Memories Captured - Fountains

Little boys and fountains - they seem to be drawn to each other like moths to a flame. Jasper is definitely the instigator. Ever since he was little, he has loved the water. When we traveled to Italy with him when he was two and a half years old, we literally had to stop and visit with every fountain we saw. And if you've ever been to Italy, you know that there are a lot of fountains.

Everett, on the other hand, is a little more cautious in some respects. He doesn't like running through sprinklers but give him a bucket and he's happy as a clam filling up and emptying his bucket all day long.

However, put Jasper and Everett together and it's a totally different story. Maybe it's the brother thing but they seem to egg each other on. On July 4th, we found ourselves at Flushing Meadows Corona Park where there is the famous Unisphere and...fountains. This is what ensued...

Not surprising, I know, but the expressions and reactions on their faces were truly priceless. Both covering their mouths with their hands in excitement as they slowly inched further and further into the spray of the fountains and then quickly dashed out. At other times, linking hands to run through the water together, the little one always looking to his big brother. At one point, Jasper mustered up the courage to sprint through the sprays to the other side and to the base of the Unisphere.

Pure bliss. When was the last time you remember experiencing bliss like this? 

{Linking up with Alison from Mama Wants This and Galit from These Little Waves 

for Memories Captured}

Scenes from my weekend - Birthday

View from Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Yoga (1991) by Mark di Suvero

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

I've never really been a big birthday person. Maybe it's because my birthday is in the summer and, with most friends away or at camp during the summer, I never really had big birthday celebrations (I don't think?). So, it suited me just fine that my birthday on Saturday was like any other day - swim and gym class with one son and a day at the park with the family. We headed over to Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park - the gorgeous park that starts at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge and wraps it's way around the Brooklyn waterfront. The sculpture in the picture above is by Mark di Suvero and is a 30-foot tall kinetic sculpture installed in partnership with Storm King Art Center. The large I-bean, which is bent into a U-shape, rocks and pivots along the pole and create different shadows and perspectives depending on its position.

On Sunday, we took a drive up to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture near Tarrytown, about 45 minutes outside of the city. It's a nonprofit farm and education center and operates a 80-acre four-season farm. It runs a number of education programs for children and families but also trains farmers (particularly young farmers) in resilient farming techniques. We've visited with the kids a few times before but I think that this is the first time that they were truly interested in seeing how the farm actually works. We explored the vegetable gardens and greenhouses, visited with the chickens, pigs, sheep, cows and turkeys, and had a picnic in the grass. It's a pretty cool place and I really admire the work that they are doing on broader initiatives to create a healthy and sustainable food system.

The Weekly Chase
Last week, I joined my friend Melissa from Live, Love, & Run in The Weekly Chase - a new project that Melissa is starting to connect bloggers with other bloggers to support each other up as we chase down goals that we want to accomplish for the week. It's super simple to join up. Just head over to Melissa's blog, grab a badge and declare your goals!



I accomplished 2 of my 3 goals for last week.
1. Green Smoothie Challenge: I completed the green smoothie challenge. I'll have more on green smoothies later this week. Thanks Amanda for putting me up to the challenge. I think that I've found a new love.
2. Swim once during the week: This almost didn't happen. For me, one of the hardest things about swimming is actually getting to the pool during lap swim hours which are typically early in the morning or in the evening. I committed to swimming early Thursday morning, but when I arrived at the pool, the pool was closed because the chlorine levels were too high. WHAT??!
What a little extra chlorine?? Luckily, the NYC public pools opened this week and we planned on taking the boys after camp on Friday. So, Ed was kind enough to hang out with the boys while I swam laps. I only swam half an hour and didn't feel great. A combination of being tired, dehydrated and out of swimming shape. But it was good to be back in the pool. 
3. Physical Therapy exercises: I did my exercises 4 out of 7 days - far from every day, which is what I was aiming for. Not good. Frankly, I forget about them. But, I know that I need to keep doing them. As my doctor said to me last week, I still have a long way to go in order to get back to where I started from.
My goals for this week are pretty similar to last week.

1. Swim 1-2 times this week.
2. Go to bed before midnight.
3. Cook a real dinner at least 2 nights this week.
4. Do physical therapy exercises every.single.day + plank

Did you accomplish your goals last week? What are your goals for the week? How do you celebrate your birthday? Did you have a good weekend?

