LEAN BODY LOVES...

BBQ!

If you follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook, you know that Jay & I attended the Big Apple BBQ Block Party in NYC last weekend, and I thought it would be a great way to bring back "LEAN BODY LOVES"- my favorite series!


What's the Big Apple BBQ Block Party you ask?? Only the greatest weekend ever, or to quote the official BBQ website:

"The weekend-long event occurs every June and brings together the country’s top pitmasters who cook up their award-winning food for over a 100,000 barbecue enthusiasts. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Madison Square Park, the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party attracts people from near and far to sustain and celebrate America’s authentic culinary and musical traditions."

Like I said, the greatest weekend ever. We've been over the fact that I love food centered outings & this is the mother of them all!


**DISCLAIMER** If you are a vegetarian, you will not like this event. It is very meat centered and there aren't really any veggie options. One place served turkey (which I know is also technically meat), but to be honest it didn't hold a candle to the pulled pork.

Ok, now that THAT's been said. BRING ON THE MEAT!

This was our second year attending the block party. Last year I was given Fast Passes by my amazing friend Kira so we could skip all of the lines! You pay $125 and get $100 to spend any way you wish (meat- $8/plate, beer- $6, or dessert- $4). Each pass comes with a guest pass so 2 people can get into the special line on the backside of the tents & you can share the money. Let me tell you... it's worth it! I went 2 years ago without one and didn't end up getting ANY food, because the lines were crazy. Obviously we sprung for them again this year. Once you go FAST you never go back...


The best part was we bought them with a little money from this years tax return. BBQ on Uncle Sam!

It did rain on us this year, but a little rain never hurt anyone.


It separated the true BBQ lovers from the sissies (in other words, cleared out the crowds).


Here's a list of the places where we got plates:

The Salt Lick BBQ- Driftwood, TX: Really great sausage & briskit, and actually the only place I managed to snap a pic of our plate before we devoured it.


Rack & Soul- New York, NY: Finger-lickin' good baby back ribs & fantastic baked beans.


Black Jack BBQ- Charleston, SC: Pulled pork with a really interesting sweet BBQ sauce that almost had a licorice flavor.

Martin's BBQ Joint- Nashville, TN: Tennessee whole hog sandwich with the coleslaw inside with the pork... seemed a little crazy at first, but I really liked it.

Pappy's Ribs- St. Louis, MO: Hands down the BEST ribs of the day!


Ed Mitchell- Raleigh, NC: I absolutely LOVE North Carolina pulled pork with their vinegary sauce! Apparently so does everyone, because this place had the longest line all day. It was definitely worth the wait though. YU-UM!!


That's Ed Mitchell himself in the overalls behind all the smoke:


It should be said that we were there ALL day so we did not eat all of this food in one sitting and we shared one plate from each of the places we went. We ate at a couple places, took a beer break, then went back. After all, what's BBQ without beer??





It was a great day and I am already counting down the days until next year! If you are too, make sure to check the site around March/April to get your FAST PASSES, they do sell out!


Here are a few more pics just for fun!




These guys with their T-shirts killed me!


Clearly they haven't met the right girl...


I'm glad Jay was into keeping it co-ed!

NEW CLASS ALERT...

This is a super quickie post just to let those of you in NYC know that I am now teaching Wednesday 7pm Mat Pilates Plus at Pilates on 5th...


As you may remember I have been spending time at this studio as a student and now I am super excited to be teaching there! Come take class!!

SERACUSE PARK...

Yes, you read that correctly, but I'm not the particular Seracuse for which this park is named.


This particular park is named for my DAD! Today is his 78th Birthday (which by the way you would NEVER guess) and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to brag about him a little. I mean how many people do you know that have their own PARK? I only know one:

Jerome Mario Seracuse FAIA (those fancy letters stand for Fellow of the American Institute of Architects)

Because my dad is not only an amazing Architect with fancy letters after his name, but also an amazing man, he was given this little pocket park in the middle of the Denver Technological Center, a complex he helped create and continues to preserve as a member of the Architectural Control Committee.



