More Food and Friends!

Today is the official opening day of Atelier Vivanda, the heart-and-soul project of one of my friends! She is my foodie mentor and always has a great recommendation for a new dish or restaurant for me to try.

Anyway, the much-anticipated opening has been covered by multiple media sources. Here is an excerpt from www.wheninmanila.com

“It all started with two ladies looking for a great foodie experience while traveling around Europe. After trying several “best” restaurants, they came upon this intriguing perfectly-rated restaurant with a high review but with no pictures of food nor the chef. Off they went and enjoyed the food. The chef was particularly fond of these two ladies, Khristine Gabriel and Grace Lee, and to make the long story short, plans of bringing Atelier Vivanda was made. Just 3 short weeks after that serendipitous moment, world renowned Chef Akrame Benallal came to Manila to scout for locations and the rest was history. Philippines is indeed becoming not just a great food destination, but a global culinary haven.”

So, before the official opening, Khristine invited a bunch of us out to sample some of the highlights. It was a night to remember! As soon as we walked in, our tables were dressed with mounds of Thinly Sliced Smoked Beef Aged for 50 Days and a glorious selection of different cheeses!

We were even greeted by their own in-house cheese expert, who was full of all kinds of fun info about the where’s, when’s, and what’s of the different cheeses. At one point, she asked our table in her precious French accent, “Shall I bring some more cheese?” If my mouth wasn’t already full of cheese, I would’ve said, “Please….let me introduce myself. I’m Val, and the answer to that question is always a big, fat, Yes.”

After that, we started in on some appetizers. Michele and I shared the potato soup/smoked haddock/comte cheese. It was so perfectly creamy and cheesy with a flavor that tasted new and fresh with each spoonful!

I also tasted the fois gras/celery-vanilla-chili coulis/kumquat. I wasn’t much of a fois gras fan….until then! My friend put the perfect bite on a fork for me. As soon as I put it on my taste buds, I gave her that “Are you kidding me?” look.

THEN Khristine brought out her favorite appetizer for us to try. It is the boiled egg/cottage cheese mayonaise/mushrooms. Again, it wasn’t something that I would normally order, but oh-my-goodness, those Michelin chef’s can make a masterpiece out of anything!s

So yeah, at this point, we have tried more dishes than I usually have in an entire meal, and we haven’t even reached the entree!

Of course, we went for the steak. Michele and I shared a Black Angus Strip Loin and a Black Angus Ribeye. They were perfection.

As if that wasn’t enough, the side-dishes are ALL POTATOES and UNLIMITED! They are all in French on the menu, so I have no idea what any of them are, but each one was better than the last! We went super fancy with the Pommes Dauphines and super classic with the Mashed Potatoes. But then, of course, Khristine brought out the other three kinds of potatoes to make sure we got the entire experience.

Finally, it was time for dessert- my happy place. I think I picked the creme brulee before Michele even had a vote. But she knows me. Just like I let her snuggle with the potatoes, she let me snuggle with the creme brulee. If there was a way that humans could experience heaven, it would be this creme brulee – smooth and creamy on the inside with a sugary, crackable crust on top! (Shocking that I ate it all before I could grab a pic.)

True to form, Khristine kept coming in with more desserts for us to try! There was a custard pie with lemongrass ice cream. That ice cream was exploding with flavor and it complemented the pie perfectly! Another winner was the vanilla yogurt/chesnut cream/pistachio financier. I don’t know what it is, but I know that I’ve never had anything like it and was super impressed!

 

Here is the group before literally rolling down the stairs! The Michelin-starred chef is the guy in the photo. We may or may not have giggled like school girls around him and his accent.

What an experience! I feel so thankful that God put me in a place and around the people who influence and encourage my inner foodie!

 

Friends and Food

I think I’ve said it before, but Manila has become such a huge hub for international business in Southeast Asia, and with it comes countless and fabulous food options.

I’ve mentioned before that about 10 of us mom’s get together every other week to learn to cook from each others cultures. Last week, rather than cook, the Korean mom’s wanted to take us to one of their favorite Korean restaurants in the city. So if the kids are wondering what mom does while they are at school….

The Koreans ordered for us, so I have no idea what all we munched on. I just know 2 things: They kept bringing more and more food, and I tried everything and everything was delicious (which I know how to say in Korean!)

At one point, we had about 60 bowls of food on the table! (The clean up alone would stop me from ever starting to try and cook Korean cuisine!) Each one just had a small amount of food it it and we would just grab a bite here and there with our chopsticks. I loved that idea and think we should try it for Thanksgiving?

Like I said, I tried everything, and would pretty much grab a bite of kimchi in between bites of everything else. The weirdest thing on the table? Easily the jellyfish dish! I didn’t even know that one can eat jellyfish! It was cut into strips, so it resembled a chewy pasta.

It was a great afternoon with friends, and we were all back at school in time to pick up the kids!

Oh right, I have a blog.

Since we didn’t do any traveling for Christmas break, we’ve been having fun locally! There’s always something fun to do in Manila. (Except mini-golf. They don’t have it and I wish they did!) Seriously, in the 10 years that we’ve been here,  Manila has developed SO much! Folks, we have Pottery Barn! It’s insanely expensive, and all the pristine white furniture is no match for the pollution and hot, humid, mold-friendly climate, but it’s still fun to pretend! We also have Tiffany’s, but that’s a whole other level of pretend.

When we first got here, it was hard to find a decent burger, but now we have at top 10 list that never fails! Manila is one of the main cities in Asia, so we’re a hotspot for new restaurants.

Enter DinTaiFung.

This restaurant started in Taiwan, and is considered one of the top gourmet restaurants in the world! We went there in Taiwan when I was there for volleyball in October. I was mesmerized by the xiao long bao – making that we could watch through a window to the kitchen. They opened in early December, which is also the worst traffic time, so we held off going there until after Christmas. We spent New Years Eve at Megamall having a super-duper family fun day!

We started with lunch at Din Tai Fung. Everything we ordered was perfect! We got lots of xiao long bao (dumplings filled with soup and ground meat), potstickers, sweet and sour chicken, a house special noodle dish, and shrimp-fried rice. Great, I’m drooling again…

After eating, we set out to do some ice-skating! Josh squeezed his feet into their biggest skates and went with the four eldest. Simmy and I watched them for a while, but then we did some shopping. (We also have H&M!)

“Yeah, I can talk. I’m just ice skating…”

They skated for a couple of hours, and then on our way out, we saw the bowling alley, so we stopped in for a game. All the kids loved it except for Mackenzie. She’s growing so quickly that she has a hard time putting it all together for bowling. She kept getting gutter balls and it brought her to tears a number of times. (Well, the gutter balls AND the influx of pre-teen hormones!) However, after using the first 8 frames to “warm-up,” she finally sent the last 4 throws down the middle, so she finished on a happy note.

The others had a blast. Caleb needed a little help getting the ball down the alley in fewer than 4730 seconds.

At the snack bar, they sell personal little fountains that you can bring to the table. The kids LOVED it!

Star Wars was also playing at the IMAX theater, but we didn’t go for that. But we made sure to get a pic with one of its stars, BB8

That night, we had the annual alumni basketball and volleyball games at Faith. I wasn’t going to play in the basketball game, because I have some kind of back injury. However, they only had 4 people to play, so I felt like I should play. ( The other 5 or so basketball alumni that I saw in the stands did not feel such guilt.) So I ended up playing, and had a lot of fun! My back actually felt great during the game, but ohmygoodness, I’ve been paying for it in the following days.

After the games, it was already 10:00, but our night was still going. After all, it was New Years Eve! So we headed to a friends house who have a fantastic roof deck, perfect for watching fireworks! Unfortunately, it started to rain around midnight, so we couldn’t see much. It was the first year that they kids have gotten to stay up to ring in the new year, so they loved it. We had some of our own fireworks that they got to set off on the roof. Simmy slept through it all!

Happy New Year!

 

 

No Cuts, No Buts, No Coconuts

Judging from the two 10-hour sleep nights I’ve had since returning from the beach, I’d say that we had a fun vacation!

We left early on a dreary and rainy morning, which I actually liked because it made our coffee stop just a little more cozy. The kids snuggled in to watch movies during our 3-ish hour drive to the port.

Here is Bella and her buddy, waiting to get on the bangka. Josh is in the background, about to journey across the 10″ wide gangplank with a suitcase in one hand and Simeon in the other!

The trip across the ocean was uneventful and fun. Mackenzie had made puppy chow for the trip, so we busted that open on the boat.

When we arrived, we settled into our rooms. Our friends had some issues with their door not locking from the inside, and when they asked management to fix it, they blew them off! They kept saying, “It’s ok, you can lock your valuables inside when you leave.”

Our friends replied, “What about at night time? We want to lock the door while we sleep.”

They argued, “No one will break in while you are in there.”

“We don’t want to feel like we could get kidnapped while we’re here.”

“Hahahaha! That has never happened here.”

….and so on and so forth. At this point, we were all kind of shocked that management was arguing with the customer about why it’s ok for their lock to be broken! When my friend said, “It isn’t safe,” the manager responded, “Well, you have your opinion and I have mine.” what?!

Anyway, they got it figured out and we all had a relaxing afternoon, followed by one of many delicious meals.

We had two double beds and a bunk bed, so we were all taken care of. The kids loved mixing and matching, as well as watching a movie every night as they fell asleep!

The next morning was gorgeous! Simmy and I took a morning nap together, as he was getting over a fever and had been up a lot in the night, which meant I was up a lot in the night. When I joined the others at the beach, this was our view.

The kids got right into snorkeling and came back with lots of treasures!

Simeon and I stayed in the shade and played in the sand (ie: ate the sand.)

Bella found a coconut laying around, so Michele cracked it open for her and the kids went and got straws and spoons to dig in.

I love this pic of the kids playing on the outriggers in the evening!

Our place had two pools as well, which is always nice to have after a day in the saltwater. Plus, they had wonderful lounge chairs for us to supervise/chit-chat/enjoy frosty drinks/eat potato wedges.