Transylvania County - Land of Waterfalls...and the Hunger Games

I have to admit, I'm a little embarrassed by my lack of knowledge about the geography of the Southeast. Actually, make that most places outside of the Northeast and West Coast. It's terrible. I mean, I knew that there were beautiful places to explore in North Carolina but I guess I wasn't expecting the incredible beauty. And the mountains! I knew that Asheville was near the Appalachian Mountains but the Great Smoky Mountains too? No clue.

We poked around online to find some good hikes for Sunday and came across a few options. You know how sometimes you find what sounds like a great hike online, the description gushing about waterfalls and incredible vistas, but only to find a trickle of water when you actually get there? Well, not this time.

Yes, my hot pink Reebok RealFlex Transitions & Oakleys made the trip with me. Yes, I am obsessed with both of them.

We set off to do a loop of three waterfalls in DuPont State Forest - Triple Falls, High Falls and Hooker Falls. We should have known that we were in for a treat when we passed a sign welcoming us to Transylvania County and the land of waterfalls (over 200 waterfalls in the county!). It was a pretty easy hike but the falls were spectacular, cascading down 120-150 feet. Along the side of the falls, there were large, flat slabs of rocks - perfect for resting, picnicking or dipping your toes in the water. 

What struck me most about our hike was the number of families that were out together - hiking, walking dogs and swimming in the numerous swimming holes that dotted the area. I loved that and it made me realize that our family doesn't get out of NYC and explore the outdoors nearly as much as we should.

Apparently, this area is also a popular movie location. Triple Falls was featured in the movie Last of the Mohicans. But, most recently, three major scenes from the Hunger Games were shot in DuPont State Recreational Forest!

Remember the scene in which Katniss is tracking Peeta when he is injured and she finds him hidden along the river bank camouflaged? Peeta was hidden in the rock surface below Triple Falls. Sadly, the cave where they take shelter doesn't actually exists. Believe me, I was tempted to look for it. We didn't get to see the site of the two other scenes but Bridal Veil Falls is the location where Katniss jumps in a pool of water after being burned and scenes with active burning and fireballs were also filmed nearby. They cleared the area of underbrush and installed "trees" made of steel pipes and pumped with gas. 

After our hike and a quick lunch, we decided to drive back along the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we pulled up onto the Parkway, I think that our jaws dropped. The views were ah-mazing. It looked fake. Kind of like the set of a play where you have one layer of landscape behind another except that these were real blue-grey mountains. As we pulled up to the first vista point, we saw a sign telling us the name of the mountain in the distance. Oh, Cold Mountain. You know, the Mountain that was made famous by the novel by Charles Frazier and later the 2003 movie with Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger. Who knew that our little outing would turn into an impromptu movie set tour?

I'm really glad that we had the chance to explore the area a bit. We both left with a greater appreciation and curiosity about the area. As we left, we were already planning our next adventure to the Smokey Mountains. I also left wanting to expose my city kids to the outdoors more - more than just the big old park or the little old park but the woods and big trees and rocks and waterfalls and bugs. OK, maybe not the bugs.

Have you explored this area? Do you take your kids hiking? Are you as geographically challenged as I am? Did you watch the Hunger Games??

Back on the water: Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP)

Asheville, North Carolina is known as one of the premier outdoor adventure destinations in the U.S. With rivers criss-crossing the area, including the Nantahala River which is known for its Class II-III rapids, it's also a great place for paddling - everything from whitewater rafting to tubing to kayaking. Naturally, as stand-up paddleboarding has gained in popularity, it also has made its way to the Asheville area.

I was so excited to try SUP. Not only is SUP on my Fitness Bucket List, but it was a great way to combine my interests with my friend's interests. You see, I'm a surfer and my friend is a sea kayaker. Surfing + kayaking = SUP. Best of all, SUP offered a less intense way for me to get back out on the water while I'm still rehabbing my knee. 

On Saturday morning, we drove from our hotel in downtown Asheville out towards the French Broad River. We were scheduled to take lessons with Dave, the owner of Asheville Outdoor Center. Dave started this business 20 years ago. He's originally from the Northeast but you wouldn't know it from his relaxed demeanor and Southern charm. He's been leading SUP lessons and trips for the past three years.

Before we headed down to the river, he told us a bit about the boards, fins and paddles we would be using. Our boards were 11-foot foam-topped boards. He also showed up some inflatable SUPs which appeared just as solid and sturdy but are a great option for those of us who may not go paddling all the time or may not have storage space for a 11-foot SUP. When deflated, the inflatable boards fit into a what looks like a medium-to-large duffle bag.

