7:40-8:00, I wake up much to my annoyance to the ringing of my cell phone alarm where it is usually turned off to sleep for another 5 minutes. I get up to take a shower and quickly realize if I don't hurry up I'll be late for work(yet again).
8:20-8:45, Get out of the shower, dry my hair, throw on some clothes, put make up on and leave the house
8:50, I either start walking to work or decide to be lazy and take the bus. I try not to take the bus because I'm being cheap and/or feeling fat.
8:50-9:15, My walking commute to work consists of a daily stroll next to an old church converted into a concert hall, a daily food market where I pass by a stall of my favorite coffee, Flat White. ahhh I want those croissants..... I look to my right and I see three ladies chopping up veggies from Sunny's salad stall. I look to my left and I see a man from my favorite curry cart, Mantra, making rice. Le sigh....so good. After I pass by the Mountbatten office, the beautiful Bloomberg building comes to my right. I am completely jealous of their differently lit floors. Orange for one floor, Green for another and Blue for another. Tres cool. I glance by the clear sliding doors and see a TV broadcast either being taped or done live. I look at the open blinds and look at a shadow of my former life, a radio studio. The monitors, studio mics and boards all remind me of my two years at ABC Radio. I continue onto the UBS campus at 3FA just about 50 yards from the Bloomberg building.
9:20-12:30, I settle into work. Unlock my computer, grab a latte from the kitchen. I press the espresso button first then the latte button. The sound of freshly ground espresso beans means I'll have caffeine in my system. Awesome. I make my cereal then proceed to read over work e-mails while briefly browsing the nytimes. I sign onto our internal chat system and see the Mountbattens have already started chatting about our homework(we all hate to do), the GP, goings on and the finanical market. Politics used to be a topic before Obama got elected. It was lovely to see the nice conservative/liberal divide amongst us. I open my notebook and write down a daily to-do list. My personal tasks are right alongside my professional tasks for the day. It's usually the same thing: mountbatten hw, database work, follow up with x person. Some work is completed but I quickly get distracted by ryanair.com and uk.travelzoo.com and e-mails from Elly. I contemplate booking another holiday with my meager £615 montly stipend. le sigh...I can't afford an amazing 7-night 5-star £399 holiday in Turkey. I can only afford 'Free' Ryan Air flights and discount National Express trains.
12:30-2:00, Lunch is usually taken about this time. I either go to the deli next door with some other Mountbattens, run errands around the city, or eat at my desk whilst browsing the internet. hmmm gossip girl recaps on nymag i used to buy lunch everyday but the better sense has kicked in (as well as my lowly bank account) and i try as much as possible to pack lunch. Elly makes me some ham and cheese with mustard and butter(it's a brit thing).
2-6, This time I attend more meetings finish up as much as I can on my to-do list. By the 3:13-4 hour, I'm lagging and need more coffee. I usually get a hot chocolate instead. By 5, I'm either done with all my work or I'm trying to finish up as much as I can for the day. Work is funny and boring 90% of the time. I am insulted at least once by my coworker who sits across from me and at least one IM is exchanged about my lack of excel knowledge.
6-sleep, I get out of work(yay!), go home to eat, sleep, browse fb and "do mb hw." Or I head down to elly's for some dinner, cuddles, hugs and the Daily Show. A night like this is consisted of Elly and I making fun of Turton at least once and bowing down to the awesomeness that is John Stewart. the other occasional option is to actually go out and get drinks. if i go down this route, i'm usually tired after half a pint of strongbow. lol If this is a Tuesday or Wednesday night, I'm home watching Gossip Girl with Deena. I still heart you!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Adventures in Edinburgh (aka I want Starbucks every 5 seconds.)
