eighty mag cover featuring billykirk , a jersey city based, made-in-the-usa leather and canvas design company, and the launch party cake, made by cholita dessert bar , a jersey city dessert bar on wheels.

if you haven't noticed already, there are some pretty awesome things happening in jersey city.  i mean, if you just look down newark avenue you'll see boarded up storefronts galore.  no, not boarded up and abandoned, but rather "secret" construction projects waiting to be revealed, putting the entire neighborhood in a state of anxious anticipation.  just since hung and i moved to downtown jersey city 3 years ago, the neighborhood has changed so much (for the better!)  i mean, buzzfeed has been going crazy over jersey city lately, as well as the new york times , yahoo travel (oh hey chadner !), huffington post , business insider , and more.

but last weekend marked another milestone for the transformation of jersey city.  a new jersey city magazine called EIGHTY made its debut at its launch party at the warehouse café .  according to the eightymag website ,  EIGHTY is:

"....a visual representation of a city that is bustling with creativity. With original interviews, profiles, and rich full-page photographs, EIGHTY is about the future of Jersey City and the stories of its people and innovators who act on their dreams.

Led by Marinell C. Montales and Chadner Navarro, Jersey City residents of over 10 years, EIGHTY magazine will feature the works of some of the most talented writers, photographers, and illustrators native to Jersey City, as well as contributors whose works have appeared on the covers and pages of Time Out New York, New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Village Voice, and Travel and Leisure."

if you just went "wow!" that was exactly my reaction when i finally got to hold the magazine in my hands and flip through it for the first time at the launch party.  the paper, the photos, the design, the writing, the businesses and the creatives that are featured... it all puts you in a state of awe.  the kicker? the magazine is free .  you can find it at several locations in jersey city , as well as a few places in nyc and other parts of new jersey.

get your copy soon, because they aren't going to last long! 

follow @eightymag on instagram and twitter
(and go follow @beyondthestoop on instagram , twitter , and facebook while you're at it too :P)


photos via @beyondthestoop on instagram

sending a huge congratulations to chadner and marinell on the success of your premier issue!  we're all looking forward to the future of eighty mag , and the light it brings to our amazing city.

cheers.
jenn

hey guys! did you have a great memorial day weekend?  ours ended with a fun neighborly bbq last night downstairs.  anytime i can eat bbq, drink wine, AND cuddle with a baby i'm pretty much in heaven.

what else is new?  go over to apartment therapy today to vote ( click here to vote! ) on our home for the small cool contest!  we're featured in the "little" category.  although our home is big(ger) than the last, it still qualifies, because it's only 675 square feet!  help us out, friends! ...or, just go over there to see a mini-tour ....


happy monday (well, tuesday, but it feels like monday)!

cheers.
jenn

did you wake up on time this morning? i surely did because i use the alarm on my trusty auto-daylight-savings-changing cell phone to buzz my ear off under my pillow.  i have to admit though, i'm slightly convinced that the quietness in the office this morning is due to the, shall i say, "older" coworkers who still use their non-auto-daylight-savings-changing alarm clocks and forgot to change the clocks... maybe i should give them the benefit of the doubt and say they got "stuck in traffic" or they "woke up but couldn't drag themselves out of bed quite yet" or, really, they're just on vacation.

either way, especially with the time change, we could all use an extra push to wake up in the morning.  what better way than a quality cup of coffee? (i say this as i drink what has GOT to be the worst-tasting coffee on the planet... everyone in the office agrees, i just need to bite the bullet and get a coffee maker for my cube).  i'm not talking about your local starbucks, or your local shop at all, really. and don't EVEN tell me you can't live without your k-cups... fancified instant coffee is just not my thing.  a quality cup of coffee comes from people who are passionate about coffee, people who insist that organic, fair trade beans are the only kind to roast, people who "get" what a good cup of coffee is, and how to make it.

44 north coffee is just that.  they "get" it.  since their debut, i've been a fan of 44 north coffee .  although i typically only drink the good stuff on the weekends, i certainly look forward to those saturday mornings when i'm NOT drinking the awful office coffee (i suppose i don't have room to hate on it, i am fully capable of making coffee at home) their latest newsletter came with a special free shipping over $25 (with code "daylightsavings") to catch a deal before they go on a small break (order by friday march 14th!).  but more importantly, it came with a video, highlighting their story and their passions.  i loved it enough to bring it to you today too!  maybe you, too, can try out their coffee to give you the extra boost you're gonna need in this transition to daylight savings :)

yes, you read that right. 

 
 image via the baker and the brewer

the white house is making beer.
and has officially released their recipe!

download the pdf of the recipe here

so, for all of you home-brewers out there, go get brewing! 
(then call me over for a drink ....or 5)

i know what you're probably thinking... "he got her a fancy new camera for their anniversary, but she didn't get him ANYthing??"

well, you are wrong, my friends!  i got him a panini press!  not just any panini press, though.  THE panini press.  the best one you can find at williams sonoma.  when i asked about it in the store the ladies go "OH! we have them over HERE!" (not in the direction i saw THE one i wanted) "oh, sorry, i don't want that one that's on sale, i need the BETTER one"

i always tell mr p that some things we just don't need the best of the best right now, especially if we don't know how much we will use it or if we know exactly what we want.  some things have little quirks about them that just get annoying (even super expensive things!) .  a panini press is different though.  we have a panini press WEIGHT from my mom that you would use with a skillet or a grill pan, but this summer has just been BRUTAL and turning on the stove is just a disaster in this tiny apartment, and the grill pan just radiates heat for EVER after you are finished with it.  so...i splurged, and i got him the breville smart grill and griddle !



....and we've made 43728943729 sammiches already!



(first is just a rotisserie chicken sammich, second is a grilled chicken sammich with cream cheese, buffalo sauce, and alfalfa sprouts!!)

our original anniversary celebration plans were to use up a gilt city coupon for a sail in new york harbor with manhattan by sail on the shearwater , but the weather was not in our favor that friday night, so we rescheduled for last night!

see more after the jump!