Celebrating the Year of the Rooster

Preface: The past two weeks have certainly shook our nation and world to the core.  I am still working to educate myself on the issues and how to get more involved.  Because I am not the most knowledgeable on all subjects, I plan to keep politics out of this blog.  I will continue to post updates on my life in the city and yes, I may include some pictures of protests that I have attended, but these more light hearted posts do not mean that I am oblivious to what is going on.

Year 3 In New York City

Another post that’s better late than never.  The past year was spent traveling, running, and exploring all of New York – sounds a lot like year #1 and #2, right?  To be honest, there wasn’t too much change.  I continued to work for an awesome company, expanded my friendships within November Project, and squeezed as much out of my free time as possible.  As I mentioned on the 31st, I learned a little bit more about myself, appreciated my body thanks to the I Run This Body movement, and learned when to let go.  This last bit was tough in the sense of FOMO and friendships, but I realized (through many discussions and Elite Daily articles) that we can’t do it all and there comes a time in our lives that makes us realize what and who is important.

But here’s a look at what made my third year in New York City so wonderful and memorable.

Travel Check : Portland, Maine

Almost three months have passed since my trip to Portland, Maine and while I still can picture the delicious food we ate (yep and yep) and beautiful views we had (Instagram again for the win), most of the details are slowly slipping away.  To be honest, I think I’m drafting this simply so I can it to my travel list.

My friend Lauren is much better at the details and will probably have a must-see and do post published in no time, even though it took us 3 months to do so. (I’m pretty sure I had drafted an email to myself with all the bucket list restaurants and then the draft disappeared…maybe it was meant to be)

Last October, a few friends and I decided to take a trip up to Portland, Maine to explore the outdoors and eat our hearts out.  Lindsay and I are on a “need-to-do” east coast bucket list and Portland just so happened to be one of our destinations!  Sadly we didn’t make it to Acadia National Park, so I guess that’ll have to be another trip down the road.  For now, enjoy the Top Things to Eat & See in Portland, Maine!

Explorations

• Back Cove Running Loop (sunrise photo above): A 3.6mi loop perfect for a morning stroll or jog.  Since this trip was a week before the New York Marathon, I had about 8-10 miles scheduled and wanted to build up an appetite before our day of eats.  Lauren and I rambled around Portland, around this quasi-inlet, and back through a small farmer’s market.  Our friend Abby located a local spin studio to sweat it out, which was also an excellent find.
  • As mentioned above, we didn’t get a chance to explore the Acadia National Park and subsequently missed out on all the excellent hiking Maine has to offer.  Of course, we did walk our fair share along the streets and local shops, so we’ll call this trip a Portland-dense adventure.

• Two Fat Cats – Known for pies, pies, pies and other baked goods.
• Tandem Coffee & Bakery – Gas station turned quaint coffee joint

• HOLY DONUT – A VERY popular donut shop that is centered around the Maine Potato.  Open daily 8 am and features top-notch fried confections, making millions per year! {Maine Potato, Dark Chocolate, Sweet Potato, Vegan, etc}

As you can see, we went for the full sampling selection and yes, using the bottom right picture for scale, the donut is THAT BIG.

• Silly’s – Eclectic hole-in-the-wall place that is very vegetarian-friendly and excellent for brunch carbo-loading.  The prices are prime and the portions are even better!  Highly recommend the Berry Me In It + Eganator for a sweet and salty combination.
• The Standard Baking Co – Breads and goods make from scratch.  There should be no other way.
• Blake Orchard Juicery – When you are in the need of a detox from brews and baked goods.

• Portland Head Light, Fort Williams Park: Because why just have one light house? Of course, there are plenty more to explore, because why just have one lighthouse?

I highly recommend taking a picnic or picking up a top-notch lobster roll {Bite Into Maine}, walking/running along the water, or just sitting and staring out into the distance.  Maybe live a little and do all of the above.

