I Love New York - Day 1

Recently, I had the opportunity to take a vacation in New York. The occasion was my High School Reunion. I planned a few extra days so that I could spend time in New York City. It turned out to be on of the best vacations of my life. Almost nothing happened in the way that I had originally planned, but it was still awesome.

Over the years, I have had lots of friends living in or near New York City so I have rarely needed to stay at a hotel, but this trip I did. I browsed many websites trying to decide on the right balance of cost, location & amenities. New York is famously expensive when it comes to hotel rooms. I finally settled on Park 79 Hotel. I booked a double bed with shared bath.

I made tentative plans with several people to meet up. I bought a ticket for a matinee on Wednesday. I checked out the exhibits at various museums, thought about which favorite restaurants I wanted to visit again. I had a nice little itinerary in my head.

Best laid plans, right?

I arrived at the hotel at 8am (after as much dawdling as I could manage knowing that check in was at 3pm). They checked my luggage and asked me to come back around 1pm.
So I set off in search of breakfast. I found a great little bagel shop and sat down with my coffee and bagel with a shmear. I decided, since it was Wednesday, I would take the subway up to the Bronx and visit the Van Cortland House which is free on Wednesdays. I thought it would be fun to do something I had never done before and that it would use up some time. If you are ever in NYC on a Wednesday, I recommend visiting Van Cortland House. I'm not sure it's worth the price of admission on other days though.

For those that don't know about Van Cortland House, it's been preserved by the Colonial Dames as a historic site from the Revolutionary War. You can learn more here: http://www.vancortlandthouse.org/index-2.html

New York was having a massive heatwave and I was definitely feeling the heat as I headed back downtown. I got off the subway with the intention of visiting Grant's Tomb but it was closed so I opted for a bus ride back to the hotel. Did I mention that I had purchased the unlimited ride MetroCard? That was one of the best decisions I had made. While riding back downtown, I got a text from a friend who I'd been wanting to see but he was only available that day. I texted him back and told him I had matinee tickets, but maybe we could work something out.

A foodie co-worker had told me about the Shake Shack and there was one near my hotel so I went there for lunch. There weren't any tables so I took my lunch to the park and sat there eating and people-watching. While I was eating, the theatre texted me that the performance had cancelled so I quickly made plans with my friend. Now I really needed to shower & change!

I went back to the hotel and my room wasn't ready, but they did have another slightly smaller room that they offered me for $50 less per night. I took it! The price difference online had only been $10!

The room was small, but adequate. I couldn't wait to find the shared bath and take a shower after traveling all night. I was less than thrilled to find a palmetto-type bug sharing the bathroom with me. Yikes. But housekeeping took care of it and I was off downtown.

My friend and I had not seen each other in 30 years! But it was like yesterday. He lives in a great Greenwich Village neighborhood. We played with his new puppy and caught up with our lives and then went shopping for his planned tapas dinner for that night. After our visit, I headed back uptown to a tweetup I had planned.

Meeting Twitter friends for the first time is always fun but a little bit strange. We were both in front of the theatre on our phones and looking at each other to see if we were the ones we were there to meet. We had planned to meet for real the next day to stand on line for Book Of Mormon tickets but decided to meet briefly first to scope things out and make our plan. We picked a place to meet the next day and then I was off to meet another friend for dinner.

The heat was getting to me and I nearly passed out in Grand Central Terminal. After a couple of cold beverages, I was feeling better. Though I got a bit disoriented after exiting the subway at 86th. I finally made it to my friend's apartment and we went to dinner at Paola's at 92nd & Madison. I highly recommend it!

After planning our trip upstate for Friday morning, I grabbed a crosstown bus back to my hotel.

So far, my trip was going very well!

What I Ate - 2/15/11

Yesterday I did my BMI calculation and I'm down 2 points! I also tried on some new clothes and I have dropped a Dress Size. yay!

So even though I strayed a bit from my healthy plan (see after dinner snack), I still think it was a pretty good day!

B: Toast w/peanut butter, OJ, Protein Shake
S: Coffee, Apple, Orange
L: Juice Box, Turkey Chili, Salad
S: Coke Zero, Brussel sprouts
D: Broccoli Beef
S: Ben & Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace

What I Ate - 2/14/11

It's been one month since I started trying to eat healthier. I've lost 14 pounds! Go Me!

B:Cereal w/nonfat milk, orange
S:Coffee, black bean brownie (I made them for the office for Valentine's Day)
L:Coffee Bean Grande Chai NSA Ice Blended, Chili Two Ways(two kinds of chili in a bowl)
S:Sliced Peaches, Access bar
D:Grilled Steak, Sauteed Cauliflower & Tomatoes
S:Black bean brownie

What I Ate - 2/13/11

I've been writing down what I eat as part of my plan to try and be healthier and lose weight. I decided to post some of my food journaling here to help keep me honest.

Menu for Sunday February 13:
B: Oatmeal with peaches & brown sugar, coffee
S: Roast Beef Sandwich bite, Turkey rollup bite, Tall Light Frappucino
L: Pasta Primavera with Shrimp & Pesto, Orange
S: Bagel w/Peanut Butter
D: Turkey Veggie Chili, Sauteed Cauliflower & Tomatoes
S: Lowfat Ice Cream bar

Somewhere

This film has not yet been nominated for anything, but I did go see it today and that's during "awards season". So I shall blog about it and we'll see if it get a nomination in the future.

Sofia Coppola calls this film her tone poem for Los Angeles. She was inspired by stories of the bad boy actors living at Chateau Marmont and the film Paper Moon starring real-life father & daughter Ryan & Tatum O'Neal.

I did like it better than Lost in Translation, but even less happens in this film than in that one. It's very European in its style and pacing.

I remarked to my friends that I would have enjoyed it more had it ended in a fiery car or helicopter crash. The story didn't really end so much as stop. And in a film that's not intended for sequels, that really bugs me.

So you might want to wait to see this one on DVD. Unless you are a huge Sofia Coppola fan.

The King's Speech

Golden Globe Nominations: Best Motion Picture - Drama
Best Actor - Drama
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Original Score
BAFTA Nominations: Not yet announced
OSCARS Nominations: Not yet announced

Let me start by saying that every single one of these nominations is well-deserved and there should be some winners and more nominations to come!

From the script to the casting to the production design to the directing, all the techinal aspects are spot on. I especially love seeing a film based on a true story that I am familiar with that keeps me on the edge of my seat for how it is going to unfold. This film does exactly that.

You cannot go see this film fast enough! Do it! Now! Go! It's awesome!!!

Red

Golden Globe Nomination: Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
BAFTA Nominations: Not announced yet
OSCAR Nominations: Not announced yet

The best part of this movie is the amazing cast. The story is a bit on the weak side. It's kind of a re-working of Shane and Grosse Pointe Blank.

But it was funny, and touching, and hit all the right notes. And it probably didn't hurt that I saw it at the dollar theatre so the movie and the concessions together were less than $6.

If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it!