One of those afternoons, I was so comfy in the lounge chair that I didn’t want to keep looking up to check on the kids. The brim of my hat came way down over my eyes, so I couldn’t see them unless I really extended my neck. Once again, my phone came to the rescue! I could hold up the camera and see what they were up to without moving at all. That’s how a vacation is supposed to work anyway, isn’t it?

They would even move those lounge chairs out to the beach for Michele and I each day! We were trying to figure out how we could sneak them back to our condo in Manila…

Simeon had zero issues with a mouthful of sand! Ick.

The next day, we rented a bangka to take us to some snorkeling sights.

Here he is, bringing it in and the kids checking it out.

Here is the entire crew.

Mackenzie and her friend, ready to see some sea-life!

I’m not much of  snorkeler. I’ve tried it many, many times through the years, and I spend the entire time thinking, “OK, this is cool. Can I be done now?” I know, it’s a waste of living here, with some of the world’s best snorkeling! But it worked out, because I could stay on the boat with the littles.

Our driver took the opportunity to catch his supper while we were anchored. I think he caught five fish and the kids loved watching him. All he had was a shrimp, hook, and some fishing line on a spool.

The kids caught a ride back to our boat from the reef.

Along with the kids, he brought a bunch of coconuts to sell. I also am not a fan of buko juice (I know, another waste of living in the tropics), but how can you NOT buy a coconut when he paddles up to you and gets it all ready to dig in to? Simeon loved it!

Some more highlights:

-The kids spent almost every waking hour playing together in the water! It was so much fun.

-The daddies took all of the kids down the beach to a mongolian bbq one night so that Michele and I could enjoy a quiet evening together.

-Each night, we’d put the kids to sleep and the four of us would just hang out in those heavenly lounge chairs just outside our rooms.

– The pancakes and home-baked bread! I would go to sleep at night dreaming of breakfast the next morning.

-Deacon and I checked out some tide pools and found some great little critters!

-The main highlight was on our trip home…

In the middle of the ocean, our boat driver slowed down and pointed  in the distance. We saw dozens of dolphins leaping through the air!!! It was incredible. Even more amazing was that a few swam right up to our boat and stayed with us for a few minutes. It was overwhelmingly fun! Josh has a great video on his phone, but it’s over there and I’m over here…

On the boat ride home, I realized that I didn’t have any pics of Josh and I!

Simeon was getting fussy on the ride, so Bella went into entertainment mode. He was much happier after that.

The kids spent the rest of the trip looking for more dolphins. It was a once in a lifetime moment!

I love the memories that my kids are racking up living here!!!!

The Life of an MK

Poor little Deacon is having to deal with one of the hard aspects of being an MK. Tonight he had to say goodbye to one of his best friends, who will be on furlough until next school year. Goodbyes are never fun (unless this little guy in my tummy wants to say “hasta la vista” to my uterus, then it’s all good!)

Last night, we had his friend over for one last playdate, and when he went home and Deacon headed to bed, we heard him crying in his bed. When I asked him what was wrong, he could barely talk through his sobs when he said, “I want to play with D—- one more day!” Then he told me that he’d written a song about his buddy. It’s called “D—– has a big trip” and its set to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” The last line says, “…and he will have fun there.” He sang it for me and then asked me to sing it to him. Then he went and got D’s picture so that he could sleep with it!!! I’ve never seen him so tender-hearted! I’m sure he won’t love having this written down when he becomes a big, tough, teenager, but I don’t ever want to forget his precious feelings and actions.

Tonight, there was a little going-away party for them at Slappy Cakes. I didn’t know if I should bring Deacon, thinking that it would start the grieving process all over again. But how could I keep him from one last evening with his friend? Deacon was so excited when he saw his buddy.

The thought that has helped Deacon is that D will be back in time for his 7th birthday. Since his 6th is right around the corner, it doesn’t seem like that long until his next birthday.

I like that my kids are experiencing goodbyes from a young age. While they are no fun to do, it keeps one from taking friendships and relationships for granted, and reminds us to be thankful for the moments that we do have with loved ones!

Swifties, Front and Center (well, kind of to the left)

What a fantastic experience we had last night!!!

Well, it all started back in February, when we found out that Taylor Swift was coming back to the Philippines. Our 4 girls all love her and know most of her songs. When it came time to buy tickets, it was not as easy as 1-2-click. The web site wasn’t working, so we had to go to the mall and wait in line.

Knowing that she’s been selling out in minutes at other venues, we were thrilled to be 4th in line. However, the mall’s ticket system wasn’t working either!!! Once they got it up, each customer in front of us would take looonnnnggg, thought-filled minutes to pick just the right seat. I totally get it, but we could see the seats filling up by the second!

Thankfully, we got to be two of those customers, and we left the mall happily with our 8 tickets in hand. We were waaaayyyy up in the back, having purchased the cheapest tickets available (which were still Birthday + Christmas + Flag Day gift combination price!)

So we’ve been looking forward to June 6 for months, singing Red songs at the top of our lungs in the car, and picking outfits together.

