NYC, Part Two

First off, I'd like to say that I've finally added an email to my blog, so if you've got any questions, feel free to email me. I love getting mail and answering your questions! I also decided to add a face to the name, so you can see my picture at left. It's from a few years ago, so I look a tad older, but I couldn't find any "good" pictures recently.


Okay, so for day two. 


I woke up early in the morning and went to the hotel gym. Since it was a conference center, I was expecting a pretty nice facility. This it was not. It was a long narrow room with 3 bikes, 6 treadmills, and 4 ellipticals on one wall and a few weight machines on the other. I was surprised that there weren't more people there either, since it wasn't that early (7 am). I did my usual half hour run and extra fifteen minutes on the bike. I ran back and showered, since I was eager to get out and explore the city.


My first stop was the cute little grocery store that I spotted the night before. I knew I was meant to go there when the first thing that greeted me when I walked in was a giant display of FIGS, on sale! What can get better than that? I swooped up two packages, then browsed the rest of the store. I munched on figs while I watched the bustle of the city. I stopped into any juice bar or little grocery store I could find, just to look around. I ended up getting a few snacky things, since I knew that my food options were pretty low.

Snack #1: A Ya Pear. The consensus? Not that great. It was crunchy and tasted like an unripe Asian pear.

Snack #2: Dried Figs. The consensus? Pure deliciousness. I enjoyed these so much that I had to run back the next day and buy more, with the intention of squirreling them away to enjoy in my dorm. Let's just say that they didn't make it that far...

Snack #3: Wild Blueberry PURE bar. I've heard a lot about these around the blogosphere, and I wanted to try it. Consensus? It was pretty good. The texture was a little odd, kind of grainy, but the flavor was nice and blueberry-ish. I still prefer Larabars, though.

Snack #4: Trail Mix. Consensus? Delicious. This was an unexpected purchase. I went into the bulk section (see this post for an interesting take on bulk bins) to browse, and a store worker asked if I wanted to sample. I declined, but he insisted, so I asked for some of this. After he watched me eat it and was so happy when I proclaimed it good, I felt horrible. So I ended up buying a bit.

Snack #5: Honeydew. Consensus? Obviously not in season, but still pretty decent. I was just a hankering for some melon, since I hadn't had any in a while.


After I got back from wandering around, I went to a few sessions at the conference, and then we went exploring. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, visited Ground Zero, saw the Wall Street Bull, and went to Times Square. 

It was quite a long walk!

Isn't she beautiful? I wish I could have gone to see her.

Development at Ground Zero.

He was VERY popular when we were taking pictures...

Times Square at night

We ended up eating at the ESPN Zone, where I had the most delicious salad, the Bleu Cheese, Apple Walnut Salad (romaine, red peppers, walnuts, white balsamic dressing, minus the cheese and plus avocado). I hadn't eaten since breakfast (since I passed on the pizza for lunch, and surprisingly this restaurant ONLY served pizza, nothing else), and this hit the spot. Sorry for no picture, but if you go on this website, it's the salad that is pictured under the "Salads" tab. We walked around for a bit, and then took the subway home. 


The next day was pretty uneventful, as we just presented our poster, packed up, and drove home. Of course, I went to the gym and visited the store again (for the aforementioned figs). I was beyond glad to get back to my regular eats.


I love cities, and I can't wait to live in one when I graduate. I'm definitely NOT a country girl, haha. 


Question: Do you prefer the country or city? Or are you a little of both?


Raw Revolution Giveaway here!

NYC, Part One

Sorry for the delay in posting...as usual, I had a busy week and this weekend I am visiting a friend, so I'm a bit short on time.


Now for my weekend in NYC.


I had never been to NYC, even though I've visited relatives there many times, so I was very excited. I went down with some other psychology students to present a poster at the EPA (Eastern Psychological Association) conference in Brooklyn. We drove down there, which took about seven hours. Somehow I got appointed as the navigator, helping my professor with directions. I usually think of myself as "directionally-challenged," but after successfully guiding him through the streets of NYC and hearing everyone's affirmation of my apparent "skills," I think I'm going to reevaluate my thoughts about it. :)


After we checked into our hotel, we went in search of some food. On the way there, we stopped at Mickey D's. Of course, I'm not a fan, but I had a fruit and walnut salad (sans yogurt). When I'm on the road, I don't really like to eat a lot...do any of you feel that way too?


We ended up going to a Chinese restaurant called "Andy's." What a name for a Chinese restaurant! I had steamed veggies and brown rice. The rice was actually pretty tasty, considering I'm usually not a fan. At the end of the meal they brought out little dishes of pineapple and toothpicks for the table to share. Apparently no one else was into the pineapple thing, so I got to enjoy three dishes of lovely pineapple (no picture).

Sorry for the picture; the lighting was not all that great.

When we were walking back, I passed a cute little grocery store with bins of fresh fruit, and I made a mental note to come back there in the morning to buy my breakfast. We attended the keynote speaker, who was good but his talk was slightly graphic (dealing with the Abu Ghraib incidents), so I didn't stay for the whole thing.


I'll continue with part two later tonight or tomorrow, as it is time to get ready for the day (and my computer is running out of juice).




How was everyone's St. Paddy's Day?