Life

weekend

Where does the time go? It’s Monday already? My Friday night was extremely exciting. I did my taxes (it’s kinda depressing how little I made last year), filled out paperwork for a new license and passport, ate some ice cream, and watched a TV with my roommate. I’m a rockstar.

After work on Saturday, I went to meet up with my boyfriend’s friends at McGee’s Pub. We tried to pick a location that was an easy compromise for everyone who was coming from Queens, Brooklyn, and Washington Heights and were able to settle on Midtown West. We didn’t even know it when we picked the bar but McGee’s this the NY bar that was the inpiration for McLaren’s Pub on the show, How I Met Your Mother. We thought that was pretty cool and had a fun time trying to figure out who was the Ted Mosby and the Barney out of the group.

I worked again on Sunday, watched some baseball, made a Taco Bell run for dinner, and laid in bed watching Californication. I’d say that’s a pretty good finish to a low-key weekend. (And I’ve gotten through Week 1 without a day off. 3 more to go!) What did you guys do?

Book of Mormon

Last night my boyfriend and I went to see Book of Mormon, a Broadway musical written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park. I had heard good reviews but I still couldn’t grasp what a musical by the writers of South Park would entail… and I kinda liked that I went into it unknowingly. I don’t think I could do the show justice by describing it. I did not stop laughing the entire time. It was brilliantly absurd. After seeing the show, I thought, “Yup, that’s a musical by the South Park guys.” Aside from the hilarious writing, I LOVED the dance moves. I bookmarked a few in my head for the next time I’m out. : )

After the show, we grabbed some burgers and beers back in Astoria. (You don’t stay in Times Square longer than needed). It was such a lovely way to end a perfect evening. I definitely needed a fun, stress-free night out.

shameless self promotion

I’ve been a busy little bee this week. Check out some of my posts on Refinery29:

Alice Ritter’s Fall ’11 Lookbook

Shopping Roundup: Spring Undies

Versatile Guitar Strap

Miu Miu Minibags

A Model’s Breast Cancer Story

Lindsay Lohan’s Predictability

And a story I pitched to Time Out New York on my friend, Guil’s, style:

Most Stylish New Yorkers: Guil Castellane

Oh, and also some recent posts on my new blog, Mi Piace.

Have a wonderful April weekend!

hang on, keep going

I know I’m supposed to feel relaxed and refreshed after a short holiday but I was feeling so stressed yesterday. Maybe it was the fact that I had to snap back into reality. My schedule lately has been so jam packed that I’m just feeling overwhelmed. I came home from work last night (after my first day back, mind you) and needed to let out a good cry. I wasn’t even sure what I was crying about. I’m tired? Confused? Worried?

I’ve been blindly navigating myself through life and I feel like most of my decisions are made with as much thought as flipping a coin. But later I always worry, did I do the right thing? I worry, with all this time I’m putting into work, that I’m only able to stay afloat, only moving laterally with no time to make efforts to move ahead. Does that make sense?

So after my big cry I felt pretty silly because, like I said, I wasn’t really sure what I was crying about. I went to bed, got up, went to work, and did it all over again. And you know what? Today was a much better day. I’ve been told many times before, during my reoccurring freak out moments, to breathe and just take it one day at a time. But isn’t it funny, when you’re given this advice, it seems impossible because it’s just too simple of a solution.But then, when you actually follow the advice, it seems like the most natural act and you take credit for handling it all on your own. At least, that’s the pattern for me.

Today, I discovered An Awesome Book, and while it’s written for children I thought it’s so fitting for how I’m feeling. It’s a book that tells children to dream big, as big as they can imagine, and not be limited by everyday desires. It’s funny how our young minds used to think anything was possible and now we usually think up all the reasons why these dreams aren’t possible. I think I’m actually going to buy the book because, although the message seems so simple, it’s easily forgotten.

Utah Diary

How do I sum up an awesome 5 days in Park City, Utah? With pictures of course! I took over 500 photos but I’ll spare you unless, of course, you’re my facebook friend.

We got in Thursday evening and had a low key night of beers, wine, and appetizers so that we could rest up and wake early for snowboarding the next day.

Friday morning, we geared up and headed to Park City. It was snowing a bit in the morning which made it hard to see and sometimes it was pelting our faces which hurt a bit (and made our faces red later), but it cleared up by the end of the day.

Friday evening, we got dressed at headed to Star Bar, an old favorite of ours for the dollar drinks (say what?) and shameless dancing.

We ran into a Polar Bear (who’s also a bachelor!) on our way to the next bar.

Saturday morning we needed to rally, shake off our hangovers, get dressed in costumes and head to the Canyons for a Pond Skimming contest. We had no idea what Pond Skimming is and none of us bothered to ask. We figured if we got to be in costumes and hang on the mountain it’s gotta be a good time. (I love any excuse to bring out my Party Penguin costume). We were dancing around the house while getting dressed and realized it wasn’t even 10AM yet. We are rockstars.

It’s always a party when there’s a Penguin and Pirate around. Is it weird that I really wish my BFF would wear a beard all the time?

Going bananas! Costumes seriously make me so happy.

Spectators lined up to watch the Pond Skimming (which we learned is people dressed up in random costumes barreling down the mountain on skis and snowboards, trying to “skim” across the pond at the bottom of the hill. Best costume and ability to cross the pond wins prizes).

The gang.

We were absolutely wiped after the Pond Skimming and headed home for a nap which turned into staying in. Our friend Shiv made an awesome chicken dinner with rice and collard greens and we were content eating that and going to bed.

Sunday, we got up for another day of snowboarding on a different mountain, the Canyons. This one didn’t have as many Green trails so I (the most inexperienced one) was stuck trying to get down a lot of Blues. I did OK by my standards but I was absolutely exhausted at the end.

Sunday night was our last night out since some of the girls were leaving on Monday. We went to O’Shucks for burgers and beers. Shucks is also another one of our favorite bars, found accidentally last year when we were just looking for a place that didn’t have a crowd. It’s a low key dive bar where people can play arcade games or eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor. We decide, like last year, to have a dance party instead. Shucks is not a dancing bar by any means which is why we chose to do so there, we were deprived of attention as children.

After Shucks, we followed some new friends to Cicero’s. We heard mixed reviews on it but were promised a dance party. Oh did we get one. The DJ was playing house music and everyone was going wild to it. I definitely never expected to be at what was essentially a rave until last call. Oh, Utah, how I love you.

We spent Monday walking around town and buying souvenirs since some of the girls were leaving that afternoon and my flight was early the following morning. I’m neglecting so many awesome details of this trip by just posting a photo diary but I don’t have the energy and I hate to torture you with all the inside jokes. I’ve known many of these girls since middle school and high school and if you asked me then if I thought we’d be traveling together and sitting around the table talking about our changing, near 30, bodies, I’d have said no. I am so blessed to have them in my life for the talks, laughs, and endless adventures.

PS: Thank you, Jen, for being the most gracious host ever and putting up with our noise and mess!

PPS: Carebears, we thought of you the entire time and you were missed (tons!).