Two Stanleys in One Day?!?

So.

There was a (shit)(rainstorm) yesterday. And there was Game 5 of the NHL Playoffs. AND THE KINGS WON THE STANLEY CUP!!! 

Thus, this morning was dedicated to slowly sipping coffee and reading funny hockey commentaries. And a bit of catching up on the World Cup, too. 

HELLO, BOYS!
Source.

I like hockey a lot. Not a total diehard fan, but fan enough to enjoy watching a game from time to time. I know, I know, Rangers are an OK team (I guess), they have a mighty fine-looking goalie and they ARE my town's team. But blood is thicker than water and LA Kings have Anže on their roster, so there you have it - me is LA supporter smack in the middle of #rangerstown. 

Anže is a big hero back home and he brought the Stanley Cup to Slovenia in 2012, which was all kinds of awesome. And he's bringing it home again this summer. AND he looks way better when he does not shave.  As do a lot of men.

Anže being adorable again.
Source.

In case you are craving more bearded Kings, Heather of the Fug Girls compiled a lovely gallery. The title of the post says it all: Well Played, Jubilant, Oft-Toothless Men in Beards: The Los Angeles Kngs Win the Stanley Cup. You are welcome. 

Why so sad, "king" Henrik?
Your team lost, but at least you are still very pretty.
Source.

On another note, today is a lovely Saturday. The nasty storm left behind crisp air, no humidity and streets without dust. Which can only mean one thing: take Stanley (not the cup, the bike) out for a spin. After the beard and coffee and that-other-Stanley overdose, of course.

First stop was Central Park (obviously), where I, by some miraculous stroke of good luck, managed to find a not-too-crowded spot in the otherwise-extremely-crowded Park to sit down, crack open my book, and read for a while. I boycotted the iPOD for once and listened to the birds instead. 

Chilling in Central Park with a book.

My next stop was the UWS Whole Foods. I do not shop there often, as I find the whole experience a tad pretentious and many of the things that I ordinarily buy are severely overpriced there compared to my local grocery store. But they do have virgin coconut oil that my local grocery store does not stock AND that does not cost an eye. Also, peonies.

Hipster Stan!!!

I came home late in the afternoon, just in time for some early dinner. Colorful veggie stir fry, roasted on my new coconut oil. Made the whole freaking house smell of coconut instead of onion and broccoli. 1:0 for coconut oil, I guess.

Having a Blair Waldorf  moment. 

Veggie stir fry. Made with coconut oil.
Joyful!

Now it's 9 pm and it's still light outside. Adore!!!

I'll probably go for a quick run now, since I have been a lazy ass for the past few weeks. 

And tomorrow is Sunday brunch-day!

Gotta love weekends. 

Jules

How Philly cured the Gotham blues

G'bye, Manhattan.

As mentioned in the previous post, I've been getting a bit tired of New York over the past few weeks. It was a general, no-specific-reason-for-it funk, something that happens from time to time when life sucks you in a vicious cycle of whatevers. 

SOTD: The Wonder Years - Local Man Ruins Everything. 

Enter: weekend trip to Philadelphia to visit some friends. 

Pretty skies in downtown Philly

I made it South on Saturday afternoon and the shenanigans started with a drink at a firehouse-converted-into-bar establishment, followed by a sinfully delicious Greek dinner. 

Said dinner involved setting cheese on fire and binging on vampire vaccine. And baklava. Because: duh!   

My friends took me to a great party afterwards and I got to chat with some great people. I also met a ghost writer. Which was just about the coolest thing ever. Ghost writer, y'all!    

Love Park.
Yes, they are THAT cheesy.
Of course, couples stand under the sculpture and kiss
while someone takes their picture.
Ugh, cheesiness...

Sunday started with brunch, which for me consisted of a delicious french toast drowned in cream cheese sauce with a side of fruit salad. Allow this to sink in properly: buttery rich french toast smothered with a sweet-tart cream cheese (philadelphia, of course) sauce. Yum!

After brunch, my friend had the awesomest idea ever. We went to the Mütter museum. It's tagline is "Disturbingly informed" and it could not be more true. Which is a medical museum full to the brim with freaky sciency medical stuff like a preserved GIGANTIC megacolon, 300 years old obstetric forceps, extremely twisted scoliotic spines and dried up hands. And histologic slides of Albert freaking Einstein's brain. 'Nuff said. 

Needless to say, I loved the place and will definitely go back for more. 

        

After all the weirdo-fest, we rewarded ourselves with a stroll through Rittenhouse square. And since I am a fantastically lucky girl, the Fine Arts Show happened to be happening that weekend, so we go to check out some cool paintings. Seeing some beauty after the freakiness was a welcome cleanse. Also, ice cream! 

Until next time, Pennsylvania.

Jules

p.s. Excuse the non-so-pretty photos. Posting them completely crude without any editing. Not even a smidgen of straightening. Because I am that lazy. 

The Amazing Sunday

Perfect Sunday alert!

