New York à la Keiko: breakneck ridge trail

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Long weekend

Hello!

We had a long weekend for Memorial Day and I'm super ready for our 4-day work week!
I felt that, contrary to some lazy weekends we have had, this past weekend's schedule was filled to the brim with activities. From a farewell rooftop party, dresses and wedding ring shopping, hiking, museum, dinners and of course, eating loads of food; I should be exhausted but I am not... ok, maybe a tad!

Random shots from the weekend:

Two little Red Hen's cheesecakes are amAzing!!! I think this is one of my favorite cheesecake ever and guess what! I don't really like cheesecake at all! This was eaten at a friend's farewell party on his rooftop overlooking Central Park. We scolded him for not having more parties before! The view of Manhattan and Central Park was so nice!

Cheesecake from Two Little Red Hens

On Saturday, I got to try some rental dresses that come with our photography and videography service for our reception. I picked two dresses out that I liked..out of maybe 100 I did not like AT ALL. Therefore, it all came down to if it fits or not. One of the dresses I picked, I'll have to lose an inch or two to be more comfortable if I want to eat!

Picking dresses...

On Sunday, five of us went hiking on Breakneck Ridge up in Fishkill NY. This time, we did the 5 mile loop but did not make it up Sugar Loaf mountain! Scrambling up the rocks for the first hour of the hike is always my favorite part of this trail!

The hour long scramble up Breakneck's rocks while overlooking the Hudson river

On Monday, we had no plans except to eat lobster at Dave's parents but we figured, we had the car for the day and looked for something to do. When a Vietnamese restaurant we wanted to try was closed, we decided we would drive somewhere we can't easily get to by subway. So, we decided to check out ABC Carpet and Home outlet in the Bronx. We picked up Laurie who came with the promise of good food in her belly. We checked out Arthur Avenue in the Bronx know to be the REAL Little Italy in New York.

homemade tangliani pasta with leggy octopus

So pretty driving through the Queensboro...enough for me to make a video of it back and forth..

After dropping off Laurie so she can get back to some "studying", we took the Queensboro bridge back to Brooklyn and as we drove by MOMA PS1, we decided to make a quick stop. I have never been there before and Dave can get free tickets, so we went!

There were some questionable art pieces. As usual, some art was worth the thoughts and some art was garbage...literally.

trash cans...yup, that's it

A wolf and a deer in one room...what happens next?

And it all ended with a delicious lobster dinner. Lobsters were only $5.99/lb and Dave's parents made some for us on Monday night. They were sweet and salty...no butter or condiments needed...just perfect!!

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Monday, October 15, 2012

Hiking in Breakneck Ridge ..rocky rocky- good view- wobbly legs!

At Breakneck Ridge. Beautiful!

Our hiking trip began with an impromptu pit stop at a fantastic green market in Cold Spring with fresh greens, bread, pastries and more. D filled up with TWO corn beef sandwiches, Laurie (she blogs here) had TWO croissants and a fried veggie wrap of some sort which were so fantastic. She bought greens and fruits and basically did her groceries. We ate a bunch and were so ready for our hike up Breakneck Ridge.

Breakneck Ridge is about an hour train or car ride from Manhattan which makes it a very popular destination for city dwellers who crave a little bit of nature in their lives. We did the strenuous 2.8 mile loop which was probably strenuous for the first hour as it was chock full of rocks to climb the moment we started. I was not prepared for that but it was do-able. It became easier after we reached the top, if you ever get there. One of the main reasons for the hiking trip was to try and break into my new hiking boots and they did so well. They were so grippy which made climbing the rocks much easier. D's new boots didn't fair so well. They were a little too big which made his descent hell as his toes hit the front of his shoes a lot. Good thing he kept the tags on ;)

After ending our 3 hour hike with wobbly legs, we drove and parked in a nearby parking lot and ate some crackers with hummus and tabouleh and a delicious fresh salad prepared by Laurie. We're so glad she came and came prepared with food! After snacking, we headed straight to Woodbury Commons which was on our way back home. Our main goal was to stop by Colombia Sportswear to get more gears for our trip. We scored and got two waterproof outer shells, one fleece, one long sleeve and one pair of gloves for less than $230. I got a free coupon booklet which helped us get an extra 10% off. Laurie scored on a running jacket at North Face and a lacey BCBG dress so it wasn't a waste of a trip for her :) I also checked out Yves St Laurent outlet store to survey the prices and found a couple of pieces I've seen in pictures taken at previous YSL sample sales. At the outlet, a wallet I asked about was $290 when it was $50 at the sample sale. They retail at just under $500. Anyway...

We left the outlet just before closing time and had dinner at our usual resto Gam Mee Ok which we stop by to eat whenever we return from our trips passing through Fort Lee New Jersey.

In all, I was glad to meet my bed that night and slept right through the morning...