Post-Impressionist Art and A Killer Pork Sandwich

Tommy DiNic's at Reading Terminal: The BEST pork sandwich ever! Waaaay better than a Philly cheesesteak (Yeah, I said it)

America covered in snow

Entrance to the Barnes Museum

The Barnes Foundation, founded in 1922 by Albert Barnes, is a gallery containing an amazing collection of Post-Impressionist paintings. The museum is on a residential street and if you drove by, you would just think it was another outrageous mansion in the Lower Merion suburb of Philly. There are over 2500 pieces of art, including 800+ paintings by Renoir, Matisse, Cezanne, Picasso, Van Gogh, Seurat and more. The Barnes Foundation has had quite a tumultuous history and, against the will of Albert Barnes, will soon be moved to downtown Philly. It's pretty amazing to be able to say that I was able to see the artwork in the original gallery as Barnes had intended.

Unfortunately, you can't take photos inside, but here's the trailer for a documentary on the Barnes that we watched before we went to the museum.

Milk Gallery

Went to check out photographer Jim Mangan's new exhibition, "Winter's Children" at Milk Gallery last night. It was my first time at Milk Gallery and the space is amazing. Jim's photos of snowboarders boarding naked in the Idaho back country were very cool. Check out more of his photos here.

January Night at the Museum: The MoMA

For one of my New Year's resolutions, I've decided to check out one new museum every month. A lot of museums in NY have free admission once a week, so I'm going to start taking advantage of them. For my first museum, I hit up the MoMA. It's free from 4-8PM on Friday evenings. My friends and I went right after work and got there at 6PM, but 2 hours is definitely not enough time to see the whole museum. We made it through the first 3 floors, but had to rush through the 4th and 5th floors (where they keep all the popular stuff) and didn't even make it to the 6th floor. We'll have to go back for round 2 another night.

Me Gust!

NYC - Mindrelic Timelapse from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

A $20 Haircut?!? And a Free Manicure?!?!?!

So I've come up with a budget and I'm determined to stick to it. People say NY is the most expensive city in the country, but I've learned you can do pretty much anything for free or cheap, you just have to do your research.

I've needed a haircut for about 6 months now, but I've been a combination of too lazy and too cheap to get one. My first and only haircut in NY was at Bumble and Bumble, and it set me back $120. Maybe that's why I never got another haircut - until now. I used to get my haircut at an Aveda Institute in San Francisco, so I did some research to find an Aveda Institute in NY. I found the Carsten Institute in Union Square, just a couple of blocks from my house. Cuts are $20 + tip and they use all Aveda products and techniques. The cuts are inexpensive because the stylists are all students, but I'd never had a bad cut at the institute in SF. Also, there are instructors that come around and check on the students throughout the process, so if you're getting a basic cut, you really have nothing to lose.

It was pretty easy to get an evening appointment - I only had to wait a week. I got to the salon 10 minutes early and met my stylist on time at 6:15pm. She took me to her station and after asking me what I wanted, she drew out the style on paper and brought over her teacher to confirm the cut. I love Aveda salons because they give you a scalp massage as part of the service (so nice!). Anyway, the whole process took a little longer than a regular haircut, but my stylist was very pleasant and we talked for most of the time. After the cut, she brought her instuctor over to check out the cut, and he made a couple minor snips to finish the cut. While she was blowing out my hair, another student asked if I'd like a complimentary manicure because she needed to practice her manicures. Done!

I tipped both girls and walked out with a haircut, blowout and manicure for under $35. I'll definitely be back!

Site of the Week

thisiswhyyourefat.com

A brilliant website that posts pics of ridic foods, like unicorn burritos, BBQ pulled pork doughnut sandwiches,and "grease lightening" (a layer of seasoned curly fries topped with chicken nuggets, chicken fried steak, fish sticks, pizza rolls, and a slice of corndog then smothered in melted mozzarella cheese topped with a mixture of chili, bacon, and sliced hot dogs topped with a sprinkling of cheddar).

LOVE!

New Year's in CA

My mom and stepdad went to Pismo Beach for NYE this year and sent me this pic. Gorgeous! Seeing the snow when I woke up this morning was cool for about 10 minutes, but then it reminded me of how much I miss CA and the sun (sigh).

It Snowed!

January Yoga: Yogaworks

As one of my New Year's resolutions, I've decided to check out one new yoga studio every month. A lot of studios offer new students a special rate to test out the studio for the first time, which is nice because many studios here charge as much as $20+ per class.

For January, I've decided to try out Yogaworks. There are several locations in NYC, but I'm going to the one in Union Square on 5th Ave between 18th and 19th Sts, so only 3 blocks from my house. The new student special at Yogaworks is 2 weeks of unlimited classes for $30. I'm 10 days into my 2 week trial and I've been to 4 classes so far - not bad.

There are 3 levels of classes - 1 being the most basic, and 3 for advanced. Because I haven't practiced yoga in over a year, I've decided to stick to the level 1 and 1,2 classes. The teachers are all very nice and energetic, and I like that they really explain everything to you: how to do the position, the benefits of it, and modifications for beginners or the more advanced. The classes have a good combination of positions requiring strength and balance, and stretching and meditating. The studio itself is super clean and they keep it nice and warm. Overall, I really, really like this studio :)

Whitmans

Pickles, corn, Juicy Lucy burger, fries and crack kale at Whitmans

New Year's Resolutions

I really think 2011 is going to be a good year. I'm starting the new year off with a loooong list of resolutions. Knowing me, I'll drop half of these in the first three months, but I'm really going to try. I say that every year...

Here they are (in no particular order):
1. stop biting my nails (all of them)
2. accept compliments
3. try out a new yoga studio every month
4. run or go to the gym 3 days/week
5. bring my lunch to work 4 days/week
6. go to a new museum once/month
7. volunteer 3 times/month
8. drink milk
9. floss
10. come up with a budget and stick to it
11. Enter the US Air Guitar Championships