Mark and I rose early on Sunday morning and mozied down the street to the West Side Highway to watch the NYC Half-Marathon. I finally got a taste of what it's like to "roll out of bed and watch the runners go by" (a phrase I've used many-a-time in various marathon spectating stories!). The south-bound lands of the highway were closed to traffic, prompting many passerby to ask us if there was "a parade coming through". Silly question--a) it was 7:30 a.m.! and b) when is there ever a parade anywhere but 5th and 7th avenues?

With my video camera in hand, I excitedly cheered for the runners. Haile Gebersailasee--one of the all-time distance running greats--ran by first: He was leading by over two minutes! He was trailed by Abdi, then a string of Ethiopians and Kenyans, then Alan Culpepper, who wound up finishing in 8th place. The women streamed by about 15 minutes later, followed by the masses (over 10,000 people ran!). Mark was impressed that I knew the names of all of the top runners. I only later pointed out that their race bibs had their names printed on them! (But I kind of knew who they were, anyway!).

Afterwards, we went on a nice bike ride up the WSH (two hours later, runners/walkers were still streaming past) and into Central Park. By now, we know that it's a terrible idea to bike after 9 a.m. on Sundays, but it was a beautiful morning and we just couldn't resist. We made it without any major hiccups, but I realized that I have a nasty case of road rage when it comes to clueless bikers and pedestrians!

And the eating continues...Ladies Who Lunch!

I was all set to have a PB&J for lunch today when Bec invited me to lunch. Sure, why not? I thought, thinking we'd hit up a quick eat place in the 'hood. But then, she suggested Perry Street, and the tone of my day completely shifted from just so-so to SO fantastic!

We put on our glad rags (silver halter and grey skinny jeans for Bec; a long brown sun dress for and my new silver gladiator sandles for me) and walked down to the restaurant, which is situated on the ground level of one of the all-glass Richard Meier apartments. Since it's the brainchild of famed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten--who also runs other tres magnifique joints like Spice Market, 66, and V Steakhouse--I knew we were in for a tremendous treat.

And a treat it was indeed: We first munched on fresh rolls and sipped homemade sodas: Lemon-Thyme for me and Passionfruit for Bec. The first course was a nice lump of steak tartare (which, despite our picky tastes, we both devoured) served with Gruyere toast, and an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. A nice lingering break let us recharge for the second course: A bluefin tuna burger on a most delicious brioche, served with homemade potato chips, plus a lovely grilled salmon on top of a black sesame mustard sauce and grilled pequillo pepito peppers on the side.

Dessert was included, so we sampled a bowl of chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream and Crystallized Lavender (kind of like super fancy Fruity Pebbles) on top of a bed of Devil's Food cake, and Peach Melba, which (and this I had to look up) involved peaches covered with a noraspberry puree and a milky granita.

Due to an oversight, we were denyed the amuse-bouche (I now know what that means thanks to Top Chef!), which was a version of gazpacho made with raspberry, cucumber, red and orange bell pepper, ginger, red wine vinegar and olive oil, served in a tiny cup. I'm sure we would have enjoyed that, but after the meal we had, we left totally satisfied nonetheless.

I must say, Bec treated me to the best meal I've had in NYC (outside of Speed's kitchen, of course!) yet! She is the best Ladies Who Lunch partner ever!

Yum, dessert!

Last night, Nandita and I made a little stop at Max Brenner's (AKA George Glass because of last year's unfortunate glass-in-salad incident). We intended to go to Chickalicious for their supposedly scrumptious desserts, but due to a broken AC, they shuttered the doors. Conveniently, there's an East Village MB location not too far away. So we grabbed a spot outside and enjoyed the late-night summertime breeze while munching on Banana Split Waffles. Neither of us wanted anything too chocolately, so the waffles-- complete with bananas, strawberries, blueberries, vanilla ice cream, and a little hot fudge--totally hit the spot. Afterwards, though, I my stomach started growling on the walk home, so I popped into the pizza shop on our corner and satiated my hunger with a slice of mozzarella and spinach. (Yes, I am a piggie. But let the record show I did run 5 miles earlier in the evening!)

The more time I spend at my coffee shop, the more I realize that it has quite the cast of characters! First off, there are the owners--two 30-something West Villagers, both men, and--shocker!--both straight. One seems to be the brain behind the business, the other, the brawn (he's usually found outside sanding or sawing wood that will later be used as a table or a bench). Each is a family man: Brains is married with a two-year-old, Brawn's girlfriend is pregnant with a baby to be named Campbell (yeah, I'm doing a lot of eavesdropping!).

