This past weekend, we celbrated our one year anniversary up at Lake Champlain. The weekend was all about relaxing. A liesurely Friday morning before hopping on a plane to Burlington, VT. Sleeping in and eating great breakfasts at the lovely B&B we stayed at. Enjoying the Sunday Times on the lawn. Exploring Burlington. Taking a tour of the lake.
It was a much needed vacation, and as for our anniversary, if the first year is the hardest, then this marriage thing is a cinch. Sure I was gone for the first few months in SF, and we bought a house and moved which was pretty stressful. But it still seemed pretty easy and great, so if it only gets easier from here, bring it on.
+ full photoset of the weekend
My only thought is what happened to is that somehow the kitties raided the garbage can. Otherwise, we might have two hairless cats on our hands.
Today, I didn't do a very good job preparing for my race. I got up with plenty of time in the morning, but didn't pack my bag ahead of time, so it wasn't until 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave that I realized I had left my gym bag at work on Friday, with my old pair of functioning goggles in it. Luckily, the race started late due to the weather, so it gave me time to run down the Sports Club at Chelsea Piers and pick up a pair there. Once we were in the water, the race was ok - pretty turbulent, much more waves that usual. But I guess I did pretty well because I came in 3rd in my age group.
Otherwise, the weekend was filled with lots of errands, work around the house, and discovering our first favorite neighborhood restaurant.
+ Full set of photos from the swim (taken by my every faithful cheerleader)
Our summer of fun is ending this weekend, when the carpenter comes to raise our deck. To be fair, we haven't been taking proper advantage of our lovely roof deck since we knew that this day would come, and therefore didn't stock up on the lawn furniture and snazzy grill quite yet.
You see, our building is starting its much needed roof work on Monday. And it is scheduled to last about 16 weeks. Now for those of you mathmaticians out there, you will realize that 16 weeks brings us into November (note: roof work not scheduled to be finished BEFORE hurricane season - if our roof was leaking in April, what's it going to be like in September?) That's a long time to be storing wooden planks in our living room. Theoretically, there should be some schedule set up so that once the roofers are done on our roof, we can replace the deck, but seeing as they're already starting 4 weeks later than the board told us, I don't have too much confidence in that.
Which brings me back to the idea I had when I started this post - the one thing I do have out on the deck is plants. Not a ton, but a few pots and a windowbox of herbs, and a big Japanese Maple that we're trying to wean back to life (heavy rains and hot sun not make plant happy). I was told that herbs don't do well in the kitchen because of the highly fluccuating temperatures. Unfortunately, that's probably the only place the cats are guaranteed not to get at them. Anyone know a good way to keep the pets away?
Over the weekend, we finally took Maddie for a shave, in hopes of keeping the fur balls under control. She looks very different, but I love how soft her fur is right now. Seeing all that skin though makes us confirm that we never want to see that we never want to see that much of Paris.
Yesterday, as I always (try to) do on the weekend around my birthday, Sam and I headed out to Coney Island for the Siren Festival. We got there early, chowed down some dogs at Nathans, and headed to the main stage to check out The Rogers Sisters, who put on a pretty good show. Afterwards, we headed to the beach for a while for a short nap. When we woke up, though, it started raining and my stomach started hurting, so we just gave up and headed home.
Four years that I've been in NYC for the festival, three years where I actually made it out (one year by birthday festivities lasted a wee bit too late the night before), and one year where I made it to the end of the night, so my odds are not that great when it comes to seeing the closing act.
For my actual birthday today, Sam suprised me with some dahlia cupcakes from Two Little Red Hens, and I planning on baking a pie with some rhubarb and rasperries procured from the farmers market yesterday for later. Maybe a movie or a visit to the Bastille Day celebrations. Nice and laid back day. And as always, Henry's End delivered a superb b-day dinner, just a few days early.
+ Full photo set
+ Last year's Siren Festival
An old fashioned game of flutterguts
Yesterday I headed out to Long Island to play in a frisbee tournament. My team played really well the first two games, but then we had two bye rounds which broke our rhythm. I hurt my back somehow in the morning (though I still played a decent amount afterwards), so I didn't join in in the game of flutterguts during the break, or butt wrestling with the other team after losing to them in the semi-finals.
The upside of the hurt back is that I don't have to feel guilty that the most productive thing I did today was laundry.
A few weeks ago, we saw An Inconvenient Truth and thought it was great and inspring (though depressing at the same time even though I've learned all the stuff in school) and one of the items the suggest everyday people can do is request green power from their power company. I had looked into this when researching green power for work (oh yeah, the added bonus of the job is I got reinspired about how my job does, in some way, make a difference in these matters), but it didn't seem like it was an option available to those of us in NYC on ConEd. Turns out I was wrong. Last night, Sam and I switched over from standard to green power, meaning that our energy will be supplied by wind and small hydro. It costs 1 cent extra per kwH and is NY Sales Tax-free. So go sign up and save the environment.
My dad once said that he feels tired just reading my weekend wrap ups. And its true that I generally try and squeeze a ton in, but that's because I work to much during the week to do anything besides eat and sleep once I get home. Frisbee games on weekday evenings? I'm lucky to leave work by 7, let alone be in Prospect Park and play frisbee for an hour. So Saturday morning, I decided to bike to swim practice down at the Y in Brooklyn Heights, then bike to Prospect Park to play frisbee in the early pickup game, where Sam would meet me to go to brunch. Boy did I feel pooped when I got to the game, let alone after I'd played a few games. Afterwards, I decided I needed a reward for doing all that before noon, and so Sam and I had a deliciously yummy and cool brunch at Dizzy's.
My ambition has limits though. After walking home and showering, I intended on motivating to run some errands in Manhattan. However, I instead snacked on leftovers from brunch and takeout from the previous evening while watching the Tour de France. Afterwards, it was off to the Brooklyn Museum for First Saturday and Dave Chapelle's Block Party. Boy does that movie rock!
Sunday, it was Brighton Beach for some open water swimming (note to self: start off swimming against the current, because you have to swim back at the end), and then to Coney Island for some hot dogs. Next stop for the day? The perfectly logical trip to the other side of Brooklyn to hit up Fairway, i.e. the reason we would consider owning a car. The one in Brooklyn is even better than the one in Harlem.
The occasion? My brother coming over for dinner. We attempted to have a nice dinner out on the deck, but the rain got the best of us. Thankfully, the thunder gave us enough warning to bring the table and food indoors.
Don't worry Dad, tomorrow I'm not planning on exhausting myself with any more sports. A nice day of work around the house, maybe a movie, and pizza and fireworks are in order.