April's Been Ca-razy...

Holy crap, I'm pretty sure my head hasn't stopped spinning since this month started. I've been super swamped but I'm finally having a slower day so I thought I'd write a quick update. Life has been tremendous but I'm running on fumes right about now. I'm looking so very forward to this much needed three day Easter weekend ahead.

Most importantly, I got my MRI results back and there is no serious damage to my knee. It looks like my pain is consistent with ITBS, or 'runner's knee', which I was afraid of in addition to something more serious. It's manageable but chronic pain which is difficult to contend with but, above all, I am truly grateful that I don't need surgery or anything like that. The orthopedist said I need physical therapy and to continue taking these anti-inflammatory meds. I'll go back for a follow up in a couple of weeks to see how that's all going. I really am thrilled with this news overall. I know several people (especially Allison!) who suffer from ITBS and it's super painful. I've never struggled with it before and I just know that darn 15K I did in the wrong shoes back in December aggravated this. It's tough not to get mad at myself for making a dumb decision but whatever, onward and upward.

I've started trailing regularly in the kitchen at Hearth and it's been absolutely awesome. It's such hard work, especially after the long bikes rides I've been doing each weekend, but it's so worth it to me. The guys in the kitchen have been wonderful to me and so welcoming. I've primarily worked with Adam who has really had great patience in explaining each thing he does quickly but in full detail. I've learned so much already and I cannot wait for the coming months to bring on even more education for me. With each day I go in, I feel a little more like I'm a part of the Hearth family and that's so special. It'll be awesome to see how things unfold as I continue to gain the staff's trust. I'm so excited to continue this 'internship'!

It's hard to believe Easter is already here! I love thinking back on this time last year when I was up in the beautiful Finger Lakes area sipping wine at the vineyards and relaxing at the lovely Mirbeau Spa. What a fabulous weekend that was! This Easter is more low key for me (albeit not nearly as relaxing without my pinot noir body scrub :P) and I do look forward to that. I have a three day weekend ahead and I intend on enjoying every aspect of it. A day trip to Cold Spring might be in the works for Friday but we haven't finalized that just yet. Regardless, I'm really looking forward to Easter Sunday service at church and to finally being able to indulge in bread and pasta once again. I can't even believe I gave up both of those for lent especially when I'm riding my bike so intensely on the weekends. (A bagel with peanut butter is my go-to fuel for running or cycling so it's been tough improvising!) Anyway, I'm kind of thinking Easter dinner should simply be a double baguette with Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam triple cream buttery, earthy delicious cheese. Oh, the gloriousness. I'm pretty sure that and some of my expensive Napa wine club cabernet would make for one of the better Easter meals I've had, ha!

Speaking of cycling, what a tremendous ride we had on Sunday. It was such a gorgeous day! We rode out to Piermont and it was just beautiful. There's this adorable little town that we stopped in for lunch and sat along the water to eat which was wonderful. Hooray for the sunshine:

Another fun thing to note is that I booked tickets to Denver in August with Colleen! Me, her and Allison are heading out to visit her sister, Christina, and I'm SO pumped about it. I think we're actually gonna see Yonder Mountain at Red Rocks too which is just so awesome. I've heard about how amazing Red Rocks is for years from Brant so finally I think I'll see it for myself. :) I've also never seen Yonder Mountain live so that will just kick ass if we end up doing that. I've got Vermont coming up in May and then hopefully West Palm Beach in June so lots of upcoming fun to be had!

Other than what's mentioned above, I've continued on in my brunching and restaurant hopping shenanigans which is always spectacular. I've had a couple of belated birthday dinners and I was also able to make it to the tail end of lovely Suzanne's birthday celebration a couple of weekends ago. I had to miss eating at Momofuku with the crew (SO sad!) but I was able to meet them at Zum Schneider after which was awesome. Later on, we went back to Jeff and Suzanne's and I was lucky enough for them to share some of their leftovers from Momofuku which was freaking delicious. Jeff may or may not have actually gotten into some of them while we were at Zum:

Yeah, I don't blame him. That pork is outrageously good.

All in all, life has been fabulous. I hope everyone is doing great and that Spring really decides to show up and stay for a while for goodness sake. Fingers crossed...

I Know Why I'm Not Filthy Rich...

I'm not because I would spend every dollar I had on spa treatments like the ones I had this past weekend. I am not ashamed to admit this. Now, I'm not at all one to get my nails done every week or have facials (I still have yet to ever have one!) or shop. I never have cared about that kind of thing. I mean, I talk about how much fresh produce excites me for goodness sake. However, I have never felt better than I did after my time up at Mirbeau Spa.

First off, having a getaway outside this concrete jungle is so necessary to maintain sanity. Even though I was just out of town for my birthday, it amazes me how much I felt like I needed to get away again. (My friends back home would say this is the point I should realize that I'm done with New York. :P) Though I was saddened by the thought of not attending an Easter service on Sunday, I did look very forward to our little excursion.

Mirbeau Inn and Spa is in the town of Skaneateles which is part of the Finger Lakes region up north. There are wineries and farms and such amazing land up there. The drive was long due to low speed limits but it was pretty incredible scenery. We mapped out a route to stop at three different wineries along the way and my very favorite was Fox Run. Their wines have some of the most unique flavor profiles I've had to date and the whole experience was just terrific. Also, who doesn't love this about the owner (taken from their site):

Scott Osborn is a strong advocate of the place of wine in a healthy life-style and he appreciates the health benefits of garlic as well. On a culinary level, as the Fox Run Garlic Festival demonstrates, the pairing of good wine and well-prepared flavorful garlic is nothing short of sublime.

The garlic festival is in August and I'm seriously considering going back for it. :-o Anyway, Scott was there working when we visited and he was so friendly and welcoming. Why oh why is it so rare these days to meet people like that? Sometimes it makes me sad to feel that blown away by meeting someone who is just warm and inviting. At any rate, I bought three bottles of wine at their vineyard alone. We also stopped by Penguin Bay, which has emphasis on sparkling wines, and Glenora which paired beautiful cheeses along with their tastings. All of their cheese is by Yancey's Fancy and, I kid you not, every person on the planet needs the smoked bacon horseradish cheddar. It was incredible.

After the wineries, we arrived at Mirbeau and it was the most darling "village" that reminded me of little German cottages. We had such a nice weekend! The town was half a mile away so we walked everywhere which was perfectly normal to us New Yorkers. ;) We had the infamous Doug's Fish Fry and enjoyed the gorgeous lake and town. I had a rough 6 mile run on Saturday (thanks Doug!) but then completely and totally escaped into my deep tissue massage and pinot noir body scrub. One word: heaven. It was a truly amazing weekend and this sums it up, pink champagne and all: