well the holidays are over and the deep freeze of winter has set in, meaning it is time to hibernate in our cozy homes and stay away from the frigid temperatures. i think that this is especially true for us city dwellers who have to walk to get anywhere, and so being inside a safe, warm place is very appealing.
but staying indoors can become very mundane, leading to lazy behavior and slothlike attributes (not moving too far from the couch unless it is time to grab a snack or take a bathroom break from the constant lineup on cable tv). so...here are some fun things patrick and i have been doing to keep ourselves entertained during the cold winter months.
bowling- we had been wanting to get together with some of our fave people, sarah and michael, and they suggested going bowling. they had a babysitter and coupons for a free hour of bowling at the times square bowlmor, and thus it was a double date! any time there is something free, count me in! we ended up playing for two hours, which ended in a lot of pain as we realized none of us are spring chickens any more.
i may look awesome, but i had the worst scores of the night. oh well...
having fun at the bowlmor!!!!
as you can see, my form is...well not so great.
michael showing off his thunder and lightning fists of fury! he wowed us with some ambidextrous bowling skills.
this is the only photo i could get of michael with his eyes open! love these two...
loser...winner...sneak attack!!!!
karaoke-some other weekend fun we have been having includes a karaoke birthday party, but unfortunately i forgot to bring the cam with me. let me just say this about singing in front of strangers: you don't need talent, you just need to sing a song that is a crowd pleaser. that way everyone joins in and you are having fun holding the microphone.
local culture-so if karaoke is not your thing, museums might be. patrick and i have been wanting to visit the cloisters in fort tryon park in manhattan. it is a replica of the living quarters and place of worship for monks. it contains art work and architecture from the middle ages. it is a stunning museum and full of interesting artifacts! before we went to the museum, we hit up new leaf cafe within the park for some brunch, and it was a great choice recommended to us by one of patrick's co-workers, tanya!
coffee and fresh squeezed oj included in the brunch, but we wanted to check out some of the specialty drinks. i had a coconut nog, which was like drinking a heavenly milkshake! patrick had the smoked hickory bacon old fahsion. he loved it.
i had a difficult time deciding what to order, so i kept it simple with the goat cheese and scallion scrambled eggs with a side of garlicky fried potatoes and fresh greens. it was all so fresh and so yummy. i ate just about everything on the plate!
patrick had the challah french toast with caramelized bananas served with hot maple syrup and italian sausage.
the cloisters museum
salvaged stained glass windows from an old cathedral.
cloister- the hallway from the church to the monks dwelling space. only monks could use the cloisters back then. if you want an interesting read on the lives of monks and the cathedrals of the dark ages, check out ken follett's pillars of the earth. it's a good one!
another cloister...time for a self portrait!
the icy trail we had to slide down whether we wanted to or not!
even though it is super cold out of doors, layer up and get out there. find some fun things to do and live your life! spring is not coming all too soon...
this is beth signing off.
mission: accomplished and still finding fun things to do...oooh! sledding!
