Sweet Blog O'Mine

Author: Laren

  • My Eater 38

    Was reading this thread about people's personal takes on the "Eater 38" – essential NYC restaurants. Here's mine, in no particular order. What did I miss?

    1. Pearl Oyster Bar
    2. Joe's Pizza
    3. Momofuku Ssam Bar
    4. Momofuku Noodle Bar
    5. Porchetta
    6. Caracas Arepa Bar
    7. Hearth
    8. Otto
    9. The NoMad/NoMad Bar
    10. Uncle Boon's
    11. Nom Wah Tea Parlor
    12. Red Farm
    13. Blue Hill at Stone Barns
    14. Prime Meats 
    15. Bobwhite Counter
    16. La Nacional
    17. Taim
    18. Banjara (nowHaveli/Banjara)
    19. Mother's Ruin
    20. Crif Dogs
    21. Blue Ribbon
    22. Kanoyama
    23. Village Yokocho
    24. Great Jones Cafe
    25. Blue Smoke
    26. Minetta Tavern
    27. Old Town Tavern
    28. Katz's Deli
    29. Di Fara
    30. Maison Premiere
    31. Eleven Madison Park
    32. Bar Veloce 
    33. Frankies (Bklyn)
    34. Russ & Daughters (the store)
    35. Fried Dumpling (Mosco St.)
    36. Jing Fong
    37. White Bear
    38. Mayahuel

  • Weekend Wrap-up

    Enough said.

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  • Signs of Spring!

    via Instagram http://ift.tt/1BYz5nj

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  • Sunday Selfies Gone Awry

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  • Sweet Dreams

    In the past few years, sleep has become more and more sacred to me. I regularly get about 7 hours; 8 on a good night, and even more on leisurely weekends. 6 or less and I get cranky, lack concentration, and have zero motivation to exercise. This effectively gives me a solid curfew on school nights these days of about 11, or maybe midnight if I'm close to home. Last night, I went to go see a band in Williamsburg with two of my law school friends with whom I used to go see bands all the time. When we first made the plans, we thought the band was starting at 8. Then we learned there was an opening band at 8 and our band was on at 9. This was perfect — it allowed for a quick stop at home to walk Mox, and ample time to get to Brooklyn and catch up over dinner before the band started. Late in the day we learned our band was slated to start at 10.

    Now, I'm the only one in the group that isn't married with kids, but one friend is (and never was) a night owl, and one of my friends had to deal with the additional schlep of a train back to Long Island at the end of the evening, so we weren't thrilled with the 10pm start. Of course, because we're dealing with a cool, hip band in Williamsburg, they didn't actually go on until about 10:50.  Let's just say I'm a little tired today, but it would have been worse if I had stayed until the band finished. I was the first man down — pathetic, I know. My law school self would be terribly disappointed. 

  • Vacation (All I Ever Wanted)*

    I don't think I've ever felt the need for a winter getaway as strongly as I did this winter. Luckily, I had friends getting married in sunny Palm Springs, California this past weekend. Sun, palm trees, pool, and good times. Ahhhh.

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    *A nod, of course, to the Go-Go's.

  • Motivation

    I'm not a competitive person. Not really. I have minor moments, like during the triathlon when I speed up to try and overcome someone in their 20's (everyone's age is on his/her calf), but generally, I'm not out there trying to win stuff, especially on the athletic front. Since I joined ClassPass a while back, I've had the opportunity to go to a number of spin studios in addition to my usual (Revolve). I'm noticing a trend — most of the studios have the technology to track your performance during the class, and some use this information in an attempt to motivate you during your ride. One studio flashes your RPMs and energy output up at the front of the room at various points in class (you're only identified by your bike number). I don't mind this — it shows me where I am in relation to everyone else and as long as I'm not at the bottom, I generally feel okay. Another lets you opt in to do the same. This is fine too — even if I don't opt in, I can see where I am in relation to those who have.  Neither one of these display options makes me work harder, however. Since I'm not at the bottom, and I know I won't be up at the top, I just take notice and keep going. 

    Yet another studio does something slightly different — it puts you on a team. During various points in the class, it pits the teams against each other, either in a sprint to see which team is going the fastest/working the hardest, or to see which team can keep tempo the most consistently. Now, when there's a team situation, it changes my motivation entirely. I found myself pushing super hard during sprints — I wanted to make sure I was carrying my weight and doing my share of the work. Our team kept winning, which made me work even harder. In fact, our team won for the class. Woo hoo! I was exhausted, but proud. Until I got home. This studio also sends you an email at the end of class with your individual stats. I was 31st out of 44 in the class (not bad, in my book — probably about average for me), but 15th out of 16 on my team. WHAT?!  I nearly killed myself and I was at the bottom of my team?!  Screw that.

    My most recent spin experiment was Cycle Karaoke, where you can sing along while you ride. Now *that's* my kind of motivation.

  • Stupid NYC Landlords

    Winnies

    Greedy bastards. Killing one of my favorite places in the city.

  • A Case of the Mondays

  • This Girl Can

    I'm in love with this video created by Sport England. Why? Because I am an athlete even though I don't look like a fitness model and never will.  Because although I've completed seven triathlons, I sometimes feel out of shape. Because every workout is a challenge, even if they become a bit easier every summer and harder every winter. Because I feel like a rock star at the end of every workout. Because no matter how much I exercise, I'll likely always carry around 10 lbs I'd rather not have (but it doesn't stop me from getting on that spin bike). Because I earn each drop of sweat. #thisgirlcan