Down in Manasquan, Summer 2013
Photo by Cristina Nogueras©
Hello, April
Another month I go over my budget… surprise, surprise!
I love Mint.com, it helps me stay grounded, but if I go over my personal budget even when I track it regularly, how do people live without a budget?! Oh yes, they must be rich.
I can be very good one week, bring my home cooked meal to work, deprive myself of shopping and only do happy hour specials… but then there’s one day that I feel like I can rule the world and I decide instant gratification is the way to go, so I indulge in tasty meals over $8 and splurge in this cute summer dress I can’t even wear because hey, it’s still winter. March didn’t get the memo, I hope April does.
So yeah, today I say hello to a new month, with a blank economic canvas waiting to be filled with overpriced purchases of everyday necessities… life in New York City.
Here’s to April, may it finally bring Spring to us!
* photo and image edit by Cristina Nogueras
Look mama, I can be healthy too
Veggies are good for your health and French fries are good for your soul.
You can imagine how excited I was to hear there were new prepared frozen veggie fries available in a freezer near me. You may think the idea is a little gross, but it’s actually quite delicious. As you know, I am no chef, but I can get creative.
Thank you to Veggie Fries for sending a variety of bags for me to sample and experiment with, definitely made my Monday night more interesting!
Here are some combinations that I tried out, nothing too complicated here, but my tummy was happy and that is what matters. Mind you, while I was waiting for the chicken to cook, I basically ate all of the veggie fries… hence the small samples (they are that good).
- Blue cheese and honey – Veggie fries topped with blue crumbs and honey, this was my personal favorite. My roommate loved this one, and ended up just dipping her veggie fries with honey. Let me tell you something, they are addicting
- A side to the classics – Chicken and mushrooms, with a side of veggie fries. You can’t go wrong with that and if you do, just add bbq sauce
- Just dippin’ – Edamame hummus is my current personal favorite, but of course the night that I want to make all of this happen, there is no edamame hummus at my local grocery store. You can also dip them in good old bbq sauce, as I said, you can’t go wrong with that
I’m all for finding that perfect balance between healthy and delicious, although I usually go for the delicious side, let’s be honest.
To learn more about Veggie fries, visit their website. If you’re too lazy, here’s a little bit more about them here:
Veggie Fries are made from all natural USA grown potatoes, carefully selected real farm-grown vegetables, beans, spices and herbs to provide the most authentic and delicious flavors. Each batch follows a unique patent-pending process to give you the perfect fry texture – crispy on the outside, fluffy and tender on the inside. Each variety contains at least 25% of non-potato vegetables and beans for a substantial amount of extra vegetable nutrition in every delicious serving. Every ingredient is all natural, non-GMO and contains no gluten or wheat.
Disclosure: Veggie Fries provided me with free product for review. All opinions, ideas, and stories are 100% my own.
Wordless Wednesday: Newport Waters
It doesn’t have to be summer for the ocean to be beautiful…
and that guy is pretty cool, too
Newport, Rhode Island
Being Assertive & Humble
Our generation needs to keep learning. The people with the loudest voices and biggest mouths are the ones on the spotlight blasting their ideas and “knowledge” at anyone with eyes and/or ears. Seriously, I’m all for confidence and self-respect, but some people out there are way too entitled.
I have a love and hate relationship with the HBO show GIRLS, the last episode being more on the hate side. Hannah, the main character, is a writer and a little too entitled for my taste. She had been working at a big magazine in an advertorial position, was feeling creatively limited by her role and at a brainstorm meeting, she just snapped and got fired. She rambled on about how this job was basically making her rot, how her creativity was dead and so on. I found that SO rude and unprofessional. I am sorry, you may hate your job and you may feel trapped, but there is a difference between standing up for what you deserve and being an entitled little brat. Seriously, not cool.
There is a lot that we can learn from Hannah’s breakdown or little girl tantrum. We should certainly work towards fulfilling our passions, but success is also about having that perfect balance between being humble and being assertive.
Life is not easy, everybody knows that. I know she is a fictional character, but geez, I was pissed. I believe this character reflects what a lot of people in my generation act and feel like. We might need to make some adjustments and have more respect for each other. We are an awesome generation, don’t get me wrong, but we are setting ourselves for self-destruction if we keep streaming this line of fake success and self-proclaimed mavens.
Educate yourself, get some experience, be humble, stay grounded and please, oh please… just chill out for a bit.
Peace, Love & Diet Coke
Warning. This thing called wanderlust, it’s getting worse.
Oh yeah, and by the way, I booked a trip to Croatia.
As much as I wish I could say this was a crazy moment of enlightenment in which I decided to book a flight to a random country, it was not all quite like that. I’ve been wanting to jump back to the other side of the Atlanitc for a while now, it was a matter of getting around the decision of where to go (and with what money, of course).
Turns out, there is a reason for credit cards and tax returns. That reason is so that I can go to Europe. I am beyond thrilled to be able to explore a new country outside my beloved European classics like France and Spain.
It’s booked. It’s happening. It’s getting closer.
