Sunday, January 24, 2010

There's No Place Like Home

We may not have ruby red shoes, but we have a life back in NYC which is just as wonderful. Plus, I don't know if red is Ryan's color. He really prefers khaki, green, tan, brown. He should have joined the military. It's just great to be back on the east coast again. I have to remind Ryan that we're not on the boat anymore and people dress a little more stylish on the streets of NYC and he can't go out looking like military man.

I should talk. My first couple of weeks we're spent buying clothes appropriate to wear outside in the winter. Shorts, tanks, bikinis weren't going to cut it anymore. Actually, that is what I had hoped to wear on the boat, but ended up in my foul weather gear and two layers of clothing because it was so damned cold. Either way, neither worked now.

Dogs are adjusted so we can now leave the apartment together which may seem odd considering we're on job sabbaticals and spend just about every waking moment together, but it's not. It's hard to people watch by yourself. If we didn't approach our day as a team, we'd miss so much.

So, what do we do all day? At first, it took us awhile to settle in and retrain our dogs to a land schedule including staying home alone. Given the dogs walk at least 2 1/2 hours a day, we explore Central Park with them as much as possible. Without them, we go to the bookstore to read magazines for free, the MET for art viewing, Wollman Rink for ice skating, and an occasional movie which I've been picking pretty badly lately. Ryan gets next pick - most likely Avatar. We'll go on a weekday afternoon of course to avoid the rush. Friday, we even went to happy hour - EARLY - 2pm. At this age, it meant an early night in for us.

Most recently, we've just been keeping fit which may sound like torture to some, but I love it and well Ryan does too. Core, running, and Bikram yoga. I was initially against Bikram yoga because I'd only done Vinyassa, but Bikram rocks! We've been going everyday. It's addicting!! Traditionalists may not approve because it's not as "spiritual" but we like it for the physical aspect not chanting of which there is none - thank goodness! All that ever did was distract me because I wasn't quite sure what to chant so I chanted like I sing songs I don't know the words to - just distracting for myself and everyone else.

Now that we're burning calories, we can eat as much as we like. We both like eating. So, trying out restaurants and new recipes keeps us busy too. Our favorite vegetable sushi place is Haru and for casual lunch Candle Cafe, nice dinner Candle 79. The jury is out on Chinese and Indian and any other good delivery joints. Hopefully, we'll resolve this soon as we're a jury of 2 unless artisanal bread is involved - then 4 because Sarah and Dillon love bread!

Just finished our Sunday morning bagel ritual. Must run. Dogs are stretching in prep for their afternoon walk.