One Night in Atlantic City

Atlantic City. BF and I went this past saturday. He's an avid poker player and goes there fairly often, but it was my first time ever going, and I was extremely excited about it. Saying that luck was on our side this weekend would be a stretch, but it was a great weekend none the less.

To start with, we figured we'd borrow my parent's car to drive down there. No big deal, I use it all the time, they rarely use it. I called my mom at 8am Saturday morning (while BF was on his way to my house) to run it past her. And, oh, what's that? No? You're going to visit Grandma? Great. No car for us.

But it's ok, we make it to an early bus and get there by noon-ish.

BF usually gets hotel rooms compensated by the casinos since he plays poker there. Not this weekend. And what do you know, the hotel he likes the most is fully booked. Figures. We dole out $350 for a room at Harrah's. I can tell he's not too excited about this. I mean...would you be? 

We check in and go to the room to find this:

And this:

Ok. Maybe it's a little worth it. This hotel room is amazing. Do you see that shower?? And that king size bed??

BF showed me around the city. The boardwalk, the beach, the outlet stores. The weather was a bit gloomy, but it was a nice change of pace to see something other than NYC. And come on, it's Atlantic City!

It was a bit gloomy though, I must say. It was sort of like a watered down version of Las Vegas. All the same stuff, just slightly less...good. The sad underbelly of the casino and gambling world was more apparent here than it is in Vegas. The geriatric men and women sitting at slot machines are a fantastic example of this. So are all the over-weight, under-dressed woman with too much makeup. Ok, maybe they're more tasteless and tacky than anything else, but still.

Anyway.

Late in the evening, after playing in a poker tournament, BF and I went to a craps table and he taught me how to play. It was the quickest $100 I've ever lost. oops.

Soon after that, we headed back to our fantastic room to call it a night. Collectively, we lost more money than we were happy with, and we were drunk on wine from dinner and drinks from the casino cocktail waitresses, so calling it a night seemed like the best plan of action.

The next morning, after a fantastic shower, we packed up our stuff and headed toward the bus back to the city. A few dollars poorer, but a wonderful weekend to show for it. 

All in all, totally worth it.

Morning Coffee

Without coffee, is a morning really a morning? or is it just that crappy, bright, early part of the day when you first wake up?

For me, coffee is integral to starting my day. Generally I drink it throughout the day, not just in the morning, but that's a whole different story.

Sitting down at my desk in the morning with a cup of coffee makes everything a little bit better. So far I've written a to-do list which is so cumbersome it obviously can not be completed by the time I have to get to work at 4:00pm. (Right now it's 9:18am.) But then again, I like to add entirely unnecessary tasks to my lists to make it more fun to cross items off. For instance, 'blog' is an item on my list. CHECK! That was a toughie.

Also on my list is 't-shirts from gap'. The Gap has the best white t-shirts. Yeah, ok, there are better ones out there, but I'm not willing to spend more than about $15 on a t-shirt that's lasting one season and getting demoted to a workout shirt by next spring. White t-shirts are not built to last, purely based on the fact that they are white. But I live in them during the summer, so new ones must be acquired. My favorites have a little pocket on the front, but I don't think I can be that picky. I've been searching for those for a while now, and apparently they've stopped existing.

Well, I'm gonna get moving on my list. Next up: change sheets.

Mama's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope that everyone had a lovely one and got to enjoy some time with the people (mothers) they care about. Mine was quite enjoyable.

Early in the day, JP (my roommate) and I went for a jog in central park. After that, we walked around a street fair that was happening in our neighborhood. BF came along also, and snapped this photo of us in our snazzy new sunglasses:

We're awesome, in case you can't tell.

Also, check out the background. Yes, those are the projects. No, we do not live in the projects, let's just clear that up.

The Fair was surprisingly lacking in vendors. There were long empty spots (such as the one behind us) that were unoccupied. Seems silly, it was a beautiful day. Perhaps no one wanted to set up shop in front of the projects. For that, I can not fault them.

This picture below is an attempted shot of the actual street fair. Not sure how much of a success it is, but you can't blame a girl for trying. And hey, at least there are no projects!

After the street fair, I met my family for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Midtown. The food was delicious, and my loud, unruly family was tame compared to most of the other disastrous families there.

After that delicious dinner, I took a cab home, got in bed, and napped away my fullness. I'm still extremely full from eating so much yummy pasta and chicken and salad and calamari and cheesecake, but it was well worth it. Mother's day was a success.

Slimer!

I'm sure you've all seen the Ghostbusters movies. If you haven't, you've clearly grown up under rock. My sincerest apologies to you if this is the case.

The Ghostbusters took residence in an old New York City firehouse. Below is a paper model of that firehouse. A doll house, if you will, but...not quite.

Now the picture you're about to look at is one that I took while walking with PB. She actually pointed it out to me.

Look familiar?
Well, it should.

This is the actual firehouse that was used for the outside shots in the Ghostbusters movies. It's located in TriBeCa.













