Blog Archives
A Carrie Bradshaw Day
Today’s goal when we awoke? Spot a celebrity. We were bound for Central Park. Magazines and tabloids snap shots of exercising starlets there all the time…
I had my eyes peeled for Katie Holmes, Donald Trump, or at least an Olsen twin. No luck on this chilly Monday. We did see a Zack Galifinakis look-alike though…. so that’s something.
I harnessed my inner Carrie Bradshaw today, forgoing my flat iron for some French braid waves. I adore Sex & the City ever since E! Network started airing reruns during my long treadmill sessons :) (My favorite is Charlotte.) Today’s Carrie hair inspired another Carrie favorite: my first Cosmo.
But first, back to our Central Park stroll.
My parents and I entered the park next to The Dakota, at Strawberry Fields. We followed the pathways through the enormous park next to lakes, ponds, playgrounds and sports fields. When we came upon the Jackie Onassis Reservoir, I was ready to RUN!
I came prepared with some Nikes!
The jogging track around the perimeter of the lake is about 1.58 miles, and I cruised for 3 laps while my parents found a coffee cart. ( Now you know where my obsession comes from!) The loop was full of other joggers and walkers. I plan to return tomorrow to squeeze in a couple more laps before my consultation with my surgeons. Central Park is so GREEN, I just want to enjoy it as much as I can!
(Yes, I wear my purple pants a lot. Can you tell I like them?)
We used the Map My walk app again as we covered ground around Central Park, Upper Manhattan, and along the Hudson River. Add another 17 miles to the vacation total. We are on a roll! Walking everywhere is a great way to get some exercise on vacation, and in New York it’s often faster than driving anyways. You can also avoid the cab-induced car sickness. Triple win!
After a snack we walked westward to the Hudson River. Riverside park has a boardwalk out over the water which was disappointingly brown today.
We were ready to take a break from walking, sit in a cafe and order some coffees. (Yes, we have an addiction. No, we don’t want to fix it.) “The Great American Health Bar” boasted espresso, coffee and cappuccinos in its windows – perfect. We were seated at a table and given a menu. I picked an Almondcchino, & my dad picked a Mint Mochacchino. When the server took our orders, he said we could not stay for coffee because they had a $10 per person minimum. He literally grabbed our menus back and picked up our silverware. I guess that was our queue to leave….
No worries, Cafe Europa let us make our simple order and we were caffeinated in no time ;)
By 6:00 we were ready for a cocktail and dinner. Since I’d turned 21 at school this year, my parents and I hadn’t properly celebrated with a drink together! At Delta, a Cajun bar & restaurant, we toasted to another successful semester.
I knew that I wanted to try a Cosmo at some point on our New York City ” vacation” because of Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, and Miranda’s infamous girls nights out. The lime & white cranberry made this one a little tart, I loved every sip!
And here I sit in my apartment blogging. What a very Carrie way to end the day. :)
Monsoon Season
All week the deep gray clouds set the dramatic back drop for our afternoon workouts. Gloomy and ominous, the air was especially humid yesterday as we warmed up for a hill circuit around a local park with gravel trails, tall pine trees and thousands of yellow wildflowers. We are sweating by the time we finish the two-mile warm up. As we change our shoes from trainers to flats, our coach tells us to prepare for the most challenging workout since outdoor track season.
We completed five reps of a hill circuit that left us exhausted, as promised. I won’t bore you with the details of the workout itself. But the post-workout “high” came from the pride of crushing such an intense workout. I love climbing into the van with my teammates to head home from a challenging practice, blasting the radio. Showering and lounging in bed with Pandora afterwards seems like much-deserved reward.
I’m in no hurry for monsoon season to end. Running in the rain feels like playing at recess :) You would never know that my shoes were brand-new one week ago, but cross country shoes just aren’t meant to be white!
So-Long-Summer Shish Kabobs!
Whether you’re happy or sad about it, summer vacation is just about up! I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve recently been consumed with my LAST week of work, finishing up my summer mileage, saying goodbye to friends and packing up for my new apartment :)
On Friday morning I walked into work for the last time as an employee. As my first summer with a job, I can definitely attest to the fact that working full-time > spending all day on Facebook & Youtube. I was so lucky to have been given the opportunity to “intern” at the corporate office of Windsor Foods and gain some real-world experience. When I emptied out my desk and said my goodbye’s on Friday afternoon, it finally hit me that I will be moving back to school & starting classes/practice again in a matter of days. I cranked Luke Bryan’s new CD Crash My Party (in LOVE with the new song “My Kinda Night”) and cruised home to celebrate a successful summer!
Over the course of 14 weeks at home, I ran almost 800 miles. I worked 380 hours. (Feels like I slept about half of that… ;) ) And while running and working took up the most of my summer, I wouldn’t have it any other way! In February, my parents and I met with surgeons to prepare for the next phase of surgeries. When I learned that the procedures would interfere with cross country training, I decided with my parents to postpone them. I concentrated all of my energy on running so that I could compete and have a shot at making the travel team for my junior year.
After my long run yesterday, I’m positive I made the right decision. Running makes me feel confident, strong. It’s something I’ve decided to work at. I’m not athletic in other areas like throwing/catching/jumping/kicking. Or bowling for that matter…. 
Chelsea (who you might remember from our Sky Zone trip or Hazelnut Pumpkin cookies) came and visited me last weekend and we had a blast as usual, particularly with our less-than-stellar bowling skills. Actually Chelsea kicked butt in our first round but her lucky streak ran out during the second game. Me on the other hand…my first goal of “breaking 100” was quickly shattered as my ball seemed to be magnetically-attracted to the gutter.
(Has anyone else noticed especially sore…glutes the day after bowling??)
We redeemed ourselves with a super fun (i.e. colorful) dinner on the BBQ & homemade frozen Greek yogurt that was sadly unphotographed but WILL be recreated when we visit again.
I love shish kabobs! I also just love the name “shish kabobs” :)
We chopped up red, yellow, and orange bell peppers; green and yellow zucchini; purple onion; mushrooms; pineapple; and just for a fun twist, brussel sprouts. (Not a huge hit, sadly.) On separate skewers were the chicken kabobs my dad made with a hawaiian seasoning. We had worked up such an appetite at the bowling alley, we all went back for seconds. But with a dinner as healthy as this one, there’s nothing wrong with double the veggies!
We also broke out my ice cream maker to blend up some Greek yogurt with almonds and pretzels and dark-roasted coffee, which I’ll have to snap a picture of next time.
Summer, you’ve been good to us! But I’m excited to start school next week! The nerd in me is ready to fill in my day-planner and highlight my notes. I can’t wait to settle in and share pictures of my new home sweet home. <3
