:D

***SUMMER VACATION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!***

Tuesday was my last day of school. Wednesday I went to the beach. Today I scrubbed my apt (Mom and Dad are due in any minute). And tomorrow I head to Vermont for an out of NYC dose of nature and extended family. (Insert big cheer here) I can already say it was my best year yet, but I'll wait until I get some distance from the year to reflect on it. Translation: too pumped to be done to think about school :D

I had the beach to myself at Breezy Point

Clare was here this past weekend. She flew in from Denver to kick off her whirlwind east coast tour and stayed with me for a few days. She worked at the Unified Bouldering Champoinships in Central Park, which I went to go watch with Zach, Dovman and Kopes on Saturday. I'd never been to a climbing competition before and the energy there was awesome! Dance party music, cool outdoorsy people and an intense spirit of competition pulsing through the air. 

Each climber has five minutes to finish the problem, many of which are characterized by tiny hand holds or overhangs, or some rediculous, gravity defying feature. If they fall off, which many of them did, they have to shake it off, get past the dramatic gasp of the crowd and try again because the time is ticking. Except that as a spectator, you don't realize how pumped full of lactic acid their arms are. Or how intense the angle of the wall is.

On Sunday, we hit up the New Amsterdam Farmer's Market, located under the FDR, just north of the South Street Seaport. We got there around 10:30, but they were still setting up. What kind of Farmer's Market is still setting up at 10:30 you ask? A super laid back one. All of the bakers and produce vendors were raring to go, but it was the vineyards and the Brooklyn based, hipster run prepared foods places that were taking their sweet time setting up. While we were perusing, we had a sample of orange rind + cardamom pate w/ whole grain mustard that was frikin' amazing! It was bright and colorful and meaty all at once, and that is coming from someone who doesn't usually care one way or another about pate. Since the Farmer's Market didn't officially open until 11, and we had a brunch reservation to make, we didn't stay to see it in full swing. Definitely still on the to do list.

New Amsterdam Farmer's Market getting set up.

Love when life cheers you on!

Work it, girl!

Adorable decor at the Fat Radish

7 grain toast w/ avocado & spicy eggs. MmMmm
Would I pay for it again? No.
Will I make it all the time chez moi? Yes.

Sister photo op!

Summer is off to a good start! I'll be out of town till the middle of July (celebrating the 4th, celebrating my cousin Sydney's wedding, and hiking the Appalachian Trail for a week) but will have lots to share when I get back. 

P.S. Don't try to rob me while I'm gone, my cat and her sitter will eff you up. 

A taste of Coney Island

Sunday was the perfect Coney Island day. Beach, roller coaster, Nathan's hot dogs, Cyclones game. Possibly some funnel cake. That will remain a secret.

The here and now

23 of my kids being promoted to 5th grade.
10-15 the number of crabs I ate this past wknd (I lost count, which is always a sign of a good time).
11 days until Vermont vacay & my cousin Syd's wedding!
10 (on a scale of 1-10). How excited I am to see Bad Teacher w/ my coworkers :)
5 more school days until the end of the year!
4 more IEPs to write (fml).
3 things you can't do in the courtyard of my building: slackline, fry a turkey, have a party. Seems like a waste of space to me. (Note: I found out through phone calls, not personal experience. Don't worry, I haven't making a nuisance of myself. Yet.)
3 letters/care packages going out this week
2 days until Clare comes!
2 trips to the beach this past weekend (Rockaway Beach & Coney Island)
1 kid who didn't pass his state tests (however, this is the kid who did go to Puerto Rico for the month of March)

1 new pair of shoes in 2011. I held out for 6 months, twas about time for some retail therapy.
0 the amount of food in my fridge.

Eataly

This weekend, Melissa and I went on an adventure to Eataly, Mario Batali's Italian marketplace monstrosity on 23rd street. Eataly is an eating, shopping, drinking Italian themed experience, with fresh produce, fish, mis en place, wine, pasta, glassware. You name it, they sell it. It has been on my To Do List since it opened, but the thought of crowds and the guilt of inadvertently hurting the small shops in Little Italy has kept me away. Until now. 

It is a little like if Mall of America and Little Italy had a baby. And Wegmans was the godfather of their lovechild. Huge, easy to get turned around, delicious, impeccable quality, and excellent customer service.

Center of Eataly, wine and cheese area. 

Melis found the recipe on epicurious' iPad app, which
provides a grocery shopping list that you check off as you go.
Love this!

We started shopping for a delicious pasta dinner that she is making. Chicken, peaches, saffron. Amazing!

Gorgeous produce!

Must have been 18 varieties of mushrooms.

As we were waiting in line for ciabatta, we spotted two girls hanging out in the pasta aisle w/ glasses of wine in hand. Not just glasses though, they were carrying a bottle of wine, leaning against and end display of fusilli and rigatoni. Picking up dudes, we presumed. But, wait. How is it that they are carrying a full bottle of wine around the store? You can't do that at Whole Foods.... Well, apparently you can buy a bottle from the wine vendor and drink it anywhere in the store. Just pour a glass and toss the bottle in the cart. Genius! Maybe then you won't notice how expensive that hunk of Gouda is.

Mmm, yes. Samples please. 

Beautiful, but not $23 beautiful. 

Within Eataly, are multiple seating areas with seperate menus, depending on what you want to eat- fish, veggies, meat & cheese, pizza. But, you can't order pizza if you are sitting in the fish section. Wierd. Guess you have to be on the same page w/ the rest of your party. By the time we got hungry and and figured out how the sit down system works, it was 8 o'clock on Friday night. Translation, huge waits for a table. We finished our wine by the bread samples and headed home.

