Visit to See Cousin Sue in NM

I just got back from an amazing trip to New Mexico to see my cousin, Susan. We had a blast. It was a perfect trip.

I left my apartment in NYC at 4:45 am via a shuttle to get my 8 am flight to Dallas at LaGuardia. I felt like a zombie. I made it in plenty of time for my flight. I switched planes for the flight to Albuquerque from Dallas. Sue picked me up at the airport and I'm sure I looked pretty exhausted. I perked up when I was outside in the beautiful warm and sunny weather.

After dropping off my bags, we went out for a snack and coffee and chatted for a while. Later, we went to dinner, stopping first to have a drink on the roof and enjoy the sun. Then we had some delicious greek food.

The next day, I spent the day in Santa Fe and loved it. Armed with my Lonely Planet book on Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos, I took a walking tour of all the museums, shops and sampled some food and local beer along the way. The Georgia O'Keefe museum was small, but very good. I met Sue for a drink at the Coyote Cafe and then dinner. We stopped at Borders to look at some books, too.

On Saturday, we headed to Ojo for a yoga class and soaking in the hot springs. Our yoga class was held in a yurt and you could hear the frogs croaking outside. It was amazing. Our teacher, Deanna, was soft spoken, patient and kind. The other women in the class traveled from Santa Fe to take her class. Everyone was very nice.

After the class, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the hot springs. We tried all of them and they were amazing. We tried to get into the hot tub, but it was way too hot. When people came out of it, their skin was read up to wherever the water stopped. I don't know how they did it! Since the hot tub was too hot, we each grabbed a hammock and wished we had a book to read. The hammocks were very comfy and there was a cool breeze blowing. I could have fallen asleep there.

Our bellies started to rumble, so we got showered and changed into our regular clothes and went to the restaurant. It took me a long time to pick what I wanted because it all looked so delicious. I settled on Mayan tacos and Sue got the fish tacos. Both were excellent.

On the way home, we stopped at a flea market where I purchased a photo of the mountains from a local artist. I wanted to take the mountains home with me because they made me feel so peaceful. From there, we stopped for ice cream in a funky town called Madrid. It was like nothing I have seen before. Lots of cool artsy shops and people, but not in a New Yorky way. It was different, and very interesting. That night we had dinner at a French restaurant with Bill and Gage. It was really fun.

The next day, we picked up Gage from Bill's and headed to the Tent Rocks for a hike. Gage led the way most of the time as we weaved through small paths between the rocks. When we got to the top we sat for a little while to admire the amazing view. On the way down, Gage told me all about his favorite book series which is based on Greek myths. He was so passionate and enthusiastic about the books, it made me want to read them, too.

In the afternoon, we headed to a birthday party for one of Sue's neighbor's daughters. There were drink boxes and candy and a pinata of a mermaid. Watching the kids swing the stick at the thing was a little scary for me, but no one got injured thankfully!

When the party was over, we went across the street to Sue's house and she made us a delicious chicken dinner that we ate outside on the patio. What a perfect way to end the day!

We had such a great time, so I was sad to leave. There is a yoga retreat led by the yoga teacher we had in July. Might go back for that. Can't wait to go back!

Easter 2010

This year, Easter was a little quieter than usual, but we still had a great time at my parents' house in NJ. I haven't gotten the pictures from my father, so I don't have any to post here! Hopefully, I'll get those soon.

Anyhow, Kathryn and George and I headed out to the burbs via NJ Transit, which can be an adventure in itself. The train was full, so we couldn't all sit together. George sat next to a very interesting and angry man who loved to admire and play with his beaded bracelets. Kathryn and I were watching from the seats next to them. What a character that guy was!

It was a perfect day -- the weather was warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We had shrimp and veggies and wine out on the screened in porch. It was nice to be out of the city. Aunt Kathryn arrived just before we headed out to the porch. A little while later, Jeff appeared.