Not by coincidence the park looks directly at one of his buildings!



We took a little trip to the park when Jay & I were home in CO for Christmas, which is why all the trees are a little bare. I can't wait to go back in a few weeks when I am there for the Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference, so I can take some pictures with everything in bloom!




Here is a close up of the placard:

This site is dedicated in recognition of
Jerome M. Seracuse's service to the Denver
Technological Center. As a member of the
DTC's Architectural Control Committee he was
instrumental in the planning and development of this
entire area, including the extensive network of parks
and landscaping throughout DTC.

Pretty cool huh? If you know my dad you know how special he is, and also how deserving he is of this recognition of his talents & efforts to preserve the beauty of nature in all of his projects. If you don't, then you'll just have to take this totally biased Daddy's GIrl's word for it. ;) I really could not be more proud! Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you!

FREE FITNESS...

is always appealing to me, so I am super excited about the launch of BeFitNYC and a week of FREE fitness events from June 6-12!

I received an email about the launch on Friday from Phil Kiczula at Big Method, a company working with the NYC Department of Health to get the word out to fitness pros like me, so I can get the word out to all of you. To quote the email:

"BeFitNYC aims to connect New Yorkers and encourage a healthy, active lifestyle using our fair city as one big gym. To kick things off, the Department of Health has put together an infographic depicting stats about the average New Yorker’s health, activity level and some great ways to get healthier in and around the city."

As you can imagine, after reading that I couldn't wait to find out more and share the details with you all.

Here is the NYC Department of Health infographic, which I must say, shocked me a little:



And here is the schedule of events for the week:



I am beyond bummed out that I can not shake my groove thang at the Zumba Flash Mob tomorrow at 11:30am, which means you all have to go so I can live vicariously through you...
I will however be at the Fitness Festival on Sunday June 12th, so hope to see you there!

Oh, and I almost forgot the best part... even though the launch is just one week, BeFitNYC has ongoing events all summer! Be sure to check out the website and/or their Facebook App to see all the amazing FREE fitness opportunities in all 5 boroughs. There's fitness to be found all over this great city of ours, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. No excuses NYC... GET MOVING!

F IS FOR...

-Fun-

Jay and I had an amazing memorial day weekend! We originally planned to go to the jersey shore for the weekend, buy plans changed and we ended up staying here & taking advantage of the Big Apple & it's surroundings.

-Food-

Anyone who knows me knows that I love food. And I love food centered experiences. So you can imagine how excited I was to head to Smorgasburg on Saturday!
It's an all food version of the Brooklyn Flea. I must say it was slightly over whelming, only because I wanted to try everything! After a couple laps, we finally settled on Asia Dog. Jay & I each had 2 (for the record they are small).

We both ordered the Wangding with a chicken dog: Then I had a Sidney with chicken too: And he had the Mash with beef: I liked the dogs. The Sidney was my favorite. I liked the thai flavors. For dessert we had Peoples Pops homemade popsicles. We both got Rhubarb Ginger. Yum! We almost went for the giant doughnuts from DOUGH, but we both decided that popsicles were the better choice on the 80 degree afternoon.
I'm glad we went to check out Smorgasburg, but I think going to the actual Brooklyn Flea is a better pay off. I mean the only thing ether than good food is shopping & good food together!

On Sunday evening we took advantage of our amazing backyard & grill and had some friends over. On the menu: Chicken Drumsticks Lamb Lollipops Corn on the cob Asparagus Potato salad Chips w/ roasted tomatillo salsa I only managed to snap one pic because I was too busy eating...


I assure it was all fabulous. Jay is a great grill master!

-Flowers-

Speaking of our amazing back yard... Check out these babies:



Our flowers have literally exploded with beauty this year. Maybe all that rain we've been having was good for something after all!

