Friday, December 31, 2010

Old Lang Sign???

Happy New Years kids, we are all headed to another one of Amanda’s swanky parties, keep the noisemakers out of my reach if you’d like to have fully functional eardrums in the year 2011, pictures to follow, be safe and have fun tonight!!!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Oh the weather outside is frightful...but my desk is so delightful...not so much







Unless you live under a rock I'm sure you've noticed we've had a bit of a snow storm in the northeast, and instead of being snuggled up on some sort of bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire place drinking hot toddies (how does one spell the plural of toddy get back to me if you know) ; I the diligent employee that I am, made it in to work today, and I'm still here with like two other people.Christmas was actually pretty relaxing despite what I was anticipating (and the fact that I may have attempted to do a little bit of last minute shopping with a suitcase and all my other gifts at the Macy's in Herald Square before I got on the train from Penn, some tourists may be missing toes I was pretty reckless with where I was wheeling my suitcase), and I did get two out of the three things on my Christmas wish list, 42 inch flat screen from the parents…check (thanks guys!!); hair straightener…check (thanks to Nini and John for having that shipped all the way from Hong Kong, my weave is looking tremendous already!) and I subbed in a white noise machine instead of my request for an electric tea kettle and have been enjoying the sounds of summer rain lulling me to sleep (note if you purchase one of these things avoid the heartbeat setting it’s like something out of a horror movie and not even remotely sleep inducing). So there I was probably listening to summer rain or something yesterday morning at my dad’s house to be awoken to the sound of the telephone ringing, and my sister telling me to get my stuff together asap since there was some serious actual winter snow falling outside, and lots of it, and since the Long Island Railroad has been known to break down under the best of circumstances (namely Christmas Eve my mother got stuck on the train for two hours on a perfectly sunny zero precipitation afternoon) so I hurried onto the next available train and made it back into the city because clearly the investment banking industry would have completely fallen down had I not made it to work today, housing crisis pales in comparison to Breen not making it to work…puh-sha. The walk to work this morning was like some sort of post apocalyptic winter scene, I think I saw about 3 people and one car on my way in, crazy, here are some of the scenes from Christmas (including Poppa Breen tending bar and the Breen kids potentially overserved having photoshoots) and the city this morning, exciting stuff, particularly the shot where the One Gee courtyard is covered in snow and actually looks “clean” for once, shocking I know.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

mele kaliki...mako?

So last week we went out for my best friend Chrissy’s birthday (to Villa Pacri I highly suggest the food was delicious and the space itself was so beautiful will definitely be going back) anyway post dinner we were attempting to figure out what the plan for the evening was when my lovely friend Amanda suggested we swing by a clients office party for a quick cocktail or two while we decided on a venue, we agreed and made our way there. Now I was envisioning a stuffy traditional (read investment banking post 2008) office party, where there’s a top shelf open bar but the venue is club that had it’s hayday back in 1999, well I should have known better, this party was suggested by none other than Samanda. What we walked into can only be described as what the most awesome acid trip ever must be like, see the picture above, there were people dressed as sharks and bunnies (and I fit right in wearing my crazy wildebeest coat), a throne, half naked men in spangly white boxer briefs, fully naked interns available for viewing in a peep show, crazy balloons, and open bar that was reminiscent of the last awesome frat party I went to, just the basics in booze in mixers, nothing fancy and being served up by above referenced men in the spangly shorts. Also the band they had hired to play the party was Twin Shadow (who apparently are so hot right now har) they were good, but apparently it was quite audacious of me to approach said band and ask the lead singer if they had any other shows scheduled in the city to which he replied “Yeah uh we do tomorrow night at Don Hills….(cue the snark-tone) but it’s sold out”…oh how trendy.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Ch-ch-Changes


So I don’t make promises like Liz Ho to update my blog every day between now and New Years Eve (bold move HoBags), but really my blog updating has been pretty deplorable over the last two weeks and here is my litany of excuses:


1. Work has been ZOMFG crazy busy

2. Every person I know family and friends included seems to be born in the month of December so I have had quite a few birthday obligations

