Happy Holidays!

The Holidays are Upon Us! Everybody PANIC!! haha!
Sigh... I truly miss my blog and my coffee adventures. But I'm about to embark on a new adventure! (Drum Roll Please) My boyfriend and I are about to join the ranks of NY Apartment Hunters! We are finally leaving his family's home and hope to move out by the end of January!

It took me a little longer than I wanted to find that 2nd job. I broke my foot in August and didn't want to start looking until after I was all healed up. I ended up finding a retail job around mid-October, and I've been there almost 2 months now! I actually work in Grand Central Station! (pics to come)
On top of that, I received a promotion (and partial raise) at my regular 9-5! I'm hoping to receive the next part of my raise sometime in December, but we'll see. Tricky business that. All in all, it's been exciting and stressful the last few months.

I also got braces in September, which set me back about $3k, even with dental insurance! Yikes!
All together, I'm still about $25k in debt (including credit, student loans, & my braces), but the good news is I've actually been able to save some money and we are going to use that to fund our new apartment! No more subletting! My name will actually be on the lease of a one-bedroom apartment (a real one with a living room and everything) and  maybe even within walking distance of Prospect Park! It will cut my commute in half, a park to run in, no more roommates... and I am beyond thrilled!

Also, I have a plan to get rid of my credit card debt by October 2013!
I just have to keep my weekend job until then... sigh.

I'm a little afraid to weigh myself. Since I got the promotion and started working weekends, I've done nothing but work, and my weight-loss has gone out the window. I was only 4 pounds from my goal weight too! But it will all be worth it to get rid of the weight of my debt! I just have to remember not to go overboard with Christmas or furnishing our new digs!

We haven't even got the place yet but I'm already researching how we'll decorate it! I'm thinking I should document and post about our apartment hunting experience... for those thinking of moving up here. Be Warned! I did move 5 times in one year and I consider myself a bit of an expert in the moving arena but actually signing a lease will be a first for me!

Can't wait to share the fun! Happy Holidays to All!

Obsessions or Purpose?

They say that man makes plans and God laughs. So TRUE!
I've allowed myself to get super distracted this week. I must miss having a purpose to my life because when I somehow (really can't remember what triggered this) rediscovered my love of gardening, I completely let my weight-loss plans slip. I did manage to squeeze in about 3 days of running, but I haven't been watching my calories as much as I should. I thought I may have gained weight, but I actually lost 1/2 a pound! It's about 50% of what I was planning for at this point, but at least I'm still making some kind of progress! (Or that's what I tell myself).

I'm also having a challenge trying to save money (no surprise there). Weekends are my downfall. We end up going out, and although my boyfriend gallantly pays for most of our outings, I invariably end up spending more than my self-imposed $25-a-week allowance. Granted, I knew this was a little 'ambitious' when I allotted that amount, and I knew the beginning would be the hardest, but this is a reallll struggle! So far I'm about $20 behind my Saving Schedule. And it looks like I may have to put off paying off my Evil Chase credit card one more month. Sigh.

Meanwhile, here I am spending hours pouring over gardening books for a house that I may or may not be moving into in 6 1/2 months! Crazy?! Moi?! Ok, maybe a little... but I'm so EXCITED!!
I'm used to having some kind of project to spend my time on and this is my latest obsession! First it was starting my business, then it was weight-loss, then it was getting out of debt, and now.. it's gardening!

Most of my childhood my parents would tell me how we were moving in a year and so I shouldn't get too involved in clubs or commit to anything too long term. This continued for 6 years! Every year I put off starting a garden because I thought we would be moving to another state! So when we finally moved to GA, when I was 16, I immediately started my dream garden. My poor dad ended up spending hours sweating over the GA clay, tilling it all up, so I could fix the PH levels of my garden soil to perfection. I had so many tomatoes, I actually made ketchup! Of course all this only lasted one year before I left for college.

Since I've lived in NY, all of my attempts at having some kind of window garden have failed miserably. (I blame NY) Now that we might (possibly, maybe?) be moving into our own home, I'm thrilled to get a new chance to use my (hibernating?) green thumb! Forget the fact that the space in the back of the house is basically a paved, tiny driveway! I'm a creative person and I can think of a way around this! This IS happening!

Sigh- I must be the most un-cool 28 year old ever! I swear I was born 70 years old. I love cooking, gardening, reading... what self-respecting 28 year-old, born during a technological renaissance, does that?!

So you may be seeing lots of gardening posts in the near future... More to come!

