Trip to the zoo

A few weeks ago my mom and cousin came to visit me in New York. Unfortunately they scheduled their trip during the awful heat wave of 2011! With temperatures well above 100, it was tough to be a tourist and not keel over from heat stroke. I'm pretty sure I didn't stop sweating for a good week straight. It was gross.

Anyhow, when a failed attempt to visit the Bronx Zoo was upon us (sidenote: I HATE weekend subway construction), we ventured to Central Park Zoo instead. It's much smaller, but we still managed to see a few cool things!

Momma and I

These guys are talking to each other!

A couple of bats, just hanging around

Pretty bird

Spring is here!

Kat and I had a little photo shoot in Central Park the other weekend. So pretty :)

Snow Day!

In case you've been living in a Florida bubble, it snowed in the Northeast yesterday. I caught some of it on camera. I've never wanted a sled more after watching the kids (and some parents) on the hills in Central Park. Who's with me?

Trees in Central Park.

Bridge in Central Park

Brownstones in Carroll Gardens

Benches in Central Park

1 down, 8 to go.

This morning I dragged my tired butt out of bed at the crack of dawn in order to run a fun 4 mile race in Central Park. The good news is I am now one race closer to running the NY Marathon (you have to run 9 qualifying races for guaranteed entry), the bad news it was freaking cold out there! I'm talking really, really cold. My finger nails still hurt. Finger. Nails. I think they said it "felt like" 5 degrees or something really absurd. I looked ridiculous running it, too. Running tights, thermal shirt under a fleece under a windbreaker, scarf and topped off with a pink hat. I couldn't keep the boys off of me.

Spent the rest of my day curled up in bed reading the NY Times, drinking Yoo-Hoo. Ah, Sundays.

It was a Central Park Saturday

Saturday was such a wonderful day. The sun was shining and it felt amazing out (well, in the shade). We started out with some donuts from the Doughnut Plant. I had a blueberry and banana pecan. They were both absolutely amazing, although I preferred the banana pecan one just a bit more.

Leaving stuffed we headed up to Central Park. I have been to Central Park many times in my three years in NY, but there is still so much I have never done there! We stumbled upon this Chess/Checkers pavilion where you can just sit and play a game. It was so much fun. There were so many old men just enjoying their day playing. It really was beautiful up there too.

After I won our game, we headed towards the boat house. With a brief stop in the fountain we arrived feeling refreshed. The paddle boats was not nearly as relaxing of an experience as one might assume. You are stuck in this small pond with about 50 other boats that have drivers who absolutely cannot control their boats. Despite this, the experience was beautiful and very enjoyable - even though sister struggled to row the boat backwards. haha.

It was such a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

work it out

Saturday I spent 3.5 hours of my day working out in Central Park with a friend, and about 500 other women (and maybe 6 men). While this may seem crazy, I was at Self's Workout in the Park event. It was a great event. They had all these different classes that you could take and a bunch of booths with fun freebies. My favorites were the Urban Rebounding and the Stiletto Strength class where I learned the Single Ladies dance (watch out Beyonce!). I celebrated my post workout buzz with a nap and french fries. 

I'll be back next year.