30 August 2012

the color run.

Last Saturday, I got my butt up at 6am to participate in the color run.
and it was so fun!!!
not the waking up when the sun rises part (seriously, who does that?!)
but having color thrown at you while you're jogging was pretty excellent.

it was a 5K (that's 3.1-something miles for us Americans), which I totes trained for because I did NOT want to finish last!!! Also, running on a treadmill and running outside is not the same. I was sore for 2 days after the run!
the run was also my first race. will it be my last? it's hard to say. I don't really see the point of running for a long period of time with no color being chucked at you... but never say never!




By the way, we looked like bandits because we were trying to prevent the color powder from entering our respiratory systems! And because we're super cool.


I'm singing along to "Call Me Maybe" in this pic. It also looks like I'm skipping. which I was.




At the finish line was a color rave where we all emptied our color packets on each other while dancing to whatever Top 40 hit the DJ put on. It was awesome, and it wasn't even noon yet! Can you tell I love my sleep? Because I do. A lot.







BTW, I didn't finish last!!!! WOO-HOO!!!!

21 August 2012

Bistro Petit

Have you eaten at Bistro Petit? It's really cute right? Blue and white stripes, cute French-y font with the promise of something buttery to eat, purple paint lining the red door.


Apparently cute comes with a cost. There's no tap water. No bathrooms. No wait service. No tables.

I read the H20 part on yelp so of course I decided to hydrate myself before we left my apartment because we were biking there.

And because I hydrated myself, I had to pee. And wash my hands after locking my bike up.
So when we walked in, we were stared at blankly. No 'hello', but a 'yes? what do you want?' look on the cashier (? i have no idea what his purpose was... I also couldn't decide if he was rude or just didn't know how to talk to a person). I asked for the bathroom and he said they didn't have one (uh, WHAAT?!) but to go to the bodega next door. So I go and wash my hands only because it wasn't a "pee at the bodega" emergency. While I was next door, my friend did some serious investigating and discovered that there is no wait service and there aren't tables. Just counters that you sit at on stools. Which was fine (and cute!). Except that upon observation, we learned that it wasn't a "first come, first serve", rather it was a "oh good, you're getting up just as we're walking in so we'll take your seats thank you!" type of seating arrangement. We discovered that while we were waiting outside for someone to finish their fabulous French brunch because the cute Bistro is too damn petit that they can't even fit waiters or tables or bathrooms or tap water in the place!

So we left and went to another cute brunch place with a normal dining experience. It wasn't French, but they had a bike hanging in the air out front! I'll write a review of that place later. But I will tell you they had bathrooms! And tap water! And the nicest waitstaff! And delicious food! It was great.

The menu at Bistro Petit looked really good, so I'm going to save her for the next Full Moon (is that the secret? go on a weird day?) and write an article titled "How to successfully eat at Bistro Petit" that will explain the dining method at BP. It will obviously be published in the NYTimes. A girl can dream.

15 August 2012

Phill-ay is cray

Two weekends ago, I went on a girls' trip to Philly. It involved lots of eating, singing (mostly 90s tunes) and boozing. All of my favorite things.


It also involved a lot of craziness! I don't know if it is me that is attracting the crazy, but I felt like it surrounded us the entire weekend!

On the first day there, we were waiting for the valet to get our car from the garage. I see an abandoned flip-flop in the middle of the street. So the normal thing to do is snap a couple of pictures to instagram... right?!


(the problematic flip-flop)

Wrong. Moments later, a tree stump in the form of a lady (she was short and fat) appeared out of nowhere and stood over the flip-flop. She proceeded to shout at me. Conversation went as follows:

TS: why did you take a picture of this flip-flop? *for a moment, I thought the flip-flop might be hers, it was not.
JP: um, because I thought it was cool and interesting.
TS: you wanna know what's cool?! Going to the club, spending money and drinking. THAT'S cool. Now tell me why you REALLY took a picture of the flip-flop!
JP: Honestly, I did not really think about it. I just did it.
TS: YOU UPPITY BITCH!!! YOU AND YOUR STUPID GREEN SUNGLASSES. TELL ME WHY YOU TOOK THE PICTURE!!!!
JP: I do not need to explain myself to you.
TS: TELL ME WHY YOU TOOK THE PICTURE OR I'M GONNA F*&! YOU UP!!! GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM... ASIA, CAMBODIA!!!! *yes, it got racial 
FRIEND STEPS IN: SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO ANSWER TO YOU!!!
TS ignores my friend: YOU'RE A STUPID SMURF!!!!