• Where there’s a brewery (or two…or three…or four), there’s a way.  We visited three different breweries for tours and tastings and had a blast!  I’m not usually the one to booze throughout the day let alone the weekend but it was fun to uber around and sample some local (and not to mention popular) hops.
  • Austin Street Brewing
    • $2 – 5oz pours; $4 – 8oz pours
  • Foundation Brewing Company
    • $2 – 4oz pours; $4 – 10oz pours
  • Shipyard Brewing Co
    • $4 x flight (4 samplings)
  • Allagash Brewery
    • FREE Tour Tastings: White, Haunted House, Golden Brett, Interlude
  • Urban Farm Fermentory (a hippy take on the brewery game)
    • I skipped on any kombucha tastings but did try a healthy cleanse shot {raw apple cider vinegar, garlic, horseradish, ghost chili & habanero peppers, wildflower honey, ginger, turmeric}

Last but not least, the Maine feature – lobster rolls or as Lauren likes to say LOBSTAH.  Here at Eventide you can find one of the top lobster rolls in town (and on Eater’s 38 Essential American Restaurants).  This place is usually packed, especially on the weekends so expect to wait.  Always smart if you decide to go at 3pm like we did or are willing to stick around or even go for a walk.  They take down your cell # and give you a text when a spot is about to open up.

Do note that these rolls are different from Long Island lobster because they are served chilled and chunky.  I personally would stick to something out of NYC but that’s just my city snobbery.

With that, another travel recap in the books.  Anything you think we missed in Maine?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain

Life of Late ~ 1.6.17

Isn’t it lovely to wake up and see that the temperature has dropped 10+ degrees?  100% sarcasm right there.  I had planned out my weekend thinking “ok, 11 miles in the cold isn’t that bad, it’s only 27 max in the morning”.   Then I woke up and the HIGH for the weekend is in the high 20’s, which means ~10F/15F for the morning.  Ah the joys of running in the winter.

Stillllllllll drafting my year 3 in review + goals for 2017 + Maine weekend recap and while posting here may hold me accountable, I’m not promising anything (really to myself and my grandparents – sorry guys!) just yet.

For now, enjoy some of my favorite articles and videos from the last week:

Mashable ~ Mascot Attempts to Stay on Feet During Ice Rink Commercial Shoot ~ Oh my, this is right up my alley in terms of sense of humor and I was dying…you must watch until the very end.

Bon Appetit ~ Iced Turmeric Latte ~ Yes I love kale and am starting to love beets but a turmeric latte?  I may stick to my turmeric + vitamin D pills and call it a day.

^^ This on the other hand is always a happy day.  My sister and I used to fight about who would use the nut butter or butter first.  Good family memories, right? (source)

Cupcakes and Cashmere ~ “How to Make the Most of Your Career Goals This Year” ~ Tip: LinkedIn is a HUGE help but make sure not to treat it like your Twitter or Facebook feed.

Adidas ~ Break Free ~ Aw worthy in the adorable old person sense.

Grubstreet ~ Top Thai in New York ~ Because my friends are awesome and found this list to satisfy our Thai craving.

^^ Not related to Thai, but tacos are also tasty. 

PureWow ~ James Corden vs. Usain Bolt (and Owen Wilson) ~ Because days are made better by watching this content.

As for the rest of my weekend, I’m looking forward to a new-to-me Thai restaurant tonight, spin+birthday parties tomorrow, and a long run + movie on Sunday.  Surprisingly I’ve been to a number of movies – La La Land (hello Ryan Gosling), Star War’s Rogue One while I was home, Sing last week, and Hidden Figures this weekend.  Possibly the most exciting thing on my calendar is to visit the not-so-new-anymore Target downtown.  Yes, this is what weekend dreams are made of when you are an adult.

~ CARPE DIEM ~

A Basic Break for this SoCal Gal

Hopefully everyone had a grand New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  While a majority of folks are off from work today, I’ll be making my way back into my normal routine with one of my favorite strength workouts and then off to work.  Luckily I can try to tune into the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game to keep my mind off of those Monday blues.  So while I’m off responding to emails, here’s a little look at what I did back in California.