Saturday, March 30, 2013

the little things: perfect imperfection

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so many imperfections.
there are many things i could change.

but gosh... i love my house.  and being home. it's perfect to me.

cheers to a sunny saturday

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

partner in crime

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....actually, the only crime we committed that night was crossing the street when and where we weren't supposed to (come on, it's new york, you'll get ran over by other people doing the same thing if you DON'T cross when there's no cars coming, no matter the traffic signal)

while mr p was getting ready to go out saturday night, i called him over to the full length mirror and asked this exact question,

"does this look ok or does it look completely ridiculous?"

"looks good, babe.  but you look SO hipster."

sometimes "hipster" walks a very fine line between looking totally trendy and totally ridiculous. mr p helps me decifer which side i'm on, but i guess because we were going to the east village, you can practically play hopscotch with that line and nobody says a word....

i love new york :)

cheers!

date night: hamilton inn

i've had my eye on this place ever since i moved to jersey city.  their christmas lights on the tree out front that they leave up all year are just so darn cute and enticing.  it's always packed, it's dimly lit and cozy-looking, we just had to try it out.  so, friday we did just that!  we went to hamilton inn after i got home from boston.  besides, when's the last time we had a date? i don't even remember....

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that night i learned i do NOT like negroni's

that night i remember why i bought my puffy to-the-knee jacket (it's been SO cold here!)

that night i was reminded why mr p is the best restaurant explorer: we always order 2 meals and split so we get to try both

that night we were reminded why it's so nice to go on a date, even if all the food is food we can make at home: we catch up with each other on a level that's different than our weeknight goodnight phone calls, different than g-chat, different than while we're at home with plenty of distractions....

that night was just nice .

cheers.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

i have to get one

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(all gifs via)

cat saturday was SO funny this week... you should check it out so you, too, can have tears of laughter rolling down your face. 

gosh i want a cat so bad.....

cheers!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

warning: food porn

i think you all know that mr p and i live for food.  we spend our free time either cooking food, eating out, reading about food, or watching tv shows about it.  living in a hotel in boston and eating at the same restaurants every night sort of kills any opportunity to truly enjoy this part of our lives. now we basically shove all of that food excitement into the two days that i'm home, whether we do it consciously or subconsciously.

here's a recap of last weekend (and it's not even all of it!)


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mr p makes homemade pizza... cheese and onions only? surprisingly good!

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seemingly weekly sunday dinner with friends, mr p made crock pot pulled pork and homemade vinegar-based bbq sauce.

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this time we (he) made it with pork loin instead of pork butt, only a little bit dryer than it's fat-filled counterpart, but when drizzled with some bbq sauce you can't tell a difference!

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jenn made the fudge AND the super dense, super dark chocolate cake.  we didn't ask her bring a thing... guess she knows the key to our satisfaction...  a little homemade toasted coconut marshmallow creme and a little booze tossed in the cake certainly helps too ;)

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crunchy granola for the road... this time we added dried cranberries, cocoa powder, and cayenne pepper!

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bad thing about having vintage ball jars: the vintage lids are rusty and gross.  we still haven't bought a set of standard lids yet, so we just cover with foil... boo.

gosh it's nice just to sit at home in our robes, drinking coffee, writing while mr p plays his bday video game, and relaxing with my boo.... a perfect saturday is off to a good start :)

cheers to the weekend!

Friday, March 22, 2013

its hip to be square

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1. 200 dumplings for a 10-person dinner party at our 450 sf apartment.  my kind of night :)
2. greeted with malley's chocolate when i got to chicago
3. donut vault. 'nuf said.
4. brunch at the peasantry
5. view from the new office in boston
6. finally a home-cooked meal after whilewind weeks eating out in boston and a food-coma-inducing weekend in chicago
7. love when friends come over with homemade boozy desserts in hand
8. reminiscing awesome coffee shops on broadway in lakeview
9. first time guinness EVER (note: mr p is truly a guinness lover, i might now know why!)
10. if i'm gonna be missing kickboxing while working in boston, i might as well work out, the gym's nice, free, and IN the building, no escuses.
11. potential future work location.  i could be rubbing elbows with the kennedys.
12. gotta love a good outlet-store outfit :)
 
cheers, everyone... it's FRIDAY!
 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

profanity is a good thing?

...well... i wouldn't quite say that...
 
but...
 
if you're going to use profanity, it might as well be used to grab attention for something good instead of, well, anything else.
 

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so, thanks, thug kitchen , for doing just that!
 
 
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image via
 
i just can't get enough of it! this blog is relatively new, and i'm SO looking forward to seeing what other mother fucking healthy things they have to say.  i'm gonna go eat some swiss chard now (oh wait, i'm living in a hotel, and finding a way to eat swiss chard without a kitchen, knife, or cutting board is rather difficult. maybe mr p can make me something with it this weekend :P)
 
cheers!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

my main squeeze

happy birthday to my main squeeze :)
 

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love you like....
 