*TS = tree stump

TS then picks up the controversial flip-flop and CHUCKS it at me!!!
I step back to try to avoid the flying flip-flop but it doesn't land near me at all. Instead it hits this elderly couple who just happened to be walking down the sidewalk. They were caught in the line of fire and were completely innocent and I am so sorry!!! So we all head into the garage to get away from TS and hear her still screaming at me all the way down the street corner. Like a CRAZY person! ... Do you think she reads this blog?

So that was the worst... here's the best of Philly!

LOVE protecting us from the rain.






 LOVE on our last day with my favorite Hawaiian Princess Jenna!




The other weird /crazy thing we saw was a man either peeing or touching himself in public while walking to the Art Museum. It was gross and we couldn't figure out which he was doing nor did we spend a lot of time thinking about it because I had some running up the Rocky Steps to do!!!


14 August 2012

Break-Up Ice Cream

KStew is an IDIOT for cheating on RPatz!
Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to jeopardize a relationship with one of God's finest creatures with a barely palatable, married man? Straight up stupid is what that is.
Not that I was rooting for the couple or anything, but losing R-Patz... that is not something I would wish on my worst enemy.
On the plus side (because we are optimists), Cedric Diggory/Edward is now single and back on the market!!!
But before we get in line ladies, this man needs to heal!! Poor R-Patz!

Enter ice cream. Did you watch Rob on The Daily Show? John Stewart consoled him with two pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

(ice cream makes everything better)


Which left me inspired to propose that B&J make their own "break-up" flavored ice cream! (I can't make it myself because sadly, I do not have an ice cream maker... who wants to buy me one?) So what does "break-up" flavored ice cream taste like?!

Definitely not something fruity.
Something dark to reflect that place you're in [chocolate, and lots of it].
Something marshmallow-y to mirror the pillows you're crying into [fluff].
Something nutty to reflect your state of mind [walnuts].
Something thick that matches your heavy heart [condensed milk].
Something boozy to help you forget your troubles [kahlua].

Or how about Garlic-flavored ice cream to turn that "bad-taste-in-your-mouth" metaphor into a real life scenario! Did I take it too far?

UPDATE: Anderson Cooper will now also require break-up ice cream because his lover just got ousted for cheating on the silver fox. Seriously, what is happening in this world?!

Does this thing still work?

Why yes it does!

So that means I should pick up blogging again right?

Why yes it does!

OK, let's do it.

31 July 2011

happy birthday christine!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTINE!!!!




do you have a sister?
mine pinches my cheeks and squishes my face when she adores me.
she also sits on me and strongly grabs my limbs leaving her fingerprints when she's mad.

we like to sing together. for example, she'll sing the rap part of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" and I'll sing the chorus.
(maybe we'll show you one day in a youtube video..!!)

so.. yes we have a weird yet unbreakable sisterly bond, to say the least.
she's moving up to NYC next month to pursue her cobbler aspirations.
canNOT.wait

<3

29 July 2011

i wish i could tell you...

I'm going somewhere tonight. But I can't tell you where ... yet ... because it's a surprise.

But I'm super duper excited about it!!!

ps- don't you hate it when people say that they know something really cool and that they can't tell you.

those people are such bitches. :)



stay cool lovers.



28 July 2011

RHONYC Reunion, part 1

You guys, I am OBSESSED with the Real Housewives of New York City. Cannot.stop.watching.these.bitches.

With that said, this season has been a little disappointing for me. It fluctuated between me sitting on the edge of my seat and tweeting every 5 seconds to listening to music and surfing the web with the show on in the background in case I don't miss anything. However, the reunion show (that aired Monday night) was most excellent. So good that I had to blog about it. Seven middle-aged upper class ladies dressed to the nines engaging in what can only be described as verbal hair-pulling. Amaze-balls.



Here's my breakdown:

First is the worst. Cindy Barshop. She is my least favorite housewife of NY. No personality. No affinity for life or people. I noticed immediately at the beginning of the show that she kept twitching her face to show disdain at every comment one of the girls was making. Too much botox, or too much hate? At first, I thought to myself "I wish she'd smile more." But then she did and I immediately regretted thinking that. I don't even know why she even does the show because she clearly stated several times, more or less in these words, that she hates the type of relationship that girlfriends have. In fact, the only relationship she knows is a business relationship. Oh yes, that also applies to her brother and her kids. Alex McCord hit the nail on the head when she told Cindy that "she was a sourpuss and needs to get laid." BEST.LINE.OF.THE.NIGHT. For me, there is a fine line between drama-seeking and just plain hateful. And for that, I think Cindy needs to go. Who wants to help me start the campaign?

