Yesterday I flew into Houston, Texas as the first day of my 30 day All You Can Jet journey! I’ll be documenting most of the trip on my new travel/food/culture blog, Just Visiting. This is my very first experience with jetBlue, and so far I’m extremely satisfied. Upon arriving out at terminal 5 at JFK, the jetBlue crew were giving out free jetBlue All You Can Jet jackets to all AYCJ-ers, along with pins, free donuts and coffee. They had a wall set up for jetters to share their journeys, so I of course used it to promote my blog and share my itinerary. Then I did a short interview on video explaining how I lost my job and decided to take this opportunity to travel the country and launch my travel blog. They even gave out free snacks and drinks on the plane, all while I enjoyed three hours of classic rock videos on VH1 Classic via DirecTV.

If you’re interested in keeping up on some of the photos and adventures, head on over to JustVisitingBlog.com, or follow me on twitter.com/KimJustVisiting. I’ll have limited wifi, so all of my time spent updating will most likely be on the travel site, at least for the next month! Here’s my itinerary:

9/7 NYC to Houston

9/8 Houston to NYC

9/9 NYC to Portland

9/10 in Portland

9/11 in Portland

9/12 driving up to Seattle

9/13 Seattle to Montauk

9/14 in Montauk

9/15 in Montauk

9/16 Montauk to San Diego

9/17 in San Diego

9/18 in San Diego

9/19 Greyhound from San Diego to LA

9/20 in LA

9/21 in LA

9/22 driving the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to San Francisco

9/23 in San Francisco

9/24 in San Francisco

9/25 Redeye down to Montego Bay, Jamaica

9/26 in Montego Bay

9/27 in Montego Bay

9/28 in Montego Bay

9/29 Montego bay to NYC

9/30 NYC to Naples

10/1 in Naples

10/2 in Naples

10/3 in Naples

10/4 Naples to Salt Lake City

10/5 in Salt Lake City

10/6 Salt Lake City redeye to NYC

August 16 was my last day at the temp job I’ve been working at for 6 months. There was always the possibility of going full time, but I just had a feeling it wasn’t going to happen. Especially over the last 2 months. I decided since I was still being paid through the end of August, I was going to take some time and work on launching my travel/food/culture blog I’ve been trying to start up for a while now. I was also working on designing an 8 page booklet as part of a freelance assignment, and updating a website for a charity group. I thought with so much on my plate, it was the perfect time to get laid off. I couldn’t have been more right. The very next day, JetBlue announced their All You Can Jet pass— $499 for 30 days of unlimited flights (excluding Fridays and Sundays), all taxes and fees included! I, rather impulsively, bought it. First I did my research, made sure that I knew enough people in enough cities that JetBlue flies to to make it worth the money. Then I contacted all of those people and made sure it was okay to crash on their couch. Then, I bought it. I had to put all of the trip-planning details aside though, as I spent about 80+ hours in one week working on that brochure. (Yes, I’ve had training and experience in design, but it’s not something I do every day. I’m a little rusty.)

So every spare second I’ve had since then has been spent planning for this trip. It starts September 7th and lasts through October 6th. And what better way to launch a travel/food/culture blog than with a 30 day journey around the country, right? One would hope. My goal is to get a new blog up and running by mid next week. An interesting blog that serves an actual purpose to readers all across the world. But I’m having trouble finding the perfect name. Every time I stumble upon something, either the domain or Twitter name is taken. Not to mention my laptop is hardly capable of posting while on the road, and even though I have $900 set aside for my $1100 laptop (so close!), I now have to keep that money “in case of emergency.” Gotta see what I can do about renting one or something.

I’ve booked a little over half of the trip, I’ve sold concert tickets for money and listed several other items on eBay, and I’ve only managed to spend $18 in 11 days. So far, I think I’m handling unemployment rather well. It’s really been the first time in my life I’ve had a little time to breathe and reboot. I get to spend this time focusing on something I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the time. I’m extremely optimistic and grateful for this opportunity, and I cannot wait to see the good things that will come of it. Until then, stay tuned. Trip itinerary and details to come soon!

This American Apparel ad gives me the creeps. Big time. That bathing suit looks like something an 8 year old would wear. And there’s something about that chick’s face (and eyebrows) that makes me want to punch her. I wish this ad were tucked away in Williamsburg where it belongs, and not up at my train stop in the Upper East Side/Harlem.

Pop Tart World on 42nd Street? I have a feeling I’ll be visiting on my lunch next week.

Usually I make a big deal out of my birthday. I spend months researching the perfect restaurant for dinner, and planning the perfect party at the perfect location. More often than not, I even plan a trip out of town. But this year, I finally stepped outside of my naturally narcissistic self, and realized that I’m the only person who cares about my birthday. I didn’t feel like putting effort into planning such an elaborate, expensive celebration just so that I can hear 100 reasons why so-and-so can’t make it anyway. And now that it’s all done and over with, I’m extremely glad that I didn’t wear myself out making plans. My mom flew to town, and that was apparently all I needed to truly enjoy my 25th birthday.

I started getting sick 8 days before my birthday. That illness lasted right on through my birthday— sore throat, headache, congestion, fatigue, coughing. The first night my mom was in town I tried to suck it up for dinner at Maz Mezcal. But I couldn’t even eat the food let alone enjoy it. My throat was on fire, and my favorite green salsa and corn chips weren’t helping. I couldn’t swallow anything but the cheese enchilada, and even the sauce was a little too spicy to handle.

