they are awesome and awful at the same time.
if they button up the front, they droop at the shoulders.
if they fit the shoulders they can't button.

jean jackets are my FAVORITE "accessory" for spring and fall.  i say "accessory" because rarely am i wearing one for keeping me warm.  every single one i try on has something that's just not QUITE right about it, though.  after purchasing what i thought was the perfect one at the gap last year, i decided i needed one that fit better in the shoulders.

welp, after months of saying "i need to get my hair cut" i took the plunge.
i told my stylist to cut it ALL off!

ok ok not ALL of it, it's not a buzz cut, but it was a significant chop to a pretty short pixie cut!!!


before my first pixie in november , and now!

i tried out a new salon, new stylist and i love it so far! looks like i'll be going back!! that's saying a lot considering the only person to cut my hair more than once since i've moved out here is that awesome, hair-cutting roomie of mine.  he cuts boy hair, and my hair has been pretty close to boy hair for a while, so he does a good job... i just needed a totally new look, so i went to a professional.

don't let the name fool you, blow-out  is more than blow-outs, it's a full-service hair salon (and an adorably chic one at that!)  it sits in a renovated historic horse stable, with wide-plank wood ceilings and walls and exposed brick walls, all painted in white, and features a glam style with mirrors, chandeliers, chrome, and lots of natural light.  everyone was friendly, my stylist, cha cha, assured me she loved doing pixie cuts (and does them often), and i just felt at ease and at home there (i've had enough bad haircuts that i get anxiety when i go to the salon).

prices for cuts are fairly standard (maybe even on the low end) for downtown jersey city at $60, but it's steps from the grove street PATH train so it's very convenient, even for those of you who want to try it but don't live in the neighborhood.



now I've just got to figure out corporate-office-friendly ways to wear this fun, rockstar new style!  (mohawks and extra spiky are probably not allowed, though i totally want to see the look on my boss's face if i walked in with a mohawk!!)


(hung's reaction to this look on sunday: "it.. looks... AWESOME!!!" i'm glad i have a boyfriend that fully encourages these crazy looks!!)

cheers!
jenn 

p.s. i feel an instagram binge coming soon, it's so fun to mess around and style this cut!! follow along at @beyondthestoop

that was the view outside of my office yesterday... beautiful, but i'm ready for summer.

after working in boston for the majority of 2013 and watching the entire madmen series, i realized how netflix can suck the life out of you be so awesomely addicting! between the weather being a winter wonderland outside and me starting season 4 of gossip girl (where blair and serena are in paris for the summer), i'm desperately longing for summer.  all of their cute dresses and outdoor dining and riding with boys on vespas makes me want to skip right through the rest of winter and spring and go right to summer (who needs to celebrate a 27th birthday anyways?)

luckily for us, stores are already putting summertime dresses on the racks (err, on their websites?)

here are my top picks for dresses, all under $50!

5 under $50: summertime dresses
 

let me first point out one weird thing about me:

i'm terrified of the hair stylist.

the only reason i don't go to get "trims" on my hair, is because it never turns out the way i want it to.  i haven't found "my go to" stylist, even after living in the same area for 4 years.  i never EVER walk away from the hair salon with that "omg my hair looks so awesome" feeling.  it's always a "gosh i hope i learn how to style this, i wonder what people at work will say, i need to spend the whole night messing with this" uneasy feeling.  i give no fault to the stylist, she's just doing her job, cutting my hair the way i say i want it cut.

i went in for a haircut just before barbados hoping to look like this photo of victoria beckham:

buy new workout clothes.

yes, it sounds silly, because pretty much ALL new clothes put a smile on my face.  but lets get real, friends.  great fitting compression pants and a figure-flattering top will make you want to go to the gym more than your cotton capris that always fall down, your 2-for-$8 sports bras from Wal-Mart that chafe your chest, and your baggy shirt from high school with the holes in the armpits.

last weekend mr p and i purged.  and i mean PURGED.  we got rid of so much stuff that i took 10 trash bags of donate-able stuff to salvation army.  with that, though, i got rid of a lot of clothes i used to wear to the gym with the intention of getting stuff i actually enjoy wearing.  i went through my drawer of "these are the ones i like" workout pants, picked out my favorite style, and vowed to get 3 more pairs. 

off to old navy i went!  although i can't always high five the quality of their normal clothes, i'll definitely high five the quality of their workout clothes .  the compression pants are pretty darn amazing.  i wish i would have taken a photo of myself in the fitting room.  if i was with my mom it would have been one of those laugh-so-hard-i-can't-breathe moments. i put on the pants, bent over with my butt towards the mirror, and tried my HARDEST to stretch them enough to see my undies.  i got into all kinds of funny positions just to make them stretch more, and it just didn't happen.  the pants priced at just $22.94 were NOT see-through, not matter how hard i tried.  move over lululemon , old navy is kicking your butt, and they DO accommodate "larger" sizes , for a fraction of the price. 

after feeling good about the pants, i decided to try on their compression tanks that were sports-bra-like on the top, loose on the bottom... perfect for this girl with non-washboard-abs!! i mean, come on, am i the only one not comfortable wearing a skin-tight tank when i work out!? this shirt is the best of both worlds. tight on top, loose on the bottom.