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(via)
 
see you friday!!
xoxo
 
jenn

 

Monday, March 18, 2013

unexpected hiatus

it's been so long since i've posted it feels weird...
 
here's the scoop, though.
 
as you know, i'm not your typical blogger.
i'm not a stay-at-home mom or wife, i'm not a teacher, i don't work in admin, i'm don't work in fashion, photography, or any other creative field. i'm an engineer, and i never JUST work 8-5.  though blogging is fun, and i truly enjoy doing it, work has just taken over lately. topics i write about rarely coincide with work, and because work takes 100% of my focus, sometimes it's hard to shift that focus to being creative (or at least push it into the non-nerd zone...).  normally i write or edit photos on my lunch break, it's nice to kick back and take a break from my normal engineer stuff (and hey, i don't get paid for lunch anyways, might as well take advantage of what's supposed to be free time)
 
right now, though, things are different. life is different. up until about the end of january, i worked 8-6ish, went to kickboxing with mr p every night we didn't have something else going on (like dinner with friends, happy hour, concerts, whatever we felt like doing) and although life was rather routine, i pretty much loved every second of it.  i normally got in a good workout, i normally saw my friends several times a week, mr p normally cooked a 5-star meal for me, i always got to snuggle with mr p at night, and i normally had time to blog.
 
now i'm getting up at 4am on mondays to catch the 5:29am train to manhattan (lets get real, i RUN to the train because i'm always running late) just so i can catch my 6:20am train to boston. i work long hours, sometimes skipping lunch or dinner just because i want to get as many work things done as possible, get back to my hotel at 9pm or 10pm, stay up late because i can't just fall askeep right away, get too little sleep, push through the week not going to kickboxing, eating out every meal because i'm staying in a hotel, pick up the afternoon train back to manhattan getting home by 8:30pm if i'm lucky.  most of all though, and, i'm missing mr p, my friends, and my life back in jersey city.
 
it's exhausting.
 
and i'm less than 2 months in. i've got a long haul to go. hopefully i will get a better grasp on how to better live this less-than-ideal life, but for now, all i can say is that it sort of sucks.  i realize that all successful people in the corporate world make some sacrifices.  i guess i can just be thankful that my time for making these sacrifices is before i have kids.  i'm thankful that i have a partner that, who obviously thinks it also sucks that i'm gone during the week, supports me and knows that taking this step in my career is a smart move.
 
(i know, all you hear is blah blah blah, life sucks, blach blah blah)
 
that's not entirely the case, i still see mr p and friends on the weekends, i still get to eat mr p's awesome food, and i still know how to have fun (my pounding head was reminding me of that on saturday morning) .....
 
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....including drinking my first guinness for st patrick's day (mr p was so proud :P)
 
it's all going to just take some getting-used-to...
the world's not ending....
and i'll make it through :)
 
cheers.

Monday, March 4, 2013

its hip to be square

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#1  leftovers from ohio steal our tastebuds
 
#2  finally a view from a hotel in boston that doesn't face other hotel windows that are 10 feet away
 
#3  v-day flowers in the office from another man... don't fret. ALL the ladies on the third floor get flower on valentine's day.  there's a whopping 5 of us, so it doesn't exactly break the bank
 
#4  flashback to high school. i rocked that girl-tux-with-a-bowtie-and-underboob-to-floor-length-skirt that we had to wear for concert band
 
#5  i'm surprised i didn't get any comments on my outfit when i walked into work in this outfit.  supppper-jenn, so the rescue!
 
#6  regal entry to our less-than-$100-per-night hotel we snagged in downtown boston (that has a gym better than the one mr p used to PAY to go to)  ...see me for the deets.
 
#7  only non-work photo i took on my trip to the UK.  pretty much sums up my trip.  nothing exciting outside of work, and not a single memorable meal.  note to travelers: don't go to the UK for food.
 
#8  my favorite way to spend a saturday morning... good coffee, good food, next to mr p.
 
#9  our friend had people over to eat this awesome cake he made from scratch (the mousse-ish frosting too!) and i accidentally turned his apartment into an oscar party (oops!)...  pretty sure i could eat that cake everyday though... no... scratch that... i'll eat the homemade ice cream everyday... no... that would be bad... but so good...
 
#10  i've only ever found 1 place that has tamarind sorbet and tamarind slushies.  lucky me i live right across the street from it ;)
 
 
....spending another lonely night in boston.  at least i discovered the gym in the hotel tonight.  now i know the novelty of building a tv INTO the treadmill.  no excuse to NOT go, and you get to watch your favorite show!  tonight i caught a random episode of two broke girls... GOSH that show has some raunchy jokes!!
 
cheers!