ING New York City Marathon

Thanks to daylight savings time, I managed to pull myself out of my post-Halloween stupor and get myself over to Engineer's Gate in time to see Paula Radcliffe and the other top runners in the ING New York City Marathon. I just missed the front runners by a matter of minutes last year, so I was thrilled to finally catch a glimpse of the runners I grew up reading so much about.

The atmosphere in the park was infinitely more mellow than the one on First Avenue, so after scrambling to snap a few photos of the speed demons in the front, I moseyed on over to First to watch the masses run by. I just love the noise, the excitement, the balloons and homemade signs, the live bands at packed out bars, and of course, the free goodies (I scored running earmuffs, pom-poms, almonds, organic apples, and juice while walking around).

The whole event is just so uplifting and inspiring. I definitely need to get back into racing. There is such camaraderie among runners. You share your joy, your pain, and your love for your sport. I especially love seeing groups of people cheering for a friend or family member and the smile it puts on the runner's face. There was one little girl who cheered for her dad and the dad came running over to the sidelines and stopped mid-race to give her a kiss. Too cute.

Time to go for a run!

S'MAC

In my perfect world, macaroni and cheese would be an integral part of a healthy diet. That’s why when I heard there was a restaurant devoted solely to the art of macaroni and cheese, I went running.

S’MAC (short for Sarita’s Mac and Cheese) is a tiny, casual eatery on East 12th that’ll hit you with the smell of butter, comfort, and happiness the moment you open the front door. The orange and yellow theme and the bright overhead lights only add to the warmth of the atmosphere (well, until you get to the grouchy cashier, that is).

But back to the happy part: After spending a few minutes salivating over the 12 recommended dishes, ranging from the simple American (American and cheddar cheese) to the Alpine (gruyere and slab bacon) to the Garden Lite (lite cheddar, parmesan, roasted cauliflower, portabello mushrooms, roasted garlic, broccoli, and scallions), then moving on to the overwhelming realization that you can also create your own masterpiece (choose from 14 cheeses and 20 mix-ins), you can stumble wide-eyed to the counter to place your order, specifying size (mac is served in 4 skillet sizes: nosh, major munch, mongo, and partay), noodle type (elbow or whole wheat), and breadcrumbs or no breadcrumbs. You then stand with your number waiting to claim the next table that opens up, while eying everyone else’s food to make sure you made the best choice possible.

I went with the American, keeping it simple to ensure that I could judge the place based on the basics without getting thrown off by crazy mix-ins like olives and buffalo chicken. My dining partner went out on a limb and ordered the Parisienne, made with creamy brie, roasted figs and shiitake mushrooms, and fresh rosemary. I was pleased with my choice, as Stephanie’s pasta was good for one bite, but a little too intense for a full meal. My only regret is not going for the major munch size, though I’m sure my body appreciates being spared such gluttony.

Atlantic Antic '09

Atlantic Antic is no joke, people.

I headed to Brooklyn last weekend expecting food, music, and the typical street fair vendors that infiltrate the streets of New York every weekend. What I didn’t expect is that the festival would be so big that I’d be worn out after walking the whole thing (granted, I did do a lot of backtracking when pondering my culinary options).

The festival spanned 10 blocks of Atlantic Avenue from 4th Avenue in Boerum Hill to Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights and featured ten live entertainment stages (all incredible and reflecting a wide range of musical tastes), more than 600 vendors, a plethora of heart attack-inducing foods, and even moon bounces (if only I could’ve jumped around with all the other elementary school kids without exceeding the weight limit!).

Additionally, the New York Transit Museum celebrated its 16th annual bus festival , displaying a collection of vintage buses dating all the way back to 1917. It was just so cute to see all the transit employees proudly standing in front of the retro buses and inviting onlookers to climb aboard. My fave was definitely the Park Avenue bus of the ‘50s.

My number one find of the festival however, was Building on Bond’s food tent. Two options: beef and chorizo burgers or BBQ pork with apple jicama slaw on pretzel bread. I was torn, but I love me some BBQ (and there was a 10 minute wait for the popular burgers), so I jumped right in. I was curious to find out what “pretzel bread” tastes like. All you need to know is that it’s excellent. I happily inhaled my sandwich while sitting on a little stool in the middle of the road and taking in the scenery. I also spent some quality time contemplating whether or not to try the fried twinkie down the street. I decided to save that and the mozzarepa for another day and headed home feeling tired, but also full and accomplished.