When the big day arrived, we were all set with posters, jerseys, and gifts for Taylor. Our play was to get into Club Red, a meet-and-greet reserved for super-Swifties who dress up, have posters, know the lyrics, and sitting, wouldntchaknowit, in the top-ish sections!

Josh ordered the jerseys in “replica size”, meaning they are for fans, and don’t need to be ginorm for all the padding that football players wear in games. Unfortunately, they didn’t catch that memo and so we all had huge jerseys with sleeves that made us all look like we had broken humerous-es-es! But there was no dimming the excitement! Besides, it’s more fun when we all matched.

Starting out the journey to the Mall of Asia on a Friday night. (Worst night to battle traffic!)

I think it took us about 2 and a 1/2 hour to travel the 15-20 miles! The concert was at 8pm, and we rolled in at 7:30. But we knew that Taylor wouldn’t take the stage for a while, so we went into the mall to get something to eat.

We got So.Many.Stares as our entourage went through the mall. People would stop and turn around, ask for pictures with us, and talk it up with the kids.

The funniest moment was when all the girls were in the bathroom and Josh and Dave were standing out in the mall by themselves with their Swifties jerseys on. I told them that they should make sure they always have one of the little girls with them, so they look like doting daddies, rather than hard-core, 30 + year old, matching-jersey-wearing, #1 fans of Taylor.

Michele and I, on the other hand, can TOTALLY pull it off!

When it came time to head over to the arena, we kept having to stop for one reason or another, and we didn’t get to the arena until 8:20. When we got there, we were greeted by thousands of people all waiting to get in.

It is insane that they have this beautiful venue, and they don’t know how to get people in efficiently! Keep in mind that it is already a half hour into the concert.

So it’s really reminiscent of races that I’ve been in, where we are all corralled for a long time and just move closer to the start wave by wave. The only difference is that I’m usually in running clothes and sneakers, rather than jeans and heels!

When we finally got in at about 8:40, they wouldn’t let us bring in our posters. =(

This is where things get exciting…

As we headed up, up, up and up to our seats in the rafters, we were stepping off the escalator while three people were stepping off the other one. They grabbed our attention and asked where our seats were. I responded that I didn’t know the exact spot, but used my thumb to gesture that we were way high up! With a big smile, she said, “Would you like to be down by the stage?” “Ummm…excuse me.Whatdidyousay?”

They were from the corporate sponsor, Cornetto, and had VIP passes to give to whomever they wanted. They said that they liked that we were in “costume” and together as a family. After a lot of deliberation, or none at all, we squealed and said “YES!”

Here are those AWESOME folks from Cornetto.

We seriously couldn’t be more excited as we walked through the VIP doors!

As soon as we walked into the arena, cheers erupted all around us. I thought to myself, “uhh…do they think that she’s with us?” But I think they all just saw people moving around behind the big, red curtain.

Josh and I just kept looking at each other with disbelief, because we had been pep-talking the girls for weeks saying, “Now, we’ll try to get picked for Club Red, but it most likely won’t happen. There are 20,000 of us and only 30 get selected. So you can’t let it ruin your evening if you don’t get picked, because it’s probably not going to happen.” (It turns out that Club Red happened before the concert and those selected were chosen from prior promos).

I made sure to show the girls where we were supposed to be sitting, which was up by that furthest ceiling light.

Then the lights dimmed, the crowd roared, and the spotlight appeared on the red curtain.

It was a fantastic concert!!! The girl is amazing and insanely talented.

So the above pic is her main stage. Then it bridged to a second stage, followed by a path through the crowd to a third stage. Josh, Dave, and I were right on the side of the second stage. There was only one row of people in front of us, but all being over 6′ (thanks to my wedges), we really towered over everyone!

The girls and Michele were perpendicular to us, on the back side of the second stage. They were right up front, with no one between them and Taylor, so it was perfect for little girls! They were all SO ADORABLE, screaming, clapping, waving their arms, and singing along at the top of their lungs. Mackenzie, of course, wants to take guitar lessons now.

She tossed her hat to someone in the crowd, and then mosied over to us!

Here is a professional shot of this very moment, complete with my phone up taking this pic! Ok…so you can see Michele right above Taylor’s left arm. Mackenzie and Abby are right under her left armpit. And I think Bella’s forehead can be seen right behind Taylor. The easiest way to find me is to see my purple phone case up in the air, right by someone’s light pink top. Dave and Josh are right behind me.

When Josh saw me taking a picture of this guy, he goes, “Why are you taking HIS picture?” I just shrugged and said, ‘I like ‘im!”

This was another time she came over to our side. She’s wearing top with “Manila” on it. She hit all of the big Tagalog phrases during the concert, and the crowd LOVED it. They screamed with each, “Mahal kita” and “kumusta?”

Josh isn’t into high-waisted shorts (which is good, because I aint wearing them, especially while I’m pregnant!)  She had about 5 wardrobe changes, and I think they all featured this style, except one. Josh said, “Why does she keep wearing those shorts?!” Personally, I think she’s rocking them!