3. I am moving January 1 (new digs pictured above) so I have been doing the apartment hunt, lease signing, going back a bajillion times to measure and make sure the apartment is good to go, calling movers, and worst of all, Time Warner (although I have to admit the girl who helped me set up my appointment was super helpful and nice, and coincidentally named Danielle, must have had something to do with it)

4. It’s the holidays and it’s not even like I can claim I’ve done much Christmas shopping (I have purchased three presents, one of which was a birthday present and one for me, I must stop convincing myself that it's ok to buy myself presents because I'm buying them for other people) but I have had work holiday parties, charity holiday parties, friend’s holiday parties, you name it, it had a holiday party and my attendance was required, though I can’t really pretend this was much of a hardship since everyone who reads my blog knows me and would find it hard to believe that I find free cocktails to be any kind of a hardship

So there we go, I promise to provide updates on the move, doubt it will be too challenging as I am literally moving down the block, but ughhhh packing, I haven’t even started that yet, and I can only imagine what a nightmare it will be, but I am excited to be moving, I love One Gee, but it’s been 3 years and I am ready to move on (well down the block, probably about 350 feet to be exact but you know baby steps). And I don’t really have to give up One Gee entirely because my lovely Blair Bear will still be running the show there, and my lovely vintage bicycle (1993 Trek Antelope, that’s vintage right??) will also be maintaining his One Gee residence, so I’m keeping my key so I can go back and pick him up (yes you read it right I do refer to my bike as a he, don’t ask me why it just seems to make sense). But either way wish me luck or find me a wormhole to January 15 when hopefully I should be completely set up in my new apartment.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Holiday Gift Guide 2010....made me realize just how lame I am

So a lot of bloggers have put together Holiday Gift Guides at various price points and I have definitely enjoyed looking through all of them , but I am not as altruistic as they are, and really only care about what I AM getting for Christmas, and then I sat down and thought about what I actually asked for this Christmas, the items are pictured above, and I realized what a loser I am, I asked for (in no particularly order) an electric tea kettle (snazzy); a hair straightener, and a new television for my bedroom. I am super psyched to have a TV in my bedroom just because I (in 27 years on this earth) have NEVER had one, and I sort of justified this by saying that the only time I would want to watch TV in bed would be if I was sick and how sick would I have to be to not be able to make it to the couch, I’d say pretty bad in which case I probably wouldn’t want to watch television anyway. However, in my old age the prospect of sitting in bed propped up on pillows under my cozy covers sounds way too delightful to pass up. I feel like a 10 yr old getting a tv in my room for the first time, maybe next year I’ll ask for my own phone line in my bedroom, which I also never had but always wanted just so I could buy one of those super cool novelty phones like the clear one that you could see the inside of or the one that looked like a sneaker, cell phones are not nearly as much fun, oh wait yeah they are who needs your own phone line when you can talk from anywhere, hell I could talk to you guys from my bathtub if I really wanted to, how scandalous. In any event those are my three items on my Christmas wish list, so basically I will be spending this winter sitting in my bed, watching television, while drinking tea, and straightening my hair, 2011 is going to be a really banner year for this girl.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Au Fond Du Lac

So my roommate Blair went home to New Orleans (or more specifically Lafayette, LA) which apparently is smack in the middle of Cajun country (which as New Yorker is news to me), and did your typical thanksgiving things that involved general family fun and skeet shooting (her sister did so while modeling her college graduation gown, and photographing the event for potential graduation announcements, very multi-tasking girl if you ask me, the skeet shooting pictures likely won’t make the cut but I really think they should hehe). Anyway,while there, Blair was able to pick up a CD for her cousins Chris and Michael's band, Feufollet, they are awesome, and I legit listened to this song below on repeat for the entire night, check em out.

