LISBOA - DEFINITELY COOL (DAY FOUR)

I have to admit, our day 4 trip to Sintra was a bit of a disappointment. Not because the Pena Palace wasn't beautiful - but because this is a highly touristy area, with a lot of waiting in line, a lot of confusion, a lot of jam packed streets, a lot of disorganization and a lot of tourist traps. 

1. Pena Palace

After a helpful employee at the train station showed us how to purchase the right tickets, we boarded the first train to Sintra in an attempt to beat the crowds. 

The train was uneventful, and soon we arrived at our destination. 

The signage wasn't the best I've ever experienced, but eventually we found our way to the shuttle/bus stop and pieced together how the tickets worked.  We waited in line for a good long while until a bus pulled up and we were able to board. 

We rode the shuttle up and up and up - probably the scariest bus ride to date - until we reached the base of Pena Palace. 

There, swarms of tourists in haphazard lines stood outside broken ticket machines and closed gates - milling around with no one seeming to have any idea of what was going on. I got increasingly more frustrated as the minutes dragged on and on and still, no direction was given. My mom and I decided to divide and conquer - jumping onto two lines that we weren't even sure were where we needed to be. 

Eventually - the ticket windows opened, the gates rolled back, and we made it inside. I immediately needed to find a bathroom and some sustenance and luckily both were located at a little shop right inside the gates. We sat down in the sun and ate some horrible microwave-oven sandwich that kind of tasted like a piece of Elio's pizza (but nowhere near as good). 

After that, we started making the climb up to Pena Palace. As it came into view, I got really excited about the bright colors and bizarre architecture - it looked totally out of place! 

At this point in the day, my mom and I decided we were content to not wait on any more lines, and instead of touring the inside of the castle, opted for walking around, taking pictures, and enjoying the sights on the exterior of the castle. The tickets we had bought at the start allowed us to walk all over the castle, and we didn't feel like we missed out on anything by not going inside. 

The castle was extremely unique in it's design and I did really enjoy photographing it. Not to mention seeing the incredible views from it's turrets. 

2. Lunch & Shopping In Sintra 

The shuttle ride back down into the main part of town was another long and winding ordeal. A couple of times we thought we might have gotten on the wrong bus since it was taking so damn long! 

But eventually we found ourselves outside of the Sintra National Palace. We stuck our heads into some shops, but most of them seemed to be glorified souvenir stores. 

We were pretty grouchy and didn't feel like exploring all too much for our lunch - so we plopped down at Restaurant Cafe Paris where we had an overpriced lunch (but it was a pretty place with outdoor seating). I ordered a salad and a crepe - neither of which impressed. 

After lunch we continued our walk down to the train station and all along the way there were local artists and vendors selling crafts and jewelry along the sidewalk. We also found some nicer shops closer to town, and I loved stopping to take pictures of the buildings covered in beautiful flowers! 

By the time we made it back down, I was warming up to Sintra, but also more than ready to get on the train back to our Airbnb. 

3. Sunset Shopping 

When we got back to Lisbon, we walked around and did some final shopping - I bought a pair of pants I absolutely love from United Colors of Benetton. We chased the sunset a little ways until we realized we probably weren't to get a great view and wandered back to our little neighborhood. 

4. Portuguese Wine at The Little Wine Bar

We wandered around for awhile hoping to find a place to sit out on the sidewalk and have a drink - but most places were packed or only offering tables to those that were ordering food. Portugal made a wine drinker out of me - so we stopped in a little wine bar (quite literally called The Little Wine Bar) for a final glass. This place was adorable and the wine was fabulous - highly recommend if you're staying in the area! 

5. Last Supper at Restaurant Duque 

I am happy to report that we ended the trip with perhaps one of the best parts - dinner at Restaurant Duque. 

All week we had passed this tiny restaurant on the corner of our street and I had gazed longingly at the sweet potatoes in the window (true story). 

On our last night, I convinced my mom that we had enough cash left (it was cash only) to go for dinner and a glass of wine at this local spot.

Who would have thought that the cash-only place across the street would turn out to be our absolute favorite meal of the trip? AND that we would be seated next to a lovely couple who we talked with throughout the meal? 

It was the perfect end to the trip and I urge you to go eat here! 

We ordered the Oven Roasted Octopus (with sauteed sweet potato!!!) and the Sea Rice (basically a seafood paella with fish, clams, mussels and prawns). 

6. Goodbye, Portugal! 

The next morning we woke up, packed, and said goodbye to our Airbnb home away from home (not before stopping for a coffee and pastry from a corner cafe). 

I had used MyTaxi to schedule a cab pick-up at the AirBnb and it worked out perfectly. Our taxi driver was there right on time and was such a lovely person. We chatted the entire way to the airport - about tourism, rent, the European outlook on lunch breaks, Airbnb, and why the Portugeuse don't get angry at traffic. I was sad when we pulled up to the terminal to end our first real in-depth conversation with a local. 

I was also, obviously, sad that the trip had come to an end. 

Saying goodbye to my mom after such an amazing bonding experience was difficult - but I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity. 

I now know that my mom and I make GREAT travel partners and I can't wait to plan another trip for the two of us to share again soon. 

To anyone considering a trip to Portugal - book it! The area has so much to see and do - it offers a European feel, cobblestone streets, museums and churches galore - as well as having plenty of cool, hip places like the LX Market, Time Out Market and Pink Street. Not to mention the beaches, National Parks, and day trips that are at your fingertips. 

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LISBOA - DEFINITELY COOL (DAY 3)

Day three in Portugal was another jam-packed day in terms of the itinerary. To say I had been ambitious while planning this trip is an understatement - and the fact that my mom was game for absolutely all of it was amazing.  

I had been a little nervous that she would want more down time than I had built into the schedule - but we are pretty similar in the fact that we can't sit around doing nothing for too long. 

1. Alfama Exploring

We "slept in" after our night out on Pink Street and headed to the bus stop to journey to the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon. 

It seems to be that most European cities with a lot of history have an "Old Town" area where tourists are instructed to, "just get lost in the winding streets." In Barcelona it's the Gothic Quarter, in Stockholm it's Gamla Stan. And in Lisbon, it's Alfama. 

The bus ride to the top of the Alfama neighborhood was scarier than any roller coaster ride I've ever been on. The twists and turns we took seemed to defy all laws of nature as we went up and up on increasingly narrow and bumpy roads. I think my mom and I were very happy to disembark at the foot of the Castelo de Sao Jorge.  

After wandering around a bit, we decided that we didn't feel the need to wait in line for entry into the castle grounds and instead, set out on our own Alfama exploration. This was mainly guided by the need to find a restroom almost immediately upon our arrival. 

Turns out, the homes and buildings in this area of Lisbon are so old, that many of them do not even have running water. There are public restrooms that you pay for with euro coins - and some locals even have to use them! 

I loved exploring this neighborhood - we found so many fun spots for photos - including some incredible overlooks. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and the fact that I was walking around in a sun dress at the end of October was not lost on me. 

2. National Tile Museum ("National Azulejo Museum")

While I'm not a huge museum person - I was intrigued by the National Tile Museum - considering half of the trip I was stopping to take pictures of the tile work on buildings in Lisbon. 

The museum was enjoyable, but eventually, like most museums for me, it got old. It was a bit out of our way to get there, and we spent awhile waiting for the bus/figuring out where we were going - and I'm not sure my mom or I felt it was entirely worth it.

I more so enjoyed viewing the tiles in their natural habitat - snapping pictures as I walked down the street. The fascinating part about the tiles is how they all come together on the facades of massive buildings - seeing just a few tiles together in a display case wasn't quite the same. 

The church, the choir and the chapels of Saint Anthony and Queen Leonor are also part of the tile museum, and they were very pretty!

3. Time Out Market Lisboa for Lunch 

No trip to a city is complete without checking out their FOOD MARKET. 

It seems like every major city has one now - whether it's New York's Smorgasburg or Chelsea Market, Copenhagen's Paper Island or Lisbon's Time Out Market.  

Lisbon's market was a little sterile for me - more mall food court than the unique, hipster, food-wonderland that was Copenhagen's Paper Island. But as usual when I find myself in a food market- I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. I mean, there is an entire stall dedicated to tartares! 

My mom and I did a big loop, scoping out all of the stalls, before deciding on a salmon dish from the Sea Me stall. 

What first drew me to this particular restaurant was the fact that they served an octopus hot dog! I had to give them some props for that one. Our salmon was served with a fried egg on top and delicious mushrooms. It wasn't anything out of this world, but it was tasty. 

I had also been dying to try the traditional Portuguese dish of "Caldo Verde" - a kale soup. 

I bought a bowl from Creme de la Creme and thought it was very tasty! While I was waiting for my soup, I also decided to try out one more pasteis de bacalhau-  one that looked more traditional than the one we had sampled at Bairro do Avillez

I wish we had left it at Chef Avillez' interpretation. Neither of us were a fan of the pasteis de bacalhau from Time Out Market at all

Typically, the other half of the Time Out Market is a big food market similar to La Boqueria in Barcelona - more so a farmer's market with fresh foods for purchase than a food court. But unfortunately, we were there after it had closed.  

We (OK, I) couldn't leave the Time Out Market without sampling the second most popular spot for pasteis de nata - Manteigaria. I was still head over heels in love with pasteis de nata in general- though I can't say that it was better than that first one in Belem. Nothing beats your first time, ya know? 

4. Drink at Ribeira das Naus

This little kiosk on the waterfront promenade is the perfect spot to grab a drink and sit out watching the water. Ribeira das Naus is known as an urban beach - a pretty spot right in the middle of the city and right on the Tagus river where locals run, walk, bike, read, and more. 

It's also the spot I was reunited with a MASSIVE cup of Somersby Cider. 

5. Ride the Ascensor da Bica

It was a complete mistake that we ended up boarding the Ascensor da Bica to reach our next destination - but a really great one! This is one of the older funicular railways still operating in Lisbon - it's history dating back to 1888. 

We waited a decent amount of time to board - it doesn't run as frequently as you might think considering there's just two stops! But once we did it was a unique experience - it's SO STEEP and SO NARROW! 

I'm definitely glad that we got to ride one of these historic funiculars! 

When we disembarked we picked up some supplies for a picnic at a corner grocery store and made our way to the days' final stop. 

6. Sunset at Miradouro De Santa Catarina

Other than eating donuts in every city I go to (or, in Lisbon's case, pasteis de nata) - the number one thing I need to get on my itinerary is catching a sunset. 

In a city like Lisbon, with countless river overlooks, I knew this was going to be a showstopper.

By all the accounts I had read online, I knew that Miradoura De Santa Catarina was where I wanted to go for a sunset picnic - it was the spot where locals and tourists alike sat out, played guitars, played cards, smoke, drank, and enjoyed the views.  

When we arrived, it was already pretty crowded but we perched on a rock and took in the sights. Pretty quickly, my mom started doubting whether she could sit out in the marijuana clouds on a dusty rock with no bathroom drinking wine until the sun set in 2 hours. 

Fair enough. 

So she walked down a bit and found Noobai - a restaurant and bar with a perfect little patio that we somehow managed to snag a table on. It had a stunning view, and we ordered a bottle of wine and weren't nagged for the entire two hours that we sat, sipped, and sunsetted. 

It was probably one of my favorite parts of the entire trip - and if there's one thing you take away from my Lisbon blogging it's that you should get to Noobai for a sunset. 

7. Wine & Cheese & Bread 

Since we hadn't been able to eat our picnic supplies at Noobai, we took the tram back (very crowded, very ~authentic~) to the apartment and feasted on grapes and wine and cheese and bread and dark chocolate and wine before ending with a night cap in our favorite Carmo Square. There were even fire breathers! 

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LISBOA - DEFINITELY COOL (DAY 2)

My mom and I are both somewhat early risers, so we were up and ready to go explore Belem on Day 2 in Portugal. 

First, I tried finding some caffeine - but everywhere that I stopped informed me that they didn't offer coffee to go. I'm all about the European belief in taking a minute to stop and enjoy your coffee - but I really just wanted something to sip on during our trip!

I was proud of the fact that we took the bus instead of relying on a taxi. 

1. Bananacafe

Stop number one in Belem when we disembarked our bus was for the coffee I had failed to get earlier that morning (I'm being dramatic - it was a 20 minute bus ride). 

This cafe is an adorable converted tram painted bright yellow with outdoor seating right where the bus stops. I was shocked that it wasn't overrun with people - though we did arrive fairly early. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my coffee here! I believe they have multiple locations, light food options and supposedly stellar sangria as well. 

2. Jerónimos Monastery

We walked around this impressive building and to be honest, I hadn't done much research about which areas to visit, tour, buy a ticket to, etc. We joined a line and paid to enter one of the areas and spent some time walking around, reading about some statues, and taking in the intricate details. I believe where we ended up was the South Portal of the monastery. 

I wish I was one of those history buffs who gets really into looking at impressive old churches, but I have to admit I'm really not. I do appreciate their history and beauty, though. And show me some stained glass and I'm thrilled.  

3. Berardo Collection Museum

We ended up here purely because we were in search of a public restroom. Turns out, entry to this modern and contemporary art museum was free on Saturday's! 

The entire Centro Cultural de Belém was a beautiful place to walk around. The grounds were architecturally unique with lots of pretty landscaping and places to sit out on green grass. I'm glad we happened to stroll through! 

I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the Berardo Collection! Similarly, I loved the Dikeau Collection in Denver - which has me coming to the realization that maybe I'm into contemporary art? 

4. Padrão dos Descobrimentos

This is a large monument next to the Tagus River that celebrates that Age of Discovery in Portugal. You know the guys - you read all about them in 8th grade history class. Vasco da Gama, Bartolomeu Dias, Ferdinand Magellan...yep, all Portuguese!  

From atop the  Centro Cultural de Belém we had a pretty good view of the monument - and didn't feel that it required a separate stop, though it's definitely an impressive structure. You can pay for a ticket to go into the structure, but I have read that the view isn't anything incredible. 

5. Torre de Belém 

We walked from the museum over to the Torre de Belem (passing this amazing piece of art along the way!)

From a distance, it looked just like a raccoon. The closer you got to the wall, the more you realized it was just a bunch of random odds and ends! So cool. 

The Belem Tower is one of the main reasons that people visiting Lisbon make the journey to Belem. Though I had read that it wasn't necessarily worth the wait and ticket price to go up inside, we did walk along the water until we reached the tower. The tower once stood on an island in the middle of the river. The Tagus River has since been redirected and the tower now sits right on the shore. 

We snapped some pictures in the touristy area and I thoroughly enjoyed the adorable "Wine With A View" cart parked in the lot. We passed some similar carts with delicious looking IPAs. 

6. Pasteis de Belém

You KNOW I wasn't about to pass up sampling Portugal's most famous pastry! Though it wasn't a donut, I was still excited to compare some of the cities most popular pasteis de nata. These crispy, custard-y sweets are to Portugal what croissants are to France. And according to many, the pasteis of Pasteis de Belem are the best you can get. 

This shop has been around since 1837 - and the website claims that the recipe hasn't been altered since the time it was created at the monastery next door.  

While the line outside snakes down the sidewalk, I had read that there is a ton of seating inside (along with restrooms - which we were always on the hunt for!) 

We walked inside and were astonished to see how much it opened up inside (and that despite the huge number of tables, it was still packed!) We took a seat and ordered coffee and a pastry for each of us. Service was a little stressful in the chaotic restaurant, but it was well worth it when we were presented with two beautiful pasteis de Belem - along with our own containers of powdered sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling!  

I decided to take my first bite topping-free for a true taste test. On the count of three my mom and I both took a  bite of our still-hot delicacies and stared wide eyed at each other as the initial crispy crunch of the crust gave way to creamy, sweet, rich custard.  

My one complaint about pasteis de Belem is that they are NOT BIG ENOUGH (am I American or what)? We truly savored each and every delicious bite of our pastries and were both hesitant to finish off that last precious bite. 

7. Walk from Belem to LX Factory 

This was around a 30-35 minute walk, but it was worth it for all the pictures I got to take of beautiful tiled buildings. 

8. LX Factory

Located in the Alcantara neighborhood, LXFactory was once the site of a massive fabric company in the 1860's. Now, it's a hip, trendy area filled with quirky shops, delicious restaurants, and fun bars. 

Some of the stores were strange - they seemed to have 10 items that were super expensive and we wondered a) who shopped there and b) how they stayed in business. But there were also some nice stores with good souvenirs (and a pair of shoes I fell in love with but didn't quite fit). 

There's also tons of cool street art to check out at the LXFactory. 

9. Lunch at Rio Maravilha

After walking up and down the streets multiple times, we finally settled on a restaurant for our lunch - Rio Maravilha. It was such a cool setting - the interior was filled with unique furniture, a beautiful bar, a rooftop with lawn chairs, and the space where we ate which was an enclosed, bright patio with windows all the way around looking out over the Tejo River. The space was extremely colorful which I loved. You could tell this would be a trendy place for a night out. 

My mom and I ordered some wine and a bunch of small plates to share. I've spent about 20 minutes trying to recall what exactly we ordered - all I have is this picture of what I'm thinking is some sort of pork dish. And I know we ordered the crispy rice with tomato chutney which were fried rice balls and pretty tasty! 

After lunch, we wandered around shopping for awhile and searching for a local IPA. We kind of struck out, but eventually found a bar that served an Oitava Colina beer Urraca Vendaval -from "8th Hill" brewery (8A). It wasn't my favorite, but it was nice to sit outside and drink it in the sunshine. 

10. Ginginha do Carmo 

After some relaxing (and a little nap on my part) back at our apartment, we started our walk to dinner. But first, we had to stop for a shot of "ginginja" - a Portuguese tradition.

Ginginja (ginginha or ginja) is a cherry liquor that's only found in Portugal. There are tons of small windows that you can walk up to for a cheap shot of this super sweet substance - it's not super high in alcohol content, and it's also not usually taken as a shot by locals. Sometimes, the shot glass comes with a soaked sour cherry in the bottom. 

At Ginginha do Carmo, which was right near our apartment, there's also the option to drink your ginginha out of a chocolate shot glass! 

My mom and I sipped ours on the sidewalk - I wasn't a huge fan since it reminded me a lot of port wine. But glad we could check it off the Lisbon bucket list (ginginha is very prominent in Lisbon, but not as popular in places like Porto). 

11. Dinner at BASTARDO

This was our big night out - eating at the New York Times reviewed Bastardo in the Internacional Design Hotel. 

Though they had lost our reservation when we arrived, we sat down at the bar while we waited and ordered a cocktail. The tequila drink that I had high hopes for was a total flop. Despite the elaborate presentation (pineapple, pepper, bacon) it didn't taste like there was any alcohol in it at all and it took about 20 minutes for us to be served! 

Eventually, we sat at the table where we waited about another 20-30 minutes for anyone to acknowledge our existence. 

Despite the very poor service, we were entertained by the pop-art inspired atmosphere, the placements that proclaimed "On This Magic Placemat Calories Don't Count. You're Welcome. Enjoy." and the bread baskets made out of Legos. 

The menu sections are titled "Ready" "Set" and "Go" which I also cracked a smile at. 

I can't say I remember anything in particular that we ate at Bastardo - the food honestly wasn't that memorable, the service wasn't great, and it was a bit of a disappointment all around. The concept and design was interesting - but also a little over the top. 

My mom's comment as we washed our hands in the bathroom sink filled with rocks was one of my favorite quotes of the night, "What do they think they are, Tao or something?" 

12. Night out on Pink Street

Pink Street is actually part of  Rua Nova do Carvalho - and it is, as the kids say, LIT. 

During the day it's a pretty pink street but at night it transforms into party city. Think Broadway in Nashville or 6th Street in Austin - plus the unique night club atmosphere of European cities like Barcelona. 

My mom was adamant that I wasn't dragging her into a night club for dancing - but I did get her to go join me at a wine bar with live music (I think we were subconsciously drawn into this bar because the guitarist was singing all American songs!)

The bar we had wandered in to was Pink Wine Point and it was lively (though every bar on the block seemed to be) and I fell in love with the bartender (the bartender was not aware that I existed, other than to pour me more wine). 