Would I go back? Absolutely. I want one of their delicious meat & cheese boards, or maybe a ceviche sampler. I'm thinking a fancy Tuesday afternoon this summer, when no one else is there. Would I go grocery shopping there? No. And actually, this sits well with my conscience because I don't dine in Little Italy, but I do shop and I plan to keep it that way.

RGTs = Really Good Times.

Farmer's Market

It is strawberry season! 

This morning, I stood above the rows of green cardboard boxes huffing the scent like a middle schooler would an expo marker (was that just me?). 

Strawberries + Ronnybrook coconut ice cream = Summertime Yum!

Mountain Jam

It has been 6 years since I have been to a music festival where you camp on a mountain, live out of a cooler, and use disgusting port a potties all weekend. How did that happen? Wasn't All Good just a few years ago? Apparently not.

I had to go to Mountain Jam. What if I never did it again? What if I turned 30 and life just ends there? I mean, it won't, obviously. Life just keeps getting better. But what if I didn't want to ever go again? 

Well, the Avett Brothers, Edward Sharpe, Grace Potter, and My Morning Jacket were all playing and it was held at Hunter Mountain, a quick ride upstate, so we went. And it was an awesome weekend. 

Home base.

"Either chug it or toss it, but you can't bring it into the venue"
Easy decision.

'ello sun!
This was during Mavis Staples' set.

Top a tha mountain mornin to you!

<3

Dirty

Group shot!

Avett Brothers, I love you. 

Kids at festivals, maybe. Babies? No. 

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros 

matchy matchy

6.5 ft tall justin beiber lookalike + every jam band backpack =
our landmark for the weekend

"Will you just hold my rock and put your energy into it?"
I wish I could say I didn't. 

Fun seats for Avett Bros encore

So over it. 

My Morning Jacket.  Zach took this one (and some other awesome that I use on the blog). It needs to be big.

Turns out, going to music festivals isn't something that I stopped doing because I'm growing up, it is just a hobby that I forgot to do :) I lived outside, laughed lots and listened to so many instruments and voices.  

HOWEVER, I don't think I need to go if I'm not into the headliner. I saw WAY too much Warren Haynes. 

Unexpected highlights:

• Mavis Staples. "I'll take you there!". Perfect in the sun.
• Lotus' late night set was dancy and funky and way better than expected. 
• The people spinning fire at the top of the mountain after the sun went down absolutely mesmerizing. Like a rebel circus act, sticking flaming rods in their black from gasoline mouths, twirling blazing hula hoops and torching the grass. I spent most of Gov't Mule's set up top watching the fire people. Plus, the port a pots were cleaner up there.
• The people watching was hilarious. I suggest making the pictures bigger and looking at people in the backgrounds. Can you find the patriotic pants and pot belly?
• Hook Herrera, the super tall, hot pink and lime green poncho wearing Native American Indian guy who played the harmonica with Gov't Mule. 
• No traffic or waiting. Anywhere. All weekend. 

Final note:

Dedicated to Liza Moody, of Friends Dress Alike. Sometimes friends dance alike. 

Tri training

80 Days. Holy shit.

My mentality throughout the day is usually pretty confident. I got this, I tell myself. Except when I check the little countdown clock on Sharon and Ryan's wedding website. They're getting married on the same day that I race. I'm bummed I'm missing it and I ought to say "but I'm excited for the race," though that isn't quite accurate. Nervous/Scared/Want to barf thinking about it.

For the past month, have been training about 5 days a week, with more emphasis on running and biking. When it is not deathly hot, raining, or the morning after a few glasses of wine, I ride to work. (Too many qualifiers?) Its about a 20 mile ride round trip. I just got clipless pedals and beat my personal best riding from Chinatown to Harlem. When I remember, I check the time on the bottom of the History Channel sign as I get on the 3rd Avenue bridge to the Bronx. 35 minutes is my best. That makes for just under 45 minutes to work. I'm pretty sure I can get it down to 30 minutes to the sign.  

As for running, I usually do the Williamsburg bridge or East River Park after work, though I give myself credit for running on my lunch break this week. Ugliest run ever through the South Bronx. Projects, chop shops, garbage bags stuck in barbed wire, Cheetos bags swirling around hot sidewalks, a total stereotype of itself. Apparently, something about the hot weather makes it ok to use the sidewalk as your garbage can. Don't get me wrong, I love where I work. I hate the littering. 

Swimming. Swimming is inconvenient and hard. I'm doing it, but it kicks my butt every time. I swim at Metropolitan Pool in Williamsburg. I enjoy going there, but it is the getting there that is hardest. But, what a show! This place is the perfect snapshot of New York.

My favorite pool rule: 

No person will be permitted in the pool having: skin lesions, sores, or inflamed eyes, mouth, nose, or ear discharge, carrying communicable disease or having any type of bandage, adhesive tape, etc., on their body.

Ear discharge. Ew. In one lane, you will find any combination of white, black, hispanic, asian, hipster, yuppie, thug, anorexic, preggers, obese, boob jobs, cellulite, tankinis, nose plugs, mullets, fu manchus, back hair, swim shoes, tattoos, and everything in between. And the best part is, every one is in their bathing suits. I almost choked on water while trying to watch a tubby old guy in his swim cap and baggy speedo (hiked up past his belly button) waddle around the pool deck. Let's just say, it can be hard to focus on technique with such entertaining scenery. As much as I enjoy swimming in BK, I am looking forward to the opening of Hamilton Fish Park, which has an olympic sized outdoor pool. Oh! I almost forgot to mention. A membership to NYC Rec centers is $75 for a year. A YEAR. Amazing.

It is after mile 4 of a run or 40 minutes of swimming that I get a real bad case of No f-ing way am I going to be able to finish in August. I am looking forward to not having school (13 days!) and being able to work out on a full tank of gas. Possibly even trying to combine workouts, considering I am going to have to do that in August.