The next few days were followed by several trips out, mostly in my neighborhood, interrupted with numerous detours back to the apartment for a quick rest and a plethora of pills. Our plans of heading out to the beach were rerouted to a shady tree in Central Park. I didn’t think I could handle the heat on the beach without passing out. All in all, we didn’t do a whole hell of a lot, but we still managed to make it to most of the restaurants on the list for EatFest2010.

On Tuesday, my actual birthday, my mom and I went for a walk around the neighborhood first thing in the morning. We stopped at a diner for a light breakfast, went to Two Little Red Hens for a red velvet cake, stopped by the PetCo store to see some puppies and chinchillas, and then went back home for a few hours of relaxation. Our lunch plans at Stanton Social were ruined when we found out that they didn’t open until 5pm, so we ordered Blockheads instead.

After awaking from our 91 degree nap, we got ready and met Mike down at Les Halles for birthday dinner. I ordered the raviolis de champignons, sabayon de chèvre (mushroom raviolis with goat cheese sabayon),

the faux-filet bercy (NY sirloin with a red wine butter),

and a dish of crème brûlée for dessert,

alongside a glass of Pinot Noir. The food was absolutely phenomenal. I had been contemplating where to go for my birthday dinner for over a month, and I finally made the decision only about two days before the big day (based on affordability really). Even though the place was a bit noisy and a tad too warm, the meal was absolutely perfect. The mushroom and goat cheese ravioli surprised me with new flavors in each  bite, and I cannot remember the last time I had a steak that was so delicious and perfectly cooked— if ever. Apparently I don’t have very sharp teeth, so I’m usually the last one at the table, still chewing my steak. This sirloin was so amazing, it literally melted in my mouth. I’ve never understood the use of that phrase for meat, but after last night, I get it. This medium-rare steak only took about 3 bites to swallow. The circle of butter served on top melted right into the steak, creating a sort of steak sauce all on its own. No need for A1 here. And the fries were perfectly crispy. I knew I had an amazing red velvet cake waiting at home for me, but I’m not one to resist temptation. I just had to order the sweet, deliciously enticing crème brûlée. After all that food, we went back to the apartment and ate some moist, rich and delicious red velvet cake. Absolutely incredible. All in all it was a great birthday. Not too much excitement, but plenty of amazing food. I’m just really glad that my mom came to town to celebrate with me.

That being said, I am having a mini-party this Saturday with my friends. Since I didn’t have the time or energy to plan something myself, I’m actually just having some people over to my friend Landy’s house, who is also celebrating his birthday with a BBQ the same day. I figured since only a handful of people would come out, we could combine parties. That way all I have to do is show up, bring some food and drinks, and enjoy myself. Hopefully I’m feeling 100% better on Saturday!

Some other noteworthy food we ate over the week: ribs at Fette Sau; gougères, salmon and steak frites with bone marrow at Café D’Alsace, Let the countdown begin: 364 days until I’m 26.

Now, I know, going to the doctor is no big deal. But since I’ve been without health insurance for a year, I’ve been holding off on making a visit unless it’s some sort of life-threatening illness. Even when I had insurance, I prefer to let whatever sickness run its course rather than live in a foggy haze of drug-induced side effects for a week. But based on the severity of my sore throat, I couldn’t risk getting strep throat again over my birthday weekend! I’ve had that before and it was not fun. The last time I was really sick (two and a half years ago) I had strep throat, mono, and erythema nodosum all at the same time. I ended up having my tonsils removed and I was basically glued to my bed for a month. So in order to prevent all of that, I Googled the closest walk-in doctor that accepted uninsured patients, and luckily there was one only two blocks from my work, with an appointment available during my lunch hour.

After listening to me rattle off my symptoms, the doctor basically told me that he thinks I have a viral infection. Then he told me there’s basically nothing he can do for me, but he will write me a prescription for z-pack just in case I wake up feeling worse tomorrow— then maybe it is a bacterial infection. And just like that, I left.

I think that is a huge reason why I never go to the doctor. I feel like general practitioners are a waste of my time, and now that I’m uninsured, my money. If it’s not something severely wrong with me, any doctor is just as good at diagnosing me as I am, thanks to the Internet and my own reoccurring health problems. I get a little sick of hearing “I think” in a doctors office. I’m sorry, but for as much as I pay you (whether it’s through insurance or out of pocket like today) I think you should do a lot better than “I think.” You better run some tests and see what the hell is wrong with me. When someone comes in without insurance, I’m sure they’re being generous by treating minor illnesses as cheaply as possible, but I really cannot continue to condone visiting a doctor unless you think you literally might die.

And on that note, here I sit at work, sipping on some tea, all drugged up on Sudafed. I can’t really think straight, but whatever, it’s Friday right? The start of EatFest2010! I just hope that my sinuses straighten up so I can actually taste the delicious meals ahead of me in the days to come…

All hatred for the Yankees and A-Rod aside, I was hoping to witness this awesome feat last night. Even though it’s probably more like home run #167 once you factor out all the roid-rage blasts out into the stands. But I was equally amused with the numerous flashes that went off every time the Jays threw a pitch. Maybe A-Rod will continue this cold streak until August 16th when I go see the Yankees play the Tigers?