a life beyond running shoes.

trophy. of course, i am not sure he really understands what it is for or why he got it but he loves playing it like a guitar. he won the 20 yard dash.... he was the only competitor. he was really cute!

sunday afternoon....minor league baseball game. fun in the sun. paid no attention to the fact that there was a game going on....just chatted and ate hotdogs. great outing! brooklyn cyclones rock!!! then comes monday.....we had a terrible, no good, whiny day. so like any good parent....we venture out into the rain. destination: farmer's market! subway = adventure...not matter the weather, no matter the day! purchase: fresh beets. we roasted them ourselves, served them up on fresh mesculin with toasted pecans & goat cheese. add one side of fresh zucchini pasta & tomatoes..... you get one yummy dinner. you also kill most of the day with whiny boy in the stroller leaving the afternoon free for some movie action plus fresh popcorn! two more sleeps until flordia.

liz gilbert's journey is not one i want to re-create because it starts from just a place of pain & woundedness yet the fact that she travels so freely & for such personal introspection is painfully appealing. four months in italy, four in india, four in indonesia (bali). i can dream can't i. i think the part that appeals most to me....after i get over my insatiable desire to eat & drink my own way through italy.... is the quiet & personal reflection she has the chance to explore in india. she spends time at a ashram learning how to meditate. this is something i have so little practice at that my soul craves for the quiet solitude of that aspect of devotion. my own faith is hungry for it. to work on my prayer life, to know jesus more intimately, to get past my own selfishness and really learn how to pray for others & the world. that would be cool! and now i can start harry potter!!

okay, so it wasn't me. i did much better than i could have expected...especially since i had extremely low expectations. but micah won his age division...okay, he was the only one in his division....but those are minor details. i was motivated by one particular individual. he was about 60, wearing a yellow coney island shirt....he was ahead of me up until the hill (mile 2). i slowly started to pass him. creeping up on his tail. i was motivated by one sole thought, "i need to beat the guy running in tevas." i did!!! 31:55 was my time. a PR no less. AND, we signed our lease on a three bedroom apartment yesterday. AND, vacation is only five days away. i think i can, i think i can, i think i can.

the park has a zoo inside it. that is right...our park. it also has a ice rink, lake for boat rides, baseball fields, a duck pond, a historical house, and includes my running loop which is 3.3 miles around. but, back to the zoo. we went for our adventure there this morning. the oppressive heat had a reprieve today and the walk was manageable. what was too scary in may, was fun today - feeding the goats. actually, he wouldn't eve go near the goats in may.... improvement. we saw the meer cats, a red panda, sea lions, poisonous frogs, but no wallabies. they were hiding. it was a great morning!

star 76 . a tee shirt company that is also a nonprofit (limited tees by emerging artists). our friend from church got this started. i think people can be so cool!!! pay day is friday....perhaps an internet order is in the works. also, i signed up for a 5K this saturday. i've recruited the husband to take the older one in the jog stroller and am going to coerce a friend to take the younger one. there is ice cream at the finish line!! it is a fund raiser for teen challenge : a local (meaning brooklyn) faith-based comprehensive residential program for those seeking to overcome drug addiction. it is still a 5K.

.....a foodie? so, the new york times had an article this past weekend about how the movie ratatouille would never have made $47 million ten years ago. the article is called " foodies at the movies : chopped liver to hero." bruni concludes that "'Ratatouille' suggests that many Americans have come to consider a dinner plate a canvas as worthy as any other." have i become one of those foodies? is that bad? and what does it mean to be a foodie? so, i looked it up on wikipedia.... definition: "foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news." i think i might be one! but, i don't like foodies. they are snobby and obnoxious. i like food & good food & i am learning about different ways to look at food... but i sill like hotdogs (and even the non-kosher, fu...

my new best friend, mike - who thought i was too young to be celebrating 6 years of marriage and too skinny to be a mom twice over - took these gorgeous pictures. you can more of his photos here: piscaweb . he also has a blog: probablyawkward . so mike, thank you for the photos....it was great sitting next to you!

but still well worth it...to forgo the romantic dinner for the experience was well, an experience. our anniversary is sunday, but sundays are well...sundays. so, we ventured back to our favorite place but for a unique dining experience. applewood for their "meet the farmer night" featuring hardwick beef : 100% grass-fed cattle. four course dinner with wine pairings plus a mini-lecture from ridge (the farmer) about his cattle and why he is passionate about grass-fed beef. throw in family-style seating, 8 strangers, amazing food... and you have an unconventional anniversary dinner. amuse braised shortrib "sloppy joes" first course steak tartare second course grilled flatiron steak salad third course pan roasted ribeye [sorbet - palate cleanser] dessert lemon cake

this past friday, my book club met to discuss the reading of markus zusak's the book thief which is technically considered juvenile fiction. **side note: in case you are under the impression that i am a voracious reader, let me dissuade you. three books in one week may give you that impression, but here is the truth: i finished this one over a week ago, only skimmed the bennetts book, and have been reading the kingsolver book since mother's day.... there. that is how i got through three books. thanks to my reading buddy in orlando (her post on the same book is more eloquent than mine, scribbling suits ), we found this great read. what a well-written, well-conceived book. it was intelligent, captivating, and not at all minimalistic in its portrayal of nazi germany - from the german perspective. it was authentic, slightly uncomfortable in parts, and human. our whole group felt that it was a worth while read which is surprising for us to reach a consensus. death is the narrat...

