January 9, 2015 by Darlene

Friday Five – Things I like about my favorite city

Every Friday, three DC area bloggers Mary at Mar On the Run, Cynthia at You Signed Up For What?! and Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC to host the Friday Five linkup. Anyone can join with their own Friday Five post (yes, it must be a Friday Five!!) They encourage you to visit other blogs on the linkup, comment, share and engage!

This week, the theme is 5 things I like about my favorite city.

Yes, NYC is my favorite city and I am lucky to live a train or bus ride away.

Here are 5 things I love about NYC:

1. Restaurants

in Chelsea

French Restaurant in the Village

I love to eat out. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal in NYC.

on Park Ave

in the theatre district

in Central Park

at Gordon Ransey’s The Maze restaurant

2. Theater

There’s nothing like Broadway. I usually go once a year. I have seen some great shows. Among my favorites are Les Miz, Kinky Boots, Jersey Boys, Wicked, Once, Billy Elliot, Lion King…

going to NYC to see "Once" on Broadway

3. Museums

I love French art especially the Impressionists. Outside of Paris, there’s no better place to see these paintings than the Metropolitan Museum (above) or the Modern Art Museum (below).

4. Parks and Gardens

Bryant Park

I love hanging out in Bryant Park especially at lunch time. I could spend the whole day in Central (and have.)

Central Park

Central Park

Snug Harbor Botanical Gardens in Staten Island

NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx

10421408_10205266951782067_511503481289301215_n

Washington Square in the Village

5. the Lights

Paris may be the “City of Lights,” but the lights of NYC are breath-taking especially around the holidays.

IMG_4457-0

IMG_4718-1

Happy Running! What is your favorite city and why?

October 31, 2013 by Darlene

October Recap

Still running and still healthy! YAY!

october-month-halloween

OCTOBER GOALS:

RUN (regularly)!!! YES

in the neighborhood before work

rail trail runs

park runs

Do not overdo and listen to my body…REST when necessary!! YES, 3-4 days each week.
Start daily planks! NOT EXACTLY. I did a few.
Attend a yoga class! YES, I went to 2…it’s a start!
Complete a half marathon. YES!!! Mohawk Hudson River Half Marathon.

Run at least 2 other races. YES!! Race for the Cure 5K and Monster Scramble 10K.

Race for Cure 5K

Monster Scramble 10K

Continue running longer on the weekend. YES!!
Nisky Bike Path for long runs
Run at least 50 miles this month. YES!! 70!

back to healthy running

Unfortunately boating season on Lake George ended. But we had quite a few good fall weekends.

It was also a theatre month. I went to NYC to see Matilda on Broadway and saw Les Miserables TWICE locally.

October was also a month for eating out in restaurants. I usually do not eat out much. But this month I ate out quite an inordinate number of times and in new restaurants:

Helsinki in Hudson, NY

Barrettas in Warrensburg, NY
Smiths in Cohoes, NY
Glass House Tavern in NYC
The View in Lake George
Milanos in Latham (3x)
Recovery Room in Albany
Hidden Cafe in Delmar
Caseys in Rensselaer, NY (this one was not new)
Burger King (not new obviously)

I am playing tennis on a regular basis since I am in 2 half contracts. So, it is no longer a goal. This month I played 6 times!! I find it more a social thing. I like the ladies I play with but it is doubles so not that much of a workout. However, I am sometimes annoyed that I have to schedule my running around it. So far, I haven’t done both in one day.

Now that boating and half marathon training is done, I was able to get together with my mentee, Amanda and her sons. We went on our annual excursion to Ellms Family Farm.

NOVEMBER GOALS:

RUN (regularly)!!!
Do not overdo and listen to my body…REST when necessary!!
Start daily planks!
Attend 2 yoga classes!
Complete a 15k race.
Run at least one other race.
Continue running longer on the weekends.
Run a new route.
Run at least 50 miles this month.

Happy Running! How was your October? Anything exciting planned for November?

October 15, 2013 by Darlene

Tuesday Update – the Aftermath

Last Week:

Monday – (DAY OFF) 4 miles on the rail trail, tennis

pre-rain trail run

Tuesday – 1 mile walk at work, dinner with friends

dinner at Helsinki in Hudson, NY

Wednesday – 1 mile walk at work, 2 miles after work, YOGA

pre yoga run

Thursday – 1 mile walk at work, 3 miles after work on the Treadmill

thank God for Nashville

Friday – 1 mile + 2 mile walk at work, REST, Les Miserables in the evening

lunchtime walk in the park

Saturday – REST, expo, REST, boating on Lake George

Lake George

Sunday – 13.1 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!, boating on Lake George

3 happy finishers

more Lake George

This Week:

Monday – REST, mall walk with BFF
Tuesday – tennis
Wednesday – 2 miles, yoga
Thursday – 3 miles
Friday – REST, mah jongg
Saturday – 10K race
Sunday – REST, spectate at a Duathlon

Happy Running! How is your running going? Any upcoming races?

October 12, 2013 by Darlene

Les Mis-acholic

Yes, I am addicted to Les Miserables.

I love the show, the characters, the story, the MUSIC…everything!

When I was a French teacher, I took my French V class every year to see it on Broadway….that was at least 12 times or more. I have also seen all the films and local productions. I have the books and soundtracks in both French and English.

My college friend calls it getting our “Les Mis fix.”

Luckily I have a former colleague, Eileen, who is addicted too.

It turns out that recently it was playing locally in 2 theatres. And yes, we got tickets for BOTH.

First one – Oct 5, 2013.

Les Miserables, Broadway’s brilliant musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s epic tale of love, loss, honor and redemption, will open the Theatre Institute at Sage’s fourth season.

Featured in this production are the original Les Miserables Broadway production actors Craig Schulman (Jean Valjean) and Gary Lynch (Javert). Also featured in the cast are local equity actor and Theatre Institute at Sage Artist-in-Residence, Sage alumna and Theatre Institute at Sage actors. The cast consists of 36 actors from the Capital District.

I have to say, I was shocked at how good this show was. I knew the leads would be awesome but the college students in the cast were incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was great to see it in a small local theatre. We were in the 2nd row (we could have sat in the first row as there were no assigned seats) and the tickets cost $15 (not $130 as for one on Broadway.)

Craig Schulman – 2000 performances of Jean Valjean -the best one ever!

After the show, you got to meet the cast who greeted everyone in the hall.

Second one – Oct 11, 2013.

At Cohoes Music Hall – Review HERE. All the reviews were great.

I was originally more excited for this production. But after the first one, I didn’t know how they could top the one at Sage.

Well, the cast was outstanding also. It was a mixture of local and NYC talent. The tickets were more expensive and our seats were in the balcony but nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed the show.

And Guess What?