Already Looking Forward to the Weekend

Happy Hump Day!

It is only Wednesday, but I'm already looking forward to the weekend. Why? First of all, it's going to be in the 50's on Saturday, so I am hoping the warm weather will put a dent in melting the snow. I just want spring to be here so I don't have to jump over piles of snow, slip on patches of ice, and be stuck indoors on my bike trainer!

I am also looking forward to picking up the road bike that I will be riding across the country this summer! I will be riding with 4K for Cancer from Baltimore to Portland, OR over 70 days this summer to raise awareness for young adults with cancer. All of us will be riding the same bike, and this year's bike for the ladies is the Scott Contessa Speedster 35.

It's an alloy frame with a carbon/alloy fork and Shimano Sora components. I can't wait to pick it up and start training on it! It's important that I break it in, make sure it fits, and work out any kinks before hitting the long road to the west coast. Now only if all the snow on the shoulders will melt and the temperatures stay around 60 degrees, and I'll be set ;)

I still need to fundraise quite a bit from now until the start of the ride on June 1st. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help me on my cross country ride and to support young adults with cancer! 

Another thing I'm looking forward to is a Sunday 5K Fun Run at my local Whole Foods! The event will benefit the Whole Planet Foundation and the registration is a $10-20 donation. Plus, there will be refreshments! The fastest time will win a $50 gift card, and since I love shopping at Whole Foods, I will chase down that gift card like a bat out of hell (who am I kidding, I am slow). I've never ran a 5K before, so this will be interesting. I am mainly doing it for the fun and food ;)

And speaking of food, I am planning on getting lunch at La Tagliatella on Saturday. They have a "30 Days of Delizioso" for the month of March, and every week, they have a great deal. This week, everything on their lunch menu is only $5, so I want to take advantage of that! I've only eaten there once, and I thought the food was pretty decent, if not a bit overpriced.

Why can't the weekend be here, already?!

Do you have any fun plans for this weekend yet?

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Scenes from NYC

Yesterday, I shared all the delicious food that I ate during my weekend in NYC. Today, I'll share some of the non-food related things that I did and saw, because I didn't actually spend the whole weekend eating.

The first thing I did after I checked into the hostel was walk for a bit on the High Line. The High Line is an old elevated train track turned into a pedestrian walk way/park. It is lined on both sides with plants and trees, and you can see great views of the city. 

On Friday night after dinner, my friends and I decided to walk back to Manhattan from Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge. Although I've been to NYC a few times and I've seen many pictures of it, I've never walked across the bridge. It was frigid (19 degrees!) but we were rewarded by fantastic views of the skyline.

After walking around some more in Manhattan, we had to make the obligatory visit to Times Square (snore), since this was a friend's first visit to NYC. We were all very tired at this point, so we just made a quick walk around the square to see all the lights. 

On Saturday, we went to the Brooklyn Botanical gardens. I really enjoyed it, and I want to visit again when things in the garden are actually alive! They had a few exhibits indoors, such as a bonsai room and "tropical rain forest" (really hot and humid).

It was fun reading the different types of styles of bonsai. I think this one was "group".

My camera lens was fogging up in the hot and steamy "rain forest"

Love these types of lily pads!

I though these flowers were so cool

Next, we headed up to the Brooklyn Flea Market and Smorgasburg. We browsed around for about an hour and bought some food from the vendors. There was some interesting and quirky stuff, such as Art on Post-its, which was framed drawings of the city on Post-its.



What I love about the city is all the neighborhoods, such as Little Italy and Chinatown. We walked through both of them just to look around. Haha I love Chinatown because you can get delicious, authentic Chinese food, bubble tea, and pastries and buns at the Asian bakeries.

At night, we ended up at a roof top bar on 5th Ave. The drinks were pretty over-priced, but I guess that's what you pay for for the prime location. There were some great views from the rooftop garden, though all my pictures are tinted red from the heat lamps lining the entire area. They also provided us with fleece robes to keep warm! I was really cold, despite the robes, but a few drinks and lively conversation warmed me up ;)

On the last day, Sunday, I went to Central Park for a stroll. I saw a lot of runners, which made me want to go for a run! I wish I had the time for a run around the entire park, but I was definitely not dressed for that. Instead, we climbed up a huge rock and enjoyed the views.



As we walked by the ice skating rink, we happened upon a skating competition! It was just about to start, so I got to see the girls warm up and two of the competitors skate.



Well, that's about it! This weekend was amazing: good friends and good food in a fun city :D

Have you been to any of the places I mentioned? Where would you recommend that I visit on my next trip to NYC?

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The Ultimate Weekend Eats: NYC Edition

I am back from my weekend trip to New York City! In the 48 hours I was there, my friends and I packed a lot of fun things and good eats and had a wonderful time. Of course, I splurged mostly on food and I have to share all the delicious things I ate.

I started my trip at Union Station in Washington DC on Friday morning. There was Chop't, a salad restaurant, that I have been wanting to try, so I got a salad to eat on the bus. It was massive and took me 45 minutes to chew through this entire bowl of greens. I knew I would be eating a bunch of not so healthy things this weekend, so this was a good choice.

