Best Picture!

My brother took this awesome shot while he and Nico were visiting last week. So happy I still have my awesome ups! All those technical dancing, classical ballet and endless modern ballet classes proved to be worth it while walking across the Williamsburg Bridge for an impromtu frog jump.

Newest Family Member

This is my sweet 80+ year old grandmother -- isnt she the cutest!? I totally agree. :) Anyways, she went to the ASPCA and adopted this adorable 6 year old rat terrier mixed mutt to be best friends with. I swear little Mila (pronounced: Mee-Lah) down there is smiling the biggest happiest smile ever. I'm so thrilled for both my grandmother and for adorable Mila. They will share a very fun and happy life together.

Adopting dogs is always the best way. My 2nd pooch will for sure be a rescue. They are the BEST!

Welcome to the family, Mila - I already love you!

Weekend Wrap Up

The crazy 7 year old was back for a few days this last week. I just love this kid and its so easy for him and his Dad to come up and visit for a few days from Washington, DC. We take those days and maximize with as many activities as possible.

Egg is Nico's FAVORITE breakfast place for french toast in the Nabe.  I 100% agree!

On our walk to cross over the williamsburg bridge, we came across this funny faced building.

I'm just a little proud that he wanted to buy chucks to match mine.

My Brother. The incredible photographer and one of the best people I know.

New Order was playing down the street, so we decided to stop in, dance and sing Bizarre Love Triangle at the top of our lungs.

Friday Tunes

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s “Better Days”

 Their 3rd Album and they once again made me smile.

BEST QUOTE EVER

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

Name the man who said this........

Goals!

I don't know about you, but, staying on track with working out is tough. I love to run outside, but, with this crazy heat and humidity in the city, its been tough to wake up at 5am to go out there and bang out some miles safely. I use the treadmill in our building gym, but, its just not the same. I find it much easier to stop on a treadmill, strangely.

So, with that said... I'm starting again. I'm starting my goal of doing 15+ miles a week. I used to do this with no problem, but, life gets in the way and I sleep longer or work later and welp, working out gets set to the side. NO MORE! I need to get used to my morning view (picture below) when it rains or make myself get to the track when the weather is tolerable.

I eat well, now I just need to treat my body better!

(this post is meant for me to read over and over and over again so I'll DO IT!)

Weekend WrapUp

Ive been keeping my phone in my pocket a lot on the weekends and while it doesn't lead to a great Weekend WrapUp - it does make me enjoy my weekend with zero distractions! With that said, we had our friend Tom come up (again) so we did some exploring and tried to escape the disgusting humidity by heading to the beach or in air conditioning. All in all, it was once again, a success.

We started our weekend by heading to Fatty Cue's in South Williamsburg. The food was good. The ambiance was really fun, but, they RUSHED you out of there with lightening speed. I could understand if there was a line out the door, but, the restaurant wasn't even half way full. We ordered 3 small plates, two veggies and two meats -- and were still out of there in one. hour. Too fast. THAT and the check wasn't cheap. In my opinion, if I'm going to go out to dinner and drop a pretty penny - give me time to chat with friends and enjoy my time. No, I'm not done with that plate yet!

 

New artwork in the hood - Tommy and I had to partake in a photo shoot

Walking down under the bridge in sweltering heat. However, I just love the Williamsburg bridge and took in the beautiful sunset.

To get out of the city, we took an hour drive to Jones Beach to see the atlantic and give my awesome panther towel a chance to see the sun. (That's my sis by the way, isn't she the prettiest?)

Friday Tunes

Dan Croll - In/Out 

 "The tropical bliss that Dan Croll exudes on, “In/Out” is going to have you foaming at the mouth for the palm trees and beaches. If you’re stuck in the urban sprawl of big buildings and concrete today, you might want to skip on this because it might make you wish you were somewhere else. This song is going to be huge…." (hillydilly.com) 

I completely agree - I want to leave the massive skyscrapers of 107 degree NYC right now and sit my butt on some sand with a fruity drink (with umbrella) or a beer. Hellooooo weekend! 

 

 

 

My Life In Pictures

In this day in age we love to take pictures, but, for the most part, they stay on some sort of website never to be enjoyed by yourself or friends, unless they're stalking you on facebook (which I'm not on). I'm happy that I have made these books of the years photos since 2008. I put all the photos I have taken that year (I upload them every few months) and dump them into a picture storing site (I use snapfish.com, but, you can use any of them) and then make a book of your years events! We have some for trips we've taken, but, for the most part its a month by month photo journal of things we've done. I put them on a coffee table when we have guests over and its fun for them to find themselves in our books from time to time. My grandmother loves them since "looking at the computer hurts her eyes". Also, I want to be able to show our future children that Mom and Dad were WAAAAAAY cooler than them when they are complaining and whining in their teenage years. :)

Do you make picture books?