Poor Alex, I feel bad for her. Not because she was sorta ganged up on by the brunettes... she instigated and deserved all of those taunts. But because she seems very bored. So bored that she makes it her place to get involved in other people's issues (read Ramona and Bethenney). I guess I would be too if my husband were gay. Speaking of Simon, Alex must live in some kind of dismissive 50s household. She seems very unsure of herself, gets very flustered easily and speaks with little conviction. She also thinks it's OK for men to yell at their wife's friends WHEN THEY DESERVE IT. There was some weird underlying tone that I felt when she said it. It was whatever men do to women, it's because they deserve it. Don't get me wrong. Men are allowed to yell at women. But what Simon did at the gay marriage event was more than just yelling, he also used his body language to threaten Sonja. And mean-tweeting was not designed for grown men. I do not think Simon's behavior is/was appropriate at all. Alex just set women back 50 years. So thanks for that bitch.

Kelly is the Cosmo and self- proclaimed "5th Nicest Celebrity." (LOL!) She announced her new title at the beginning of the episode and then chose to spend the entire rest of the night proving that she was not. She hypocritically criticized Sonja for living beyond her means and not having a "real" job like Cindy and called everyone weird. Don't believe everything you read Kelly. I'm also mad at her for simmering Cindy down after Alex's "need to get laid" line. Way to go Kelly.

In my opinion, Jill has grown up a lot. Is she a better person? I wouldn't go that far. But she really has tried to keep the peace or at least play nice, albeit you can tell it was all an act. And I deeply respect anyone that tells it like it is. Because Alex has shown her true colors and really is a bitch. However, I do not believe for one nanosecond that Jill is scared of Bethenney. And I refuse to believe that Mario is cheating on Ramona. All LIES.

Ramona used to be my favorite character. But she kinda rubbed me the wrong way this season. Though she did handle herself very well with Cindy, Ramona's dig at Luann and her kids was low and put a sour taste in my mouth. Otherwise, she was really uncharacteristically quiet for most of the episode. I think she's going through something. Her marriage? Menopause? Whatever is stirring inside of her, I hope she lets it out soon. I have an inkling that a quiet Ramona is a deadly Ramona. Hm, I always liked red wine anyway.

Luann was most interesting. She was neutral and didn't really take sides. Which would have been fine, if she didn't carry around her an air of haughtiness. Unsolicited etiquette advice is the worst. Didn't she ever learn that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all? Wherever she got her etiquette lessons, she needs to get a refund pronto. Also, did the makeup artist skip her? She looked like she had just walked 10 blocks in the 96 degree humid NYC weather.

Sonja won favorite housewife! And rightfully so. She was the most well-behaved and definitely the most human of all of them that night. Any conflict that headed her way, she gracefully deterred. She is also nice and opens her arms to each and every Housewife, even Cindy. I also love her zest for life. I'm going to go ahead and nominate Sonja to be the Ambassador of all the Housewives. Or is that Andy Cohen's job?

What did you guys think?! I would love to hear it all!!

And don't worry kids, it's not over yet. That was just part 1. There's a part 2 that airs next week. HOORAY!

26 July 2011

Hi Hi!

Does anyone still read this? I sure hope so!



And I love you lots if you still do.
I've been working on a bunch of different things ...



and unfortunately, my beloved blog has taken a backseat.
BUT NO MORE, i say. NO MORE!!



I'm making my way back to the blogging world, so watch out world!






in case you forget what I look like :)


lots of blog love,



jp

23 March 2011

flower shoot

Remember these flowers?

My friend Julie and I decided to have a photo shoot with them.

Because she loves photography, and I love having my photo taken. We are great friends.





22 March 2011

The Four Chord Song

Hey ya'll!

I've got a case of the Tuesdays and I need a good singalong.

Check out this funny video of this band that proves that all you need is to learn how to play four chords to make a good pop song. They're called The Axis of Awesome, and they are indeed awesome.



via Huffington Post

18 February 2011

(almost) spring flowers

It's almost 60 degrees today and it is feeling like spring! After the blizzard(s) that NYC has been hit with, the warm weather is providing me with lots of hope and possibility. Like these giant flowers coming out of the snow!


Happy happy Friday and have a fabulous weekend!


10 February 2011

Check out my Bûche (de Noël)!

This post is a little belated but the pictures are so super cute, I know you'll forgive me.

Over Christmas, I was in charge of making our Yule Log... because if we're going to be honest, the phamily isn't very fond of my "hippie" food.

Ta-da!


I used Jacques Torres' recipe, and it was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except for the coffee liquer part for the Coffee Buttercream. Instead, I replaced the water with 1/3 cup of coffee. The phamily drinks Cafe Du Monde, so that is what I used. This took about 4 hours total, and was totally worth it.

And what is Christmas without a Christmas Tree? Well, I made my own little forest because I was really in the spirit.



Aren't they so adorable? I love them. I love how the wax paper looks like a snowy background. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for this. I found the idea/recipe here. It took me about 6 hours for 60-ish cookies, so it is a big project but fun when you're visiting home and have hours to do NOTHING. Oh vacation, how I miss thee.
I kinda miss Christmas, but am so ready for summer! Let's do it.

