Sweatin' Out the Turkey

Last I left you, I was on my way to a yoga class in Alexandria on Friday. I always love to go to yoga after Thanksgiving and sweat out all the turkey. It's my own little tradition. By now, I've been to a few other Bikram studios, but I gotta say I love my studio in Harlem. One thing I love about Harlem is we're all so comfortable with each other. We have people of all shapes and sizes wearing their skimpy little outfits (it IS hot after all) and no one bats an eye. When I visit other studios, that's not the case. The only people in their skimpy little outfits are the women with perfect tans and perfect abs and everyone else is pretty covered. I even noticed that when I was in Spain, which I thought was very strange. It made me feel like such an outsider. The class in Alexandria was good and I definitely needed it, but it wasn't like home.

The rest of the weekend was spent eating more food (gotta finish off those leftovers!) and hanging out with Josh's family. We even walked around old town Alexandria, which is just the cutest place ever. We headed back to New York on Saturday and I finished my weekend with (what else?) a visit to Bikram Yoga Harlem. It's good to be home.

Turkey coma

Thanksgiving dinner yesterday was pretty darn good. Our favorite part of the meal was Bob.

We bought him at Whole Foods!
(Just to clarify, that was a joke. We just ate turkey and potatoes and stuffing, like normal people.)

Now I'm off to yoga to sweat out the turkey and gravy. I bet you the hot room will smell like Thanksgiving all over again!

Making cookies! Making cookies! Cookie time!

(Name that tune, and you win a BIG HUG!!!)

PS I took this picture on my snazzy new iPhone. Nice, huh?

I realized that sometimes when I'm done with yoga, I smell like a wet dog. If you've ever had to smell me post-yoga, I'm very sorry.

That is all.

A Blonde Moment

Last night, I had a total blonde moment. I attempted to steam some vegetables, which I've done about a million times before, but this time the vegetables just weren't cooking. The stove was on. It was hot. Things were steaming. But the vegetables weren't cooking. Then it started smoking and I realized, I forgot to add water. That's like the number one (and only) component to steaming vegetables. I did this to my pot.

I must say that's an epic fail.

I’m sorry. I’ve been a little absent. Work has been all consuming and I’ve taken on a part time at home project, which leaves me very little time for blogging. I did have enough time to host an awesome wine party. Unfortunately there are very few pictures of the spread, mostly because it was consumed rather quickly. My personal favorites were the Thyme Gougeres that I got from Bon Appetit. They were like grown up, fancy cheese balls. Again, no pictures because they went straight from the oven to people’s mouths. You can find the recipe here. The recipe called for Gruyere, but that was one expensive cheese. I used Fontina and parmesan instead and they were light, airy and delightful. I highly recommend giving these a try at your next party.

In other news, I’ve been sticking with my less meat thing and I must say I’ve been enjoying it. It’s kind of fun to find new meatless recipes. This week was really the first time I’ve had much meat. I had meat three days in a row and I do feel different. My tummy is all gurgly and heavy. I think I’m going to give the meat a break for a while…at least until Thanksgiving.

*Swoon*

Ok. Allow me to talk about something that has nothing to do with ANYTHING for just a minute.

Yesterday, I was coming back from lunch and HE was coming out of the elevator.

Source

Unfortunately, he was wearing a shirt. At least it was a nice tight one.

The whole thing was like a movie where everything started moving in slow motion as he emerged from the elevator and walked past me. He’s GINORMOUS and it’s literally all muscle. My heart was pounding, I think I had my mouth wide open and was possibly drooling a little. He stood in the lobby to make a phone call and I think he saw me staring at him because he went to hide in the corner. I’m not one to drool over celebrities on TV, but he’s certainly impressive in person. I’ve seen and met my fair share of celebrities, but as New Yorkers, we like to pretend like we could care less. For the most part, they're just people like us. I've never had reaction like this before. Sure he's just a person, but he's a BEAUTIFUL person. If I wasn’t at work, I don’t know that I would have been able to contain myself. I'm sorry Josh, but if I ever get the chance, I WILL make out with him.

Needless to say, it made my day.

Marathon Weekend!

