43 miles, no problemo

I can't remember how exactly I had first heard about it, but after I did I was convinced Jon and I had to participate in the 5 Boro Bike Tour this year! I vaguely remember in years past running into situations where I was required to dodge cyclists to cross Manhattan's streets and when I found out this was the reason, I was excited to be on the one stopping traffic!

Sunday we were off to an early start. I had wanted to get a spot somewhat close to the front of the pack, but as we learned when we got there it was practically impossible to determine where we were located amongst the masses. Luckily we were, in what we believe to be, the front of the 2nd big group of riders.

After almost an hour wait there was some rustling at the front and the indication we might be starting. Jon's friend Seth was so awesome and came downtown to see us at the start just in time! Somehow out of 32,000 he found us franticly waving to him while he along with other spectators cheered from above (The guy standing next to us even commented that he was impressed with 32,000 people Seth was able to find us!).

The weather was warm, the sun was out and riding conditions we ideal! New Yorks roads are not the smoothest & there were a few more log jams then I expected, but those were really the only downers. The ride started in the Financial District of Manhattan, thru Central Park, up into the Bronx, around Queens & Brooklyn and ultimately finished in Staten Island! The last few miles to Staten Island were the most difficult as you're already 30+ miles into the day. The long straight away and then the Verrazano Bridge (as it is basically as steady incline all the way up) were probably the biggest obstacles.

32,000 peeps!

Waiting for the ride to begin

(please note Jon's awesome sunglasses aka bug eyed

glasses he had to borrow :)

Just finished riding the FDR

Manhattan from Brooklyn!

Almost Done!

(no time to take pics, must eat!)

My favorite parts of the day were probably:

1. The fact that we didn't lose each other throughout the entire ride.
2. The awesome fanny pack that came with Jon's bike rental!
3. Seeing a familiar face at the start of the race!
4. Completing all 43 miles no problemo (even more of a celebration since I hadn't been on a bike before this and somehow screwed up my right hand brake the night before)

Such a fun New York experience!

Little 500 2010!

I was beyond excited when I found out that all the former 6121 residents were all going to be to make it back to Bloomington for a Little 500 reunion this year! Finally after weeks of anticipation and randoms squeals of joy, the weekend finally got here!

This year I wished for warm weather as the last time I went to Little 5 I'm fairly certain it was counted as one of the coldest Little 5's in history (brrrrrr). My wish was granted, although I should have specified I also wanted dry weather as it rained most of the weekend (especially during the largest chunk of time when we were outside...c'est la vie)!

We didn't let this dampen our spirits and started the weekend off right with a stop at Yogi's for some much needed grub! This is where I learned that Seth (Kathy's bf) and I share the same aversion to spicy food! We watched him painfully, but happily eat the spicy wings he'd ordered for lunch (ironically Jon and Kathy share the same love/appreciation for it)! Kathy and I had sandwiches, while Jon got something called the "G.M.O. Hoagie" (aka Gobble, Moo, Oink Hoagie) which can only appropriately be described with the aid of visuals:

"G.M.O."

Linds arrived later that night and met up with us (Allison arrived at 2am, but she was there in spirit!) at Nick's where we reminisced about old times, ate some delicious pizza, and schooled the boys at "Sink the Biz"....It's good to know that even a few years without practice can't prevent our natural skills from returning strong!

Kathy, Linds, Me!

The Boys trying not to Sink the Biz

without success :)

Saturday was the men's Little 500 race (the main event) so we got up early to start off the day right with some Village Deli where I got my favorite...the gigantic chocolate chip pancake! The race was rather unique this year given the torrential downpour. Half way through when the rain got really bad there was confusion about whether the officials had called the race in favor of the Cutters who had been leading at the time (needless to say the other teams were not happy)....long story short they waited 20 mins for the rain to settle, restarted the race and the Cutters won anyways!

Gigantic Chocolate Chip Pancake - Yummm

Jon, Me, Kathy & Seth at the race

Linds, Bill & Allison!

The girls!

Jon had to stop to get a picture in front of Assembly Hall

on the way back to the hotel

At Upstairs!

Kathy's awesome shirt complete with

retractable wings :)

Allison sharing her AMF

(Lindsay looks like she does not want in on the action)

The rest of Saturday flew by and I have to say it felt like things hadn't changed after all these years; you still run in to the same characters at the bars (it helped that this is a big alumni weekend), college boys still have the same forward & cheesy pick up techniques, and you always crave Mad Mush after a long night out.

I definitely don't get to see these girls enough, but whenever we do all get together it is the best! So glad we were able to make it happen this year & that the boys were able to come. Can't wait for the next reunion!!!

Good Ole Home Cooking

I am someone who lives for the comforts of home, more specifically...home cooked meals. While a lot of my meals are consumed in some of New York's finest, if given the opportunity I would almost always choose a home cooked meal. With this notion in mind, recently I've been making a conscious effort to make food at home, if not for economic or health reasons, because at the very least I'm kind of sort of starting to get sick of ordering from the same takeout places.