Last week, I took the 5 hour train ride via National Express with my roommate Ohan and another Mountbatten Kristin. My train left King's Cross at 10 am without a hitch and I slept 70% of the time. I was really excited for my trip and glad to get away from London for one weekend. I knew that it would be a lot colder and knew I'd spend money that I didn't have on random touristy things. By the time we passed Newcastle, the train rode along the coast where to the left of me i saw beach, rainbows and beautiful views of the (North Sea?). To the right of me, I saw the usual sheep and rolling green hills. It's so true about this part of the world - it's all sheep and green hills. I tried to take pictures of my view and last hour of my train ride but alas my camera failed me.
we get to edinburgh at around 2:30 and realize our hostel is about a 5 minute walk from the rail station, edinburgh waverley. this was the first time ive ever stayed at a hostel but i wasn't too scared. I was only worried about the noise if there would be any. We walk up the royal mile to our hostel, brodies. The check-in process: I zoned out the whole time worrying if our bunk beds would be occupied by some sort of weirdos. Alas, we get into our room and people are fast asleep. Meh? 3 PM on a Saturday? Ok…. As we speak in hushed tones, a girl awakes from her makeshift bunk space made up of tartan blankets draped around her bed bunk sides. Next thing I know it, I see a bunch of curls wrapped up in a towel running toward the bathroom. Uh ok whatever.
We proceed to leave and walk along the Royal Mile. Yes, the spreadsheet I made during that week is going according to plan. Obligatory pictures taken including Ohan’s excitement over her pics with “men in skirt.” We approach the castle proceed to pay where we encounter a kind girl who tells us it’s too late to buy a ticket. The next day it will be then. We walk all the way down to the other side of the Royal Mile and approach the Queens residence when she goes to Scotland, Holyrood Palace. It looks sooo pretty and we wish to go in but it is too late again. After taking pictures in front of Salisbury Craigs and the Scottish Parliament, we walk toward New Town for dinner. By this point, we were starved and wanted anything. We go to a place called Mussel Inn on Rose Street. Kristin and I split a kilo full of mussels in cream, shallot, garlic sauce. Oahn gets a seafood mix in Thai broth. All of us enjoy our meal greatly. Omg, it was so good and so filling. I couldn’t finish all of it.
After dinner, we head to Mary’s close for our haunted ghost tour. It was pricey at 10 pounds (9 if you’re a student), but it was completely worth it. We start at the gift shop and am ushered into a section behind a closed door. The lady, in full costume gives us the ground rules about the tour. She warns this is a real place where things have happened. This is not for the ones that get easily scared she adds. The tour group made up of approximately 15 people descends a flight of stairs down to renovation of an actual close. Our tour guide leads us to different areas of the close. She warns us of paranormal activity in different rooms. There are ghost stories and a recreation of witch trials. Before the tour ends, we go into an old apartment where our tour guide shows us a guy with a toilet which was of course completely odd in that time. We look inside when a couple of people point out a curtain/door moving inside the apartment. Is that a draft? Or is there someone there? The door/curtain moves along with the floor creaking. The door is shut after people start to get scared. Have we just encountered some paranormal activity? Hmm…we’ll never know.
Being scared wasn’t enough so we headed to Grassmarket to get our old man pub on. Lol Before that we got some crepes from a cart in the middle of the street. Later I find out they used to do hangings in that area…nice. After stuffing myself with an apple crepe, we head to an old man bar called the White Hart. For all I know, it could not be an old mar pub but that night it was. Kristin and I drank some ginger and whiskey whilst Oahn had rum and orange juice.
The second bar we went to was on Victoria Street. We go in where, according to Kristin, are giving the death stare. Kristin goes up to buy drinks where we are immediately asked for Ids. The AMERICAN(!!!) bartender proceeds to briefly question Oahn’s California ID thinking it’s fake. Better heads prevail and we’re served. As we’re sitting, chatting watching Oahn star to get red-faced and sleep, men seem to get up to the left of me and fart in my face. Hmm….that was the highlight of my evening. I wish I could show you the face I made when it happened.
Our drinking was short lived since I suck at tolerance and it seems to be the only other Mountbatten that’s worse than myself is also on this trip. Hahaaha We head to the hostel hoping to get a decent night’s sleep where…..we hear that odd sleeper put her phone on speakerphone at 6 am!!!! And talk to her when EVERYONE else is sleeping. Lovely.
Sunday begins with a 15 minute bus ride out to the Leith district of Edinburgh where we get a huge Scottish breakfast made of the following: eggs, beans, mushrooms, toamato, black pudding, haggis(!!), sausage, bacon and toast. I actually liked the haggis. I suppose when you eat everything under the sun growing up, sheep guts isn’t going to surprise you. The black pudding was gross and inedible. I tried to eat as much as I could but the plate or the “big breakfast” as it was called proved to be too big for me.
