A Mile or More in My [Running] Shoes

…there ain’t no need to go outside.

Since I did my long run yesterday, I have had today to do whatever. I. want. That generally consisted of sleeping in, cleaning up my apartment, and doing/folding the obscene amount of laundry I had accumulated. To top it all off, I had a lovely little Skype date with my friend Woo. What a fitting end to my day/beginning of my week. 

It’s always hard to get back into the swing of things after returning from vacation, so I’m glad that Drew and I made the decision to get back to the city pretty early this morning. We left Detroit bright and early and landed around 9:00 at LaGuardia. Since getting home, we’ve done some productive things, and some not-so-productive Sunday things.

Chino has mostly done Sunday/every-day-for-him-I-guess things. Puppy camp wore him out and he has been snoring away on our bed since he got back to the apartment around 1:00.

We unpacked and stowed the luggage so as not to send Chino into freakout mode when he got home. He panics/loses it at the first sign of packed bags. (See, I told you we were productive…)

On a super exciting note, our return to New York City means that all of my hard work on the day we left paid off. We got to go and pick up our bikes this morning! Meet Penelope! (She’s purple, but it’s hard to tell because the lighting in our apartment is weird.)

There was a bit of a snafu with my freewheel, so instead of prolonging my bikeless existence, I told them to just flip the hub and that I would ride it as a fixed gear. Nowwww… I’m not exactly the most graceful thing and the thought of riding a fixie made me a little nervous. I even got kind of snippy and took all of the fun out of the morning, but Drew was incredibly patient with me (as always) and he walked by my side until we reached the West Side Highway bikepath. Once we got there, we waited for a break in the action (lots of bikers out today!) and then we were off! It took me a little while to get the hang of the fixed gear but I’m feeling much more confident about it and I’m sure that with a little more practice, I can make myself a convincing fixie rider. I might even ride to the grocery store a little later! Watch out now!

Today, I came across a few recipes that whiskeybentandhellbound posted and my taste buds were immediately locked in. Nothing else but the Bangin’ Good Shrimp (a take on Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill, yum) would do for dinner tonight. Head to her page to snag the recipe!

I grabbed my cloth bag and headed to Whole Foods (since moving to New York, I’ve become much, much better at remembering at least one of the numerous cloth/reusable bags I have when I go shopping) to pick up all of the necessary ingredients. I’m pretty picky about meats that I buy and even more picky about seafood. I don’t often eat seafood and so when I buy it, I like to make sure that it’s good quality, that it’s fresh and that I know how to cook it.

I also picked up one of the four-packs of Six Point Sweet Action in cans(!) because I am a firm believer in sipping while you cook. (Kind of like that “Whistle While You Work” song. It makes cooking and clean-up much more pleasant.) When I got home, I got to work, and really, with this recipe, there isn’t much work. Chop things, coat things, mix things, cook things, mix more things, and serve things. The final result looks something like this:

I promise some day that I will find a different camera to use. My BlackBerry camera is a hot mess and while it falls short in delivering this deliciousness, it still gives you an idea of what my food looked like. (Especially after a few Six Point Sweet Actions…)

Dessert is fresh strawberries. I’ve noticed that certain fruits, like strawberries, go a lot further when I make it a point to chop some of them up and put them in a container in the fridge. I’m much more likely to reach for the strawberries when they’re ready and waiting for me to eat them. Strawberries on my cereal? Don’t mind if I do! This means that they’re also eaten and that they don’t just sit there and get moldy.

I’m in midterm mode. I have two midterms back-to-back (tomorrow and Tuesday) and I haven’t had a day off of work *cue violins* in a bit, so I’m feeling a bit manic and anxious. I will definitely be glad when these tests are over and my boss has returned from overseas.

It has been a productive Sunday.

After my post this morning, Drew and I took Chino to the dog park. It was an eventful trip and he managed to leave with what looks like a doggie shiner… Another dog bit his face and caught his lower eyelid. His eye looks fine but it’s a little swollen. We cleaned it with warm water and will watch it for the next few days. Poor pup.

We wandered over to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a few things and popped into the Barnes & Noble while we were there. Even though we both love our Kindles, nothing can replace or even approximate the act of browsing a bookstore or the smell of books - I love the smell of books!

After winding our way through the throngs of tourists around Ground Zero, we settled in to work on our respective projects. I snuggled up on the couch with my Microbiology book and Drew took to his computer for his latest photography project. I still have 2 chapters to read before bedtime, but I managed to put the book down to go for the 5 mile run I promised I would run.

It was a good run and I opted for the treadmill because it was the easy option. The miles flew by, and after 47 minutes and 31 seconds, I was ready to hop off of the treadmill and head back to my apartment.

Drew and I are getting dinner together now and once that’s done, it’s time to get the apartment back in order and then back to the books and maybe an episode of BSG before bed. I like relaxed but productive days like today. Too bad I have to work tomorrow…

I decided to start my Sunday off with coffee, chopped up banana, and a whole grain English muffin with strawberry jam.

On the docket today: trip to the dog park, 5 mile run, reading for class, and a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Ready, go!