From Saturday’s Union Square Greenmarket trip — just because they’re so beautiful (and they match my blog so nicely), and who couldn’t use some flowers to get them through a Tuesday?
Category: Life
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Weekend Wrapup
I’m less than a week away from my triathlon, and I actually feel ready, for the most part. Was able to sneak in some good training this weekend, including a brick — a bike/run back to back — which wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.
Rob is back from London for a bit so I joined him and Sara for lobster rolls at Pearl on Friday night followed by a bottle of wine and cookies (yes, cookies) at the new 8th Street Wine Cellar, which is destined to become one of my new favorites. Was up bright and early for a trip to the farmer’s market on Saturday and went a little crazy there — brought a beautiful and delicious salad of corn, yellow and red tomatoes, snap peas, scallions, and purple basil to a picnic for Annie and Tara. After that, it was off to the Lovely Miss Katie’s birthday celebration, where I saw tons of folks, including Luke, Michelle, and Jim, (I promised them a shout out).
Up the next morning for the aforementioned brick (thanks, Frank!), then a few errands before dinner at Joe’s. I’ll let him tell you his thoughts on it before I tell you mine. He was kind enough to let me sous-chef a bit — as you might imagine, I’m generally not so good at just shutting up and taking orders, but I was good this time around.
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A Sensitive Man
Construction Worker Still Hasn’t Given Up On True Love:
No matter how busy he is, Barbierri always takes time to make sure the
ladies know that he is interested, available, and ready for romance. . . .‘Deep down, I’m just a hopeless romantic,’ he added.
Calling every woman special in her own way, Barbierri explained that
he always tries to touch upon the individual qualities of each woman he
greets. For example, if she happens to be drinking something through a
straw, he’ll ask if she wants something else to suck on. If she seems
to be in a hurry, he’ll ask where the fire is, and then subtly suggest
that it may be, in fact, in his pants. And if her nipples are visibly
poking through her shirt, he’ll inquire if she is cold, and gallantly
offer to warm those beauties up for her."See, there are still some great single guys out there . . .
Courtesy of The Onion.
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Panic
As I mentioned, I’ve worked myself into panic mode about the triathlon. I’m afraid I haven’t done enough biking and swimming, certainly haven’t even tried to bike 12 miles as fast as I can (the distance is no problem), and haven’t managed to do a "brick" workout (bike/run back to back) outside of the stationary bike and treadmill at the gym. So, as I sat last night exhausted from weight training and swimming, my thoughts were that sometime before I head up to Maine after work today, I have to pack, and squeeze in a bike ride if at all possible. I could barely wake up this morning, let alone get out on my bike, so I think I’m going to have to settle for a lunch time spin class. I’m still pretty tired, so we’ll see how it goes.
The good news is that for my swim last night, I wanted to swim 800m nonstop to see how that felt — usually I track by time, not distance, because I have trouble keeping count of the laps. I did a 50m warmup, then let ‘er rip. I might have actually done 900 (I still can’t keep count), but managed to do it in 17:50, including the warmup, so I think my prediction of the 20 minute swim for the tri is about right. I was very happy that I was able to do make it through with no problem whatsoever. Guess all my hard work is paying off!
The bad news? Nutrition labeling on alcohol. Yikes!
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Quite Early Morning
My sleep patterns are a little erratic at the moment, likely due to a week of vacation (including one sunrise and several naps) and the stress of returning both to work and panic about my triathlon training. Yesterday, when I woke up at 5:30, I uploaded my pictures and then fell back asleep for a bit. This morning, I woke up at about 6:30, so I saddled up and did a quick 9 mile bike ride on the Hudson River path. It was very peaceful at that hour, serene and beautiful, and the light is quite different from the evening when I’m often out there. It’s a lovely way to start the day, although I fear that I’ll crash later on, which sometimes happens when I exercise before work. Perhaps I’ll go for the XL iced coffee this morning.
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The Trail of Tears
Slowly easing back into reality after a week’s vacation at the beach. Highlights included several outrageously delicious meals (grass-fed beef steaks, grilled veggies, gumbo, steak tartare, paella, shrimp tacos . . .), a handful of solid runs, some major beach naps, dogs in costumes (not sure I’ll be living that one down for a while) and a rotating cast of characters throughout the week with whom to enjoy it all. Other "highlights" include getting hot tub hickeys (not as exciting as they sound) and
walkingslogging to the Sunken Forest only to arrive just in time for mosquito feeding hour. What started out as a pleasant adventure turned into a 5 hour expedition — by the time we arrived, we were in such a rush to get through it, both to make it back to civilization before the sun went down and because we were quickly turning into a mosquito buffet. I didn’t even bother to slow down to take real pictures, as illustrated above. A special shout out to those who had martinis and dinner waiting for us when we got home. Another goes to Beth, who finally made it out to the beach after all these years, to Sara and Arlan, for making the most out of their day trip, despite the weather, to Jenn D., Emilia, Lauren and Frank, for being there to keep me company during my midweek stint, to John B., of course, and to everyone who helped me with my true Spanish-style dinner on Saturday night (we finally sat down for the main course at 11:00). And, as always, to everyone who made me laugh until my abs were sore. The pictures from the week (not that many, considering how long I was there) are here. -
Back on the Big Island
Back from vacation with a savage tan and mosquito bites galore — pictures to come. Looking forward to my super-comfy bed and major A/C.
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Pictures Galore
Even more pictures — this time from a fantastic bike ride with Lauren, Frank, and Annie. We started in Williamsburg and headed to Astoria, then we returned to Manhattan via Randall’s Island — one of my favorite rides this summer.
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You Should’ve Been in Pictures
I took about eighty billion pictures this weekend for some reason — here’s the first batch, from the roof garden at the Met. If I were particularly motivated, I would have messed around with them in Photoshop, but I’m not — I’m on vacation! Heading to the beach for a week after a bunch of errands today. More pictures later.
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Galoshes!
The weather reports are calling for thunderstorms for the next three days — looks like my red galoshes are going to get put to good use.