mission: brooklyn weekend fun

this is the ranch burger i got at 67 burger. it had ranch dressing, cheddar cheese and crispy onions. so freakin gooooood!

like i said, so freakin good.

our greeter at the brooklyn brewery. he was making sure we were buying our 6 beer tokens for $20!

patrick in front of the beer brew kettle. this is where the beer ferments via the yeast which turns sugar into co2 and something else i can't remember right now. whatever it does, it is good.

old timey beer bottles.

on our tour we got to see the beer bottler. behind me is the logo created by milton glaser, the man who also came up with I <3 NY. his payment, free beer...for life!

during our tour, our guide told a story about how dangerous the williamsburg neighborhood (where the brewery is located) used to be back in the 80's and 90's. one day, a guy came and took a forklift right out of the brewery's warehouse....in broad daylight. the owners were too poor to lose such a precious piece of machinery, and so they searched all day until they found the forklift at a pawn shop. so they stole it right back! now that is some true brooklyn courage.

patrick is loving his irish stout.

me finishing up my free lager...our bartender messed up our order so this one was on the house!!!

as it was a fine day outside, many people came to enjoy their saturday at the brewery. patrick and i learned a couple of things that day to make the most of your visit there (a must i should say if you are visiting or a native new yorker).

1. get there early. the brewery opens at noon and closes at 5 (or until everyone leaves). we waiting in a long line for our beer, but no worries. the line moves quickly enough.

2. bring your own picnic lunch, or order pizza if you like. there are many take out menus floating around, and so it is a good idea to plan for an afternoon there. it is a hang out kind of place.

3. play some games. i am not talking about beer pong or anything like that, but many a group there brought playing cards and other games. however, heed idea #1 in order to get a table.

4. take the tour...it is free and they tell lots of fun stories. make sure they tell you about a certain italian investment group from brooklyn, if you know what i mean.

well that was our fun saturday. check it out for yourself, and be sure to tip your bar tenders.

this is beth signing off.

mission: accomplished.

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mission: philadelphia flower show 2011

it is almost spring time in paris, france but paris is blooming at the philly flower show this week at the convention center. my family and i went on opening day to view the artistry, listen to french music, and appreciate the true beauty of unique flowers. my camera died halfway through our visit, so i didn't get to take all the pictures that i wanted to, but here is what i did capture.

eiffel tower entrance

camel made out of flora

artist and subject

beautiful orchid

amazing archway for a wedding

bed of roses

a lovely ascending garden...this is what i want someday

azaleas and daffodils

super swanky trees- the water system for the leaves dripped down into the pond, making it look like rain. this was my favorite display.

tour de france

purple gem iris...another favorite.

sailing away on a sea of flowers

pretty little yellow house. can i live here?

so if you are heading out to the show throughout the week here are some tips for you.

1. eat at the reading terminal right next door. the concessions are way over priced and not that great. the terminal has a variety of mini restaurants with all types of fare to suit your fancy!

2. go after 4 p.m. that is when the crowds die down and you can really appreciate and see everything that is there.

3. don't forget to hit up the vendors on the other side of the room- there are lots of great artisans and landscape-y type kiosks peddling their wares.

so have fun and enjoy paris in the springtime...locally that is.

this is beth signing off

mission: accompli, no? oui?

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mission: disney princess half marathon

in a word, the disney princess half marathon was supercalifragilisticexbealidocious!

seriously though, it was the most fun race i have run to date (ok so i have only run a few, but come on...it's disney! how can anything compare). it was a packed weekend filled with characters, an expo, cheaper rates to the parks, and of course princesses!

i thought the weekend was going to be a little disappointing since that is how it began. friday night, i was ready to leave work and head to the airport with my trusty prince charming, until he burst my bubble by letting me know that our flight had been inexplicably cancelled. so how did i nurse my fresh wound? i played epic mickey of course. i decided that if i couldn't actually be in disney world, i might as well play a game that mimics it.

however, i let the disappointment roll off my back, and by saturday morning, i was raring to go (at 4 a.m.)! i think i was more excited to be in disney world than all of the children on the plane combined. once we were off the plane, patrick and i were met by patrick's dad and step-mom judy, who were also in the area that weekend. the whole gang headed straight to the all star sports resort to an anxiously happy set of big apple beth's grandparents. after our greetings and settling our bags into the room, the six of us went to the half marathon expo so that i could pick up my bib number and goody bag.

me and mommom at the expo aka the sea of princesses

me and poppop

after the expo we hit up hollywood studios. i just can't get away from the big apple!

backlot tour ride- the set is exploding!

me and patrick in front of the infamous sorcerer's hat!