Note: Negronis, Aperol Spritz and gin drinks are huge in Lisbon! It seemed to be all anyone ordered all night. Another drink that was everywhere? SOMERSBY! The cider I had fallen in love with in Copenhagen

Post-vacation I looked up Pink Wine Point and it turns out it's very popular, with great reviews, on Yelp and TripAdvisor! Go us! 

We walked back to our apartment where we fell into bed and sang a wonderful rendition of La Vie Boheme  (complete with choreographed foot motions). 

Day 3 coming up next!

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Lisboa - Definitely Cool (Day 1)

It took me a really long time to figure out where I was going to stopover on my way to Sweden in October. I was getting stressed as the date crept up and I still hadn't booked any flights. 

I could chase the Northern lights in Finland, I could go see a show in the West End in London - and then I found the one flight that connected through Portugal and I knew that was the spot.

Culture, history, cobblestone streets, seafood, wine and WARMTH - I was sold. And so was my mom. While I'd been trying to convince her to join me in Stockholm, the wet and rainy forecast (plus a travel companion who would be working 14 hours days) didn't appeal to her as much as the seaside city of Lisbon. 

So we booked flights - and set off for our first mother/daughter trip, and my mom's first visit to Europe! 

After picking my mom up in a cab from Penn Station, we arrived at Newark Airport for our flight to Lisbon.

We had a delay of an hour or so which naturally led to a glass of wine before we boarded the plane and settled in for the 6 and a half hour (ish) flight on TAP airlines.

Aside from someone being in my seat when I first tried to sit down and having to wait for a new seat assignment – all went well. TAP wasn’t overwhelmingly comfortable – but it wasn’t uncomfortable and I was able to sleep on and off and watch movies to pass the time.

Before I get into the details of this trip I would like to put out a disclaimer. I might claim something was my “favorite” part of the trip or my “favorite” meal but without a doubt my #1 favorite part of this entire trip was the opportunity to spend 4 days straight with my mom. The hardest part about leaving on the last morning was not knowing when I’ll have that chance again – just the two of us. It was the best thing – everyone go plan a trip with your mom!

DAY ONE

When we landed in Lisbon it was very early in the morning. We went through customs and hopped in a cab to our Airbnb. As we drove, I marveled at the sunrise which was absolutely stunning – the kind of sunrise that hurts to look at because it’s so bright and blinding.

We tried orienting ourselves as we drove but by the time we approached our Airbnb, we had taken so many twisty, turny, hilly cobblestone streets that looked more like sidewalks that we had absolutely no idea where we were anymore.

Our host greeted us outside and offered to take our bags up the stairs – no elevator in this building! We were in the middle of a real neighborhood – old buildings and all. Plus, we would learn, most of Portugal is still very old. There aren’t many modern buildings and skyscrapers, and that’s all part of the charm.

I felt awful as Mario struggled to lug my 50+ pound suitcase up the narrow, steep staircase. He had to take a break at one point and I was afraid I was going to be responsible for our host pulling out his back.

Once we were inside, my mom and took some time peeking around, marveling at some of the clever ways the space was utilized. Since this was my mom’s first time in Europe, there were some things that she was a little surprised by! She was especially surprised when she went to open the cabinet for a glass and the entire door fell off! Thankfully it didn’t hit either of us.

I took a quick shower since traveling always makes me feel pretty gross. In true European fashion – the shower was itty bitty and only had a hand-held showerhead. Traveling a lot the past year has made me learn to appreciate that there are many different ways of doing things – and that there isn’t necessarily a “right” way. That being said, I will never understand showers without a hands-free showerhead. Never.

After settling in we set out to explore – of course I had a full itinerary of things to accomplish in the first day.

Our first stop was for some sustenance - and caffeine! There is just something about drinking a coffee in Europe that is so much better than anywhere else in the world.  

We walked around the streets surrounding our apartment and strolled into one of the first bakeries we saw. It was complete chaos inside and we couldn’t understand one word. It was somewhat obvious that there was a “to stay” counter and a “to go” counter but it was beyond our comprehension which was which. We took a number, but then we had no idea what number was being called. We awkwardly stood and looked around with pleading “help me” looks on our faces until we somehow managed to communicate that we wanted some sort of caffeine and pointed at a pastry that looked delicious.

We sat outside enjoying our coffee, pastry and people watching, hoping that all our interactions in Lisbon wouldn’t be as much of a struggle. Luckily, I think we managed better from that point forward.

We followed my map somewhat – which was broken down into walking routes of each of Lisbon’s different neighborhoods.

1. Conserveira de Lisboa

Part store, part museum – Conserveira de Lisboa specializes in all types of canned fish. Yes, you read that correctly. Canned anchovies, cod, tuna and even octopus. We had to stop in to pick up a can for my dad as a souvenir – and I also enjoyed looking at all the different colorful containers.

2.  Comercio Square (“Praca do Comercio”)

This is the big, wide open square in Lisbon that’s part of the “Baixa” downtown area. Not as charming as some of the other areas in the city, but certainly worth a walk through!

While we were over here, we wandered into “Lisbon Shop” – a very nice spot to pick up some souvenirs! We had only been there a few hours, so we didn’t want to commit to anything yet, but we did pick up a postcard to send home (and successfully navigated the letter sending process at the nearby post office!)

3. Rua Augusta Arch

If you walk through this arch, you’ll find yourself on Rua Augusta – a pedestrian street like you’ll find in many European cities – filled with tourists, shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Again, it’s touristy, but certainly wouldn’t be a complete trip without briefly checking it out.

4. Praca da Figuiera

Another main square in the downtown area of Lisbon, this one was filled with a market that we enjoyed strolling through one afternoon. Everything from bags, wallets, scarves and jewelry to meats, cheese, breads and fresh vegetables.

5. Praca Rossio (Pedro IV Square)

We really liked the wavy tile work in this square. It’s been one of the city’s main squares since the Middle Ages. No big deal.

6. Ascensor da Gloria

After passing Praca Rossio, we found ourselves walking up, and up & up. A common occurrence in Lisbon. Unknowingly, we had started our way up the Ascensor da Gloria funicular line – on foot, instead of on-board a funicular. Despite the screaming calves, it was great getting to take some pictures of the cars and to view some of the graffiti/street art along the way!

7. Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara

If you’re in Lisbon and you see a sign for “Miradouro” – follow it. This was advice I read many times while researching my Portugal trip and it served me well! A miradouro is a lookout in Portugese – and the city is filled with incredible views since it’s so incredibly hilly! This was our first glimpse of the city form above – and it felt very well deserved after our trek up Calcada da Gloria!

8. Lunch at The Decadente

Part of a hostel, The Decadente was a gorgeous spot for our first meal - after all, the building used to be the Swiss ambassador's residence! 

We were seated outside in a pretty garden area and couldn't have been happier with the warm air! The ambiance was great - and I was glad I had done my research to know that often, you have to turn down the bread basket that comes to your table unless you want to be charged for it! 

We passed on the bread and instead ordered an appetizer of camaroes - sautéed prawns with homemade hot sauce and garlic.

I highly suggest a side of paprika potato wedges to soak up the extra sauce! A wonderful move on my part if I do say so myself. 

For a main dish, my mom ordered the cod (a dish you can't really go wrong with in Portugal!) and I went with the seabass ceviche which was fresh and light. There was a sweet potato and pumpkin puree with crispy pieces of corn that I really loved! 

9. Solar do Vinho do Porto

With full stomachs, we walked the short distance to Solar do Vinho do Porto - a tasting room for port wine that's overseen by the government's port wine agency. We walked in and were a little taken aback by the silence in the space - it felt like we were in a library!

While my mom enjoyed the port wine - I was less than thrilled by it. Luckily, we had some great wine on the trip (in fact, ever since, I've been drinking 10X more wine than ever before) but wine of the port variety was not for me! 

I wouldn't suggest a trip here unless you're really into wine. It wasn't a very fun vibe! 

10. Church of Sao Roque

We stopped in this church and although nothing very memorable stands out- all of the churches in Portugal obviously have a ton of history and beautiful architectural details. 

It was a very pretty square, with the typical Portuguese tiled buildings all around!

11. Lottery Ticket Seller Statue 

In the square of Sao Roque church, there's a statue I had read about of a lottery ticket seller. On the corner, you can buy your own scratch off lottery ticket and the statue is supposed to give you good luck! 

Despite my mom's eye rolls, I made her take the photo opportunity of us scratching tickets. We won $2! So I bought another ticket. And then we lost. 

12. Cervejaria trindade 

"The oldest beer hall in Lisbon" was our next stop - and it was really awesome to sip a brewski in a place whose story begins in 1294 (when it was the site of a monastery). The current building has been around since Manuel Moreira Garcia built the Trindade Brewery in 1836.  

While I didn't love my beer, it was cool to look around! 

13. convento do carmo 

The Carmo Convent was just up the hill from our Airbnb and we enjoyed most nights in the square (Praca Largo Do Carmo). Though we never paid the entry fee to go into the convent, we did follow the advice I had read to find a lane with trolley tracks just past the convent - which lead to a great lookout from the top of the Elevador de Santa Justa.  

This view was one of my absolute favorites from the trip - both in the daylight and at night. We took note of the restaurant/bar at the top and filed it away for later. 

14. dinner at bairro do avillez 

On our walk to dinner we came to a sidewalk dining area that made us stop in our tracks. For me, this was the moment when Lisbon's charm really won me over. I think it was a similar moment for my mom as well - when we realized that steps from our apartment was this picture-perfect cobblestone street with dinner tables overlooking the city and tourists and locals alike mingling in the streets. It was a total, "Oh, right, we are in Europe and it's magical" moment. 

After some pictures, we continued on to dinner at Bairro do Avillez. I chose this for our dinner because José Avillez is kind of a big-deal chef in Portugal. He has many restaurants, but we ate at the casual Taberna within Bairro do Avillez - a building that houses many different Avillez restaurants. 

The octopus was incredibly well done, as were the next-level Pasteis de Bacalhau. Pasteis de bacalhau is a traditional dish in Portugal hat it essentially a deep fried cod fritter. While we eventually tried a more traditional one at the Time Out Market, these were by far the better version. 

15. wine in the square 

This was the way we ended every night in Lisbon -

A half bottle of wine (shared - they had these really cute 1/2 bottles for like $4)

A piece of dark chocolate

Live music or fire juggling or people watching

In Carmo Square

They have cute little bars that are just a small kiosk with cheap drinks and it seems like the whole neighborhood is out!

Stay  tuned for days 2, 3 and 4! 

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Banff & Jasper Vacation Planning Guide

I wrote a lot about my trip to Banff and Jasper - but maybe you don't really care so much about how the mountains made me feel in awe of nature and the hours talking with my best friends made me feel giddy and grateful. 

Maybe you just want the basics - so you can easily plan your OWN trip and have your own feels about this wonderful place. I'll shut up and give you the deets. 

DAY ONE - BANFF

DAY TWO - BANFF --> LAKE LOUISE

DAY THREE - LAKE LOUISE

DAY FOUR - ICEFIELDS PARKWAY TO JASPER

DAY FIVE - JASPER

DAY 6 - JASPER TO CALGARY

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

Discovering Jasper National Park

When I left off, our trio had finished a delicious meal at Storm Mountain Lodge and fallen asleep for the last night  in our cozy cabin. 

When we awoke on Monday morning it was time to say goodbye to Banff and Lake Louise and hit the highway - driving down Icefields Parkway with Jasper as our ultimate destination. 

Day 4 

Drive the Icefields Parkway

We were more than a little sad to say goodbye to Storm Mountain Lodge and enjoyed one last smorgasbord breakfast on the picnic benches outside the main cabin before apprehensively getting in our rental car for a long day of driving. 

We couldn't understand how - but many people we had talked to said that driving the Icefields Parkway was the highlight of their trip! Considering the hikes we had been on so far, we couldn't see how this could be the case - but we were excited to find out. 

The Canadian Rockies span a large area, and there are three main National Parks within the mountain range - Banff, Jasper and Yoho. Icefields Parkway is 144 miles of road that connect Lake Louise with Jasper and has been rated as one of the top drives in the world. 

While planning our itinerary, I was overwhelmed with the number of recommended stops between Lake Louise and Jasper! Obviously, we had to pick and choose - there simply weren't enough hours in the day to see everything. 

Bow Lake & Bow Glacier Falls Hike

4.6 Miles 

Pretty quickly it became obvious that the views on this drive were going to be stunning. Lucky for us, despite forest fires, the skies were clear and we could see the mountains all around us. 

Our first stop was Bow Lake, where we hiked to the Bow Glacier Falls. This hike was more of a walk/rock scramble with some difficult terrain as we forged a path across a rocky riverbed - but for the most part it was flat. 

We took a few minutes to lay at the base of the falls, enjoying the spray and the sounds of the falling water. 

On our return trip there was a brief interlude for some Taylor Swift choreography and marveling at how reflective the surface of Bow Lake was. 

When we got back to the parking lot, we stopped into the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge for some lunch from their little gift shop/cafe which we ate outside on a picnic bench. I remember there being chili with some exotic meat - bison or elk or something. Note: they only took cash!

Peyto Lake Overlook 

1.2 Miles 

We got back in the car and headed to our next destination - Peyto Lake. 

There's an easy walk up a pretty steep, paved path to an overlook of the breathtakingly blue Peyto Lake - but when we got up there and saw how full of tourists the landing was - we knew we had to seek out a spot with a little more solitude. 

We managed to figure out how to get where we wanted to go after many stops at forks in the trail, confused conversations with other hikers, and a lot of hoping for the best. 

What awaited was an absolutely stunning view of Peyto Lake - and instead of being surrounded by 100s of people, it was us and maybe 10-15 other people. 

There were some rocks and overhangs perfect for pictures and I would say this was my favorite view of the trip! The 1.2 mile walk to get there wasn't bad at all and I highly recommend it to anyone driving the Icefields Parkway! You can read more about how to skip the crowded area and find this incredible overlook here

Jasper Trail Run 

5.2 Miles 

We continued cruising down the Icefields Parkway and enjoying the amazing scenery with a quick stop at the "Goat Lick" but sadly, we didn't see any goats. 

Eventually, we arrived in Jasper and found ourselves driving through the cute little town and parking at our hostel! 

The Jasper Downtown Hostel was really great - another phenomenal kitchen that we sadly didn't get to take advantage of, clean rooms with their own bathrooms attached, and very friendly staff. 

We dropped our stuff and quickly inquired at the front desk about where we could go for a run. He gave us a few suggestions and we set off for what ended up being an absolutely perfect and beautiful 5 mile trail run. 

There are a number of paths around Jasper that make for great running routes - ours took us on #12 to Red Squirrel Trail Run to Old Fort Point Road and the Athabasca River Loop before we turned around and headed back. 

By the end of the run I was feeling pretty great, and vividly remember booking it down Jasper's main stretch of road - Connaught Drive. 

Sunset at Patricia Lake  

When we wrapped up our run we piled right in the car at my insistence that we catch the sunset at Patricia Lake. It was pretty - but we were sweaty and being attacked by bugs so it didn't last long. 

We headed back to the hostel to shower and get ready for our first night out in Jasper! (Getting ready most (all) nights involved jeans or running leggings with a sweater and wet hair). 

Dinner at Jasper Brewing Co. 

We wandered around for a while before accepting the fact that we were no longer in NYC and almost every restaurant was closed for the night.

We settled on Jasper Brewing Co. which was still open and hoppin' (get it, brewery, hops?) 

Bar food and beers hit the spot - nachos with alllll the things, crudites and dips, a giant salad and sweet potato fries? Yummo. The beers were solid too and we even had some fun conversation with the locals sharing the high top with us. 

Day 5:

Long Trail Run - Valley of the Five Lakes

7 Miles 

We slept in on Tuesday and woke up to get our trail run on! After consulting with the guy at the front desk and the interwebs, we decided to start our run at the Valley of the Five Lakes Trailhead parking lot. 

We actually didn't end up doing the Valley of the Five Lakes trail as our run - instead we kind of winged it and it ended up being one of my favorite runs of my entire LIFE. 

I couldn't really tell you where we ended up going - I can just tell you that it was beautiful. We saw one other person for the entire hour + we were out there. The trail was verrrry narrow - so we went in single file the entire time. 

There is something about trail running where you can just completely zone out - you're looking down at the trail to stop yourself from tripping (at least I am) and every once in awhile you need to remind yourself to look up and in take in the fact that you are 100% surrounded by nature. 

We turned around once we hit a lake and switched off who got a chance to lead. Leading was so fun - I felt like a total trailblazer! Free and fast and fun! (We weren't actually going that fast, but it felt like it!) 

That was 75 minutes I will never forget. 

Feast at Loulou's Pizzeria 

After we got back and showered it was time to find food. We ended up at Loulou's where, as usual, we ordered a feast. 

The food wasn't anything incredible, but for a bunch of hungry runners it was more than sufficient. 

I'm pretty sure there was an omelette, an egg sandwich, and a yogurt parfait. With lots of toast and peanut butter. 

Shopping in Jasper 

After we ate we walked along the main street in Jasper checking out all the shops. I bought myself an amazing plastic all-in-one utensil that I have gotten a ton of use out of in all of my travels/flights! 

We also stopped at SnowDome Coffee Bar which is an awesome laundromat/coffee shop where we got iced Americanos that really hit the spot. 

I also bought wooden stud earrings that look like little mountains and I have worn them 98% of the days since I've been back. I am obsessed with them. 

Lake Maligne Lake Cruise 

Prior to leaving for Canada (okay, months and months in advance as is my style), we had booked "Jasper Explorer" combo packages through Brewster tours. This got us reservations with the Lake Maligne Lake Cruise and the Glacier Adventure ($140). 

The drive from Jasper town to the Lake Maligne Lake Cruise was stunning and when we arrived we checked in and boarded the boat right on time. 

Our tour guide was personable and knowledgeable and dropped some interested perspective on forest fires - while they're scary for people living in the area and detrimental to tourism - they're actually part of the life-cycle of any forest! 

It was a beautiful day for a boat cruise (I picked the last departure for the day since I like late-afternoon light best for pictures!) and as we made our way to Spirit Island our tour guide pointed on glaciers and other notable parts of the surrounding Lake Maligne landscape. 

When we arrived at Spirit Island we were given some time to get off the boat and walk around - taking our own version of the iconic photograph that made Spirit Island famous. 

A Kodak photographer, Peter Gales, found this remote location and took a picture that would come to be used as part of a giant photo display in Grand Central Station throughout the 1940s. 

It seemed a little silly at the time - that this entire boat cruise exists so that people can see the island from the famous photograph - but once we were on shore looking out at Spirit Island, I had to admit it was beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I had my own picture printed on metal and plan on hanging it in my room! 

We learned some more on the boat ride back and I snapped tons of pictures from my window seat. 

Moose Lake Walk at Maligne Lake

2.1 Miles 

Once we disembarked the vessel (just wanted to use some of my nautical vernacular there) we decided to go for a walk to Moose Lake in the hopes of finding some moose! 

We didn't - but it was a nice, flat walk and when we arrived at moose lake, even though there were a few other people, it was the most absolute silence I've ever heard in my life. We all agreed that we finally understood the phrase, "the silence was deafening." 

Dinner at Olive Bistro 

When we got home from the Maligne Lake Cruise we set out for dinner - determined to make it out before the restaurants were all closed for the night. 

We kicked off tequila Tuesday with delicious cocktails from Olive Bistro - where we got to sit outside with heat lamps and even met the chef/owner! 

We got downnn with some delicious Mediterranean food. In an out of character move I also insisted on the bison burger which I still think about sometimes because it was so delicious. 

After dinner we returned to Jasper Brewing Co. for a final brewski before hitting the hay. 

Day 6:

Our journey in the Canadian Rockies was coming to a close but we had one more adventure packed day. We started with an outdoor breakfast at the hostel - complete with a cinnamon roll the size of our heads from Bear's Paw Bakery which was right around the corner from us. 