New York Musical Theatre Festival

Do you love musicals and gambling?

If the answer is yes, I think I have just the event for you.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival kicked off this week and will continue through October 18th. Featuring shows ranging in topic from the world’s last surviving vampires (The Cure) to hormonal teens at weight-loss camp (Fat Camp), the festival is known for launching musicals such as Altar Boyz to Broadway stardom.

Thus, half the fun of attending the shows comes from trying to figure out which ones will make it big and which ones won’t. And at only $20 a ticket (barely more than the cost of a regular movie ticket these days), you can probably afford to check out more than one.

Pickle Pucker

I am always intrigued by very subject-specific events. Especially when the subject is something weird… Like pickles.

The Lower East Side (around Broome and Essex) will play host to the ninth annual NYC International Pickle Day this Sunday, October 4th. In addition to free pickles of all types, there will be pickled fruits, vegetables, meats, and cheeses from around the world (and around the corner); as well as demonstrations, educational displays, and a costume contest.

It’s highly likely that I’ll stop by out of curiosity--not only to see what it’s all about, but also to taste some of this pickle ice cream I keep reading about.

Thrift Store Takeover

The weather may have kept me indoors tonight, but I’ve created a plan for taking over New York’s thrift shops in the next few weeks. Lately I’ve lost interest in shopping at commercial outlets, partially because it’s no fun to shop when all it does is make me realize how poor I am, and partially because I’ve decided I need to develop my own personal style and graduate from the Vandy polos and pearls of yesteryear; a quest only possible if the cost of experimenting and attempting to revamp a wardrobe is minimal.

My first stop will most definitely be Green Village, a 10,000-square-foot “down-and-dirty” junk shop in Brooklyn housing sporting equipment, electronics, furniture, housewares, books, and best of all, clothing by the pound ($2 a pound or $1.50 a pound for 50+ pounds). Unfortunately, the shop is closed most upcoming weekends and doesn’t stay open too late on weeknights, so I guess I’ll just have to go straight from work and do my shopping in shifts if it turns out to be as amazing as everyone says.

While I’m in Brooklyn, I’ll probably also hit up Buffalo Exchange to help me cultivate my inner hipster before heading back to the Upper East Side to make the rounds at the local Goodwill, Housing Works, and Salvation Army.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even visit some of the consignment shops of the Upper East Side (in the name of research, of course) to see if it’s possible to dig up anything for less than $20 or if it’s simply used designer goods for “less” (Read: prohibitively expensive for a recent grad eating spaghetti every night).

Don't worry. I'll be back with photographic evidence.

Met Morning

Saturday morning was a Met morning. I met up with Julia bright and early to create a strategy for conquering selected exhibits. As regulars, we know it’s best to go in with a plan if you really want to enjoy your visit without getting tired or overwhelmed.

We decided to check out some of the temporary exhibits first, which included “Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans,” “Vermeer’s Masterpiece ‘The Milkmaid,’” “Surface Tension: Contemporary Photographs from the Collection,” and “Roxy Paine on the Roof: Maelstrom.”

All were wonderful, though I most enjoyed Robert Frank’s exhibit, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Americans, Frank’s collection of black-and-white photographs taken on a cross-country road trip in 1955-56. In addition to featuring all 83 photographs published in the book, the exhibit includes the contact sheets that Frank used to create the book, which were especially fun to look at, as they conveyed the sense of urgency with which he developed his prints (he didn’t bother to rotate them or line them up neatly and scribbled on the pages).

The Maelstrom, a 130-foot-long by 45-foot-wide stainless steel sculpture, was also fun to look at. The organic nature of the piece was a match made in heaven with the greatest backdrop in the world – Central Park and Manhattan’s skyline. Though the day was a bit overcast, I always find it uplifting to look out on the city from rooftops because it gives me a sense of perspective and reminds me just how lucky I am to live where I do.

The Vermeer exhibit was a bit frustrating to view as it was packed and noisy, but it was nonetheless exciting to see the painting in person. Also on view were four other Vermeer paintings from Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and several other important works by other Dutch artists of the period.

We also breezed through some of the permanent exhibits before heading out to enjoy the nice cool afternoon weather. Thanks to the plan, I left feeling peaceful rather than weary and irritable.