I tried to get pictures of all of her different outfits, but sometimes the light was too dark or too bright, so I missed a couple of my favorites.

She didn’t sing one of my favorite songs from the Red album, “Stay, Stay, Stay,” but she played a lot of old favorites in addition to her Red songs. Her encore was was circus-themed with stilts, clowns, and old-fashioned attractions. She finished up with, “We Are Never Getting Back Together.”

As soon as the concert was over, I turned around to Josh, and basically fell on him, saying, “I have to sit down!” Pregnant girl in heels, standing and dancing for 1 1/2 hours plus the walking to get there made for some barking dogs! Even the next day, my feet are still sore! “I don’t know about you, but I’m (NOT) feeling 22!”

“22” was definitely my favorite, followed closely by “Red”. “We’re Never Getting Back Together” and “Trouble” were also fantastic, as was “Fearless.” Ok, nevermind, she nailed them all!

That’s it. We’re never taking the girls to another concert! Now that they’ve tasted front row, how can they be satisfied with anything less? I told them that this was a once-in-a-lifetime, but I don’t think they get it.

It was definitely once-in-a-lifetime, and we’re so thankful for this special memory with our girls and friends! Aside from the sore toes, I couldn’t feel more blessed!

Step Aside, Slappy Cakes

One of the kids favorite restaurant here in the PI is Slappy Cakes. It’s a fun place somewhere in between the Waffle House and the Melting Pot. (Doesn’t EVERY restaurant fall in that range?) I know I’ve posted about it before, but there is a griddle in the middle of each table and each kid is given a squirt bottle of pancake batter with a range of toppings and mix-ins. The only problem is that we’re paying Melting Pot prices for Waffle House ingredients. (Ok, it’s probably still even cheaper than Waffle House, but STILL!)

Anyway, Josh planned our own Slappy Cake morning and got everything ready by himself. It was terrific!!! There was chocolate and plain pancake batter, maple syrup, blueberry syrup, mangoes, bananas, pineapple, cherry pie filling, whipped cream, peanut butter, chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans, sausage and nutella!

The kids LOVED it, and I helped myself to two ginormous banana-pecan pancakes. Y’know, the baby wants it.

As you can imagine, after the sugary breakfast, the kids were a little crazy! At one point, this (double-jointed) Hulk came up to me and socked me with his huge (but so cute) fists!

Wicked Awesome Show!

(Only New Englanders will understand that title!)

For months, we’ve been counting down the days until Wicked arrived in Manila. The timing of the production made it a perfect Christmas present for Michele and I. Our hubbies were willing to join us, and knew they would enjoy it, but in the end, decided to save the money and let us enjoy a girls night out. Michele’s husband even treated us to a hotel within walking distance of the show.

So Michele and I took off with our overnight bags and tickets in hand at noon. Check-in wasn’t until 3pm, but they had our room ready so they let us in at 1pm. We couldn’t decided what to eat for dinner, so we just decided to hit the hotel buffet for lunch and cram so much food into our stomach’s that we wouldn’t be hungry for dinner. I love being a problem solver.

The rest of the leisurely afternoon was spent napping, resting, watching TV, working out and getting ready for the show at 7:30. Outside of our balcony, we could see a small wedding ceremony happening right by the ocean at sunset. It was beautiful…you know, if you’re into that sort of tropical sunset wedding kind of thing.

We walked to the Cultural Center of the Philippines and both sported blisters from our fancy shoes. We got there with about 5 minutes to spare.

Here was our view.

The show was A.Mazing! It was my first time going to a (on or off) Broadway show where I didn’t know the songs, so I was interested to see if it would affect my interest in the show. It didn’t. I was riveted the entire time and the sights and sounds kept my mouth gaping in awe. The performers were all fantastic, but Elphaba and Galinda were especially phenomenal! I wish I could again…and again…and again.

Michele and I walked back to the hotel and burrowed under our comforters for the rest of the night. It’s such a treat to sleep in air conditioning!!! Luxurious. The next morning, we hit the buffet again for breakfast. It’s way more fun to do breakfast with someone who loves it as much as I do. Josh really would rather sleep than eat breakfast, so whenever we’re at a hotel, I have to drag him with me. Michele is a brekkie-lover too, so we had a blast together.

This hotel has a climate-controlled cheese room, so we piled up a plate of various cheeses and then headed to the omelet-station with instructions for the chef to just dump all that cheese into our omelet. It was insane and fantastic. It was like an 8-cheese omelet. We had all kinds of other treats, including a still steaming croissant, but the omelet was the highlight.

Then we went back to the room and burrowed once again. I took a nap, which is impressive given that it wasn’t noon yet. When it was time to check out, we left kicking and screaming, figuratively of course.

As any mom would do while she’s in Makati, we stopped at SNR for some imported groceries on our way home. It’s our Sam’s or Costco, and we love it. The prices aren’t great, but they have things that we can’t get anywhere else.

Then it was back to our homes to hug our kiddos. Josh is in Okinawa for the week, so it was the perfect little break for me! Josh’s team is playing in the DoDD’s Far East Championship tonight! He won the tournament with the girls basketball team two years ago, so it would be pretty fun for him to bring home the boys trophy too. He’ll be impossible to live with….

