Central Park Archives - Page 6 of 7 - My Healthy, Happier Life

ashleyd / June 26, 2010

Get Out of the Gym

Unfortunately, I spend approximately 60 hours per week sitting inside under fluorescent lights. Therefore, come Friday at 5pm all I want to do is spend hours outside. As you’ve seen in previous posts, we find numerous ways to get our weekly dose of Vitamin D.

Weekend trips out of the city that are VERY active

Reading or playing around in Central Park with friends

Drinking and eating outside

and last but not least, breaking a sweat outside! I prefer to participate in outdoor runs, boot camps, and yoga classes all weekend long versus stepping foot in a gym.

Therefore, I was excited when NYC fitness diva, Jes, Fit Chick in the City invited her readers to a free Fit Chick Boot Camp in Central Park this morning. The instructions were clear: bring nothing except yourself and a bottle of water, show up at 9:30, and get ready for a sweatastic workout!

I met the lovely ladies in Columbus Circle before venturing into the park. Luckily, weather was on our side as it was sunny and hot by 9:30.

For the next hour, Jes took the five of us through a great workout in the shade and SUN of Central Park. We were inspired by the Intensati workout taking place a few steps away and the fighting ninjas filming below us. Okay, maybe the ninjas just made us laugh. But, regardless, what I loved about this workout is that the entire time we were working out we were also enjoying our surroundings.

Jes kept us in a small area of the park but used everything around us as props including bridges, steps, park benches, and the grass. The workout consisted of more squats and lunges than I think I’ve ever done, some great pushup action on the bench, plank reaches, side steps, dips, step ups, and running. Thank you for organizing this Jes and being so generous. We all had a blast meeting other readers and bloggers (hi ladies!!) while also breaking a sweat and lunging our way to a body like Jes’.

After an hour of outdoor boot camp I was craving three things: –

-Vita Coco

-A pool

-A strapless workout top as I got some wicked tan lines today

Luckily 2 of the 3 took place at my next stop, Equinox. The Columbus Circle location features a 25 yard pool equipped with pull bouys, goggles, and kickboards.

Today, I returned to the pool. I have a love/hate relationship with the pool because I know it’s good for me and I love what it does to my body but I hate and dread it because it’s so hard. It had been 4 months since I stepped in a pool and was ready to conquer my fears! 25 laps and 625 yds later my time was cut short due to some crazy Iron Men that decided they owned the pool. Oh well. I finished happy and excited for my next swim. I’d like to include at least 1-2 swim workouts per week as my back continues to mend. It’s a great cardio activity and is impact free.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Rebecca on the rooftop of her gym, Club H! What a great day it’s been thus far! Now it’s off to dinner with Melissa and Frank.

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ashleyd / June 23, 2010

Yoga at the Great Lawn

A few weeks ago, I received an email blast from Flavor Pill

Help us break a world record! Register now to join 10,000 people on Central Park’s Great Lawn, all downward-dogging at once. Yogi Elena Brower leads the class; comedian/beatboxer/musician Reggie Watts performs, along with sonic healer 13 Hands, slam poet Buddy Wakefield, drum/dance troupe O’Nkosi Rhythms, cellist Garth Stevenson, and yogic bassist Wah!. Each mat is yours to take home (thanks, JetBlue), along with a bevy of goodies from SmartWater, Alternative Apparel, and Chico Bag

This is a perfect example of the fun NYC events I love participating in and therefore I quickly registered hoping I’d be one of the 10,000 lucky participants given a pass.

Fastforward a few weeks and as luck would have it, I was offered VIP tickets and a few for fellow bloggers and readers. While I don’t consider myself a VIP of any sort I’ve never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth and gladly accepted.

After posting some tweets about the opportunity, I ended up heading to the Great Lawn today with Theodora, Lauren, Jess, and Rebecca.

After meeting at 84th and Park, we headed towards the VIP tent per our instructions. We had all read on Twitter or the news that the lines were crazy. We thought it may be an exaggeration. How could the lines be so bad when they were PLANNING the event for 10,000 people? Well, it was no exaggeration. Everything Katherine, Dori, Missy, and Jes had tweeted was true. As we turned the corner we saw it!