03 February 2011

How to be a 20-something

What are you supposed to do when you're in your 20s?
Are we supposed to make a certain amount of money by x age?
Is the bullshit supposed to stop?
What type of adult should we be?
We have to have it all figured out, right?

All I know is that I'm just trying to live as happily as I can, and I hope you are too!

I read this great article about "How to be a 20-something" that basically states that you should enjoy your prime years and forget the naysayers.

My favorite lines:

“Date people who you know you’ll never be able to love.”

"Remember that you’re young and that the world is your oyster. Everything
is possible, you still have so much to see and hear. You went to a good school
and did good things. Figure if you’re not going to be successful, who the hell
is?"

Read motivational article here.

20 January 2011

A Spectacular Moment

Do you ever feel like you're just going through the motions?

I feel like that today. Nothing special is happening. Nothing out of the ordinary differentiates this day from the previous. Like I am waiting for a spectacular moment. And then it makes me a little sad- that life can be a little boring.

And then a coworker/friend told me that if every moment of my life were a spectacular moment, I wouldn't be able to handle it. And if every moment of my life were a spectacular moment, then I would want a spectacular spectacular moment and wish for one of those for every moment of my life. (Ah, such a vicious cycle life can be sometimes).


And then I take a deep breath, and happily wait for my next spectacular moment.

05 January 2011

Ted Williams

Have you guys heard of Ted Williams? If not, don't worry too much about being "in the know" because he literally has only been in the public eye for about a day.

He is our most recent, most literal example of an overnight sensation. Just yesterday he was just a homeless man on the side of the highway and today he has offers from across the nation of job offers to be the next big voice over talent. He even got offered a house!

Ted is a trained radio announcer that lost himself to drugs and alcohol which consequently left him homeless. In the video below, he talks about being clean for two years and his supreme gratitude for everything.

It really is so inspiring and humbling to me how quickly his life changed and had his dreams come true. And all he had to do was to keep doing what he was doing... by standing on the side of the road as a homeless man with a sign that said he had an amazing voice... he showed the world around him what he could do and someone saw. Amazing.



What did I learn from this? I will continue to [learn to] be the exceptional person that I am and do what I do because when someone sees me, I want to be prepared for what is to come!



18 December 2010

Feliz Cumpleaños Mario!

Though I begged him not to, my amazing friend Mario turned 25 today.

Happy happy birthday to my dear old (punny) friend!

Laughter and drinking is what comes to mind when I think of you.

So that means you're pretty great! Maybe, even awesome!


(photo of Mario and his last birthday cake and his hero "Mayor McCheesy")

ps- do you remember our 3 hour dance party tribute to Michael Jackson? yea, me too.

16 December 2010

i.love.snow


maybe it's because I'm originally from Texas (where people break out their North Face when the temperature drops below 70 degrees)... but I LOVE snow. Like looooove it. Like can't get enough of it. 

I love the magical feeling that I get when it falls around me,
I love how soft and fluffy it is, but you can still manage to mold it into big round people,
I love how the white color makes everything it touches look so pretty and classic.

I don't mind the slush that you get after the storm and it makes the 20 degree weather outside worth it.

i.love.snow

NYC has only gotten one real snowfall so far so this giant snowflake floating on 57th Street will have to do for now.

06 December 2010

Conversation with my Sister

Picture: Post-Thanksgiving meal. Christine and I are sitting on the couch. We are feeling stuffed and "watching" my brother, uncle and dad watch football.

Me: is there a football game every Thanksgiving?

Sister: Jennifer, there is Sunday night football and Monday night football.

Me: it's Thursday.

Sister: oh, um....

cannot wait to visit Dallas for Christmas!!






photos from our 2009 white christmas

30 November 2010

Gobble Gobble

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I'm back from Texas where I ate everything in front of me and filled up on phamily time. It was great and I was definitely sad to leave (mainly because of my crying mother). But I get to come back in one month for Christmas!!

Speaking of my mother- she got me a Tofurkey to eat on Thanksgiving... not the boxed kind that you get at a traditional grocery store. She found a soy meat that was molded into a shape of a little piece of chicken! Don't believe me? Don't worry- I took a picture. It tasted delicious (and you will have to trust me on that one because it's all gone).



#GobbleGobble




Did you think I was crazy when you read that I already put my Christmas tree up? Well, my dad put up our tree before Thanksgiving too. The Phams do not mess around with our Christmas celebration, it's in our blood. So I guess we're all crazy.



My adorable cousin Ivy...


And my mom's favorite child, Lucky.



Holy crap, it's going to be December soon!