With our stomachs full, we go back to the Royal Mile to head up the castle again. While Kristin was doing Mountbatten work, Oahn and I went to the castle. We paid 10 pounds to take a bunch of really nice views and really funny pictures. Honestly, don’t spend the 10 pounds if you don’t have to. There are better sites on the top of Calton Hill. The castle is small, unimpressive as well as boring. Hahaha Although a highlight was the Prisioner of Wars exhibition. It was very interesting to see a mock up of where they would live, how much they’d eat, what they’d do to pass time.
After stumbling around Edinburgh taking more pictures, we head into Tigerlily for some drinks and dinner. Their 2 for 1 is a must if you want something different than pubs. It’s good typical hotel food if you’re craving for that. The setting is very funky. Think pink Victorian wallpaper with wicker chairs and beaded curtains. Trust me, it works.
We head back to the hostel early to call it a night. The hostel is buzzing with tons of people in the common room. We soon find out that the crazy girl is having a going away party since she’s moving to Thailand. Fun! I don’t join thinking about how much money I’ve been spending and how I want to steal their baked cake. I retreat only getting a crappy instant coffee with lots of sugar and milk. Sleep arrives fairly early that night….
Our last day in Edinburgh consists of a historical walking tour taking us to the cemetery, where J.K Rowling wrote Harry Potter, the castle, hidden passageways and closes. It was a very nice tour indeed. I learned a lot and best of all…it was free!!! Oh and the awesome pulled pork sandwich I got from Oink for lunch. The combo of apple sauce and pork was very tasty.
After a dinner stop at M&S, we kill time at the Royal Mile buying some gifts for friends and family. We board a train back to ol’ London town at 5 pm that night.
Ahh…what a fun weekend indeed!
High points: hearing Oahn get excited over seeing “men in skirt” / see her fall asleep at the dinner table at Tigerlily. Drinking Starbucks and eating awesome pulled pork, mussels and Scottish breakfast.
Low points: having men fart in my face at the pub Saturday night. Succumbing into starbucks’ Christmas cups.
we get to edinburgh at around 2:30 and realize our hostel is about a 5 minute walk from the rail station, edinburgh waverley. this was the first time ive ever stayed at a hostel but i wasn't too scared. I was only worried about the noise if there would be any. We walk up the royal mile to our hostel, brodies. The check-in process: I zoned out the whole time worrying if our bunk beds would be occupied by some sort of weirdos. Alas, we get into our room and people are fast asleep. Meh? 3 PM on a Saturday? Ok…. As we speak in hushed tones, a girl awakes from her makeshift bunk space made up of tartan blankets draped around her bed bunk sides. Next thing I know it, I see a bunch of curls wrapped up in a towel running toward the bathroom. Uh ok whatever.
We proceed to leave and walk along the Royal Mile. Yes, the spreadsheet I made during that week is going according to plan. Obligatory pictures taken including Ohan’s excitement over her pics with “men in skirt.” We approach the castle proceed to pay where we encounter a kind girl who tells us it’s too late to buy a ticket. The next day it will be then. We walk all the way down to the other side of the Royal Mile and approach the Queens residence when she goes to Scotland, Holyrood Palace. It looks sooo pretty and we wish to go in but it is too late again. After taking pictures in front of Salisbury Craigs and the Scottish Parliament, we walk toward New Town for dinner. By this point, we were starved and wanted anything. We go to a place called Mussel Inn on Rose Street. Kristin and I split a kilo full of mussels in cream, shallot, garlic sauce. Oahn gets a seafood mix in Thai broth. All of us enjoy our meal greatly. Omg, it was so good and so filling. I couldn’t finish all of it.
After dinner, we head to Mary’s close for our haunted ghost tour. It was pricey at 10 pounds (9 if you’re a student), but it was completely worth it. We start at the gift shop and am ushered into a section behind a closed door. The lady, in full costume gives us the ground rules about the tour. She warns this is a real place where things have happened. This is not for the ones that get easily scared she adds. The tour group made up of approximately 15 people descends a flight of stairs down to renovation of an actual close. Our tour guide leads us to different areas of the close. She warns us of paranormal activity in different rooms. There are ghost stories and a recreation of witch trials. Before the tour ends, we go into an old apartment where our tour guide shows us a guy with a toilet which was of course completely odd in that time. We look inside when a couple of people point out a curtain/door moving inside the apartment. Is that a draft? Or is there someone there? The door/curtain moves along with the floor creaking. The door is shut after people start to get scared. Have we just encountered some paranormal activity? Hmm…we’ll never know.
