Hoboken

Saturdays are for the Tourists

Or, rather, Saturdays are for *the residents pretending to be tourists.

Matt and I played tourist today at the Hoboken Waterfront – which has always been one of our favorite places to relax on the weekend. With the coming of (slightly) warmer weather, we headed to there today to take advantage of the sunshine and fresh air (both of us are slightly sick, so we felt it would be good for not only our minds but also for our nasal passages).

I made Matt model for me, and – although he thinks he looks “scruffy” – ended up getting some cool shots of him. Thanks for unleashing your inner Zoolander for me, boo!

Go Home, Spring, You’re Drunk

It’s officially spring!

And just when we thought we were free of icy sidewalks and bitter winds, we have been hit by our fourth nor’easter in the past month! Granted, it ended up not being quite as bad as we expected, but to play it safe both Matt and I stayed home from work to ride out the storm.

About halfway through the day, though, we both began to go a little stir-crazy being stuck in my 500 square foot apartment. So, we made the perfectly sane decision to brave the elements and take a walk to the water. Although the wind was pretty crazy and we were (I was) slipping and sliding like crazy on the walk over, it ended up being a fun mini-adventure and helped to ease our cabin fever.

My Favorite Places: Sunnyside Cafe, Hoboken

Recently, Matt and I have been trying to branch out from our typical weekend routine of hibernating inside on the couch binging Netflix and Hulu all day. Don’t get me wrong, that is still probably one of my favorite ways to spend time, but with the spring drawing nearer I think we are both getting sick of wasting away inside.

So, this past weekend we decided to spread our wings and fly – staying within the approximately square-mile radius that is the city of Hoboken. Now, if there’s one thing you should know about Hoboken, it’s that there are the most bars and restaurants per square mile than anywhere else in the country. (Okay, in fairness I have never seen an official report supporting this claim, but most people seem to agree that it’s true.) In any case, there are a ton of new places to try.

Having lived in Hoboken for close to three years now, I have made my rounds in terms of its bar and restaurant scene. But, as a millennial constantly on the quest for the next trendy place, I am always willing to explore and try something new.

On this particular day, Matt and I decided to check out Sunnyside Cafe & Eatery – a self-proclaimed “exciting new all day café, serving brunch, specialty coffee, and drinks.” Would it live up to the hype? We were unsure, but I had seen that it had a pretty dope wall of plants inside when walking by on my way home from work, so that seemed to be a good indication of the level of trendiness it would exude.

And, for the record, it certainly did not disappoint. At the risk of sounding incredibly basic, this place was a #VIBE. The whole cafe has a really cool, industrial feel, with huge exposed beams and natural wood everywhere.

And the GREENERY! Plants on plants on plants, my favorite. Not to mention the LITERAL WALL OF PLANTS. Granted, I am sure most (all) of these plants are artificial, but who am I to judge? I don’t discriminate – and I sure as hell don’t have a green thumb myself. (Aside from the plant that I have on my desk at work that officially turned one year old this week! Unsure how he is still alive especially considering I either drown him or starve him… there is no in between.)

Anywho, back to Sunnyside. Long story short, the place has an awesome ambiance. It’s quiet, small, laid-back, but with a really fun and current vibe. Within 0.01 seconds of walking in, I felt nowhere near cool enough to be in existence. But lucky for me they were still happy to take my money (or, rather, Matt’s money… thanks again, boo!) and we placed our order and awaited the arrival of our second breakfast.

Now unfortunately for you, we devoured our meals too quickly to document – which is unusual for me considering I am the queen of taking at least 15 photos of my food prior to eating it. But – for the record – it was delicious.

I got the appropriately name “Brekkie Roll Sandwich” which consisted of scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, chives, cucumbers, and garlic-herb aioli on a roll. Matt got the Turkey Sausage Sandwich which I believe was exactly the same as mine plus (you guessed it!) turkey sausage.

So, despite the fact that I only have about two and a half months left of living in Hoboken, I will definitely be going back to Sunnyside – if not for the yummy, fairly-priced food then DEFINITELY for the trendy, cooler-than-me ambiance. And #vibe.

For a more in-depth review of Sunnyside and its menu, check out this article about the cafe on HobokenGirl.com.

Welcome to Snowboken

It’s that magical time of year again – that’s right, the time of year when your eyes tear up from the wind, your fingers go numb in your pockets, and your knees freeze through your ripped jeans.

