary tiny , taking a 2-hour nap, and watching 6 episodes of parenthood  on netflix  yesterday was relaxing, but i could always use more!)

friday started with dinner with friends at the wonderful olive lucy's in morristown before driving to philly that same night, ending the night with late night pizza and looking at our wedding photos for the first time (eek!).  saturday started with a long walk from south philly to old city and brunch at farmicia (hellllloooo $5 cocktails!), walks through spruce street harbor park and south street (where we found a new-to-us dresser for just $44 at a vintage store !), and dinner at cuba libre (maybe the best meal in philly yet).  the night ended in the best way, drinking box wine with friends at a friends house (who needs to pay for $5 beers when you can drink 3 liters of bota box wine for $18?)

how did you spend your labor day weekend?

cheers.
jenn






Friday, April 5, 2013

birthday begins


why??

it's friday.

it's my birthday.

i'm getting home from boston early.

i get to see my friends tonight.

...and i just watched this video from last weekend and it puts a big smile on my face.

a little shaky, a little blurry, but hey, we're amateurs, we'll get the hang of it eventually.  in the meantime, we can just watch them to reminisce our fun adventures in new york city :)

cheers to the weekend!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

finally


a weekend of sleeping in my own bed.
a weekend that started off making pizza and drinking wine at my own house.
a weekend of going for my first run in months, and stopping at 3 miles only because i ran out of time.
a weekend with a girls night out in manhattan (yay for PATH trains running 24 hours again!)
a weekend of relaxing, sleeping in, and catching up with good friends.


it's good to be home :)

cheers!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

lately




DSC03315   DSC03318

DSC03326   DSC03330

DSC03331   DSC03332


DSC03341   DSC03350

DSC03346.5   Photobucket 1. creamy avocado pesto pasta with roasted spaghetti squash instead of "actual" pasta
2. chocolate italian ice from torico tastes EXACTLY like a fudgsicle, AND it's dairy-free, AND it's sitting on top of...
3. spicy eggnog ice cream (move over, McD's eggnog shake, this one takes the cake)
4. this is the view you'll get if you try to go to the union square holiday market on a satuday at 2:30
5. a healthy lunch: arugula, spicy meatballs, brussels sprouts, wheatberry salad, and coconut red cabbage salad from dig inn... followed by
6. the only thing ever to win in the battle of my sweet tooth vs. sweets: choco chip cookies and hot chocolate from city bakery...
7. fishs eddy... i could live in that store.
8. hot chocolate from westville (chelsea, manhattan)
9. totally "not" posed.
10. market sides from westville
11. chorizo, egg, and gouda burrito and greens salad with lemon-dill dressing (westville)
12. empty subways when it's a rainy day.. apparently new yorkers don't like to go outside in the rain
13. always amazed at the mosaics in the subway stations
14. brooklyn tabernacle christmas show (it's free! you should go see it!)
15. brooklyn tabernacle christmas show
16. unexpected, incredibly delicious, and certainly appreciated sweets from the first day of hanukkah
17. pretty christmas tree at brooklyn tabernacle
18. kodak moment with the bride to be :)
 
last weekend left us exhausted, but thankful for having so many friends who want to spend time with us! we were able to spend a night in for dinner and a movie (even though i fell asleep, sorry babe), go to kickboxing, shop in the city with the girls, go to an engagement party, get christmas card photos taken, have brunch with 4 out-of-towners and 4 in-towners-that-we-haven't-seen-in-a-while, and see a christmas show with friends we hadn't seen in a LONG time.
 
jersey city & new york city, you've been good to us!
weekend. deemed. a success.
 
cheers!

Friday, December 7, 2012

it's the weekend

it's the weekend and i'll cry if i want to, cry if i want to... 
 
(why??? it's the weekend... TGIF for pete's sake!)
 

 
THAT's why. weatherman's calling for rain ALL weekend, and we all know how much it sucks to walk around in the rain! i've got PLANS , man! plans like going to an engagement party, shopping with the girls in soho, brunch, and going to a free holiday concert in brooklyn! good thing i finally bought some hunters a few months ago for the hunt so walking around in the rain is a TINY bit more tolerable.  now all i need is that see-through dome umbrella and i'll be a TRUE new yorker in the rain...
 
 
no rain can stop us though! we've got sales to catch!
 
Macy's
(when are they NOT having a sale? and when THE macy's on 34th st is super convenient, why WOULDN'T you go?)
Williams-Sonoma
the more you spend, the more you save... right? ;)
Urban Outfitters
(extra 50% off sale items! whoa!)
West Elm
(30% off holiday decor)
Sephora
i got an email for $15 off of $50.. did you? if not, sign up for their emails!
 
...just to name a few.

but before we hit up those monster huge stores, we're going to stop at the  union square holiday market to pick up some one-of-a-finds and support the locals :)

image via

if those ideas don't suit your fancy for holiday shopping, sandy victims still need your help! this is an email i got from the NJ State Police today...
 
 
while it's slightly hilarious, it's a reminder that while some people only lost their boats (literally... they can't find them).... some people lost everything...
 
cheers to the weekend!
what are your plans?
 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

weekend wanderings

today i'm linking up with whispering sweet nothings to bring you:
 
 
after our marathon travel month (ohio for a wedding, DC for the color run, mexico to visit far away friends, and philly to visit not-as-far-away friends), this weekend was supposed to be our relax-and-put-our-heads-back-on-straight weekend.
 
fate had other plans!
 
a friend from high school has an interview in NYC early next week, and asked to stay at our place! our apartment is an easy meeting point for this particular group of friends, so our doors-are-always-open policy with our friends said "come 1, come all!" and told us to switch from "you're about to relax" mode to "get ready to party!" mode. 
 
so that's what we've been up to this week... cleaning, stocking the fridge with food and booze, researching fun events in NYC, corralling local friends to come out with us, eating healthy and working out because we know we're going to eat and drink a LOT this weekend, etc., etc.
 
so far, we've only got saturday plans: go to sage in williamsburg, brooklyn, for delicious thai food and drinks, then head back to jersey city for oktoberfest at zeppelin hall beer garden .
 
i have to stop talking about it, because i get so excited!
we will be setting a new record of overnight guests this weekend, with FIVE extra people! which means there will be SEVEN sleeping in a 400-SF 1 bedroom apartment.
 
...and we're going to love every second of it!
 
what are YOU up to this weekend?!
 
cheers!