Being scared wasn’t enough so we headed to Grassmarket to get our old man pub on. Lol Before that we got some crepes from a cart in the middle of the street. Later I find out they used to do hangings in that area…nice. After stuffing myself with an apple crepe, we head to an old man bar called the White Hart. For all I know, it could not be an old mar pub but that night it was. Kristin and I drank some ginger and whiskey whilst Oahn had rum and orange juice.
The second bar we went to was on Victoria Street. We go in where, according to Kristin, are giving the death stare. Kristin goes up to buy drinks where we are immediately asked for Ids. The AMERICAN(!!!) bartender proceeds to briefly question Oahn’s California ID thinking it’s fake. Better heads prevail and we’re served. As we’re sitting, chatting watching Oahn star to get red-faced and sleep, men seem to get up to the left of me and fart in my face. Hmm….that was the highlight of my evening. I wish I could show you the face I made when it happened.
Our drinking was short lived since I suck at tolerance and it seems to be the only other Mountbatten that’s worse than myself is also on this trip. Hahaaha We head to the hostel hoping to get a decent night’s sleep where…..we hear that odd sleeper put her phone on speakerphone at 6 am!!!! And talk to her when EVERYONE else is sleeping. Lovely.
Sunday begins with a 15 minute bus ride out to the Leith district of Edinburgh where we get a huge Scottish breakfast made of the following: eggs, beans, mushrooms, toamato, black pudding, haggis(!!), sausage, bacon and toast. I actually liked the haggis. I suppose when you eat everything under the sun growing up, sheep guts isn’t going to surprise you. The black pudding was gross and inedible. I tried to eat as much as I could but the plate or the “big breakfast” as it was called proved to be too big for me.
With our stomachs full, we go back to the Royal Mile to head up the castle again. While Kristin was doing Mountbatten work, Oahn and I went to the castle. We paid 10 pounds to take a bunch of really nice views and really funny pictures. Honestly, don’t spend the 10 pounds if you don’t have to. There are better sites on the top of Calton Hill. The castle is small, unimpressive as well as boring. Hahaha Although a highlight was the Prisioner of Wars exhibition. It was very interesting to see a mock up of where they would live, how much they’d eat, what they’d do to pass time.
After stumbling around Edinburgh taking more pictures, we head into Tigerlily for some drinks and dinner. Their 2 for 1 is a must if you want something different than pubs. It’s good typical hotel food if you’re craving for that. The setting is very funky. Think pink Victorian wallpaper with wicker chairs and beaded curtains. Trust me, it works.
We head back to the hostel early to call it a night. The hostel is buzzing with tons of people in the common room. We soon find out that the crazy girl is having a going away party since she’s moving to Thailand. Fun! I don’t join thinking about how much money I’ve been spending and how I want to steal their baked cake. I retreat only getting a crappy instant coffee with lots of sugar and milk. Sleep arrives fairly early that night….
Our last day in Edinburgh consists of a historical walking tour taking us to the cemetery, where J.K Rowling wrote Harry Potter, the castle, hidden passageways and closes. It was a very nice tour indeed. I learned a lot and best of all…it was free!!! Oh and the awesome pulled pork sandwich I got from Oink for lunch. The combo of apple sauce and pork was very tasty.
After a dinner stop at M&S, we kill time at the Royal Mile buying some gifts for friends and family. We board a train back to ol’ London town at 5 pm that night.
Ahh…what a fun weekend indeed!
High points: hearing Oahn get excited over seeing “men in skirt” / see her fall asleep at the dinner table at Tigerlily. Drinking Starbucks and eating awesome pulled pork, mussels and Scottish breakfast.
Low points: having men fart in my face at the pub Saturday night. Succumbing into starbucks’ Christmas cups.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
I only wish that I could celebrate like this tonight
Taken from gawker.com
@DevilsAvocado: Brava
I'm in London, and know many of us will be staying up to hopefully cheer on a great victory for compassion, common sense, friendship and hope.
