Happy Birthday Mom

It was my mom’s birthday over the weekend, so we packed up my brothers little black golf and headed upstate to spend sometime with her. Eric made he a roast with mashed potatoes and broccoli (I had some tofu dogs since I didn’t want to make him got he extra step and make something completely different for me, but the potatoes and broccolis were delicious!)

We headed back to NYC early Sunday after lunch at my favorite Indian restaurant in the world, Shalimar. I have found Chennai Gardens which is so continentally located right next to my office and has a very reasonable lunch special /buffet every day. But I still have not found an equivalent to my baingan bartha anywhere else in the city, even abroad. I remember being in London and hearing that they had a good knack for the Indian cuisine, but it was unable to come anywhere near a match. I have found some good dishes but nothing can compare. Every time I dine there it takes me back to the good old days where I would find myself at a table in Shalimar probably 4-5 times a week, granted this was before my metabolism caught up with me (I think the influx of that much cream and ghee now would have disastrous effects on my waist line). I was that customer who didn’t even receive a menu; they just automatically knew what we wanted. There are three restaurants in Albany NY that will have a huge place in my heart; Shalimar, Bombers, and Ichiban. Even though the quality of food at Bombers has changed quiet a bit since I first started going almost 10 years ago, I still believe there is no other burrito joint that can beat it, but that might just be total nostalgia talking.

Well we headed back in to the city and met up with Kristen for a bit and headed home to sleeeep in! It probably an awful thing to say but the fact that I got to stay in bed while Eric had to go to work was the absolute best! Even though on his way out he told me that Murphy had requested that I walk him instead of Eric that morning, but it was a small price to pay to be able to roll out of bed at the late hour of 10:30…ah-mazing. I just did some little things around the apartment, you know like clean the brown stains from the coffee pot and replace the moldy plastic lining on the shower curtain in the bathroom. East River Park in Williamsburg

Then I met up with Kristen and Cate and headed up to the East River Park in Williamsburg for some BBQ time with Kristen’s friend Danielle. It was perfect, I just perched on the bench and relaxed. Headed out a little early to meet Christine for dinner at Caravan of Dreams, a Vegan and raw restaurant in the lower east side. We chatted about her getting ready to run the marathon then I headed home to watch a movie and pass out, Tuesday was near impossible to get through. How come it’s so hard to come back to the workweek after even one day off?

Time to get back to spin class tonight, with the weekend and a busy closing last week it has been almost a full week since I have submitted myself to the pain of sprinting after 45 minute of uphill peddling. Why do I do this to myself again?