Our boards had a three-fin set-up with short flexible fins that would bend in case we came into contact with rocks or the bottom of the river bed rather than causing a hard collision (and potentially throwing us from the board and into the water). If we were going out on the ocean, the boards would probably have a single long fin attached so as to allow for carving turns on waves.

Lastly, SUP paddles look like single blade kayak paddles except that the blade is turned at 15 degree. As you pull the paddle through the water from front to back, the slight turn in the blade provides more leverage to your stroke, allowing you to generate more power. 

After our lesson, we hopped on some bikes and pedaled a mile to our launch site. Dave took us out on the water for about 2 hours. A big part of paddling on a river is learning how to read the river - the currents, ripples, and eddys - so that you could work with the river's mechanics. We first paddled upstream up to the Biltmore Bridge before heading back downstream. In total, we paddled about 2.5 miles. 

It wasn't as hard to balance on the board as I expected. Once you are standing up, you're pretty stable when your legs are shoulder-width apart and you bend your knees to absorb any movements of the board. I will admit, there were a few times when I almost bit it and fell into the water. It was challenging trying to get the paddle technique right and to figure out how to maneuver the board in the direction that I wanted to go.

At the end of our lesson, Dave let us play around a bit on our boards. I tried to do some yoga poses but could only manage to lift one foot up a few inches. It was super hard to balance on one leg on the water! He then showed us how to do a pirouette - basically spinning your board around in a circle. Of course we both had to give it a try, which is what I'm doing in the picture above. You scoot back to the back of the board so that the nose lifts up out of the water. Then you paddle hard on one side and spin your board around. It was so.much.fun. Needless to say, I fell into the water at the end of this move.

It was super fun to try something new. It challenges me mentally and physically and I'm learning to embrace being a newbie. I know that I'm going to feel uncomfortable and make a fool of myself at times but I'm learning to be OK because these opportunities offer me a chance to experience new things and learn about something that I would typically shy away from. 

Thanks Dave and Asheville Outdoor Center for a super fun morning out on the water! This is seriously making me consider working SUP into my life somehow. It's a great workout but more than anything, an amazing way to spend time out on the water.

Have you tried SUP? Have you been paddling (e.g. kayaking, rafting) before?

Scenes from my weekend - Asheville

First of all, thank you so much for your incredible comments on my post on Friday. After a frustrating week like last week, I was so grateful to read your kind words and encouragement. I mean, I know that we all struggle with balance but to actually feel the support from everyone? Unbelievable. I think that people at the airport thought that I was crazy as I teared up several times as I read each comment as they came in. 

This weekend was just want I needed to reset. We've had so much fun exploring Asheville, NC. It's a charming place. Incredible beauty all around with lots of rivers, mountains and waterfalls to explore. Music pouring out of every other restaurant or bar and musicians strumming on street corners. It kind of reminded me of that episode of the Gilmore Girls when the Stars Hollow troubadour makes it big and leaves town and would-be troubadours invade the town to take his place. Idyllic. There's a prominent local food culture here too and we've been enjoying delicious meals (so much food!!). Best of all, we've had a chance to properly catch up and chat. I'll share some of our fun adventures from the weekend throughout the week.


I'm also really excited about this idea that Melissa from Live, Love & Run had to start something called The Weekly Chase - about connecting bloggers with other bloggers to help each other reach our goals. Every week, bloggers will post one or more goals that they would like to chase down that week. The goal(s) can be anything that you want to achieve that week - fitness, nutrition/eating, home/organizing, etc. Won't you join us in The Weekly Chase?



My goals for the week are:

1. Finish off the Green Smoothie Challenge!
2. Go swimming at least once this week.
3. Do my physical therapy exercises EVERY DAY. Lately, I've had a hard time doing them lately and have been skipping them some (most?) days.

What are you goals for the week? What fun things did you do this weekend?

Preschool Graduate

 

I now am the mother of a Kindergartner. How in the world did that happen??

Jasper graduated from preschool last week. He and his classmates have been working very hard over the last month to prepare for their graduation ceremony. They made all the decorations - from body drawings for each student to tissue paper flowers that covered the railings to a quilt with their own personalized square. Jasper would come home from school and tell me about all the elaborate preparations. Then I was instructed to promptly forget what he told me because he wanted it to be a surprise.