I remember the 1997 election here (It's a bittersweet memory now, sadly :() and the sheer joy and elation of walking home with my boyfriend passing the Labour HQ, drinking smuggled out champagne, watching the sun come up over the Thames on a country that had got rid of them! We'd done it!
This election is more historic, and more important than that one. I hope so much it's as good.
In London in this U.S. Election Day...
I pause from work right now to show you what has been on my computer screen on this historic day.
On bbcnews.com
On cnn.com
on nytimes.com
on lemonde.fr
on elpais.es
on timesonline.co.uk
on wsj.com
on foxnews.com
on drudgereport.com
Monday, October 13, 2008
London Development Journal
I love cities – always have and always will. There is always something breathtaking about the noises, the lack of space, diversity of people and activities that make the home of millions feel the exactly the same yet so foreign. Stalling a year in New York, I embarked on an adventure to London to gain an outside perspective, to travel, to test my independence, change a career path and most of all – grow up. Through a series of fortuitous events, I left for a year long adventure to the Old World. Many thoughts ran through my head. Would my adventure in London be a freefall from what I was experiencing in New York? Would the other Mountbattens like me? Would my colleagues at UBS appreciate my media-only background? How would I adjust to non 24-hour subways? Ahem, the tube.
I landed into London with a sense of excitement, a bit of worry but most of all jet lag. My wisdom of London was based on two week-long trips to the city, work experience in New York City for two years and an English boyfriend. I was a bit scared of becoming too all-knowing of London with the resources I had at hand. I knew coming in to try to not make comparisons, to take London for what it is - a diverse city of millions with infamously bad weather, double-decker buses and cooler accents than I would ever own. I knew there would be rude, hurried people, obscene amounts of wealth, many different types of cuisine, nightlife, persons and old buildings right next to new. Not much to my surprise, I felt that the atmosphere here is the same back home. I quickly settled onto the enclaves of Shoreditch and Soho. I found my favorite café in Flat White and my local pub at The Eagle. My food cart on 53rd and 6th became the carts of Whitecross Street Market. Primark became my Forever 21.
I immersed myself into determining my right locations for bars, restaurants and other potential London hot spots. Using my resourcefulness, I soon realized that being a Londoner was similar to being a New Yorker. Unfortunately, I did not find my New York Magazine for London. I tried to research the The Times as well as the Guardian. No luck. I was told, “Felicia, they’re not the New York Times, New York Magazine. These are national papers. The London-based focus is going to be harder to find than you would get back in New York.” While this person was correct in an aspect, there were good guides and websites to be found. I found urbanjunkies.com, londonist.com and le cool London. Nevertheless, we need a magazine of living in London.
While my personal adjustment to living in London was not much of a surprise, there was an adjustment in the professional sector. My previous work experience consisted of assistant work in a newsroom of a national radio news channel. The casualness and frantic nature of the place would be completely different to what I would experience working at UBS. Hello to defending one of the largest financial firms in the world. Goodbye exposing downturns of said company. Hello smart dress. Goodbye Chucks, t-shirts, undone hair and face. Hello hierarchy, team meetings and blocked websites. Goodbye YouTube and Perez Hilton.
The work life I have at UBS has been an interesting one. My daily 20-minute walk to the ‘Square Mile’ consists of passing by markets, too many Prets and EATs for my liking and well-dressed men with popped jacket collars. During lunch, I am mostly perplexed at the amount of sandwiches that one country can come up with. I’m slowly realizing that the £3.49 lunch combo at Boots is the best deal around. The food isn’t half bad either. Perhaps I should come up with a survey about good City eats and publish them for a London newspaper. Alas, I have so many things to explore and enjoy in this city of 8 million.
Overall, I have enjoyed my adjustment period to London town. Although I’ve been hindered by the supposed ‘Fresher’s flu’, I still love cities – always have and always will.
I landed into London with a sense of excitement, a bit of worry but most of all jet lag. My wisdom of London was based on two week-long trips to the city, work experience in New York City for two years and an English boyfriend. I was a bit scared of becoming too all-knowing of London with the resources I had at hand. I knew coming in to try to not make comparisons, to take London for what it is - a diverse city of millions with infamously bad weather, double-decker buses and cooler accents than I would ever own. I knew there would be rude, hurried people, obscene amounts of wealth, many different types of cuisine, nightlife, persons and old buildings right next to new. Not much to my surprise, I felt that the atmosphere here is the same back home. I quickly settled onto the enclaves of Shoreditch and Soho. I found my favorite café in Flat White and my local pub at The Eagle. My food cart on 53rd and 6th became the carts of Whitecross Street Market. Primark became my Forever 21.