After meeting up with a friend and checking into our hostel in Chelsea, we walked around and decided to grab a snack. I saw Doughnut Plant was nearby, so I had to go try it! I heard good things about this place, and I was not disappointed. I got a peanut butter and blackberry jam filled doughnut and my friend got coconut cream. I liked hers better, since the blackberry jam was a bit overwhelming (not enough peanut butter!). The shop is adorable decorated, too! We sat against a wall covered in donut-shaped mosaic. The wall adjacent to us was covered in beautiful donut-shaped pillows. They also serve coffee and tea drinks that looked really good.

 

Next, we met up with two other friends and headed over to Brooklyn to get pizza at the original Grimaldi's location. Grimaldi's is an iconic pizza place, located under the Brooklyn bridge. It was pretty good, not amazing, but solid pizza. It is coal-fired pizza and the crust was flavorful and nicely browned. This style of pizza is not greasy, which I liked. We got two large pizzas split between four people, and I ended up eating more than half a pizza because I didn't want it to go to waste. It was good, because the pizza fueled me for the long, cold walk across the Brooklyn bridge after dinner. We saw some beautiful views of the skyline at night, so it was worth the frozen extremities!



After walking the Brooklyn Bridge and around Wall Street, we decided to get dessert at Serendipity 3. The restaurant serves some lunch/dinner food, but the thing to get there is their outrageous desserts. They are famous for their frozen hot chocolates, which is like chocolate milk blended with ice and topped with an obscene amount of whipped cream, served with four straws. I decided to try one of their ice cream sundaes, and got the "Can't Say No" Sundae which has vanilla ice cream, humble pie (basically pure peanut butter with a ton of sugar), hot fudge, banana, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. It was huge and rather pricey ($15) but I figured I'd splurge and see what this place is all about. My friends had a few bites, but I finished most of it myself. Which gave me a huge sugar rush and probably gave me enough sugar and saturated fat to last me the month of March.



On Saturday morning, we headed to Brooklyn again to visit the Brooklyn Flea Market and Smorgasburg (like a food flea market). I hadn't eaten breakfast, so I got a few bites to eat, including a $4 rice ball (not worth it) and half of a $5 mini apple pie (so worth it!)


After browsing the flea market, we decided to grab lunch there as well. I ended up getting a vegan sandwich at Monk's Meats. I got the jerk seitan and my friend got a vegan "B.L.T". We swapped sandwich halves, so we got to try both. I liked the BLT better, though they were both good! I also got an amazing horchata made with cashew milk. It was so creamy, sweet, and cinnamon-y

The Brooklyn Brewery was nearby, and the tasting room was open, so we headed over to sample some beer. And by sample, I mean buying five 12 oz beers to share among four people. I was already really full at that point, so drinking beer was even more filling.

We ended up eating a late dinner near the hostel after such a food-filled day. I decided on a Vietnamese place called Co Ba. It was a small restaurant with an intimate, candle-lit atmosphere. They served pretty creative dishes, and I decided on pork with rice "ravioli", which was bundles of wide rice noodles cut into bite-sized piece. The dish was covered in fresh herbs and vegetables, and was the perfect light and refreshing meal after indulging so much.

On Sunday, we started the day with breakfast at the Grey Dog, which has multiple locations. It's a cute cafe that serves breakfast as well as sandwiches and soups for lunch. I got the challah French toast, served with real maple syrup and fruit. It was really delicious!

Next, we headed over to Central Park for a stroll, and ended up at Laduree on Madison. Laduree is a French bakery with only one other location in Paris. They are best known for their amazing macarons. I ended up buying nine, with the intention of sharing with my family, but I may just eat them all to myself :P

  

For my last meal in NYC, I met up with a friend who took me to Taqueria Lower East Side, a hole-in-the-wall taco place. I got carnitas (pork), barbacoa (lamb), and lengua (beef tongue), and all were really delicious. Maybe a tad salty, but good, authentic tacos compared to what I can find in the suburbs of DC.

And of course, I had to finish the weekend with a bang and more ice cream. I heard great things about the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop, so I had to try it. I got the Monday Sundae, which is a Nutella lined waffle cone, vanilla/chocolate swirl soft serve, salted dulce de leche, and whipped cream. Seriously good stuff. 

   

This weekend was a success and I hit up all the food places I've been wanting to try. I had a scary amount of sugar, but I also walked around so much (in heels, too!) that my legs are quite sore, so it probably all balanced out ;) Can't wait for my next visit to the City!

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Training Log 3/2

This week, I am back in the training groove! Last weekend gave me that push to up the frequency and intensity of my workouts with the first outdoor rides of the season. Counting last Saturday and Sunday, I was able to train for 6 consecutive days before heading off to New York City for weekend of fun and reunion with my college friends. I definitely did NOT plan on training during the trip, so I'm glad I had a productive week. 

Tuesday's run was fun and interesting because it started snowing right when I headed out! It was pretty running through the snowflakes, and I collected a lot on my vest. 

