Slice o' Life

Running sucks. I especially hate running when it is hot and dirty out. 

However, I have found that if I run through interesting neighborhoods with my iPhone and keep my eyes peeled, it can be more like a photohunt adventure. The challenge then becomes snapping a picture while running in place. 

Star spangled ventricle!

Pretty palate coming down off the Williamsburg
Bridge aka Hipster Highway.

Awesome.

So they say.

So glad Parisians are tagging the bridge with nice things :)
Maybe I'll leave Paris a message next time I'm there. 

True dat.

I don't know... Is $150 a good deal for a
dirty, old fridge? 

Family of mannequins.
Creepy.

Does this include the rats?

When ran across this, I did a double take and had to stop and figure out what was going on. A new sport? Bikes + Polo + Street Hockey = Mystery sport. Check it out. Obviously, this was the end of my run. Well, the gelato I had after taking the video marked the official end of my run.  

Alexander McQueen

I finally got to the Alexander McQueen Exhibit at the Met this week :) I had tried to go once before, but had not allotted 2 additional hours in my excursion for standing in line, so I left. This time, I went early (which didn't help AT ALL), brought a bottle of water, and a book. Still waited in line for two hours, and at one point I felt very much like Rodin's sculpture: exasperated and on the brink of death. But, it was totally worth it.

Death by crowds and standing. 

 The exhibit showed a huge range of his work, from highly tailored menswear inspired pieces, to leather bondage body suits, gorgeous flowing gowns and of course, the totally bizarre (No one needs crocodile heads for shoulder pats, sorry).

This jacked, red jeans, chunky black biker boots and my closet.
We'll call it a date.

The Met people were pretty adamant about not taking pictures, so I snagged a few of my favorites from their website. Unfortunately, the workmanship, detail and color don't translate that well to pictures. My all time favorite was this chartreuse beaded, horsehair dress. The color and contrasting textures were unexpected and stunning. 

Another highlight: Gold feathers. Sexy silhouette. 

Really nothing more to say except,"Can I have that?"

and maybe and invite to a party where it would be appropriate. 

This parachute silk cape thing was not one of my favorites, but what was happening in front of it at the show was possibly my favorite moment of the day. A ten year old girl was settled in front of it with her sketch book, sketching away. I was immediately jealous. What a good idea. She was completely unfazed by the plastic surgery/alien faced Upper East Side hags shoving to the front of the crowd, or the gay boys bopping her with their man purses. She was totally entranced by the billowing cape. You go ahead, girlfriend. That kind of magic is really what it is all about.

A heatwave is the WORST kind of wave

Let us start by acknowledging this:

Feels like 112?
Wrong. Feels like death. 

I picked up our CSA share yesterday and was delighted to see onions, tomatoes, garlic (!!!), napa cabbage and (the dreaded) kohlrabi.

Ungodly heat + I'm not cooking + fresh veggies = 

you should make some gazpacho. 

So I did. And it was phenomenal. I can't take full credit for the recipe, as I loosely followed one from epicurious. It would never occur to me to add an egg or breadcrumbs, so I suppose I should give credit where credit is due. Thank you epicurious! (And Melissa for turning me on to the awesome iPhone app. Get it if you don't have it.)

However, in my cold soup inspired excitement, I totally forgot about my diva-like stand against cooking.  I used the stove and went outside, two things that I had sworn off earlier this AM. The heat didn't even matter anymore because I had IDEAS! I whipped up a delightful little shrimp/snap pea/feta/lemon topping and picked up some ciabatta to mop it all up. The sweat was totally worth it.

If you are ever in the mood for gazpacho, try this recipe. It rules.

Delicious

This is the most delicious thing I have had all summer. Well... this and that pig I ate 2 weeks ago, both of which were served at Sydney's & Lauren's wedding. Tastes like strawberries, but not syrupy sweet. Light. Refreshing. Obsessed.

Beautiful couple. Great time :)

You were so tasty. 

Nothin a little duct tape can't fix

7/18 Home and smiling :)

But watch out...

These pictures get progressively more gruesome as you scroll down. 

You might not want to. 

Gnarly bruise on his supposed "good leg."

Arm lacerations the day after he was hit. Sorry.
Borderline in bad taste. 

Just when you least expect it.

The good news:
Zach is coming home today, stitched up and in relatively good spirits, though very eager to be home. I am so GRATEFUL & HAPPY to have him back :)

The rest of the news:
The plan for last weekend was to bike out to Greenport, Long Island for a few days of swimming at Orient Point, wine tasting and catching up with family. 80 miles into our ride, as we passed through the town of Riverhead, Zach was hit by an oncoming car making a left turn. He was flown to Stonybrook Hospital where they quickly determined that his insides and brain were ok, which was a HUGE relief. He has a broken foot and pretty significant soft tissue damage to his left arm, but is on the mend. Slowly, but surely.

As soon as he was hit, a retired policeman, a retired fireman, a lifeguard and a nurse appeared (they all happened to be passing through the area) and took over calling 911, directing traffic, talking to Zach and taking care of him until the EMT got there. A neighbor took care of our bikes while the retired fireman and his wife drove me to the hospital. The outpouring of help and generosity from strangers, friends and family alike has been unbelievable. This weekend was quite an unexpected and scary turn of events, but has gone as smoothly as possible thanks to everyone's support.