I immersed myself into determining my right locations for bars, restaurants and other potential London hot spots. Using my resourcefulness, I soon realized that being a Londoner was similar to being a New Yorker. Unfortunately, I did not find my New York Magazine for London. I tried to research the The Times as well as the Guardian. No luck. I was told, “Felicia, they’re not the New York Times, New York Magazine. These are national papers. The London-based focus is going to be harder to find than you would get back in New York.” While this person was correct in an aspect, there were good guides and websites to be found. I found urbanjunkies.com, londonist.com and le cool London. Nevertheless, we need a magazine of living in London.
While my personal adjustment to living in London was not much of a surprise, there was an adjustment in the professional sector. My previous work experience consisted of assistant work in a newsroom of a national radio news channel. The casualness and frantic nature of the place would be completely different to what I would experience working at UBS. Hello to defending one of the largest financial firms in the world. Goodbye exposing downturns of said company. Hello smart dress. Goodbye Chucks, t-shirts, undone hair and face. Hello hierarchy, team meetings and blocked websites. Goodbye YouTube and Perez Hilton.
The work life I have at UBS has been an interesting one. My daily 20-minute walk to the ‘Square Mile’ consists of passing by markets, too many Prets and EATs for my liking and well-dressed men with popped jacket collars. During lunch, I am mostly perplexed at the amount of sandwiches that one country can come up with. I’m slowly realizing that the £3.49 lunch combo at Boots is the best deal around. The food isn’t half bad either. Perhaps I should come up with a survey about good City eats and publish them for a London newspaper. Alas, I have so many things to explore and enjoy in this city of 8 million.
Overall, I have enjoyed my adjustment period to London town. Although I’ve been hindered by the supposed ‘Fresher’s flu’, I still love cities – always have and always will.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
The Worst Fans of All
Dispatch,
Why must you make music that draws such shitty fans? Please don't get back together for charity shows or events or whatever you want to do to raise awareness of some third-world plight. Because if you didn't know already, your fans suck. They are a hybrid of entitled suburban preps, frat boys, soroity girls, long island guidos, jersey girls....ugh
The worst part about this rant is that I attended the "Last Dispatch." I purchased all your CDs. I even have a t-shirt of yours in my closet somewhere. You made music that made me happy in high school. And no matter how I view your music today as somewhat sub-par to what I've discovered in recent years, you held a place in my memory and in my heart....that is until now.
Why must you make music that draws such shitty fans? Please don't get back together for charity shows or events or whatever you want to do to raise awareness of some third-world plight. Because if you didn't know already, your fans suck. They are a hybrid of entitled suburban preps, frat boys, soroity girls, long island guidos, jersey girls....ugh
The worst part about this rant is that I attended the "Last Dispatch." I purchased all your CDs. I even have a t-shirt of yours in my closet somewhere. You made music that made me happy in high school. And no matter how I view your music today as somewhat sub-par to what I've discovered in recent years, you held a place in my memory and in my heart....that is until now.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Spotting the Trend...
Where will the new New York hotspot be?
New York Magazine proclaimed the death of 27th Street earlier this year. Will it be below 14th street? The Box, Socialista, GoldBar come to mind. Or will it be midtown? hmmm
New York Magazine proclaimed the death of 27th Street earlier this year. Will it be below 14th street? The Box, Socialista, GoldBar come to mind. Or will it be midtown? hmmm
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Eat This: sugar Sweet sunshine Bakery
Do me a favor and please get your ass to the Lower East Side one time and have the cupcakes at sugar Sweet sunshine Bakery. I recommend the Ooey Gooey (chocolate cake with chocolate almond buttercream) and the Sexy Red Velvet (red velvet cake with vanilla buttercream icing).
