Anniversary Weekend Recap & Weekly Goals: Post-Half-Marathon

Today is my boyfriend and my four year anniversary! We've been dating since our junior year of college. We became friends when we were both on the debate team -- obviously we were the coolest kids around -- and started dating a few months later. It's been a really great four years. I both can't believe that it's been that long and can't believe we were never together! We both feel so lucky to be with someone who inspires us to be our best. (Sappy, I know, I promise I'm not normally so gooey)

Last year, we found deeply discounted tickets for a flight to London online and did a whirlwind 4 day long weekend there to celebrate.

on the London Eye

It was so much fun, but not something we could repeat this year since he's now in his first year of law school, which is a crazy busy time. Instead we decided to do a traditional "dinner and a movie" date night.


Dinner and a Movie

Mexican is my favorite cuisine. I love Indian and Middle Eastern food, but I could literally eat Mexican every night for the rest of my life and be happy. Sourabh suggested we go to one of my favorite Mexican spots in the city, Hecho en Dumbo. They mainly do small plates, but they also have a five-course "Chef's Table" prix fixe menu for $60. If you live in New York, then you know that a $60 prix fixe five-course menu is actually a steal. 

The Chef's Table prix fixe menu sets you up at a bar looking into the kitchen so you can see all the food being made. I thought this was so fun since I like to cook. The kitchen is pretty quiet, so it's not like you can't have a conversation, it just makes for a fun added feature to your experience.

the chef's table bar
(source)

I didn't take pictures because the dim lighting in Hecho en Dumbo, which makes it a great date spot, also makes it impossible to take a good picture!

Besides the main five courses, the prix fixe menu also included four little dishes "compliments of the chef," including tacos, corn with queso fresco, and delicious truffles.  The tacos were practically a course by themselves! The chef's table menu emphasizes "fresh seafood, local meats and seasonal ingredients." The menu changes seasonally, but right now it's made up of crema langosta (lobster soup), an avocado and chickpea salad, a seared jumbo scallop, quail with a mole poblano sauce (I gave my quail to Sourabh), and a sour cream panna cotta. Again, those were just the official courses -- there were also four extra mini courses!

see? perfect for a date night!
(source)

The typical small plates are composed of tacos, sopes (corn masa medallions with black bean puree on top and then various toppings), and melted cheese dishes. I love their small plates since they have a lot of vegetarian and seafood options in addition to the typical beef and pork, but it was great to try their fancier menu. We were both really happy with our dinner.

We wanted to see Argo after dinner, but the 9:00 PM showing was sold out so we bought tickets for 9:40 PM and decided to make a detour to an ice cream shop I've been wanting to get to forever: Big Gay Ice Cream Shop on East 7th.

the menu and a giant unicorn mural

Oh man, this place was SO good. I was pretty stuffed from dinner but couldn't say no to splitting a fabulous Monday Sundae (twisted fro yo in a Nutella-lined cone with dulce de leche, sea salt, and whipped cream). If you're in the East Village and looking for an indulgence (or to scandalize some visiting relatives) then this is a great spot.

We got to the theater early and snagged great seats for Argo, which we both liked a lot. The film is set during the Iranian Hostage Criss, and it's about the rescue of six U.S. embassy workers who escaped from the U.S. embassy then hid in the Canadian ambassador's home. Without being very violent (the R rating is really for language), the film managed to create a palpable feeling of tension and really made a 30-year old revolution seem real. The film is even more relevant given the recent protests and storming of embassies in the Middle East. It was a great date night movie!

Tonight I made us a nice dinner at home since it was our actual anniversary. We sat down to a later-than-expected dinner after cheering the Patriots on to an overtime win over the Jets. I know, I know, the Patriots? Sorry guys, the boy is a huge Pats fan, and he needed the win after the loss to my Seahawks last week. Too bad the Seahawks couldn't have beaten the 49ers on Thursday, especially after I wore my Seahawks jersey to school and taught a TA session in it...

just got the flowering chinese lanterns -- so pretty and fall-like! 

Anyway, some delicious hard apple cider complemented crab cake-stuffed mushroom caps (courtesy of Whole Foods) and roasted fingerling potatoes and brussels sprouts. It was a nice Sunday meal and a sweet little celebration after last night's night out.


Recap of last week
I didn't post any goals for last week because I really wanted to take it one step at a time and see how I felt since my quads were SUPER sore after my half-marathon. I still got in several great workouts: I did a fun Refine Method class hosted by Dori at their new Upper West Side studio, worked out with my trainer Amanda, tried a 30/30 class of spinning and TRX at Pedal NYC, got stretched out at Ashley's second yoga for runners class (this time taught by Sarra Morton), and ran almost 5 miles today.

On my run today, I bumped into Abby in Riverside Park. Since I was just trying to get out and run with no goals in mind, I turned around to run a few miles to head back uptown with her at the end of her long run. She helped me push my pace on the last two miles and it was great to run with someone on such a gorgeous day.


This week's goals
Ok, enough of the gooey anniversary talk. Let's talk exercise! Now that my half-marathon is over, I don't have a structure to my weekly workouts, and I'm just looking to include strength training with some short and longer runs. I also want to continue to make yoga a priority and finally commit to speedwork to increase my pace in future half-marathons (which I'm still on the hunt for).

I'm flying home to Washington State on Thursday to visit my family, so I'm going to be doing some different things, like a trail run! I'm so excited since I've never done one before. I just hope the weather is clear enough that I'm not doing a mud run.

- 3 runs, including a trail run in Washington and a race up in Vancouver, BC
- 3 strength workouts
- 2 yoga classes, including one taught by my Dad (he's a part-time yoga instructor!)

Any suggestions for half-marathons I should consider running? What's your favorite race you've ever run?