for those of you who don't want to invest in reading the whole thing..... an article by barbara kingslover from our local edible brooklyn publication. " edible nation " it is about asparagus....the in season, really amazing kind.

before i begin, i have to preface that i am coming from an entirely different place than the author. i disagree with her on all fundamental theories. it is just her basis for it all is wrong (in my humble opinion, that in which i ask no one else to share). okay... here we go. first, i did not read it in its entirety because i got bored and wanted to watch re-runs of earl, frankly. second, i got the point quickly and didn't need 321 full pages to get the idea. i am sure that i missed stuff but i am just fine with that. her point: "i am proud and grateful to count myself among the working women who have struggled so hard to build complete, self-sufficient adult lives. the juggling act may be out of fashion now, but there hasn't been a single moment when i didn't feel unbelievably lucky to have engaged in all the battles necessary to maintain that ostensibly discredited goal" (page 320). [that would be the goal of 'having it all' - family, marriage, and caree...

after reading this book, i am more and more convinced that i am just lazy & value convenience over a multitude of things. (this is merely a personal observation, not a commentary on anyone else) first, i have always loved barbara kingsolver's writing. she is not easy to digest, especially when she critiques missionaries simply because it embarrasses me that some of her critiques are true ( posionwood bible ). but, i love her language, her imagery, her organic connection to the land that flows eloquently from her writings. here, in her piece of non-fiction, she again connects me to a way of life so extremely foreign and mysterious that i am compelled to read on. her goal: to eat local for an entire year. she and her family take this journey subsequently taking me along. from march to march, through the overrun kitchen with zucchini, to the canning of pounds of tomatoes in august, to the thanksgiving that really explains why we eat pumpkin, to the use of frozen pesto in febru...

m: daddy, you are too quiet. j: really? i don't talk enough? m: no, you need to talk more. babysitter: micah, do you want to read a book? m: no, i'm a big boy. i tired...time for bed. night, night. j: [talking to k] should we go in to the backyard? m: yes, go in the backyard. j: [again, talking to k] i can go and start the grill. m: look at me daddy. i talking. j: we are heading home. m: actually, it is raining. we walk in the rain.

asher woke at 2.... then at 6 but went back to sleep until 7. micah woke at 7:05. my birthday came a month early in the form of a nano!!!! it was incentive to get me off the treadmill and onto the pavement. so, i went..... my first run in the park. it was 62 degrees, sunny, no humidity, and spectacular. 2 miles. it was hard, but felt good....not quite like putting on old, comfy shoes, but close. i have missed the park and look forward to making it all the way around the loop soon. breakfast: scrambled eggs with chorizo sausage. YUM!!! picnic in the park. soccer ball, sandwiches, chips, shade. tonight, we are going to our first movie in over a year.... popcorn, entertainment, sticky floors. today is almost a perfect day!

yummy never looked so gorgeous. farmer's market on saturday morning. it is becoming routine. i like that. not sure for how long, but i am enjoying the effort.

at least that is what my husband it teasing me about in the quest for local, seasonal food. of course, when he tasted the fresh yellow zucchini & the fresh blueberries... he could not argue some merit to this adventure. what we got at the market: the last of the season's strawberries, fresh young carrots, yellow zucchini, romaine lettuce, spinach, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, & raspberries. i know that the lettuce & spinach & tomatoes had been picked the day before i bought them. the others, i can only speculate that it was nearly as recent. there is something quite remarkable about actually washing off fresh dirt from my lettuce and realizing that i bought it from the man that grew it. and the blueberries are scrumptious. i had great intentions of making a strawberry rhubarb pie for a party i was going to tomorrow, but alas.... i missed rhubarb season & pretty much found myself at the tail end of strawberry season....guess what is coming though......peaches ...

just for the record.....local means within driving distance. for the geographically challenged, new jersey is driving distance and is considered the "garden state." there are farms on long island as well.....which is part of new york, again, just to clarify.

i am reading a book on eating locally.... it is good, interesting, challenging, inspiring, etc. i usually don't post about a book until i am finished reading, but this one is a process....reading little bit by bit, trying it out bit by bit. last week, i tried a whole meal: organic chicken from upstate new york.... $6 (half of a whole chicken) sugar snap peas....$2 a pound (we used about half a pound) cooked with fresh mint from our garden....free caramelized spring onions....$3 a bunch (i used half) sauteed yellow zucchini....$1.50 (served with the onions) saving fossil fuel....priceless. (bad joke i realize, but it was all set up for me - i gave in.... my apologies) snap peas, onions, and zucchini were all purchased at one of the various green markets here in new york city. i'll keep you posted as i explore cooking & shopping locally..... it was YUMMY considering it all was in the ground less than a week before i ate it.

and he is six months old! wow!