We packed up the car and hit the Icefields Parkway for our journey back to Calgary. 

Glacier Adventure 

But before leaving Jasper National Park, it was time to step foot on a glacier! Something that, sadly, won't be possible forever. 

Our "Jasper Explorer" pack included a ride in a giant bus/monster truck/glacier adventure-mobile  out onto the Athabasca Glacier (make sure you reserve a time in advance!) 

I'm not a car person - but learning about these badass vehicles was actually really interesting. I won't ruin the fun facts you'll learn on this tour (aka: I can't remember the fun facts I just know they were fascinating). I do remember that the road down to the glacier is the second steepest unpaved road in the world! It was nuts. 

Our tour guide was funny and we thought it was very interesting that all the people who work for the Glacier Adventure live down the street in cabins - I think it would make for a fascinating reality TV show. Seasonal Workers of Jasper National Park: Revealed. 

Anywho. After the ride to the 10,000 year old glacier we could get out of the ice explorer (the tires were as tall as me) and walk around. I know I should have been more in awe - but in all honestly I just couldn't really wrap my head around some of the staggering statistics and numbers being thrown around. The Columbia Icefield is something like 2,000 football fields? HOW. 

You can read more of the crazy info here

What I liked most was getting to fill my water bottle up with glacier water and drink it - SO FRESH. SO COLD! 

Glacier Skywalk 

After being ice explorers we got on another bus that brought us to the "Skywalk" which was a total waste of time and nearly resulted in me peeing on the side of the road because there was no bathroom and the bus was nowhere to be found. 

I would 100% say that this isn't worth you're time if you go to the Columbia Icefield!

Keep Your Eyes Peeled for Wildlife 

On our drive back along the Icefields Parkway, the sky was verrrrrry smokey. We couldn't believe the difference - it was like someone had completely erased the mountains! We were so thankful that the winds must have been in our favor the entire trip. 

Though we couldn't see mountains on our drive back to Calgary - we DID see a BABY BEAR on the side of the road! It might not have been the smartest move - but we pulled the car over and got out to join the crowd forming to take pictures of the lil bear cub. 

Stop for a Swim in a Lake 

It's killing me that I can't remember the name of this lake (maybe Hector?)- but on our drive I recognized the name from my Google search for lakes in Jasper and Banff that were actually warm enough to swim in (aka not filled from straight up glaciers!) 

It was a split second decision to turn off the road and go for it and looking back, it was a fabulous decision. 

We walked around to a clearing in the lake that seemed relatively free of people and took the plunge - lasting a total of maybe 3 seconds in the cold water before coming out. 

But we did it! And it was fun and refreshing and definitely woke us up for the rest of our journey. 

Stoney Squaw Hike 

2.7 Miles 

As we made our way back to Banff we were getting a little antsy from the driving and decided we wanted to fit in one more hike. 

I had been scrolling through options online all day but we finally settled on the Stoney Squaw Hike. Though the final view wasn't as jaw-dropping as some of our other hikes, the lichen covered trees provided something we hadn't yet seen during our trip and made me feel like I had been transported into the movie FairyTale (I LOVED THAT MOVIE). 

The hike was the perfect distance and perfect effort-level to give us the final oomph we needed to make it back to Calgary. 

(And on our way down - we saw lots of GOATS). 

Dinner Out in Calgary

We made it to Calgary and checked into the Wyndham Garden Airport to drop our bags before calling an Uber to take us out for TACOS. 

I had a delicious mezcal drink and we ate lots of delicious Mexican things at Native Tongues

It had been a long week without tacos or guacamole, let me tell ya. 

The ambiance at Native Tongues was great and did I mention they MAKE THEIR OWN DONUTS! I think you know what dessert was. 

End of an Adventure 

The next morning we all took our separate flights back to NY and the city skyline will never be the same now that I know what it's like to be surrounded by blue skies and mountains and glacial lakes for 7 glorious days.  

It was such an incredible trip and I cannot stop recommending it to everyone I meet. 

GO TO BANFF AND JASPER! I promise you will not be disappointed. 

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Beautiful Banff: Where You Need To Go

It feels like a long long time ago that I spent 8 blissful days in Banff and Jasper with my best friends. I know I rave about all the amazing trips I've gotten to take - but this one was different. 

This trip was the ideal vacation  not only because the landscape was otherworldly and beautiful, but because my travel companions were perfect. There are very few people I would want to hike and run and drive and eat and sleep with for 8 days straight, but Abby and Callie are definitely two of those people.  

I had bought a small notebook to write about the trip in, but failed after about a day. Day One's recap comes directly from my journal - the rest of the trip is from memory. 

Day One 

We arrived at our hostel in Banff on Tunnel Mountain very late on Thursday night (we stayed at HI Banff Alpine Centre). Note to self: arriving at hostels in the middle of the night is not ideal because your room is pitch black and you need to struggle to be quiet because there are three other girls already sound asleep. 

We were up at 8 the next morning and had a huge and satisfying breakfast at Cougar Pete's - the onsite restaurant. We were shocked at how legit it was. We all split the yogurt parfait, egg sandwich and omelette. Maybe the best part was slathering peanut butter on the buttered toast. 

It was so nice feeling a chill in the air and cupping our hands around our hot mugs of coffee.

Sulpher Mountain Hike

6.5 Miles 

Our first stop was Sulpher Mountain, back where I stayed at the Rimrock Resort when I went for a work trip in August. The parking lot was still fairly empty and we walked up to the hot springs only to decide we weren't in the mood - but that we'd rather get right to the hike! 

The Sulpher Mountain hike was a lot more legit than I thought it would be - there were some switchbacks but for the most part we just walked up and up and up. 

Before this trip I had worried a little about whether or not I would enjoy hiking - I haven't exactly been on many multi-hour hikes recently (or ever). I thought I might get bored and be thinking, "That's it - we just walk?" But there's something exciting about not knowing what is going to be around each corner - and the Canadian Rockies are a place where each hike offers truly amazing pay-off when you reach your destination and has made me love hiking and find it far from boring. 

The trails were a lot more challenging that I anticipated and a 6.5 mile round trip hike has certainly felt much harder to me than a six mile run would! I was so sore everywhere this entire trip. 

I also knew that even had I been bored by the actual hiking - I was with 2 of my best friends and the conversations, jokes, laughter and singing alone made the miles and hours fly by. 

On our way up Sulphur Mountain we marveled at all of the people who were somehow managing to RUN up, as we very clearly could only manage a brisk walk. We also rolled our eyes at the group of girls in their black Lulu leggings and black sports bras. 

Eventually we made it to the top for some pretty spectacular views of Banff town below. The temperature really dropped once we were up there and we also noticed that it was packed with people who had taken the gondola up. 

Honestly, half the reason the view for this particular hike was so awesome was knowing we had walked 2,000 feet up to earn it and I can't imagine having paid to take a gondola to the top. 

There was a coffee shop and museum which we ambled through before walking to the to Cosmic Ray Station to finish the trail. There were a lot of people around and we were happy to get back on the trail to some degree of solitude for the walk down. 

Our legs were feeling the effects of the climb and we were so happy we had saved the hot springs for post-hike. 

One the way down (and up) we occasionally held our hands up over our heads to try to combat the fact that our blood was pooling in our fingers and making them super swollen and puffy. Gross. 

I also forgot how dry the air is in Banff - combined with the fact there were were crazy wildfires burning in the area (sometimes making the views a little hazy) - I used a lot of chapstick during this trip. 

Banff Upper Hot Springs

We got our things from the car (#1 piece of advice if you plan a trip to the Canadian Rockies is to rent a car!) and went back to the Banff Upper Hot Springs. 

The smell of sulphur  was pretty strong - 3 days later we swore we still smelled like it. 

The prices were very fair ($7.30 in USD) and we made a game time decision to rent "historic" swimsuits for $1.90 instead of wearing our own. They. were. awesome. I don't know why romper bathing suits aren't a real thing. Swompers.  

They are SO much more flattering. We felt like a bunch of Marilyn Monroes. We used our "looney" ($1 coin in Canada) to lock up our things and walked into the hot springs - which were a balmy 102 degrees that day. 

Eventually I came up with the genius idea of laying on the ledge separating the real pool from the kidding pool and floating with my arms on the surface - keeping me just the right temperature. With the mountains in the background - I was soo content and felt like I could have fallen asleep or stayed for hours. But hunger struck us all so we left our historic suits behind (although we could have purchased one for $95) and headed into town to find some food. 

Picnic & Drive to Lake Minnewanka

What I thought were really cool parking lots that tell you how many spaces are left were actually #FakeNews. First we went to Nestor's market for carrots and hummus and long run fuel (GoMacro bars, bananas and rice cakes) and then wandered into Wild Flour because we only eat at restaurants whose names are puns. 

Johnson Lake

We chose a bunch of things to split, as usual, and headed to Johnson Lake for a picnic. When I was in Banff for work I had stopped at Johnson Lake and thought, "Wow - my itinerary for Banff is too packed - I need to make more time for relaxing and sitting still and enjoying these views." 

I loved that Johnson Lake and the other spots along the drive to Lake Minnewanka were so empty and seemed to be lacking tourists. It was so great to be back with Abby and Callie doing just what I had imagined - sitting down for a picnic at Johnson Lake where we were probably the most touristy people there. 

The food from Wild Flour was so good - lentil/chickpea/sweet potato Moroccan-y stew, "meat" foccacia and a really good brie/apple sandwich. Oh, and a kale salad with raisins, sweet potatoes and a maple Dijon vinaigrette. An oatmeal Chai and triple chocolate cookie for dessert (not a crumb remained). 

We wished the water wasn't absolutely freezing, otherwise we would have taken a dip. "It's so cold my arms are burning," was a quote from one man who braved the glacier-fed waters. 

After our relaxing picnic lunch we took the ride up to Lake Minnewanka with stops at Two Jack Lake and Cascade Ponds back at the bottom. 

Two Jack Lake looked different than the last time I was there somehow - are there tides in lakes? I ventured down to a little sand bar for a photo op and felt so surrounded by beauty it was unreal. 

Tunnel Mountain Sunset Hike

1.5 Miles 

After our drive we went back to the hostel and I definitely took a very needed nap. We woke up in time for a sunset hike up Tunnel Mountain, which I knew from last time was quick but offered great sunset views. It didn't dissapoint. 

The clouds had beautiful sun rays breaking through them and all of Banff town was sprawled out below us. I voiced my belief that clouds are what make a sunset pretty - my metaphor for life being beautiful because of the challenges and dark splotches, not in spite of them. 

We sat on the log I had found last time and took some self-timer pictures with my new selfie stick/tripod but of course my GoPro was failing me. I still was able to use my phone for a pretty average time lapse. 

We looked around the backside of the mountain but the lighting wasn't as cool as the last time I was up there so we pretty quickly made the trek back down to our car for dinner #1. 

Sushi House Banff 

304 Caribou Street

A local had told me about "Sushi Train" on my last trip and I was dying for my first conveyor belt sushi experience. The place was packed when we got there but it's a genius strategy for getting people in and our quickly so we didn't wait long at all. 

We sat down and immediately could start grabbing plates. They also gave us a menu so we could make requests of the chefs who were rolling away right in front of us. 

We had edamame, yam roll, tuna roll, dumplings, shrimp purses, shrimp tempura roll - everything was really good. By the time the eel started going around we were too full, but it looked amazing. 

At the end, they add up how many of each colored plate you have to determine what you owe. Our jaws dropped when the total came to under $15 per person for a sushi dinner. Ah, the joys of getting awesome insider scoops from locals! 

Karaoke at Storm Cellar 

Back at the hostel it was karaoke night and I had made it very clear that the three of us would be performing. It was really nice having a bar onsite at the hostel. It was pretty crowded and eventually we got the nerve to submit our names for We Didn't Start the Fire. This was my first official karaoke performance. At the end, Abby had the thought of, "Oh shit - was that really insensitive since we are not very far away from forest fires?" Oops. 

Day One Total Mileage: 8 Miles

Day Two 

Long Run at Vermillion Lakes

10 Miles

Saturday morning we were up at 7/7:30 to get ready for Abby's long run - I give her so much credit for being so flexible and stress-free about fitting in her runs. Definitely one of my goals if I ever have another marathon training cycle is to go with the flow more. 

From last trip, I knew a great spot for a long run that wasn't very busy, was paved, and was fairly flat. We parked at the Fenland Trail head and started our run past the beautiful Vermillion Lakes. 

Breathing was not easy, but for the most part my legs felt pretty good - just sore hips and glutes from Friday's hikes. 

Once Abby said she was only going to do 10 miles, I said I would stay with her even though my original plan was no more than 9. By the end we got in a comfortable rhythm and it felt great to finish 10 miles for the first time in a long time. 

Afterwards, we did some planking - Abby came up with some torturous tabata-plank routine. 

Then we got in the car and drove back for some pictures at Vermillion Lakes - so so pretty. 

Breakfast at Tooloulou's 

204 Caribou Street 

After showering and packing up our things at the hostel, we drove into town for brunch be. We waited a decent amount of time for a table at Tooloulou's for brunch, but it was definitely worth it. 

  • Chicken & Waffles
  • Western Omelette with biscuit
  • Sufferin' Succotash (two fried eggs, corned beef hash, skillet potatoes, pancake & toast)
  • Fruit Salad

When the food first arrived at our table, we thought that our eyes had been bigger than our stomachs. But at some point, we realized that we were making a big dent on the copious amounts of food. We decided the challenge was on - we were going to finish everything and we were going to own it when the waitress came back and was shocked by our clean plates. 

I think we each used two cups of maple syrup - by the end we were dipping everything in it. 

It was a little out of hand, yet also a very proud moment for the three of us. We left Toulooloo's and wandered into a fudge shop. Our appetites truly know no bounds. 

Johnston Canyon to Ink Pots Hike 

6.3 Miles 

We waved goodbye to Banff town and got in our rental car to drive to Johnston Canyon for a hike before checking into our next hotel. 

I had no idea that Johnston Canyon was going to be so filled with tourists. The first part of our hike, from the parking lot to the two main waterfalls, wasn't all that enjoyable. It was beautiful, but it felt like we were in line for a ride at Disney World - trying to make our way around throngs of tourists who were clearly not there to hike. 

While we walked this part of the trail, I was on the lookout for a cave I had seen posted on Instagram many times during my research - and I was determined to find it. I read and reread the directions, tips and hints I had found online in the hopes that we wouldn't accidentally pass it. We succeeded in finding it - along with tons of other people. The secret about this spot is certainly out of the bag, but it was great to go off the beaten path for some pictures nonetheless. 

After this detour we continued to the upper falls and beyond that the crowd finally dispersed as we continued on to the Ink Pots portion of the hike. 

We ran into an extremely friendly couple who let us know that there's also a parking lot that would have gotten us right onto the Ink Pots trail (Moose Meadows Trailhead) and avoided all of the madness. 

The hike from the falls to the ink pots was challenging but absolutely beautiful - we couldn't believe how high up we were. And almost on our own for all of it. 

It was unintentionally great timing as the Ink Pots tend to be less crowded towards the end of the day. When we made it to the end of the trail, we had the ink pots almost to ourselves. There were just 2 or 3 other groups of people there! 

The Ink Pots are mineral springs that fill up with water at a different rate, causing different colors and cool rings that you can see on the bottom of the super clear pools of water. We took tons of pictures up here and sat out for awhile on the benches - discussing how amazing it would have been if we had a tent and could have spent the night there. 

storm mountain lodge

Our planned sleeping arrangements were a little less rustic than a tent - but we were still eager to drive to Storm Mountain Lodge for two nights in our very own log cabin. We retraced our steps back past the Upper and Lower Falls of Johnston Canyon, speed walking past slow moving tourists like true New Yorkers. 

While passing a crying little girl we commented, "Don't cry, you have ice cream!" only to see an entire scoop lying on the trail a few feet away. Oops - you may proceed little girl - dropped ice cream is definitely worth crying over. 

This lead to a very philosophical conversation about cup people vs. cone people and before we new it we were hitting the open road. We checked into Storm Mountain Lodge and as soon as we pulled into the parking lot we were in love. The main lodge had a massive fire place, restaurant, games, bar and the coziest vibes. 

We made a quick stop at a local market for some supplies (snacks and adult beverages including my favorite Copenhagen discovery, Somersby!) before placing an order for a charcuterie board at the Storm Mountain Lodge front desk. 

While we waited for our food, we asked if we could possibly get some carrots - and were overjoyed when carrots were delivered.

We retired to our little cabin in the woods where we MORE than enjoyed the food. Each meal it got harder and harder to pick a favorite! 

sunrise at lake louise 

There's nothing I love more than a good sunrise or sunset - and I knew that the only time we could guarantee some semblance of solitude at the wildly popular Lake Louise was to get there bright and early. 

Luckily, my travel companions are equally as down for an early wake up call. We only wish we had found coffee prior to arriving at Lake Louise! 

Of course we weren't the only ones there to enjoy the sunrise, but it was very quiet, peaceful, and not at all like the crowded scene we would encounter on our way back later that day. 

I made a time lapse, we chatted with a nice woman (while enviously eyeing her Starbucks cup), and marveled at the milky-pen-like pearly, turquoise water.

lake agnes tea house hike

Once the sun was up, we set off for the Lake Agnes Tea House - a hike that I thought would be fairly fast and easy since so many people recommend it.  It was neither fast nor easy - but it was breathtaking as the sun continued to rise. And again, we were fairly alone on the trail. 

We stopped for some pictures at mirror lake before arriving at the Lake Agnes Tea House. It was full of people already, but we were able to snag a table as we salivated over the carb-heavy menu. 

The Lake Agnes Tea House is incredible - it's been serving tea at 7.005 feet since 1905 and today, fresh ingredients are still hiked up twice weekly to the tea house's kitchen. They receive bulk ingredients by air once a year. And employees hike down all the garbage on their backs! 

We were desperately in need of coffee - but they don't call this a tea house for nothin'. We settled for Chai tea lattes and we are STILL talking about them.  

We are also still talking about the peanut butter sandwich. It was the classic "mouth is sticking together from PB" sandwich. Plus an energy ball and scones with jam. 

Keep in mind that the tea house is cash only (US dollars and Canadian). Abby helped out a cashless couple by giving them some USDs and they Venmo'd her. 

The air was soo crisp up at the tea house and we were loving it. We were also loving this beautiful view of Lake Agnes. So much so that we decided we needed to continue hiking in the area. 

big beehive hike

We decided to tackle the Big Beehive Hike which would turn out to be my absolute favorite of the trip. But at first - it was slightly scary. It got steep REAL quick - and I was panicking a little bit about how we were going to get down! 

But after walking straight up (and up and up) we made it to the top and were asked by a couple from Montana if we worked in the park! They said most people couldn't keep up with them - and seemed a little surprised to learn that we were from Manhattan, concrete jungle where hikers aren't typically made. 

For whatever reason, we took a turn to our left to wander the top of the peak and all of a sudden I audibly GASPED as many people would during our time atop Big Beehive. Suddenly, the sparkling blue of Lake Louise could be spotted down below and it was magic. 

We perched on a rock ledge where we sat for a good long while taking in the views, in awe of this spot we had stumbled on. While we sat, many groups of people passed by, and almost all of them had a similar reaction of, "OH MY GOD! Wait until you see this..." 

We decided to go back to Lake Louise a different way than we had come - which made me happy since the steepness had freaked me out. More importantly - it provided entirely new scenery for the return trip, which was great (and inspired some beautiful renditions of "The Sound of Music"). 

The return trail had us end up on the opposite end of Lake Louise from the hotel and parking lot which worked out wonderfully - we got to walk the entire perimeter of the lake and take in views away from the people who just jump out of their car for a few pictures. 

Round trip, the Lake Agnes Tea House and Big Beehive hike was 6.4 miles. 

Lake moraine 

We had spent so much time on our hike at Lake Louise, that we just ended up dropping by Lake Moraine so we could say we saw it - it's a short drive from Lake Louise. 

It was the peak time of day - so it took a lot of driving around the parking lot in circles until we found a parking spot. 

