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The Most Perfect Weekend Ever.

Once you've "grown up" and moved out of your parents house - it's becomes very sentimental. At least for me, thinking about home makes me think about how lucky I was to grow up where I did - on the water, with aunt and uncles and grandparents a quick car ride or walk away.

Trips home are a time to visit the places I used to frequent - and absence makes the heart grow fonder - so the places that I used to be sick of are now some of the places that I miss the most. 

That's why if you ask me what my perfect summer weekend looks like, it's a weekend home in Miller Place where every moment is filled with family, friends and some very key places and activities.   

For Labor Day Weekend, Peter came to Suffolk County for my attempt to show him this ideal summer weekend. I don't know if he would agree - but for me, I'm still floating on cloud nine about how amazing it was. 

I headed home after work on Friday and was greeted by a new iPhone 5S...yep, I cracked already.

 I spent awhile getting it all set up and then went to the beach with my parents for some live music and beers down by the water.


After that it was off to dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants - Alexandro's.  It was a beautiful night and we were able to sit outside. AND they had my favorite special - the tuna tartar tower! MMM! For an entree I got a giant Greek salad with shrimp. And of course I filled up on pita and their amazingly fresh homemade hummus.


We got home and watching some TV while I made myself a heaping ice cream sundae with Tonight Dough and Speculoos Core Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  

 In the morning, I failed to wake up and work out before Peter arrived as planned - something about my bed at home just never lets me escape the covers in a timely fashion! Oh well. 

 We ran a few errands - picking up a phone case, picking up bagels and cream cheese for Sunday morning, and stopping for breakfast and lattes at Crazy Beans. SO delicious. It's the kind of place I would love to open one day. Filled with odds and ends, cozy, offering music and art and open mic nights with wine and beer - all that it's missing is avocado toast and green juices. 


Salted Caramel Latte for Peter and a Rainbow Cookie Latte for moi. 

 We got home and hopped in the truck for my dad to bring us down to the water for some kayaking! It was gorgeous out - a cool breeze, sun shining, and we paddled around the harbor for awhile before a quick relaxation break on beach. 


After showering it was off to the Yacht Club for a RUM BUCKET, a plethora of chips and pretzels with the world's best honey mustard (Ken's), and appetizers (wings, shrimp and mini tacos) and this delicious summer salmon salad that we split. All the while, Peter was enthralled in the Penn State football game. 


Driving away we caught the beginning of what was sure to be a beautiful Cedar Beach sunset (which to this day has never been beaten - not even by the sunset in Santorini). 

We picked up my sister and went back to Crazy Beans for some live music and beer. In the beginning if was kind of dead, but by 9 it was hoppin'. The best part was catching up with friends who I hadn't seen in wayyy too long. 


Not ready for the day to end, we headed Down Port where we wandered, complaining about every bar, before settling for a table outside at Tommy's.

We went home and I quickly fell asleep. 

 In the morning, I managed to force myself into a circuit workout in my basement during which I felt every bite of food and every sip of alcohol threatening to come back up - luckily, that didn't happen. When I finished my pathetic attempt at a workout I woke Peter up and we went for a run - any perfect weekend in my book includes a run - and it was fun to show him what my usual little 3.5 mile route is when I'm home. The IT-band was hurting by the end, but nothing too terrible which left me feeling pretty positive. 

 The run was followed by another Long Island staple - BAGELS! 

 We then spent an hour helping my sister write a cover letter because we are SO KIND. 

 I also showed Peter how to shuck corn in preparation for that night's barbecue. Can you believe he had never shucked corn before? 

Then Peter, my sister and I went down for a swim at the beach. Peter complained about the rocks and the murky water but I LOVED IT. 

 We met my parents for a drink down at Ralph's where a local favorite was playing guitar and singing some good tunes (James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet!) The song of the weekend was "Southern Cross." 


Next up with BARBECUE time! My dad makes THE best hamburgers where he grinds the meat himself - I'm not a huge burger person, and I almost never order one out, but no summer is complete without one my dad's homemade hamburgers. 

 To lead up to the main course, he served a ton of clams on the half shell with his homemade cocktail sauce. 

Despite my mother saying some not so appetizing things about clams, we all enjoyed them and we also enjoyed our giant margaritas (my dad ALSO makes the best margaritas!) 

Then, I forced Peter to play the guitar while I attempted to sing along and my mom and dad and sister looked on in horror as I butchered every song. 

I slowly and steadily devoured my burger - topped with mashed avocado, American cheese, ketchup + mustard (yes, I mix!), onion, tomato, lettuce and pickles on the side. PLUS two ears of fresh Long Island corn on the cob and my dad's tomato salad with fresh basil from our garden. 
(Could it be any more perfect?)

 I was so content at the end of this meal. And by content I mean bursting. 

 The last thing I had planned was a fire outside at my grandparent's house - complete with aunts, uncles and little cousins. We got there and I couldn't even touch the chips and guac, which shows how full I was from dinner. 


Eventually, Peter and I DID manage to join my little cousins in making some s'mores. Okay...we initiated the s'mores making...

 AND we pre peanut butter and Nutella'd our graham crackers. We don't mess around when it comes to dessert. 

 I wish I had more pictures from the fire because my grandparent's backyard is absolutely gorgeous! I'll have to be a more diligent photo taker next time. 

Sadly, with the end of the fire came the end of the weekend. Even though it was a long weekend, I had a 4:00 a.m. alarm on Monday morning to leave for a work trip to Toronto. So we got home, took a quick nap, and I was on my way. 

 What could have made the weekend better was some time spent on the boat (with tubing and water skiing preferably) and Peter and I sitting to watch the sunset at the beach. But this was the absolute most perfect way to end my summer. 

 I know I can be a demanding person - I basically gave my parents a list of things I wanted to do in two days and created a lot of work for them (we also cost them a lot of money in food and alcoholic beverages...) And from the second Peter arrived to the second I left I had him in constant motion. I invited about 10 people over to my grandparents house. But I hope everyone knows how much I appreciate them putting up with me and making everything happen and how incredibly happy the whole weekend made me. I'm the luckiest :) 




Finally All Caught Up!

Last week I went home for one of my first Long Island weekends of the summer! 

 My grandparents picked me up from the train and I was immediately treated to a delicious sushi dinner (yes, MORE sushi - never enough!) at our favorite place in town - Benten. Kenny the sushi chef there is the man. 

 We OBVIOUSLY started with the lobster tempura salad. Big chunks of battered lobster with a spicy mayo dressing. The lettuce is not even necessary. We picked on edamame for the greens! And then I meant to order the sauteed oysters (my dad is a huge fan but I'm not in love) and accidentally ordered the fried oysters instead. They were good - because what isn't made better with a little deep fried dough? 

 For the three of us, I ordered 4 sushi rolls - and it was a struggle to finish them all. However - I managed, obviously ;) 



Benten 2: Eel, shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, crab stick, avocado with soy pepper
This one was probably my favorite! 

 Green Dragon: salmon, cucumber, avocado outside 

 John Jr.: Tuna, scallion, tobiko, spicy mayo, tempura 

 Wrong Island: Tuna, eel, avocado, scallion, tempura, spicy mayo and a fresh salmon outside
This one's crazy! All the things! 

 After dinner, Nanny insisted (and I didn't put up much of a fight) on stopping by our local homemade ice cream shop - McNulty's - for some dessert. I haven't been there in ages, and it brought back so many memories! 

 We used to think we were so  cool in 6th grade when we were finally allowed to walk there all alone after school on Friday's. All .25 miles. FREEDOM! 


Nanny and I were both upset that they were out of Heath Bar but I went with Mint Oreo and Chocolate Pretzel with granola (?) on top. A definitely strange combo but you're talking to the girl who used to insist on ice cream cakes that were half mint half strawberry - so, whatever. 

 When I got home, I set to work on cleaning out my childhood bedroom. 

 I knew my parents would like me to straighten up, organize, and get rid of some things. Obviously, if I'm been living without it for 3 years (7 if you count college), then I don't really need it. 


Surprisingly, I was very productive and filled a bunch of bags with things I could donate or toss. The biggest struggle was figuring out what to do with CD's like Brittany Spears and Backstreet Boys. So sentimental! Will I one day what to pop them in for my kids to give a listen? Or will I just play them on Spotify and Youtube? So odd to think about. 


Saturday morning I woke up and attempted a run - and it was a pain-free success of 3 miles! I felt like I could have kept going but I didn't want to push it. 

 Next, Mom and I parked our butts at the beach and soon, Allison joined. 

 We followed the beach up with a rum bucket at the yacht club - ahhh, these are summers as they are supposed to be!




I got home and was quite burnt. I did a bunch of nothing, which was nice for a change.  

 Sunday morning my parents and I went down to the yacht club for brunch - I ordered the "MYSC Open Face" which was English muffin with bacon, tomato, cheese and...no egg? That seemed super weird to me, so I had them throw an egg on top. Because everything is better with an egg on top. Especially at brunch. 


(Can you just LOOK at these prices? Not in Manhattan anymore)




 After brunch I sat around the beach some more with Emma and Allison and it was so nice to catch up with everyone. We all have such REAL LIVES NOW and it's weird sometimes to think about - we used to do this every day, all summer long, and now it took an entire summer for us to finally find a day we could all lay on that rocky beach and gossip together. Sigh. 

 Sadly - all too soon it was time to get back on a train and head home. 

 This week was pretty uneventful. 

 I find myself settling back into a more standard routine, which I suppose it a good thing. I work Monday and Wednesday nights at the running store and I hope to start reviewing some off-Broadway shows again soon on Tuesday nights. 

 The highlight of this week was my first BLUE APRON experience, which I will write up shortly! 

 Another highlight was Roots Hummus sending me a lovely little package to thank me for the kind words I had to say about them! A koozie, cooler, sticker, and some coupons! Awesome :) 

 And there you have it - am I actually caught up?! Indeed. 

 Today I head out to Long Island for a Labor Day weekend spent doing ALL OF MY FAVORITE THINGS and my favorite person will be along for the ride. Monday morning I leave at 4:30 AM (EW!!!) for a work trip to Toronto. 

 Maybe the fall weather hasn't quite arrive yet, but the feeling that the crazy days of summer have come to a close has certainly arrived for me. And to be honest, the change of pace to more laid back and structured is actually pretty welcomed. 

Sushi For Days

One of my favorite things, besides peanut butter and besides froyo, is sushi. 

So naturally, when there was a Groupon for ALL YOU CAN EAT sushi on the Upper East Side - I told Peter he better buy one and come eat endless raw fish with me. Luckily, he agreed. 

Typically, the deal at Chinatown is $33 for all you can eat sushi and a little more expensive for the all you can eat and drink option. Our Groupon was AYCE + 3 drinks (wine, beer or sake). 

From what I gather, the place is pretty raucous on the weekends. But Peter and I went on a Tuesday night and it was pretty empty. 

I was kind of overwhelmed by the fact that the AYCE options don't only include sushi, but include Chinese dishes like General Tso's Chicken, egg rolls, dumplings, fried rice, etc. 

But you are quickly given the "rules" of this AYCE experience - and those rules include being charged for any food leftover on your plate at the end of the night. Including rice. 

While Peter and I joked around about just taking whatever we didn't eat into the bathroom to flush it away - I do see where the restaurant is coming from. With big groups of people, the waste could get a little out of hand. 

We started with an order of pork dumplings and there were SO many. Already we weren't loving this "no leftovers" rule - we wanted to save room for the main event - sushi! But the peanut sauce with these dumplings was STELLAR. We actually used it later on for dipping our sushi into - since the one dumpling we knew we would have to finish eventually sat there. And sat there. They definitely weren't going to clear it, and they were definitely going to charge us for it unless we ate it. Ugh. 

After the dumplings we moved onto sushi - ordering one at a time from the specialty roll menu to pace ourselves. I loved that some of their rolls were out of the ordinary - not just "spicy salmon" and "California roll."

First I tried the Spicy Yellowtail roll because it came with cilantro and jalapeno! 

Peter's first choice was the Sexy Roll - shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, topped with white tuna and avocado! The shrimp made it soo sweet and delicious. 

Next I got t he Spicy Salmon Roll - standard crunchy salmon with avocado on top - because when  you're eating all you can eat sushi - why not splurge and go for alllll the tempura. 


Peter got the Amaebi Roll - Spicy crab and crunch inside with sweet shrimp and avocado on top. The name kept reminding me of the little girl in the movie Signs who says, "Morgan took a sip and it's got his amoebas on it!" Anyone, anyone? 

Usually, I claim that sushi never fills me up, I can eat it all night. And typically, I can eat 3 or 4 rolls no problem. Seriously, ask my parents, they're always in awe of how much sushi I can eat. 

But Peter and I were both slowing down so we decided to split one more roll and order an eggroll because I reallllly wanted one. 

The eggroll was an eggroll. You basically like it for the fried outer part dunked in duck sauce. They may as well leave out the cabbage filling. 

The last roll we split was the Dancing Mango - lightly fried white fish, mango inside and topped with kani and tobiko. Kani = crab meat and tobiko = the little crunchy fish eggs! 

We left the restaurant stuffed to discomfort - as is typical for "All You Can Eat" affairs (see, Fogo de Chao). 

I would definitely recommend this place, if only for the hugeee variety of things you can order! 


Summer Weekends Wind Down

On Friday, after losing my cell phone, I treated myself to a later lunch/early dinner at a place that has long held a top spot on my bucket list - Jack's Wife Freda. 

 I knew the chances of having the patience to wait in line for a table on a hungry Saturday or Sunday morning were slim to none - so I figured going at 3:00 p.m. on a random Friday would be a better bet. 

 I left the office and made my way to their new location on Carmine Street (just around the corner from my old apartment!) To my surprise, they place was FILLED with people eating linner (lunch + dinner, duh). Every table was filled, but as it was just me myself and I, I was was able to grab a table at the bar. 

 The restaurant was very chi and trendy looking - light colors made it seem open and airy despite being jam packed. 

 What Jack's Wife Freda is known for are their brunch and breakfast dishes, although they do have some tempting sounding lunch and dinner entrees like the mustard seed crusted tofu served with spaghetti squash. 

 My runner up dish was the Green Shakshuka (2 baked eggs in a green shakshuka served with challah toast), but I had just made it for myself the week before. Mashed pea and ricotta toast was tempting too. But ultimately, I decided to go with the Mediterranean Breakfast - a wonderful mix of 2 eggs (over medium), chopped salad (cucumber, tomato, onions), labne (Greek yogurt that is incredibly thick, rich and creamy), avocado and pita bread. 