Yes, that is the FRONT of the line! Luckily we were quickly escorted to a table where we received the “orange ticket” which would allow us Blog Pictures 2010 248 front row yoga placement, stage access, massages, swag, and more.

The first table had great Yoga at The Great Lawn t-shirts compliments of Alternative Earth t-shirts. The t-shirt is super comfortable and soft even though they are XL.

The next table featured a green swag bag. The bag is a reusable grocery bag made by Chico Bag which even has a nifty pocket that it FOLDS into when you’re not using it!

As soon as we walked past the tables there were tons of cameras on this lovely yogi so I figured I’d snap a picture of her as well. Later, I found out that she was the woman leading the yoga.

There were three different tents set up for press and VIP bracelet holders. Under the tents were barrels of Vitamin Water

Awesome Gaiam Balance Ball Desk chairs to test out. I really want one of these for my desk at work. I wonder if they’ll allow it if I buy it. They are only $79.95 on Amazon! In addition, One Lucky Duck was sampling their delicious desserts, Siggi’s had five flavors of yogurt they were sampling and giving out, I snagged my first Kind Bar, and received a few yoga coupons. I can’t wait to sample these items in my lunch tomorrow. I’ve seen Siggi’s yogurts on Tina’s blog numerous times but have yet to try them. Blog Pictures 2010 257 After a hanging around and sampling products we decided it was time to find a prime spot on the lawn. We couldn’t believe the crowds of people that had already gathered on Central Park’s Great Lawn! This event was going to be a success and we were so excited. We were able to snag a spot in the front, left area. We had a clear view of both the screen and the stage! We were in awe! All we could do for the first few moments once we reached the lawn was turn around and take in the scene of people. Blog Pictures 2010 259 How cool is the Manhattan skyline in the background?! I felt like I was getting ready for a huge Central Park concert! Blog Pictures 2010 260 We set out our FREE Gaiam yoga mats (Thanks JET BLUE!) and began to wait. Luckily, while we waited we were able to have some fun together! Blog Pictures 2010 266

We sampled the treats! We took pictures.

Then the clouds started to roll into the area. And people talked, and talked, and talked.

In fact, by this point it was 7:25 and we were all starting to get a little bit annoyed. The wind was whipping, the crowd had reached a great mass, and yet guys kept talking on stage and laughing. Even though we were towards the very front we couldn’t understand half the commentary.

Clearly, this was quite the event since there were cameras everywhere! Then the guy in the wild suit announced that we had in fact set the world record. Evidently, he works for the company and was there to make it official!

Everyone clapped and the world was happy because they saw yoga in their future. A yogi finally took the stage! Then the rain started and the umbrellas came out. What happened to “yoga rain or shine?” A crazy guy rushed in front of us as we were trying to get our omm on as we prayed the rain would subside. This happy face and thumbs up means we’ve just been told that the yoga will continue and the park service has given word we can continue yoga in the rain! Let the omms begin! And we did yoga. For two minutes that is until the lightening and thunder forced them to call it quits. Am I mad? No, I’m sad that the event didn’t have a warm, sunny evening as I was looking forward to some hot yoga on the Great Lawn. But, I had a great opportunity and a fun evening with wonderful girls. I was part of something that will most likely not happen again in NYC and luckily Lauren grabbed us a cab for the 60 block trip home. That, along with all this swag makes for a great night experiencing NYC.

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ashleyd / June 20, 2010

Summer Sunshine

First and foremost, Happy Father’s Day to the first guy in my life, my dad!

After our great morning yesterday, we were all excited to enjoy the rest of the day in the gorgeous sunshine. Our errands and workouts had left us ravenous so we took Kat’s suggestion and headed to Bao Noodles for lunch. Kat had read about this little restaurant online and was excited to introduce Bo and I to pho.

The restaurant is quite small and we actually walked by it on the street without realizing it. Since the weather was so nice they had all the doors open which let in a wonderful breeze.