At Lake Moraine, we were those people who park, take a picture, and are on their way. So it definitely wasn't one of the most memorable parts of the trip. 

There are many hikes that you can take around Lake Moraine, though, and a lot of people say it's less busy than Lake Louise. 

lake louise town 

By this point we were famished and we drove into Lake Louise "town" to find lunch. What we found was a strip mall - though it had everything you could need! 

We split our usual smorgasbord of food - soups, sandwiches, etc. and then stocked up on postcards which we sat down to write and send at the post office. I also picked up a notebook for my one day of successful journal-ing of the trip. 

fancy dinner at storm mountain lodge 

We made our way back to Storm Mountain Lodge, listening to the newest Taylor Swift song which we were determined to make ourselves love.  (Spoiler alert: by the end of that night, we were all about "Ready For It?") 

We showered, made ourselves look the most presentable we had all trip, and headed out to the main cabin with beers and books in hand. We read, wrote, drank and hammocked for an hour or so and while it was very peaceful, it should be noted that Storm Mountain Lodge is situated off of a very busy road. 

Eventually we went inside to the main lodge where we played a few fun rounds of Scattergories (my favorite board game) in front of the fire while waiting for our reservation. 

Dinner was absolutely delicious. 

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Roasted shallots, lodge-made ricotta, compressed strawberries, puffed quinoa, confit garlic and preserved lemon vinaigrette

Ewenique Farms Lamb Chop

Cherry reduction, yellow beet puree, buttermilk steal cut oats, roasted baby beets, butter poached carrots, peppermint tea and vanilla gel

Lodge Fireplace Smoked Eggplant

Glazed apple, orecchiette pasta, organic spaghetti squash, aged goat gouda mornay sauce, locally sourced farmer's vegetables, apple & butternut puree

Ocean Wise Rockfish

Fermented zuchhini, broccoli puree, roasted broccoli, pepper chutney, carrot syrup, aigre-doux pearl onions

Not to mention, the French 75 cocktails were WOW. 

We also got dessert, of course - though now it's hard to remember what it was. 

That night we went to bed full and happy - but really, that wasn't any different than every other night of the trip. 

Part II will cover our journey to Jasper! So stay tuned. 

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My Favorite Pre-Packaged Bars

Athletes today may be gluten-free, vegan or paleo. They may choose to only eat organic products, or Whole 30 approved foods.

It can make selecting a pre-workout snack somewhat complicated. I never really gave much thought to what my gluten-free or vegan running friends did for fuel until one of my Ragnar Relay teammates had to request certain snacks on our Costco run.

There are tons of recipes and real foods you can make to fuel your runs if you’ve got dietary restrictions, but sometimes you just want the simplicity of grabbing a prepacked bar and heading out the door. Luckily, there are a lot of options out there nowadays that don't require making your own energy balls or granola bars. 

I almost always eat half of some sort of a bar in the morning before leaving my apartment for the gym or the office to hold me over until my full breakfast. Even if i'm not doing much running lately, I need something to get me through a strength workout, swim or bike ride. Or even just the NYC rush hour commute. 

Here are some of my favorites!

Dates

If you’re looking to go the natural route, I’ve found dates to be surprisingly effective at giving me that little boost of energy before a short morning workout. Adding a smear of peanut butter brings it to the next level – as it does with most things.

Brown Rice Cakes

Gluten free, quick to eat, and again – delicious when paired with peanut butter! I’ve recently been turned on to rice cakes’ cousin – the elusive corn cake! They aren’t found as easily in stores, but they’re also gluten free and have much more flavor than your average rice cake!

GoMacro Bars

Recently, GoMacro sent me a variety pack of their many different flavored bars to sample and I was really impressed! Not only are all 10 of their flavors gluten free, but they’re vegan as well!

My favorite thing about GoMacro bars were that they weren’t overly sugary and sweet, which meant I could have a half of a bar without instantly feeling like I needed to keep eating it because it was like candy. That’s not to say that they didn’t taste good – they just didn’t taste like dessert.

Typically I’m a fan of the chocolatey and peanut butter-y flavors – but with GoMacro, I absolutely went CRAZY for the “Sunny Uplift” bar with cherries + berries.

It tasted like a healthy cherry pie – probably my favorite bar that I’ve ever had!

GoMacro bars didn’t taste chemically to me at all – unlike some others (I'm looking at you, Quest bars, which used to be my go-to and now I can’t stomach!) One thing to note is that they’re on the softer side. If you’re looking for something crunchier, you might want to try a different product.

I brought a handful of GoMacro bars with me on my trip to Banff and Jasper this summer, and Callie, Abby and I ate them before runs, during hikes, and as snacks to hold us over until our next meal.

KIND Bars

KIND bars are produced in a gluten free facility and the company keeps rolling out new products – but their fruit and nut bars are still my favorite because you can tell that it’s got real ingredients. My favorite flavor is the Blueberry Vanilla & Cashew!

These are on the crunchier side, and their “healthy grains” line are, as their packaging states, “chewy with a crunch!” (I love that they serve these on Delta flights to Business Class now!)

RX Bars

The consistency of RX bars takes some getting used to – they can be a bit of a workout for your jaw, especially if you’re storing them somewhere on the colder side. That being said, you can’t beat them when it comes to clear cut, simple ingredients.

RX bars are all gluten free, but they aren’t vegan as they contain egg whites. It took me awhile to come around to RX bars, but once I tried the Chocolate Coconut I was all in.

LARABARS

If you like dates, you’ll love Lara Bars. These are smaller than some of the other bars, but they’re dense and filling and gluten free.

Lara Bars also have TONS of flavors – like, over 20 of them! So you’re sure to find one that you like (may I suggest the chocolate chip cookie dough?)

What are you favorite bars? 

A City Guide to Copenhagen

So far, I have been excelling at my resolution to embrace all of the traveling I do for work and on my own. In August, I found myself in Banff, Pittsburgh, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Annapolis - not to mention a weekend trip to Montauk! It hasn't left a whole lot of time for blogging. 

I didn't have the typical summer of laying out at the beach - but when the chance to explore Scandinavia came along, you better believe I was going to make the most of it. 

I have to confess, Scandinavian countries were never at the top of my list in terms of vacation destinations but now that I've spent time in Denmark and Sweden, I'm fascinated by these two countries and their fellow Scandinavian societies - Finland, Norway and Iceland. 

But enough exposition - let's jump into the things I suggest doing if you find yourself in the wonderful city of Copenhagen! I enjoyed 3 nights and 4 days in this city and can say with absolute confidence that we jam-packed our days full of activities! 

Walk / Bike Everywhere 

I went back and forth on buying the Copenhagen Card - which grants you unlimited rides on public transportation and free access to many of the cities most popular tourist attractions. I crunched the numbers a bunch of times, and ultimately decided that even though we were going to be paying for tickets to a lot of the places included with the card - it wasn't worth it for us because we wouldn't be paying for a lot of public transportation. 

I knew the ladies I was going with were fine walking - and walk we did! Each day of our trip we walked over 10 miles according to Christine's activity tracker and 2 days we hit the half marathon mark!  

Before we arrived, I anticipated renting bikes or using the ones included with our Airbnb to easily get around - considering Copenhagen is one of the most bike-able cities in the world. But we ended up only biking once because walking was just so easy!

On our last day, Christine and I rented Copenhagen's version of Citi bikes (Bycyklen) and went for a quick ride. Their bikes are electric, and you can even pre-select guided tours or use the screen to put in your destination. Very fancy (but also, very very heavy!) 

As easy as walking and biking is in Copenhagen, we also used public transportation multiple times during our trip and found it to be easy and efficient. Definitely download the apps Rejseplanen and DSB on your phone - they'll make it very easy to figure out your best route. 

Explore Jægersborggade

The Coffee Collective

Upon arriving at our Airbnb, we immediately headed out to one of Copenhagen's most beloved coffee shops - The Coffee Collective - on one of Copenhagen's trendiest streets - Jægersborggade (in the Nørrebro neighborhood). 

This cafe easily could have been in SoHo, but the latte was better than any latte I've ever had before. We thoroughly savored the (expensive) caffeine. 

Grød

After Coffee Collective we got food at Grød, another trendy spot that specializes in...porridge. I accidentally ordered a chia seed pudding instead of oatmeal, but it was heaped with peanut butter, granola and fruit so I was extremely content. 

Jægersborggade is known as being very trendy and "hip" - with art galleries, jewelry shops, wine bars and organic produce shops. I loved walking around here and couldn't have been happier that this was the neighborhood our Airbnb was located in. 

Drink! 

Perhaps my favorite part of Copenhagen were all of the bar/restaurants right out on the canals. Or maybe it was the karaoke bar. No, maybe the brewery? Needless to say, we imbibed at many an establishment while in Copenhagen. These were some of my favorites; 

Kayakbar

Børskaj 12, 1221

Kayak bar is attached to a kayak rental shop and is located right on the water. With a floating dock, sand, and beach chairs, it was the perfect spot to sit down with a cold beer and beautiful cheese plate. Until it started raining. 

Luckily, there was a large covered area as well, with picnic tables and live music! I loved the laid back vibe of this spot. 

Christianshavns Bådudlejning og Café:

Overgaden Neden Vandet 29

Drinking on the water is just better than drinking anywhere else. Sam spotted this cute little floating dock/bar situation on her canal boat ride and led us back to it for drinks on our first night. 

We even got serenaded (mocked?) by a passing boat whose captain jumped out and onto our table! Pics or it didn't happen, you say? Please see below for photo evidence. 

Sam's Bar

Østergade 17-19, 1100 

This karaoke/sing along bar full of locals was quite the experience. 

Danish bars are very smokey. Locals didn't seem to love us being there, but once we managed to get drinks and get settled at a table, I ignored the nicotine I was inhaling and focused on belting YMCA and Dancing Queen as loud as I could and it was a pretty grand time. 

Expect to pay a cover, to leave smelling like smoke, to wait forever for a drink - but to leave feeling like you've just had an experience. 

Mikkeller & Friends

Stefansgade No. 35 KLD

Mikkeller is a very popular brewer in Copenhagen, which has been making it's way to the US as well. With 14 different locations in Copenhagen (including popular restaurants like Warpigs and a bottle shop at the Glass Market), we were bound to have one close to our Airbnb in the Nørrebro neighborhood.  

We stopped by after dinner one night to find the place packed, and enjoyed one of their IPAs. I also got really excited when I noticed they carried a Two Roads beer on tap - Connecticut, represent! 

Carlsberg Brewery Tour

Gamle Carlsberg Vej 11

A convenient free shuttle bus from the Radisson Blu hotel near Central Station took us from the city center to the Carlsberg Brewery, about a 15 minute ride. 

We had pre-purchased our tickets, which saved some time as everyone got off the bus and lined up. There are multiple options on the Visit Carlsberg site, but we opted for the standard entry ticket which included access to the museum and 2 free drinks (or 1 drink + 1 "gift" - a pin). 

Other options included a guided tour or beer tasting

We wandered the museum, checked out the stables (Clydesdales!) and gawked at the world's largest beer bottle collection.  

But the best part was definitely sitting outside on a gorgeous, sunny day - surrounded by architecture from the 1800s, and sipping multiple drinks. We started at the outdoor bar where we sampled some standard Carlsberg brews before we headed to the indoor tasting room for flights. 

Then it was back outside for the most refreshing, delicious drink of the trip - Somersby ciders. We were obsessed - and depressed to find out that it's not sold in the US. The flavors were amazing - Elderflower lime? Red rhubarb? Blackberry? I'm pretty sure we ended up sampling them all. 

Cruise the Canals

Hey Captain

My biggest piece of advice in this entire blog post is to book a canal cruise with Hey Captain. 

It was one of the greatest "tours" I've ever paid for. Seeing Copenhagen from a boat is a "must do" and there are certainly many tourist boats leaving from Nyhavn that you could choose. But you'll be on board with 100s of other people and you'll be listening to a tour guide talk over a microphone.

Hey Captain are small boats for up to 12 people - meaning you'll be having a conversation with your captain instead of getting a lecture. Other perks? Complimentary wine and beer and the ability to bring your own food and drink on board too! Complete with a table with built-in cooler.

On our tour, Christine and I were lucky enough to be the only two on board with our captain, Mathias. It was the highlight of our trip. Not only was it beautiful, but we learned a TON and had a genuine conversation with a local. We even ironed out some international beer pong policy changes. 

Did you know Lukas Graham grew up in Freetown Christiania? And that Copenhagen's waste plant will soon have a ski slope? Or what about the fact that there's a statue under water? Or an apartment complex that used to be a torpedo hall? 

The tours last about an hour, they run all year long, and for $32, it was an absolute bargain!

Get High 

Church of Our Saviour

Skt. Annæ Gade 29

No, not that kind of high (though there is a small part of Freetown Christiania that sells plenty of marijuana - just don't take any pictures!)

Trekking up the Church of Our Saviour's stairs is definitely worth the view at the top - especially considering it only costs $7 (or FREE if you have a Copenhagen Card). 

While we also paid to walk up the Round Tower as well, I can say without a doubt that the Church of Our Saviour is the better option. 

It was crowded and narrow and a little treacherous - but walking up a spiral staircase outside of a church's spire was pretty epic. 

We got incredibly lucky - on our way up it started down pouring on us out of nowhere (it did this nearly every day we were in Copenhagen), and by the time we got down, the church had been closed! It must have been good karma that we made our way to the top - because Sam and Christine helped calm a girl having a complete nervous breakdown!

The view from the top was pretty damn great - seeing all of the canals from that high up was beautiful, along with all of the colors of the buildings in Copenhagen. And since the church had been closed due to the rain, our trip down was super easy and uncrowded. 

Eat, A Lot

It goes without saying that one of the best parts of any vacation is discovering the local food scene. While I already mentioned the delicious porridge at Grod and the incredible latte from Coffee Collective, we had a number of other wonderful meals during our stay. 

Gorilla

Flæsketorvet 63

This may have been our favorite dinner of the trip. Not only was the restaurant really nice inside and the food delicious, but we loved walking around the Meatpacking District which was a mix of "Where are we going, are we going to die?" and "Wow, this is super trendy and unique!" 

Torvehallerne

 Frederiksborggade 21

This is a massive market with over 60 different stands - selling everything from fresh fish to flowers to beer to pre-made meals and grab and go items. 

We didn't eat here, but it was fun to shop around - I especially loved the Mikkeller bottle shop - those can designs are like artwork!

Torvehallerne, the "Glass Market," reminds me a lot of places like Chelsea Market in New York City. There are tons of articles online about some of the best food finds at Torvehallerne.

Papirøen "Paper Island" / Copenhagen Street Food

Papirøen, Trangravsvej 14, hal 7 & 8

If you've ever been to Smorgasburg in New York,  you'll understand the concept behind Paper Island - where some of Copenhagen's best food vendors come together under one roof to serve food from all over the world. No joke - you can get everything from fish & chips to pizza to tacos to ramen and everything in between. 

Paper Island is wildly popular with locals and tourists alike, so expect crowds. But it's definitely worth it to see this unique space complete with bars, a disco cow, and more food and drinks than you can imagine. Some stands even have free samples. 

We did solid work on Paper Island - enjoying pizza from Madenitaly, gin cocktails from Drueta, smoked salmon smorrebrod from Handmade, gourmet & organic hot dogs from PØLSE KOMPAGNIET, and a sinfully sweet Nutella crepe from The Pancake Cottage

 I even got a free sample of the much-raved about duck fat fries at Duck It!

Cafe Norden

Østergade 61

The award for best breakfast goes to Cafe Norden, though when we first looked at the menu I don't think any of us were too excited. Somehow it seemed like the menu was lacking options - which explains why we all opted for the avocado toast. 

Good thing the avocado toast was some of the best I've EVER had. And I'm a twenty-something who brunches regularly in New York. I know my damn avocado toast. 

The fact that this was served on Danish rye bread (rugbrød) was probably what made it so spectacular. I've since bought Whole Foods' version of this bread in an attempt to recreate this spectacular breakfast. 

We also enjoyed it outside in the sun, in one of Copenhagen's most crowded squares (Amagertorv) which allowed for great people watching. 

Pro-tip: get one of their flavored lemonades - so refreshing!

Meyers Bageri

Multiple Locations 

Please, do yourself a favor and make sure you stop for some pastries from Meyers while you're in Copenhagen. Apparently, you can find them in NY too - but it's probably going to go better with your Coffee Collective latte. Promise. 

I ordered a Blueberry Roll and a Tebirke - which is a Danish poppy seed roll.  It was perfectly flaky and crispy and buttery and amazing. 

Chef Claus Meyer is the man behind the New Nordic cuisine that is kind of a big deal (hi, Copenhagen is home to the World's Best Restaurant) and while we didn't eat at any of his many many restaurants - this bakery was certainly worth the visit. 

Shop

Strøget 

Copenhagen is home to one of Europe's longest pedestrian streets - and if you're looking to shop til you drop, Støget provides 1.1 kilometers of temptation. 

Even if shopping isn't your thing, it's worth a stroll down Strøget, though it is quite touristy. 

Flying Tiger

Multiple Locations 

I insist that you visit a Flying Tiger while you're in it's homeland! This store is now all over the world - in fact, I first discovered it in Barcelona - but it's so fun to walk through! They have everything - useful things, things you'd never need in a million years, things you don't need but what, and things that are just plain fun. 

The best part, everything is super cute and super cheap!

It's hard to explain - just go, seriously! 

Act Like A Kid! 

Sidewalk Trampolines 

Multiple people told me before I left for Copenhagen that I had to find the sidewalk with trampolines - and miraculously enough, without even looking or Googling, we stumbled upon them on our first afternoon! 

I was shocked at how hysterical with laughter we were - they seriously had us acting like the 5 year olds jumping beside us. 

Very fun, very unique, very Copenhagen! 

Tivoli Gardens

Vesterbrogade 3

I was not a big amusement park person - ever. We didn't really go as kids (other than to Disney World) and I've still never been to a Six Flags. 

But ever since my trip to Denver and the Lakeside Amusement Park, I've kind of been fascinated by old amusement parks. 

It just so happens that Copenhagen is home to the second oldest operating amusement park in the world - Tivoli Gardens! 

Tivoli opened in 1843 and served as the inspiration for Walt Disney! We paid for entry and an unlimited ride wristband (around $60) and spent the night walking around the grounds. 

I was really happy that we decided to show up just before sunset so we were able to see the park both in the daylight and at night - it's so gorgeous and it was really evident how Disney has its roots in some aspects of Tivoli. 

We rode a few rides, took lots of pictures, enjoyed the live music, shopped - Tivoli has got it all (including some highly rated restaurants!) and is definitely more than just a place with rides. 

Again luck was on our side as we were the last people to board "The Roller Coaster" - one of the worlds oldest wooden roller coasters (built in 1914). 

The night ended with one of the best fireworks displays I've ever seen - choreographed to music with lasers! While enjoying pistachio and banana gelato. 

No trip to Copenhagen is complete with a visit to Tivoli!

See the Sights 

There are quite a few tourist destinations in Copenhagen that are more "sightseeing" than "experiencing." While some of them were worth a visit, there were a few that I wouldn't necessarily include on an itinerary. 

The great thing about Copenhagen is that just by walking around, you'll pass a number of these iconic buildings- for me, it's always worth a stop to look, acknowledge, read a plaque if there is one, take a picture - and move on. Most of these places offer admittance and tours, but unless it's a topic I'm really interested in, museums and tours aren't my jam. 

The Little Mermaid Statue 

Christine and I knew we had little to no interested in actually seeing this statue - which is widely talked about as one of the most underwhelming tourist destinations in Europe. The only reason we ended up seeing it at all was because we passed it on a nice walk along the water. 

Amalienborg Castle 

Definitely worth a walk past this massive castle, which still serves as the queens "Winter Palace," though we didn't stop for a tour. 

While we were in Copenhagen, we're pretty sure the queen was actually at the castle, since there were guards outside and the Royal Yacht Dannebrog was docked!

Kastellet

A star-shaped fortress that was really interesting to walk around - I wish I had read about it more before we found ourselves wandering the grounds! But regardless, it was very pretty! 