 I was incredibly saddened by the fact that I could only photograph this beautiful meal with an iPhone 4 camera - doesn't do it justice! I'm also kicking myself for not poking that yolk for a pop of yellow in the composition. No seriously, what was I thinking?
The chopped salad and labne were both excellent, and I loved loading everything up on the pita bread to make little sandwiches.  But at the end of the day, this meal wasn't anything incredible, and I'm not sure I understand the hype surrounded Jack's Wife Freda - aside from the fact that it's trendy and on Instagram a lot. 

 After my meal, I walked around SoHo, taking in all of the stores where I will likely never afford to shop. 

 I stopped at REI to check out bikes and cycling shoes, where I asked a bajillion questions and made it incredibly obvious that I was not a cyclist. Hopefully one of these days though! I didn't end up buying anything - but I did feel a lot more educated on the shoe-front. 

 That Friday night I did a whole lot of nothin' - which was fine by me! I've started watching, and loving, Orange is the New Black, so it was me, my couch and Crazy Eyes for the night. 

 Has anyone seen these advertisements around the city? I think they are hilarious and really clever. 



Saturday morning Peter was up and out early to run a 5K in Harlem. I was a bad girlfriend and didn't go to cheer - instead, I went to the gym for 2 hours. Might sound weird, but I love spending my mornings playing in the gym. 

 And by playing I mean doing a shoulder/back workout, a couple minutes of spinning and a swim. 

 Afterwards, I did some grocery shopping and went home to make myself a big delicious smoothie.  Well, it was big, and it was filling - but maybe I wouldn't use the term delicious. I thought skipping the step of brewing the coffee first and just throwing in the ground coffee beans would be an OK decision. It really wasn't. 

 But anyway - besides for the bitter and crunchy factors - the flavor was pretty good! I'll definitely have to work on perfecting this as a post-exercise smoothie. 

 1 Banana
1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tablespoon of coffee (mistake)
1 tablespoon of cacao powder
1 teaspoon of almond extract (MMM - new purchase)
1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed
Ice 


I drank my smoothie on my way to Peter's apartment and decided he deserved a present for running the race that morning. So I stopped at the super German bakery on his corner, which I've heard has the best black and white cookies. Glaser's is a family-run business that's been closed a lot this summer as the owners traveled. 

 Glaser's has been around since 1902. Crazy! 

 Immediately upon entering, the two women working introduced themselves, gave each customer a GIANT smile, and were super helpful. 

 I brought the giant, soft black and white cookie over to Peter's and it was most certainly enjoyed. The frosting was soo good and the cookie was crumbly but in a really moist, soft way. 


We headed down to 59th Street to pick up our vehicles for the day - CITI BIKES! Initially, we wanted to rent nice bikes from a store or Bike & Roll, but I guess a ton of people had the same idea as us because the store we called was completely out of bikes. Then we decided Citi bikes could be a good idea since we could check them into places as we went - stopping for food and drinks and ice cream along the way. 

 For just $11ish dollars for each bike, it was a great deal! We spent the whole day with them - about 4 hours total. Checking them into Citi bike stations every 30 minutes was a little stressful, and we cut it super close sometimes - but we never got charged any late fees (and they're only $4 each time, anyway). 

 We started off on actual streets which freaked me out, but soon enough we were on the East River path cruising along. The bikes were a lot nicer than I thought they would be, and I could adjust the seat nice and low since I'm a midget. 


Our first stop was Southstreet Seaport, where Peter tried a delicious Blue Cheese and Bacon sandwich from Melt Shop and a beer. And coffee (he assures me he can quit any time...) 

 It was such a beautifulllll day - we went all along the island, down near the ferry to Governor's Island, past the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I tried soaking it all in through my eyeballs instead of through my cell phone camera. 


We peeled off just before Chelsea Piers and headed to the Meatpacking district to enjoy a margarita at Dos Caminos outside in the sunshine. 

 Their menu had so many tempting margarita options, but after much back and forth, I settled for a classic. 

 Of course we couldn't sit there with no guacamole in front of us. We ordered the Orange Chipotle Guacamole. I wish that the orange had come mixed throughout the guac, instead of a few pieces on top - because when you took a bite with that fresh pop of citrus, it was wonderful. Sadly, we asked for medium and there's wasn't much (ok, any) kick to it. But I did love that it came served with chips and as a healthy option, cucumber slices! 


I guess the margaritas had their share of alcohol in them, because while my intention for the day was to start a streak of no alcohol, healthy eating, and being active, I found myself suggesting a second margarita at Bamboleo's - my favorite place in the West Village. 

 So we hopped on our bikes and went over to Bleecker Street. We enjoyed a strong $5 margarita, made some friends at the bar, and decided we needed ice cream. 

 So the next stop was Big Gay Ice Cream Shop (you can see how my resolution to not drink and to eat healthy ended up going...) Peter got a Monday Sundae which I took my fair share of while sitting on a stoop. Some guy  passed us and told us what a cute couple we are. D'awww. 

 If you're wondering - the Monday Sundae is a Nutella lined cone filled with twist soft-serve ice cream, dulce de leche, sea salt and whipped cream. 

What did I suggest then? Beer pong. I wanted to play beer pong.

Luckily, my partner in crime agreed that beer pong should totally happen. 

 We tried Down the Hatch but it was still dead. Same for 3 Sheets. Luckily, Off The Wagon had a little more going on. We sat at the bar to order a beer and were handed Fireball Shots. 

 Ok. This day just kept veering wildly off course. But we went with it. 

 Eventually we played some beer pong but I was just doing horribly. 

 Time for more ice cream? Sure. 

 Have you heard of 10 Below ice cream in China Town? It's all the rage on Instagram these days. There's usually an hour long line! The draw? They make ice cream "Thai Style" by using an extremely cold stone to scrape ice cream off into little rolls. 


Well, we just happened to notice a new shop on Macdougal Street called I CE NY that makes these same Thai ice cream rolls with NO line. And I've since heard some people saying it's even better than 10 Below! I wasn't expecting to be impressed with this kind of ice cream, but Peter and I found ourselves loving it! It was much creamier than we thought it would be which was a pleasant surprise. The fact that you get to watch them make it is a nice touch too! 

 We got the vanilla ice cream with oreo mixed in and whipped cream and caramel on top. Definitely worth a try to see how you feel about this new craze! But I would check out I CE NY and skip the hour line! 

You would think I had strayed from my healthy active biking day enough to call it quits and head home. Nope. 

 Next up was live music at the Red Lion and one final indulgence - a $1 slice from my all-time favorite pizza place -  Percy's! 

THEN we called it a night. 

 Sunday I woke up and went to yoga at Lulu Lemon and then did a whole lot of lounging around, watching Orange is the New Black and cooking! I made myself a frittata for the week - 4 eggs, spinach, mushrooms, sweet potato, onions and a little cheese. It was good, except that I sauteed the veggies in coconut oil and I'm not too sure I loved that taste mixed with my eggs. 


I also realized that I had a pie crust in the fridge that needed to be used up - so I looked around and pondered what the heck I could throw together using ingredients I already had in my apartment. I came up with - SWEET POTATO PIE. 

 Of course, I wanted to make this healthier than the butter, flour, oil - packed recipes I was finding. 

 I made mine loosely based off of this receipt - but I only had 1.5 sweet potatoes so I guestimated the amounts...

 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 sweet potatoes, cooked
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
The best part was using the Kitchenaid for the first time! It's so nice!

 I added some walnuts to the top of this, and voila! It was actually super tasty. Even Peter and my mom agreed! 


This was one of the few weekends I spent entirely in NYC with no big plans and it ending up being perfect and lots of fun. 

Running Is A Roller Coaster

Running is a roller coaster.

When I first started running regularly, I was a junior in college and I ran 27 laps of the indoor track at Quinnipiac University. 3 miles. I never timed myself.

My next encounter with running was as a graduate student at Baruch College where I consistently ran 3 miles on the treadmill at a 6.0 speed. 10  minute miles. I didn't think I was capable of going any faster.

That is until I started attending weekly social group runs around New York City. My fear of losing the group and being left behind translated into running faster than I knew I could. It also convinced me that treadmills are the absolute worst. 

Much like a roller coaster, the initial ascent is slow, shaky and stressful. Looking back, I don't even know how many miles it took until I was able to comfortably run 9 minute miles, and eventually, miles in the upper 8's. There were bumps along the way - achy body parts that needed to be iced and stretched, stressful days leading up to that first half marathon where I just wanted it to be over and done with or to never happen at all. A lot of that has to do with the fact that if we're using the top of the ascent as a symbol for race day - you have no idea what to expect. 

You can read statistics of the roller coaster you're on - height, material it's built from, top speed, biggest drop. Just like runners read race recaps of those who ran the race before them. You can study altitude charts and figure out where in your race it will feel like you're climbing Harlem Hill. But until you're at the race, running it, you just don't know what you're in for. 

Working up to a 5K, a 10K etc. is the hard part. It takes time. It builds up anticipation. 

And just like a roller coaster, the descent is the reason that you do it. The weightless feeling of joy and invincibility is what we hope running will feel like on race day. We hope the moments of psyching ourselves out, stressing about every little detail, those aches and pains we felt so acutely on the slow climb to the top all fall away.

We throw our heads back and scream out - "THIS IS SO SCARY BUT SO MUCH FUN!" "MY LEGS HATE ME BUT I DID IT!" "I'M GOING TO THROW UP BUT IT'S FINE!"

After a drop like that, after a race like that - you need some time to soak it all in. The track leading you back to the unloading area of a roller roaster is the recovery time. If you're anything like me, that time includes a lot of relaxing and deep breathing. 

During the days after a race, I tend to let go a little bit in terms of my healthy eating, drinking, sleeping and exercise habits. The effort of the race, the intensity of the roller coaster, determines how much time I need to decompress. 

But without a doubt, eventually, I'm ready for that next big thrill ride. Once you ride Superman, you know that eventually you need to put on your big girl pants and go for Kingda Ka.  Finished your first half? You knew the day you'd sign up for a marathon was inevitable.

It's important to take the time you need to feel ready for the next challenge. Unfortunately, while you take the time to feel mentally prepared, your physical preparedness takes a hit fairly quickly. 

You finished that half marathon with an 8:30 pace, so how come when the safety bar comes down and you start making your way back up to the top of the newest coaster, you're running 9:30 miles and it all feels so hard and scary again? 

That's what we as runners, and brave humans do.  We are to willing submit ourselves to hard work and uncomfortableness because we know what it feels like to reach that crest.

If we want to take the metaphor one step further, within The World of Running amusement park you have some other common attractions. 

The Ferris Wheel is like yoga and stretching. You usually forget about it, can't be bothered to take a second to slow down with so many other exciting things around. But when you finally do it, the view from the top reminds you of the bigger picture. In full bind when you finally feel that hip flexor relax, you're grateful for the tortuously slow and boring yoga class you dragged  yourself to.

The tilt-a-whirl is foam rolling because you have a total love-hate relationship with it. It works. As a ride, it succeeds in getting your adrenaline pumping. As injury relief, it succeeds in breaking up knots and releasing tension. But as a ride AND as injury relief - damn does it hurt! I think we all know the feeling of being crammed in a tilt-a-whirl with people who seem 200 pounds heavier than you. When you spin left, it's great. When you spin right, the life is being squeezed out of you. When you lay on the foam roller and crack your back - ahh, sweet relief. When you roll over that knot-ridden hamstring - Sweet Jesus!
Every amusement park is different - a different layout, a different strategy for making the most of your day there. Every race is different - different workout plans, different paces, different amounts of hill work.

And though there's a world full of races and a world full of roller coasters and amusement parks - sometimes it's nice to go back to ones we've loved in the past and experience it all over again. 

Especially if the line is short or the entrance fees are low. 


Six Sunday Links

Are you laying around, hungover after one of the last summer Saturday nights? 

 Stay horizontal, it's okay. Here are some fun links to take your mind off the headache and dry mouth. 

 Instead of feeling like you're completely wasting your day, click these links, read, watch - and do yourself a favor, drink some light blue Gatorade. That stuff is the ultimate hangover cure. 


1) The Wedding Toast I'll Never Give
"I want to say that at various points in your marriage, may it last forever, you will look at this person and feel only rage. You will gaze at this man you once adored and think, “It sure would be nice to have this whole place to myself.” Sound like love to you? No? Maybe it should! This New York Times article had me laughing and feeling feels - it's a reality check, for sure, but not one that will turn you off to marriage altogether. 

 2) In The Grand Canyon with Lance
Have you read "Born to Run" by Christopher MacDougall? If you have, you'll likely remember the character Jenn Shelton - an ultramarathoner who is free spirited (and often intoxicated) and entertaining. Well, turns out, she's also an incredibly engaging writer who is friends with Lance Armstrong. On the longer side, but definitely worth it!

 3) Split Image 
"Checking Instagram is like opening a magazine to see a fashion advertisement. Except an ad is branded as what it is: a staged image on glossy paper.
Instagram is passed off as real life."
This one is a bit of a downer, but so so important to read and think about. Please, if you read one of these articles - make it this one. 

 4) How to Age Gracefully
I really loved the way this video was put together. I guarantee you smile at the end. 

 5) Girl Power! 
Ever wonder about the first guy to successfully go over Niagara Falls in a barrel? Well it was a WOMAN, and you can read about it in this article. 

 6) AVOCADO! 
I could watch this Vine on repeat for hours, honestly. 




Rolling for Roots Hummus

Luckily, the week following "One of Those Weeks," was a lot better. 

 I got in all my workouts (I'll fill you in on what's been going on in that world coming up soon!) before work, which is always a victory! 

 I've returned to working two nights a week at the running store for their busy pre-Marathon days, which is where I spent Monday and Wednesday evenings after real work. 

 Tuesday night, I got together with Melissa and Laura to catch up and make a delicious meal! 

 Melissa ordered a lemon herb whole roasted chicken from Munchery -which was delivered right on time! So convenient - I definitely plan on using them with the coupon Melissa sent me! We slathered on the glaze and popped that baby in the oven! 

 Meanwhile, we prepared some string beans which we later let soak up some of the chicken juice/glaze that was left in the pan. 

 We also put together a delicious quinoa salad with some kale/spinach, blueberries, nectarine and peppers and onions - again, topped with garlic aioli mustard sauce/olive oil dressing (I'm kind of obsessed). 

We finished up with some homemade cookies courtesy of Laura! All in all a very successful night.

Thursday morning, I lost my cell phone. 

 It was a morning spent cursing my stupidity, calling Verizon, panicking, and ultimately reactivating an old iPhone 4 which is killing me softly with it's inability to use most apps since it doesn't support their updated versions. I could file an insurance claim and get a new phone for $180 OR I could wait it out with an iPhone 4 until NEXT MAY! Currently, I'm trying to grin and bear it - but I know that won't last forever and eventually I'll end up filing a claim. 

