March 26, 2010

My Week in Piggling

This has been a crazy week for me! Last week I got some big news that I’ve been pondering all week long – sorry, can’t share it yet, but I’m pretty psyched about it. Details to come in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, I’ve just been really busy this week with a bunch of social events. On Sunday, Cornell played Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA basketball playoffs – and actually won! For those of you who don’t follow basketball, this was a huge upset – this is only our third year EVER in the tournament, and Wisconsin is continually a top team (previously, we beat Temple – another good school). The bar I was at to watch was totally packed with Cornell fans – probably the most crowded bar I’ve ever been to in my life. People were standing on the sidewalk peering through the glass trying to see the TVs because there wasn’t even standing room left! When we won (unbelievable!), it was madness in there… people were even crowdsurfing! (I passed on that one in an attempt to stay injury-free for the rest of my marathons).

After drinking beer all afternoon on Sunday, Monday night found me at a food and beer tasting event called Choice Eats with a bunch of my girlfriends. They’ve been going to this event for a few years and have loved it every time, so I bought tickets a few months ago and have been eagerly waiting for it since then. However, at work that day, we had a big announcement that resulted in a lunchtime “Taste of New York” buffet, and I totally gorged myself on lo mein (Chinatown), lasagna (Little Italy), knishes and falafel (not sure of that area? But traditional New York nonetheless), and fried dough (Coney Island). It was so delicious, but by 6pm, all I wanted to do was either skip dinner or have a salad. Instead, it was off to Choice Eats to stuff myself so full of gourmet delicacies that I thought I was going to be sick! My favorite food by far was Del Posto’s olive oil gelato dipped in chocolate – it sounds weird, but it was SO good.

Tuesday I woke up feeling a bit ill from stuffing myself, and vowed to make that day a light day. However, the plan for that night was a Mixology class my friend Ali and I had signed up for at Sidebar. We grabbed a beer at the bar before the class started – but it turned out there was no need for that. The instructor started out by showing us around the back of the bar, and how many seconds you pour for one shot (3). To demonstrate, she made a quick tequila shot… and slid it down the bar to me. Okay, don’t mind if I do! The rest of the two hour class was just a crazy scene of mixing drinks and then needing someone to drink them… and with only about ten of us in the class, that was a lot of alcohol to divvy up! Ali and I liked the Grasshopper Martini best (vodka, creme de menthe, creme de cacao, and a splash of milk) – yum yum. Of course, near the end of the class, we were getting a bit too drunk to function… so Ali ordered a burger and I order nachos. Um, yeah… probably not the best choice for eating lightly.

So now it was Wednesday, and I knew I wasn’t going to get off easy on food tonight. It was book club night, and this was a special one because the author was actually coming to speak to us. I tried all day to psych myself up for not ordering food/drinks and just eating when I got home (and even had a small bowl of soup just before leaving the office), but I had forgotten that it was at a different venue (Choice Kitchen and Cocktails) than our usual (Stone Creek Lounge), so of course I had to try out some of the cuisine. And what did I pick but nachos again? Bad Laura! They weren’t nearly as good as the ones at Sidebar (probably because our server sucked and brought them out when they were cold and the cheese had solidified into a non-gooey layer on top), but of course I ate them anyway. And regretted it.

Thursday night – now here was a chance to set things right. I had another happy hour planned, this time for my friend Bram’s adventure company, Urban Escapes (if you live in any Northeast metro area, check it out – totally awesome!). In keeping with the spirit of the company (adventures + drinking = a company after my own heart!), the happy hour was held at a climbing gym in midtown and featured tons of craft beer when you were done climbing. I went with my new roommate, Kelly, and we had a total blast – but the lines to climb were long, so we skipped that and headed straight for the drinking. So much for getting a little exercise in! We did participate in one “sport,” though… some guys set up a game of beer pong in the corner of the room. I was a bit nervous about how much I would probably suck, having been out of college for three years now and not really having played since then. But Kelly and I gave it a go, and I surprised myself by making four out of the six cups (yeah, smaller game than usual). That’s probably better than I was when I was in college and playing regularly! 🙂 It helped that the beers we put in the cups were not crappy Coors or Bud Light but rather Blackbeary Wheat – good beer makes all the difference!

From the happy hour, I headed uptown to meet my friends back to where this binge fest started: it was time to watch Cornell play in the NCAAs again. We met at the Gin Mill, but like Sidebar last week, it was so packed that we decided to scope out another location, and headed for Brother Jimmy’s a few doors down. Though I had eaten (a very light dinner) before heading out for happy hour, I was now starving again, and couldn’t resist getting more food to go with my margarita (yum). Finally, I managed to stay away from the nachos… but the blackened catfish with sides of fire fries and mac and cheese was probably not much better for me!

When I left at midnight, it was a definite disappointment. Our team had lost, I had gorged myself (again!), and it was now raining. In an attempt to burn off a few dozen of the thousands of calories I consumed, I walked home, swearing I would get this right eventually.

This morning, I got up early enough to get 20 minutes in on the elliptical before work. Not earth shattering, but progress nonetheless! This weekend, I’m supposed to do a marathon in Virginia, but the flights are really full so I’m not sure if I’ll make it. If not, though, I vow to do SOMETHING exercise-related and healthy. You all better hold me to that!

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6 thoughts on “My Week in Piggling”

  1. I’ve always wondered how pacers well, pace themselves. I’m so all over the place when I run!

    I can imagine that a DC marathon is very pretty. Do you know what state you are going to do for your 50th?

  2. Juggling drinking and eating is so difficult 🙁 I usually go out once a week, and always fail :S One trick that I did find helps is a)having no money and b) being the designated driver. lol 😛

    Good luck exercising this week-end! I’ll be doing an 8 mile run tomorrow, possibly in the rain!

  3. omg, hearing about your week made me tired just READING about it!

    That would probably be the best part about living in NY – all of the food!

    Can’t wait until the ‘big announcement’

  4. Girl how do you manage to fit so much in in a week. I come home from work most nights super exhausted. If I’m lucky I get my run in, eat a PBJ and crash!

  5. I am not sure how you fit all that stuff into your week. I struggle to just get all my normal life done.

    I watched the Cornell game with two alums….very sad night in my house after the game!

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