Rosenborg Castle 

I really enjoyed walking around the Rosenborg Castle as Sam read to us some history from her guide book. The grounds were beautiful - especially the rose garden! 

Assistens Cemetery

We walked through this cemetery near our Airbnb almost every day - and far from being creepy, it was always filled with people walking, biking, or running through. 

One our first traipse through the cemetery, we followed signs to find Hans Christian Anderson's gravestone. Imagine our surprise when we realized it was the anniversary of his death on that very day!

Nyhavn 

This is the iconic picture of Copenhagen - and it certainly is beautiful - though swarming with tourists. One side along the canal is entirely dedicated to bars and restaurants with outdoor seating, but we steered clear of them since they don't have the best reputation for authenticity. 

We did make sure to stop outside the window of one of Hans Christian Anderson's apartments as we walked down the canal! 

Freetown Christiania 

There are plenty of places where you can learn more about this squatter-society within Copenhagen (it's really quite fascinating). They've created their own schools, doctors, etc. and as I mentioned earlier, there's a section that openly sells marijuana in the streets! They don't pay taxes, but are left pretty much alone. 

While it was cool to see this hippie commune - it definitely wasn't a place I felt compelled to hang around for too long. I did like some of the graffiti though - it reminded me of Austin

Børsen

We passed the former stock exchange on our canal cruise - an impressive building with a spire that's supposed to be four dragons' tails intertwined. 

Happy Travels!

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the things to see and do in Copenhagen. It surpassed my expectations as a city overall. I highly recommend Copenhagen if you're looking to go to Europe for a shorter trip. Everyone there was incredibly friendly, the city is clean, easy to navigate, and full of history! 

How to Enjoy A Weekend in Banff

When work sent me to Banff for a long weekend, I was ecstatic. Even though I already had an 8 day trip planned for later in the summer, I somehow sensed that there was no such thing as "too much time in Banff." 

I was determined to make the most of every minute of the trip, despite working full days while I was there. Here are the highlights from my 72 hours in Banff! 

The Rimrock Resort Hotel 

If you've got some money to blow, this hotel is absolutely gorgeous. The Rimrock is nestled below Sulphur Mountain, and though it's not in the heart of Downtown Banff, it is a quick walk to the Banff Gondola and Upper Hot Springs with amazing views and the feeling of being right in the middle of nature. 

Guests are given cards to ride the local bus system for free - meaning all of the restaurants and shops downtown are still within your reach without having to drive. 

I flew into Calgary at night and made the drive from the airport to the Rimrock in the dark (around an hour and a half total) - so when I opened my window on Friday morning, I was so shocked by the beautiful view. In fact, I've told everyone, I started to tear up a little bit! 

There are a number of restaurants at the Rimrock that are incredibly high caliber - Eden offers a $140 tasting menu! But I had most of my meals at the more casual Larkspur.. Located in the lobby, you're able to seat yourself and order from a great menu. My favorite part was the little balcony outside that made you feel like you were floating in the mountains and the pianist who sang and played an amazing array of songs in the evenings. And the seafood soup which was phenomenal. 

Sulphur Mountain Hike 

On my first morning I had to work by 8:30 AM but I still wanted to get some time to myself outside so I woke up early and started to walk up the Sulphur Mountain trail. The trailhead is practically part of the Rimrock Resort, at the base of the Upper Hot Springs parking lot. 

I walked 20 minutes up before I needed to head back down to get ready for work, but the total hike is about 3 miles to the top and should take around 2.5 hours round trip. 

Lunch at Fairmont Banff Springs 

This hotel is 125 years old and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a castle - such an impressive, sprawling resort and absolutely gorgeous. Our event was taking place on the property, which meant we were able to sneak inside for lunch both days. There are a number of dining options inside but if you're able to snag a table at the Lookout Patio - do it! It's jaw-droppingly-stunning. 

If you don't have time to wait, you should still take a look at the view and snap some pictures! Both days we ate inside at the Rundle Lounge and there was still a gorgeous view and good food! 

You could spend awhile wandering the grounds of this hotel!

Drive Up & Around Cascade Mountain 

My destination for this drive was "Lake Minnewanka" at the advice of a local I was talking to but it ended up being the pit stops I made along the way that were my favorite part of this drive. 

Johnson Lake 

I was surprised at each lake that I drove up to to find it fairly empty. It didn't seem like there were a ton of tourists out - instead, it seemed like locals enjoying a night kayak or picnic. I was the only one screaming "TOURIST" with my DSLR camera. 

When I got to Johnson Lake is when I started completely re-thinking my itinerary for my return trip in September. Why jam-pack the days when we could go to a grocery store, pack a picnic, and lounge at one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen? 

Two Jack Lake 

It's hard to say which natural, glacier-fed lake was more beautiful. This was another, smaller, laid back lake when I pulled up with the same dazzling blue waters and magnificent mountain backdrops. 

I was surprised at how easy it was to just drive from point to point - with parking lots at each major lake that had ample available spots when I arrived. I'm not sure if it was the time of day, but I didn't have any issues. 

Lake Minnewanka

By far the largest of the lakes I visited, Lake Minnewanka has a ton of activities and amenities. However, it was my least favorite due to it's large size - it seemed like a much more touristy spot. I'm definitely glad I stopped to see it though! 

Between Two Jack Lake and Lake Minnewanka I passed tons of mountain goats and felt a little guilty that these roads cut through such beautiful natural landscapes and that the mountain goats have to contend with cars when they go to cross the street. They also have to deal with a lot of tourists sticking iPhones in their faces (myself included). But I did appreciate that there were areas to pull of on the shoulder to get out and see some great views and snap some fantastic pictures! 

Cascade Ponds 

On my way back down I decided to stop at Cascade Ponds and I'm so glad I did! Though the water here wasn't the crystal clear blue of the others, Cascade Ponds had their own charm with their little bridges and beautiful reflections of the mountains in the background! 

Bow Falls 

To be honest, this was a little underwhelming. It's beautiful, don't get me wrong - but I parked my car, got out, looked, snapped a picture and then got right back in the car. It's worth a stop I suppose, but it's very busy and wouldn't be my choice for a spot to sit and hang out. 

Bike the Banff Legacy Trail 

The Banff Legacy trail is 22 km+ of paved bike path connecting Banff to the town of Canmore. After work, I paid the pretty fair price of $35 to rent a road bike from Ultimate Ski and Ride on the main street of Banff. This made it really easy to hop on the trail, and included in the rental was a lock and helmet (I had 3 hours with the bike). 

The ride to Canmore was beautiful and every time I looked up from the road I had to smile at being surrounded by mountains. There were a few parts that I was a little afraid of all the "Beware of Bear" signs, but there were other people out and about which helped ease my fears. 

When I got to Canmore, I navigated to the town center and walked around for a little while, stopping in some cute shops and discovering a used book store and tea shop that was so adorable! 

I wish I could say that I enjoyed the trip back to Banff as much as I enjoyed the ride to Canmore. I had been warned that the return trip would be uphill, but I was completely shot at that point - I had been hiking, running, and standing around for 8 hours and my legs just didn't want to do anything anymore. Not to mention the ride back was along the highway with cars zooming by, the winds picking up, and the smoke from the forest fires were rolling in. I actually got off my bike and cried for a few seconds before finishing the 30 mile round-trip ride. 

But I finished, and after all was said and done I'm glad I rented the bike and experienced the Legacy Trail! 

Sunset Hike Up Tunnel Mountain 

I took a few wrong turns on my way to the Tunnel Mountain parking lot, but once I found it, it was a fairly straightforward hike to the top of the mountain where sweeping views of Banff town greeted me at sunset. I sat down, snacked on some carrots and hummus, and explored the different views from the summit. It was absolutely beautiful. 

There were others at the top of the mountain but they didn't seem to be leaving, and it was starting to get dark, so I made my way down on my own and managed to get back to my car after a few panicky moments of "where is the trail?" 

The fact that this is mentioned online as a possible trail run is mind boggling to me because there's no way in hell I would have been able to run up this mountain for 3 miles! 

Run at Vermillion Lakes 

To start this run, I parked at the Fenland trailhead and after a short "trail run" found myself on Vermillion Lakes Road, running alongside beautiful lakes. It was pretty flat, and I only saw 2 cars the entire time. 

I stopped for lots of pictures, and when I got to the end of the paved road I turned around and went back. With an extra loop of the trail path, my run ended at a solid 7 miles. I highly recommend this running route if you aren't trying to run up a mountain but still want that "trail" feel and gorgeous views! 

Dinner at Juniper Bistro

The Juniper Bistro is within the Juniper Hotel and I can't recommend it enough if you're looking for a dinner with a view. You could come for cocktails, appetizers, or dinner - but sitting outside here for a meal was absolutely beautiful (you should just plan on wearing bug spray!)

Views aside, the food was also phenomenal. I had the shaved carrot salad as an appetizer (candy striped beetroot, watermelon radish, apple, local lettuces, pomegranate vinaigrette, dukkah) and the duck breast as an entree (lentils & wild mushroom ragout, blueberry chutney, pickled mustard seeds, seasonal vegetables, beet & balsamic glaze) at the recommendation of my (very attractive) waiter. So good!

On Thursday I'm headed to Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper for a full week - so you better believe I'll be coming back with even more recommendations! Stay tuned!

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8 Things I Learned From a Social Media Detox

I've had two great successes so far this summer - going a full month without drinking and completing my first Olympic Triathlon

But there was also a notable "failure" when I attempted to go 30 days without social media and lasted about 16. Hands down, giving up social media was harder than giving up alcohol. I'm somewhat disappointed in myself for not sticking it out until day 30 but at the same time, I took away a ton of lessons from the first 2+ weeks and feel refreshed and not-as-addicted. 

Here were a few main takeaways from the failed social experiment - just over two weeks of no Instagram, Facebook, dating apps and Snapchat!

1.       I didn’t miss out on invitations to things.

Sure, I probably missed some Facebook event invites that I would have marked myself as “interested” in, only to ignore as the date approached. Whenever I do this, I have a slight pang of guilt that I’m not attending – not necessarily FOMO but the feeling that I should be out doing something.

But invitations to things with friends – invitations to things that I really wanted to be a part of – nope, I didn’t miss any of those invites. Because my friends are my friends because they like me and enjoy my company…so it would make sense that they would send a text about something I might be interested in. They know me pretty well, after all. Exhibit A - this amazing summer Friday lunch at Jajaja!

2.       People assumed that plans fell through because there was no social media evidence that they happened.

It was comical how many people thought that I ended up not going to the Boardy Barn over July 4 weekend because I didn’t Snapchat or Instagram the experience. In fact, I did a lot over 16 days despite the fact that it wasn’t documented on social media! It was very freeing to not be constantly composing the perfect picture.

3.       Friends still thought about me while I was off-the-grid.

I still got texts of memes or pictures that friends saw online that reminded them of me. It wasn’t like I became insignificant without social media.

4.       I still take a lot of pictures.

While it was nice to not try to get a picture-perfect shot or video of every moment,  I still found myself taking pictures of almost everything. I’m just a picture person I guess. That being said, it was eye-opening to realize that whether we like to admit it or not, when we post on social media, we are essentially bragging – “look how great this moment of my day was! Aren’t you jealous? Don’t you wish you were here?!” We all do it – but it was nice to just take a picture because the sunset was pretty with no other pretenses. 

5.       Email is underrated!

For someone who likes writing – email is a perfect mix between a letter and a text. Because let’s face it, texts are pretty surface-level. I found myself writing more emails while I was off of social media – but emails that actually had some substance to them.

Plus, everyone’s on their computer during the work day anyway – so it was a nice way to break up the day to get an email from a friend instead of scrolling through my Instagram feed for the 100th time in 2 hours.

6.       I felt more content than I remember feeling in a long time.

During the two weeks I didn’t have social media – I had this overwhelming sense of contentment. Not constantly comparing my weekend to someone else’s really allowed me to just appreciate how I was choosing to spend my time. And to appreciate the people I was with, the places I was going, the workouts I was enjoying, etc.

I wish there was a way to be on Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat and maintain this level of contentedness but I really think that it takes a huge, unconscious toll on us to constantly be peering into other people’s lives and unknowingly holding ours up against it.

Fourth of July weekend I didn’t rent a beach house, I didn’t go to a lake house with 20 of my closest friends. The following weekend I didn’t go exploring waterfalls on a tropical island. I went for a long run in my neighborhood, sat at the yacht club with my parents drinking gin and tonics, wandered around Williamsburg and swam in the Hudson with my best friends – and I realized how much I love those low-key weekends with no major plans. The weekends that I allow to unfold instead of scheduling every minute of. They’re a nice change of pace – even if everyone else on my Instagram is chronicling their world travels.

We all know that social media serves as someone’s highlight reel – but I’d rather my life be a great movie than a crappy one with a good trailer.

7.       I had so much more time!

It’s scary how many minutes and hours I day we spend scrolling. Or at least I know I do. In 16 days, I read 5 BOOKS. 5!

It was so nice to use my brain more. And I finally checked out a creative writing workshop I’ve been wanting to go to! It was a great way to spend a night and I’m really glad I went.

It’s no shock that these are the two weeks I also successfully grocery shopped and meal prepped and felt so happy in my routine and rhythm (this also had to do with the fact that I was also home for two weeks straight – a rare occurrence).

8.       It’s so easy to fall back into it.

Once I redownloaded Instagram and Facebook (I’m still Snapchat free, for now) – I was disappointed in how quickly I fell back into old habits of scrolling endlessly and frequently.

So why did I go back? It’s addictive, man! I missed the pretty pictures, the posts that inspire new travel plans, the memes that nail a situation spot on and make me burst out laughing. I was trying to plan my trips to Banff, Copenhagen and Stockholm and wanted to look at pictures that others have posted in these places. I wanted restaurant recommendations and food porn! I got sucked back in – 100%.

Despite the fact that I failed to make it 30 days – I’m glad for the 16 days I did survive, because they were a pretty nice break and a chance to get off the grid and realize just how pervasive social media is in my life.

Every day I found myself fighting back the urge to open up one of my apps – my thumb just seemed to float to where the icon used to be on its own accord.

I’m trying to cut back. I think a huge step for me would to not allow myself to wake up and immediately go on my phone and to force myself to read or journal right before falling asleep. But those are the two times I find myself trapped in the constant scrolling the most!

Maybe that’s my next challenge.

NYC Tri Race Recap

For the past week, whenever anyone asks me how my first New York City Triathlon went, I'm sure they've walked away from me secretly hating my guts. 

I hear myself gushing over the race and talking about 3 hours of physical activity as if it were a trip to an amusement park - and I've thought, "Wow, I'm annoying." 

But yet I can't help. Last Sunday was absolutely amazing in a way that only fellow race addicts will be able to comprehend. 

Packet Pick-Up & Expo

Friday, I took advantage of my office's "Summer Friday" hours to stroll over to the Hilton Hotel where packet pick-up and the NYC Tri Expo were taking place. I happened to arrive a perfect 10 minutes prior to the 3 PM briefing that is required for all participants. 

The briefing lasting about 30 minutes and had a lot of good information - all of the logistics of triathlons tend to overwhelm me so the more times I'm told what to do and what to expect, the better. Not to mention, this was my first Olympic Distance triathlon and only my second triathlon EVER. 

After the briefing you received a stamp on your hand to prove you had sat through it, which enabled you to pick up your packet full of bib numbers (one for your shirt, one for your bike, one for your helmet, etc.), your timing chip (worn around your ankle), your t-shirt and swag bag.  

Then, I headed into the expo to see what freebies I could snag. Since the expo had started at 2 PM and it was only 3:30 on a Friday, it was still pretty calm which was nice. I grabbed all the chip clips, hand sanitizer, keychains, chapsticks, coupons, etc. only to get home and think, "I literally do not need any of this..." 

I had ordered a bunch of stuff online  that didn't arrived in time - so I was on the hunt for tri shorts to wear during the race (oops). Mine have slowly disintegrated from wearing them in chlorine when I go to the pool - and the padding in my biking shorts was way too much to swim and run in. 

After trying on a few pairs at the TYR booth, I found a brand I'd never heard of - Voler - and fell in love with their basic pair of $30 tri shorts which were black and teal to match my bike, helmet, cycling shoes...etc. etc. 

I also bought a new Adidas sports bra for $12 - suhweet! 

Bike Check-In

The NYC Tri basically takes place in my backyard, which made the somewhat daunting three-day process of Expo, Bike Check-In, Race, Bike Pick-Up a lot more manageable. 

On Saturday, after a productive morning at the library and Trader Joe's, I set out on my bike with a giant backpack full of all my race essentials. 

15 minutes into the ride - I realized I had forgotten to put my number on my bike - which would prevent me from checking it into the transition area. 

Back to my apartment I went - dripping in sweat and cursing myself as I precariously balanced on my bike.

Finally, I made it to transition and found Callie and our friend Molly, racked my bike (my number said, "If triathlons were easy, it'd be called football") and started laying out all my things. 

It's kind of crazy to think that I walked away from transition having left behind a $1300 bike, $200+ wetsuit, $75 cycling shoes, $100+ GPS watch, and various other items. That night my parents would ask me, "What will you do with your cell phone during the swim?" And I had to laugh, thinking that my cell phone was the least of my worries. 

Callie, Molly and I took the 30 minutes to go on one of the transition area tours which I cannot recommend enough if you ever find yourself doing the NYC Tri or any tri that offers such a "tour." I left feeling much more at ease having a mental picture of where I would walk to the swim, where I would be exiting the swim, where I would re-enter transition, where I would leave with my bike, etc. etc. It also really helped to see "the hill" everyone talks about that comes fairly quickly in the bike ride. 

The Night Before

After bike check-in I spent the evening meal prepping for the week, getting a pep talk from my parents (which ended with, "I really don't know why you do this Lauren...") and eventually eating an early dinner of chicken, vegetarian chili and spinach. I double checked that everything was ready to go for the early morning alarm (including my pre-made rice cake + PB and banana) before taking a melatonin. I fell asleep shockingly easily around 8:30 PM. 

Morning Of! Pre-Race Readying

My alarm went off at 3:40 AM and I felt shockingly fine. I put on my tri shorts, tank, running sneakers, Road ID and pinned on my bib. Fun fact, I had gotten my period the day before, so I popped two Ibuprofen for cramps, brushed my teeth, grabbed my water bottle and breakfast and within 15 minutes was ordering an Uber pool to the bike transition. 

I assumed an Uber pool would probably end up being a) just me or b) myself and a fellow triathlete on their way to transition but NYC truly is the city that never sleeps and I was surprised to find myself explaining to a couple why I was dressed to go workout at 4:00 AM. 

Transition was daaaark when I arrived around 4:15 and I remained pretty calm - a nice departure from my crazed/stressed self prior to last year's sprint triathlon on Long Island where I had a panic attack first about my bike pump not working and then about forgetting my ear plugs in my dad's truck. 

I easily found someone nearby to help me re-inflate my tires, sipped my canned cold brew coffee, ate my rice cake with PB and banana, and re-jiggered my things in a way that made sense. 

I put on my flip flops, put my goggles around my neck, slung my wetsuit over my shoulder, and made sure that my ear plugs, swim cap and socks were in the bag I'd be walking to the swim start with.  

Callie's bike was only a few down from me, I saw Abby right away, Molly, Emily, Alex - tons of November Project people made me feel calm. I also just kept telling myself that we still weren't starting for a long time. 

After some pictures (duh) we left as transition closed at 5:15 on the dot and started the walk to the swim start. Making our way up to 99th street with Abby and Callie by my side made it just feel like a regular morning and kept me calm. We watched the Hudson River flowing on by, "The river is moving! There is a current! Hooray!" 

When we approached where we would be exiting the water, I laid out a pair of socks that would save my feet from the gravely quarter-mile run back to transition. A ton of people had left out sneakers, but that seemed like a big hassle to put on. 

At the swim start, I body glided up, put my flip flops in my bag, took out my ear plugs and swim cap, and gave it to the truck that would transport it to the finish line. 