1 Year Later...

Wow! Ok! It's been a little over a year since I last made a post here!
There's so much to catch up on!!

Job:
I'm still doing the photography gig- very boring, but stable and almost zero stress. I was working as a coffee barista for about 10 months while doing the photo thing! This was actually a lot of fun and one of my favorite jobs ever, but it didn't pay nearly enough and the coffee was actually pretty bad. Blegh! But I learned a lot and I'm hoping to do this kind of work again one day!

Business:
I started my jewelry business in early December but only managed to make about 3 sales in 3 months! Boo! Things were starting to pick up but I had an unexpected hiccup in my living arrangements and had to put my business on hold until further notice...

Living:
My boyfriend and I moved out of our crummy apartment in Harlem to move to a pretty decent place in Brooklyn! We really liked the place, even though our commute was kinda long, but our roommate didn't love us so much and we were asked to leave after a year of living there!
Now, we are living with my boyfriend's mother and little sister in Queens (rent-free!) for the next 3-7 months so we can save money and find a great place of our very own! It's been a little tough adjusting but it will be worth it to get a jump start paying off my debt! I'm looking at this as a blessing in disguise!

Debt:
It's been a little disappointing this year, as most of my money ended up going into my jewelry business, which is now on hold, and not my debt. Also, instead of getting a much needed tax refund, I ended up owing the state almost $500!! I wanted to cry let me tell ya! But now that we are living rent-free, I'm going to get another weekend job at the end of July and by the time we move out of my bf's mom's place this December, I'm hoping to have almost 60% of my debt paid off!! In fact, I'm paying off my EVIL CHASE credit card this very month! Woo-hoo! And since I started this blog, I have brought my total debt down to $26,620 from $33K!

Running:
I started the Couch25K program last May and now I usually end up running an average of 3 miles in 33 minutes! And I run 3-5 times a week!! Can you believe it?! I actually achieved my goal of running 1 mile and exceeded it! More than that, I ENJOY running!

Weight-Loss:
This has been a topsy-turvy year for my weight loss journey. I joined a FREE and completely awesome website called SparkPeople.com and, combined with my running program, managed to loose almost 20 pounds in 6 months! Of course, in November, I stopped going to the gym so I could focus on starting my business and ended up gaining back about 8 pounds. However, I started working out again in February and I've lost about 6 of those 8 pounds! All said and done, I've lost 16 pounds and I'm about half-way to my goal weight!

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg folks! There's so much more to tell you, so many new goals (and setbacks)! I can't wait to share it all with you and to start blogging again!

Spring Fever!

Now that Valentine's Day is over, Spring is right around the corner. And it couldn't come soon enough in my opinion! So, in honor of the upcoming day, I'm posting some of my favorite Spring Looks with a Looks For Less thrown in there for fun! Hope you enjoy!

Ok- you caught me! Some of the styles I posted pics of have been discontinued since I made these pages (Especially in the case of Forever 21. Those guys rotate their styles like they're ADD crack junkies!), but I've included links to looks that are very similar. So I hope you'll forgive me! And move fast if you intend to buy these! Places like Charlotte Russe and Forever 21 wont keep these styles for long!

1. Melody Dress, Kate Spade- $445, 2. Bonjour Knit Top- $16.90, 3. Mint Cardigan- $24.90, 4. J. Crew New Look 22- $N/A, 5.   Oval Earrings- $4.80

Love the ice-cream pastels in these looks! So fun! The touch of pink tights make a normally traditional dress very funky! I think this old-school bike is so cute! I've always loved the way J. Crew knows how to dress up everyday, casual fabrics with flashy sequins in a way that just works, and the different tints of blue are so cozy and calming. I've also been noticing this awesome makeup trend of having a soft, tonal style with a bright shot of lipstick thrown in to dress up a so-so look.

1. Lace Cuff Trench Coat- $39.50, 2. Western Corset Stretch Belt- $9.50, 3. Darling Daisy Shift Dress- $34.50, 4. Pins & Needles Lace Dress- $69

Lace! I'm loving this trend! I can't wait to pair this dress with a denim or short leather jacket.

1. Knit Waves Dress- $68 2. Chiffon Strappy Slip- $68, 3. Two Tone Tights- $14

Stripes! #1 is a great new take on the stripes trend going on right now. I like the 2nd dress because it has an old world/French/Gigi feel to it that brings me back to my childhood while still being modern- sexy and classic. When I first saw these two-tone tights I actually stopped the girl who was wearing them to ask where she got them! Of course, I immediately went and bought them! I wore them to work and everyone at the office was stopping me every few seconds to make me spin and show off my legs- I felt totally scandalous and way cooler than my usual self.