We started out with an appetizer to subside our hunger. I chose the chicken summer rolls as they sounded delicious and are often a great, light summer appetizer since they are steamed instead of fried. The rice paper rolls were stuffed with lettuce, rice vermicelli, chicken, and fresh herbs. These were some of the freshest, most delicious summer rolls I’ve ever had! In fact, we tried to order more but instead received pork spring rolls which to our disappointment were fried and not half as good.

For our main dishes, Bo and I couldn’t decide between a couple of options so we decided to share. We ordered chicken pho and grilled pork bahn mi. I had never heard of either of these so I was excited for the experience. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what we were hoping.

The pho came out in two dishes. one dish had the “ingredients” such as bean sprouts, siricha, basil leaves, and plum sauce. The other bowl was a soup with chicken and rice noodles. Kat instructed us to add ingredients to our liking insuring we used enough siricha for flavor. Even after adding all the ingredients it still was a flavorless soup with chicken shreds. Between the two of us we barely ate 1/3 of it.

Luckily, Bahn Mi was delicious! The toasted baguette mixed cucumber, daikon, and cilantro with the perfectly seasoned pork for a perfect sandwich. I would definitely order one of these again as it was filling and the flavor was complex and delicious. I loved the crunch that the cucumber and daikon added.

After lunch, we headed up to Central Park to meet our friends Geoff and Elizabeth for an afternoon of reading in the sunshine on Sheep’s Meadow.

As you can see from these pictures, it was a beautiful day in NYC yesterday! The best part was that it didn’t even break 85 degrees so that along with the breeze made laying in the park a treat. We spent two hours laughing and reading on the Meadow enjoying a few beers along the way. While this isn’t the beach, I think this is a close second and can’t wait to go back next weekend.

After the park we all split ways as Kat had tickets with a friend to see Kelsey Grammar in La Cage and Geoff & Elizabeth had a birthday dinner. Bo suggested a date night and I couldn’t have been more pleased. We’ve both been moving so quickly lately that it’s nice to enjoy each other’s company over dinner and catch up.

After showering, we walked towards Union Square to enjoy the sites and grab beer and an appetizer. Union Square had taken on a whole new identity post Farmer’s Market. Heartland Brewery had a perfect outdoor spot that was calling our name! We quickly ordered the beer flight for Bo and a Summer Apricot Ale for me. The Apricot Ale was delicious! I wish I could get it on tap at other bars. It was crisp and fruity without being too light.

After our drink and enjoying more of the sights and sounds we headed to our dinner destination, Apiary. Apiary is Scott Bryan’s new American restaurant on the northern part of the East Village. We discovered the restaurant using our favorite iPhone app, Zagat.

Apiary’s decor is contemporary, clean, and in partnership with Ligne Roset. When we arrived at 8:15 the restaurant was only half full which had us a bit worried. But, by the time 9pm came the wait was 45 minutes and the crowds kept coming. We were both elated when we saw they had our favorite sparking chriaz, Chook. Evertying about this meal was surprisingly delicious and perfectly executed. Our evening was filled with fresh, delicious food and excellent service! I apologize for the less than stellar pictures but the restaurant’s lighting was not conducive for pictures. I started with the Diver Sea Scallops eggplant caviar, chorizo oil, upland pepper cress which were filled with flavor and a large enough portion to share. Bo started with the special of the night, crab cakes. They were plated on top of black beans and drizzled with chipotle which gave a traditional dish a new twist. The cakes were 100% crabs with a few chives. Making a decision about the main course was easy for me as their first entree featured all my favorite summer ingredients- fish, corn, and mushrooms! The Roasted Monkfish featured summer corn, poblano chiles, chantarelles, basil, and smoked bacon. I was worried it would have a large amount of bacon but was pleasantly surprised when it was served with only a few small pieces for flavor. The monk fish was succulent, perfectly prepared, and the flavors reminded me of summertime succotash back home. Bo chose the rabbit papardelle which included papardelle pasta adorned with tender, shredded rabbit, porcini mushrooms, summer vegetables and parmesan cheese. The dish was not heavy or overwhelming as papardelle dishes can be at times. Instead it allowed each ingredient to stand out on it’s own as there wasn’t a heavy sauce. Bo raved about this and has already requested a return appearance.