What I've come to realize though is cooking for ones self is still different. There's the special something (Kathy's equated it to love & care) that goes into a meal made by someone for someone else (even if it's mac & cheese with hot dog slices) that I just can't seem to replicate for myself (& Jon...poor Jon). Thankfully, this weekend Jon and I got a reprieve from my lame attempts and went to Princeton, NJ to spend some time with his niece & parents while his sister and brother-in-law made a short getaway to the city.

In anticipation of this weekend, I had mentioned to Jon that I was very much so looking forward to the food his dad would be conjuring up. I guess I need to preface that Jon's dad loves everything kitchen related (including bag clips, which has actually come in very handy!) and is a culinary connoisseur. I'm sure if he's reading this he might be slightly disgruntled at my use of "connoisseur", but that's the best way to describe it. Little did I know that my comment to Jon would result in a game of telephone and to make a long story short, there was certainly no lack of good food for the next 24 hrs.

Chef Hank

Lotus Root & Sprout Thingy's

Chicken!

(marinated for 2 whole days!)

Shrimp w/Lobster Sauce

Milk's next spokes model?

(Got Milk?)

Jon & Ellie spending some quality time together :)

I was only disappointed that there are only 3 meals in a day (at least in the conventional way of eating), because everything tasted so good! I can't wait to come home for Memorial Day weekend for some more amazing home cooking and some bbq'ing!

Paradise is a place I've been....

For the past week Jon and I spent some quality time perfecting the art of relaxation. We traveled to a place where to get to and from the resort part of the island your only options are by helicopter or a winding hour and a half drive....We traveled to a place I'd call paradise...aka St. Lucia!

This was a much anticipated, much needed, trip away from the city that started with an early morning flight from NYC. After a brief stop over in Charlotte, we had arrived in beautiful St. Lucia! We opted to take the helicopter ride from the south side of the island to the north in order to get to our resort. This was my first time in a helicopter and it was awesome! The views of the island from the 15 min ride were unlike any other experience you can have and the occasional roller coaster pit in your stomach feeling (I thought) was just a bonus!

Jon in the helicopter

Beautiful coastline

The resort we stayed at was absolutely gorgeous. It was a small hotel with 2 pool areas and a private beach cove. Our first full day on the island was by far our best weather wise with gorgeous clear blue sky's . We spent time by the beach and the pool only breaking for lunch or to get ready for dinner (clearly the mission of this vacation was simple....relax, eat, repeat).

Plenty of fruity beach drinks were had and despite my obsessive nature with the sunscreen we managed to get some color (some brown, some red). I got to catch up on my girly novels (Everyone Worth Knowing & Eat, Pray, Love), while Jon read a book that made him crave dim sum for the rest of the trip (I'm sure those of you that know him well are shocked)!

We made a few friends throughout the week: Steve the beach crab and Herby the lizard that hangs by the pool. I think there may have been a few Herby's but I wasn't keeping track, I was on vacation! It's hard to say what else we did since in essence everything described was the extent of activity that was intended for this trip. I think the pictures are probably more descriptive of the peacefulness and relaxed nature of our vacation and tell a better story of our time than I could.

View from our balcony

First day heading to the beach!!

Catching some rays

(I think he was trying to steal my book!)

Beautiful Cap Maison

St. Lucia at night

Trying to stay dry on day 2, the rain eventually

went away and turned into...

clear sky's!

More beach time!

(Can you spot Steve?)

We went snorkeling and saw teeny tiny squid!

(I thought they were jellyfish and swam in the opposite direction)

There's one burger missing

Yummy club sandwich for lunch

St. Lucia sunset

I heart dessert

This ended up being the perfect vacation, just what we needed. From the food to the sun to the company I couldn't have asked for more!

Return to Blogging!

Apparently motivating to post about my apartment, which was 6 months over due, meant a month plus hiatus (and a few lack luster attempts) from the blogging world. No fear, I'm back!

This past week/weekends weather was absolutely amazing, high 60's to mid 70's! I was looking at a few of pictures I've taken recently and I am convinced spring is on it's way!

Running in Central Park in early March!

(There's actually some leftover snow on the ground...but that doesn't count)

Happy coffee from Vynl!

Smile Cookie from the best bakery in Chicago!

(This is less about spring and more about the amazingness that is this cookie)

Flowers in Central Park this past weekend!

Spring can not come soon enough (and neither can vacation which is just over a week and a half away)!

City Livin'

We have been having some crazy weather here in NYC, reminiscent of Chicago which almost makes me miss the erratic temperatures....almost. Somehow today we had picture perfect weather while yesterday it was blizzard like & most people had to work from home! Here's a picture of the city taken from my window the day after the big snowstorm...looks like something out of a magazine (or an annual report for us finance nerds).

Hot Sauce & Mushrooms?

As most of you may know I am a wimp when it comes to anything spicy and generally avoid food on menus with little peppers or spicy alarms next to them. Therefore I'm not sure what's gotten into me recently because every chance I get I've been putting hot sauce on everything. In addition to this, one of my quirky eating habits is that I have a tendency to mix and match tastes and foods that are probably unconventional and some might even find kind of gross. With that said it is no surprise that the other night while waiting for dinner to finish cooking I grabbed a fresh mushroom, pulled out the stem and poured a fair amount of Frank's Red Hot Original sauce in the now vacant "stem hole"....Bon Apétite!?