Monday Pick Me Up: Dirty Jersey Style

This Monday, I bring you Jersey's finest, in the form of a review on Yelp:

I was on Yelp looking at reviews of Club Providence, which is located in the Tropicana at Atlantic City.  Why was I looking at reviews of night clubs in Atlantic City?  Well, it just so happens my 21st birthday is in July and I live in the Garden State.  Las Vegas is a plane ride away, while Atlantic City is 40 minutes away and there is a beach.  I don't know, it's a thought.

This review convinced me to go to Club Providence....to watch the disaster that is the sleaze of the Jersey Shore also known as tourists:

our most famous tourists....

The people located above are who you stay away from.  The guido Long Islanders that make everyone think that our pristine beaches are filled with orange people and fist pumping.  They exist, but they're not from Jersey.  Don't lump us all in the same group as them.

That being said, I do like to get my dance on.  I want to see this guy and his hungry lion boys in the club that is now being referred to as Africa....with tanned fake-boobed gazelles ready to be tore up.  I've never been to Atlantic City (edit: as a 21 year old), but I have heard good things from my college-aged friends and old people who like to gamble.  What I'm trying to say is, I don't know what I want to do for my birthday that's 2 months away, but this is a start.  That review was too good not to share.

Mom, Cook My Dinner

Recently my diet has had an overhaul.  In March, my roommate got really sick and had to go home to get a bunch of horrible sounding tests done.  When she returned to school she said she needed to change her diet.  Looking in my fridge in March you would find: chicken nuggets, hot dogs, microwave burritos, pizza, carrots and maybe some leftovers.  We both did not eat well - choosing convenience over health.

Making food for yourself is soooooo annoying.  I do enjoy cooking, when I have the time and all the ingredients on hand.  But normally I'm too busy watching Archer to make a well balanced meal or I only have a few ingredients and I want to make something super complex.  Into the microwave goes a burrito...with some carrot sticks on the side (not microwaved).

Then my roommate got sick.  And then I wrote a nutritional analysis on what I ate for a week for my nutrition class.  Here is the opening paragraph to my paper:

"After analyzing my diet for a week, I have come to the conclusion that I must hate my body.  The amount of fruit and vegetables I don’t eat is appalling, and that’s definitely the worst aspect of my diet.  I know why I do this - and it’s because it’s not convenient.  I do no have a car, so getting to the grocery store when I run out of fresh vegetables is not an easy feat.  Generally I stock up on vegetables when I go shopping and then run out sooner than anticipated.  Fresh things also go bad if left in the refrigerator for extended amounts of time.  Fruit, on the other hand, is something I just entirely omit from my diet.  I never think to buy any when I’m shopping.  On occasion, I will eat an apple that I got from the cafeteria.  But since I eat almost all of my meals at home, fruit is not something I eat a lot.  For the week I analyzed, the only trace of fruit in my diet was when I mixed vodka with orange juice.  Ideal way to get the benefits of fruit into my diet?  Probably not. "

Sadly the above is all true.  But not anymore.  Now our fridge is filled with fresh vegetables and home-cooked meals.  If you make a lot of healthy food, you have a lot of healthy leftovers for lunches and other dinners.  Take an hour or so and make a well-balanced meal.  Your body will thank you.  Now, back to your mac 'n cheese.

Here is some more inspiration to cook for yourself.

Monday Pick Me Up

If you've seen Rocky, you know this scene.  If you haven't seen Rocky, you know this scene.  This weekend I was in Philadelphia with friends and we decided to check out the Philadelphia Museum of Art.    We didn't originally plan to go to the museum, we actually got lost and decided to just park and look around.

The museum was closing when we got there, but I couldn't resist running up the steps.  In a dress and sandals.  It was worth it.  I would've taken a photo with the statue, but there was a wedding party getting their photos taken in front of it.

look at all those steps

my friend Tracey (on the left) and myself!

Spring Break '12

SPRING BREAK!!!!! It's true, it's spring break for myself and many other college students across the country.  I'm not in Punta Cana, Mexico or the Bahamas.  I'm at my house.  It's not hot outside but it is supposed to be in the upper 60s all this week.  That's super exciting because it means winter is over.   Today was my first full day home and I spent the day reading magazines, unpacking and hanging out with my dog.

I miss my dog while I'm at school way too much.  She's just so cute and cuddly I can't help but miss her.  I'm a dog lady, whatever.

I'm really bad at making plans so I have absolutely nothing fun planned while I'm home.  Usually the excitement of being home wears off by Wednesday, and you're ready to go back to school as soon as possible.  I guess I could see friends who are home as well and spend quality time with my family.  Or I could blog about how lame I am.  Yeah....lets go with that one.

Worst 40 Days Ever

As most white people know, it's Lent.  I am not Catholic, my roommate is not Catholic.  Lent is a Catholic thing.  Long story short Jesus gave up food and water for 40 days while he was in a desert.  No easy task by any means.  AND he was tempted by Satan.

Because I live in the 21st Century and fall to Satan's temptations daily (kind of joking), I decided to give up something just to see if I could do it.

After a conversation with my roommate we decided to both give up our food vice, ranch dressing.  The holy grail of salad dressings.  It's good on everything from pizza to chicken nuggets to vegetables.   After evaluating our sad diets of processed food, we realized we needed to make a change.  So we're starting small with ranch.

 It's actually not a small step because we literally eat it everyday with at least one meal.  We're about a week in and so far we have stayed strong.  The notes on our fridge that command "NO RANCH" are definitely helping.

I have tried to find something else to dip my chicken nuggets in,  when I asked my roommate what I should use she said "my tears."  I contemplated barbeque sauce and honey mustard but my roommate said we really should avoid viscous sauces because it would be like "replacing cocaine with heroin."

So I have moved on.  I've moved on to Sriracha.  What is Sriracha?  Click here and learn my young grasshopper.  My acid reflux is really thanking me for this one.

College Life: Finding a House

Yesterday, I signed a lease on a house with 3 of my friends.  It was a long, disappointing search.  We would go look at houses up for rent in our college town, only to walk out of one house and find out someone just signed for it.  Some houses were extremely run down or not what we were looking for at all.

When our search seemed fruitless, we stumbled upon one house on Craiglist that seemed promising.  We looked at the house on Saturday, and when we walked in we all kinda sighed with relief.  It was perfect.  A good size, walking distance to school, a nice backyard, and 2.5 bathrooms (an important element for girls).  It also had a fridge (one house didn't have a fridge!) and a washer and dryer in the basement (some houses didn't have those either). 

When we left our tour and talked to the landlord we knew we needed it.  Immediately we were all on the phone with our parents and about an hour later we called the realtor.  She told us if we came in on Tuesday and signed the lease, it'd be ours.

Now it's ours.  Perseverance and the power of the internet have made my realities of having a house with my best friends a reality.  Hopefully we don't all hate each other or burn the house down by the years end. 

Did I mention the house has a yellow bathroom?  The floor, tub, sink, counter, walls and toilet are yellow.  Tacky?  What's that?