3:30 a.m. waiting in line for the charter bus to take us to the starting line

big apple beth and wino bee! stacy and i getting ready to trek to our corral

my chEar squad finding the perfect spot to watch me run through the castle. poppop let me know that he would only wake up this early for only a very few people. i count myself as one of the luckiest ladies alive. thanks mom and pop for your support!!!

princess strong and feeling great! gotta love running through the magic kingdom not to mention meeting lots of fun characters during the long stretches of mileage in between the parks.

this is the last 1/4 of a mile. it was tough to keeping going but i knew i could do it.

patrick, me and my finishing medal! it's official- i am a disney princess half marathoner!

the rest of our weekend was spent going to a spring training game, playing in the pool, and hanging out with the fam. we ended our vacation by watching the epcot world showcase fireworks from our balcony at the swan hotel.

alas, i am back in nyc and back to reality, looking forward to making new memories at the happiest place on earth.

this is beth signing off.

mission: accomplished and feeling a little more regal.

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mission: weekend fun

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!

the chapel.

another cloister...time for a self portrait!

outside the museum. patrick looks a little chilly.

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!

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mission: in training again

i am on the path to yet another half marathon, and it takes place in 6 weeks. i started training today. this is not good.

usually, people dedicate somewhere between 3 or 4 months getting ready for such a race as this. but not this lady! i am giving myself about 40 days to whip my body into shape. can i achieve my goal...without a doubt but it is going to be a very intense month and a half running outside for the most part in severe weather conditions and extreme cold. ok maybe i am exaggerating a teeny bit, but it is below the freezing mark!

today's run (after a month and a half hiatus) was 4.41 miles, and while i did stop to walk (quickly) several times, i am proud that i made my first goal of running a little over a third of my race!

the plan is to increase my run by half a mile each time i run. so at 3-4 runs per week i will reach 13-16 miles by the half marathon. whoa. i think i can do it....i mean i know i can!!!!! did i mention that i am running in the disney princess half marathon? and did i mention i get to run through cinderella's castle and receive a princess medal at the end of my race? no? well this is what i am running for!

so here is to some intense training until the end of february. and to all the women (and men) training for this race...good luck and i will see you at the happiest place on earth!

this is beth signing off.

mission: in training...

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mission: new year, new adventures

happy 2011! i am ringing in the new year (2 weeks later) with a much needed make-over for my little blog. hope you like it as much as i do!!! i think it is a good way to being all my blogs about the forthcoming adventures for big apple beth in 2011.

so this year has been quite an eventful one so far! patrick and i have already ventured off to colorado to get in a little bit of skiing while staying at the beautiful westin riverfront resort and spa in beaver creek. it was a wonderful trip, to say the least. here are some pics (we are now able to download our pics and therefore i can share visuals with you again...yay).

the amazing scenery during our drive from denver to beaver creek.

our yummy dinner at grouse mountain grill. i had the pretzel encrusted pork chops swimming in a balsamic honey mustard sauce and paired with creamy mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. the dessert we has was a homey apple bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and an apple chip. so good! and the service was awesome and the atmosphere was comforting.

our first day of skiing proved more difficult than we had anticipated. i thought i was going to die! this is me half way down a 3 mile trail...only half way! and to top it off i had to walk the final 25 feet down because i hurt myself by skiing into a pole (about the diameter of a dowel rod) and ended up with a huge bruise on my back side. after shedding some tears in the snow, i made it off the mountain in one piece.

post accident- we walked around beaver creek checking out the shops, watching people ice skate in the middle of the town, and ate a campfire crepe filled with chocolate chips and marshmallows! yummy!

the next day we went to vail and ate at this charming pub. the fare was typical bar food but delicious all the same. it's namesake, bart and yeti, originates from two labradors.

later that night we tried snow tubing in vail. ask for the pukinator before heading down- the workers will spin you as fast as they can! it is so fun!

skiing day two- had a lesson this time around. basically it was the wisest decision we made.

watch out lindsey vaughn...here comes your new competition!

patrick skiing- the view was so amazing. we might have to live here someday.

so this is just a taste of our colorado vacation. hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned for some more fun times ahead!

this is beth signing off.

mission accomplished.

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