Wear your helmets friends. 

Wear your helmets. 

Hiking the AT

Zach and I spent last week hiking the Appalachian Trail from Killington, VT to Hanover, NH with our friend, Kelsey, who I met on the farm last year in Hawaii. She has been hiking the trail since Georgia and is en route to Katahdin in Maine. It BLOWS my mind that she has been hiking every day since March. We did it for five days and it totally kicked our butts. In a good way. 

Our plan was to start hiking in Killington and meet up with Kelsey somewhere along the way. Since there is only one trail, we would eventually run into each other.

Day 1 (2 miles)

Mom and Dad dropped us at the Inn at the Long Trail in Killington around 4pm. My Osprey pack started leaking water before we even got on the trail. The first 1/2 mile was a steep, muddy incline to the Appalachian Trail. Once we hit the AT, our route flattened out for a few minutes and I could look at stuff while we walked, without thinking about my butt muscles that apparently I never use. I got lost in thoughts of moss and bird calls and before long was walking sideways down a slippery, muddy descent. Very hard on the knees. I forgot that we were hiking mountains, which are not flat.

In addition to learning that mountains are not flat, I also discovered that all natural bug spray is a crock of shit. The mosquitos were viscous, bountiful and enough to make us hide in our tent that first night. Luckily, we were able to get some Deet from the ranger station on Day 2. 

Breffast

Kent Pond

Day 2 (8 miles)
We had a super leisurely start to the morning, enjoying life sans mosquitos. We cooked up some oatmeal for breakfast on our tiny, transformer like camp stove before hitting the trail. The trail passed Kent Pond and Thundering Falls and was littered with fun bridges and creeks. Until noon. That is when we reached Quimbly Mountain. Except that we didn't know we had reached Quimby Mountain because we didn't have any maps. So we started to hike up without knowing when it would stop. We hiked up 1,500 feet, which isn't much in terms of mountains, but it felt like we were hiking into oblivion. Why didn't we bring maps again?

At the shelter, we met an old guy who gave us an extra copy of his trail guide. This was the turning point in the trip (from holy shit this is new and hard to an adventure). I was able to see the inclines that were up ahead, determine where I could get more water and get a little peace of mind. We also left a note for Kelsey here, saying that we were on the trail and would probably run into her the next day. Zach and I set out to find some water and a spot to camp, which we found alongside a mountain stream.

Look Clare, climbers have been here!

Day 3 (12 miles)
Day 3 was the best yet. We met up with Kelsey early in the morning. She was traveling with two friends that she met on the trail, Llama Legs and Nocello. Trail names, obvs. But, am I really supposed to call you Llama Legs? Welp, I suppose if I don't know your real name, Llama legs it is. Throughout the day we ran into Cropduster, Southbutt (opposite of Northface), Leafguy, Pepper and a few other through hiker/mountain folk. Miles flew by, snack breaks happened frequently, and there was lots of catching up to do. 

Over the hills and through the woods...

Orange. Go Cuse!

My uphill haiku:
Delivering pain
My hamstrings are powerlines
Lactic acid flows.

Gorgeous vistas of Killington/Pico area

At some point in the day, we heard about a pie stand on rte 12 and picked up the pace in an attempt to catch the pie guy before closing. As we tumbled out of the woods, down the wildflower strewn mountain, across the cow pasture chock full of calves, high on pie filled anticipation, a HUGE storm rolled in. It was the kind you could smell in the air and feel in the wind, but that was such a minute detail compared to the hunger situation. We got to the door of the general store at 5:25. Closed. Just as the disappointment set in, the whole sky opened up in a torrential downpour. Thank god for the wrap around porch. We huddled by the backdoor of this stranger's store and waited out the storm. To our amazement, Mr. Pie guy came back later in the evening, opened the store for us and got us a spot in his neighbor's creepy, but very dry barn.

Crazy rain/hail storm. One of those tall trees snapped in
half right after taking this pic. 

Trail Log

Day 4 (14 miles)
Longest day this week, yet the best I've felt. The morning was hard, with lots of peaks, but each one rewarded us with great views. The trail was littered with fallen trees and branches from the storm the night before. So glad we were inside while that happened. We took a long lunch on a sunny mountain top in the middle of a huge patch of wild raspberries. It was perfection. Ended the day with a long descent through fields of flowers into the arms of a cheeseburger in town. MmMMm

Snack break. Best time of the day.
Raisins never tasted so good. 

(wo) Man down!

Wild rasberries! Om nom. 

Hand picked. Then tossed in my mouth in one swift motion :)

Day 5 (10 miles)
Knowing that we were arriving in Hanover today made our last day a piece of cake. Well that and the fact that there was only one climb and we got it over with right away. Showers and laundry in town and a ride home with Zach's mom made for a relaxing and welcome return to civilization. Kelsey, Llama legs and Nocello have 2 more states (NH and Maine) and about 400 more miles. I don't know how they do it, but they do and I have the utmost respect for them. Ya'll go ahead wit yo bad selves!

Personal Fave

Day 5: Crossing into Hanover, NH

GOOD LUCK ON THE REST OF YOUR TRIP GUYS!