Then there are the regulars: One, a West Village mommy with the most adorable four-year-old, Jasper. She's in that Michelle Tanner from Full House cute phase, just saying the most random things that makes her mom (and whomever's listening, i.e., me) laugh constantly. With a headful of cornsilk curls and big, blue eyes, Jasper's just waiting to be scooped up by a modeling agency. She also has a crush on Brawn, constantly drawing pictures for him and asking her mom if he can babysit for her, even though he is about 35 and a soon-to-be dad. Too cute.

Yeah, all of this goes on within the confines of a room no bigger than most people's kitchen. So there's a lot of activity to entertain me while i should be working!

More characters to come...

Birthday Wishes...

To my amazing dad, a very happy birthday! He celebrated at the Farm with turkey burgers and sausage on the new grill and what looks like excellent company in baby Philip and the rest! I only wish I could have been there to join in on the festivities and to toast the best, most supportive dad on the planet! Fortunately, Aleta took some excellent photos from the day, so at least I can live vicarously through them. Check them out--she is an amazing photographer!

Summer Nights

Corinne was also in town this weekend--I met her (and Danny, Ang, and the two Adams) at the Astoria Beer Garden on Saturday evening. We sat at a picnic table and chatted for a good three hours before heading in the city for yet another outdoor venue: The Central Park Boat House. There, we saw Mira Sorvino dining with her young hubby and two babies. It was a perfectly relaxing, fun summer night. And as always, so wonderful to be with Corinne!

Ladies Do Lips

What's a 21st birthday in the West Village if you don't hit Lips? We got an eyeful (and an earful) at this Drag Queen haunt, where a lovely lady named Frankie served us pricy shots (just one each!) with some massive guns. Wouldn't be surprised if these guys work out alongside Leezie at the Equinox on the corner; though they must get a pretty good workout applying all of that makeup and teasing those humongous wigs!

All Better!

Ding dong, the stomach ache is dead! Maybe a little complaining was all I needed to do to get this bug out of my system. I was able to enjoy a nice dinner at Havana Alma De Cuba with Erin, her friend (and birthday girl!) Lina, Keren, and Mark. Afterwards, we took the newly-minted 21-year-old (Lina) to Absolute 4th for fun, fruity drinks, complete with sweedish fish. Then I got the bright idea to move onto Lips. Yep, the Drag Queen place. We stayed just long enough to watch the "Dirty Show" and afterwards felt like we had to wash our ears out with heavy-duty soap--it was dirty, all right. And we even dragged Mark in their for one drink; better than him loitering on the sidewalk until we were done! He was completely outnumbered by drunken bachelorettes and birthday girls (ourselves not included), but thankfully didn't receive any "special" attention from the "ladies" there.

Revenge of the Hudson?

I'm going on day 5 of a perpetual stomach ache, which started about 10 minutes after I crossed the NYC Tri finish line. It comes and goes in waves, and seems to get worse each time I eat something. I can only think that this has something to do with A) dehydration from the race and/or B) a bug I picked up in the river. I do remember taking a few big gulps of the river during the swim on Sunday, but I'm sure Karl, Bec, John, Mark, and the 3,000 other people who competed did as well--and from my observations, they seem to be fine!

Now, as you know, we don't take water/air-borne bugs lightly around here: Lest we not forget Bec's bout with her parasite. And though I'm definitely not at the curled-up-on-the-bathroom-floor mode, this is really annoying me!

Sorry, just had to complain...

Cats are scary

For my work with National Geographic KIDS, I'm always looking for amazing animal stories. Heard one today that I just don't think could make the pages of a kids' magazine, but it's definitely bizarre-0! Apparently there's a cat living in a Rhode Island retirement home that cuddles up to those patients who have less than four hours to live. He's done this with 25 people so far, and now when the staff sees him in a room, they automatically call the patient's family.

Maybe there's a story in here about cats' relationships with the dead...remember the one in the Soprano's that kept staring at the picture of Christopher on the wall in the Bada Bing???

Here's the full story...Cat plays furry grim reaper at nursing home

More triathlon-day pics!

Thanks to Mr. Flynn for his excellent coverage of the triathlon! Here are a few shots from that morning, including our pinnick on the Hudson post-race; and the group of 25-29 year old men about to jump into the water (Mark's in there somewhere!).