awesome new shirt , awesome new pants , instant motivation .

case in point: yesterday i get to the gym at 5:45am, 30 minutes from home, doors down from the office... as i grab my things to go inside and run my butt off, i realize i forgot a shirt. as in i don't have a shirt for work.  i had to make a choice.  go back home and get the shirt, and NOT work out, or suck it up, make do, and run...  this girl did NOT go home! she ran 4 miles and wore her coat all day at work.  BOOM.  new clothes = motivation.




what gives you instant motivation to get fit?  tell me about it! maybe i'll think about it next time there's bagels in the office (read: today) or the office buys me qdoba for lunch (read: today)

cheers to the weekend!
(maybe with all this extra motivation i'll actually work out instead of eating fried pickles at LB Burger Bar )

-jenn


p.s. since monday i've put in 8 workouts including running 15 miles and going to 4 kickboxing classes at JCTKD. does that mean it's ok to eat authentic japanese ramen for dinner? no? i'm doing it anyways, because it's date night tonight!

for someone unhappy with her size, you'd think I would be very excited to cover up this mess with some layers.   well, not this girl.  layers means pants that fit the waist (ugh), shirts that fit in the arms (ugh), and boots that fit the calves (double UGH).

i've had quite the troubles finding boots that fit my seemingly disproportionate calves.  when i look at myself in the mirror, i don't see fat calves.  but when mr p has to help me get my vince camuto boots on and off (thanks, babe), and when i go to umpteen stores to try on oodles of boots that just don't 'quite' zip up all the way... i know i have fat calves. or maybe designers just want skinny people with skinny calves to wear their boots.  it's all a conspiracy, i think (maybe like lululemon ?). or sort of like Abercrombie. in high school i was a cool medium at most stores, but couldn't fit into the XL at that perfume-gagging store. some boot-makers make 'plus size boots' under the 'politically correct' term 'wide calf', but lets face it.... just because i don't fit into your tiny 'normal' calf boots doesn't mean you need to go double the circumference on me....

so that's been my predicament.  i'm too 'fat' for normal boots, but my legs swim in those wide calf ones.

WHAT GIVES!!??

luckily, after no luck finding boots that fit, i needed something to make me feel good, so i went into Francesca's for some sure-to-please accessories instead.  then, there it was... an unexpected display of boots.  one last try? it doesn't hurt, right? i slipped one boot on, zipped it up ( ALL the way up), and still had room for about a finger or two, just enough for some leggings or skinnies.

lemme tell you, i felt like Cinderella putting on that glass slipper!! "it zipped!!" i screamed to mr p. "i'm getting them".  i didn't look at the price, i didn't check it they were real leather, i just took them to the register in pure joy.  they actually aren't real leather, but hey, even though they won't look as nice at least i don't have to weather-proof them ;) 

(they are the route 66 red zipper boot , FYI)

now that i've waited so long to find a good pair of tall boots, i've started wearing my combats more often. that's ok though, i hear booties and short boots are 'in' this year.  at least that's what my pinterest feed says.

am i the only one with this issue? the issue of fitting into normal-sized clothes but NOT normal sized boots???

i guess the smart thing to do would be to measure my calves at the widest part with a flexible measuring tape, the kind used for sewing, and do some zappos.com shopping.  they have this great tool on the side where you can pick the calf circumference (genius!!)  but for now, i guess i will just enjoy what i've got: one classic pair of well-fitting boots.  i'll take it.

cheers.
jenn

the day i found this website, is the day i found this shirt, is the day i bought 2 of them.... so mr p and i could be matchy matchy of course :P



since college, my stash of comfy, worn-in, silk-screened t-shirts has dwindled.  that's partially due to the fact that mr p cringes whenever he sees me wear "that orange one with the words peeling off and paint stains", partially due to the fact that i'm ruining my poorly-made malm dresser because i'm such a pack rat.  i've acquired exactly 2 t-shirts since college (4 years ago!), and ALL of them are pretty unacceptable wear anywhere outside of my 400-SF apartment.

all of that combined led me to the impulse buy of our new "jc is my home, boy" shirts. (meaning "jersey city", of course, what else were YOU thinking?)  they are hipster nice enough to throw on with a cardigan and head over to barcade , comfy enough to sweat it out at JCTKD , and hey, who are we kidding, i'm GOING to wear it to bed too.  it might even be cool enough to get a #ootd on my instagram one day (read: today).

do you, too, live in this awesome place called jersey city? (business insider, business insider, and new york times think it's pretty awesome too, btw).  if so, you might want to go buy this shirt too!


("hey babe, you need to open up your jacket so we can see what your shirt says")

cheers.
jenn

My teenage self is cringing at my outfit.

My mid-twenties self says its a rockin' casual Friday look.

My teenage self says black goes with black, brown goes with brown, and blue goes with blue.

My mid-twenties self says who cares as long as it looks good? Mix it up! You wanna wear black and navy? Sure! Pair it with sparkly flats? Go ahead! As long as you rock it (no matter what looks you get from the khakis-and-collars-only peeps at work :P)

Cheers to the weekend!
J&H

p.s. first mobile post!