Winter time is here! And since it isn’t going away any time soon, we might as well embrace it.

I’ll be the first to admit that snow (despite the fact that I can’t walk through it without inevitably slipping at least seven times) makes for a damn good photo opp. Nothing quite like that fresh pow right after a fluffy snowfall to rake in the Instagram likes.

So, naturally, I dragged Matt out into the icy world of Hoboken at the first sight of snow out my apartment window. And Matt, being the kind soul is he, happily obliged.

Standing on the Hudson and watching the snow fall over the skyline is a serene and somewhat otherworldly experience. The usual hustle and bustle of the waterfront walkway was nowhere to be seen or heard – in fact, the silence was almost eerie.

We enjoyed those few quiet moments while we still had feeling in our hands and feet, then managed to snap a few photos before hightailing it back to the great indoors, where blankets and heat and Netflix awaited us.

Hoboken Summer Staycation

I had been talking for a while about doing a weekend staycation in Hoboken at the W hotel and my wonderful boyfriend, Matt, decided to surprise me with a corner suite for our one year anniversary. Easiest vacation travel of my life (approximately four blocks from my apartment).

Our relaxing weekend was full of lounging in the king sized bed, great views of the city from our balcony, and lots of Entourage episodes. The hotel even sent up a complimentary bottle of wine in celebration of our anniversary – turn up!!!

Thank you again, Matt, for the best first anniversary celebration I could have ever hoped for!

Our beautiful corner room with a view – The W, Hoboken, NJ

Thanks for the free wine, Richard! – The W, Hoboken, NJ

View of the city from the balcony – The W, Hoboken, NJ

Oh, is that a model? – The W, Hoboken, NJ

Can’t beat breakfast taco brunch – Union Hall, Hoboken, NJ

Pre-dinner selfies, the usual – The W, Hoboken, NJ

Great vibes here at Sorellina – Sorellina, Hoboken, NJ

It was the perfect occasion for frosé – Sorellina, Hoboken, NJ

Not too shabby to wake up to – The W, Hoboken, NJ

Not a cloud in the sky – The W, Hoboken, NJ

Can I have this view every morning? – The W, Hoboken, NJ

My Favorite Places: Grand Vin, Hoboken

One of my absolute favorite places in Hoboken is Grand Vin, a quaint restaurant and bar located on the corner of 5th Street and Grand Street.

I stumbled upon it accidentally when I was (hangrily) searching for a brunch place that had little to no wait – a rarity in Hoboken on a Sunday afternoon. As soon as I saw its beautiful rustic exterior, I had a feeling this place was right up my alley (only figuratively though, since it was a decent walk from my apartment).

The inside was even more beautiful; its repurposed decor, organic textures, and soft lighting provided a natural warmth and welcoming atmosphere. I felt instantly at ease in a place so full of charm and character (which may be even more rare these days than a brunch place with no wait).

The food was excellent, too. I had never had avocado fries before, but I can confidently give them a 10/10 and two thumbs up (especially paired with the chipotle aioli sauce, yum). Every meal we got looked and tasted delicious, which increased my love for this newly found rustic paradise.

This past weekend, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and happened upon a sponsored post for a French wine tasting at (you guessed it!) Grand Vin. I couldn’t resist – I quickly bought two tickets for myself and my boyfriend, Matt.

The tasting was from 3pm-5pm on Sunday, and for $35 each we could taste all the authentic French wine we wanted. Naturally we pregamed the tasting with mimosas and moscow mules, because isn’t that what adulting is?

Now, I had never done a wine tasting before so I’m not entirely sure what I expected to happen. Maybe that we would be spitting the wine out? (Although that may have been a possibility, Matt and I certainly chose to milk every penny of that $35 and consume as much wine as we could.) In any case, I definitely did not expect to get decently tipsy on a Sunday afternoon, but that is in fact what happened.

Regardless of us feeling like we were the drunkest girls at the party, the whole experience was really cool and we learned a ton about wine, including the fact that the adjectives “gravelly,” “stoney,” and “gamey” can be used to accurately describe certain red wines.

As much as I’d love to say I walked away from the experience with a bit more knowledge than that, after a few samplings my level of absorption went from a hard 9 to a soft 4. Nonetheless, we had a great time (and an even better nap shortly afterwards).

It really is rare to find such a unique place these days.

With so many typical dive bars or cookie-cutter restaurants, finding somewhere like Grand Vin was the breath of fresh air I so badly needed, and I can’t wait to make more memories there.