Cupcakes are $1.50.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------sugar Sweet sunshine
126 Rivington Street
(between Norfolk Street and Essex Street)
New York, NY 10002
M-Thur, 8-10
Friday, 8-11
Saturday, 10-11
Sunday, 10-7
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Ready to Bitch
As much as I have so many things to vent right now about how my life is going to hell, I have to restrain myself. There is no humorous tale of someone I saw today that ticked me off. No, it's just been a series of horrible situations that have simply added up. I like speaking with vague undertones.
I know life isn't that bad, but honestly I don't think I've ever felt so worthless.
I know life isn't that bad, but honestly I don't think I've ever felt so worthless.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
New Foodie Hotspot?
In the grand tradition that three's a trend, Food & Wine's "Mouthing Off" blog notes that the Upper West Side might become a new "sweet spot." First, with the mound-of-goodness that are the chocolate chip cookies at Levain Bakery. Second, the long lines of the recently opened outpost of Italian gelatalitera, Grom. Now there's word from the New York Observer that Jacques Torre's Chocolate Haven will be another New York outpost one avenue from Levain. Can we even talk about more reason for me to be a fattie?
[NYC's Sweetest New Food Zone] Mouthing Off
[NYC's Sweetest New Food Zone] Mouthing Off
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Eat This: Pinkberry
When speaking with a co-worker who lives in L.A. if he liked Pinkberry, he responded as if I had two heads.
"Pinkberry? You mean Pink's Hot Dog, right?"
"No...[redacted], Pinkberry is a frozen yogurt place from L.A. It was all
the rage there last year now people are going psycho over it here now. There's one near you in [redacted]. Hmm...So I'm guessing you've never had it, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about lady. It's not Quiznos so I don't
care."Perhaps I shouldn't have started a food review with a little anecdote of a co-worker's pop culture incompetence. Regardless, this L.A. based frozen yogurt chain has caused a frenzy among "froyo" snobs and New York foodies willing to try anything.
Started in 2005 by Young Lee and Shelly Hwang, the chain has grown
to 21 locations between California and New York. The cool, sleek interior is
like a green creamsicle where colored chairs and tables are the norm and $46 plastic salt and pepper shakers will be wave of the future. The frozen yogurt only comes in two flavors, original and green tea. They also have a variety of toppings from fresh chopped fruit to chocolate chips to cereals which I've read "make Pinkberry so good."Okay, so I decided to checkout what all the hype was about. Consider me the few that left me so unimpressed. I ordered a small original (about $5!!) without any toppings. I dig in and immediately taste sourness. Is it supposed to taste like this? Did I get a bad batch? Ugh. I didn't understand why people waited in long lines for this stuff. To me it was just another overpriced, over hyped, sour piece of mess. When I told a Pinkberry fanatic my initial impressed, she informed me that I had to go again. It was one of those you need to try it twice type of things. I didn't get it, but I said to myself, "ehh...why not?"
The second time I went I ordered a green tea with a kiwi topping. Result? Better, but still not worth the $5 plus and the long lines to get it. My friend and I concluded that it would have tasted better with some chocolate chips instead of fruit. The yogurt with the toppings is a lot tastier, but that's saying plain toast tastes better with butter.
Overall, Pinkberry is a good alternative to the other froyo choices out in the New York area. If you are thinking that you are going to find a creamy custard-like substance, you will be surprised. If you love the way Greek yogurt tastes,
you should be in for a treat.-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pinkberry Locations:
Eat This: The Treats Truck
Yummy, yummy, yummy is all I can say about this unique way to bring goodies to you.
This husband and wife team based in Brooklyn bake all sorts of baked goods from chocolate chip cookies to raspberry brownies load them up in their truck and set up shop in different areas of New York each day. The day I went they were across Hotel Rivington. As my friends and
I walked pass the truck we were immediately drawn to all the baked treats that were on display in the glass window of the truck.
This husband and wife team based in Brooklyn bake all sorts of baked goods from chocolate chip cookies to raspberry brownies load them up in their truck and set up shop in different areas of New York each day. The day I went they were across Hotel Rivington. As my friends and
I walked pass the truck we were immediately drawn to all the baked treats that were on display in the glass window of the truck. Then, a smiling lady came out with two full trays of samples. Samples!!! She quickly held these trays in front of us and encouraged to take as many samples as possible. I went for the rice krispy treats (they came in original and chocolate swirled-in) and as soon as I bit into it, it pretty much melted in my mouth. It was the perfect combination of butter, marshmallow and rice krispy cereal. The next sample I went for was the raspberry brownie. I don't know what they do to mix in the I assume the raspberry jam with the brownie mixture to make it still soft when you bite into it....but it was very good. I sampled the chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin ones as well. Good, but not my favorite. I've certainly tried better.