What a busy marathon weekend. I’m exhausted, and I didn’t even run! It started off Friday night with the DetermiNation Pasta Party. This is the chance to congratulate the athletes, listen to some amazing and inspirational stories, and carbo load! These events always remind why I’m so thankful to be involved in such a great organization. There are so many amazing and inspiring people out there.

Saturday was a quick run in Central Park. I’ve been looking forward to this all week. Not only was it the first time I’ve run in…a long time…but the energy in Central Park the day before the marathon is ELECTRIC. All the out of town runners are out there running in the park, taking pictures of the finish line, chatting excitedly. Everyone had to touch the Fred Lebow statue for good luck. I still can’t believe that it was just a year ago that I was one of them, so excited and nervous. I kept getting choked up just being there. I ran with the team and talked to several of the runners about the marathon. For many of them it was their first ever marathon. I think the NYC marathon is a great first ever marathon because the support is AMAZING. I told them about my experience and tried to allay some of their nerves.

Then, marathon Sunday. I must admit I was thankful that I didn’t have to get up at 4am, but when I watched the coverage on TV, I really wanted to be sitting in Staten Island with everyone, chatting nervously, huddling together to stay warm, listening to iPods to get pumped up. I remember almost every minute of the wait. It felt like it lasted forever.

I, of course, volunteered to get out there and cheer. I chose one of the most difficult parts of the race for me- the Bronx. The runners get to the Bronx at mile 20. This is about the time that you hit “the Wall.” Your body can typically store enough energy to carry you the first 20 miles. For those that started too fast, didn’t hydrate well, didn’t refuel with GUs, this is the time they feel it. I wanted to be there to get them through it. And I honestly must have been one of those people because nothing looked familiar to me at all. They were all sorts of turns in the course that I don’t remember.

Cheering was amazing. Mile 20 is an incredible place to be. There were people that literally fell down, were limping, or were cramping so much they had to sit. But they pulled themselves together and kept going. That’s what the marathon is about. I stayed out there all day. They were tearing down the barricades and the aid stations, but we were still there. It was these people at the end that were the most appreciative. When everyone else had left, we were there to cheer them on like the rockstars they are. It felt really good to help push them on. Some of the people that had been walking started to jog again with our encouragement.

I have to thank my awesome (and LOUD) friends for coming out there with me and staying. You really helped make this an awesome experience for so many runners. I think our signs helped too. They got quite a few chuckles. It’s not easy to make someone laugh after running 20 miles.

These are the highlights:

He Man anyone?

Even though I really wanted to be out there with the runners, I’m glad I took the year off. Now, I’m totally ready to embark on this journey again. I can’t wait for Chicago 2012.

Congrats to all you NYC 2011 Marathoners out there! YOU DID IT!!!

Party in the Bronx!

Ok. This may prove to the whole world that I'm the biggest dork ever, but I'm getting really excited about my cheer station for the marathon on Sunday. We have costumes. I'm making signs. It's going to be EPIC. And super fun. And super inspiring. And everyone should come party with DetermiNation at mile 20. They don't call it the boogie down Bronx for nothing.

Seriously though, if you're around come party with me. I'll probably be there from 10:30ish to 4:30ish. And BE LOOUUUUDDDD!!!!

This Sunday is the New York City Marathon and even though I’m not running, I’m still super excited. I can't believe it was a year ago that I was carb loading and FREAKING OUT about the idea of running 26 consecutive miles. But now that I've done it, it seems like it's always been that way. Sometimes when I’m doing my laundry, walking down the street, riding the subway, I randomly remember “Holy crap. I ran a marathon.” I remember that I survived the disgusting port-a-potty and that I kept going even though I really wanted to quit at mile 22. I never thought I would ever run a marathon, but still, a year later, I’m amazed and proud that I actually did it and it puts a huge smile on my face.
 
To all you marathoners out there, good luck. It may suck at times, but I hope you’ll remember it fondly.

To all you non-marathoners, I'm leading a cheer station at mile 20, aka The Wall. We're dressing as super heroes. It will be epic. Come cheer with me at 138th and Morris Ave in the Bronx. I'll be there probably until around 4.