 Luckily, that night I got to relax and try a free class at Pure Yoga called Yamuna Rolling. It wasn't so much a yoga class as it was a 75 minute rolling session - using these little plastic balls of varying size and density. They were a lot more forgiving than the grid foam rollers I'm used to - but it was very helpful to have an instructor go through each body part, giving it the proper time and movements necessary to loosen things up. And heck, rolling takes a LOT of core work. I felt like I was in a plank for half the class. 


While everyone around me was shocked at how effectively the rolling was loosening them up - I, as usual, felt that no amount of rolling could crack the conundrum that is my knotted, cranky calves, hamstrings, hips, glutes and shins. Wah. 

 At least I could end the day knowing that I gave my body a little TLC. 

 And, as always, Pure Yoga wins at being a gorgeous studio. 


As I was walking into my class, I noticed a table set up with my all-time favorite hummus! Free samples of Roots hummus made my night. 

 Usually, when I read about "all-natural" "all-organic" blah blah products - I don't care as much as I probably should. Sure, I like healthy things. Sure, I love me a good vegan and vegetarian restaurant. But in my day to day life, I have had to admit that I am not perfect, and I am not rich - and I eat things with ingredients that I cannot pronounce. 

 But with Roots hummus, you can TELL that this stuff is the real deal, made with real ingredients, and real good for you! 

 They have some incredibly unique flavors, all of which were there to sample at Pure Yoga. I was super excited to try some that I hadn't been able to find in stores before. 

 I let the sales rep know I was a fan, and let her know the nearest store to the studio so she could let people know when they stopped by the table. ( I immediately used my coupon to pick up a container on my way home from class!) 

 I am a big fan of the Thai Coconut Curry and the Roasted Red Bell Pepper (SO fresh tasting). There's also Lima Bean and Mango Sriracha along with some other flavors. 

 The company is based out of Asheville, North Carolina - and they've dubbed themselves the "microbrew" of hummus. Love it. Though on the pricey side at $3.99 for a container, I definitely recommend you check them out! 


One of Those Weeks (And A Wedding)

My first week back wasn't jam-packed - and it's a good thing. 

It was "One of those weeks." 

You know, ladies. The week before, "the week." 

When everything was horribly tragic. Or I was just incredibly dramatic. 

I didn't feel like doing anything. Nope. Nothin'. 

But Tuesday night, Peter and I had Restaurant Week reservations at Fogo de Chao. Usually a $60 "All-You-Can-Eat Affair," we dined AYCE style at this Brazilian churrascaria for just $38! The menu was slightly limited for those partaking in the Restaurant Week special, meaning that Peter couldn't get chicken hearts (true story, he wanted those) or the filet, but there was still a masssssive amount of food to try. 

Almost immediately upon putting our things at the table, we made our way to the massive salad bar. I could have happily eaten from the salad bar all night, but every time I went to reach for the tongs, Peter would say something like, "You are NOT going to fill up on KALE are you?" "Really, you eat carrots every day!" Ugh, fine. I managed to keep the salad to a minimum - though I ended up going back for seconds of the apple, celery and raisin salad which was delicious. I also had some lox and beets and mushrooms, along with a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. 

The way a churrascaria works is you get a little piece of cardboard that looks like a coaster. One side is red and one side is green. Once you flip your coaster to the green side, it's GAME ON and the servers will come to your table offering you slices of meat off of their giant skewers. 

They also brought out some sides. Mashed potatoes with cheese that we didn't touch because there was no way they were good enough to take up room in our stomachs, fried polenta sticks (yum), friend plantains (like a little side of dessert while you eat your dinner), and...Pao de Queijo. Those delicious little cheesy balls that I was first introduced to when my roommate made them and again at my birthday brunch. I had read on a Yelp review that they reminder one reviewer of Goldfish and as soon as I bit into it, I had a Eureka! moment. Just like Goldfish - except doughy, moist and warm. Again, I awkwardly smuggled some out in my bag - because now it's just a tradition. 

The meat started coming and we eventually sampled each and every kind. As they come over to slice, you take your little tongs and help them get the cut of meat onto your plate. Peter kept forgetting about the tongs and just grabbing meat with his fork because he's just TOO AUTHENTIC BRAZILIAN. 

No shock, I loved the sausage. The lamb was good too. But Peter and I both agreed that the bacon wrapped chicken was THE BEST. It was soo juicy. I liked the flavor of the parmesan encrusted pork, but it was a little dry. There were also ribs and sirloin. And something in a really good garlicky marinade. 

This was by far the most meat I've eaten in probably over a year. So by the end of the meal I was sickeningly full and ready to never eat meat ever again. I also never wanted to eat ANYTHING ever again because I was so full that it hurt. 

But that didn't stop me from eating my slice of key lime pie that came with our Restaurant Week deal. Oooof. Ouch.

Friday Peter and I met after work for a margarita before dinner with his two friends from Oregon. After that, we went to his work happy hour/bowling event where he beat everyone at throwing a ball ball as hard and fast as he could, breaking the speedometer without really even trying. Boys. 

The night went much later than anticipated, and we were up and out early the next morning to take a bus to Binghamton for a party at my friend Curly's house. 



This wasn't just any party. 

This was Jeff & Sarah's Wedding! 

For those of you a little confused by the pictures from that weekend - no, it wasn't a real wedding. No, Jeff & Sarah aren't a real couple. In fact, Jeff and Sarah aren't even the names of two people that we know.  We have just been complaining for awhile now that none of our friends are getting married and we wanted to dress up and celebrate. 



I'd say this party was wonderful. We got to wear fancy things, there was a tent, a taco bar, a real life wedding cake with a unicorn topper, lots of alcohol, lawn games like a giant jenga, and drinking games like beer pong and flip cup. 



Plus, it was the first time I had seen so many of my fellow Bobcats in SUCH a long time!

(They groan every time I make them take this picture but then when it goes up on Facebook YOU ALL LIKE IT DON'T LIE)

Because it was "one of those weeks," I had been dragging my feet about going. But I am so glad I did! 


When we got back to the city on Sunday, we used a Groupon we have been hoarding for awhile to a Mediterranean restaurant on the Upper East Side - Anatolia Mediterranean Cuisine. 

The servers were super attentive, and we got to sit outside with a glass of wine and some food that transported me back to my days on Paros Island. 

(Paros, Greece - not the Upper East Side)

Everything was good - not great, but good. We had Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), cheese pie (filo dough with feta, how can you go wrong?) and then we split the Turlu- vegetable casserole and lamb sautee (served with tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers onions, garlic and rice pilaf). 

The veggie casserole was full of deliciousness - okra, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant onions, zucchini, string beans and a side of rice pilaf (white rice with chickpeas!) 

We mixed up all the leftovers which I ate for dinner later in the week. 

For dessert, I was beyond excited for Baklava and it didn't disappoint! 

(Though nothing will ever compare to this!) 

Just so ya know, Anatolia is BYOB - they serve wine as well. 



Bucket List

This bucket list grows by the day! Have a recommendation that HAS to go on the list? Let me know!

Items in bold have been completed :)

Lunch Spots

No. 7 Sub (59th Street between 5th & 6th)

*Creative sandwiches – vegetarian friendly

Glaze Teriyaki Grill (60 West 56th Street, 638 Lexington Avenue, 139 4th Avenue)

Natureworks (55th Street between 5th & 6th)

Westerly Natural Market (8th Avenue & 54th Street)

-Roti (142 East 43rd Street between 3rd & Lex) 

GRK Fresh (Lexington Ave between 44th & 45th) 

Bluestone Lane (43rd Between 5th & 6th) 

Blossom du Jour (165 Amsterdam Avenue between 67th & 68th Streets, 617 9th Avenue between 43rd & 44th Streets and 259 West 23rd Street between 7th & 8th Avenues) 

Dishes (6 E 45th S between 5th Ave & Madison Ave.) 
 
Spreads (441 Park Avenue South between 31st & 32nd)
http://www.spreadsny.com/menu/BREAKFAST/

Xi’An Famous Foods  (24 W. 45th Street between 5th & 6th) 
*Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger
*Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles
*Oxtail 
*Lamb Face Salad


Burrito Box (885 9th Ave. between 57th and 58th Streets)

The Grey Dog (242 West 16th Street, 90 University Place, 244 Mulberry Street, 49 Carmine Street)

 

Untamed Sandwiches (43 West 39th Street – between 5th and 6th) 

Melt Shop (135 West 50th Street at 7th Avenue, 53rd Street and Lexington and 26th Street and 6th Avenue) 



Quick Healthy
Hu Kitchen (78 5th Avenue between 13th and 14th) 

Juice Generation

Chopt

Just Salad

Dig Inn
The Little Beet
Beyond Sushi
Little Collins
Sun in Bloom
Chobani Soho
Oatmeals
Chickpea 

Hummus and Pita Co.

Terri

Organic Avenue

Sweetgreen
Creative Juice Co. (In Equinox locations) 
*Menu includes nutritional information

Green Bean Organic Café (1413 York Avenue Between 75th & 76th Streets)
*UES!

Bombay Sandwich Co. (48 West 27th Street between 6th & Broadway)


Mulberry and Vine (73 Warren St.)

Zen Palate
http://www.zenpalate.com/
*Meh

Good Health Café (1st Ave between 74 & 75) 
*UES!

Ceviche(15th Between Union Square West & 5th) 

Hampton Chutney Co. (68 Prince Street and 464 Amsterdam Avenue) 
*Dosas

UWay Café (5th Avenue between 13th & 14th)

The Cinnamon Snail 
*Food truck shut down- keep an eye out for a brick and mortar location soon!

Butterfield Market (114 Lexington Avenue between 77th & 78th) 

Taim (222 Waverly Place and 45 Spring Street or Taim Mobile!) 
*Harissa
*Carrots

Yorganic (3 Hanover Square) 

Salud (107 Thompson Street) 

Smile To Go (22 Howard St.) 

Feel Food

El Rey Coffee Bar & Luncheonette (100 Stanton Street)




Healthy(ish) Sit Down
The Butcher’s Daughter 
Sacred Chow
Quintessence
Vegetarian’s Paradise 2
Souen
V-Note
Blossom on Carmine
Siggy’s Good Food

ABC Kitchen (35 East 18th Street between Park and Broadway) 
*Roast Carrot and Avocado Salad with Crunchy Seeds and Citrus
*Mushroom and Farro

The Little Beet Table (333 Park Ave. South Between 24th & 25th) 

ABC Cocina (38 East 19th Street between Park and Broadway)

The Smile (26 Bond Street) 

Natural Gourmet Institute $45 Friday Night Dinner (48 W. 21st St., 2nd floor)

Good Enough to Eat (Columbus Avenue at 85th Street)

 

Lovely Day Café (196 Elizabeth Street between Spring & Prince) 

 

Caravan of Dreams (405 East 6th Street between Avenue A & 1st Ave.) 

 

Wild Ginger (380 Broome Street) 

Quantum Leap (226 Thompson St. between 3rd St & Bleecker St)

 
Rockin’ Raw Vegan Café (171 Sullivan St. off of Houston)

Candle Café (1307 3rd Avenue Between 74th & 75th St or 2427 Broadway between 89th and 90th Streets) 

Organic Soul Café (638 East 6th Street between Avenue B & Avenue C) 

Nourish Kitchen Table (95 Greenwich Ave between Bank St. and West 12th Street) 

Monument Lane (103 Greenwich Ave. at the corner of West 12th St.) 
*$27 Sunday Supper, $15 prix fix lunch

Angelica Kitchen (300 East 12th Street between 1st & 2nd Ave.) 

Ellary’s Greens (33 Carmine Street between Bedford and Bleecker) 

Northern Spy Food Co. (511 East 12th Street) $27 “Sunday Supper” 

The Green Table (75 9th Avenue) 

 Family Recipe (231 Eldridge Street) 

The Fat Radish (17 Orchard Street)
*The Fat Radish Plate

Gustorganics (519 6th Ave)

Candle 79 (154 E 79th St.)
Blossom (187 9th Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets)

Café Blossom (446 Columbus Avenue between 82nd & 83rd Streets)

Red Bamboo (140 W 4th St.)

Peace Food Café (460 Amsterdam Avenue at 82nd Street and 41 East 11th Street at University Place)

-$$Rogue Tomate – 10 East 60th Street

The Organic Grill (123 First Ave between 7st. & St. Marks Place)

GOBO (401 Avenue of the Americas between Waverly and 8th Streets) 

Pure Food and Wine (54 Irving Place (between 17th and 18th streets)

Josie’s West (300 Amsterdam Avenue at 74th Street) 

Community Food and Juice (2893 Broadway between 112th & 113th Streets)

Dovetail (103 West 77th Street) 
Monday night features a special vegetarian and vegetable focused four-course prix fixe for $58

Dirt Candy (430 East 9th Street)

Kajitsu NYC Tasting Menu ($55, $85) (125 East 29th Street) 

Awash Ethiopian Restaurant (947 Amsterdam Avenue between 106th & 107th OR 338 East 6th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues) 
*Veggie Combo

Hangawi (12 East 32nd Street)
*Mongolian Hot Pot

Westville (173 Avenue A, 210 W 10th Street, 246 W 18th Street, 333 Hudson Street)




Sit Down Restaurants
Spice Market
The General
Flex Mussels
Mercer Kitchen
Fishtag
Blue Fin
China Grill
TAO
Meatball Shop
Drunken Monkey
L’Asso
The District
Becco
Maya 
Mas (la Grillade)
David  Burke Fishtail 
Russian Tea Room
Panna II
Bare Burger
Cascabel Taqueria 
Heidelberg 
Gato
Zebu Grill
Fogo de Chao
Anatolia Mediterranean Restaurant
Chinatown
SOCCARRAT 


Nyonya (199 Grand Street- Grand St. between Mulberry St. & Mott St.)
*Curry Mixed Vegetable Casserole in Clay Pot
*Nasi Lemak
*Okra

Root & Bone (200 East 3rd Street Between Avenues A&B)

Red Farm NYC (529 Hudson St. or 2170 Broadway between 76th and 77th) 

*Cute outdoor seating

Upland (345 Park Avenue South at 26th)

Decoy (529 Hudson) 

Catch (21 Ninth Avenue)

ABV(1504 Lexington Avenue at 97th Street) 
-Café Mogador (101 Saint Marks Place) 
http://www.cafemogador.com/eastvillage/?page_id=11

-Crave Fishbar (945 2nd Avenue at 50th Street) 

-Lure Fishbar (142 Mercer Street)

 

-Louro *Nossa Mesa Supper Club ~$65 (142 West 10th Street)

http://www.louronyc.com/

 

-Souvlaki GR (116 Stanton St (between Ludlow and Essex Sts) 


-Narcissa (21 Cooper Square at The Standard – 5th Street and Bowery)

 

-Empellon Cocina (105 1st Avenue (Cocina) and 230 West 4th Street (Taqueria) 
*Pistachio Guacamole


-Park Avenue Spring/Summer/Winter (26th Street at Park Avenue)

-Kefi (505 Columbus Ave.) 