I'm so happy I was able try some of their eats. I wish I got to buy and try more things, but at that time I was on my way to have some happy hour drinks (hehe). So if you ever see this around your neck of the woods, try it out. From $1-3 for these things, it won't burn a hole in your pocket.
The Treats Truck. Treats range from $1-3. Various locations.
The Treats Truck. Treats range from $1-3. Various locations.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
OMFG!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
SPICE GIRLS ARE BACK!!
The archetypes of "Girl Power" are set to make an official announcement regarding their future on Friday. After weeks of circulating rumors to do a reunion tour, Mel C aka Sporty Spice-who initally opposed the idea of a reunion-spoke with BBC regarding the situation.
"For the first time ever, there is some truth in the rumors. We've been discussing it and it could possibly happen," the 33-year-old singer told BBC radio last week."I've always said, `I don't want to do it, the past is the past. It was amazing, it was magical. We could never recreate it,'" Chisholm said. "But this year people have been talking about it and some of the girls have expressed an interest in doing it." [Spice Girls]
If the announcement this Friday will be about a reunion tour, I will get to live out my tween love drunk and happy singing to them wherever they perform in New York. In honor of the latest news, I will dig up my old Spice Girls CDs, import them into my iPod, and listen to them for the whole week. OMFGGGGGG...I can't wait!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Manifesto
Oh my god. Look at this. ANOTHER GODDAMN BLOG.
I signed up for an account because I had to in order to get a grade. Read my first post to see why. I've been finished with school for a little bit over a year and have nothing to show for it. With a blog, it can at least appear that I do something with my time instead of fucking around.
What the heck am I going to write about you ask? (Okay, I'm going to stop with the questions. bad journalism practice.) My blog is going to reflect all my interests and random occurrences that I've come across working in the big ol' city. If you don't know me and have stumbled across this blog for the first time or are one of my friends with too much time on their hands (::cough cough:: I'm talking about a certain someone), you should be in for a treat.
I like almost anything under the sun-that means good food, music, Marc Jacob purses, the Red Sox, cute boys, politics, Guster, Barcelona, stupid industry jokes, stupid media people. I want to become the go-to girl for a hodge-podge of all things amazing and awesome...in my particular way of course. I'm probably not the best writer (yet) for this job, but I hope some day my stylings will lend me to become the female version of Bill Simmons and Brian from Guster(read their journal, he's fucking hilarious).
That's it. Perhaps not, but it's almost dinner time and I'm starving.
Ciao, ciao!
I signed up for an account because I had to in order to get a grade. Read my first post to see why. I've been finished with school for a little bit over a year and have nothing to show for it. With a blog, it can at least appear that I do something with my time instead of fucking around.
What the heck am I going to write about you ask? (Okay, I'm going to stop with the questions. bad journalism practice.) My blog is going to reflect all my interests and random occurrences that I've come across working in the big ol' city. If you don't know me and have stumbled across this blog for the first time or are one of my friends with too much time on their hands (::cough cough:: I'm talking about a certain someone), you should be in for a treat.
I like almost anything under the sun-that means good food, music, Marc Jacob purses, the Red Sox, cute boys, politics, Guster, Barcelona, stupid industry jokes, stupid media people. I want to become the go-to girl for a hodge-podge of all things amazing and awesome...in my particular way of course. I'm probably not the best writer (yet) for this job, but I hope some day my stylings will lend me to become the female version of Bill Simmons and Brian from Guster(read their journal, he's fucking hilarious).
That's it. Perhaps not, but it's almost dinner time and I'm starving.
Ciao, ciao!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
testing, testing, 1, 2, 3
In an attempt to change my blogging ways and with the help of my Editing and Layout class, I have created another blog. I suppose I am trying to move myself away from my xanga days. It could also be I am just biting off of everyone else. Honestly, I think I'm trying to find a way to avoid homework.
Ciao, ciao!
Ciao, ciao!
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