He would wander around the house practicing the songs they were going to perform. He had the lyrics printed out on paper so that he could learn the words. While he might be a little pitchy, he poured his heart out as he practiced. In the end, they performed several songs including Lean on Me, That's What Friends are For, Three Little Birds, Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The Wise Old Man, and The Dinosaur Song. Quite a medley.

You could tell that he was really proud of himself and his friends. And rightly so. They've all come a long way and learned a lot. Plastered along the walls of the courtyard were posters proclaiming fun facts about each child and what they learned at school. 

When asked what was one thing he liked to do at school and one thing he liked to do at home, Jasper answered "Sleep" for both questions. That's my boy. When asked why he is special, he answered, "Because I love my family."

I'm not sure that the kids realize the significance of this day and their graduation. Next year, they will be off to new schools in different parts of the neighborhood. To them, it was a big party and a chance to have cake before lunch. But, it was bittersweet for me as I remembered my goodbyes and transitions to new schools and places. Plus, I'm not sure if I'm ready for my boys to grow up.

{Linking up with Alison and Galit for Memories Captured}

Summer Memories

How is it June already? I don't really know where the year has gone. I feel like I say this every year but every year, I seem to find myself thinking the same thing - it's summer already?!?!

I think that I feel most like a parent when it comes to summertime. It's funny to think back on my memories of summer and to see the shift from enjoying carefree summer days to being responsible for planning those carefree summer days for my little people.

Summer is definitely on my mind and I wanted to share some of my favorite memories.

1. Summers = pool. Growing up, we had a pool in the backyard and I pretty much spent every day swimming in the pool with my brother and sister. That Wonder Woman bathing suit? I LOVED it. That bowl cut? Not so much. The funny thing is that every summer I would "forget" how to swim and my Dad would have to teach me all over again.

2. Snake. One time, I remember running up from the pool to find my Mom because my swimmies/arm floats needed some air. As I got to the deck, she was coming out of the sliding door with a bowl of watermelon. As she stepped on the door mat, a snake slithered out from underneath. I turned right around and ran back to the pool.

3. Watermelon. Summer was all about watermelon. It still is. I've been known to hoard watermelon. Now, I have to share since my oldest son also loves it too.

4. Summer in Montana. I spent a month during the summer after Junior year in high school building a playground on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. It was also the first time I went backpacking, spending three days in the Bighorn National Forest. I formed some amazing friendships that summer.

5. Day trip to the Grand Canyon. Sometime during my freshman year in college, I became obsessed with the idea of visiting the Grand Canyon. That summer, I took a rode trip with two of my friends. We drove straight through from the Bay Area. We spent the night, hiked the next morning and then drove home.

6. Summer in Paraguay. I spent a summer in college working on a public health project in rural Paraguay. I credit that summer for changing my mind about going to Med School. However, the hardest part was that I was vegetarian at the time and in Paraguay, beef is a staple. There was meat at every meal, culminating in a huge asado dinner every Sunday.

7. Summer before graduate school. Ed and I traveled in Europe for three weeks and visited his family in Poland where I was forced to drink more vodka than I thought was humanly possible, all starting at 10am.

8. Running through Europe.  That same summer, Ed and I were training for our first marathon - the Chicago Marathon. We ran our way through Warsaw, Krakow, Vienna, Venice, and Florence. It was an incredible way to see the different cities, early in the morning and away from all the tourists.

9. Cousins. I have a lot of cousins. Growing up, I spent a lot of time with them. I feel badly that my kids don't get to spend as much time with their cousins since most of them live in California. However, last summer, for my Mom's 70th birthday, we all went on a cruise together. While it was mass chaos for a week, the kids had such a great time hanging out together and playing. I can't wait to watch their relationships continue to grow as they do.

10. Summer with the boys. Since the boys were born, our summers have focused on spending quality time together as a family. We try to spend a week or two outside of NYC so that the boys have a chance to run around in the woods and breath fresh air.

Tell me, what do you associate summer with? What are some of your favorite summer memories? Do you hoard watermelon like I do?

{Linking up with Stasha and Monday Listicles}

FITNESS Magazine Meet & Tweet

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

I woke up this morning exhausted. And overwhelmed - that would be one way to describe how I feel right now after having attended the FITNESS Magazine Meet & Tweet event yesterday aka #FitBlogNYC. Overwhelmed by the incredible blogging community. Overwhelmed by the things that I learned yesterday and the incredible products we got to view and test out. Overwhelmed to be part of the amazing Fitfluential community and grateful for the opportunity to attend. Overwhelmed by the swag!!

