Brrr. It's cold out there.....

No, this is not a post about Bring it On. This is a post about adventures up at Whiteface Mountain, near Lake Placid, NY (Home of the 1980 Winter Olympics)!

A lovely group of 11 (plus Dewey!) made the drive up there to celebrate President's Weekend in style. After 3 days of snowboarding, laughing and brutally cold temperatures, my body is certainly exhausted and I'm counting down the work day until I can crawl back in bed. Great weekend. Great friends. Tons of fun. I can't wait to get on the snow again. Maybe next time I'll get the hang of it a little more and not embarrass my pro of a boyfriend.

Jason and I riding the gondola to the top. Really the only tolerable way to go when the wind is kicking (ps. That cute mask I am wearing was sooo key that day - don't judge me).

Top of Little Whiteface.

Katie and I before we head down the scenic mile and half trail from the top of Lookout Mountain.

Group shot (minus Danny who had to go home early for family day) - Lance, Blake, Drew, Pretty Yan, Dewey, Katie, Jason, Neil, Ken and Me.

Birthday Cooking

Birthday girl is working hard drinking wine. Dewey really didn't like the Hello Kitty birthday hat, or the balloons.

Best couple shot of Blake and Lance. Jason's first New York Christmas tree!

It was a birthday party fit for a queen! Friday night a few of us got together for one of our cooking nights and to celebrate the beautiful Blake in all her birthday glory. When we usually get together we have to make these really terrible Whole Foods recipes for part of Blake's job. But, after many weeks of doing all we can to make those recipes edible, we decided to go a different route. Each of us submitted an ingredient and had to make a dish using one of the ingredients they did not submit.

This week's ingredients included avocado, crab boil, italian eggplant, fresh cranberries, goat cheese, and tomatillos. We ended up with such delicious creations! I used the avocado to make this delicious (and VEGAN) cake for the birthday girl. I do have to say that my favorite dish was the goat cheese and shrimp risotto. Way to go Lance. You really knocked that one out of the park. In terms of birthday celebrations, we had party hats, Hello Kitty plates and napkins, champagne, and of course a vegan birthday cake!

Can't wait for the next cooking adventure :)

Group shot before we ate. We all look tired because we were. Our dishes took a really long time to make and we didn't get to eat until about 10:30!

Get low, get low.

This past Sunday Jason and I grabbed our flashlights and headed underground into the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. The tunnel is officially the world's oldest subway tunnel and was dug in 1844 to eliminate traffic and pedestrian delays on the LIRR. It was a really cool tour, and I learned a lot about New York's history (did you know that Manhattan used to be a mountainous range? On the old mountain bases we now have the skyscrapers, in the valleys there are the shorter buildings. Think Financial district vs SOHO.) For those of you who have read Mole People, and are fascinated with all underground things NY has to offer, go on this tour. National Geographic is filming a feature on the tunnel starting next month. I can't wait to see it!

Jason climbing down and through the small opening to the tunnel.

Our guide (the big guy on the left) actually rediscovered this tunnel in 1980! Look at how little he used to be! Also, check out all the orbs... kind of spooky.

The tunnel roofs were painted white, but all the train soot turned it a much darker color over the years. These holes were how the smoke escaped.

A bunch of old things I saw in the tunnel.

Coney Island!

Over the long Labor Day weekend, I headed out to Coney Island to see what all the hype was about. While we did not encounter any freaks, we did visit the NY Aquarium, ride the Cyclone and ate a funnel cake. My neck still hurts from the wrath of the wooden roller coaster and the memory of the children we encountered at the aquarium is still proving to be quite effective birth control. The Cyclone was so much fun, and I feel I have now become a part of Brooklyn history!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to ride the Wonder Wheel because someone had to go for a training run. The NERVE!

I am pathetic

You can almost see my bicep bulging from lifting this monstrosity.

Last night I was Ms. Popular. Who triple books their Wednesday night? Seriously, who do I think I am?!

I ended my night at Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Williamsburg. This place is pretty awesome. You can order all these fancy beers in 0.5L, 1L or 1.5L sizes! THAT my friends is a lot of beer. I ordered a 1L of the daily special (which came with a free bratwurst!). I kid you not, my right arm seriously hurts today from lifting that giant mug. Sad.

It's a jungle out there

I just got back from Costa Rica with two of my really good girl friends. We stayed in Manzanillo, a small fishing village on the Caribbean, really close to Panama. Food was amazing. The scenery breath taking, and the bugs ridiculous. I can still hear the howler monkeys in my sleep.

This is me hoisting myself up onto the zip line. It's not easy being short.

Life was perfect.

We made it to the top of Volcan Irazu

Life imitating art.

Fun and Games

So plan was to get a bunch of friends together, add alcohol, and play board games all night long. What happened was we only got to Cranium and then went to the bar. Even though we didn't get to play Scrabble, we still had a fantastic night. 

Is his hand huge or her's ridiculously tiny?

How would you draw a group hug?

Fill in the blanks (_N  _ _ _L_   _   _A_) She got it before we could even flip over the timer! An Apple A Day!

Team Jess(y)

I miss him. So glad we got to hang out.

And they made fun of me for bringing 10lbs of delicious bean dip, but at the end of the night it was GONE.