Sweet Blog O'Mine

Category: Life

  • Weekend Wrapup

    Friday was a great day.  Not only was it gorgeous out, but I was back on solid food.  I relished every bite of my first meal of the day — a half of a whole wheat bagel, plain yogurt, blueberries, and some sliced pineapple — certainly not exciting, but man, was it good.  And don’t even get me started on the coffee.  Ahh.  I tried to go easy, sticking to a salad for lunch, but by dinnertime I was ready for more.  I ended up at Mercadito Grove with Matt B., Dave & Lauren and couldn’t have been happier.  In addition to the great company, I thoroughly enjoyed every single thing I ate.  The spices seemed more vibrant and the textures — the crunch of a tortilla chip, the creaminess of guacamole, the viscosity of an oyster — leapt out in every bite. 

    I woke up Saturday and went on an invigorating run — the first long outdoor run of the season.  Afterwards, I headed up to Matt R. and Alexia’s wedding brunch at their gorgeous apartment on the Upper East Side, where I got to catch up with some work folks and congratulate the happy couple on their nupitals.  Following brunch, I headed back to Union Square to hit the farmer’s market (for produce) and Paragon (for triathlon gear).  After much deliberation, I ended up with a sports bra that seems supportive enough to run in and comfortable enough to swim in, and some tri-specific shorts.  I’ve already made peace with the fact that I’m not going to win any fashion awards at this thing, so I might as well be comfortable.  Saturday night I headed out to Brooklyn for a wine dinner featuring selections from the $10 and under table at Smith & Vine (given the weather, I went straight for the rose), where I got to catch up with Jenn, Emilia, Viv, Anj, and Jules. 

    Sunday I slept a bit late, cooked up a tortilla espanola with my potatoes and eggs from the CSA (which will be my breakfast all week), then did a few errands outside before having a picnic lunch from Caracas Arepa Bar.  By the time 6pm rolled around, I really didn’t feel like going inside for my hip-hop class, but I’m glad I did — it was a blast.  Not only did I work up a serious sweat, but I worked out some major tension — how could you be tense when you’re dancing around like an idiot?  Back home for a veggie stir fry and a little tidying up before bed.

  • And in the “No Duh” Department

    "Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as
    likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered
    by Congress    ."

  • Fingers Crossed

    I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t come down with the plague.  I got back home yesterday afternoon and the sore throat and sniffling began almost immediately.  It’s like my body was waiting for me to get through all these trips and then gave up.  I’m also still waking up at 6 a.m. — perhaps some leftover jetlag or something.  I’m going to bed by 10 tonight. 

    Pictures are up from both the Tuscany trip (although this is Cinque Terre, not Tuscany):

    Tuscanyshot

    and Nathan’s museum debut:

    P1000150

    (follow the links to the full galleries).

  • Disturbing

    29breakersxlarge1

    To me, the most terrifying thing about "It’s Not You, It’s Your Apartment" is not that the stuffed bear that sits on my bed could possibly be destroying my dating life (although I really don’t think it has had any impact whatsoever) — it’s the fact that this man writes dating advice for Match.com for a living.  Yet another reason I’m convinced that online dating is not ultimately for me.

    And on that note, I’m off to Tuscany tomorrow night for a week, so odds are I won’t be posting.  Have a great week!

  • The Big 200

    Just had my last swim class tonight (at least for level 1).  We did a time trial for 200 yards, which is twice as long as we had ever done and I did it in 4:02, which was actually quite good based on my earlier 100 yard times.  I’m convinced that it was due to my altitude training in Denver . . .

  • That Mountain Air

    I’ve been very good about exercising here in Denver.  I swam laps one day, and have hit the treadmill for the past two days (granted I’ve been eating out every night, so it’s probably a wash, but that’s another story).  The 45 minutes of swimming took a lot out of me, but I wasn’t too surprised about that — I’m still at the very beginning of building up any sort of endurance — but my first day on the treadmill, I could barely handle the interval workout I normally do at home.  I ordinarily spend 45 minutes on the treadmill, adjusting the speed and incline quite a bit, and my workout includes several rounds of sprints alternated with jogging to recover.  After my first sprint on the hotel treadmill, I had to slow down to a walk to recover.  I couldn’t figure out what was going on — maybe I was dehydrated, maybe I was tired, or maybe it was the second martini I had had with dinner the night before?  Then, over dinner last night, someone mentioned the altitude, and how she had been warned to stay hydrated.  Another mentioned that she was told not to exercise at all because she might have trouble with the altitude.  Aha!  Mystery solved.

  • Thoughts Floating Through My Mind Today

    On the 6 train at 5:30 p.m., packed in so tightly that I am practically nose to nose with the guy next to me (if I were taller), and brushing up against at least three other people:  I have had plenty of dates where I haven’t had this much physical contact.

    Off to Denver bright and early in the morning for another fun do-gooder law conference.  Will likely post from the road.

  • I’m Not Quite Awake Yet

    But did I really hear Steve Inskeep* tell me that it would be close to 70 degrees out today?!?  Woo hoo!

    * On NPR this morning, not personally.

  • Catching Up

    Foie


    Dumplings

    Let’s see — just a little catching up since my last post.  I had a few relatively quiet nights this week, believe it or not.  Not too many, though.  Friday night, The Lovely Miss Katie and I tried out the new Blue Ribbon Bar — definitely one to add to the regular rotation, although not too often, as it was pretty easy to go overboard, both on the delicious food and the wine flights (see the foie gras torchon above as evidence).  Saturday morning, after a workout, I met Dad at Chinatown Brasserie for some delicious dim sum, including my favorites, the shrimp dumplings with pea shoots, pictured above (love the eyes).  Sure, it’s more expensive than Chinatown dim sum joints, but it’s really worth it.  More pics of all the tastiness on flickr.

    After some laundry and errands, I met up with Hugh for a drink — it’s hard to believe although we’ve "known" each other electronically for years, we’ve never actually met in person!  He was even sweet enough to draw me a cartoon on the back of my Gothamist card (thanks, Hugh!).  I did some cooking Saturday night and eventually fell asleep on the couch.  I suppose I was exhausted — I slept for about 11 hours.

    Today was Brooklyn day — birthday brunch for Doug followed by a walk with Bill and dinner at Katie’s.  In line with several of my other Brooklyn jaunts, I ran into someone I knew when I stopped in at Big Nose, Fully Body to buy some wine.  And now, I’ve tidied up my apartment and am going to hit the sack early so I can work out first thing before work.

  • It’s That Time Again

    Time for the annual pro bono pilgrimage, where I get to stay at the swanky hotel again — hooray!  And oh yes, there will be karaoke.  May also see a few familiar, non-pro bono faces while I’m down there, time permitting.  I’ll be back Saturday!