We continued along to Port-o-Potty Village and finally, donned our sexy wet-suits, shimmying our way into them like an extra-tight pair of skinny jeans. 

As we approached the water I put two spare ear plugs in the sleeves of my wetsuit, where I was pretty sure they wouldn't budge considered how tight it was - I knew that if I lost the ear plugs in my ears mid-swim I'd probably freak (I ALWAYS swim with them, get terrible swimmer's ear, and hate the feeling of water in my ears - especially because I fly so much, it makes me paranoid!) 

Callie braided my hair (best part of race day are the race braids!) and when we entered the line with our swim start/age group we completed the Tinder-profile-worthy look with our swim caps. 

Soon, a giant pink pig poster came marching by and attached to it were Abby's adorable parents who snapped some WINNING photos of the three of us. 

We, as usual, goofed off, joked around, and kept things as far-from-serious as possible. 

When swim waves started going off, I was relieved to see lots of people side stroking, back stroking, treading water and STILL moving at a fast clip towards the finish. The river was movin' all right and I knew that even if it took me 40 minutes of backstroke, I'd make it out of the Hudson and to my bike. 

The three of us decided to take the 20 second time penalty by sitting on the barge and dangling our legs into the water instead of jumping in and can I just say HOW GREAT it was that I got to start this race sitting next to my two best friends and triathlon inspirations (Hi, 70.3). 

The Swim 

You know people who downplay their abilities constantly because they want to hear people tell them how great they are? I SWEAR I wasn't trying to be that person by panicking about the swim portion of the NYC Tri. 

I was legitimately petrified of swimming .9 miles and still do not think that I'm entirely capable of doing it in other circumstances. Those circumstances = a quickly moving river, pulling you downstream whether you wanted to or not. 

The promising news was that I managed to do some actual face-in-the-water swimming this time around. That being said, it was HIGHLY supplemented with the backstroke for more than half of the time. Progress? 

The wave start meant that for most of the time, the route wasn't too crowded. The sea wall had signs marking each 100 meters and volunteers on both sides made sure that you were staying within the safe swimming area. By the final 150 meters, the course got crowded and hectic as everyone converged on the barge where we would exit the water. I just hung back and slowly made my way to the exit area where I grabbed onto someone's arm and they pulled me up and out. 

Volunteers immediately started telling everyone to wipe their faces off - to remove the notorious "Hudson River Mustache" from their faces before they approached the photographer. Gross? Yes. Real? Definitely - I felt plenty of gravelly-grossness as I tried to get myself camera ready (LOL I mean, how camera ready can you be as you run/try to remove a wetsuit/take off goggles and swim cap? Answer: Not very.) 

My swim ended up being 20:04 for a pace of 01:21/100 M (for reference, the fastest splits I've ever had in a pool are well over 2:00 per 100M). 

Transition One

I was pleasantly surprised when I reached back to unzip my wetsuit that it pretty easily complied. Using a tip from Abby, I held my ear plugs, swim cap and goggles in my hand while I pulled the sleeves down - ensnaring the miscellaneous swim accouterments in the inside out sleeve. SCORE. 

I overshot my socks by a few steps and swiveled around to grab them and slip them on - definitely a great call to go socks instead of sneakers. I was moving at a quick pace back to transition - passing plenty of people but also trying to take a minute to breathe and mentally prepare for the bike. 

Imagine the smile on my face when I got back to my bike and saw Callie ready to go out and start her ride! 

I scarfed down two dates (YUM they're my new favorite fuel), took off my timing chip, fully took off my wet-suit, put the timing chip back on, slid into my socks and cycling shoes, clipped on my Spibelt with my phone, put on my Garmin, buckled my helmet, thought to myself, "that's it right?!" and picked up my bike, jogging alongside it to the exit. 

My watch said 6:30 which absolutely shocked me - I'd swam .9 miles, run .25 and gotten ready for the bike in 30 minutes - something I had never thought remotely possible. Now, it was in my head that 3 hours was a possibility and the chase for 3:00:00 was on. 

Transition One took me 08:27. 

Bike

I mounted my bike and off I went! "The hill" wasn't as stressful as anticipated - I got there at a lucky time I guess and it wasn't very crowded. I stood up to make my way up it quickly and easily. Once we made a few sharp(ish) turns (nothing that made my stomach enter my throat) it was nothing but open highway! 

It was amazing to have a whole highway shut down for us to ride on. Over the course of 25 miles, I had verrrrry few instances of overcrowding or close calls with fellow riders - everyone seemed very courteous and under control - riding to the right and passing on the left. 

I felt good and was riding hard, until I passed the first 5 mile marker and realized, "I should probbbbbably dial it back a bit." 

So I dialed it back and settled in, telling myself that I was going to be on here for awhile and didn't really know what was to come in terms of hills. But I felt great and my legs felt strong - I really had no way of knowing how fast I was going since I don't have a bike computer, but I was confident that I was having a good ride. 

Each hill that greeted me was manageable and each downhill made me a little anxious about how I would feel on the back-half of the route. There was one major hill on the way up to the Bronx that had my legs screaming but it was over fairly quickly.

I passed and was passed by the same people back and forth for most of the ride which let me know that I was staying pretty consistent. For awhile, I was chasing down a woman who 70 and it reminded me that I want to be a bad ass triathlete when I'm well into my 40s and 50s! 

The bike went really well - the final 5 miles had me trying to calculate how fast I'd need to run to finish in under 3 hours and it seemed to be slipping away. 

The final turn around was the hairiest turns but once that was over it was smooth sailing back to transition, where we slowed down to a frustrating crawl/single file line. That being said, it was nice that everyone just accepted that it was going to take a minute to get back as people slowed down and dismounted and no one was an asshole barreling through the narrow path. 

I ended up finishing the bike in 1:29:03 for an average speed of 16.75 MPH. This was nuts to me because that's the exact speed I normally do my Central Park loops at! I guess I'm pretty consistent! 

This was probably my favorite long bike ride ever and I'm so glad I enjoyed it.  

Transition Two 

I ran my bike back to the rack and proceeded to take off my timing chip and socks - before realizing 

that I absolutely had not needed to do that - oops haha. I ate two dates, put a caffeinated gel in my Spibelt, laced up my sneakers, contemplated a hat and decided against it, drank some water and made a quick dash to the port-o-potty. 

After that, it was out on the run - which I had originally thought would be my favorite part of the race. In reality, it was hands down the hardest part of the race. 

Transition Two: 04:00

The Run

The run course starts with a massive hill up to Riverside Dr. and I decided immediately that it wasn't worth getting super out of breath and mentally frustrated by attempting to run up it - I walked up and I think it was a good call. 

For the first mile I just told myself to relax, let my legs get used to running, and get myself to Central Park. It's nice that you don't enter the park until a mile into the run, because I just told myself once I hit the park I could really start to hit my stride. 

Like I said, this was hard. Running after biking 25 miles is a very strange sensation where your legs are heavy, yet also numb? You feel like you're moving so slowly because you've been moving at 16+ MPH for the past hour and a half. Even though I felt like I was running through quicksand and not moving - my first mile split was an 8:12. 

It was a pleasant surprise, but I also had been aiming to start slow and go for negative splits, which wasn't going to happen with that start. 

Once in the park, the hills came and I focused on quick, short steps to get myself up and over them. But that West Side of the park still killed me. I was letting my head go to a bad place where I was saying, "WHY IS THIS SO HARD this is supposed to be my favorite part!" The only thing that kept me going was that everyone I passed seemed to think I was "LOOKIN' STRONG" and had "GREAT FORM." This was news to me but I took their word for it. 

Once I saw the November Project cheer squad - things changed. The energy put a huge smile on my face and from that point on I had a much much better attitude. I bee-lined for Kaitlin who was taking pictures and gave her a big high five and zoomed away in much better spirits. 

The trudge up Harlem Hill began and my watch kept giving me mile splits that I was happy with - 8:26 for mile2 and 8:19 for mile 3. 

Somewhere between mile 2 and 3 I took my gel which also helped - I only use the caffeine Cliff shots and they work like a charm. 

I passed the water station my friend Michelle was volunteering at and gave her a huge hug which re-energized me to finish the hills. 

For the entire race, my strategy was to stop at each water station and actually drink water - I hadn't even finished a full water bottle on the bike ride and new I would be in trouble if I didn't drink during the run. I'm never a walk through the water stations person but it worked amazingly for this race and I'm really glad I did it! 

When I got over to the east side I saw Callie in the distance which put an extra pep in my step so I could catch up to her. We chatted for a few minutes and I continued on with splits that were making me very happy and quite frankly very surprised. Mile 4 was a 7:55. 

I decided to try to take mile 5 more conservatively so I could finish the final mile strong. Mile 5 was an 8:23 and then I kicked it into high gear for mile 6. 

At that point, my legs were fully in running mode and my stride was more relaxed and natural and I could tell that I was cruising along. It felt great to pass so many people in that final mile and as I approached the finish line I was pushhhhing myself to the point where I started getting chills and thinking, "Uh, this is probably not good since it's 85 degrees out."

In the final few feet I was stuck behind 2 or 3 people and desperately trying to pass. Eventually I snuck around them and sprinted across the finish line. Nothing has ever felt so amazing as the freezing cold wet towel they placed around my neck. I would have taken that over the medal. 

My final mile was a 7:32. 

According to the official results, my run was 49:07 for a pace of 07:55 (my watch had me at an 08:07) and 16th in my age group for the run! It was definitely the hardest part, but I guess it's obvious which of the three things I'm best at! 

Final time was 02:50:39 and I was so happy to break 3 hours!

Post-Race

It's hard for me to remember a time I was on such an endorphin-high. Probably after both my marathons my 10K PR. But it's just the absolute best feeling in the world and I rode that high alllllll day. 

So many people ask me why I wanted to do this triathlon if I was scared and nervous and thought that it was going to be hard and my answer is I wanted to do this triathlon BECAUSE I was scared and nervous and BECAUSE it was hard. 

There is no better feeling than proving to yourself that you can do something you've never done before. To do something despite the fact that you're nervous - to prove that you can fight through the nerves and the fear and go for it anyway. 

My biggest pet peeve is when people say they "can't" do something when they've never even tried and REFUSE to try. Complacency is so boring. 

After the race we took lots of pictures, I called my parents, we walked around the finishers festival (free YASSO BARS!) and eventually Callie and I made our way to the shuttle that took us back to transition to pick up our bikes. 

After packing everything up, we took the subway uptown and walked our bikes across the park to my apartment where I took the most amazing shower of my life, used my bone stimulator machine, and we got ready for food. 

We met Michelle and Abby at BARE BURGER which was everything I wanted and more. A burger in a collard green wrap + crispy Brussels sprouts and sweet potato fries. Not to mention 23842 glasses of water. 

Next stop was Treadwell Park to meet up with people from November Project and enjoy a refreshing alcoholic beverage (I finally tried the Wolffer Cider white wine!) courtesy of my mom and dad. 

We only lasted one drink before decided we needed our beds. 

I spent the rest of the night reading, watching TV, and eating summer rolls and a pint of Halo Top. 

It was the most accomplished I've felt in a really long time. And now, of course, I'm wondering what the next challenge will be! Thinking about that 70.3.......

THANKS 

Shout out to Kaitlin, Patti, Brian and Mr. & Mrs. Reisner for all of the wonderful pictures of the day!! I'm obsessed and you can find me most days just scrolling through my phone looking at all of them and reminiscing :) 

I really can't even figure out what to say about how much Callie and Abby helped me get to the start line and across the finish line so I'll just say that every run, every swim, every bike ride, every brunch, every beer, every laugh, every cry - it's 294380X better with you two by my side! Next stop, Banff!

 

 

 

Two Perfect Weekends - A Tale of Two Cities

The past two weekends have been absolutely amazing - and I'm wondering if it's because I did what I wanted to do, and had no way of comparing how my days were filled with what other people were up to. One was spent in my small hometown on Long Island, the other in NYC. 

The upside to deleting all of my social media has definitely been the absence of comparison. Though to be completely honest, I'm still reaching for my phone constantly and playing Snood or checking my email - it's so ingrained that even while I'm watching a show on Netflix, I'm simultaneously playing a  video game from the early 2000s. Help me. 

I'm also still taking pictures of almost everything - a) because I love pictures but b) because I know I still can share them on the blog, even if they aren't being instantly posted to the 'gram.

So let's recap!

Fourth of July Weekend

Fourth of July is my favorite holiday - I really don't know why, but it always ends up being one of the most perfect weekends of the summer. It's a day dedicated to BBQs, beer, day drinking, being outside, on the water, with a combination of friends and family.  It's always right after we finish up all our events for the season and I can finally feel like there's a bit of a break to the constant travel. And I somehow always get really over the top with my outfit choice - 'MERICA. 

This year, I head home to Long Island - land of beaches, boats, booze and the Boardy Barn. 

Lobster Night 

Friday night when I got home my mom and I headed to the Yacht Club that my parents belong to for Lobster Night - my dad was volunteering as a cook for the night and my sister met us there. We were assigned an outdoor table, which we were happy about until we noticed the winds picking up, and picking up...and still picking up. 

It was SO windy that eating was next to impossible. It was one of those situations where you could only laugh as entire beer bottles knocked over and peel and eat shrimp tails floated through the air. 

We were in laughter-induced tears when my sister looked down at her plate and shouted, "I had a roll on my plate!" A friend from a table behind us responded with, "Is this it?!" and held up a roll. 

My stomach hurt from the laughter and was happy from the delicious shrimp and lobster dinner. My heart was happy with the sunset that we caught the tail end of on our way home from the beach. 

Solo Saturday Productivity

Saturday my sister was at a friends and my parents were at a party in Connecticut so I used the day to accomplish some To Do List items and relax. 

Hamilton: The Revolution

I had bought this book about the creation of Hamilton for my mom for Mother's Day and wasted no time claiming it as my own for the weekend. 

A slow start to the morning with lots of reading and coffee was a nice change from my usual "get up and go" pace. 

 And since I couldn't spend a million hours scrolling through Instagram, I finished the whole book that weekend. I cannot recommend it enough if you're a fan of Hamilton, or Lin-Manuel Miranda, or musicals and creative genius in general. It made me appreciate Hamilton even MORE than I did after walking out of the theater in May. 

Every line, every movement, every choice was carefully decided on by Lin's "cabinet" and its such an interesting process to read about. 

Halla

Saturday morning I also downloaded Mondly and started trying to teach myself some Swedish - because I'll be spending a week there this fall! I couldn't be more excited and while learning languages has never been one of my strong points, I do want to give an honest effort in knowing some vocabulary and basic sentences while I'm there. Especially since I'll be working and needing to communicate more than just my order at a restaurant (although the vocab needed to dine is very high on my priority list). 

Any Stockholm travel tips, send them my way! Tak! (That means thank you).

Outdoor, No Equipment Workout

Around 11 I finally headed outside to my backyard in order to get a little bit of a sweat happening - I knew this was the only way to get me up off the couch to go do all of my errands. 

I did this workout that I came up with last summer and it was perfect. About 45 minutes, total body, simple and sweaty. (The sweat might have been because it was already about 85 degrees outside). 

Marshalls - My Downfall 

Whenever I'm home, I go cray at Marshall's. This trip, I left with a black one-piece Calvin Klein bathing suit, a pair of Kensie white jeans, and an off the shoulder denim dress from Cloth & Stone. The dress is so soft!

Bagel & Champagne 

Knowing we would be leaving for the the Boardy Barn bright and early the next morning, I preemptively picked up the Boardy Barn breakfast essentials - a bagel with cream cheese and lox and a bottle of bubbly.  

Manicure 

There's nothing like getting a manicure at your home town nail salon. First of all, it's $25 vs. the $35+ I pay in the city. 

Second, they instantly recognize me as "Sam's sister!" 

Third, I finally found the perfect color gel that matches Bikini so Teeny by Essie which is my summer nail polish JAM. I will most definitely be getting this every weekend I go home this summer (which I'm hoping is frequently!!) 

The G-Parentals

Nothing better than an afternoon visit with my Nanny & Poppy! 

We talked about everything under the sun and then they gave me a PLUOT to try - it's a mix between a plum and an apricot and it was the ideal summer fruit. Crispy, tart skin with a sweet, juicy inside. There was not way to eat it without making a mess, but it was well worth the sticky fingers! 

Crashing a Dinner Party

Next I headed to a local restaurant where some family friends I hadn't seen in far too long were getting a family dinner. I showed up to say hi while they enjoyed their first round of drinks and appetizers and it was so good seeing everyone and doing some quick catching up. 

HOMEMADE Dinner 

Dinner was one of my favorite combos - arugula + avocado + grapefruit! With some Caprese salad on the side (unpopular opinion over here, but mozzarella with balsamic >> any burrata I've had!) 

Sunday Funday At the Boardy Barn 

Going to the Boardy Barn is a right of passage for anyone growing up on Long Island. It's that rare bar that you really do wait until you're 21 to venture to - out in Hampton Bays, people arrive by cars, trains, buses, vans, limos and taxis. 

It's only open on Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Only open from 2 PM to 8 PM. 

There are porta pottys and $1 hot dogs. $3 Bud Lights and smiley face stickers. A giant tent. Dirt floors. You will leave sweaty and covered in dirt and beer. You will wait in line for hours in the sweltering sun to get inside. You will be extremely intoxicated and question why you started drinking at 9 AM. You will think, "this isn't worth it." 

And then you will get inside and the DJ will play every song you never knew you wanted to scream/sing with hundreds of other Long Islanders and you'll swear that it's impossible to be unhappy at the barn. It really is the happiest place on earth. 

Sounds dramatic, right? But everything I just said is the truth! 

We arrived in our van around 10 a.m. and were inside by around 12:30 (extended hours for the Holiday Weekend - and a $30 cover). We lasted until around 6:30 and by 8 I was chowing down on a giant gyro with my parents. 

What. A. Day. 

IDEAL (MON)DAY

Monday was absolutely, 100% what I hoped it would be. 

Run with Mom

It started with a 4 mile, pain-free run to the beach WITH MY MOM which was the best part. It didn't feel too hard, and I was happy happy happy when my dad got down to the beach to pick us up.

Running again! My hometown route! To the beach! With my mom! The day could have ended there and I still would have been happy. 

I'm On A Boat

But next up was going on our boat! I hadn't been on the boat in at least 2 or 3 years and was so content sitting on the boat, reading about Hamilton, playing Enrique Iglesias and Ed Sheeran over the speakers, chowing down on a salad and rice chips with hummus and hanging out with my parents. 

I jumped into water and it's still pretty damn chilly, but was refreshing for the .2 seconds I stayed in. 

I can't wait until the day that my parents have a slip down at the beach and don't have to trailer the boat anymore - seeing how much time and effort and work and sweat my dad puts into cleaning it after each trip is nuts and I can't wait for the process to be a little less stress-free for him. Dad, if you're reading, THANK YOU! His diligence and attention to detail and refusal to take the easy way out are why we were able to grow up our entire lives on a boat - the same one for 22 years in fact. 

Spiros

For dinner, we went to the insanely popular happy hour at Spiro's, where delicious and MASSIVE portions are served at bargain prices. 

They also have a huge variety of martinis, margaritas and craft beer - which is the route I went! 

We split a shrimp and lobster roll, bowl of mussels and grilled eggplant and shrimp dish. All of it was delicious.

Fireworks

The last part of the day was going down to the yacht club to get a spot on the deck to watch the fireworks from a few towns over. We sat with some of my parents friends, chatted, drank, and oohed and ahhed like children when the fireworks started over the water. 

I thought I could pass on the fireworks - but I'm so glad that we went down and stuck around for them. 

Back to the City

Tuesday I woke up, finished reading Hamilton, packed my stuff and eventually made my way back to NYC for the actual Fourth of July. But not before one more eclectic breakfast - whenever I'm home, there's so many options that I'm forced to just have a little bit of everything! 

TRI TRAINING LOL

It had kind of hit me over the weekend while I wasn't swimming or biking that, "OH I'm doing a triathlon in like 10 days. Maybe I should have trained a little more." 