Oh, yes. After a wild, gin-infused Saturday night (ohmyiactuallywentouttoparty), sleeping in until 10-ish felt amazing. So did waking up with a clear head and a calm stomach. And so did having coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches in bed while binge watching three episodes of Scandal.

But enough is enough and three episodes were enough. Time to slap on some sunscreen and leave the house. And leave Manhattan, too. A bumpy ride on the 4 train and another one on the 2 train took me to Brooklyn Botanical Garden where the cherry blossoms are still blooming amazing. 

I headed directly for the cherry esplanade, found a spot under a tree, spread my blanked, took off my shoes and lay down. 

A minute and a half later (yes, those pink-clad branches against the blue sky demanded a bit of attention) I switched temptation of by activating my phone's airplane mode and cracked open a book. 

 

I zoned out for a few hours. Reading and sipping a chilled ginger lemonade. The only thing that disturbed my bubble was a freaking bird that parked its butt on a branch right above my head. 

Yes, it decided to take a #2. Which landed two inches away from my head. Could've been worse, I guess.

Yeah, for a person who zoned out for 3.5 hours, I took an astonishing amount of pictures. But dudes, look at all the pretty pink fluffy blooms!!!

Since I made the trip to Brooklyn and paid for the ticket, it occurred to me that there's more to the Garden than just the cherries. So, after 3.5 hours of pure bliss (minus the freaking pooping bird), I burst my bubble, folded up the blanket, removed some fallen blooms from my shoes (and my hair, and my butt) and left my slice of heaven. The stroll through the park's grounds was delightful, although it was quite crowded. But it was not half bad. Actually, the rest of the garden was just as beautiful as the freaking cherries.  

Next up was a mediocre ice cream (boooooo), redeemed by some very decent iced coffee. 

Brooklyn, I really do like you. 

SOTD: The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You. 

Because it sounds just like Prospect Heights.

Before I knew it, it was 6 pm and time to make it back to Manhattan. Destination: the IMAX theater at Lincoln Center. Movie: The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Snack: salted caramel popcorn. AMAZING indeed. One of the cooler superhero movies around. Of course, nobody puts Iron Man in the corner, but the rebooted Spidey comes a very close second. Woo-hoo!

Happy Monday or whatever.

Jules

The Toronto Diaries, Part 3

Friday, April 11th 2014

Pretty sunny day, homemade smoothies. 

I could live with that, yes.

A noon choir and organ recital. The best felafel I've ever had, the Aquarium, ethiopian food for dinner, red wine galore, a guitar, and then gin martinis. And Jameson. 

So far, so good. 

Davie's saying hello (Bloor and Bathurst)

Roy Thompson Hall ready for the Orpheus Choir

Aquarium. Done right.

People in front of a giant tank of jellyfish. Obviously.

Leaving the Aquarium was a sad, sad moment.
Luckily, Lake Ontario's shore really tried hard to make it up to me.
Freaking show-off.

Holy mother-of-binge!

                         

Apparently, Toronto knows all and every single one of the ways to my heart, that I can tell. Oh, you sneaky, sneaky charmer, as if I haven't told you that I belong to New York. That smelly, loud big cousin of yours, you met him, I am sure.

SOTD: Everything is Awesome (The LEGO Movie OST). Duh!

That'd be all, folks. Thanks for keeping up.

Toronto was great, but now it's time to swing back to the real world. File taxes, do laundry, split cells, go for a run, paint nails, fall in love with spring in New York. You know the drill.

Jules

p.s. Many, many, MANY thanks to N for making these past few days beyond memorable. I owe you. BIG TIME.

The Toronto Diaries, Part 2

Thursday, April 10th 2014

First thing on the agenda for the day was coffee and pecan pie at Kensington Market, a lively and colorful Toronto neighbourhood that, among other things, possesses exceptionally good coffee and pecan pie.

Back on Bloor

As if good coffee and pecan pie were not enough to teleport me to my happy place, the weather was ridiculously springy and the company beyond delightful. And before we knew it, it was time for lunch. We opted for cheapo chinese, dumplings and fried rice. It was great. 

N and I parted ways after lunch, so I explored Downtown on my own, additionally fuelled by Tim Hortons iced coffee. Totally ignoring Google Maps and Lonely Planet was worth it.

Trees growing out of houses. I can deal with that.

This is one fucking ugly chunk of the ROM.

I really enjoyed wandering the streets of Tornto. The city has this energising vibe, but nothing too intense (as Gotham can be). Overall, it very much feels like if Berlin and New York had a lovechild and decided to raise it by a pretty lake. If it were a drink, it would probably be hot whiskey. If it were a song, it would be the opening track of Interpol's Antics.

SOTD: Interpol - Next Exit. Looping it while walking down Yonge. 

Ok, you must think I am turning into an annoying gooey chipper overenthusiast. I feel the same way. But hey, it is really hard to keep it real when everything was so freaking good. And I am writing it while chewing on maple caramels. See, EVERYTHING is so freaking good. Fear not, half an hour of inhaling New York and I'll snap back to my slightly snarky self.

After a nice day, another highlight: concert night. A whole other level of awesome.
Cheers to that!

Jules