-Parm (248 Mulberry Street between Prince and Spring OR 235 Columbus Ave.)
*ICE CREAM CAKE


-Alder (157 Second Avenue) 
*Grilled Octopus with chorizo, sweet potato and banana, Carrot Cake Sundae

-Ninja NY (25 Hudson Street) 
*For the experience, not the food!


-Kellari Taverna (19 West 44th Street) 


-The Musket Room (265 Elizabeth Street) 
*Scallops and tofu gnocchi 


-Yefsi (1481 York Ave – between 98th & 79th) 


-Mulberry Project (149 Mulberry Street) and The Greenwich Project (47 West 8th Street) 

-Genuine (191 Grand St. at Mulberry St. or 600 11th Avenue at 44th Street) 
*Fried Tomato BLT

-Tasca Chino (245 Park Avenue South) 


Rebelle (218 Bowery) 


-Pearl and Ash (220 Bowery *Between Prince St. & Spring St.)
http://www.pearlandash.com/dinner-menu.html
-Piora (430 Hudson Street)


Mas (farmhouse) (39 Downing St.) 

Le Verdure at Eataly

Black Tree (131 Orchard Street) 

-Momofuku Ko ($125, $175 chef’s tasting menu) (163 1st Avenue at the corner of 10th Street) 

-Momofuku Ssam (207 Second Avenue)

-Momofuku Noodle Bar (171 First Avenue)

L’Artusi (228 West 10th Street )

Mezetto (161 East Houston Street)

Toro (86 10th Avenue – Entrance on 15th Street and 11th Avenue)

Monarch Room 
*$1 Oysters!

Yerba Buena (1 Perry Street, 23 Avenue A) 

Beauty and Essex (146 Essex Street) 

Esperanto (145 Avenue C) 
Bourgeois Pig (127 Macdougal Street) 

Bar Bossa (232 Elizabeth Street)

Black Ant (60 Second Avenue) 

East Pole (133 East 65th Street) 

Moti Mahal Delux (1149 1st Avenue between 62nd & 63rd Streets) 
*$13 Lunch Special

Legend Bar and Restaurant (88 7th Avenue) 
Maharlika (111 First Avenue @ 7th Street) 

Alta & Cata Tapas Bars 

Café Clover (10 Downing Street) 

Black Tap NYC (529 Broome Street) 
*Burgers
Pio Pio (1746 First Avenue) 

Plataforma Churrascaria 


Sweets
Emack and Bolios
Doughnut Plant
Dough 
Dough Loco 
The Good Batch
Big Gay Ice Cream Shop
Crumbs
I CE NY

-The Petite Shell (Lexington Between 85th and 86th)
*Regelach
*Babka

Canale by Celine (82nd Between 1st and York)

-Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co. (25 E 17th St. between 5th & Park Avenues) 

-L&B Spumoni Gardens (2725 86th St.)
*Pistachio Spumoni

-Holey Cream (796 9th Avenue at 53rd St.) 
*Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches

-Melt Bakery (132 Orchard Street between Rivington and Delancey Sts.)

-Serendipity(225 East 60th Street)
http://www.serendipity3.com/food.htm

-Max Brenner(841 Broadway) 
 
-Cookshop (156 Tenth Avenue at 20th Street)
*Dinner menu sounds good too!
*Crispy graham cracker crust sandwich filled with banana ice cream and brownie with salted caramel ice cream, rolled in pretzel pieces
*Apple Pie Nachos

-Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar (207 Second Avenue)
*Crack Pie 
 
-Dominique Ansel Bakery (189 Spring Street near Thompson St.)
*Cronut

-The Breslin (20 W 29th Street near Broadway)
* Deep-Fried PB & J(served at brunch on Saturday/Sunday from 7 am – 4 pm)
 
-Sugar and Plumm (Bleecker) 
 
-Ample Hills Creamery (623 Vanderbilt Ave.) 
*Salted Crack Caramel 
 
-OddFellows Ice Cream (175 Kent Ave.) 
*Beet Pistachio Honey Goat Cheese, PB&J with Toast 
 
-Hay Rosie (204 Sackett Street)
https://www.facebook.com/hayrosie/app_117784394919914

-Morganstern’s (2 Rivington Street)

-Il Labratoria Gelato (188 Ludlow Street) 
 
-Four & Twenty Blackbirds (439 Third Avenue)
Salt Honey Pie 
 
-Mikey Likes Ice Cream (199 Avenue A) 
 
Petee’s Pie Company (61 Delancey Street)

Buttercup Bake Shop (973 2nd Avenue – Between 51st & 52nd) 
*Banana pudding that rivals Magnolia?
 
Snowdays (241 East 10th Street) 


Quality Meats (57 West 58th Street & 6th Avenue) 
*Dessert – Grasshopper ice cream cake


Quick Meals (Of the Unhealthy Variety)

Wafels & Dinges 
S’Mac 
Oat Meals 
Potatopia 
Peanut Butter & Co. 

Bark (155  Bleecker Street at the Corner of Bleecker and Thompson) 
http://barkhotdogs.com/
*Veggie Dog 

Cheeky Sandwiches (35 Orchard Street) 


Empire Biscuit (198 Avenue A)

Mexican
Cascabel Taqueria 
Los Tacos No. 1
Toloache


Tacombi (267 Elizabeth Street)

Café Habana (17 Prince Street)

La Esquina (114 Kenmare between Lafayette and Centre)

Mercadito (179 Avenue B between 11th & 12th Streets, 172 Avenue B between 10th and 11th Streets and 100 Seventh Avenue South at Grove Street) 
*Guacs!


Mexicue (Sit down at Broadway between 40th & 41st, Take Out at 30th & 7th, also a truck!) 


Tehuitzingo Deli Grocery (695 10th Avenue) 

La Pulperia (1626 Second Avenue Between 84th and 85th Street) 


Breakfast
Little Collins
Bantam Bagels 
Uptown Lounge ($16 entrée + 2 cocktails)
Mexi BBQ 
Bocado
Jack's Wife Freda


Bluestone Lane Café (55 Greenwich Ave.) 

Dimes (143 Division Street) 

Shopsins (120 Essex Street) 
Chalait (224 West 4th Street / 7th Ave) 

Banc Café (431 Third Avenue – 31st Street)

-Café Mogador (101 Saint Marks Place) 
*Weekday breakfast is a better deal!
*Middle Eastern Eggs

Café Habana (17 Prince Street)

Catch (21 Ninth Avenue)
*$60 for two (Two appetizers, two entrees, one dessert, one bottle of champagne)

Murray’s Bagels (500 Avenue of the Americas) 

Pick a Bagel (77 & Lex)
Jack’s Wife Freda (224 Lafayette or 50 Carmine Street ) 

Egg Shop (151 Elizabeth Street) 

Two Hands (164 Mott Street)

El Rey Café (100 Stanton Street) 

Lobster Joint (201 East Houston Street between Ludlow and Orchard)
*$19 prix fix

Café Gitane (At the Jane Hotel at 113 Jane St. or 242 Mott Street) 
*Avocado Toast
*Smoked Trout Salad
*Cous Cous tower

Cafe Mogador (101 Saint Marks Place) 
Jing Fong (20 Elizabeth Street)

Baked (279 Church Street) 
*TOASTS!

Lavo (39 E 58th St., btwn. Madison & Park Aves)
*PB & Jelly Pancakes (Brunch)

Pil Pil (265 East 78th Steet)

Recette (328 West 12th Street) 
*PB&J Pain Perdue 


Dranks
Proper West (54 West 39th Street)
$12 Cocktails 
*Grilled Chicken Quinoa – sliced balsamic grilled chicken breast served over quinoa cranberry almond salad
*Grilled Sriracha Salmon- wild salmon server over tri colored carrots, grilled Portobello mushrooms, and braised kale in an orange sriracha sauce

Mess Hall (2194 Frederick Douglas Boulevard) 

-Café Mogador (101 Saint Marks Place)
*Each cocktail comes with 2 tapas!

Beekman Beer Garden (89 South Street) 

Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden (2919 24th Avenue, Astoria) 

Back Room(102 Norfolk Street) 

Pravda (281 Lafayette) 
*Happy hour until 7 p.m. 
*$9 cocktails 

The Daily (210 Elizabeth Street) 

Outdoor Happy Hours
Vu Bar (32nd Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue)
*Happy Hour 5-7, all day Sunday - $5 beers, $3 shots

Bua Bar (122 Saint Marks Between 1st Avenue and Avenue A)

Schoolbreds (197 2nd Avenue) 
*2 for 1 drinks until 8 p.m.

Boxcar Lounge (168 Avenue B)

*Bring your own brunch for garden on weekends 
*Happy hour until late

China Grill (6th & 53rd)
*$7 Drinks and Appetizers


Margaritas and Guacamole
El Rio Grande 
Mexican Radio
Toloache Guac Trio
Dos Caminos

Pianos (158 Ludlow Street) 

Calexico (2 for 1 happy hour  = $3.50 margaritas!) (153 Rivington Street)

Arriba Arriba (769 9th Avenue at 51st Street) 
*La Mama = 27 oz.

Agave (140 7th Avenue South (between West 10th and Charles streets)
*Acapulco Spice

Barrio Chino (253 Broome Street at Orchard Street)
* Habanero Grapefruit Margarita

Empellon Cocina (105 1st Avenue (Cocina) and 230 West 4th Street (Taqueria) 
*Pistachio Guacamole

Florenica 13 (185 Sullivan Street) 
*Flaming Margarita

AG Kitchen (269 Columbus Avenue between 72nd and 73rd Streets) 
*Pineapple and Pomegranate Guacamole, Papaya and Mint


Food Trucks
Sam’s Falafel Stand (Cedar St. and Broadway)
99% Vegetarian Food Truck (Liberty Street and Broadway/Nassau) 

Snap! 
*Chicavocado Dog

The Squeeze (Union Square West and 17th Street (Cart), 550 West 54th Street between 10th & 11th Avenue and 2 World Financial 

Green Radish 
Gorilla Cheese Truck 

Kelvin Natural Slush Co.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream


Race Results

Races

Bold = PR

5K (2014 Mount Sinai Turkey Trot)
22:23:28 // 7:13 pace
1st Place Female Ages 20-24

5K (2011 Mount Sinai Turkey Trot)
25:50:22 // 8:19 pace

4 Miler (2014 Run As One)
28:27 // 7:07 pace

5 Miler (Poland Spring Marathon Kick Off)
38:41 // 7:45 pace

10K (2014 Scotland Run)
45:23 // 7:20 pace

10 Miler (Run to the Blue Point Brewery)
1:22:06 // 8:13 pace

10 Miler (2014 Bronx)
1:23:56 // 8:24 pace

½ Marathon (2015 Brooklyn Half)
1:40:34 // 7:41 pace

½ Marathon (2014 Brooklyn Half)
1:46:50 // 8:10 pace

½ Marathon (2013 Suffolk County Half)
1:59:21 // 9:07 pace

25K (Caumsett Park 25K)
1st Place Female Ages 20-24
2:13:57.35 // 8:37 pace


Marathon (2015 Pittsburgh Marathon)
19th Division Place (Females 20-24), 97th Female, 523 Overall
3:37:03 // 8:16 pace

Marathon (2014 Wineglass Marathon)
1:50:09 // 8:48 pace


Wolman's in the Hamptons

The last day of July meant my first day of FAMILY VACATION. 

 I took the train home Friday after work, got dressed, and left with my parents for the restaurant where we were throwing my Nanny a surprise birthday party. 

 Slowly, our big happy family filled the private room and we waited for Uncle Greg to show up with the birthday girl. Sitting in a room whose walls were giant floor to ceiling windows, we tried our best to turn away so Nanny didn't see us as she made her way inside. 

 I wish the pictures came out better - but I think it's safe to say she was surprised! Maybe even a little teary, seeing a room filled with all of her favorite people (we're all your favorites, right Nanny?!) 

Behind Nanny and Poppy were Uncle Greg and Aunt Christine, who I hadn't seen since Thanksgiving, and THESE two little munchkins. 


Despite living in South Carolina, my aunt and uncle have raised Julia and Claire to know all of their east coast aunts, uncles and cousins wonderfully. I don't know who was more excited - us, or them. 

 Our prix-fixe dinner was tasty - my sister and I split the eggplant Parmesan and fish entrees.

 Given my choice of desserts, I will rarely pick cake. But given a piece of cake, I will always eat cake. And the cake was actually delicious. 

 When my Poppy got up to give a little toast to Nanny, it was so so sweet. I could not be more grateful and appreciative of the love I grew up surrounded by. Not only did my grandparents and parents love for ME allow me to feel happy and secure, but their love for EACH OTHER has shown me that no matter what life throws at you, no matter how stressful it can get - if you are with the right person you can always find reasons to laugh and smile. 

 Being surrounded by my family made me SO ready for a week spent with them in Hampton Bays.

(Gangs (almost) all here - and we've got a selfie stick...uh-oh!)

Saturday I attempted a run, which, shockingly, was a pain-free 3 miles. Those 3 miles were more of a jog than a run, but it was the first time that I wasn't limping a mile into it, so I was a pretty happy camper. 

I convinced my mom to drive 20 minutes to the nearest Trader Joe's so I could get some "me" food for the week -long vacation. Sandwich thins, chocolate covered almonds, garlic aioli mustard sauce - you know, the essentials. She also had to return something at Macy's next door so that's the real reason we made the trip. And I was excited because I was given permission by master-chef Mitch to make the three of us dinner that night! A healthy dinner!

And a delicious dinner, if I do say so myself. Mom and Dad both seemed to agree, and I know they would be honest with me if it was sub-par. 

I made a quinoa salad with edamame, mango and black beans along with salmon brushed with sauce made by mixing olive oil with the garlic aioli mustard sauce (again, credit to Kayla!) 



Dad made mom and I his version of the "China Blossom" from China Grill, my favorite cocktail, and I soaked in a rare night sitting out on my deck. I've had an eventful, fun summer, but the number of days spent at home on Long Island have been dismally low.

(Remember how I said I had the best role-models for happy marriages? HOW CUTE ARE THEY?!)

Sunday afternoon was the day - we packed up the truck and set out for the Wolman Family Vacation 2015. 


True story - we used to get t-shirts made for the occasion. Then there were the beer koozies. No outfitting this year, though. 

