An Unexpected Trip

It had been several months and a few too many pounds since my last regular run so, this morning I decided to re-start the old morning jog tradition. I knew this was going to be a challenge with out my FW running crew waiting for me on the corner but I was determined. I got up at 6:30, fine 6:35 after one snooze session, got dressed and my feet were hitting the pavement in no time. I wasn’t exactly going for a record or a “long” run like back in the day but my mind was set on 2 miles. So there I was, music blaring, enjoying the East River, which can be very pleasant if you can ignore the traffic from the FDR and I WAS RUNNING. Shortly after the midway point I noticed a new running companion, a pretty blonde golden retrieve. He was running not far from his owner but at some points closer to me. No biggie, he was cute, seemed friendly and had a good pace going. This was all fine until he got spooked by a car and took a hard left directly into my legs. What happened after was probably the least graceful moment in my life. My body, completely void of control, sort of crash lands all while sliding and scraping to a halt in the middle the running path. Naturally the owner, a young mother, ran up to check on me but at this point the only thing more embarrassing would been if wet myself in the process. Thankfully that was not the case. When it was all said and done I managed to get back up and run home to a bottle of peroxide but not without disproving yet anther “wise” person in my life. Like my parent’s, my doctor is wrong. Healthy activity is Not good for you. I would have been much safer had I stayed in my cozy bed and skipped this little “trip".

Destination: New York City

These photos are long over due and posted largely in part for our friends back home. Mostly because they are just curious what it must be like for two grown adults to live in 900 square feet.

View as you enter: pretty fabulous day and night

Kitchen: to your immediate left as you enter - enough room for 2 as long as one person is standing in the entrance way.

Dinning Nook: Notice I used "nook" it's more of a cut out in the wall than a dinning room.

Living room: aka the "West wing" the mirrors help it look larger than it is, ha.

Bedroom: aka the "East wing"

Highlights:
For the most part adjusting to live in NYC has been great.

Who wouldn’t love -
- Delivery groceries, delivery everything for that matter
- Trading in your SUV for a subway pass and just in time for rising gas prices
- Less space for your husband to dirty up
- Some of the best shopping and dinning in the world!

Featured wine: Take your pick…there’s about 5 wine shops all within delivery range and if you can't find it there try the Chelsea Wine Market.

The Country Home

Destination: Blairstown, N.J.

It seems the goal of summer for every New Yorker is to book it out of town as soon as the weekend hits. Never being shy of a challenge we’ve decided to follow suit and keep our car in the city for such escapes during the month of August. Our first adventure took us up the road to the birthplace of Derek, Blairstown, N.J. This isn’t an uncommon stop for us, but for the first time we visited what I will now refer to as the “Country Home” (aka – Lynn and Dennis’s house when the parents are away). We were accompanied to the Country Home by our Brazilian buddies, Renata and Felippe. If your roster doesn’t include any Brazilian’s I highly recommend you hop down to the nearest Consulate and meet a few, but make sure they know how to make Caipirinha’s (see below). Renata and Felippe’s laid back and fun loving attitude made them the perfect travel companions.

Highlights:
- Kayaking the Delaware River – what should have been a 3 hours into a 5 hour float thanks to a leisurely pace, sun soaked picnic lunch and as stop or two for refills.
- Farmer’s market feast – farm fresh veggies are plentiful in Blairstown and hard to pass up, especially the sweet corn. We couldn’t help but grow our list of side dishes’ as we passed the farm on the corner that had larger than life “zukes” and heirloom tomatoes for pocket change. Naturally we accompanied the veggies with huge steaks
- Me kicking the snot out of everyone at Apples to Apples. I rule!

Featured Cocktail: Peachirinha (pronounced [PEACH-UR-REEN-YAH])
We modified the national drink of Brazil, the Caipirinha to include farm fresh peaches and naturally had to change the name. If you can’t find Cachaça* you can substitute with Vodka

Serves 1
1 lime, quartered (1/2 peach cut and pitted, if so desire)
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
2 ounces cachaca*
Ice cubes - crushed is best
Mash the lime quarters and peaches in a cocktail glass with a wooden pestle. Do not remove the pieces of crushed lime. Add the sugar and cachaca. Fill the glass with crushed ice cubes and stir well.

* substitute Vodka if needed

My Parent’s Were Wrong…

If all my friends were jumping off a bridge it would in fact be the cool thing to do. At least that stands true when it comes to creating a blog or maybe that’s just the case when you’re an un-technically cool follower like me (sadly Derek is even less tech savvy than I). One thing to keep in mind while you dedicate your life to reading this blog is that Derek is the eloquent writer of the bunch. I however missed several grammar classes somewhere in between visits to the counselor’s office and breaking my arm. Therefore don’t be appalled if I miss a comma or few. Thankfully my line of work comes with a copy editor, which only further enables my lazy writing. Disclaimer over.