La Maison Blanche

So, the Business Class teacher at FA has been known to rub elbows with quite a few well-known Filipinos. In fact, he’s buddy-buddy with the PacMan himself! In addition, he’s also friends with the head chef at the White House! So he put his connections to fun use and had his business class host a dinner, featuring recipes all used to fuel and sustain the world’s leaders. Cool, right?

I know he used it as an opportunity to teach the students all kinds of business principles, but I was sold the second I heard, “semi-formal” and “free childcare.”

We sat with two other couples and had a blast with them!

See how it is to live in a humid climate? I curled my hair and completed it with all kinds of product. Five minutes later, straight straight straight.

And the group shot. Please don’t submit my photo for any award consideration without my permission.

During the evening, there was all kinds of different music performances. It was great because it was live, but in the background, so we could still chit-chat, and I love me some chit-chat!

We started with some de-lish soup with different kinds of seafood in it. I must have gotten the bottom of the pan, because my bowl was loaded with all kinds of yummy sea critters, including a clam shell, or mussel shell, or a krakin shell , I dunno.

Then we waited a lonnngg time for our entree, but we didn’t mind. (I think that I’ve had this blog long enough that my faithful readers know that when I say “WE didn’t mind waiting for our food, ” I really just mean “I didn’t mind waiting for my food.”) But it was worth the wait! We had some steak with a fantastic sauce, mashed potatoes, and asparagus and some other green leafy something.

To think that some of America’s life-altering decisions have been made over this meal…!

The final course was a fantastic piece of cheesecake. Having had a big ol’ slice of NY cheesecake just one week prior, this one was just a bit too small, but still delicious. It’s probably time that I stop eating as if I’m still training for a marathon anyway…

I realized that I didn’t have a pic of the two of us, (oh yeah…except for the one posted above) so I grabbed one when we got home. I must have had my phone on the “sandstorm” setting….

NYC Girls Weekend!!

Now that I’ve written all my marathon tidbits down, I can write all about the other highlights of our NYC trip! When Michele and I decided to hop over the pond to NY for the marathon, we thought that it wouldn’t be complete unless we were joined by one of our great friends, Susan! We all moved to the Philippines the same year, so we instantly had that bond. A billion and a half kids later, we’re all still close even though Susan lives back in the US.

On Saturday, Michele and Susan were both flying into LaGuardia, I was taking the train in from NJ, and somehow we’d find each other on the island of Manhattan! I was shocked when we all met up outside Penn Station without a hitch. If we had just moved our rendezvous point a few blocks east, we could’ve had an epic reunion that would rival Tom and Meg’s finest moment on the top of the Empire State Building!

My parents dropped me off at the train station. It was intimidating to realize that the next time I would see them would be 17 miles into the marathon the next day!

I snapped a selfie on the train. It was supposed to capture that beautiful fall leaves behind me, but it didn’t work so well. Next to me was a girl who was wearing last years marathon shirt and chatting on the phone with her friend about running the next day. It shot my nerves through the roof!

Even though I was too nervous to eat, I made myself eat the turkey sandwich that I made from the leftover Thanksgiving dinner that my mom had fixed the night before.  It was a carb-tastic meal, which was perfect for me. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, Swiss Vegetable Medley, brussel sprouts, pumpkin and pecan pie!

After a 73 minute train ride, I came out of Penn Station and Susan and Michele were waiting right there, under the Madison Square Garden sign! They had found each other no problem at the airport, took a bus to the Port Authority, and then a shuttle to Penn. A bunch of roads were already closed for the marathon, so getting around was a little more challenging than other weekends.

Since we had all of our luggage, we grabbed a taxi to the financial district, where we stayed for the next two nights at the Double Tree. We were greeted with those complimentary chocolate-chip cookies, so I officially declared my no-sweets marathon complete!

Our hotel was right next to this famous financial district guy…

Susan and Michele were famished, so we walked around a little until we found a deli and they got a sandwich. I was still not at all hungry, but I knew I needed to fill up those glycogen stores, so I grabbed a pretzel from a street vendor down at Battery Park. We walked around until we found a place to sit and eat. I was supposed to go for a 2-mile run to shake out the legs, but we walked around so much, I considered my legs sufficiently shook.

We settled in Battery Park, looking out onto the Statue of Liberty! I guess I was too nervous to take any pics. Here are some to give you an idea. However, there was a ton of construction paraphernalia around, so it wasn’t quite as beautiful as it usually is. I’m guessing they are still recovering from [stupid] Sandy.

After lunch, we headed a few blocks north to see the 9/11 Memorial.On our walk there, we saw and heard sirens coming from all directions! There were police cars and fire engines all around us. I have to admit, it was very eery to be in Lower Manhattan and hearing those sirens. All footage from Sept 11, 2001 includes those sirens and it was overwhelming to be in the very place where it happened!

One thing we noticed was how firemen in NYC have a genuine celebrity status, and rightfully so! Tourists were always taking pictures of the FDNY fire engines and their brave firemen.

