A Weekend Filled with the Perfect Ingredients

Good evening! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and aren’t suffering from the Sunday Slumps.

This weekend included some great food, friends, volunteering, a long run, and some cooking.

Bo nor I got home from work on Friday night until after 8pm. After a week of traveling we were both craving a date night together. We took advantage of our NYC location and decided to find a dinner location during our walk. After a few attempts we were lucky to find 2 counter seats at Casa Mono.

Casa Mono is Batali’s Spanish tapas restaurant which is also known for its wonderful wine selection. We often see lines around the block for this favorite and therefore were surprised and excited to find two counter seats available. For two foodies, sitting at the counter of an open kitchen restaurant is a dream come true. We spent most of our dinner watching their sure handed techniques and ingredients.

More pictures and a full review will come later.

Saturday Bo and I woke up bright and early for an early morning spin class complements of Fly Wheel and Fit Chick in The City, Jes. The class was VERY different than our Equinox classes as it did a lot of low resistance and high speed drills while standing. However, the coolest part was the mini arm workout at the 40 minute point. This was totally unexpected but a nice little treat.  This is how Fly Wheel describes their studio and classes:

Blog Pictures 2010 229

Rides at Flywheel are engineered to provide you with the best and most fun workout possible. Each ride is set to a high energy music playlist, ranging from hip hop to rock and roll to pop. The lineup also includes specialty classes such as post-natal, “sweat into summer”, post-natal and “combo” combination classes that utilize our adjacent yoga studio for multi-faceted workouts. Additionally, for those who thrive on competition, Flywheel has developed the TorqBoard– an in-studio display that provides riders with the option to compare their performance against the rest of the class in real time.Blog Pictures 2010 230

Blog Pictures 2010 231I love healthy and fun ways to catch up with local readers and get to know other bloggers and readers! Thanks Jes!

The rest of my Saturday included volunteering up in Harlem with the New York Junior League. We were taking part in the Playground Improvement Project in St. Nicholas Park. Each year the Junior League adopts a different park in the city to restore! The park was absolutely gorgeous and the flowers were in full bloom! Blog Pictures 2010 236Blog Pictures 2010 235

It was definitely five hours of manual labor as we painted a hand ball court and scraped paint off benches. But, it was a great opportunity to get to know the women on my committee better and enjoy the sunshine. Blog Pictures 2010 233The lovely ladies of the CHAMP (Community Health Advocacy Module Program) committee taking a lunch break. Blog Pictures 2010 232The delicious veggie sandwich I snagged from the boxed lunches. I was pleasantly surprised with the freshness and flavor. I need to add sprouts, cabbage, and carrots to more of my sandwiches! It adds great flavor and texture.

I came home to take a quick nap and walk to the Union Square market for fresh flowers before Bo and I met up with Lauren and Casey at Dos Caminos for margaritas and dinner. From there we went to two great bars that Bo nor I had ever experienced before. Amity Hall, the second bar, was awesome! Over 50 beers on tap and great atmosphere! Thanks Casey for the recommendations! We even ran into Melissa and Frank at Dos Caminos. Congratulations on your graduation Melissa.

Blog Pictures 2010 237       

Be sure to check out Bobbi’s bake sale tomorrow! My vegan macaroons will be up for sale!

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Run Like The Wind

Last night I crawled in bed around 1am. In fact, should that be referred to as last night or this morning? Therefore, when my annoying Blackberry alarm went off this morning I had no desire to wake up. In fact, I felt like this:

The last thing I wanted to do was wake up and head to the gym. But, over the past three years I’ve learned many times that a quick workout is ALWAYS better for me than countless cups of coffee or tea. There is something about getting in that workout and getting the blood flowing that helps me get ready for the day.  What about you? Does a workout help you wakeup?
On days when I’m exhausted and dragging, I know that in order to get a truly effective workout I need to have a formal plan to follow and keep me motivated. Sometimes I’ll choose a spin class or other group class at Equinox but this morning I had the perfect workout in mind.
Monday night I was talking with one of my favorite healthy NYC ladies, Fit Chick In the City. Since she is the running goddess that she is and often sports the coveted RED bib of the NYRR, I thought she could help with some treadmill drill ideas. She was more than happy to help and sent me this awesome yet intimidating workout:
Fit Chick In The City’s Speed Workout
1 mile warm-up (easy pace)
1/2 mile at 7.0
1/4 mile recovery pace (probably same as warm-up)
1/2 mile at 7.5
1/4 mile recovery pace
1/2 mile at 7.7
1/4 mile at recovery pace
Cool Down
I altered a bit to look like this to meet my desired mileage and the speeds I thought would be challenging yet feasible. By the end of the 50 minutes I felt like I’d run like the wind through my workout and was a hot sweaty mess!
Ashley’s Speed Workout
1 mile warm-up 6.0
1/2 mile at 7.0
1/2 mile 6.0
1/2 mile at 7.2
1/2 mile 6.0
1/2 mile at 7.5
1/2 mile 6.0
1/4 mile 8.0
Cool Down: 10 minutes 4.0 at 4 incline

This came out to a 9:20 avg pace which is AMAZING for me! I loved this speed workout and it didn’t give me any chance of having a monotonous uninspired workout. If I had hopped on the eliptical an caught up on the latest People magazine I know I wouldn’t have put as much energy into the workout. If you’re goal is to break a sweat and challenge yourself I suggest this awesome workout!!

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Who Was Your First Celebrity Crush?

I apologize for my lack of post yesterday. I was in Cincinnati on business travel and didn’t get back to my hotel room until 8pm to begin completing my REGULAR work. I had the opportunity to spend an entire day brainstorming with some wonderful people within my company but it was definitely work that falls under the extracurricular area. Do you have the opportunity to work on any extracurricular projects in your current job?

I walked in the door a few minutes ago after a long day at the office. I flew back this morning on the 6:30am flight from Cincinnati in hopes of being at my desk by 10am. FAIL.

Obama’s visit to NYC meant that the road were already shutdown and traffic was backed up all the way to Queens. It took an hour and 15 minutes to reach the office from LaGuardia. Oh well. Luckily I was sitting comfortably in a black car reading my latest novel, Something Borrowed.   This happens to be the same movie that is being filmed in my neighborhood! I saw Kate Hudson the other day in my building and then found out via some research and googling that she is the star. A perfect fit!

Today’s food was all over the place but overall enjoyable. Starbuck’s Perfect Oatmeal has become my go-to breakfast when I’m in an airport as it’s easy, safe, and very portable.

I enjoyed this with only a quarter of the fixins and a venti iced unsweetened Green tea. Absolutely delicious!

The rest of today’s eats included the usual Toasties salad and dinner was some delicious brown rice sushi while finishing work. I think i’ve finally found my favorite “whole in the wall” sushi place as the fish was fresh, the brown rice was in perfect proportion, and they included plenty of ginger. Tonight I enjoyed 3/4 of a Rainbow Brown Rice roll and an eel roll. Scrumptious!

Now, it’s time for Three Questions Thursday ala Iowa Girl!

1. Do you believe in ghosts? Believe it or not I really do. I think that spirits can stay behind. But I really don’t spend much time thinking about them.

2. Who was your first celebrity crush? Patrick Swayze, Dirty Dancing, black jeans, and a tree across the stream. Need I say more? 🙂

3. What’s your biggest pet peeve? People who aren’t hard workers. My parents raised both my brother and I with a very strong work ethic.

How about you? What are your answers?

Okay, it’s time for bed as I have 6 miles on the docket before a long day of meetings. Do you have anything fun planned this weekend? I have a Soul Cycle spin class Saturday morning compliments of the fabulous Fit Chick In The City, a playground build up in Harlem with the NY Junior League, a long run of at least 10 miles, and hopefully dinner with some friends.

Happy Friday!

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