MAY: Finally Starting to Recap

Well, it's been a crazy few months and to say that I slacked on blogging would be the biggest understatement ever.

The longer I pushed off writing, the more overwhelming the thought of catching up became. I considered just jumping in and starting with something more recent, but there are so many things I've done the past two months that I wanted to post about. So - here I am, writing what will most likely be the world's longest recap post.

When we got home from the Pittsburgh Marathon, it was my (and Melissa's) birthday week. Lucky for us, May 6 fell on a Wednesday this year - which meant starting my birthday with a November Project workout! It just so happens that I share a birthday with Melissa, Ali AND Kaitlin. Crazy!

(Birthday girls pretty in pink!)

That night Peter took me out for dinner at Toloache so we could try the guac trio and GRASSHOPPER TACOS! I was so excited to be adventurous and try the tacos and Peter was totally in (I think the fact that it was my birthday may have had something to do with it...) but unfortunately, these were a huge let down. I don't know why I was convinced a corn tortilla literally just stuffed full of crispy (incredibly salty) grasshoppers would be GOOD. Chapulines - no bueno. 

(SUCH A SPORT I LOVE HIM)

Luckily, the margaritas were strong and the guacamole was wonderful - I loved getting to sample the three different varieties. 1) Tradicional: Avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, serrano 2) Frutas: Avocado, pomegranate, Vidalia onion, mango, apple, habanero, Thai basil 3) Rojo: Avocado, tomato, red onion, chipotle, queso fresco. I was most excited for the Frutas, but my favorite ended up being the plain old Tradicional!

That weekend Melissa and I had a wonderful birthday brunch at Calle Ocho - a reservation I made months in advance to ensure we would have a celebration that included 2 hours of unlimited sangria with the purchase of a brunch entree (between $18 and $26). Yep, you read that correctly. The place was HUGE, the waiter was pretty attentive, and they let us stay for FOUR HOURS. 

The only thing better than the sangria was being surrounded by so many of my amazing friends. And maybe the basket of pastries that came out before our meals (shout out the the cheese filled dough balls which we asked for more of and then brought home in my purse. True story).  

From what I can recall, the food was prettty good too.

(My Long Island lovers)

(Ropa Vieja Hash, Fried Egg, Avocado, Crispy Sweet Potatoes)

(Wild Mushroom Paella, Guatemalan Green Bean Salad, Sweet Pea Vinaigrette)

That night, we went out to The Delancey, but there are no pictures, and that is probably for the best. 

The next morning, Peter and I laid in bed and couldn't figure out what the heck to eat. We decided on Le Pain Quotidien, which is literally outside of my apartment. I had never been, because while everything sounds like something I would love, it's a little on the pricey side. Peter got the avocado toast and I got the spring pea frittata - big fan! It all looked so pretty, the space is open and airy, and we ordered the bread basket that comes with Nutella and delicious jams. Mmm. 

The following Monday I got to take a free class for my "Birthday Month" at Uplift Studios - an all female fitness studio with classes and personal training. 

I took an Uplifting Strength class with Kat that was KILLER. Cardio and lots of weights. I was impressed and especially loved the variety and use of a timer/clock for each exercise. The studio that classes are held in are very small, and I felt a little cramped the whole time, but there are only around 10 participants in each class. 

(Tiny, but sufficient and loved the clock!)

What really blew me away were the locker rooms at Uplift - no need to bring your own lock, you'll get a key to a specific locker. Each lock has a cute little message on it, "You are BEAUTIFUL," "You are ENERGETIC," etc.

The locker room is full of everything you could ever need to get yourself dolled up after class - tons of hair products, blow dryers, straighteners, bobby pins, hair ties, q-tips, body spray, deodorant, razors. Not to mention the color scheme is GREEN - my favorite. 

The front desk was also really nice with some trail mix samples. The personal training space wasn't huge, but then again, there was only one person using it at a time! Uplift also offers a HIIT and "Sculpt Fusion" class. Uplift is located on West 24th Street and single classes are $34. 

Wednesday, May 13 I got to work at a Rangers playoff game at MSG, recording some GoPro footage. Even though I'm not a Rangers fan, there is really nothing like playoff hockey! The Rangers got the win that night, which was good from a content standpoint! 

Next up that weekend was the Brooklyn Half Marathon, which you can read about here. I got a PR and some major IT Band pain. And lots of beer. 

The day after the Brooklyn Half I was up bright and EARLY (which means something, coming from me) to head to Connecticut and watch my little baby yoyo sisterface graduate from college. College graduations are boring, but luckily Sacred Heart kept everything pre-name reading short and sweet. 

My mom and I never thought we would get out of the parking garage afterwards, but after about 20 minutes of not moving, we were able to get to the ferry. In typical Wolman fashion, we had a bottle of champagne to pop in the Bridgeport Ferry parking lot and then went directly to Danford's in Port Jefferson for a delicious meal and more celebratory drinks. 

(Port Jeff, you're so pretty!)

We all split some clams on the half shell and the pita trio for appetizers (Shrimp & Lobster Salad, Hummus, Avocado Sriracha). 