The last two times I’ve been there, there wasn’t anything for the public to see, so we were excited to see the memorial and be up close to the Freedom Tower/One World Trade Center.

However….

The line to get in was CRAZY! There were people everywhere, lines wrapped around everything, and since I didn’t want to be on my feet for too long, we decided to go another time. Instead, we headed over to the St. Paul chapel, which served as an amazing ministry in the days, weeks, and months following 9/11. It was a place where volunteers could rest, refuel, get medical help, and re-energize before heading back out to the physically and emotionally exhausting work at Ground Zero.

“For eight months, hundreds of volunteers worked 12 hour shifts around the clock, serving meals, making beds, counseling and praying with fire fighters, construction workers, police and others. Massage therapists, chiropractors, podiatrists and musicians also tended to their needs.”

Here it is on that horrific day, surviving the attack and going on to be one of the the vital tools in NYC’s recovery.

The highlight of that visit was that there was a First Responder who served in one of the Towers that day. He had written a book and was signing it that day. A lot of the pictures in the book he took himself, and are unique because he was allowed in areas that others weren’t because it was a First Responder. It choked me up when he said that he wants kids (and probably adults too) to know exactly who are America’s celebrities, role models, and heroes.

After walking through St. Pauls, we headed back to the hotel where I got in bed and didn’t move much the rest of the evening! (It was only like 5:00pm) Susan and Michele ran back out for bit and returned with the perfect night-before meal for me. Chipotle.

I was only able to eat about half of it, thanks to those nerves of cottonballs (or whatever is the opposite of steel). Michele came to the rescue and finished the other half.

I laid out all of my gear for the next morning, so as to save time when I woke up to get ready.

Little did I know that I had plenty of time to get ready, since I woke up at MIDNIGHT and never went back to sleep! I had gone to sleep at 8pm, so I got a whopping 4 hours to carry me through the marathon.

Those gloves are cute Asics NYC Marathon gloves that my mom bought me at the Expo. They have each of the five boroughs on each finger.

We didn’t get to see it because we were in lower Manhattan, but the Empire State Building put on blue and orange lights for the marathon!

So this post is interrupted by the marathon post, and picks back up on Monday morning. I had fallen asleep at 8pm after the marathon, so Susan and Michele just hung out together. I stirred at 4am, and when I checked my phone for the time, I saw over 200 emails! So that woke me right up, and I just had to read them all. Some of them were Josh’s facebook posts during the marathon. Some were junk mail (Adidas, I’ve unsubscribed to your mailing list like 10 times. Please let me go!). The rest were “Congrats” and I loved every single one of them! Of course, I was too excited to go back to sleep.

One thing that excited me was wearing heels again! I had eliminated them for about 6 weeks prior to the marathon, as they are a runner’s nemesis. I may have been the only marathoner to wear heels the day after the race, but I was excited! Besides, they’re wedges….

Susan and I decided to head back to the 9/11 Memorial and this time, we got in before that long line had formed.While we were in line, I saw this flag made from the names of lost lives. We also remembered our own Sept 11, 2001 and heard others talk about theirs.

It is an amazing tribute to those who lost and sacrificed their lives. I thought that we would also be able to see the museum, but it isn’t completed yet. It will definitely be on my must-do-in-NYC list when it opens!

“Two pools with the largest manmade waterfalls in the United States (the center goes down another 30 feet!) cascading down their sides are located within the footprints of the Twin Towers. Each pool is 1-acre (4,000 m²), and together they are intended to symbolize the loss of life and the physical void left by the terrorist attacks.

The names of 2,983 victims are inscribed on 76 bronze plates attached to the parapet walls that form the edges of the Memorial pools. This includes the names of 2,977 victims who were killed in the September 11 attacks  in New York City, Arlington, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, as well as the names of six victims who were killed in the 1993 WTC bombing.”

Susan and I were especially touched by the phrase, “…and her unborn child,” that followed the names of the 11 expectant mothers who died in the attacks.

Also at the memorial is the Survivor Tree. It was the only tree to survive the attacks, even though it was badly burned and had only 1 living branch. It was transported to the Bronx, where it was nursed back to life, even though its caregiver initially doubted its survivability. It was moved back to its home at the memorial in Dec ’10 and now serves as a “reminder of all the survivors who persevered after the attacks.”

It was a powerful and remarkable to see!

After we finished up at the memorial, we headed back to the hotel, by way of the Sprint store to fix Susan’s phone. We decided to check out of our hotel and head uptown to our next hotel in Times Square. There was a Dunkin Donuts on the way, so I made everyone cart their luggage into the tiny store so that I could have something that I hadn’t allowed myself to have for months!

Susan got us a night at the Crowne Plaza that was literally right in the middle of Times Square. I loved imagining staying there on New Years Eve!

We dropped off our stuff and headed back out to explore mid-town. We found an adorable little Italian restaurant. It was straight out of a movie. It was down some stairs off the street, and long and narrow, so that all the city noise is replaced with quiet Italian music. The food was incredible! We split two entrees, a manicotti and a chicken with mushroom dish. We all loved it!