On the sidewalk in front of this famous firehouse that i've walked past a million times and not even thought twice about is a giant emblem giving recognition to the Ghostbusters.

Pretty cool, huh?

Is a good deal ever really a good deal?

Judging by the Mani/ Pedi/ 10 minute back massage for $25 that PB and I went for today, no, a good deal is not EVER a good deal.

Yes, the price was right, but there was a reason for it.

The pedicure chairs had wooden covers on them, like the kind taxi drivers put on their seats. And the nice bubbly tubs that your feet go in? no bubbles. no soap. just scorching hot water.

PB opted for just the pedicure and back massage portion, while I was planning to do just a manicure and pedicure. By the time PB was done with her massage, I was still getting my shoddy manicure (aren't you supposed to cover my nail with polish? no, not my finger...my whole nail? isn't that what you do everyday? how can you not achieve this yet??).

PB offered up her credit card to pay for her pedi and back massage. $27. Eh...What?
Turns out it would be cheaper for her to get the manicure in addition to what she already had.

She got the manicure. Mid-way through her manicure, I relocated to the massage chair.

The green, 20-87 year old massage chair was dragged into the center of the shop, a little paper towel was put on the face piece, and I was instructed to sit down. This is what ensued:

1. The paper towel slipped and my face touched the green leather that probably hadn't been cleaned in a decade. Ew.
2. The chair was rickety. Like, really almost about to fall to the ground.
3. The massage was barely a massage. It was a set of hands going at my back as if they were trying to kill a super fast ant that was racing all over the place.
3. While trying to kill the super fast ant that must have existed, the body attached to the set of hands was HUMPING me. To reach my shoulders and neck (which she basically just prodded at) she straddled my back and leaned into me. Personal Space? Not during this "massage".
4. Don't think it can get any worse? You're mistaken. Directly under the face piece that my cheek was touching, there was a metal bar. Every time the woman touched me in her jerky way, the bar slammed into the space between my bottom lip and chin. At one point my tongue was rested between my teeth. I promptly clenched my teeth together after the bar smacked me and made me crunch my tongue.

DING! finally, the bell went off and I was done. I get up and sit down next to PB at the nail drying area.

"How was it?" PB inquires. I look at her and smile. The woman who performed the torture is still standing within earshot.
"Then you must have had the good one, oh my god mine was so awful. She didn't know what she was doing and there was a bar digging into my face the whole time." This entire sentence escapes PB's mouth before I can manage to explain that I had the same loathsome experience. We spend the next half hour or so comparing the crappiness of all that happened.

Cheap is not always better. And here, the icing on the cake:

Disaster

We dried our nails in a foot dryer. Note the words "Pedicure Dryer" clearly stated on the machine. Oh, and see that little wooden thing? That's what all the chairs were covered with. Guess they were going for a theme. Um...mission accomplished?

A list from a sometimes list maker

Some things I like:

-Jeans
-Stripes
-Glitter
-Fresh Sheets
-Jewelry that stands out
-Marc Jacobs (I am obsessed with this bag in particular)
-Flowers
-Horses

This is me riding Tea Rose in Mississippi, the summer I turned 14

-Long Hair
-Hot Summer Mornings
-Cool Summer Evenings, and
-Nail Polish-- I'm currently wearing this color, although it's a bit brighter than the picture makes it appear.

Tart Deco, Essie

The reason I have chosen to provide you with a list of things I like is this: I have done not one thing worth mentioning today. It's 2pm. I have vacuumed and swiffered my apartment, eaten lunch, and watched a romantic movie about choosing love over money. (The movie, by the way, made me bawl.)

So there you have it, today's post is a list of things I like.

Sunday Fun-day?

Today, I give you...Brunch.

Today is the first day of May, a mild 67-ish degrees out, sunny, and...most importantly, Sunday. Brunch day. BF and I figured we'd go for Brunch. First place? 25 minute wait. No thanks. Second place? didn't even bother walking in, thats how crowded it was. Third place! empty table outside...seemed promising...but no dice.

"We have a reservation for that table coming in about 15 minutes", Random restaurant employee informs us.

           Oh. Really? because in 15 minutes I can guarantee you'll have at least 2 other available tables.

"We'll be out in 20!" My boyfriend offers some humorous persuasion.
"I can't help you, I'm sorry".

We leave, a little confused, but mostly annoyed. BF works in the same restaurant I do. I was a hostess for a long time. I (as well as BF) have a clear understanding of how restaurants and seatings work. We should have been seated. You never leave an empty table empty.

I live 2 blocks away from the offending restaurant and have wanted to try it for quite some time. Well, don't think I'll be making the effort again anytime soon. Thanks anyway.


We settled on a burger place a few blocks further that had a nice brunch special and open outside tables they were willing to let us to sit at. (how nice of them.)

The bloody mary's were 2 bucks, the food was fresh, and the waitress was pleasant. All in all, it turned into a nice sunday Brunch!