The best part by far was the opportunity to meet in person many of the bloggers that I've been following or have started to develop a friendship with over the past couple of months - Erica, Jess, Michele, Jessica, Cat, Maria, Charlotte, Amy, FatBottomSlim, Jen and I know that I'm missing others! Plus, finally getting to meet Kelly Olexa, the Founder and CEO of Fitfluential, and Miz - two absolutely amazing and inspiring women! I also got to hang out with Melissa, a friend of mine who I met through my Mommy's group 5 years ago!

Me and Erica. She created the beautiful necklace I'm wearing and is even sweeter in person than I imagined.

Cat and Maria are even more adorable in person.

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

The event was set up on the second floor of the Metropolitan Pavilion. As you entered, you had the chance to chat and mingle and check out the sponsor booths along the perimeter of the space.

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

Betty Wong, Editor and Chief of FITNESS Magazine, and Mia Hamm opened up the event. Mia Hamm!! She is one of the best female athletes ever and super sweet. She was there with the nonprofit organization Grain Food Foundation which is dedicated to advancing the understand of the important role of grains in a healthful diet. She took pictures with everyone and signed a mini soccer ball. Of course, unlike Michele who went before me and asked Mia to sign the ball to her son, when I was asked, I promptly answered, "No, please make it out to Christine."

Photo courtesy of Michele.

The event itself included a series of panels of experts sharing the latest news and info about nutrition, health, beauty and fashion. Here are some highlights from the event.

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

A.J. Jacobs, author of Drop Dead Health, shared some of the lessons he's learned along his one year journey to improve his health and mind. He was hilarious and really fun. Some of the lessons he shared were:

• Respect your older self. If you keep your older self in mind - that you wish for a good life for yourself when you are older - you will respect treat yourself better NOW.
• Embrace contextual exercise. Fit exercise and fitness into your daily life activities. 
• Noise is detrimental to health as it causes stress levels to rise. People who work in noisy environments have 2-3 time higher rate of heart disease. He wears his noise canceling headphones, even at home...with his three boys. That might be a strategy I might have to take up!!
• Sitting is the new smoking. It's horrible for your health.

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

Keri Gans, Tanya Zuckerbrot and FITNESS Nutrition Editor spoke about the real deal on carbs, cleanses and caffeine.

• Carbs don't make you fat. Excess carbs make you fat. Think of your body as a car. if you fill your car up with too much gas, it overflows. If you fill your body with too many carbs, it turns to excess fat.
• Cardio is not the answer to weight loss. Nutrition is the major factor. Nutrition and sleep. 
• There are no real health benefits to cleanses. It's not a long term solution because they are missing so many nutrients and micro-nutrients.
• Cleanses can be expensive. Better to spend that same money on real, healthy food, vegetables and fruits. 

FITNESS Fashion Director Argy Koutsothanasis shared some tips to extend the use of your gym clothes. FITNESS staff modeled some cute outfits!

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

The afternoon ended with a panel that included Fitfluential folks on How to Turn Your Blog into a Business. I must say, Kelly Olexa, Carla Birnberg, Julie Fagan and Tina Haupert rocked this session and shared some really great tips about blogging and freelancing. They took the time to answer many questions from audience members. It was a packed house!!

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

The 3 things that I took away included:

• For freelancers, start by approaching local papers, magazines, etc. and think outside of the box. Consider companies and others that might have a blog and need content. (Julie)
• Pitch something that only YOU can write. The magazine/paper/etc. will come back to you because of your voice. (Miz)
• Reputation will follow you. (Kelly)

The event ended with a pop-up Tabura class via KiwiSweat. Tabura is a mix of African dancing, kick boxing and pretty much everything else thrown together and it looked intense! I admit, I was kind of jealous I didn't get to take part. 

Thank you to FITNESS Magazine and all the sponsors - Reebok, Oakley, Birkenstock, CamelBak, Grain Foods Foundation, KiwiSweat, Pure Protein, Schick Hydro Silk, Sun-Maid, V8 V-Fusion and Vichy. Thanks to New Media Strategies for putting on such a great event! 

Here are a few more pictures from the event.

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

Photo: Steven Meyer (courtesy of FITNESS Magazine)

Ridiculous swag bag. My shoulders nearly fell off getting this stuff home. Dream come true - another pair of pink sneaks!!