Susan and I made fun of Michele for taking a picture of the bathroom, but now I wish I had one! It was incredibly and beautifully decorated!

After lunch, we sought out some cheesecake! Susan and I split a plain slice and Michele had a cherry. It was incredible and I love New York City for its cheesecake if nothing else!

A few steps later, I bought some cannoli’s (I think the plural is actually just cannoli) from a little Italian bakery. They looked better than they tasted. I was disappointed, especially because it was Susan’s first cannoli!

Somehow we found ourselves on 5th Ave and happened upon the American Girl store. Yep, three grown women walking around the doll store without any children. They make TV shows about people like that! Anyway, I snapped this photo for my girls.

Then….

it was time for Chicago! This was the highlight of our girls weekend. Susan didn’t know it, but she had booked the hotel that is directly across the street from the theater where Chicago was playing. We were thankful because the temps had dropped to sub-zero, give or take 40 degrees.

We were very aware that we had already spent two nights in NYC and I had been asleep by 8pm on both nights. Pretty disappointing huh? Well, our show started at 8pm, so I felt like a big girl in the city that night!

I love Broadway theaters! They look so historic…because they are.

The show was amazing! I feel like I missed out on so much because there was just so much amazing choreography on stage, I couldn’t capture it all with only two eyes! It was so different than the other two shows I’ve seen on Broadway, because there weren’t any sets really. The jazz orchestra was on stage and the choreography created all the eye candy we could handle, so there wasn’t any room for sets.

After the show, we walked over a couple of blocks to Ray’s Pizza at 11:30pm. I may or may not have been singing “Roxie Hart” the entire way there.

Ugh, I need to get Susan and Michele’s pics, so that there will be pictures of us doing things OTHER than eating!

The next morning, Susan had to catch the shuttle back to LaGuardia early in the morning, so we said our goodbyes at about 6am. Boo. It was so much fun to do NYC with her!!!

Michele and I lazed around the hotel room for a while, and then we headed to a diner for breakfast. We sat, chatted, drank coffee, and ate for a long time! It was a great setting. Next to us were old folks sitting in a booth by themselves, with their paper and breakfast. I’m sure it was routine for them and I loved it!

Then we headed towards Central Park, but stopped at the Plaza hotel for a quick bathroom break.

While we were there, we saw a store dedicated to “Eloise at the Plaza!” It made us miss our daughters because they would have loved it! There was a tea party room, a reading room, a closet, and a play room. It made me smile until I saw the $200 little girl dresses. That just makes me angry.

Then Michele treated me to a romantic carriage ride around Central Park! It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, so I’m eternally thankful to her for the treat!

It was amazing and beautiful and everyone needs to ride a horse-drawn carriage around Central Park in the fall. It should be on everyone’s bucket list.

As we pulled out onto Central Park South, I realized why the last mile of my marathon was so tough! It’s two long blocks of incline! I’m sure my horse was annoyed with me when I just kept saying, “Look at this! It’s totally uphill! It’s really and totally uphill!”

When we turned into the park, Michele and I were just completely blown away by its beauty. Nothing makes a girl feel older than when she finds herself taking foliage pictures! But when you live where we live, you can’t get enough of the crisp, cool air and the beautiful fall colors!

See that orange flag? It says “Marathon Route,” which means that I was running on that very road two days prior! Wish I’d paid better attention instead of thinking about how tired my legs were!

C’mon, seriously!? Little kids playing football in the fall in Central Park? How perfect!

This area is in all kinds of NY movies, and you can see why. It would be gorgeous in the flourishing spring, the sunny summer, the snowy winter and of course, the fall-y fall.

Really?! iPhone, you capture the gorgeous nicely. I can almost forget about the giant rat that I saw scamper across the leaves.

Michele loved seeing Yoko Ono’s house, the Dakota house, outside of which is where John Lennon was killed.

Meanwhile, I was still taking pics of the orange Marathon Route flags.

Michele got herself a NY pretzel on our way back to Times Square. Throughout the weekend, we were quoted $1-$4 for a pretzel! There are no posted prices, so they just take a look at us, can give the price they think they can get out of us!

We happened upon The Late Show on our way back to the hotel. It looks like they were about to start filming.

My first NY celeb sighting! It’s about time. It’s Peg Bundy!

And since we were by the Late Show, we went around the corner to the Hello Deli. He was very nice to pose for a picture with us, even though we only bought a bottled water!

And that’s about it! I might do another post when I get Susan and Michele’s pics, because I know they took different ones than me. It was an unforgettable weekend with my girlfriends and I’m so thankful that we got to do it!

Two parting shots of my RETURN TO SWEETS.

The first is my first ice cream in 4 months. Chocolate Peanut Butter of course.

The second is a bakery box from Carlo’s, TV’s Cake Boss. My sister-in-law, Sarah, brought a box of to-die-for cannoli! They were spectacular.

I saw at Michaels that you can buy bakers twine. I almost bought some just because baker’s twine always means good things and brings a smile to my face.