Most summer's, we go on a big family vacation like this. My grandparents rent a house and all 20 of us spend a week swimming, eating, drinking, playing games and boating. There's a lot of conversation around which house is our favorite that we've stayed in, and the consensus seems to be that nothing beats that first house, which we returned to once and try to return to every summer (Camp O-Kwa-Ri-Ga).  Here's a run down of the Wolman Family Vacation spots over the last couple of years: 

1) Camp O-Kwa-Ri-Ga in the Adirondacks (2008 and 2013). Nothing seems to beat the seclusion - meaning lots of late nights at the fire. The main cabin is great for fitting all of us, and there's a smaller cabin perfect for Nanny and Poppy (they deserve to be spoiled!) But the best part is the boat house right down by the lake. There's a dock, which means we can rent a boat and tube and water ski. And there's paddle boats, kayaks, a canoe, a pool table, piano, balcony for jumping into the lake, and shuffleboard table. So many hysterical moments have happened at O-Kwa-Ri-Ga. From ghost stories, to my dad pretending to be a bear and scaring the crap out of my uncle in the middle of the night - this place feels like home, maybe because it was the first time we all did a trip like this. 





2) Maryland Mansion (2009) - This house was definitely fancier than the Adirondacks. But there's no boat house, and sitting down by the water wasn't as easy. The plus was that we could still rent a boat AND drive the boat across the lake to the Honi Honi bar for happy hour (still fun, despite not being 21 at the time). The lake was a lot rougher though, with more boat traffic, which stressed my dad out and made tubing and water skiing a lot less enjoyable. We could make a fire outside though, a definite plus! And, my family will understand the significance of this - it was at the Maryland Mansion that Claudia Ellen was born! 


3) Rhode Island Beach Mansion (2014) - This house was weirdly fancy. But there was the beach a few steps away AND a pool. No nighttime fires, but the outdoor patio was nice. The option of pool or beach was nice. Sadly, I only spent 3 days at this house, because it was my first year working and I had no vacation time. But while I was there, we discovered the plethora of clams at the beach, which my dad naturally dug up with his bare hands and feet, with the help of uncles and cousins, which we feasted on. There was also a great running and biking path nearby, and as I was marathon training and my uncle was training for a 100 mile bike ride, that was clutch. The restaurant we went for dinner at that year was also THE BOMB. 




4) That brings us to 2015. Originally, we were supposed to go to a lake house near Hunter Mountain. But my grandma had a weird feeling, and after going to check it out, it was a big thumbs down. So last minute, her and my aunt managed to find a beautiful house in Hampton Bays for us to spend the week. The best part? It only took us an hour to get there! The quarters were a little more cramped than usual (though there were more bathrooms and showers!) and there were a lot of rules since the Hamptons can be a little hoity-toity - we couldn't be outside after dark which meant no fires. And we were about a 5 minute drive to the ocean, instead of having it in our backyard (wow, I'm sorry I don't mean to sound quite so spoiled there...) but there were so many GREAT things about this house! A huge pool AND a hot tub. A really great town to explore. A new tradition - the Wolman talent show! A basement with air hockey, foosball and pool. We just won't talk about the dining room chairs...



We were the first to arrive and after driving around to check out the beach and nearby bars and restaurants, we pulled into the driveway of this lovely little house. 


(Ok, 8 rooms, maybe not so little!) 

We figure out the rooming situation which worked out quite well for me - since my sister refuses to share a bed with me (SHE's the one who moves around a ton, NOT me...) she had an air mattress, I had a bed to myself, and my parents shared the other. 


Our days during the week went a little something like this: 

-I would wake up around 8 and go for a bike ride on my little cousins bike or into the basement for some deck of cards workouts. One morning I ran with my Mom and aunt, hopeful after my Saturday morning pain-free run, but unfortunately the IT band acted up again and my knee felt like it was being stabbed after 2.5 miles. So running wasn't part of my week, as much as I would have liked it to be. 

(My 10 year old cousin's bike - perfect fit!)

-After working out I would make myself breakfast - lox and a bagel, Greek yogurt with all the fixings, oatmeal, cereal - so much to choose from. And for someone who loves breakfast like no other meal, it was like Christmas every morning. What's the saying? "I love going to be because it's like a time machine to breakfast." Exactly. 



-Spend the day either at the beach (we went to the ocean two days and to the the bay for one day) or by the pool. At the ocean, I didn't get in the water because the waves were big and it wasn't too hot out anyway. 



At the bay, we swam around despite the rocky bottom and shallow water (North Shore Long Islander over here - totally used to the rocks!) At the pool, I attempted to improve upon my horrendous swimming skills, and although I dressed the part, I probably lasted a total of 10 minutes before frustration overcame me. By the end of the week, though, I DID feel I had made a little bit of improvement. 


-Pre-dinner snacking was a wonderful time of day - we broke out bags upon bags of chips and dips and cracked open some brewskis...or even better, my dad made margaritas. One night, the pre-dinner snacking involved clams on the half shell and another night, shrimp cocktail. You wouldn't believe how fast they got scarfed down! 



Another night, my dad made his artichoke dip - cheese, mayo and artichoke hearts. It might sound gross, but it's so addictive, despite the calorie count. 

(Happy hour - whipping our hair back and forth and eating cheese doodles)

-The way dinner works on these trips is each family gets assigned a night and they make the meal. Pretty simple. This year, some meals included - spiral ham with baked beans, brats and pierogies with LOTS of onions, pasta with chicken and vegetables, filet minion with broccoli and baked potato. There's also always a night where we all go out as a big group, and wreak havoc on some poor, unsuspecting restaurant in the area that is totally not accustomed to seeing a group of 22 people walk in. This year, however, my dad and his siblings had graduated high school with the owner of a local bar/restaurant - so we gave him a heads up, got the back room of Gator's to ourselves, and enjoyed a meal out on the town. 

I'm not sure what it was, but I was having horrible heart burn all week - something that I've never experienced before. One night, I got up out of bed with that urgent, "I think I'm going to be sick" feeling - only to see that the bathroom was occupied.  So I hurried downstairs and, I'll spare you the details, but, I was right - I was sick. After awhile I made my way back upstairs. As I entered the bedroom my family was staying in, my mom goes, "Did you see your father?" 

"No, why?" I asked, a little confused. 

"He thinks you're missing. Him and Sam are searching for you."

Dear Lord. 

Eventually they came inside and saw I was alive and well, aside from the vomit. They stopped looking in bushes and at the bottom of the pool for my body, and we all went to sleep. 

-After dinner every night there were different things to do in the basement, my little cousins organized a talent show one night, and we somehow peacefully watched the GOP debate another night. There were games of "What If..." and "Cards Against Humanity," which you're probably thinking, "Isn't that weird to play with your family?" The answer is yes. Yes, it can be a little strange, but it is also always hilarious. 

(Talent.)

There were a few special activities as well, like the morning that a group of us went paddle boarding. We were enjoying ourselves, paddling like pros (including my fearless little cousin Kyle), and I was even getting fancy with some downward dog. 

(Zen)


Then, we decided to head back. 

Uh-oh. 

Though the teacher had encouraged us to go even further than we ended up going, as soon as we turned around to make the trip back to the shop, we realized the wind was far stronger than when we first headed out. We paddled to no avail. I couldn't get past one boat for about 20 minutes. Kyle was spinning in circle. Eventually, my mom and I got Kyle situated on my board and she towed this board behind hers. We still weren't making much progress, but with Kyle laying down and using his hands to paddle along with me, we moved a little bit. Then, my mom realized we could stand. So there was some sludging through the water that way. 

They must have realized we were struggling, because we heard yells and looked to the shore to see my uncle and the paddle board shop owner waving us onto the beach.  We were still SO far from the shop, so we walked our boards up and put them in her pick-up truck for a lift back to get our stuff. 

She told us we were doing great, and that even SHE had some problems getting HERSELF in to shore. That made us feel better But we were EXHAUSTED and I was starving. I had planned to go to paddle board yoga the next morning - but, no thanks. 

Another fun night was when we went to Cowfish for happy hour and then took the Rum Barge over to Rumba for dinner. 



Cowfish was one of the most beautiful restaurants I've ever seen. The landscaping and flowers were beautiful, and the view couldn't get much more perfect. There were lawn games and couches and it was such an oasis. I couldn't stop taking pictures! 



We loaded up the Rum Barge and took it across the water to Cowfish's sister restaurant, Rumba, which we heard had the better menu for dinner. The view and outdoor area wasn't as nice, so I was really happy with our decision to do drinks at Cowfish and dinner at Rumba. 





Rumba had it's own style and feel - much more laid back and island-y. The food was KILLER and SO PRETTY. 


Are you ready for these avocado tacos? I don't think you're ready. Rastaman's Taco: paneed avocado, island slaw, corn salsa and rasta cream. 



What does "paneed" mean, you ask. Well, I Googled it so that you don't have to - basically it means bread-crumbed. Fried avocado might sound weird, but I promise you it wasn't. It was very LIGHTLY coated. Almost like a light tempura. The slaw was to die for. Or maybe it was the rasta cream. Either way, I could have eaten 2384932 of these for dinner and not tried anything else and still been happy. 

We also tried the duck empanadas because...I mean, duh. They were good too (greasy, fried good) but those tacos were on a different level. 



For my entree I got the jumbo scallop and papaya salad with avocado, tomatoes and corn. I don't know why I didn't sub the papaya for mango. I know I don't like papaya. And this confirmed it. But everything else about the salad was delicious! 



Mom: Ahi Tuna Salad- mango, avocado, purple onion, sesame seed, filed greens, tuna, "yummy yummy" sauce.



Nanny: Jumbo diver scallops- rum reduction sauce, white beans, capers, rice & mache 



Dad: Shrimp Boat- sage breaded shrimp, remoulade, avocado, lettuce and tomato 



Sam: Jerk Chicken Platter: coconut risotto and mango papaya honey salsa. This stuff was NO JOKE spicy. 



The cocktails were wonderfully refreshing and flavorful and the Hot Fudge Sundae was plain sinful. I've never seen a sundae that comes served with an entire gravy boat of hot fudge to be poured on top. And all of it was poured, trust me. 

After the rum barge got a little stuck in the shallow water, we were on our way back to Cowfish to pick up our cars and head back to the house. 



Watching the sunset was the perfect end to a pretty awesome night. 



Another night my parents, sister and grandparents went for a cocktail at Oakland's where I reestablished my love of prosecco. 

The last night, we again did happy hour and dinner out, this time at The Hampton Lady. 


Though the service wasn't anything to write home about, and the margaritas left something to be desired - the Mai Tais, crafted by a Hawaiian bartender, were phenomenal and the food was quite good along with the half-price drink happy hour special. Can't complain about that! I ordered the fish tacos and my dad got the lobster, which we split. 2 lobsters with corn and potatoes for $28! My mom got a burger that I was SO close to ordering - bacon, blue cheese, and a grilled shrimp on top! My sister ordered clams on the half shell and the Thai fried-calamari which was quite good! 



After dinner, my parents dropped me off at the train station and it was time to say goodbye. I got pretty emotional - tearing up a little as I watched them drive away. 

I just love how close I am with my family - the fact that I can be genuinely excited about spending 7 days in a house with 22 relatives says a lot - and I know how incredibly #blessed I am. 



Lately, I've been having a little bit of wanderlust. My list of places that I want to see and explore has grown a lot in the past few months. In fact, I used to not even have a list of places I wanted to see and explore. Now, I badly want to go to Iceland. I'm longing for a trip out west to hike and explore National Parks. Denver, Idaho, Yellowstone. I want to do and see it all. But having 10 vacation days means prioritizing. 

I know the day will come when I forego the family vacation to do my own thing. But when, a week after leaving Hampton Bays, my grandma sent me a link to next years house (we return to the Adirondacks!) I just thought to myself, "How can I turn down a week with the people who matter most to me?"

We shall see what happens next summer. But until then, the memories of Hampton Bays will carry me until Christmas, when I get to see everyone again! 

Nanny and Poppy - I know you're reading this, because you are my biggest fans - THANK YOU for making and raising and nurturing this big, crazy, wonderful, beautiful family and for giving us the opportunity to spend time together. 



I wrapped up the weekend with a trip to Target and Costco with Rebecca and Melissa, unpacked, and got ready for another week in the big apple. 




Busy Week

Monday, July 27 was an important day. 

 The Bachelorette Finale, obviously. 

 Though we all failed at watching the show together on a weekly basis, a bunch of us got together at Melissa's apartment to watch the finale, foam roll, and eat a lot of delicious food. 

 More exciting than the finale was the fact that Kaitlin brought us LEVAIN BAKERY COOKIES!

 She brought chocolate chocolate chip, peanut butter, and regular chocolate chip. All were amazing, all lived up to the hype, and naturally, I favored the peanut butter cookie. 

 Somehow, even though they weren't fresh out of the oven, all the chocolate on the inside of the cookie was moist and melty as if they were still hot. 

 Do you know the story behind the cookies? They were created by Constance McDonald and Pamela Weekes while they trained for an Ironman - they needed a way to get a LOT of calories back in their bods. 

 Now, we eat this 6 ounce cookie as dessert. 

 'Merica. 

 Tuesday night I got home from work and made a portable dinner for picnic in the park. I LOVE how these Mexican Mason jars turned out! I layered the following: 

 Lettuce
Choululah shredded chicken (canned chicken heated up in a skillet with Choululah sauce)
Spicy black bean dip from Trader Joe's
Coconut oil sauteed sweet potato
Sauteed peppers
Corn cut off the cob and seasoned with cilantro and chili 


These delicious jars came with me to Carl Schurz Park where we watched Frozen with all of the children of the Upper East Side. Good thing we brought some wine in a water bottle. 

 Wednesday night was my "surprise" date for Peter that he figured out because he gets the damn guitarists newsletter. GRR!

Anyway, months and months ago I had bought us tickets to go see Andy McKee and two other guitarists perform at BB Kings. I was a little nervous that I would be super bored with only guitar music, but it was AMAZING and I loved it. 
(Andy McKee - look him up!)
Before the concert we stopped at Sangria 46 for paella and sangria. While the paella wasn't nearly as good as what we had a Soccarat, it still had some yummy seafood. And the sangria was fabulous as usual. 


Thursday night brought even more activities! Celebrating Jaime's birthday at the Heidelberg! Who knew they had such an adorable outdoor garden in the back?! And who knew a German restaurant would have such great sangria?! 

 It was super entertaining watching all of the guys get SO into their game of...THIS. It's super fun, you should give it a try. 

