Saturday, June 14, 2014

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

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

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.