ashleyd /

La Esquina NYC and A Giveaway

Good morning! Waking up this morning was quite difficult as last night we had a wonderful date night with Frank and Melissa. They made reservations at one of their favorite restaurants, La Esquina! Bo and I have talked about enjoying one last Mexican meal before we leave as we think finding delicious Mexican will be quite difficult in London and Geneva. La Esquina Brasserie definitely delivered! Even though the restaurant is 8 years old, based on their packed house on a Monday night they are clearly doing something right still.

La Esquina

I couldn’t resist ordering their classic margarita, El Macizo Margarita! It was the perfect mix of salty and sweet due to the orange juice!

La Esquina Margarita

We ordered a number of small plates to share during the course of the night including their street corn, ensalada mixta, ceviche, rice & beans,  and pescada taquitos! We avoided the more expensive main course items which worked perfectly.  We left the restaurant 2 hours later happily full and didn’t break the bank.

La Esquina Dinner

Now, in other fun, as promised with my Instagram followers, I want to share a fun giveaway with you all! I love workout DVD and know that I will start using them even more in Geneva, however when packing this weekend I found that I have a few duplicates! I wanted to share the collection with one lucky reader who will be able to use these and enjoy inside workouts this summer during the hottest of days or this winter during the snowy, icy days!

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One lucky randomly selected  reader will win all 8 DVDs including 4 Physique 57 and 1 Exhale Core Fusion DVD!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! 

To enter, leave a comment on this post about your favorite workout DVD or online workout you have done previously.

For 3 additional optional entries you an do the following!

  • Like A Healthy, Happier Bear on Facebook
  • Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment here stating that you are now following.
  • Tweet about the giveaway making sure you use @healthyhappier in the Tweet and then leave a comment on here letting me know.

A winner will be chosen on Thursday July 11th at noon! Good luck! Also, this giveaway is open only to U.S. residents. 

 

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ashleyd /

Visiting New York City: A Day In Brooklyn

My parents are in town and that means we’ve been going non-stop! It’s so much fun but holy heck I’m ready for a nap.

For the past year I’ve heard about Egg from my parents. Last year during a snow storm my parents ended up having an amazing breakfast experience there due to the food and overall staff kindness and needless to say they’ve been talking about it ever since. Yesterday we ended up spending a perfect afternoon in Brooklyn complete with brunch, fresh air, flowers, and a museum visit!

Here is our itinerary in case you want to replicate our Brooklyn afternoon:

Egg Restaurant (Williamsburg, cash only, no reservations) A laid back, casual, little bit hipster brunch spot in Williamsburg that sources their ingredients locally and includes complimentary delicious beignets with every meal. The highlights were their French press coffee, mint roasted grapefruit, candied bacon, and home made biscuits. The line may look intimidating but it moves pretty quickly. 

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Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (Prospect Heights, $8 donation requested) This is truly a hidden treasure! I’ve never heard much about it but it really is one of New York’s best kept secrets! Even with the recent rains and overcast skies it was a beautiful way to spend two hours and so relaxing compared to the speed of the city.

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Brooklyn Museum ($12 suggested donation, right next door to the Gardens) The Brooklyn Museum is another hidden treasure that I’ve run by more than a few times but never visited before. The museum itself is best known for it’s Egyptian wing which was incredible! It amazed me that they included a mummy outside of the sarcophagus and some really detailed videos describing the processes they used to restore them. In addition, we spent time seeing the John Singer Sargent watercolor exhibit and the Rodin collection.

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Overall it was a great afternoon in Brooklyn and I would suggest everyone enjoy a similar afternoon whether you’re a local or just in town visiting!

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ashleyd /

A Whirlwind Friday

Happy Saturday! Here’s a sneak peak of how we spent our Saturday.

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It was quite the whirlwind Friday! My parents really know how to keep me moving when they are in town, that’s for sure!

After a less than stellar 10 mile run with Katie yesterday in preparation for the Brooklyn Half Marathon next weekend, my parents and I headed out to New Jersey to see my “Jersey family” and my cousin’s adorable 10 month old, Sedona. I really don’t have baby fever in the least except for when she’s in my arms. Ask me any other day and the answer is “a good solid 3-4 years” but yesterday, you could have let me take her home and I would have been just fine!

I mean how can you not love this adorable little ball of joy. She is at such a fun age right now, telling everyone hi and making sure she’s the center of attention. Her flavor of the week is lemons. No kidding. This kid loves biting, sucking, gnawing, and entertaining herself with a lemon piece. IMG_2722

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We also had some deep, serious conversations. “Sedona your mom won’t mind you coming to Geneva with me will she?”

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As you can tell, she’s jealous of teeth now that her first two teeth have started making their presence known.

After going out to Jersey and back we had just 30 minutes to change clothes and walk over to Raymi for a happy hour with a few of our friends. It was SO much fun for my parents to meet our friends after hearing about them for the last 4 years. Unfortunately not everyone could make it but it was still a wonderful night filled with lots of laughs and great conversation!

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Our “happy hour” was supposed to last until 7 but some how at 11pm we found ourselves finishing dinner. Once again Raymi was perfect for a crowd and each bite was delicious. I especially loved the plantain chips, ceviche sampler, the steak, and their take on seafood paella. Their happy hour special for mojitos wasn’t bad either!

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What’s your favorite happy hour special?

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