 The next day it was time to head home for 10 days of FAMILY :)

I Got My Headstand! Cooked a Lot! Saw GORILLAS.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm so set on writing these boring, tedious "catch-up" posts, but I am determined to see them through - so bear with me. I promise this place will be a little more exciting, with better content and more creative topics sometime in the near(ish) future. 

 The week on July 20th was fairly slow - which meant time to whip up some food in the kitchen!

 With the cucumbers Peter dad game me from their garden, I made a delicious cucumber salad with Greek yogurt, dill, onions and some apple cider vinegar. 


I'm still mastering the skill of cooking for one (and occasionally 2 when Peter eats at my apartment) so I ended up eating this as a side allllll week long. 

 I also put together one of the pre-made salads from Trader Joe's - kale and quinoa with craisins and carrots and other goodies.  To make it more summery, I added my own touch - avocado and grapefruit! 

Probably my favorite creation of the week was a bean salad. I mixed edamame, black beans, sliced plum tomatoes and onions and MANGO with an aioli garlic mustard dressing using this deliciousness from Trader Joe's + lemon juice + olive oil. The dressing credit 100% goes to Kayla, who made it for our salad while we were in Cape Cod. I would serve this over greens and top with avocado for a protein-packed lunch. 


I didn't stop there! I also made a monstrous tub of chia seed pudding (chia seeds + unsweetened vanilla almond milk + honey + cinnamon + walnuts) for breakfast all week and last but not least, CHIA SEED RHUBARB JAM using the rhubarb from the Fetzer garden. 


Making the jam was surprisingly easy - I cut the rhubarb into small pieces, added honey, simmered until it got liquidy, added the chia seeds, stirred a bunch, and VOILA! 

 Thursday night was Kayla's birthday and we all went to The Jeffrey to hang out with her and her parents. 

 A) The Jeffrey has a really nice outdoor area, an awesome beer selection, and a fun menu. 

 B) Both time's I've been, it was pretty packed, so it's not the place to go if you're looking for something low-key. 

 C) I had the Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin which was great - a grapefruit flavored beer that isn't 2% alcohol! Hooray! In fact, it's 7% ABV. 

 D) Kayla's parents are awesome and it was nice getting to talk to them. 


Friday when I got out of work early I headed to Kayla's for some Dance Mom's watching and some delicious dinner cooking. 

 We decided to give "Cauliflower Steaks" a shot - and it actually ended up turning out fabulously! 

 We seasoned the cauliflower with an olive oil, cumin, tumeric and ginger sauce and garnished with cilantro. They were delicious! The consistency wasn't exactly steak - but it was substantial. 


Served with our cauliflower steak were zucchini noodles with pesto and quinoa. 

 With our extra cauliflower, we roasted the florets with some oregano and nutritional yeast. It was SO delicious! I was shocked at how cheesy it tasted (thanks, nutritional yeast). 

 As we cooked and watched Dance Moms we had another important project - juicing a watermelon to make cocktails for that night's festivities. 

 We took a cut up watermelon and put the chunks into the blender. Once everything was blended and we had lots of juice, we strained it through a very fine strainer...about 5 times! By the end, we had beautiful, clear, smooth, 100% pure watermelon juice. 

 We headed over to Jess's apartment with our cocktail supplies where we played games and chatted with Peter and Melissa.

The cocktail was superb, if we do say so ourselves. We mixed Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka with our fresh watermelon juice, limes, and strawberry watermelon seltzer! 

Around 10:00 we headed out for the night's main event - the anniversary performance of Nacho Bitches at the New York Comedy Club. 

 This was my first NYC comedy show and I certainly hope it won't be my last. It was a fun night, with lots of laughs, especially since the four of us sat in the front row and got made fun of quite a lot throughout the different comedians sets. I loved how small and intimate the venue was! 


One of the comedians, Corinne Fisher, is from the podcast "Guys We Fucked" which you should check out if you want a good laugh and a healthy dose of female empowerment. 

 Anyway, at the end of the show, Kayla got to take a birthday shot with the hosts, Corrine and Blaire. 

 My one complaint? The show promised free nachos, but the nachos provided were L-A-M-E. Tostitos with a side of some sad looking melted cheese. Oh well!

 The night ended way later than anticipated, after a stop at Kayla's rooftop, and Peter and I were slow to rise on Saturday morning. 

 But when we eventually woke up, we headed to the gym because Peter had promised to give me my first swimming lesson. I was an eager student - with new swimsuit, goggles, ear plugs and bathing cap in hand. 

 I jumped into the pool, showed him how I usually swim, and said, "Fix it." 

 Trust me, he was probably thinking "Shit." 

 My version of swimming isn't much better than a doggy-paddle. As soon as my face goes in the water, let alone my whole head, my chest tightens and I feel extremely anxious. 

 But Peter was patient with me, hold me under my stomach while I tried to get the breathing motions down right, explaining proper stroke form with words that I could understand (ohhh, it ends in a tricep extension? K, got it). 

 I can't say I had an equal amount of patience. 

 Eventually, all of the different things to think about felt way too overwhelming and I told him I needed to stop before I just started getting extremely unpleasant. I knew the next step would be snapping at him, and I didn't want to do that. 

 I felt bad that not only had I not gotten any type of real exercise out of the lesson, but Peter spent most of the time helping me instead of swimming his own laps. So after we changed out of our swim suits we played around in one of the studios. He killed me with a deadlift/push-up pyramid workout and we played around a little with squats and clean and presses. 

 You have no idea how happy I am to have found someone to spend my Saturday morning "playing" at the gym with. Seriously. 

 We finished up with some Peter-led yoga and I finally got up into my headstand all by myself!! 


Though I was desperately ready for a nap, I went back to my apartment and got ready for a long day/night of drinking/celebrating. 

 First was Kayla's birthday party at Lucy's Cantina. 


Fun was had by all, especially when we realized that HUMONGOUS beer-garitas were no more expensive than a margarita on the rocks. 


On our way out from Kayla's party we stopped at Penn Plates, an outdoor food vendor area near Penn Station. I was DYING to try the California Earth Mama Salad - with arugula, grilled corn, sunflower seeds, watermelon radish and a ginger and sesame dressing. The pictures I had seen of it on Instagram were SO PRETTY (yes, that's why I wanted to try it). This salad was at the Jicama stand, which I've tried before. While I really wanted the salad with shrimp, $14 for a salad after spending the whole day out was a little steep - so I ordered mine with avocado. 

 Turns out, they were out of avocado so he asked if I wanted chicken instead. Free chicken? Sure. 
(This is just the sample - I somehow didn't take a picture of mine. Perhaps it was the giant margaritas...)

 Bad decision on my part. Whatever the chicken was seasoned in was SO salty. Not just like "Wow, someone was a little heavy handed on the salt." Burning my throat, completely overpowering everything else, level salty. I was so sad! From what I managed to eat that hadn't been poisoned by the sodium-soaked chicken was good, but overall the salad was pretty much ruined. 

 Sadness. 

 Later that night we went to a going away party for our friend Pete from November Project - deserting us for the West Coast. 

 And last, we ended up back at Jaime's apartment to say goodnight to the birthday gal. 

 Though the weekend had already been rather eventful, Sunday had more fun in store. 

 Peter and I went to the BRONX ZOO and it was so much fun. We walked a TON but it was a gorgeous day and there were so many great moments. 

 Like the gorillas, DUH. There were little BABIES and one sitting so so close to us and I was melting and loving every second and Peter had to literally be like, "OK Lauren, it's time to go." Noooo, just let me sit here with the gorillas forever!! 

The sea lions were going CRAY when we got to them. We realized it was because their feeding time was coming up, and they definitely knew it. That's crazy to me, they're so smart! 

 These guys were legit YELLING. They sounded like those hysterical videos of goats screaming. And then there was one little baby that didn't know how to do it yet and every time he tried it sounded like he was about to throw up. Peter was imitating it and I was losing it. I don't know how everyone at the sea lion exhibit wasn't pissing themselves. 

 Mr. Turtle was FLIPPED OVER on his back when we got to him. Talk about struggle city. A lemur looked on as the turtle flailed his legs and tail back and forth violently - that little lemur knew exactly what was happening but didn't do anything to help. Eventually, a zoo keeper came into the enclosure and flipped him over. 


The leopards were out and playful and it's so awesome how they act just like giant version of a regular house cat! Watching them play was just like watching Doodle and his friend play at the Meow Parlour! 

 That night I readied for the week ahead, which would bring lots of activities in my last week in NYC before my family vacation. But I'm getting ahead of myself...




BAEgels on the Beach

Back in New York after our girls weekend in Cape Cod, I went to cheer for Peter at a Tuesday night 5K in Hoboken. It was right on the water, a good group of November Project friends were running - and DAMN everyone killed it! Jeanie and Pete Kruse both won awards!

(Jeanie is STRONG)

Peter was finally feeling like his speed was coming back after being so sick in May. 6:38 pace? Yup, I'd say that's fast.
(Are you a running model or something?)

 And Emily was having a ball running one of her favorite races on her home turf!

After the race there was beer and wine and a band which we enjoyed for awhile before heading out for some Taco Tuesday food and beverage up the street. 

 On Thursday, Peter took me out for a delicious dinner at Soccarat Paella Bar in Chelsea. Named after the crispy, crunchyness that forms in the cooking of paella, Soccarat definitely lived up to its name. The crunchy/burnt race was definitely our favorite part. 

 We opted for the Arroz Negro - the rice is black from the squid ink! I was hesitant at first, but Peter wanted to be adventurous and I was sold on the shrimp, calamari, scallops, and fish that it included.

 This paella was massive - yet we were not deterred. Essentially, we finished the entire thing.  Paella here is charged per person ($25-$33) with a 2 person minimum. 

Pre-paella we ordered two appetizers. 

 Peter's choice were the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with cheese, almonds and a roasted apple puree. Not that they weren't my choice too - I had just been trying (and failing) at cleaning up my diet. Obviously, I ate my share of bacon wrapped dates. 

 My one request was "NO patatas bravas." I find them horribly cliche and boring. 

 So I chose the Milhohas de cordero - lamb terrine, spinach, potato and red peppers. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect. I just knew I liked lamb. And spinach, potatoes and red peppers. 

 Well, turns out I ended up loving it (and Peter was a fan too). Except we couldn't figure out exactly what we were eating. I later asked my dad to explain what a terrine was and he said sometimes it's held together using gelatin. UGH. I was hoping that wasn't how ours was made. I told him it seemed like there was an egg-y consistency, and he said that could be it too - so that's what we're going to go with. 

 Obviously there was a pitcher of sangria included in the meal. 

 Followed by a walk along the High Line! I always love taking pictures there, especially right before sunset when the lighting is juuuuust perfect. 



On Friday I enjoyed a "Summer Friday" which meant I got out of work at 2 p.m. instead of 5.

After getting some stuff done at the apartment, I met up with Peter and his coworkers near Penn Station and a nice new outdoor area for some oil cans (aka Foster's!) 

('Ows about we plow the froth off a coupla cold ones?)

Later that us and the girls met up with Jess because her mom and grandmother were visiting from Ohio! We went to Rosa Mexicano and enjoyed a few more drinks. It was so nice getting to meet them. 

After some sleep we woke up and made our way to the Brooklyn Brewery for a day of beer tasting. The line was pretty long and it was HOT out. Eventually, we got in and had a half hour to kill until our tour. We bought some beer tickets and got to sampling. 5 beers is $25, which wasn't bad considering the quality of the beer! We tried three before we went on the tour. 

Our tour guide killed it. He was great, we learned the basics of a brewery tour, and also some fun stories that pertain specifically to Brooklyn Brewery. 

Afterwards, we finished two more beer samples. 



The bar area is pretty cool because you can bring your own food in and people had huge spreads with games. It would be a fun place for a birthday party! 

On our way out we perused Smorgasburg and got some odds and ends as the packed up. We sat down by the water for awhile and it was really nice enjoying a view of the skyline, looking at the city that I have spent barely any time in during the last couple of crazy weeks. 



 We headed back to Manhattan, met up with Melissa, and entered the yet to be moved into apartment of Alex for some NYC Tri poster making/beer drinking/pizza eating. I was a happy camper. 


Naturally, when the pizza was eaten, the poster board was all used, the beer was all drank - we headed to a nearby bar. 

Sound like enough fun and activity for a weekend? 

Nope. Still had Sunday, and we got up quite early to make our way to Peter's family's house on Long Island. 

After a stop for bagels (we were on Long Island, so DUH) we hit the beach! 

(ILY)

It was PACKED and super hot, so we didn't last for very long, but I'm never one to turn down water sand and sun. Or bagels. 

That night Peter's dad grilled tons of meat, prepared one of his A+ salads with fresh ingredients from the garden, and his mom baked a killer strawberry rhubarb pie. The caipirinhas (cat purinas as I like to pronounce them) were delicious and the conversation was easy and entertaining as usual. I really do enjoy spending time with Peter and his family - they're cool peeps. 



I left that night with some cucumbers from the garden and my own rhubarb to experiment in the kitchen with! 

I also left with some pictures of this pretty guy. 


And with THAT another summer week came to a close. 




Books! Read Them!

I'm taking a quick break from catching up on life (yes, I realize it's almost the end of August and I'm still recounting the first half of July...) to fill you in on some books I've read recently that you should definitely check out!

(I used to sit and read on my fire escape!)

 1) To Be a Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking On a 5-K Makes You a Better Person (and the World a Better Place) by Martin Dugard 
This book is a bunch of essays that relate the way you live life to running. And it's great. 

“To be a runner is to learn continual life lessons. To be a coach is not just to teach these lessons but also to feel them in the core of your marrow. The very act of surpassing personal limits in training and racing will bend the mind and body toward a higher purpose for the rest of my runners' lives. Settling for mediocrity-settling instead of pushing-those who learn to be the best version of themselves know the secret to a full life.”


2)The Long Run: One Man's Attempt to Regain His Athletic Career-And His Life-by Running the New York City Marathon by Matt Long
This book is super inspirational and I especially enjoyed it because the author is from the Upper East Side and I can relate to a ton of the things he talks about in the book! Loops of Central Park, training on Randall's Island - not to mention he's the owner of 3 popular NYC bars. This book also has this little voice in the back of my head whispering "Iron Man" a lot these days. 
“What did I discover during my solo—besides learning to unwrap my energy bar ahead of time? That you ask yourself a lot of questions when you're alone on a bike for that long. One question more than others: Why the heck am I doing this? When I was done, I think I had found the answer: For the satisfaction that comes with pushing your body to the breaking point and conquering the unknown.” 

3) Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
I'm sure most people have already heard about this book, but it's about the Tarahumara Indians who can run FAR and FAST. I love the way it's written like a cross between an investigative journalism piece and also a story. “There's something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.” 

4) Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself by Rich Roll 
“The prize never goes to the fastest guy,” Chris replied. “It goes to the guy who slows down the least.” True in endurance sports. And possibly even truer in life.” 


5) Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner’s Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America
I'm not quite done with this yet, but it's incredible and I still can't wrap my head around the mileage Marshall Ulrich covered. Or the fact that he's not the only one to have done it. Love the historical pieces of this book as well. 
“Keep going, one foot in front of the other, millions of times. Face forward and take the next step. Don’t flinch when the road or gets rough, you fall down, you miss a turn, or the bridge you planned to cross has collapsed. Do what you say you’ll do, and don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Deal with the obstacles as they come. Move on. Keep going, no matter what, one foot in front of the other, millions of times.” 

Is it a prerequisite to be a book about running/fitness you must use a colon in your title? 

I will say, after reading all 5 of these books it's shocking how similar the stories are. But yet they never get boring to me, because they're so relate-able. Sure they can get a little dramatic, a little cheesy.  But that's what running can do to you! It's certainly turned me into a weepy mess!

Since I'm not running at the moment (again, more on that some day...) this is apparently my coping mechanism - read as much about running as I possibly can. 





Family & Friends & The Cape

This summer has been great because even though I feel like I'm ALWAYS missing my family, I did get to see them a good amount. 

 The week after Fourth of July, my parents and sister came into the city on Thursday night to go see Something Rotten - I had missed Mother's Day, Father's Day, my mom's birthday and my sister's birthday so this was our time to celebrate! 

 When I got out of work I met them for appetizers and drinks at China Grill, a family favorite. They have a great happy hour special from 4-7 where drinks and small plates are $7 (yes, including the China Blossom, my all time favorite cocktail!) 

After that we walked to the theater and saw Something Rotten which was pretty laugh out loud funny, despite our nose bleed seats (sorry guys!) I'm just a huge Brian D'Arcy James fan, I think he's great. 

After the show we went to The Marshal which, I don't think anyone loved, and I probably should have just gone to by myself since I wanted to order lots of veggies and my family wasn't feelin' it. We also had to spring through a monsoon to get there which kind of dampened the mood (get it?) 

 The best part of the meal was the burrata - served with pesto, sea salt, and summer squash. I also ordered a peach roasted with brown sugar, walnuts and blue cheese. 


Sadly, I had to be up early the next morning to leave for a girls weekend in Cape Cod, so I couldn't spend the night in the hotel with my family :( Saying goodbye always sucks, but it was a fun night as usual! 

 Early Friday morning we were meeting to get an uber and head to pick up our rental car at LaGuardia. After an entertaining ride where we couldn't find the car rental place and Rebecca grabbed our driver's arm, we picked up our car and hit the road! 

 The traffic gods were on our side and it was smooooth sailing to Cape Cod and to Kayla's family's house. 

(Pretty smooth...)

We were totally spoiled by a fully stocked kitchen when we arrived and pretty quickly we were seated comfortably on the beach with a delicious spread in front of us - an AMAZING mandarin orange couscous salad, an assortment of chips, and an arugula/watermelon salad. 


The water was beautifulllllllll and not too wavy which is just my speed. 

 On our way home from the beach we stopped at Great Pond for a rinse in the fresh water. It was beautiful! Totally my favorite kind of place. Secluded and peaceful, right in the middle of nature. I was happy as a clam. 

 That night, we all had WAY too much fun cooking in a giant kitchen as we drank and cooked and listened to Kayla talk backwards and talked and laughed and it was great. 


We made veggie burgers, corn on the cob, an amazing salad, and Melissa made funfetti and chocolate peanut butter donuts! And Kayla made Nutella and walnut rugelach! 


Since Friday was pretty much perfect, we did it all over again on Saturday! Up for a delicious breakfast and out to the beach where we again feasted on couscous salad and our own tuna/avocado salad creation.

We went for an even long swim at the pond this time! 

Dinner on Saturday was grilled sweet potatoes chicken sausages for the omnivores and eggs for the veggie-heads, blackbeans and other deliciousness. 


Things got silly that night and I was again reminded how damn happy I am that the 6 of us met. 

 Sunday Rebecca slaved away on breakfast which was A+++.  Some sweet potato/rosemary potato hash, avocado, toast, eggs and CHAMPAGNE. 

 While Rebecca slaved over the stove, I slaved over the refrigerator writing this masterpiece. 


We headed to the beach one last time, soaked up a little more sun, went home to pack up, and stopped for a yummy seafood lunch before we bid Cape Code farewell. 


Our journey home was longer, but not unbearable - especially with the nice long break in New Haven for Pepe's pizza! It felt nice just knowing I was in New Haven. I still miss Quinnipiac a ton! 


 It was a late return and a rough Monday morning, but it was seriously one of the most relaxing, fun weekend's I've had all summer! 

 Kayla, please stay my friend because I'm already counting down the days until our next trip to the Cape! 
THANKS KAYLA!!







Through the 4th

I was home in the city just long enough to unpack my bags before heading to Connecticut on Saturday morning to celebrate my favorite ginger's 25th birthday! 

 Allison pushed off her birthday celebration from the beginning of May all the way until the last weekend in June since it was the first time I was home for a weekend...because she's the best. 

 It was an awesome day where we rented a van that drove us to two different CT wineries before dropping us back off at Allison's apartment. 


I made my way back to Long Island that night hoping to make my cousin's high school graduation party, but that didn't end up happening.

 I DID get to see Morgan, home for a rare break from med school before her new year in Denver. She BETTER get her butt to a November Project workout soon! Morgan and I always pick up right where we left off, which is the best feeling. 

Monday and Tuesday I took personal days otherwise they would have expired. Tuesday I leisurely headed back into the city for a date with Peter at MEOW PARLOUR! It was really clean inside, the kitties were super cute, the cookies that you can buy from the cafe around the corner were delicious, and we stayed for an hour since Doodle was thoroughly entertaining us. If you're looking to adopt a cat - go here! Or, if you just want to play with kitties. 

After Meow Parlour we watched some women's world cup soccer from The Loreley. 

 I only had 1.5 days of work that week because we got out of work early on Thursday and had off on Friday for Fourth of July weekend. 

 As soon as work was over on Thursday I booked it to Penn Station and boarded the train for Montauk. Dear lord, it was craziness. I've never seen so many people on the LIRR in my entire life. 

 The ride was loooong. My parents picked me up and drove Jess and Kevin to their house, where I would be staying Friday and Saturday nights! But Thursday night was bonding time with modge and podge, who were also staying in Montauk for the weekend. 

 We went to eat at a new restaurant called The Muse. The decor was awesome - open, airy, beachy, with really awesome floors that looked like old worn wood panels but totally weren't. The bar lit up cool colors, too.  

 First, we split the Tuna "Menage a Trois" 

1) Ahi Tuna Tartar atop Vegetable Tabouli - For the Tabouli, they used Israeli Couscous which added a unique texture
2) Blackened Tuna Lollipop topped with Candied Wasabi Crust on Whipped Avocado - I'm not a huge fan of wasabi flavored things, so this wasn't my favorite
3) Hot Stone Seared Tuna Carpaccio with Seaweed Salad - This was probably my favorite, because I love seaweed salad, and because it came with a spicy mayo sauce. 

 Next, we split the Mussels a la Muse. 

Oh. My. God.
These was by far the most amazing mussel dish I've ever had. When it comes to mussels, it's not really the mussel that's the impressive part, but what surrounds the little guys.  This dish came with a Prosecco Butter Sauce (uh, yes), Grilled Artichoke Hearts, Cured Tomatoes, Giganta Beans and grilled Italian bread. 

 The combination of artichoke hearts and beans (with some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top for good measure) was so hearty and filling and the Prosecco Butter Sauce was addictive. 

 I've been to Flex Mussels in the city, which specializes in bowls of different themed mussels, but The Muse had them beat! 

 For dinner I ordered the "Bacon N Eggs Breakfast Salad" which, I'll just cut to the chase, was a disappointment. 

I should have listened to the waitress when she said she preferred the Summer Apple Salad. Or, realistically, just stopped trying to be good by ordering a salad and ordered something from the real menu. Oh well! Luckily, I was stuffed from the appetizers already and my parents obviously let me eat as much as I wanted from their plates! 

 The salad came with grilled pork belly and a poached egg over frissee tossed in a maple cider vinaigrette with French toast croutons. 

 The pork belly was fatty and I really didn't like it. Other than that, the rest of the salad was great! Yolk from the egg mixed with the maple cider vinaigrette was delicious and the French taste croutons were like little bites of dessert mixed into my salad. 

I honestly can't remember which of the fish entrees my mom ordered, and looking at the menu I can't even match it up to this picture. It's driving me slightly crazy. 

I want to say it was the Cajun Spiced Atlantic Cod served on Charred L.I. Corn & Saffron Hummus with House Grown Micro Greens, Honey, Black Vinegar Gastrique, Avocado Aioli, Chili Oil, and Fried Hominy.

 My dad ordered what I peer-pressured him into ordering - "Muse's World Famous Sausage." 

The pinwheel pork sausage had roast tomato, artichoke & feta-cheese inside of it and was served with sweet potato green apple chutney and a honey mustard barbecue sauce. 

 We didn't do dessert, but I did walk next door for some froyo afterwards and my dad, who isn't usually a sweets person, was totally blown away by it. Maybe now he'll be a little more understanding when my froyo comes to $9. 

 My drink was tasty too - I think some kind of watermelon drink but I can't remember exactly. 


Overall, I don't think any of us were absolutely BLOWN AWAY by our entrees, but we WERE obsessed with those mussels, and the general feel of the restaurant was really nice. 

 After dinner we headed to the Sloppy Tuna for a drink at the bar and to meet up with my parents friends before heading to bed. 
(My best friend, for real.)
In the morning, we woke up and DAMN was the view nice. We were right. on. the. ocean. Beautiful. 

 I struggled to run two miles (we'll get to all of that at some other time...) and went for a yoga class! 
(My mom was standing IN the hotel room when she took this picture!)

When I got back, my parents and I headed to the hotel's restaurant for a free breakfast and I got some egg whites with home fries, toast and fruit. 

 Then, BEACH!

 It was perfect out, and I felt no need to jump in the water. 

 Peter and my friends were all on their way out to Montauk from the city and I was waiting to head over to Jess and Kevin's until they arrived. Unfortunately, the LIRR was even more of a mess on Friday than it had been on Thursday night, and they had had to get on a bus since there were thousands of people and hundreds that couldn't fit on the train. 

 Eventually, I knew they were close so I said goodbye to my parents and they dropped me off at the house. Once everyone arrived we ate some lunch and went to the beach for some late afternoon sun and relaxation. That night, we pigged out on pizza, drank a LOT of alcohol, played some games, attempted to go to Sloppy Tuna, and generally just had a great time. 


Fun story - the line for Sloppy Tuna was SO LONG and when we got there with a group of 20 of us, we knew there was no way we were all getting in. But my parents had been waiting in there for me for about an hour and I felt awful! Well, as usual, my dad had made some friends, and I was able to go up to the bouncer and get in! I saw my parents for a little bit before heading out to meet back up with the group. 

True Life: My parents are so much cooler than me! 

 Surprisingly, everyone was up and out at a decent hour the next morning for a Fourth of July spent on the beach. I wasn't feeling so hot, but eventually, felt good enough to eat some ice cream at John's Drive In. I also went with Peter to John's Pancakes where he had a CANNOLI PANCAKE! It was literally rolled up and stuffed with cannoli cream and it was probably the best pancake I've ever had (aside from my mom's banana pancakes, DON'T WORRY MOM!) 

 Later that afternoon we went to a bar before heading back to the house for pulled pork sandwiches and more games and drinks. 


Not ready to give up the sun and sand, Sunday morning we again got up bright and early and headed to the beach for a few hours before we had to head home on the good old LIRR. It was a long day of travel, but totally work it for the tan I got that weekend! 

 Finally bronzed! 


VIVA LAS VEGAS

After being gone for 3 weeks, I was beyond excited that for my next work trip, Peter would be coming along for the journey! 

 The trip got off to a wonderful start when I realized we would be leaving from the Delta terminal in JFK that has a World Bean kiosk which serves AVOCADO TOAST AND PEANUT BUTTER BANANA TOAST. 

 Obviously, I insisted that we order and split both. 
(Best airport breakfast you could ask for!)

We managed to maneuver our seats so that we were sitting next to each other for the flight. I napped and then woke up and started watching Singing in the Rain - except that we landed with like 10 minutes to go in the movie so I'll NEVER KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. 

 Immediately upon landing we hit up the liquor store in the baggage claim area for some Coronas and vodka. When we went up to the cashier to pay, we were poured a shot. Welcome to Vegas!

 Another sign we were in Vegas: The incredibly long check-in line that greeted us when we arrived at the MGM Grand. Luckily, it moved fairly quickly. We dropped our stuff off at the room and set out for some lunch.

 I started my trip on the healthy side - knowing that would probably only  last until about dinner time. But weird fact: I've found the salads in Vegas to be surprisingly wonderful. In fact, a salad from the Wynn last year made my list of Life Changing Salads! 

 We got lunch at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill - I ordered the Chopped Vegetable salad. 
Next? POOL obviously. We lasted about 5 minutes laying out before we needed to jump in and cool off.  That Vegas heat is brutal man. 

 Eventually, we set out to explore the Strip. 

Naturally, our first stop was for a margarita and mango-habanero guacamole at Hussong's in Mandalay Bay - where legend has it, the first margarita was created by bartender Don Carlos Orozco. Yeah yeah. K. It was a good marg, but I'm a little sad we didn't have the guts to try the...ready...PB&J margarita! (Sauza Reposado tequila, crème de cassis, muddled blackberries, and a peanut butter rim.)

 We also made a stop at the pyramid-looking casino (The Luxor) because my boyfriend is an engineer ;)  And stopped for a song at the Bellagio Fountains because, Vegas. 


After some wandering, we heard live guitar music and followed it to the rooftop bar at Cabo Wabo Cantina.  There was live music from a guy doing some great covers, and $20 buckets of beer. We were very content at the end of the night. 

The next morning we got up at a decent hour and decided to do a deck of cards workout in the hotel room instead of paying the resort fee to use the gym. It ended up being pretty legit, and lasting longer than we thought it would. But we certainly worked up our appetite for a late breakfast. 

We stayed in our hotel and sat down at Avenue Cafe - which would end up being Peter's go-to spot in the mornings while I was working. 

Both of us were kind of sort of drooling over the menu - Red Velvet Pancakes? Blueberry Almond Crunch Pancakes? Pulled Pork Egg Sandwich? I HATE THE CHOICE BETWEEN SWEET AND SAVORY! 