When the main meal was ready, we headed to the dining room and enjoyed all the food that my parents' and sister cooked. My sister is a pro at making sedek -- it's creamy and sweet and delicious. There was ham and potato salad and fruit and other yummy things. Afterward, we had my sister's delicious cheese cake, some nut and poppyseed bread and chocolates among other treats.

After dinner, we hung out for a bit. Then, Kathryn, George and I headed back to the city on NJ Transit.

A couple of weekends ago, two of my girlfriends and I had a ski weekend at Windham. It was that weekend when there was supposed to be a big snow storm, but of course it missed where we were and stayed south, so no fresh snow for us.

We stayed at cute little hotel that had an indoor hot tub and pool. After a long day of skiing, there is nothing better than a hot tub. We skied for two days. The first day we were just getting used to east coast icy conditions. We started off with some green trails and moved on to harder ones.

The weather was frigid. We had all of our layers on and heaters in our gloves and boots. I had to wear two scarves! Any piece of exposed skin burned when the wind hit it. It was difficult to keep your face covered.

The mountain was crowded and the conditions were icy, but we had a blast just the same. As we got more comfortable with the cold and the conditions, we were shooshing past the others. At 4 pm when the lift closed, we headed back to the hotel for some time in the hot tub and then dinner.

We picked a local restaurant called Horton House or something because Carrie was craving steak. It was a cozy, woodsy place with a big fireplace. We sat near the fire place and enjoyed the locals. Larissa got a photo of a man in a red checkered shirt and overalls. Another man in his 70s or 80s grabbed his wife to dance to "Mony Mony" that was being played by a live band of men in their 60s. It was quite a sight!!

We skied on Sunday and then piled into Larissa's Outback to head back home. It was an excellent weekend.

Having trouble with Blogger tonight. Photos to come!

Sledding at Columbia

On February 10, a big snow storm hit NYC and the tri-state area. Usually, everyone gets all excited and we get a little dusting or something, but this time the storm was big.

My job let us out early at 2 pm, and I am was looking for someone to play in the snow with -- maybe a snowball fight or possibly sledding. I checked in with my friends and Annique was sledding with Thalia near Columbia. I quickly threw on my ski gear and headed uptown to 116th street to check it out.

The hill was covered with students, family and people of all ages with various kinds of substitutes for sleds -- plywood, plastic bags, tupperware containers and, of course, the famous lunch tray. Thalia had a proper sled, purple plastic, so we used that.

The hill at Riverside park was packed and you couldn't even see NJ past the Hudson because of the snow and clouds. The hill was really a double hill, a big one at the top a flat part and a smaller one that led to the road next to the river.

Annique and I had a couple of amazing runs. One of which we nearly hit a tree and then a man in overalls. He wouldn't move and steering was difficult!! We avoided both obstacles and ended up in a heap at the bottom of the hill.

After that we headed to a Norwegian restaurant near the Law school and had some dinner and some warm cookies for dessert. They offered "free sled parking" with your meal. All in all a great snow day!

Anti-Valentine's Day Paprikash

My first attempt to make Great-Grandma Andrews's chicken paprikash all by myself. I think I did a great job at least for having never done it before. Grandma Elsie would have been proud. Of course, there were several phone calls to my mother for emergency assistance, but generally all went well. I mostly cook vegetarian stuff, so this was not my usual kind of meal.

Chopping took up a lot of the day. Five onions! Four cucumbers, green peppers and fresh tomatoes. By the time dinner rolled around I was exhausted and wondering how women in the past did two big meals a day all the time.

Another challenge was my teeny kitchen with no counter space. It comes complete with a teeny stove and teeny refrigerator with a moderate-sized sinks. I've navigated smaller kitchens before -- that were literally closets or just a corner of the living room, so I wasn't too put off by this. The key is a butcher block with a big-ish space to work with. Living in NYC teaches you to make the best of every inch of space you have. I think this is a good lesson for me, especially coming from the suburbs where there is oodles of space to spread out and collect things you may not need.