Au Fond du Lac by Feufollet

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Monday, November 29, 2010

Feeling Flabulous


So Thanksgiving was great, I was a little disappointed to find out that my family had decided to go to an Italian restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner, but I got over it, and just decided to enjoy myself (though I did refuse to eat the turkey they were serving, my Chicken Marsala was in fact delicious) and it was nice just to be surrounded by my family. And it was fun to have my mom around in the city the day before to hang out and relax at my apartment, and watch Tootsie (a movie that I had always heard about but never actually seen, so adorable) , and honor my mother’s request to “See that Trader Vic’s store you always talk about”, translation Trader Joe’s. Also it was especially fun when she told me that my outfit on Thanksgiving (which included a dress, these shoes, and a faux fur jacket) made me look like a tall hooker, something about not being able to see my dress at all so it inherently looked like I was wearing a fur jacket, tights and 5 inch wedges, oh well, my mother loves me anyway and followed it up by telling me that she never dressed like everyone else either, and loved that I had my own sense of style. I also got to spend this past weekend out at my Dad’s house, and saw my sister who was home from college and watched football with the most hardcore Giants fans I know (my brother, stepmom and Grandma, who honestly screamed the loudest when the G-Men finally eeked out a win), all in all a great weekend. Plan for the week is relaxing, getting back to my normal healthy eating, and going to the gym A LOT since I seriously feel like a bowling ball with legs after this weekend, not cute.

P.S. Big thank you to Erinn G for coming through in the clutch with the title of this post

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Me think it time to branch out beyond me cookie eating career....



Ok this genuinely makes me LOL, and as a note I pronounce LOL as in rhymes with doll or something like that when I say it in my head, eff your El-Oh-El stuff, lolz is the real deal, don't know why I felt the need to share that but there you go.

Happy Turkey Day!


So I’m taking a year off from Thanksgiving, well not actually off, I will fully be chowing down on all of the Turkey Day goodness that will be cooked by someone else, wahoo, yes that’s right kids the Breens are doing something completely unheard of for us and actually going out for dinner on Thanksgiving. My family is coming in for the parade and then out for dinner in the West Village, and I am seriously looking forward to it. But after 2 years of cooking in my apartment for 17 and 15 respectively (see my post from last year for proof), I will definitely miss the chaos, and the leftovers; and in the two years I definitely did learn a lot:


a) My oven is not full size it’s 24 inches and thus a full size rigid metal roasting pan with a 27 lb turkey will not actually fit into said oven, which was discovered around 7 AM on Thanksgiving morning 2008 (my rookie year) even though my mother told me about 7 bajillion times before the day that I should measure my oven and make sure, so there I was with mom trying to shut the oven door and no dice, which unleashed a string of obscenities from both of us and required a last minute trip to the bodega across the street praying that they had roasting pans (they do, and armed with this knowledge I went back and bought two more this past weekend to make sweet potatoes for Chrissy’s Family Thanksgiving this past Sunday with roughly 35 of our nearest and dearest friends eeps)

b) With a little squishing and some extra tables and chairs brought by family members and friends you can actually have a sit down dinner with 17 people in my apartment, though every other “dinner party” I have attempted to host at 1G has devolved into something that usually includes 23 bottles of wine for 17 people and a drunken dance party in the living room, ending in a girl pile on the couch (see above), oops, just keepin it classy you know how we do

c)My family and friends love me so even if they’re squished at a table or squished in a girl pile on the couch it doesn’t matter everyone always has a good time, so if and when I do own a house, it must be big enough to accommodate the 17 family members, all of my friends, 23 plus bottles of wine and all their associated children, pets (yes I mean Peanut) and whoever else, because there is nothing I love more than being surrounded by all the people I love

God this is a post is like 17 times worse than the cheesiest Hallmark card I have ever read and Alli if you’re reading this I hope you have tissues, but seriously I am so lucky to have all my friends and family, and super thankful for them, after all I need someone to help me drink those 23 bottles of wine.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Sodade



Ok the video is a little low budget but for some reason I could only find the official video at a really low volume. I am sort of obsessed with her, and I could just listen to this song pretty much on repeat. Also that ring bracelet combo deal she has on in the first picture that comes up, want now. Happy weekend kids!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

But we still won the fight....