It takes a triathlon...to get all four sisters and respective significiant others in the same place at the same time!

Post-race celebration

What better way to celebrate after a race than indulging in some delicious FOOD? We started off with a lovely picnic on Pier 46, where we pot-lucked some Balducci's and deli samplings with the Flynns, Mario and Bubba, the 'rents, and Karl and Bec for some much-needed sustenance. A few hours later, Leezie and Speed hosted us for a gourmet BBQ--delicious burgers and grilled veggies plus homemade sangria! The weather was perfect for this al fresco meal, and we stayed until all of our eyes (not just Bec's!) got very heavy...

What a day!

We had an awesome day out there yesterday in the New York City Triathlon! Despite the early-morning wakeup call (4:30...ugh!) and stress in getting up to the start amidst bumper-to-bumper traffic, all was fabulous once I dove into the swift-moving Hudson at 6:23. Two hours, 33 minutes later, I crossed the finish line with a huge smile on my face...I was so happy to be DONE!

Some highlights:

• Bec once again claimed a spot on the podium with an awesome third-place performance in the professional race. I saw her on the bike as I was making my way out and she was careening towards transition. I cheered and got a little smile from her, even though she was definitely all-bidness!
• Karl also got a taste of the podium with her third-place finish in the elite amateur division!
  She even beat some of the pros--unbelieveable!
• John had a great day; his bike split was among the men's fastest!
• Mark did AMAZING, dropping five minutes from his 2006 finish time, including a huge improvement on his run! He looked great crossing the finish line, like he could've gone another mile or two!
• And finally, I was convinced my race was ruined when I made the biggest rookie mistake EVER (grabbing the wrong bike--i.e., not MINE--out of transition, I didn't realize my faux pas until I tried to get on and ride. I then had to scramble back to my transition area, get my bike, mount the other one, and get going!). But I held on for a faster bike ride and a run than last year to improve my time by just under three minutes. Of course, I would have loved to go faster, but I was hurting out there and just told myself that I was in it to finish...and that, I did.
  

Thanks to all of the support we had along the course...Mr. & Mrs. Flynn, our 'rents, Bubba & Mario, Leezie, Keren, Annick, Joanne, and more! They got up super-early to watch us out there, and it definitely made a difference. (And thanks to Leezie for all of these pics!)

Early Bird Gets the Bagels!

I managed to join Karl for a lovely bike ride in the park this morning. While my natural waking up time is generally 9 a.m. (pathetic, I know), this morning I re-wired my brain to rise at 5:10. (OK, so I hit snooze a couple of times and didn’t actually get out of bed until 5:25). Granted, Karl did have to call a few times before I got my butt in gear, but the point is, I did it. Perhaps she can train me to be an early bird after all—it does feel great to be so accomplished before 7:30 a.m.!

We rode together for most of the time, then somehow managed to separate on the ride home as we practiced the somewhat scary steep hill right after the transition area in Riverside Park. 25 miles later, I was home with fresh bagels for a sleepy Mark, plus a nice big iced coffee for me!

Thanks to Karl for motivating me...she is going to ROCK the elite age-group race this weekend!

Steve & BIGGIES

Mark and I ended up in Manhattan Mall last night (don't ask me how...I usually shudder just thinking about stepping foot in the midtown abyss!), where I finally checked out Sarah Jessica Parker's newish clothing line, Bitten. The line's sold exclusively at Steve & Barry's, which I'm told is a big deal on midwestern college campuses as they sell cheap T's. As I found out last night, they also sell cheap pants, shorts, skirts, shoes, bathing suits, and bags--all tenderly designed, or at least selected (supposedly) by Miss Carrie Bradshaw herself. While the merchandise itself is definitely not lacking (there are racks and racks of the stuff), the sizes are. In a very un-SJP-style, everything--I mean EVERYTHING--in the store is HUGE. I'm talking sizes XXL and 24. At first I thought I was in the plus size department, but then I figured all of the tourists must've snapped up the smaller sizes because there was nary a small ANYTHING in the entire store. Steve & Barry's? More like Steve & BIGGIES!