Luckily, Abby was willing to meet me at the gym when I made it back to the city. We sat on some spin bikes in the empty studio and caught up about our weekends and then headed to the pool for a mile swim which went surprisingly very well - it was my fastest mile ever! 

Rooftop BBQ

We showered and got festive (I even wore my giant star earrings!) and headed to Whole Foods where we went kind of crazy buying ingredients for a salad, hummus, guac, beer, etc. to bring to our friend Kaitlin's roof. 

When we finally arrived at Kaitlin's around 7, we entered an apartment that smelled glorious. There were SURPRISE BURGERS. I was overjoyed - I had been crrrraving meat and feeling super weak and nothing says Fourth of July like a hamburger! 

For just 4 people, we had put together quite the spread, if I do say so myself.

We got it all up on the roof, played some jams, chatted, drank some beers for America's Birthday (it would have been un-American not to), and waited to see if we'd even have a view of the fireworks over the East River...

We did! And again, I was surprised to find just how much I loved them! Even better - playing the Hamilton soundtrack as they went off. 

A Weekend In NYC

The weekend following the Fourth of July kind of just materialized into a great one. It felt super relaxing even thought I did A LOT and it included all of my favorite things. 

Summer Friday - Good Food, Good Beers

Lunch at JaJaJa

Kaitlin, Abby, Bertha, Rebecca and I met up on a summer Friday afternoon to try the new vegan Mexican restaurant in Chinatown called Jajaja - I should probably write up a real review because it was worthy. 

The food was phenomenal, creative, and if I were a vegan this spot would definitely become a go-to. I already want to go back for another "fish" taco (made with squash) and for the monstrous pile of nachos with chorizo and guac. 

The only thing that missed the mark was the ceviche, but otherwise, we loved it - and not a scrap was left behind by this girl gang. 

ice & vice

I had been dying for some Ice & Vice, and since we were in Chinatown, it didn't take too much convincing for three of us to stop by for a scoop! Their "yellow" seasonal flavor was delicious (Buckwheat Honey, Tumeric, Sunflower, Butterscotch) as was their staple Tea Dance (Nilgiri Tea Leaf, Lemon Charcoal, Salted Caramel) I love that their menu calls this a "basic" flavor - as it is anything but!

Chill Beers & Jenga

If you know me, you know that a night at a beer garden with a million IPAs, big open windows and games is pretty much my ideal scenario and that's what Spritzenhaus33 in Williamsburg delivered on Friday night. 

When we first got there, there were tons of moms and babies which was a little odd but they cleared out eventually. The place was hopping and we were able to snag a table right by the giant windows which was great. 

Luxury Apartment Buildings

My friend and I stayed at her sisters apartment for the night and it was amazing.  I didn't set an alarm and woke up in a verrrry air conditioned room to a cup of hot coffee and a gym in the building. 

One day, this will be my life...

I got in a quick workout and then we went off in search of food. We ended up bringing omelettes and home fries up to the roof which was the start of our entireeee day out in the sun. 

Saturday Darty

Rooftop Darty

Darty is a term stolen from my sister and her friends which means day party - aka the best kind of party. ROOFTOP darties are even better. 

My co-worker had an amazing party on her rooftop and pulled out all the stops - fun balloons and decorations with the theme of "Pineapples and Palm Trees." There was a pinata, pineapple punch, pineapple glasses, cute paper straws, BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP, flip cup, and views of the Manhattan skyline. 

Yeah, not a bad way to spend a beautifully sunny day. 

Outdoor Thai Dinner

Saturday wrapped up with us walking to get Thai food and being pleasantly surprised that they had an entire outdoor dining area. 

I ordered the Larb Gai which burned my mouth off but was so freaking flavorful and delicious. 

If you live in Williamsburg (or just want to eat really good Thai food outside) check out Sage!

Sunday Funday

I love a productive Sunday where I also have time to do a little bit of nothing. This Sunday was exactly that. 

Brick Workout

Again, there's this Olympic Distance triathlon that I'm attempting next weekend that I feel horribly unprepared for. While I should be tapering had I adhered to any kind of training schedule, instead Abby and I took the Sunday before the race to have our longest training brick workout. Oops?

We biked 35 miles and ran 3 - the miles on the park flew by since we could talk. I never would have done 5 loops of Central Park without her. 

The run was, all things considered, a success but damn, it did not leave me looking forward to Sunday. 

I was in a the pain cave. That's where I go when I can't summon the usual happy, "Yay I'm running" thoughts and instead just keep thinking, "this is hard, this doesn't feel good, can I stop now?" 

Again, having Abby by my side got me through it. My shins never felt the sharp pain of a stress fracture but I was very very tight and my calves were very very painful afterwards. 

We were quicker than I felt at the time, which was a pleasant surprise, but I'm definitely anticipating some walking breaks during the NYC Tri considering our run was around the reservoir for 3 miles and I'll be needing to get my booty up and over all of Central Park's many hills (including Harlem Hill) for 6 miles during the race. 

Gulp. 

Food Shopping & Meal Prep

Yes, this was a highlight of my weekend. 

I finally went to the grocery store with a shopping list and cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week because I'm actually going to be here for a week. 

And I used recipes! From a cookbook! The Inspiralized cookbook to be exact! Kaitlin recently gave me her inspiralizer and I didn't make 1 but THREE things using it. 

I made a zucchini noodle fritatta, a broccoli and chicken dish, and a monstrous salad with beet noodles. 

YAY! I didn't even mind that all of this took me over two hours! 

*PSA: I tried the new avocado and citrus yogurt from Trader Joe's and meh - not a fan!

TV

I'm not a TV person, but there are days I can Netflix binge with the best of them. 

On Sunday, I finished the new season of Orange Is The New Black (Why do people not like it? I loved it!) and also watched The Last Five Years movie with Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. 

The fact that I didn't know this was a movie that existed previously is NUTS as I absolutely loved The Last Five Years when I saw it at Second Stage years ago. The music is phenomenal. 

So there you have it - two weekends where I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect. I have a feeling next weekend might be a liiiiiiitle more stressful, but hopefully I fall asleep on Sunday night as an Olympic Distance Triathlete - pleeeeaaaassssseeee???

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Don't Call It A Comeback, Yet!

Ever since I limp/walked the last two miles of our Ragnar Relay in May, I haven't been running. I was diagnosed with grade 3 stress reactions in both shins, and now I'm using a bone-stimulator machine to help strengthen the bones. 

The machine needs to be used for 1-2 months, every day, at the same time. This has led to some interesting situations where I'm applying ultrasound gel to my legs and strapping on the machine on the Long Island Railroad and even in line for the Boardy Barn. 

#RunnerProblems. 

I'm really hoping that this helps avoid future stress reactions, and that the time off was sufficient to heal my legs up. I've run 3 times in the last two weeks and, knock on wood, I am feeling pretty good! 

Here's a recap on some recent fitness moments!

Great Bike Rides

Every time that I get the "oomph" to bust out a 30 mile bike ride BEFORE work - I end up feeling on top of the world. A recent one up to the Little Red Lighthouse on a Monday morning was GLORIOUS. It was such a beautiful morning, and I crushed a lot of PRs for different parts along the path. 

Another morning, I set out for Central Park with the goal of "break some PRs" and - I did! A bunch of them, in fact! 

When I wasn't running, my bike rides were feeling very strong due to the fresh legs! 

Shocking Swims 

Uhm, can we talk about my swims lately? Because they have been surprisingly successful. 

Don't get me wrong - it is still the HARDEST thing to self-motivate for a swim. And often times I sleep through planned swims and they don't happen. But when they DO happen, they've been going pretty well! 

In the past, I would tend to stop and rest in between every 20 lengths of the pool. Last week, I went 60 in a row without a big break and then, this week, with Abby by my side (ok, two laps ahead of me) I went 80 IN A ROW and swam at 2:16/100 yards which is significantly speedier than my usual swims! 

This week I also purchased a wetsuit in preparation for next weekends NYC Tri (NEXT WEEKEND?! HELP!) So I should probably go test it out in some open water somewhere before then...

Let me tell you - getting that thing on is NOT an easy task. 

Kayla's Last Loops 

Saying goodbye to Kayla was horribly depressing, but I couldn't think of a better way to do it than with a few loops of the reservoir with a group of her running friends. 

This was my first run back since Ragnar and I was so glad I got to be out in the park that morning with Kayla! I might have still smelled like tequila from the previous day's boozy brunch, but I survived the 3 miles. 

I was SO sore the following day. It's crazy how quickly your body forgets what running is like...my hips were sore for a week! 

A Run With Mom 

While I was home for Fourth of July Weekend, I was THRILLED that my mom decided to join me for a run down to our local beach. 

She's the one who used to have me do this with her - before running was something I enjoyed in the SLIGHTEST! She would get me to go with the promise of egg sandwiches down at the beach upon our arrival. 

Now, I love that run - I know every place to cross over to be visible to vehicles around turns, I know to expect the straightaway by the harbor to be brutally hot, smelly and feel like it lasts forever, I know that the hill from the stop sign to Morgan's street is deceptively steep. 

I felt great at the end of these four miles and even better that I got to do it with my momma. My dad always times it perfectly to meet us at our turn around point and bring us home! 

Weeknight 5K! 

I had signed up for the Tracktown USA 5K on Randall's Island because summer weekends always get booked, and this race was on a Thursday night. 

Fast forward to now, and I knew that, as my third run back, this was certainly not going to be a "race" by any means. But I was over the moon to be back at a race setting, pinning a bib number to my chest and toeing a starting line with hundreds of others who wanted to spend their Thursday night at Icahn Stadium. 

I was proud of myself for staying fairly comfortable the entire 3.1 miles, not pushing too hard, not feeling disappointed when things felt hard and I had to reel it in, and never once looking at a watch or my pace. I negative split, too!

I cruised across the finish at an 8:16 pace which I was very happy with all things considered. 

The best part was being able to run the 2 more miles home over the 103rd Street footbridge, running into some familiar NP faces (HI LAURA ANN AND MYLES - I definitely felt a little out of the November Project loop at the actual race) and arriving at my apartment steps in ABSOLUTE EUPHORIA. 

I snapped some cheesy pictures in the middle of the road and texted my parents, "I don't want to go inside. I just want to run around all night. I want to pop champagne bottles in the street." 

K Lauren. Relax. 

Random Workouts

A few of my random workouts have felt really HARD. I've been feeling super weak, and also have been CRAVING meat. Which is odd for someone who is a part-time vegetarian for all intents and purposes. 

But whenever I find myself craving meat, I know it's for a reason.  All this to say that I ate some meat (BURGER ON THE FOURTH, THANKS LINDS!) and finally this week, I've felt a little stronger at the gym. 

I whipped this workout back out from the archives while I was home -

I also came up with two killer deck of cards workouts the other day: 

Hearts: Plank Hip Dips
Diamonds: Lunges
Spades: Wall Ball Throws
Clubs: Ball Slams
Jokers: 50 Jumping Jacks

Hearts: Kettlebell Swings
Diamonds: Kneeling Overhead Press
Spades: Quick Feet on Step
Clubs: Mountain Climbers
Jokers: :30 Plank

Give them a try and tell me what you think! 

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Social Media 30-Day Detox

My morning's usually start with laying in bed and scrolling through various social media channels. 

Instagram, Facebook, Strava.

Getting caught up and concerned with other people's lives at 7:00 a.m., wondering who worked out this morning? Who had a great dinner last night? Who is traveling the world or on a beautiful beach somewhere? Did anyone message me on the dating apps I recently re-downloaded? 

My nights usually end in a similar way - mindlessly swiping left and right in search of someone to send me cheesy pick-up lines and unsubstantial conversation.  Getting dizzy from the Boomerangs on people's Instagram stories and filtering and re-filtering photos of myself from the weekend, trying to figure out which one is worthy of a #tbt. The bright light from my screen keeps me up way past a necessary hour. 

It sounds ridiculous when you read about just how wrapped up in social media people become. You scoff at the idea that your self worth has somehow become intertwined with your followers and likes. It looks ridiculous when people stand on chairs to get the perfect boozy brunch snapshot.

But I'm willing to bet that you've been that girl walking and Snapchatting as she walks down the street  And I'm sure you've been that girl feeling bad on a Friday night, sitting in her apartment as her Facebook feed is flooded with friends having fun. The FOMO sets in, even though hours ago at your desk, you swore you WANTED a night of Netflix and Seamless by yourself. 

And don't even get me started on dating apps. Why do I spend HOURS swiping when I truly have NO intention of meeting up with anyone for drinks? 

28 days without drinking had me feeling empowered and looking for a new challenge - and so on July 1, with little fanfare, I deleted it all. 

Facebook. 

Facebook Messenger. 

Instagram. 

Snapchat. 

Bumble. 

Hinge. 

Buh-bye. 

The plan is not seeing these apps until August 1 and I'm really interested to see how it goes! 

Stay tuned. 

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Finishing 28 Days Alcohol-Free

After Las Vegas, I found myself in the final stretch of no drinking with a few days in Chicago. 

Can I just say how much I like Chicago? Honestly, I've never gotten to explore much of the city as my stays are usually very work-focused but it seems like a place I could easily live if it weren't for the freezing cold winters and mountains of snow. 

Homestead on the Roof

After all, our first dinner out was at a rooftop restaurant with the slogan, "literal farm to table." It was a beautiful night and the food was equally as aesthetically pleasing. Our hummus came out looking like carrots growing right out of the ground - but it definitely didn't taste like dirt! 

The rustic roof with string lights set a laid back vibe and we all split some appetizers from the produce-centric menu that changes daily and seasonally. 

A carrot salad with curry and frisee was texturally interesting while the salmon crudo fell short. The raclette, described as "adult grilled cheese" was, obviously, delicious. Melted cheese, how can you go wrong? 

When my entree came out, I exclaimed, "Oh my God, this dish is 'so, ME!'" Okay Lauren, you weirdo. 

I had ordered the Coal Roasted Eggplant which came with Quinoa Tabouli, White Bean Puree (I LOVE WHITE BEANS), Salsa Verde and Falafel. Just look at it. So pretttttty. 

Flywheel & Doughnut Vault!

Chicago kept the good vibes coming in the morning when I woke up and walked less than 10 minutes to a Flywheel class. I am always shocked when I leave Flywheel at just how much sweat I can actually produce. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite spin studios. 

Flywheel was followed with a stop at The Doughtnut Vault - a cute, tiny walk up window where I got a dozen donuts to bring in for coworkers (and mainly, for myself). They don't have a ton of different doughnut options, but I LOVED their buttermilk old-fashioned doughnut. It was sweet, simple and so cake-y and moist! Time and again I confirm my belief that cake doughnuts are FAR superior to yeast doughnuts and Doughnut Vault certainly kept me singing the praises of cake doughnuts. 

Doughnut Vault has two locations - 111 N Canal Street and 401 N Franklin St. 

After spin and doughnuts it was time to head to work on the right foot! I was then surprised with ANOTHER doughnut - a Biscoff filled one from Stan's <3 What a way to start the day. 

Other things that were great about Chicago 

  • A second Flywheel class with coworkers because I accidentally bought 3 classes 
  • Garrett's Chicago Mix popcorn - caramel + cheddar is a match made in popcorn heaven (although I've also been feeling the pickle-flavored popcorn from Trader Joe's!)
  • A biggg group dinner to wrap up the events season at Howell's & Hood (the food was unimpressive but the company was great!) 
  • A trip to the Ghiradelli Factory for a Brownie Sundae - the best decision I've made in life lately was subbing the vanilla ice cream for mint chocolate chip. 
  • Taking a picture by the river 

La Pulperia

When I got back from Chicago, it was time to break the 28-day no alcohol streak with a boozy brunch to send Kayla off to Boston. There were tears - but also lots of laughs thanks to the best wait-staff on the Upper East Side - everyone should go to La Pulperia! Their cocktails are A+ (the Smoky Room is my favorite cocktail ever). 

HTML + CSS Class

But even though I was back to imbibing, I've tried to keep making time and space in my schedule for things that are productive, intellectually stimulating, and more of an experience than yet another happy hour. 

And something I've been wanting to learn for a long time now is HTML and CSS. 

I found a great deal via CourseHorse for a beginner HTML & CSS class from Noble Desktop . Normally these classes are quite pricey, but I was able to book a 3 hour course with only 8 people for under $40. 

I really enjoyed the class - just to be sitting and learning again felt nice and I was surprised to find that the class was all women! We had the choice between using a PC or a Mac (go, PC!) and while I'm definitely not a coding pro now by any means, I understand the concepts a little better. 

What I was surprised to find, though, is that there really aren't a ton a concepts when it comes to HTML and coding - it's a lot of, "and then you type this - because that's just what you type." And, "if you don't know the code for a specific thing, you just Google it." 

I still really enjoyed the class and would consider taking more in the future! 

And there you have it! Still to come, a Gotham City Writer's "Write In" and a Nuyorican Poet's Cafe Poetry Slam! Plus, rock-climbing, a 5K (my first race in 6 MONTHS!) and oh right, an Olympic Distance Triathlon -eeeeek. 

If you want to read more about what I learned throughout the 28 days of no drinking, read this post! Moral of the story - it really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! (But I'm looking forward to lots of summer cocktails!) 

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Month of Me: What I Did While I Wasn't Drinking

Going alcohol free for 28 days was a way for me to refocus on me, myself, and the things I'd been "meaning to do" for too long. 

The past month has been filled with worthwhile experiences, belly laughs, some great workouts, some relaxing days and lots of learning moments. 

A Trip to Buffalo 

After spending time in Buffalo last year for a work trip, I was excited to return this spring. 

The Healthy Scratch

All 8 days, my breakfasts and lunches came from The Healthy Scratch. I was overjoyed to have them nearby for healthy, nutritious food. I ate my smoothie with a spoon and added some granola on top and I found that it was super satisfying - usually when I drink my breakfast from a straw, I still feel like I need to eat something. 

The Buffalo food scene impresses me whenever I go, and we had some more delicious meals. 

The Mahony

Most notable was the discovery of The Mahony, located inside an old creamery building which creates a trendy vibe. The menu is diverse and unique - one night we went there was even live music. 

Chef's

We also ate at Chef's - which, though not my cup of tea, is a very historic restaurant in Buffalo that has been around since 1923! Their menu is like a mini history book - with stories about how they moved the oven from the bakery that used to make their bread to their new location and hired the head baker. And the story of how their famous dish, "spaghetti parmigiana" was created. Picture a pile of spaghetti engulfed in a glob of cheese. 

Sear

My favorite meal was probably the massive tuna steak I got at Sear. The black coconut sticky rice it came with, paired with pineapple puree, was summer-seafood heaven for my taste buds. (Though it would have been better enjoyed on an island somewhere). 

Another reason I love Buffalo is because of the Canalside walk along the water which I enjoyed on Memorial Day. 

Billy Joel Concert Turned Cooking with Callie 

When Billy Joel cancelled his concert due to an infection, Callie and I took to the kitchen to improvise a recipe based off of Hummasapien's Curried Cauliflower Chickpea Buddha Bowl. The fact that my food processor wouldn't turn on made for a less than ideal sauce-making scenario but Callie diced those almond so finely that we still managed to make it work. 

Anyone else out there arugula-obsessed? Raise your hand if arugula is your go-to-green (and leave me so recipe ideas in the comments!)

Baseball Game 

I will admit that I am far from a fan of America's Favorite Pastime. I usually go to one or two games a year and when I get there I'm just kind of like, "OK, now what?" Usually, the answer to that question is "BEER!" but a baseball game dead sober - that was something new to me. 

I went to a Yankees/Red Sox game with my friend Kayla and her dad and boyfriend and they are DIE HARD Sox fans. I even donned a Red Sox t-shirt since Kayla humored me at an Islanders game earlier this year. 

Admittedly, the baseball part of the experience was still meh for me - but Kayla's enthusiasm, her nicknames for all of the players, her method of sneaking in a tequila nip in her umbrella, the seventh inning stretch, the YMCA, the wave and THE SUNSET kept me smiling the entire night. 