Yep, that's me and friends doing aerobics with Richard Simmons

Of course Mack likes to bite look at the books too.

Carrie's Diner - Dinner Menu This Week

I started planning out dinner for the week a few weeks ago and found that it really helps with organizing and staying committed to healthy eating. I send the weekly dinner menu out to my husband and sister - she likes to pick the days to come over and have dinner and we then know every night what we are eating. Because we're New Yorkers, you can't just go to the grocery store and buy all the necessary ingredients and bring them home, there is simply no room to store it all in our tiny apartments. So, after work, I walk by the grocery store next to my subway stop, pick up the ingredients for that nights dinner (Ill pick up all the protein on the same day, however), and then buy and cook for that night. Notice how I have quinoa two nights  -- that means I'll make double so I can have it for the next nights round.

Check out this weeks menu:

Monday - Stuffed Mediterranean Baked Chicken with tzatziki rice
Tuesday - Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with baked lemon chicken (this is nice with pork chops too)

Wednesday - shells pasta with broccoli rab and Italian sausage - we'll put in picnic basket and go to the park to watch the outdoor movie.

Thursday - BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

 This helps with our weekly meals and it keeps us on track with eating healthy and not ordering seamless every night!

Weekend Wrap Up

What did you do this weekend? Me? Went out until 3:45am in the city (couldn't tell you a single bar we went to) on Friday night which then made it an easy decision to stay inside the rest of the weekend and watch Jenji Kohan's new Netflix show, Orange Is The New Black. All of it. Every episode this weekend. Suffice to say, It's really good and the cast is perfect.

I hightly recommend.

Friday Tunes

Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites 

 

 Happy Friday, Friends! 

Kirbo, they are playing tomorrow in Prospect Park -- wanna go? 

+ Pool = Cool!

Have you heard of Kickstarter? I look at it from time to time because it is a really cool idea, however, I never see anything Id like to actually contribute my hard earned money for. That was until I saw the +Pool about a year prior and was instantly obsessed with it and signed up for email updates, when and if they ever had any. When I then read they went to Kickstarter to collect funds to make the +Pool happen, I jumped at what I could do to help! Well, it looks like they reached their goal and the +Pool is actually happening in the East River in NYC/Brooklyn! How cool does this look?

 

Well, I contributed and if this epic pool does get made, I will have my name on a tile for as long as its there. I think that's pretty cool. So, if you ever go, try to find my name! OK, that doesn't sound too fun, but, I am super excited for this because of two things... 1. I LOVE POOLS and 2. I can brag that my tiny contribution helped. 

Blurb from Thrillist.com: 

 That fact that it's able to push as far as the fifth spot despite not exactly being real yet should let you know just how awesome this thing COULD be. It's a floating pool in the East River that cleans all the dead dolphins and mobsters out by way of a science-y filtration system, and lets you frolic unencumbered by pollution in a way that hasn't been possible in like 100yrs.

Fire Lemon Kick

This lemonade recipe is so so so yummy. I got the idea from Southern Living magazine then put my own spin on it with alcohol. Enjoy!!

Ingredients: 
16 Lemons
Sugar
Water
Rosemary
Vodka 

Directions: 

1. Slice Lemons in half.

 2. Dip halves of lemons into sugar on a plate face down.

3. Place lemons (face down) on grill on med high heat for 8-10 min. Make sure you are able to see grill marks and they are very soft.

 4. While waiting for the lemons to get their perfect grill marks, mix equal parts sugar and water to make a simple syrup. Once sugar granules have disappeared place a sprig of rosemary in and let cool. 

5. Once BOTH the simple syrup AND lemons have cooled, place a mesh strainer over your pitcher and squeeze all the lemony goodness out of your lemons.

6. Mix in your simple syrup and 2 cups of vodka (you can add more... lots more if you want) add ice cubes and stir.

7. DRINK UP and ENJOY! I loved how you could taste the grilled sugary lemons, it added such a summery taste!

Relaxation Week with (almost) No Phones

This weekend I totally just relaxed down south, wore over-sized sunglasses and annoyed my husband and dog. It was pretty perfect. I didn't even have my phone on me 90% of the time -- love that! I also totally beat Scottie in our usual wiffle ball game against each other. When he does connect though, it flys over the roof and I get mad because like, I'm a major league pitcher and total try to strike him out! :)

ooooh, I made the BEST vodka infused lemonade EVER this past weekend. I'll share recipe tomorrow.

Saturday in Coney Island

Since it is nearing the 4th of July there is only ONE thing I look forward to besides celebrating our country's independence -- NATHAN'S HOTDOG EATING CONTEST! So, we took our Saturday and got on the subway out to Coney Island. Those dogs are GOOD! I won't tell you how many we ate.

take the F back to Brooklyn -- its almost all above ground and awesome.