Gigi!

The Look: All Saints Look #91, For Less: Spring Break Wooden Wedge- $35.50

  Love the look of tight pants paired with tall sandals- it really elongates the legs and dresses up a typically casual look. BTW- the shoes pictured for All Saints are no longer on their website but these would normally sell for well into the $200 range. Which is why I'm all the more impressed with Charlotte Russe's shoe collection! They keep coming up with very modern, architectural looks that I'm totally falling for!

The Look: All Saints Look #90, For Less: Ruched Ankle Pants- $17.80

I just discovered All Saints, the amazing (and expensive!) British brand that's ultra modern, cool, and casual. So, of course, I'm obsessed with trying to recreate their looks at a price sane people can actually afford.

The Look: Counting Angles Dress- $168, For Less: Knit Abstract Dress- $13.80- again out of stock from Forever 21, but here's a close 2nd! (I was really proud of this find too!) Or try this: Ikat Chiffon Dress- $13.50!

The Look: Extended Shirt Dress- $198, For Less: Jersey Jumpsuit- $29.50

 Sigh. It seems that the original jersey jumpsuit I found on Forever 21 is now out of stock. Hopefully they will be re-stocking it soon, but until then, here's a jersey jumpsuit from Old Navy that's still pretty snazy!

The Look: BCBG Suede Cutout Wedge- $98, For Less: 1. Suedette Cage Wedge- $29.80, 2.  Runway Strapped Bootie- $32.50

Ok. I might be slightly obsessed with shoes right now. But you would be too if you'd been wearing the same boots all winter! I long for sandals and a pretty pedicure!

New Diet: Blogging?!

The other day I read a Yahoo article about people who had blogged their way slimmer! According to an article on WebMD, people who record what they eat keep more weight off than people who don’t. A lot of these people in the Yahoo article lost substantial weight too! Around 100-150 lbs! Some even took it a step further by taking photographs of every meal. The idea is that having a group of people to be accountable to will make it more likely to stick to our goals. So, of course I have to ask myself if this would work for me.

Of course it’s easy to contemplate a diet on a full stomach. It’s not so easy when you’re ravenous and ready to eat your own telephone just to have something to take up space in the vast cavern that is your belly.

Making the right choices and practicing ‘thoughtful eating’ is what separates us from our more animistic urges. What is ‘thoughtful eating’? That’s when we carefully gauge our hunger and then make a deliberate decision to eat according to that hunger, taking small bites and savoring the food allows our bodies to digest. Then you re-measure your hunger levels at regular intervals. We must control our beasts!

Some Ground Rules:

1. No eating 3 hours before bed.
2. Carry a healthy snack at all times (in case of the munchies).
3. No soda.
4. More protein, veg, & fruit. Less bread.
5. The only bread allowed is whole-grain.
6. The only candy allowed is dark chocolate.
7. The only alcohol allowed is red wine.
8. Start a journal to keep track of what I eat.

So far, I kept a strict record for 2 weeks and even managed to do a little exercising via SparkPeople’s online video workouts. (Very cool by the way- who knew one little move could have me aching for a week?! The Plank Move is Eeeeviilllll) But the third week saw me slowly straying from my path. One weekend I pigged out on a bag of Godiva Dark Chocolates and the next weekend I was sharing TWO pizzas with my boyfriend! Not. Good.

But I have managed to learn a few interesting nutritional tid-bits! For instance: beef jerky has twice the protein and half the calories of peanut butter, cheese isn’t as good for me as I thought, and eggs are actually better than I thought!

So far, I have managed to loose 4 lbs in 3 weeks. Not great, but not terrible… what can I say? Here at Hiccups and Picnics, we strive for mediocre!

Coffee Round-Up!

This is a long overdue Coffee Round-Up from one of my favorite-ist sites in the world, NotCot.org! (Seriously, I'm on there everyday.)

This one deserved it's own vid.  Coffee and Cream ~ Modernist Cuisine shares a little sneak peak of their upcoming book and some fun high-speed video of creamer hitting coffee.

 1. Re-purposed and re-imagined, Starbucks has gone back to basics with the launch of their 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea store in Seattle. Designed to be eco-friendly. Interesting concept but it seems a little too cookie-cutter for my tastes. You can see more pics and read the rest of the post at Furfin.