Monday- 2 mi 8ish pace, 1 mi 7:23 pace, 2 mi slightly under 8:00 pace, total 5 miles

Tuesday- 6.2 mi steady effort, avg 8:09 pace, 0.8 mi cool down, total 7 miles

Wednesday- 65 mins on bike trainer. 10 mins warm up, 7:00 mins sustainable hard effort/ 3:00 mins easy, 7:30 hard/2:30 easy, 8:00 hard/2:00 easy, 10:00 hard, 15 min cool down

Thursday- 45 mins on bike trainer. 10 mins warm up, 30 sec sprint/30 sec recovery x 15 with 5 mins easy between each set of 5 sprints, 10 mins cool down 

It snowed on both Tuesday and Wednesday! And it's going to snow even more tonight and Monday :/

I have been feeling that runger lately, and with the increase in activity compared to the past two months, I am getting hungry constantly. I should try to eat more, especially before my runs. I've been eating oatmeal cooked with egg whites with a banana for breakfast, but when I go out for a run an hour later, I get hungry in the middle! Like that kind of hunger that drains your energy and you feel it deep in your belly, followed by a general feeling of weakness and lightheadedness. Not good.

Post-workouts, I've been eating Greek yogurt with Kashi GoLean Crunch, almond milk and fruit. Unfortunately, I think my lactose intolerance is getting worse and the dairy is giving me pain. I am sad because I love my yogurt :(

This week, it looks like I'll be doing more indoor workouts if it snows as much as is in the forecast. Sigh, I am getting impatient with all this wintry weather. 

I am on my way home from NYC, and I will be sharing what I did over the weekend in my next post, so stay tuned!

How was your weekend? Are you getting hit by the snow storm where you live?

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NYC Weekend in Pictures

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Obligatory Times Square visit

Grimaldis pizza

Serendipity 3

Doughnut Plant 

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Weekend Eats- Baltimore Inner Harbor and a Cheap Lunch

Happy Monday! I hope you had a relaxing weekend, even though it was one hour shorter. 

On Saturday, I went to Baltimore to pick up the bike that I am going to ride across the country this summer. Unfortunately, the bike shop didn't have my size ready to go, so I have to come back again some time this week. It wasn't a wasted trip, since my aunt and cousins came along to visit the Baltimore Inner Harbor. 

After visiting the bike shop, we walked around the harbor and saw some of the historic ships. I went inside the Chesapeake (below) with my cousins, and they went into the USS Torsk (a submarine) with my brother. I should have gone inside the submarine, but I didn't want to buy another ticket. I think got to see it when I was younger, so no big deal.

Haha, my four year old cousin got a bit scared when we were on top of the ship. It was pretty high up (for a little kid) and was afraid that he would fall over board.

We walked towards a plaza just in time for a street performer show. It was pretty entertaining and the guy was quite hilarious! He kept making jokes at the expense of some of the audience members. There was an 8-yr old and a college-aged girl who volunteered to help him, and they did pretty well, too! The performer juggled flaming torches and did some other cool juggling tricks. He even juggled a torch, knife, and bowling ball on a balance board as his grand finale. 

For dinner, I wanted to take my aunt and cousins to eat some really good Maryland crab cakes. I did some research, and decided on the Rusty Scupper, an more upscale restaurant right on the water's edge. We had some nice views of the inner harbor after the sun went down. 

I wanted crab, so I ordered a crab cake with three crab-stuffed shrimp. The crab cake was really good and very high quality. Good crab cake should have large chunks of lump crab meat and minimal filler. This cake had plenty of crab and was perfectly seasoned. The shrimp weren't as good as the crab, and I thought they were a bit tough. We also split an order of fried calamari for an appetizer, which was superb. Seriously good calamari; it was so tender.

I would recommend dining at the Rusty Scupper if you're in Baltimore for a visit, but it is on the pricier side. We averaged about $50 per person, including one appetizer, a glass of wine, tax and tip. That's even with ordering a kid's meal. This place would be nice for a special occasion, and it really has some nice views!

Although we splurged on dinner, at least I had a cheap lunch! La Tagliatella, an Italian restaurant, is having a different deal every week for the month of March. This week's deal was everything on the lunch menu was only $5. The normal prices range from about $9-$15, so it really is a good deal! I was pretty hungry, so I ordered two entrees: a really cheesy calzone and a salad. This picture really doesn't do the calzone justice. It was HUGE! Though the dough is really thin and it's mostly full of air. It's just a bit overwhelming at first.

I split the calzone with the table, and ate most of my salad. My salad had shrimp, crab, artichokes, tomatoes, olives, and corn with a honey pistachio dressing. We had five diners, and the bill was only $26. Not bad for a sit-down lunch! To be honest, though, I don't think the food here is that great. If I paid full price, I would think it's a bit overpriced. However, the deals make it pretty worth it. It's still better than a meal at say, Subway (and about the same price!) 

Next week is $5 pizza, so I might get lunch there again. The pizza's not that great, since the crust is basically like a cracker, but for a large pizza that's only $5? Can't turn that down.

Do you choose restaurants just because they are super cheap? Or would you rather pay more for better food?

What's the best thing you ate this weekend?

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