Thank you Mallories and Matt Matt for a wonderful birthday present — Homemade heart shaped CAROB ALMOND BUTTER CUPS!
Can you tell it is heart shaped from the picture? Mmmmm…. FYI, my birthday is Saturday, March 21!
Last year, Mallory made me homemade peanut butter cups — complete with a delicious cookie shell! Also, little banana bread chocolate pieces. The year before, loaf of BANANA BREAD! You might remember the story of me eating it straight from the box on my walk home from the post office. Good times.
Back to this year – um, YUM! I LOOOOOVE carob, so much that I tend to talk about it to anyone who will listen. I can’t buy bags of carob chips because I eat the entire bag, so I am limited to getting it as a topping when I go out for frozen yogurt — which is very often in the warmer months!
And Mallory was just telling me about the delicious almond butter she and my brother got from Whole Foods. That’s what she used and it was perfect, gooey and delicious — just how I like it! I popped two in my mouth as soon as I got them and had 2 more with breakfast this morning.
Beautiful Night in NYC, Rollerblading, Walking, Shred
Last night was such a beautiful and warm night in New York, so the boy and I decided to skip the gym and go for a long walk. We walked up Pier 1 at 70th street and then along the Hudson River uptown and it was so wonderful. There were so many people out running, walking, biking and rollerblading.
I am SO excited for the entire spring and summer with all this at my fingertips! I plan to walk, run, rollerblade and relax out there! Luckily the path is smooth so Missy and I can take our rollerblades with no fears.
Last summer Missy and I had some interesting experiences with our rollerblades — the highlight (lowlight?) being in Central Park, unaware that there would be steep hills, speeding downhill at super fast speeds with no idea how to stop. I was SCREAMING “MELISSAAAA, MELISSAAAAAAAAAA!“, unsure if she was in the same precarious situation as I was. She was. A woman with a baby carriage had to run out of my way — luckily my screaming alerted her. I feared for my life. I looked to my right — wooden fence. I looked to my left — metal fence. I knew the only way I could stop was to crash into one of the fences. Which would hurt less? I decided on wooden (in retrospect I believe this was the wrong choice), but luckily it never came to the point of me crashing. The ground finally leveled. We took a break and decided it couldn’t get that bad again, so we should get back on the trail and skate some more. Not a minute later we were in the same situation. A group of children on some sort of trip were walking across the road and I was headed straight for them. I was going to run over children. Luckily I was able to get around them as they started to head off the path. We took off our rollerblades and walked home.
And the first time we skated last year, on the boardwalk, someone told us that we looked terrified for our lives. We were! So obviously, I am looking forward to skating on this smooth, flat surface. I also hope to get up early and run outside there! And of course more long walks to meals with the boy. I love warm weather!
I have another idea I would love to try out. The path along the Hudson River runs all the way from Battery Park City (where I work) to the Upper West Side (where the boy lives). I just looked it up, and it is about 5 miles between work and his apartment. Now I really want to walk home from work on the river! AND I want to wake up early and walk TO work once the weather is nice! How long do you think a 5 mile walk would take? I’m thinking an hour and a half – NOT BAD if it means avoiding the subways and getting in my eksusize while going where I need to go.
I used to walk to and from my job that was 2.4 miles away from my apartment every day, even in the cold weather. I feel like once I changed jobs and started taking the subway I stopped being as fit. So I am excited to have this 5 mile walk every now and then! If I do it twice in a day I will have 10 miles walked and can just relax when I get home, no gym needed!
Back to last night – we walked until we reached the entrance to Riverside Park. At that point, we ventured out into the streets and strolled along, admiring the beautiful brownstones and thinking about where to go for dinner. We walked and walked, had dinner and walked home and even though I was so tired I knew I had to figure out the DVD player so I could go back to Level 1 of the Shred.
I played around a little and found a way to get the DVD player to work (but in black & white) — the only problem is that it means the cable box will not work. So I have to move the cords back and forth. While this solution is okay for now, I need to figure this out for the long term so everything can be plugged in at the same time.
But I was able to do Level 1 which was most important right now. It felt so good to go back to where I currently am with my fitness level — and I will be able to do it every day. In black & white, but who cares. Phew.