Sushi Making Class 

I have been saying, "I really want to learn how to make sushi" for a LONG TIME. At least 2 years. I live in a city that has hundreds of cooking classes on the DAILY. No more excuses. 

Lana is one of my sushi-loving friends and when I finally found the class I wanted to take I knew she would be down. 

Cooking classes ain't cheap - easily $80+! But I found a deal on Groupon for CocuSocial and it was super affordable at $36 per person! 

The class was held in a lobby/snack bar area of a hotel in midtown Manhattan and was a very manageable size with no more than 16 or so of us. Most people were in pairs. It was super laid back, but I actually learned a good amount more than I thought I would! 

I also never expected to leave absolutely stuffed! We learned how to roll a salmon roll, a crab inside-out roll (with the rice on the outside) and a hand roll! Three different types of rolls which we devoured - that's a LOT of sticky rice. 

We were shocked at how sticky the rice was - it is NOT easy to work with and while you're supposed to keep your hands wet to make the rice easier to handle, you have to try not to get any of the water on the nori (the sheet of seaweed). 

I really liked the hand roll because it was like a sushi burrito - but when I poured the soy sauce into the roll, it just came flooding out the bottom. OOPS. 

After class, our instructor gave us some more information, like how to shop for sushi-grade fish, what makes it sushi-grade, and how to make the sticky rice! 

I highly recommend checking out CocuSocial and I definitely plan on taking more of their classes! (Dumplings, pasta, pie - they offer a lot of different ones!) 

Wedding & College Roommate Reunion 

You know those friends that you can go forever without seeing, and then you're together and it's like absolutely no time at all has passed? I'm lucky to have a lot of friends like that. As you get older, your friends are spread out across the map, everyone has their own obligations and plans, and you go longer and longer without seeing each other. But despite that, my college roommates and I had an amazing time at Kelsey's wedding. 

Dancing, reminiscing, eating, photo-boothing, Hamilton rapping and bug-drowning - it was a great weekend together. 

Broadway 

The musical theatre nerd in me isn't as prominent as it once was, but every time I sit at watch a show, I remember how much I love a good show tune. 

My friends and I went to see Waitress and while it wasn't one of my favorites, it was worth the $60 to hear "She Used to Be Mine" belted live. We just missed Sara Bareilles by a day (hence the discounted tickets), but Betsy Wolfe crushed her first performance as Jenna. 

There were a few songs that I could definitely tell were written by Bareilles and overall, the show was pretty damn funny. 

Catching Up With Friends 

Before most long work trips I try to fit in some time with friends to catch up before I hit the road. The week before the last work trip of the season, I grabbed sweetgreen with Kayla and got a manicure/pedicure with Jess. 

Could we have gone for drinks? Absolutely (it probably would have ended with me dragging them to Brandy's Piano Bar and ordering Tequila Cosmos...) But it was much more productive for my schedule to do two things I needed to do anyway: eat dinner and get my nails done, while at the same time chatting away. 

Trip to Las Vegas

I am not the biggest fan of Las Vegas. Admittedly, I've only ever been on work trips which tend to put a damper on the Sin-City Lifestyle but I also just think that's it's like being stuck in Times Square for a week - not something I would ever wish on someone. 

I tried to make the most of this trip though - ate a few good meals, gambled a whole $22 on Willy Wonka and Wizard of Oz slot machines (and won $35 on an Orange Is The New Black machine before my flight out!) and enjoying a Lush bath bomb in the luxurious tub in my Encore hotel room (they are absolutely gorgeous!) 

I used Postmates for my lunches all week in Vegas and pretty quickly my coworkers put me in charge of the healthy--but-delicious meal finding. It was so much easier than I had anticipated! I had great meals and highly suggest checking out the following places if you're trying to eat well in Vegas: 

SkinnyFATS

I ate the dish with the zucchini noodles and it was yum!

Protein House

Greens and Proteins 

I was so obsessed with my turkey burger in a cabbage wrap with JICAMA fries at lunch, that I ordered the Harvest Kale Stocked Salad for dinner! We also ordered the Greek Pizza on pita to share in the office and it was amazing. 

Fun fact - I never made it out of the Wynn/Encore hotel for a meal during the trip. But the fact that the Wynn and Encore's restaurant menus feature so many vegan and healthy options was fine by me! Each menu has a few items that list the calories and try to remain on the lighter side. 

My favorite thing I ate was definitely the buffalo cauliflower at Le Jardin. It was absolutely mind blowing - so crispy. And the vegan ranch/blue cheese sauce? WOW. Brynn and I could have had 4 more orders and skipped the entrees. 

I also really liked the kale salad at The Country Club  and was pumped to try the Impossible Burger meat in crispy rice lettuce cups at Andrea's (probably my favorite restaurant at the Wynn/Encore - order the broccoli!!!) 

Stay tuned, there's more to come including the final week of no alcohol!

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5 Things I Learned From Giving Up Alcohol for a Month

My month of me seems to have translated into a month without blogging along with the no running and no drinking thing - oops! 

But now that I'm on the other side of 28 days, I wanted to check in with a recap of the top 5 lessons I learned while going 28 days without drinking. To quickly answer a few of the burning questions: 

  • Did you cheat at all? Nope, not even one rogue sip. 
  • Did you lose weight? No, in fact I probably gained some since I've been working out a lot less and was traveling for work for 2 weeks and eating out constantly. Losing weight was never one of the reasons I wanted to do this in the first place.
  • Was it hard? The biggest surprise of all was that, nope, it really wasn't difficult AT ALL. I can count on one hand the number of times I even came close to cheating.

Here are the top 5 things I took away from 28 days without drinking. 

1. Removing "Happy Hour" from your list of potential plans with friends challenges you to find other activities that you might normally miss out on. 

I'll be writing an entire post about all the things I've been up to - including a computer coding class, Broadway musical and sushi making class! 

I live in New York City, I travel constantly for work - there's a great big world out there and yes I love my favorite bars as much as the next twenty-something but there's so much more I want to learn and experience other than every citrus-y IPA (but I do want to try them all, eventually...)

When I texted my friends some of the things I wanted to check out - they were quick to say HELL YEAH and even thanked me for planning some out of the ordinary weeknight activities. 

2. No one cares. Seriously. 

If you surround yourself with somewhat decent people - they aren't going to sit there and try to force you to drink if you decide to pass. Sure they might joke or ask if you're sure, or purposely order your favorite drink off the menu - but they aren't going to sit there and be upset that you aren't drinking. Ain't nobody got time for that.

The only issue I had was convincing the people I was with that they SHOULD drink. I didn't want to put a damper on anyone's night just because I was choosing to sip on Pellegrino (I drank SO much sparkling water this month!) 

3. It didn't make me a homebody. 

I was still social, still enjoyed dinners out with people during my work trips, and still stayed long after the table was cleared watching games and talking - again, drinking lots and lots of water. 

4. I give alcohol too much credit. 

I had been under the false assumption that alcohol made me more fun, more social, more silly, etc. But I am still all of those things around the people I'm comfortable with - alcohol or no alcohol. At my college roommate's wedding, I was still one of the first ones from our group to get up and out on the dance floor and I was still one of the last to fall asleep because my friend and I were too busy rapping Hamilton to say goodnight. 

5. There's no " easy" month to cut alcohol out of your life. 

I said this in my last post - but, seriously. If it's something you've wanted to do - just do it. There's always going to be a happy hour or a party or a dinner that you're going to want to order a drink at. But I swear, it's not that hard to just be like, "NAH, I'm trying this thing and I really want to stick to it." 

If you want to do it, there's no day like today!

Final Thoughts:

What made it doable for me was the fact that I knew I was serious about it, I let the entire internet know about it (accountability at its best) and most importantly - the reasons behind it were genuine and important to me. 

I didn't go a month without drinking to lose weight, which is what most people assumed. I did it to make room for things that are more important to me and to prove to myself that I could. SURPRISE! I'm a pretty great, well-rounded individual with lots of interests and passions and the fact that I love margaritas and IPAs is really not what make me, me. 

I was honestly shocked at how easy it was, and while I did have an amazing boozy brunch to break the 28 days, I now also have a huge list of non-drinking-activities I plan to do this summer and I'm so excited! Rock-climbing, kayaking, maybe some trapeze? Continuing with computer coding classes, maybe an Excel class? And who wants to come make dumplings with me!? Walking photography tour of a neighborhood? Queens food exploring? Long bike rides! 

K and summer Friday happy hours - there will definitely be some of those, too. 

Changing Your Perspective for a Positive Mindset

And just like that, it's been 13 days without alcohol. Honestly, the first 2 weeks have flown by and there have only been a fewwww times I've been tempted to cheat. But I'm feeling very determined and know that I'll make it to the finish line

Today I wanted to talk (write) a little bit about perspective. It's crazy how big of an impact a small shift in perspective can make in your happiness. I'm groaning at how preachy that sounded - but stick with me.

Wednesday was a long day. I was out the door by 5:00 a.m., on a flight to Pittsburgh by 7:00 a.m., at a coffee shop working by 9:00 a.m., in a meeting by noon, back at the airport by 3:30 p.m. and not back through my apartment doors until 8:00 p.m. 

But as my plane descended into New York City, I looked out my window and below me, the entire city was sprawled out. A city inhabited by 1.6 million people - including little old me. It might take me an hour and multiple subway transfers and plenty of frustration to get from the Upper East Side to Chelsea on a Sunday - but from 30,000 feet up, the island of Manhattan looked so much simpler. 

I could see the Freedom Tower and Central Park all at once. I spotted the Empire State Building and the reservoir, and I thought to myself, "WOW Central Park is beautiful and kind of massive, I can't believe I run around that whole thing on the regs!" (Yes, I even use embarrassing abbreviations in my head, obvs). 

Then, as I sometimes do, I started to get a little teary-eyed thinking about the fact that I live in THE New York City. THE Central Park is my backyard. I could look down and point out where Harlem Hill is and Cat Hill and my favorite trees that arch over the reservoir loop. And I could point at MY apartment - or at least the general vicinity of my apartment. 

Something about being that high up, and looking down at my entire life/world from such a distance had me feeling really emotional. 

When I landed, and waited in the taxi line, and waited in traffic, and finally got back to my apartment (because NYC isn't EVER actually simple when you're in it...) I dropped my bags and bolted to the park for a walk around the reservoir at sunset. From looking at Central Park from 30,000 feet up one hour to being smack dab in the middle of it the next hour - I had a really ridiculous feeling of contentment. 

But the thing to remember about changing your perspective, is that it doesn't always mean going up 30,000 feet and literally changing your perspective. It's often a conscious and active decision that you need to make to view things in a different way.  

It's like an Instagram filter, for your life. 

Every day you have the choice to choose between Clarendon (a personal fave), Hudson, Valencia or Nashville (but let's be honest, no one chooses Nashville unless they're IN Nashville and trying to be clever). And every day you have the choice to filter your life to focus on the positives or the negatives. The "LIFE IS GOOD" filter or the "EVERYTHING SUCKS" filter.

Shall we go over some examples from my week? 

  • I could have chosen to focus on the fact that I lost my passport and need to pay $200 to replace it in time for my trip to Canada. 

    I'm not suggesting that I choose to view this as a positive thing - it's not. But instead, I focused my attention on the fact that I luckily found a copy of my passport that will make filling out the application for a new one easier. Instead of harping on the pain in the butt that it's going to be to get it replaced, I gave myself a little pep talk that sounded like this: "Lauren, you're going to get it replaced because you have to. So why are you going to freak out? It's going to get done."
     
  • I could have chosen to focus on the fact that the Billy Joel concert I was supposed to go to was cancelled last minute.

    Instead, I invited Callie over and we cooked a delicious dinner and caught up and then I laid in bed and lip-synced to my favorite Billy Joel songs and sent the videos to my friends so that they weren't sad we missed out on the concert. Because my rendition of Piano Man is essentially the same thing as Billy's. 

    Instead, I appreciated the fact that I got to bed earlier that night ahead of my 4:45 a.m. alarm for my flight. 
     
  • I could have chosen to focus on the fact that my Cuisinart wouldn't start and Callie and I couldn't blend the almonds into the sauce we were making.

    Instead, Callie acted as a human food-processor and chopped the almonds really finely and we improvised and shrugged our shoulders and laughed and guess what? Our dinner still tasted delicious (we cooked these Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Buddha Bowls from Hummusapien!)  
  • I could have chosen to focus on the fact that my entire day was taken up by my work trip on Wednesday - leaving me super tired and not giving me the chance to exercise. 

    Instead, I used that spectacular landing as inspiration to get into the park for a 2+ mile walk on a gorgeous night!
     
  • Wednesday was Global Running Day and at the moment, I can't run. I could have easily spent the day upset about my injury, bitter at all of the running posts flooding my social media channels, and angry at my legs. 

    Instead, I liked every running picture that I saw, went for a walk in the park, and thought about how running and the NYC running community has changed my life. Showing up to a Jack Rabbit group run 5 years ago is the #1 reason this place feels like home. 

So basically what I'm saying is that choosing to view your day from a positive perspective is just like choosing your Instagram filter. Make the right choice.

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Month Of Me! 28 Days Alcohol Free.

It's been a minute since I've posted,, and in that time, "THE MONTH OF ME" has begun. 

THE MONTH OF ME 

28 Days Boys & Booze Free 

And did I mention I can't run, either? 

Let's back up - I'll explain the reasoning behind a dating & drinking detox! 

Why I'm Not Running

May 17 I went to see a new doctor about my shin splints/IT band/everything hurts when I run problems that escalated by the end of my 3 Ragnar Relay legs. That started my 4 weeks of strict no running, jumping, boxing, boot-camping, cross-fitting, etc. as I was diagnosed with grade 3 stress reactions in both legs. Just short of becoming full on stress fractures - eek. 

The hope is that insurance will cover a bone stimulator, which sounds slightly terrifying, but has been shown to strengthen bones in people who are susceptible to stress reactions and stress fractures. Apparently I am one of those people. 

My 2013 stress fracture led to a TOTAL obsession with eating healthy and not gaining weight while I couldn't work out. It also meant commuting 2 hours each way into Manhattan with crutches. No bueno.  

I walked into the appointment and straight up said, "Don't tell me to go to PT. I already know what exercises I need to do to strengthen my glutes, hips and core." And my doctor didn't flinch - he seems to be trying to take preventative measures instead of just telling me to rest, recover, and re-injure myself as soon as I start running again- which I greatly appreciate. 

In the meantime, I'm allowed to bike and swim, thankfully. And I've been focusing on doing lots of arms and abs at the gym. 

And I finally brought my bike in for a tune-up so I'm ready to go on that front - brand new turquoise handlebar tape is FIRE. 

I'm using these 4 weeks to remind myself that yes I am a runner, but running isn't what defines me. 2 years ago, 4 weeks off of running would have resulted in crying and anger and quite frankly, a not-so-cute temper tantrum (coupled with an extreme obsession on counting calories). 

Now, after on and off injuries and being unable to train for a year +, the four weeks "off" sound kind of nice. No frustrating runs that end in pain. No feeling "slow." I miss training and racing SO much. But it's been forever since I've truly been in a good running groove and if 4 weeks completely off gives me the chance to come back stronger and possibly train for another marathon - it is SO so worth it. 

I would like to run 26.2 miles again, please! 

The fact that I can still swim and bike and get jacked arms is GREAT and making it much easier, but I'm also trying to put fitness and exercising on the back burner for these 28 days and focus on all of my other interests and passions and hobbies that I sometimes neglect.

Why I'm Not Drinking 

There have been many times I've proclaimed, "I'm going a month without drinking!" and then realized, "Oh but it's so and so's birthday party,I need to drink at that," or, "Shit I need to try the IPA on this menu" or I quit because let's face it, some social situations are just better with  a beer in your hand.

But since February, I have been going out every weekend. And drinking during the week. And doing boozy brunches. And oh, yeah, living it UP in Barcelona. It's not that I regret any of it - I've been having a LOT of fun these past few months. But I think my body needs a little break - hangovers aren't nearly as fun when you have real life responsibilities and can't just lay in bed all day with your only trip outside being a 5 minute walk to the cafeteria for a bacon egg and cheese. 

Plus, it's always a good reminder that alcohol is NOT a pre-requisite for a good time! I didn't drink until my JUNIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE, PEOPLE. And I had plenty of fun. 

So, my break from drinking is a challenge to find alternate activities to happy hour and bar hopping and boozy brunch (all things I love) and to also realize that I can still do all of those things with my friends and have a great time even if I'm the sober one. 

No more excuses. There will never be a convenient or "easy" time to go a month without drinking. I'll be going to a wedding with my college roommates this weekend and is it going to be a bit of a bummer to not be imbibing at the open bar? Probably. Am I still going to laugh and dance and take ridiculous pictures and roar like a Bobcat? You betchya. 

Why I'm Not Dating 

This is certainly a loaded topic, and not one that I usually talk about on my food & fitness blog, but - I'm a single 27 year old living in NYC in the age of dating apps and ghosting and it is NOT EASY. And guys and relationships and confusion re: men recently seems to consume way more of my mental energy than I'd care to admit. 

And it's not really OK with me.

Because my brain power could be used for a lot better things. And my emotional energy could be used for my friends and family who deserve it. And my free time could be spent doing things I want to do.

So boys, bye!

Why 28 Days? 

This challenge won't last a full 30 days because Kayla is moving home to Boston and we have one last boozy brunch at La Pulperia to conquer on June 25. Featuring a specialty cocktail made by the bartender in her honor. So we're pretending this "month of me" is taking place in February and going with 28 days. 

The Plan

So a month of ME! No drinking, no running, no dates - what's a gal to do? Fill that calendar up with lots of things, that's what! Not all of these things will happen within the 28 days, but they are all a product of the Month of Me mentality!

Billy Joel Concert: When you're listening to Billy Joel sing and you're with your best friends, you don't need alcohol to belt out Piano Man or prove to everyone in your section that you know every word to We Didn't Start the Fire. 
*This was CANCELLED and I am so sad :( 

Yankee/Red Sox Game: I've never seen this decades old rivalry in person and even though I'm not a huge baseball fan, I'm going with the HUGEST baseball fan and I know her excitement will rub off on me. 

Sushi Making Class: I've been meaning to do this FOREVER and I'm so excited to finally make it happen. Plus, I hate sake, so - no temptation there! 

Wedding: 6 college roommates reunited for the first time since graduation!

Cooking With Kay: We've made some pretty fancy things together - handmade ravioli and pesto, seared sea scallops and zoodles, fresh squeezed watermelon cocktails - excited for a night in the kitchen with my friend! 

Waitress on Broadway:  I miss being a musical theater nerd who knows all the latest buzz on Broadway but it's TONY SEASON so I gotta get my fix. 

Mani/Pedi: I've found that a mani/pedi with friends is a great way to catch up when you don't want to do the typical dinner/drinks. Plus, you can't be using your phone so you're sure to have each other's undivided attention! 

Intro to HTML & CSS: This is something that's been on my To Do list forEVER. I think it's a great skill to have and I'm weirdly excited about sitting in class for 3 hours. I miss being a student and learning! 

NYC Tri: I'm signed up for my first Olympic Distance Triathlon! I'm really scared! But also really excited! And doing it with my two favorites! It's technically outside of my 28 days, but those 28 days will definitely include a lot of biking and swimming to prepare. 

Rock Climbing: I'm going to check out either Chelsea Piers' climbing wall of Steep Rock Bouldering for my first rock-climbing adventure since 2009!  

Rock climbing on a CRUISE SHIP. 

Slam Poetry - I absolutely love slam poetry, ever since I saw The Asia Project perform at the NACA Conference and at my college. Maybe one day I'll have the nerve to get up and perform my own poem, but until then I'm excited to check out Nuyorican Poets Cafe slam poetry night. 

Write-In: I signed up for my first Write In with Gotham Writer's! Because a Friday night spent writing and receiving feedback sounds both terrifying and awesome! 

I'm excited, and I'm a little nervous that as these things come up, I'm going to wish my calendar wasn't QUITE so jam packed. But these are all things I really want to do, and are very "me." 

So, 9 days down, 19 to go!