Ok I’m sorry for two posts in one day but this seriously caught my eye on Refinery, they did a whole piece on heeled combat boots, which I might add, I have been wearing since last fall, I own the exact pair they featured on the right above. And as much as I’m like uhhh wtf Refinery, you been jeepin’ my steez (stealing my style in layman’s terms) I have to agree they are awesome.I bought mine at Shoegasm, they come in like three colors, and unfortch like 2 weeks after I bought mine they came out with a fur lined version, and I couldn’t actually justify purchasing a second pair just for the fur, but I can’t imagine how warm they must be, seriously considering buying them in brown for this upcoming winter. I wear them to and from work everyday because they are incredibly comfortable and just make me feel a little more at home in my corporate clothes, which as far as I’m concerned may as well be a costume, i-banking culture does not really jive with my personal style, but for 10 mins each morning and evening on my walk back and forth I feel a little more like me.

Love Spell

ZOMFG I had to share this picture, James-Wilkie (son of SJP and Matthew Broderick as if you aren’t on a first name basis…puh-shaa) apparently might have a teensy crush on Harry Potter star Emma Watson and had written a note to give her at the premier of the newest Harry Potter movie. She kindly bent down to accept the note, and the smile on JW’s face is priceless, good lord if this isn’t the cutest thing it’s like as cute as if a kitten and puppy had a lovechild and it stayed eternally kitten/puppyish, wait no that’s sort of weird, just as cute as eternal puppies, and kittens, and baby bunnies, awwww.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Jump Jump

Let's just say it was pointed out to me that Kriss Kross may be my inspiration for this evening's outfit (thanks Panda) , details to be shared on Monday, or more likely because I'm lazy and the only people who actually read my blog are my friends, you will see what I mean tonight...keep in mind the term Nagidrac

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Zetus Lupetus!

The problem with Jeffrey Campbell (aka JC because only this man who could share initials with the original JC though I’m pretty sure Jeffrey Campbell is not actually a man but a design collective); anyway, the problem is I never know I even need a new pair of shoes until I see his, and without a doubt no matter how outlandish or high I always decide I need them immediately on my person and envision 6 outfits that could be entirely built around said shoes. I felt the same way about his new cult design coveted by all the Lita, I wanted them SOOOO badly until I randomly walking into LF one day and actually saw them in my shoe size (which is jumbo jet size for those who don’t know, no numbers being discussed here but let’s just say it’s north of size 8 ½ ), eeeeep they looked like actual clown shoes or Frankenstein shoes or what a clown Frankenstein would wear if he needed orthopedic shoes, with 6 inch heels, anyway, hopes dashed to the ground, and only my bank account happy I decided not to even try them on. And decided well I don’t really need new shoes anyway, until I happened to be perusing SoleStruck (I know why do I do this to myself) and found these beauties, I feel like I should be like trotting around on some ultra cool space station like Zenon Girl of the 21st Century, which got me to thinking what is Zenon Kar up to these days, turns out like every other starlet (if Kirsten Storms even qualifies as such) in Hollywood, she got herself a DUI and parole officer, figures.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Stop sippin' that Haterade





So everyone has been hating on Blake Lively saying that despite her protestations to the contrary she does in fact need a stylist. I wholeheartedly disagree, while I don’t agree with everything she chooses to wear, and couldn’t wear most of it because, frankly, saying I have a completely different body type would be the understatement of the year, I have to say I appreciate a lot of her choices. Sure sometimes she exposes a little too much skin (I mean really I shouldn’t even comment I shunned pants for over a year and only recently reintroduced them into my wardrobe); and sometimes she wears things that don’t quite match in the traditional sense, but honestly there’s a difference between matching a creating a look, and let’s be serious I basically hate matching. What people also neglect is that she makes her home here in NY, where you could honestly go out dressed in just about anything and not get a second glance, and in many cases get complimented on your style. Here are two examples where I think she has hit her mark exactly, the first is a phenomenal combination of gold and beautiful royal blue, which is really spot on, I love those structural shoulders. And seriously look at the smile on Karl’s face in that second photo, anyone who can coax a smile like that out of that man can wear whatever she wants, however she wants to wear it.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Dara Puspita



So I was in Florida last week and happily stumbled upon a great book/music store in Seaside. One of the young men working there took notice of me immediately asked me where I was from (I guess it was that apparent that I wasn’t a local, hmm) We started discussing bands I liked and I got a feeling he was surprised by the number of different bands I had the opportunity to see this year. I forget sometimes how much I take for granted when it comes to the opportunity to see a tremendous amount of incredible music in this city, and I don’t see nearly enough. He did suggest two CDs (I know I seriously hadn’t bought a physical CD in like 3 years) one of a local artist (which I have to admit I have not taken the time to listen to yet) and one of the 1960s Indonesian girl group Dara Puspita. I started listening last week and I am sort of hooked, this is the only track in english on the whole compilation and the only one of decent quality that I was able to find on youtube, but they are pretty adorable. The influences of their favorite western bands from that time is readily apparent on a lot of their tracks, but they are definitely worth checking out.