For an entree, I went with the Grilled Sword Fish which came with Quinoa, Tabouli and Bacon Onion Jam. 

My Dad got this beauty of an entree - Sea Scallops with Spatzle, Peas, Carrot, and Truffle Brown Butter. Why do restaurants insist on ruining things with truffle? Or more importantly, why do I not appreciate truffle like the rest of the world?! 

On May 20 Melissa took me to see Finding Neverland for my birthday! Beforehand, we found a place on Restaurant Row in Hell's Kitchen that has $5 sangria that is BOMB. Peter and I have been back since then and tried a few of the tapas and they were really good! Pro tip: order the stuffed mushrooms.

Oh right, the name of the place is Sangria 46. It's on 46th St., go figure. 

Finding Neverland was really great - they kept the "flying" to a tasteful minimum and a lot of the songs were really catchy! Plus, it's a really sweet story. 

(Thank you for such an amazing birthday present Melissa!!)

Friday of that weekend was the moment I had been waiting for - my post marathon and half-marathon massage!! I had a gift card and was able to get an hour long deep tissue massage, which was heavenly. It felt great, but part of me wished it was a little more intense - I didn't feel like any of my knots and kinks had really been worked out. 

Afterwards, I lounged around the hot tub area and read a little in my big comfy robe. 

Memorial Day weekend Peter and I were picked up by his parents to head to Pennsylvania for his great aunts 90th birthday party. It was really nice getting to meet more of his family. The party was at a really cute restaurant where they fed us SO MUCH FOOD it was unreal. Then we went back to the house for even more dessert. We also met this little guy (girl) Sophie - HOW CUTE AND TINY?! 

She peed a lot. Not on me, luckily.

Then we went and saw Peter's brother and wife's new house - I fell in love with their stove, because it's super vintage chic and MINT GREEN. 

Then, Karl and Sarah drove us to Philly for a weekend at Peter's friends apartment. Holy cow are apartments in Philly different than apartments in NYC. 

Sunday we woke up and went for brunch at Gaslight. Some of us played mixologist and combined the Bloody Maria (tequila!) with the Smoked Bloody Mary for a Smoke Bloody  Maria. Yum. 

Peter's chicken and waffles were so photogenic! Actually, everyone's food looked amazing. I went with the Reuben Benedict and of course,..Peter and I split some cornbread. 

Next, we went to a pop-up beer garden which is my favorite thing to do - outdoor day drinking, and tons of different drink options. They also had jenga and some other games. And look who we ran into! 

(Hiiiii Sam!) 

Next it was time for some rooftop beers and relaxation - the sunset was beautiful, we listened to music, and I discovered how amazing Hell or High Watermelon beer is! 

('Merica!) 

When we eventually started getting hungry, we bounced back and forth between different types of food before settling on, shocker, Mexican! Peter's most favorite Mexican to be exact - Mad Mex. Their margaritas are HUGE but apparently only lethal when you get them frozen. I opted for on the rocks, but it was still delicious.  

But the best part? HOLY GUACAMOLE! They had a special guacamole that had chipotle and raisins and walnuts and omg I'm drooling thinking about it. It was different than any other guac we'd ever had and we LOVED IT. 

(This picture does NOT do it justice)

Think we were done? Nope. Next we met up with some people at a bar whose name I can't remember. Something about some animal. I think the Happy Rooster maybe? 

Then we went to Morgan's Pier - where seemingly every 20-something in Philly was hanging out. There were tequila shots ordered. And poured in beers. Which was probably a good indicator of how we would wake up feeling the next morning. 

This was the weekend I began snapchatting Peter as a giant coffee head.  Because he drinks so much coffee, eventually he's going to turn into a mug of it. This reminds me of the Gushers commercials. 

(Cute, babe)

We got lunch at Monk's Cafe when we finally woke up on Monday (burgers, 'Merica), and then stopped at Scoop DeVille - the amazing soft-serve ice cream place I discovered when I was in Philly for the Draft last summer. You can mix in whatever you want from the most overwhelming large list of toppings I've ever seen. It's pretty great. 

Then, it was time to head to the bus, ew. We made great time, and I slept most of the way home. 

Our next big activity was just 2 days later - I got us student rush tickets to go see Les Mis! Again, we stopped at Sangria 46 pre-show. 

Les Mis is by far my most favorite show EVER. And the fact that Ramin Karimloo was starring as Jean Valjean made it even more exciting. We were in the second row, but far stage right. It didn't take away too much of our view though. Ugh. Les Mis. Such a classic. 

2 days after THAT we got to go see Ed Sheeran in Queens! HOLY AMAZEBALLS. We both loved it (and the venue was awesome!) 

Saturday May 30 was my last day in NYC before my crazy work travel started, so naturally, it included lots of time spent with Peter eating Mexican food and drinking margaritas :) We discovered that Mole has some pretty damn good nachos. 

Well there you have it- May. 

On May 31st I set out on what would be a 17 day work trip - followed by another 6 day work trip. 

That's up next!