I invited a couple of girlfriends over and we had the Paprikash with the famous cucumber salad, citrus salad with mint and feta and mini-cupcakes. Of course, the Hungarian wine was flowing. After that we just hung out at my place watching the olympics and having some laughs together.
Also, it was the first time I was able to open up my table to its full size. My apartment is small, but if you move things around you can fit six around the table. How exciting!

Girls' Trip to Puerto Rico

In February, I tagged along with a friend from work and her friend and headed to Puerto Rico for her 30th birthday. It was the same weekend as the big snowstorm hit New York City. We felt so lucky to have escaped the snow and to be lying in the sun by the pool.

We stayed at the El San Juan, which is kind of like a docked cruise ship. It has everything you need all under one (pricey) roof -- casino, restaurants, lounges, bars and allegedly the most popular club in PR, Brava. The hotel was beautiful and new with giant chandeliers and modern furniture with a Spanish flair. The three of us shared a room with super comfortable beds (which is kinda unusual) and had a great time.

However, journeying outside the immediate area of the El San Juan was not recommended. It was pretty seedy around the hotel. We were able to take cabs around to Old San Juan and other places. The first night we went to a beautiful restaurant on the beach called Pamela's where we celebrated Lisa's birthday in style. After that we headed to the rooftop bar.

We spent a couple of days by the beautiful pool trying not to get burned and at night we had Puerto Rican food, which is super heavy. One night we had Mofongos and lots of rice and beans and plantains. Everything was kind of heavy and salty.

We tried out several different kinds of bars and even went to the famous Brava, a booming techno club. My favorite part wasn't close to the hotel at all and I think it was called La Placita something. We had a lot of fun at a bar there.

All in all a great time. The flight was delayed on the way home while they removed an iguana from the runway. It was strange!

Weekend Trip to Milan

Last weekend, a bunch of us took Amtrak to Milan, NY, to spend the weekend at another friend's country house. It's a beautiful old house from the 1700s with gorgeous wooden beams that are held together with those wood pegs rather than screws. It has wide planked wooden floors and an excellent fireplace.

We arrive on Friday bearing some wine and lots of food for the meals throughout the weekend. The first thing we did was light the fire. Then, we opened a bottle of wine and relaxed in front of the fire with Terry's dog, Larry. After that we had a lovely pasta primavera and some Italian truffle cheese that Andrew brought.

The next morning, Terry woke us up by playing Van Halen's "Jump" loudly on the stereo and knocking around some pans in the kitchen while making us cinnoman apple pancakes. Reluctantly, we crawled out of our beds lured by the scent of the pancakes and the brewing coffee. There was real maple syrup and lots of butter. It was magnificent. Afterwards, we spent some more time in front of the fire and felt that we deserved a mimosa.

As soon as we finished cleaning up from breakfast, it was time to start lunch. Andrew made a giant spinach tart, with a much fancier name. It was scrumptious. Once that was made, Terry left to make lemon sugar cookies for our dessert. A glass of wine or two later, it was time for dinner. Andrew and Jeff made marinated pork loin on the BBQ with brussel sprouts and fingerling potatoes. YUM.

We were stuffed, but there was still some time for dancing to some old timey music in the kitchen. Later, after some more quality couch/fire time, we made lemon sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches. (Everyone except for me!) We talked some more and then turned in for the night.

The next day, it was time to clean up the house and get ready to leave. In between washing and changing sheets, we fixed ourselves a huge banquet of leftovers. Everything tasted even better the next day. Andrew dressed it up a little and tossed a delicious salad with a light and refreshing lemon and olive oil dressing. Then, we cleaned all the dishes and mopped the floors.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the train and back to the city. Andrew and I had "business class" tickets, which doesn't really mean anything. It only cost $12 to upgrade and it didn't get you one thing! Plus, all the business people are angry, so it wasn't as fun as we thought it would be.