Life is too short to live on the extreme, think about it. Too much saving wont get you moving places and too much wilderness and abandonment will leave you with no savings. So take this as a sign if you’ve been saving to travel for a while, or if you’re extremely broke then also take this as a sign and open yourself a nice little savings account.
Have any recommendations about what to do in Croatia? Comment away!
Also, be sure to follow the blog on Instagram @peaceloveanddietcoke
Image Credit – http://www.cntraveller.com/recommended/beaches/croatia-island-beach-holidays/vis-island-croatia
Pretend
I write to make sense of the nonsense in this planet
Dreams chatter every day
We learn to play the game
Smile when we have to
Take what needs to be taken
Maybe we’re all fooling ourselves
Lost in a sea of pretending not to pretend with endless empty laughter
Screaming inside
Planning and planning, with no set date to fly
Maybe we are not, maybe we know
We choose to play the game,
To keep going and beat the drain
Maybe we know when we’re set to sail,
Just let the breeze prevail…
[Brunch] The Elysian Café
The fact that I love brunch is nothing new, so when last week various articles came out saying that bottomless brunches were illegal, you can imagine I started freaking out. Big thanks to The Huffington Post for letting me know that it’s going to be ok by sharing the State Liquor Authority’s statement here.
To celebrate, today I tried out brunch at Hoboken’s Elysian Café. (Mind you, this is not in New York City and I actually just drank coffee, but in the books it’s still brunch!) I had never been to this place before, it’s actually very cute. Turns out The Elysian Café is the oldest continually operated bar/restaurant in Hoboken. I have not had dinner there yet (hint hint to my boyfriend) but I can imagine that with the antique ambiance and the live music they have some nights, it has to be really nice.
Egg White Omelet with Spinach, Tomato, Goat Cheese and a side of Lyonnaise Potatoes (Yum!)
Classic Eggs Benedict
I don’t know how to forgive. Forgive, but don’t forget?
If you look at it from a physical perspective, letting go is quite easy. Holding on to a cup? Release, let it go and it will drop away from you. If only emotions were just as easily to let go of.
I have never really believed on the whole “forgive and forget” idea. It does not make sense to me. You do not need to forget to forgive, if you forget then it’s like you did not forgive at all. I believe that in order to forgive, you need to fully acknowledge what happened and be fully aware of what it meant in your life and then you make the decision to let it go. You forgive because either it does not hurt anymore or you’ve decided that there is something more important than the pain.
I’m not an expert at forgiving. It takes time for me to let go of the pain. It’s not my choice to hold on, believe me, I do not like to carry it around and remind myself about the pain of the past. Forgiving sounds selfless, but it’s really selfish. You forgive so you stop feeling hurt, you forgive to let go of the pain and find inner peace.
Maybe I have it all wrong, maybe that’s why it’s so hard for me to forgive. Maybe I do not even know how to do it.
Nothing says love and hate for me right now, like New York City
HGTV, the cause of all my suffering. Seriously, as much as I enjoy watching people find the house of their dreams, I always end up questioning my own situation.
This couple was hunting for the perfect beach bungalow and by bungalow, apparently they meant mansions as the properties were extremely beautiful, spacious and right by the beach. As I was not watching super intently, I don’t know where it was, but it looked freaking gorgeous.
My point? The house was renting for only $1,000 a month… seriously? That is basically what I pay for my below average apartment, of course I am paying for location because for some reason I think it is the best thing ever to live 15 minutes away from a city that doesn’t even sleep.
This makes me question my situation and I ask myself, is it worth it? Why am I living by Manhattan when I could basically afford a house by the beach somewhere where the sun is always shinning and the weather doesn’t make you want to cry each morning?
These feelings are of course intensified when you are watching HGTV on a plane coming back from a teasing 3 days in sunny San Diego. I am actually considering making an official list of the why reasons I live where I live because I obviously have reasons, I’m not stupid. Maybe it can be a little laminated card I can keep in my wallet and pull out whenever I am doubting myself.
Maybe it’s my island roots screaming for sun and fresh tropical air. Having been born and raised in Puerto Rico, snowy winters are not particularly what you’re thinking of when you are laying on the warm sand.
What is it about New York City that makes everyone put up with the stupid cold weather? No one is really stuck there, except maybe the statute of liberty and even she is sort of in New Jersey. People even say that if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. So, why do we stay?
Why do we put up with crowded subways, questionable smells, rude people, overpriced drinks, overrated fashion trends and ridiculously high rent? Because somehow, with all that crap, New York City is pretty awesome. It’s a city full of cliches, twisted together with some of the best original ideas in the world.Possibilities are endless and opportunity is just around the corner, or maybe a subway stop ahead.
So for now, I’ll keep my stupid lease and I will continue to try to become better and happier everyday, aiming to discover the secret of teleportation so I can forever escape the cold, yet continue to be challenged (or kicked in the butt) by a pretty amazing city.
Image Credit – http://sketch42blog.com/2011/08/lovehate/
Beaches & Brie 