So I went rogue and ordered the Kale Salad. I knew there would be plenty of time for indulging later in the trip. Plus, this Kale Salad sounded pretty great - apples, cranberries, green beans, toasted walnuts and a mustard vinaigrette. I made the mistake of forgetting to ask for the dressing on the side, so the salad was a little soupy, but the flavor was great and I was yet again pleasantly surprised with Vegas' salad game. 


Peter had one of the egg skillets and it was KILLER. 

We spent the day lounging by the pool and by lounging by the pool I mean profusely sweating and mainly sitting IN the pool looking at all the crazy people on E. 


That night, we again set out wandering, drinking along the Strip and exploring the different hotels. Eventually, we stopped by happy hour at Coyote Ugly in New York New York and while I have never been to the one in NYC, we ended up having a great time despite the somewhat-trashy feel of the place. Bras hanging from the ceiling, girls dancing on the bar - I probably should have felt slightly uncomfortable as girls lined up to have shots poured in their mouths but instead, I just enjoyed the entertainment. And especially enjoyed Peter convincing one of the dancers to Rick-Roll the bar. Worse than Rick-Rolling them? Playing Photograph from the juke box. Sorry, not sorry. Except kind of sorry, because we had to sit through it too. 

Dinner was also in New York New York at Gonzalez y Gonzalez. Repetitive name theme I suppose. And whoah- do you think Peter and I like margaritas and Mexican at all?

The guac here had CRAB in it - big pieces too. It was legit. 

Next stop was to listen to some piano at the dueling piano bar in New York New York before calling it a night. I had work in the morning, after all!

Monday morning we woke up nice and early for my first official day of training for the Suffolk County Marathon! 4 miles in the stifling heat. It was pretty miserable, but we got it done and then I went to work. 

The rest of the days we were in Vegas were pretty similar - wake up, exercise, go to work while Peter explored or chilled at the pool, and then we met up at the end of the day for drinks and some unbelievably awesome dinners. 

Highlights for Peter included the NHL Social Media scavenger hunt where he came in 3rd place and won tickets to see La Reve! 

He also got a selfie with Alexander Ovechkin at the pool one day. They really look like they're BFF. 


The highlight of the trip for me was working with Jonathan Pitre and his mom to make sure he had a wonderful experience at the Awards show. Please, watch this video and consider donating! Jonathan and his mom were so incredibly sweet and I was so happy that I got to know them and learn about their story. My aunts nephew through marriage also has this disease, When I'm back and running, I would love to find a race that supports this cause or fundraise for DEBRA through a larger race. The biggest take-away from meeting Jonathan was that he is just Jonathan - a 14 year old who loves hockey, is super polite, laughs easily, and has a great attitude. 



You're probably all wondering where we ate while in Vegas. 

Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak was the first big dinner. As usual, we split a majority of the appetizers on the menu, each got an entree, and sampled more desserts than is ever necessary. 

I like to call this, "The dinner where Peter realized why his girlfriend was researching juice cleanses and swearing she had gained 15 pounds in the past month." 

Our waiter had SUCH a funny accent. 

I'm ashamed to say I have no recollection of what I ordered as an entree, and I also have zero pictures of the meal. 

I do remember that no one wanted the side of heirloom cauliflower. What gives? But we DID have copious amounts of sides -  including mushrooms, grits, risotto, and who knows what else. 

Looking at the cocktail menu, I can only assume that the two drinks I ordered were:
Pomma Rita: tequila, lime juice, pomegranate juice and Cointreau
Craft Champagne Cocktail: St. Germain, Sparkling Wine

Another night, we went for tapas at a restaurant in the Cosmopolitan called Jaleo. 

Again, not the best recollection of exactly what we ordered. What I DO remember is they tried charging us like $200 for a paella that would have been THIS BIG: 

(Swimming pool of paella) 

Also, they served the chicken croquettes IN A SHOE with zero explanation: 



We just went with it. 

The sangria was yummy and we ordered multiple pitchers. 

These tuna cones were delicious. 

(And my photography was awful...)


Cheese platters are cool. 

(Marcona almonds are the shit) 

After the Awards show, we went to Tao, which we have here in NYC too. It's one of my parent's favorites, so I've been spoiled and taken there a handful of times. It's always delicious. 

Of course we ordered some sushi for the table, some edamame, Drunken Lobster Pad Thai, and I FINALLY got my cauliflower.

On our last morning we got breakfast and our favorite breakfast place (Peter ate there every morning I'm pretty sure - and once he delivered me a Red Velvet pancake that was legit a mini CAKE and so moist and amazing.) 

I can't remember what I ended up ordering but I DO remember that we got delicious Bloody Mary's. 

On our way out, I bet $5 on a Wizard of Oz slot machine and won $50! Score. 

Unfortunately, our plane was delaying 8 HOURS and we thought we would never make it home. The good thing? Airports have bars. And Chili's. Which have nachos. 



We made the best of the delay and I even won 2 complimentary cocktails for the flight by answering a trivia question correctly (What's the difference between a Broadway and off-Broadway show? Answer: The number of seats in the theater!) 

(Delayed = bored)

And there you have it! 

Vegas, see ya next June! 


Guac Off: Lemon vs. Lime

Have you ever found yourself in a debate with friends over the superior citrus with which to flavor your guacamole? 

 No? 

 Well, you and your friends are clearly not avocado aficionados. 

To settle the debate, we had a Mexican potluck the day after I returned from my crazy long work trip. Jaime (team lemon) and Rebecca (team lime) whipped up their ideal guacs while the rest of us assembled the accouterments. I was very happy with my decision to bring mango to add to the tacos. 



We had a blind vote, during which even Jaime voted for the lime guacamole expertly mashed and made by Rebecca. 

The lemon, though not the victor, had it's own unique, light taste that we all agreed would be delicious smeared on some fish. 

A week or so later, we were shocked to hear that there are people who claim you shouldn't add ANY citrus to your guacamole, because it masks the taste of the avocado! You can read more about this blasphemy here. 

So what are you? Team lime? Team lemon? Team citrus-free? 

To finish our festive dinner our very own donut master Melissa made MARGARITA DONUTS. There was legit TEQUILA and lime zest in the ICING! 


They were phenomenal and it was so wonderful to be reunited with the gang before heading out of the city for yet another week of work travel. 





Back to Tampa, Back to Chicago

DAY TWELVE - June 11
CHI --> Tampa 

 Over the course of our travels I earned a reputation for being highly irritable and cranky on travel days. True, we only got about 4 hours of sleep each night before flying - but I don't think it justified my permanent scowl. Everything pissed me off. The lines, the check-in process, the overweight baggage fees. And towards the end, I realized that the crankiness may have had something to do with the fact that travel days were the only days where I wasn't starting the morning with a workout - meaning I was starting my day without any endorphins. 

 Morning exercise people, it's magic, I swear! 

 When we got back "home" to our hotel in Tampa, we all set out for some lunch at "our" diner down the street. The diner owner was from Long Island, go figure! There were more sweet potato fries with maple dipping sauce, don't you worry.

 That night, a group of us went out and split a bunch of appetizers at a place called Taps, where the guys could watch the NBA Final. 

 The beer selection was enormous (with a name like Taps, that might seem pretty obvious), and I was so excited to try Wells Banana Bread Beer! It was quite delicious. 


I didn't do a very good job documenting the appetizers that we all split, so I'll just write about what I can remember. 

 There was some bruschetta. 

 There was some specialty popcorn with asiago cheese and truffle oil that I took one whiff of and immediately wanted no part of.

 Lettuce wraps. 

 Fish tacos. 

 Bean dip trio. 

 Tuna Crudo (I think raw tuna in some form may have been a part of every single dinner this entire trip - we kind of like it). 

 What I do remember clearly was the waiter coming over and making a comment about how quickly we had "destroyed" the food. 

 Rude sir. We haven't eaten in days!! Er...

 I also clearly remember the dessert, in typical Lauren fashion. 

 Belgian Waffles with vanilla ice cream, Nutella and whipped cream. I don't think it's possible to mess that up. 

But what I have slowly been coming to appreciate is bread pudding, and Taps' was pretty damn good! Maybe that's because it was apricot flavored and came with caramel drizzle and vanilla ice cream and sliced almonds. 

Taps also made an attempt at one of my other favorite dessert delicacies - donuts. 

Tried, and fell very, very flat. Their vanilla and red velvet donuts had absolutely no flavor, and their chocolate ones just tasted bland. They were dry and disappointing. That's what she said? 

DAY THIRTEEN - June 12 

This was our one true "day off" and I was sure to take advantage of it! 

Despite not really feeling so hot about running, there was a little coffee shop/breakfast place that I was dying to try - and running is my preferred method of transportation. 

So I was up and out and running to Buddy Brew! I may have passed it and had to backtrack and run way more than planned, but I'm glad I didn't give up because this place was absolutely adorable. 

I would love to open a cute, artsy little shop like this some day. 

(Any place that specializes in breakfast foods is automatically on my good side. And a teal color scheme? YAS)

Living  in NYC, I would never had thought that my favorite avocado toast would be found in Tampa. But dear lord, this was amazing. 

WHY MUST IT BE IN FLORIDA?!

At Buddy Brew, their avocado toast comes with chili and lime, and there was definitely sea salt on it as well. 


I customized mine to include an olive oil poached egg because EVERYTHING is better with an egg on top. Duh. I wanted everything on the menu, but I was more than happy with my choice.

I also got a delicious cold brew coffee before running back to my hotel with a full and slightly queasy stomach. Worth it. 

As soon as I got back, I changed in about 2 seconds flat and met a few coworkers in the lobby to head out for some stand up paddle boarding. 

When we got to the dock, a man informed us that there was no stand-up paddle boarding despite the sign. "Maybe today's their grand opening, but I haven't seen no stand up paddle boarding here." Thanks for your sarcasm, dude. 

So SUP didn't happen. But kayaking did! The guy who got us all ready to go out told us if we paddled in one direction we would come to a lighthouse (he also told us not to worry about the "1 hour" limit). When we got to the lighthouse, we were super disappointed. 


(In reality, this lighthouse was probably 10 feet tall)

I love kayaking, because it's active but it's also relaxing. 


When we got back to the dock, we got some cocktails before walking back and seeing SO MANY PRECIOUS DOLPHINS! Then we chilled at the pool for a little bit. Then, it was off for a manicure (that set me back $25 unknowingly - but lasted a good long while!) 

That night, we got dinner in the hotel restaurant that I wasn't a huge fan of, but c'est la vie. 

DAY FOURTEEN - June 13 

Game day! 

DAY FIFTEEN - June 14 
Tampa --> CHI 

Probably my least amount of sleep the night before a travel day. 

When we got to the hotel we couldn't check into our rooms yet, so we went out in search of brunch. I was dying to go to Little Goat (which everyone the entire trip referred to as "Goat Burger") but when we got there, the wait was super long (I have great taste, what can I say?)

But it was OK because we ended up eating at The Allis inside the lobby of the Soho House Hotel that was totalllllly my kinda place. Super trendy looking and the menu? One of each PUHLEASE?

Sadly, decisions had to be made. 

The first decision was easy. 

Bloody Mary. Boom. Definitely a let down. But I moved on. 

Americano. Yum. 

Did I dare try a new avocado toast after just discovering close to perfection at Buddy Brew?

Indeed, I did. 

Allis' avo toast was good, but not Buddy Brew. You can just tell by looking at it. Cubed avocado instead of slices. A poached egg with the yolk just a little too well done. 

But they made up for it with their super grain bowl with quinoa and goji berries. Flax seeds, blueberries, shredded coconut. It was heavenly. 


The meal, paired with the setting made for a great brunch experience. 

A bunch of people ordered the "Mean Sandwich" which came with egg, bacon, taleggio cheese, cheddar cheese, aioli, avocado and jalapeno. They were even asking the waitress for the aioli recipe and considered ordering seconds. 

I'm glad we were at Allis on a week day, because their breakfast menu is more extensive than their weekend brunch menu. I could have easily ordered anything on this menu. If you're in Chicago you should definitely check it out (Banana, almond butter and flax seeds on multigrain anyone?) 

After brunch, I STILL couldn't get into a room, so I left my bags with the front desk and wandered over to Marshall's, which was dangerously close to the hotel. Woops, ended up buying a few things that weren't necessary, but they were CUTE. 

Then, why not stop for a donut after a giant brunch? Tina had told me about a place called Stan's that had - wait for it - a Biscoff Banana stuffed donut. 


It was sickeningly sweet, with lots layers and textures inside, and distinct Biscoff and banana tastes. It was very fitting that Tina alerted me to this specific donut, because she's the one who introduced me to Biscoff in the first place by making me try THIS sorcery - fudge made with just Biscoff spread and vanilla icing. It was then I realized that Biscoff cookies are the ones they serve on Delta flights and everything clicked and I was like oh shit yeah wow I've loved this stuff forever. It's crack. And I don't mind being addicted. 

I ate it when I got back to the hotel and finally got a room. Immediately after eating it, I passed out in a sugar coma for a few hours, exhausted from yet another endorphin-less travel day. 

When I woke up, it was the moment I had been waiting for - to be reunited with my long lest BFF who used to live in the city and work with me. 

Tina and I headed to a cute bar with an outdoor area and met up with Staci. We proceeded to talk and laugh as if we had never been separated - the best kind of friendship there is. 


Saying goodbye so quickly sucked, but I'LL SEE YA IN NYC SOON, RIGHT STACI?! 

At this point in the night, coworkers will still putting together a plan for dinner, but I didn't have the patience so I stopped at Whole Foods, loaded up on the salad bar, and enjoyed it from the comfort of my hotel room. 

DAY SIXTEEN - June 15 

Woke up like, "WHOAH WE MIGHT BE GOING HOME TOMORROW!" 

As such, I thought it was appropriate to wrap up the trip eating like the fat kids that we love to be while on the road. A dozen donuts from Glazed and Infused was in order, yes? Oh yes. 

I walked over and picked out a few drool-worthy sounded ones. 

Unfortunately, none of these really blew me out of the water. In fact, I can't recall one thing about them, specifically. I know there was a peanut butter and jelly one, a Cajeta fried ice cream one, a bacon maple one, and a red velvet one. 

(Why can't I be as photogenic as donuts are?)

That night before the game started, we had to evacuate our trailer because of a tornado watch! Good think we had these ponchos to protect us!

Jokes. My poncho blew off of my completely and I looked like a drowned rat. With very wet feet. 

(Dress I got on my trip to Marshall's!)

By the end of the night, a dynasty created when the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup yet again! It was really awesome to be there for my first Stanley Cup presentation! 



And that brought my longest-work-trip-ever to a close!

Thanks for reading along!

Spoiler Alert: I left on another work trip 4 days later. Coming up next!