-Fitness-

Monday Jay & I took a motorcycle trip up to Bear Mountain where we did a 4 mile hike. It's only 50 miles away from our house! The hike we chose was labeled "challenging" & they weren't kidding... This is my OMG I can barely breathe face:

And another priceless expression... check out the nostril flare:


I love hiking because after all your hard work, you are rewarded with a view like this!


And lastly F is for...

-Freedom-

I don't just mean the freedom we enjoyed from a few days off work. I mean the freedom we enjoy every day because of the brave men & woman who fought & continue to fight for it. After all that's what memorial day is really about, right?

Hope you had a Fantastic holiday weekend too!

I ADMIT IT...

I've been a bad blogger.

One of my favorite bloggers, Teri from A Foodie Stays Fit always says, "When life happens, blogging doesn't." That pretty much sums it up. HOWEVER, I want to be better... so in an effort to beef up my blogging skills I am attending the Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference in Boulder, CO next month!



The best part is, the conference has very generously awarded me a scholarship to attend! I am so grateful to have been chosen & am super excited for this conference for many reasons:

1. It's in my home state of Colorado & I get to spend time with my family.
2. There is an amazing line up of guest speakers & seminar topics.
3. It's a great chance to meet & connect with other fitness bloggers.
4. It will hopefully reignite my passion for this blog and help it reach it's full potential.
5. Did I mention it's in COLORADO?

In an effort to feel like I actually belong at a Bloggers conference, I am going to make an effort to blog as much as I can before June 25th. In my last post (over 30 days ago, YIKES!) I talked about my Keeping it Green 30 Day Challenge. Well, you will be happy to know that I succeeded in that challenge (green drinks every morning!), and I plan to succeed in this next challenge I have set for myself: 30 days of consistent blogging. I am not going to promise a post every day, because that has never been my style.

I will promise 3 posts per week: 1 about Pilates, 1 about food, & 1 fun post.

There it is... I said it and I plan to follow through!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone! See you in a few days...

KEEPIN' IT GREEN...

30 Day Challenge!

Inspired my one of my Pilates & Blogging heroes, Lisa Johnson, and her 30 Day Challenge, I have decided to do one of my own.

At first I had a hard time deciding what I was going to do... I don't really like the idea of giving something up. That mentality has never worked for me. It only makes me want said thing even more. So I thought, what's the opposite of giving up?
Adding in!
I had my answer... For the next 30 Days (and hopefully a lot longer) I will make sure to have SOMETHING GREEN with every meal. In truth, I am already pretty good at this for 1, even 2 meals a day. But every meal will be an interesting challenge...

One way I plan to keep this promise to myself is by making Green Drinks in the morning. Greens aren't the easiest things to add to breakfast, but I have found that drinking them is so easy and tasty!!

Here is the Green Drink Recipe I am loving at the moment:

Big bunch of Kale or spinach leaves- I'm not going to tell you how many to put in, because it's up to you. I will say this: Imagine it is on your plate and you are eating it with dinner. How much would you eat as an adequate serving?
Big handful of parsley- adds some snap!
1 green apple peeled, cored and chopped
Handful red grapes- Blueberries are another good option.
1 banana
Juice of 1 lemon
Water- How much depends on how thick you want the drink. I like mine to be more like Juice so I add quite a bit.
Splash of Soy milk- optional, but I like the texture it gives.

Throw it all in a blender (or use your emersion blender like me) and viola...Yummy Green goodness- which I promise tastes AMAZING!

*This recipe makes 2, so you can have one now and one later, OR share (Jay is on board and really loving the green drinks).

Eventually I want to start experimenting with other green things/veggies to add in to my drinks, so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

Being as it has never been my style to share everything I eat or drink here on this blog, I am not going to be documenting my every green meal. I will however be keeping you all updated on my progress (I'm thinking once a week) and sharing yummy green recipes I come across.

Also, feel free to share in the green goodness and join me on my Keepin' it Green 30 Day challenge!