2.  From Dung to Coffee Brew With No Aftertaste. Great NY Times article on civet coffee (Kopi luwak). Or, as my family would call it, Cat Poo Coffee! I've never had the opportunity to try this, but I remember when this came out and it was all the rage. Has anyone tried this and would like to comment on it?? Is anyone pro Cat Poo Coffee? Or against?


3.  With the bike sharing scheme happening, London’s Cycle Cafe’s are becoming even more popular as the hangout of choice for café and coffee lovers on two wheels. I'm not a huge cycling fan, but I like the idea of combining the bike sharing trend happening in Europe with coffee, and creating a bike friendly space. Maybe this bike sharing thing will catch on here in NY soon??? Dare to dream... Read the article at Your Studio.


4. Maple Bacon Coffee. Ok- I'm including this just to address the food trend going on that seems to include bacon or beer into everything these days. I haven't actually tried this but you can read more about it at The Hungry Southerner. They seemed to give it a so-so review with 1 out of 5 strips of bacon.


5.  Venezuelan designer Enrique Luis Sardi has teamed up with Italian coffee company Lavazza to create a master piece of green design: Cookie cup. Apparently this design goes back to 2003, but I still think it's awesome. As a pastry cook and as a coffee drinker, I'm intrigued... Has anyone tried this? I'm curious to know if the icing interior really is water-proof or if it would eventually dissolve into your coffee. Although I suppose that should be the least of my worries at that point.


6.  Grumpy Bean Plushes~ "Artist Andrew Bell and plush master Lana Crooks bring our Cafe Grumpy coffee bean logo to life!" I just really have to visit and review this place soon!


7.  An info-graphic on how to make the perfect cup of coffee by Plaid-creative. Cool idea, now to try them all! Seriously, I should carry this with me at all times!


8.  I was originally including this article to address the retail coffee trend changing from espresso to drip coffee but now I want to showcase the trend of Dis-Loyalty Cards. This started in East London as a way to market the burgeoning coffee scene. If you visit each of the shops listed on the card, you get a free cup of coffee made for you by the World Barista Champion. Now, this also seems to be a trend catching on in San Francisco, Seattle, and Toronto except that you get a free cup of coffee from the last place you visit. I think it's a very friendly and creative way to encourage the coffee community and I hope it will come to NY soon!

9th St Espresso

Minimalist is the word. And the word is good.

We managed to find 9th St Espresso around 5 o'clock at the Tompkins Square location and, just like the logo, this place is sparse! 

9th St. Espresso Logo

They proudly displayed their A rating and Zagat recommendation. Their only splash of color in a black, white, and chrome world coming from a framed coffee flavor wheel and one piece of art. 

Wheel. Of. Flavor!

Barista Doin' Her Thang

Even the blackboard menu contained only six items. There were people scattered around the interior, quietly reading or working on their computers (Be warned- the wi-fi is free, the seat is not.) The Smiths played quietly in the background. The barista was a study in Parisian cool in a black t-shirt, jeans, a black crochet barret, and a single braid casually thrown over one shoulder. I expected a mime to appear at any moment.


Other than the slight over-the-top atmosphere, I was pleasantly surprised by this place! I ordered a macchiato and the foam art was beautiful. The flavor was quite nice too! I tried sipping it straight, without sugar, and while it was a little too bitter to last for long, it was surprisingly smooth with very little sourness, or acidity, to it! Once I added a little sugar, it was perfect!

Yummy Macchiato!

It seems like a great place to go to enjoy a bit of quiet and caffeine. I loved the tin ceiling tiles and (for all you native New Yorkers) the bathroom was fully stocked and pristine. (A true Rare Find in New York City.) I also bought some Alphabet City Roast, ground perfectly for my pour-over. Again, a little bitter, but I'm trying to branch away from my beloved French roast and Columbia Finca. I think with a little tinkering, I could come to love it. As I found out in my Cupping Lab, there's no wrong way, it's all about your personal preference and what you enjoy. I usually like mine rich with a lot of milk and a little sugar, but I've found that for me the Alphabet City blend tastes best with my usual sugar and just a splash of milk.

Display O'Stuff

Their baked goods are from Balthazar Bakery, but, being late in the day, I was a little afraid to try any. I think if they had had more in their case, I would have been a little more tempted to try. As it was, the cookies looked cold and lonely in their half-filled case. Maybe next time.

Lonely Cookies

Over-all, the atmosphere wasn't really my style, but it might be worth it to go back just for the great coffee and space to think.