Thursday, October 21, 2010



Ok I don't know about you guys but I was not nearly this cool when I was nine years old, granted my parents were not Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, but even if they had been I doubt I would be as talented as little Willow here, though I definitely thought I was. Queue the vision of my 4th grade talent show where  three of my closest friends and I did the dance routine for Cotton Eye Jeans, in daisy dukes, plaid shirts knotted to make them cropped, construction boots and pig tails, channeling Mariah Carey in the Dreamlover video, obvi. Won't you please come around cause I wanna share forever with you baaaaabbby

Friday, October 15, 2010

Friday Friday Friday!


For real this has honestly been the longest week of all time, I valiantly came in to work on Columbus Day even though technically I didn’t have to (you like that, yeah I came in valiantly, like how in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue,looking for India and instead, fortuitously found one kick  ass country called the U.S.A as in the United States of Awesome; just throwing in some patriotic pride) anywho so I came in and did manage to get some stuff done. Actually I got some major stuff done,like got more than one atta girl email saying thanks for doing your job so well ,it was so satisfying that upon completion I wanted to stand up at my desk and say at the top of my lung “DISHES ARE DONE MAN” a la Kenny Crandell in Don’t Tell Mom The BabySitter’s Dead, and then realized I was one of 4 people on the trading floor and without the usual din of noise and familiar shouting, my doing that might raise some eyebrows. Another accomplishment this week ,I reminded the world of finance of the concept that you can actually wear black and brown together and not die, though walking around the floor in said combination which included slouchy brown ankle boots paired with a houndstoooth skirt, with a brown belt and black turtleneck probably got more raised eyebrows than if I had screamed across the empty trading floor on Monday. Oh well, at least it’s Friday and next week is a three day week for this girl, which is amazing, can not wait.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Friday, August 6, 2010

You Got It



I know this is one of his later songs, didn't come out till he made his comeback in the late 80s, but I love it, and I love him, the black wayfarers, his whole style, and his incredible voice

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Friday, July 2, 2010

My bedtime is anytime between midnight and 7 am......

Zelda Kaplan, at 94 years old, you are my hero...

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Honest to goodness it's the absolute ultimate!

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Gidget



Wednesday, May 26, 2010

It's gonna be ecstacy, this place was meant for me...


I sometimes get fed up with this city, and sometimes I can't wait to get away on vacation, but coming home I am always amazed at how much I missed it, maybe it's because I'm from New York ( ok ok Long Island but technically I can walk to the city line in 5 mins is that enough), and this quote from Gawker pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about this silly dirty city as best as anyone ever has.

"But mostly and above all, it's that electric, magnetic feeling - maybe it's ineffable, I've never described it right - but that feeling that you're somewhere magic. You're somewhere special. And I think some people feel that when they come here, and some don't. There's not necessarily a "right," it just is what it is."

Monday, January 4, 2010

An Auspcious Start


It appears it's going to be a good one kids, had one of the best NYE I've had in long time (thanks Panda) though I never got a picture with her the night of the night of...and only have some very questionable ones from Sat night, anyway, you can see from this one, we had a pretty fantastic time...except when Chrissy took the noisemaker out of my mouth hit me with it said Bad Breen and put it in her purse...yes I admit I went a little overboard with the noisemaker, evidenced by the fact that it appears in nearly every picture that I'm in, thank you my love for saving the ears of all those around me...anyway so far so good....I hope it keeps up....pretty sure it will since my co-worker was nice enough to bring me back a good luck charm from her trip to Peru, a cute little wooden guy sporting a ski hat and a hundo around his neck....we'll see what that guy can do for me