Cycling Spectating

 

Keren and I embarked on a somewhat random adventure on Sunday--we travelled up to Northern Jersey to watch a cycling meet (I assume that's the right terminology, as it was a series of events as opposed to one race). Her friend Reed was racing, so we slugged it up to Ramsey Route 17, picked up the car, and drove to Park Ridge to watch the show go down (Reed finished fourth). I'd never been to a cycling event before, so I was excited to note the differences between this sport and say, track or triathlon. In truth: There aren't many. But it's harder to keep track of who's who in a cycling race because the athletes are so bunched together, and you can't really tell one face from another with the helmets and sunglasses. I did discover that Rite Aid has a great professional team (who knew?), and that the sport--or at least this particular event--is not as up on gender equity as most tris or road races. There wasn't even a women's division; and the one woman in the men's race had to drop out after falling back too far from the leaders! Not really fair...

 

A Day with the McGarrs

 

It's not every day we get a chance to hang out with all of the McGarr men--but on Saturday we got a chance to do just that. Mike and Chuck zipped up Saturday morning from DC, to spend the day with us and their dad and step-mom, Suzanne, down from Cape Cod. Suzanne has a series of paintings on display at the Blue Mountain Gallery in Chelsea, so aAfter checking out her amazing work (which'll be up for another three weeks--if you're a New Yorker, I highly recommend stopping by), we strolled around our favorite haunts: Chelsea Market, Chelsea Piers, Bleecker Street, and Washington Square Park. We capped the evening with a pitcher of sangria and a delicious meal at Ciao Stella on Sullivan Street. Despite our pleas for them to stay, Mike & Chuck left around 9, and Mark and I settled in to watch The History Boys. A great--albeit slightly disturbing--film. I have a new crush on Dominic Cooper, who plays Dakin. Can't wait to see him in the movie version of Mama Mia (who knew they were making that?)

The McGarr men in Washington Square Park

Suzanne poses in front of her artwork at the Blue Mountain Gallery

Picnic in the Park

The National Geographic girls (plus Mark!) got together on Friday for a lovely picnic along the banks of the Hudson. We toasted the end of the week with some good eats (burgers & fries from Bubbys, pasta salad, Dancing Deer cookies, plus strawberries & angel food cake), some sips of wine, and an amazing sunset...

Some shameless sister promotion

We're athletes of the week!

L'Arte Del Gelato

Discovered last night during a walk with Keren: the new L'Arte Del Gelato
on 7th Avenue. I've sampled some of their goods in Chelsea Market before, and was pleased to see they've expanded just in time for summer, when my ice cream cravings go into mega-overload.

My creamy coconut and dark chocolate confection put Cold Stone's coffee-peanut butter-fudge-oreo speciality--yep, that's what I ordred when Karl and I hit up the 'Boken Cold Stone on Tuesady--to shame. While I love me some Cold Stone, there's just something about Gelato...I see many return trips to L'Arte Del Gelato in the near future. (Tonight, maybe?)

York for the Day

Given my more flexible schedule these days, I'm trying to do the things I always wished I had time to do when I was toiling away in the office. One of these things is to go down and visit Aleta and the kids in York, which i did yesterday. I got up extra early, loaded up six hours worth of Sports Junkies podcasts (Mark's got me totally hooked on them; it's such a boy show, but for some reason I like it!) and coasted down to PA, making it there by noon. We had a lovely afternoon, including a picnic outside (in the shade!) provided by Aleta, and soccer with Ella. She's a natural--at 3, I think she already has more hand-eye coordination than I do!

Philip III, as always, was a perfect little guy, smiling and playing, scooting along on the ground and...most importantly...not crying! He is the happiest baby!

Despite running into the dreaded stoppage on RT 78 (They've seriously been doing road work for decades), I made it home by 9. Another great day trip!

Hudson by Kayak

On Saturday, Mark and I hit up the Downtown Boathouse for a little kayak excursion (which, amazingly, is totally free and open to the public!). During our 60-minute run on Friday, we passed by the 59th Street boathouse, where kayakers dipped their paddles in the green-tinged Hudson as the firey sun set behind Hoboken. Despite our huffing and puffing on that very hot run, we managed to exchange a few grunts which amounted to a decision that we'd try it out ourselves the next day. So the following afternoon, we stepped outside of our building and walked to the put-in closest to our building, on a pier off Houston Street. No more than 20 minutes later, we were strapped into life jackets and sitting atop the choppy Hudson in a tandem kayak. The Walkill River it was not, but as we raced around the inlet, I couldn't help but think about next year's Shawanthon--watch out Karl and Bec, we're good!